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The Boyfriend by Daniel Hurst
Published: 20th June 2021

Wednesday, 13 December 2023

REVIEW: Make Her Pay by Miranda Rijks



Make Her Pay by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Suspense
Read: 8th December 2023
Published: 10th December 2023

★★★★★ 4.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

Leonie has the perfect life. Someone wants to take it away.

Leonie is living her best life. Still in her twenties, she’s beautiful, successful and has just met Markus, the man of her dreams.

But Leonie has a secret. Ten years ago, she was involved in an accident in which another driver died. Leonie shouldn’t have been behind the wheel that night – no license, no insurance – so she fled the scene. And ever since, she’s been struggling to deal with the terrible guilt.

Now, as her wedding to Markus draws near, it seems someone is out to get her. It’s little things at first – botched work appointments, a cancelled bridal dress - but it soon escalates into a terrifying campaign which threatens her business, her family and even her life.

Leonie, caught up in a relentless nightmare, has no idea why anyone would set out to destroy her. Until she realizes there’s a link to the accident that happened all those years ago.

Someone knows what she did. Someone is determined to make her pay.

Make Her Pay – the gripping psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and What She Knew.


MY THOUGHTS:

I love Miranda's books since discovering her around the same time as Daniel Hurst and both have become firm favourites of mine. This book is by far one of her best and I just loved the revenge plot despite it being clear as day what was going on, it's still a thrilling read none the less. My only complaint is how it all ended with, well, everything. What the hell was that? Everything was going well till then. 

Leonie lives a charmed life. In her mid twenties, she's beautiful runs her own successful business and then she meets Markus, a handsome client whose stunning home is sold and she was tasked with finding him something illustrious in London. But soon, that property search went by the wayside as Markus was pretty much living at her place in South Kensington and after meeting her parents at their country estate in Sussex, he proposes. Leonie can't believe her luck. How did she get so lucky?

Indeed, she wonders. Because Leonie has a secret. Ten years ago when she was just sixteen she took her mother's Range Rover with the intention of meeting up with her new boyfriend, only to be involved in an accident which claimed the life of someone else. Almost at once, Leonie knew she shouldn't have been behind the wheel that night. She was underage, no licence, no insurance and as such she fled the scene at her father's behest, lest she end up in prison. For the past ten years Leonie has relived that night and tried to forget it but she has been haunted by the terrible guilt she has carried with her since. And her father covering for her has left her in his debt.

But now she has struck gold. She is marrying Markus, the man of her dreams, and everything seems to be falling into place. Until...it isn't. Suddenly, just weeks before the wedding things begin to fall apart. At first she believes it is her father's influence trying to control how he thinks the day should go ahead - after all, it's an opportunity for him to rub shoulders with clients and network with business acquaintances. His daughter's happiness appears to be the furtherest thing from his mind. But her mother claims ignorance leaving Leonie wondering who is trying to sabotage her big day. At first it's the flowers, then she arrives to pick up her wedding dress only to discover it's been sold to someone else. Then there are botched appointments and soon Leonie realises that someone is out to make her pay. When she arrives at the church, she immediately gets the uneasy feeling that something isn't right. Where is Markus? Her happiest day threatens to become her worst nightmare. What is happening? Who is doing this?

An addictive and easy ready read from start to finish, I read this in one sitting. The predictable plot didn't matter as it was entirely entertaining. It was enthralling and dark in places but was completely suspenseful throughout. Filled with secrets and lies and a multilayer of twisted deception, MAKE HER PAY was a delight to read.

I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley, #InkubatorBooks and #ZoolooTours for an ARC of #MakeHerPay in exchange for an honest review.


MEET THE AUTHOR:

Miranda Rijks lives in West Sussex, England, with her husband, their musician daughter and black Labrador. ‘The Obituary’ was her first psychological thriller. She has also written a psychological thriller series featuring Dr Pippa Durrant, a psychologist and specialist in lie detection, who works alongside Sussex police getting embroiled in some scary stuff!

After a degree in Law, Miranda worked in marketing in London and Eastern Europe before setting up businesses in the horticultural, leisure and retail sectors. Along the way, she got a masters in writing and wrote the self-help book, ‘How Compatible Are You?’ and biography, ‘The Eccentric Entrepreneur’. In 2018, Miranda wrote ‘Don’t Call Me Brave’, a novel very loosely drawing upon her experiences of having a rare bone cancer.
She feels extremely lucky to be living the dream, writing psychological thrillers full time! 

Miranda loves connecting with her readers, so feel free to drop her a line.

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