The Girlfriend by K.L. Slater
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 23rd October 2022
Published: 27th October 2022
★★★★★ 5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
My husband’s dead. She’s at my door. She owns my home…
The doorbell rings, just days after my beloved husband’s sudden death. I don’t recognise the woman on our doorstep, with her buttery blonde highlights, a diamond bracelet identical to my own and a bouncing baby boy in her arms.
As I show her inside, I notice her eyes grow wide as she takes in our spacious hallway, and the big squashy sofas that we all used to pile on. She glances at the silver-framed family photos and my little daughter hiding behind my skirts.
She looks at me, her blue eyes serious. ‘I’m sorry’ she says. ‘I know this will be hard to hear. But I am your husband’s girlfriend. And this is his son.’
My world implodes. And then she tells me that she owns our home – and that she’s not going anywhere…
An utterly gripping psychological thriller from the number one bestselling author of The Marriage. If you like Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and Lisa Jewell then you will be hooked by The Girlfriend.
MY THOUGHTS:
I am excited to be taking part in the #BooksOnTour #BlogTour for K.L. Slater's tense domestic thriller THE GIRLFIREND.
WOW! What can I say? Kim Slater has done it again and knocked her latest psychological domestic thriller THE GIRLFRIEND straight to the pool room ("The Castle" movie reference there....meaning it takes pride of place). It has to be one of my favourites of hers to date...of which there are so many! So where do I even start to reel off thy ways it totally hits the mark?
So if you're think you're having a bad day...put yourself in Jennifer Fincham's shoes.
Jennifer and husband Cole throw a Halloween party ever year. This year they are combining it with her birthday and celebrating the of end of renovations to their now stunning home. They have thought of everything - costumes, make-up and black marquee in the backyard ("you don't want your halloween party to look like a wedding, do you?") complete with special effects that will make their party the talk of the town for months.
But then in the midst of preparations, Cole leaves the house in a rush, jumping into his Range Rover and speeding away. All under the watchful eye of their 13 year old son Miller, who also witnessed his father stumble on the back patio as if he were drunk and unknowingly drop his secret phone. He hurriedly rushes downstairs to retrieve it before anyone else can...and pockets it for future use. After all, he knows his dad's passcode.
Just as Jennifer is making the final preparations before the guests arrive, there is a knock at the door. Thinking some guests have turned up early, she opens the door to find two police officers standing there.
And her world comes crashing down.
Cole was involved in a road traffic accident, rolled his car and was pronounced dead at the scene. Her beloved husband of fifteen years...gone. She is devastated. How does she even begin to tell her children that their daddy isn't coming home? Ever? And the party? What the hell is she supposed to do about the party?
But if she thought that was the end of her world...things are about to get a whole lot worse.
A day after the tragic event there is another knock at the door. A woman is standing there with a baby in tow. Her name is Sara Nordstrom, announcing she is Cole's girlfriend and the baby is his son. And what's even worse...she claims that she is the legal owner of the house in which Jennifer and her children live, their cars, their assets and all of their money. Essentially, Jennifer has nothing. What the hell?
Jennifer throws Sara out and endeavours to make enquiries with Cole's accountant about the allegations regarding their property and assets. If anyone would know, Corinne would. But it seems the news isn't good. A year ago, Cole was facing bankruptcy and Sara bailed him out with a watertight legal agreement that should anything happen to Cole or the loan defaulted, then all property and assets would go to Sara. How could Cole do this to her? To them?
But Sara has an idea. A compromise, albeit somewhat unconventional. She wants her baby to have a family. To have siblings, something she never had. And so she proposes that she and baby Rory move in with Jennifer and her children, and share the house that Sara said Cole had promised was to be theirs. Is she out of her mind? Even moreso, is Jennifer? For even considering it?
But Jennifer has a plan. To keep your friends close...and your enemies closer. Sara is up to something, of that she is sure. But what, she is yet to find out. However, this is only the beginning of her troubles...because things are about to get even worse...a whole lot worse!
WOWSERS! Buckle up, people, you are in for a bumpy ride! And what a ride it is! Kim Slater has done it again with this fun and speedy thriller that will have you racing through the pages till the very last page. I devoured this in one day, stopping only for dinner (how dare a meal get in the way of a good thrilling read???), and I enjoyed every flipping minute of this rollercoaster. An affair, plenty of secrets, moody teenager...and a cuckoo. Who doesn't love a cuckoo in the nest? And throw in a whole bunch of crazy and you have a spectacular fun and entertaining read. This one is bound to get under your skin and leave you breathless. The fact I guessed the who didn't spoil it for me. I found it fairly obvious...but it was the why I didn't get until just before the reveal.
But it was Jennifer's secret that surprised me...or did it? OK, so I had an inkling. But only a teensy one...lol
Overall, THE GIRLFRIEND is one addictive entertaining fun fast paced thrill ride a minute that I devoured and is one of Kim Slater's best thrillers to date! I loved loved loved it! Every flipping minute! And it was great to see the return of DI Helena Price and DS Brewster. I hope they continue to pop in.
I would like to thank #KLSlater, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheGirlfriend in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
Kim's first adult psychological thriller for Bookouture, ‘Safe with Me’, actually started life as a dissertation on her English & Creative Writing degree in 2010. She says" he creepy voice of Anna came to me strong and insistent . . . she wanted to be written, she wouldn’t go away. I’m so glad I listened!"
Kim first became published writing Young Adult fiction for Macmillan Children’s Books under the name Kim Slater. Her award-winning YA debut, SMART, started life as a short story for her MA in Creative Writing in 2012.
Kim is now a full-time writer. She has a daughter and two stepsons and live with her husband Mac in Nottingham and Yorkshire.
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