Violets are Blue by Miranda Rijks
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller
Read: 26th April 2025
Published: 6th April 2025
★★★ 3 stars
DESCRIPTION:
Her perfect home. Her perfect man. How wrong can she be?
After a bitter divorce, criminal solicitor Laila moves to idyllic Violet Lane where she quickly falls for Max—her charming, piano-playing neighbor. They begin a wildly passionate affair and Laila feels she is really starting to live again.
But the tranquility of this close-knit community is shattered when Jackie, a young mother from across the street, goes missing. Her husband is the chief suspect and Laila agrees to act as his lawyer.
As she investigates Jackie’s disappearance, Laila discovers that this quiet street hides deadly secrets, and someone is watching her every move. Anonymous threats pull her ever deeper into a twisted web of deception.
Meanwhile, her intense relationship with Max is starting to feel like a runaway train. And Laila begins to wonder if her gorgeous new man may have a hidden dark side.
She desperately needs to uncover the truth. And when she does, Laila realises that she’s put herself in terrible danger, that she may lose everything – including her life.
Violets Are Blue - the dark and steamy psychological thriller from the best-selling author of The Visitors and Make Her Pay.
MY THOUGHTS:
Her perfect home. Her perfect man. How wrong can she be...?
Well...that was different. I love Miranda's books with her fast-paced thrill-rides-a-minute and this was no different in that respect. But what did I just read? Lots of steamy sex scenes (granted, the author did warn us of the fact beforehand) but honestly did that turn the main character's brain to mush in the process?
Laila has just gone through a long drawn out divorce with ex-husband Jacob and has moved to Violet Lane for a fresh start. As a criminal lawyer working in the same firm as her ex, Laila had to leave her job and start afresh at a local firm where she is made more than welcome. She's barely unpacked the boxes when she receives an invitation to a BBQ to welcome her to the Lane at neighbour Phyllis' house on the weekend - the last thing she feels like doing. But she makes the effort and meets the rest of her neighbours.
When she first sees Max standing at the BBQ, a static of electricity runs through her. His eyes meets hers and she feels it again. It isn't long before her thoughts keep returning to the hunky paramedic next door watching him mow his lawn without a shirt, his muscles rippling.
Then Max comes knocking and it isn't long before Laila finds herself embroiled in a steamy affair with the gorgeous Adonis that is Max. She knows nothing about him but could trace every line of his stunning body. And the way he makes her feel sends her weak at the knees. Everything about him is perfect, and she soon finds herself falling for him.
But the tranquility of their little street soon turns into chaos when Laila returns home one day to find the place crawling with police. Young mother Jackie has gone missing and though her husband seems to be the police's prime suspect it isn't long before the finger is pointed in her new boyfriend's direction. Just how well does she really know Max?
In a long line of bad decisions, Laila makes another as she takes on the role as Finn's lawyer thus further tangling her in the complex web. Then threats are made towards her and her life placed in danger, thrusting her even closer to Max when she is beginning to question everything she thought she knew about him. Laila feels trapped and doesn't know who or what to believe.
It's hardly surprising. Laila has seemingly followed bad decisions with even worse ones since moving into Violet Lane. There were plenty of eye-rolling moments as I shook my head every time Laila opened her mouth or followed through with yet another bad decision. She was so blinded by sex that not even Ludwig's dislike of Max registered with her. But as soon as I saw his reaction, I knew he wasn't to be trusted. I just didn't like him. He made my skin crawl. But is he a killer? And can he really be trusted?
Not one of Miranda's better thrillers, it was readable with plenty of eye-rolling moments and a quick enough read that I did so in a few hours.
I would like to thank #MirandaRijks, #Netgalley and #InkubatorBooks for an ARC of #VioletsAreBlue in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
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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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