One Mistake by Rona Halsall
Genre: Domestic drama
Read: 21st September 2020
Published: 5th May 2020
★★★ 3 stars (rounded up)
DESCRIPTION:
My family. Her heart swelled with love. They were all that mattered. And she knew she’d do anything, anything at all for them.
Sara made one promise to herself when she was growing up in foster care: that if she was lucky enough to have a family, she’d always do whatever it took to protect them. Looking around her home with its cosy kitchen and living room, where her energetic teenage daughters and gorgeous four-year-old son all eat, play and live together, she knows she’d do anything to keep them safe.
So when Sara’s husband Matt loses his job and every shred of his confidence with it, she knows it’s up to her to bring the family back from the brink. Though she doesn’t know where she can possibly find the money they need to keep afloat.
Until her boss at work offers her a deal. He’ll help out. She just has to do him one little favour. But could trusting him save Sara’s family, or will it be a mistake that costs her absolutely everything?
This year’s most gripping psychological thriller – perfect for fans of My Lovely Wife, The Girl on the Train, and Something in the Water.
MY REVIEW:
How far would you go to protect your family and your happy home? Well...I know I wouldn't go as far as Sara did!
ONE MISTAKE by Rona Halsall is a domestic drama full of unlikable characters who make really stupid decisions and fail to communicate, resulting in endless secrets, lies and a wealth of misunderstandings. Which is only complicated by a plot where everyone acted in a way I can only describe as stupidly bordering on insanity. And though the book is called ONE MISTAKE, in my opinion it is riddled with the stupid mistakes Sara makes!
Sara and Matt have a happy marriage, a perfect life. Matt works in specialist IT and Sara works part time at the community centre. They have a beautiful house, three wonderful children and life could not be better. After spending most of her childhood between foster homes, Sara vowed she would not put her family at risk and would do anything for them. But when Matt loses his job and is left without a redundancy package, life starts to look bleak for them. That is, until Matt comes up with a plan to start his own business and this is where he begins to irk me. He becomes all alpha male and demands his needs are met without a thought for his wife, using emotional blackmail to bend her to his way of thinking.
Some time ago, Sara inherited some money from an aunt and she decided to put it into an investment account where it would attract high interest and make money for her to be able to update her business studies degree at a later date. But Matt had insisted she keep it in a deposit account for when they might need it. When Sara opens what she thinks is the latest statement detailing how well her money is growing, she is shocked to discover that it has all gone. The investment company has gone into liquidation and, though she could appeal, it is doubtful she will ever see her money again. £10,000 - gone. What will she tell Matt? But that's not the least of her worries, for Matt has decided that with her inheritance he will be able to set himself up in business nicely - for as low as £9,000. But how can she tell him she no longer has that money? She went against him and moved it from the account and she knows he will be livid.
So what does Sara decide to do? Not tell him. First mistake. Instead whilst working on the community centre accounts, she stupidly comes up with an idea to "save" her family. £9,000 - the centre won't miss it. And she will have it paid back before they do. Or will she?
When her boss James uncovers her "mistake" he offers to help her out by paying back the money in return for some favours. Uh-oh! Alarm bells ringing! But no, it's not what you may think but it still leads to some unsavoury happenings. And further mistakes. Lunches out on the moors, dinner at events where Sara begins to feel uncomfortable around some of the men. It all seems a bit duplicitous...but in what way? And then James invites Sara away for a spa weekend because he's "lonely" and "doesn't want to go alone". Seriously? She bought that? But if Matt were to get wind of her going away with another man, it would be the end of their marriage...even though it is all quite innocent. And so her world begins to implode.
By this time Sara is quite obviously a bundle of nerves and comsumed by guilt. She endeavours to tell James that their deal is off but she only seems to dig herself deeper and deeper. And then a video emerges of Sara...and all her dreams are shattered. Matt throws her out of the house with just the clothes on her back. She turns up at her sister Hailey's house and, after confessing to all her stupid mistakes, the sisters devise a plan to plot a way out of the mess Sara has created and uncover the truth. But will they live happily ever after?
ONE MISTAKE is slow to begin with the pace does pick up, particularly near the end. But everyone was far too unlikable and making stupid decisions for me to have any sympathy for them at all. In fact they did nothing but annoy me from start to finish with their behaviour. Sara did not elicit any sympathy from me - she made her bed with her stupid decisions and lying to her husband - and Matt was a selfish manipulative bully. I seriously could not relate to any of them. From the first moment of learning of Sara's mistake you just know this isn't going to end well. I will say that for once I did not see twist coming...but even so, it wasn't enough to endear me to this story. It just felt sleazy and I wanted to immerse myself in the shower to wash away its filthy grime afterwards.
A quick read, I read ONE MISTAKE in one night really because I wanted to escape it and move on. I couldn't bring myself to DNF as Rona Halsall is a favourite author and I owed it to her to see it through. And while I did manage to finish it around 2.30am this morning, I was worried about how to review it without coming across harsh. The fact is, even our favourite authors are going to write a book that we don't enjoy as much as the others. This book was that for me.
While ONE MISTAKE was not the book for me, I'm sure there are plenty of those who will love it. I can't say that I wouldn't recommend it because like I say, there are those who have loved it and do recommend it. Reading is subjective and what one loves another doesn't. I don't discount Rona Halsall as an author because I have loved her previous books and I'm sure I will love many of her future ones. Just not this one.
2 stars for the book and an extra star because it's Rona.
I would like to thank #RonaHalsall, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #OneMistake in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Rona is the author of Best Selling psychological thrillers published by Bookouture. Her challenge in writing is to find domestic storylines with twists that her readers will never guess.
She was born in Nottingham, grew up near Blackpool and went to college in Leeds. She then moved to Snowdonia, North Wales where she brought up her family while working as a business mentor. She now lives on the Isle of Man with her husband, two dogs and two guinea pigs.
She is an outdoorsy person and loves stomping up a mountain, walking the coastal paths and exploring the wonderful glens and beaches on the Island while she's plotting her next book. She has three children and two step-children who are all grown up and leading varied and interesting lives, which provides plenty of ideas for new stories.
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