REVIEW: The Bridesmaid by Nina Manning

The Bridesmaid by Nina Manning

Genre: Contemporary fiction, Suspense, Domestic drama

Read: 28th May 2021

Goodreads

Amazon

Published: 27th May 2021

★★★★ 3.5 stars (rounded up)

DESCRIPTION:

‘Promise me? If you hear any secrets, never tell me. That would make you a most treasured friend. More than a friend really. You’re almost like a sister to me…’

 

Your best friend….

From the moment they met as children, Sasha knew that beautiful, wealthy, and confident Caitlin would always be her absolute best friend.  Sasha would do anything to make Caitlin happy.  

Even keep her darkest secrets…

The years have passed, but their friendship remains.  And when Caitlin announces she’s getting married there is only one choice for the role of bridesmaid.  

Sasha will make sure Caitlin’s wedding is as beautiful and perfect as she is.  Won’t she? 

Your worst nightmare?

 

But Sasha is growing tired of always being in Caitlin's shadow  - always the bridesmaid, never the bride.  And as the big day approaches, cracks begin to appear between the two woman.  Secrets and lies swirl between the two friends like confetti. Both of them are hiding dark secrets, both of them are lying. 

 

Could the secrets that once bound these two friends, rip them apart for good?

MY REVIEW:

I'm excited to be taking part in the #BlogTour for Nina Manning's latest offering THE BRIDESMAID.

This is one of those books that despite being fraught with suspense and drama it leaves you wondering how on earth to categorise it. It's marketed as a thriller and yet it isn't really. More of a dark contemporary suspense-filled drama that will have you reading well into the night. I have to say that I enjoyed this book far more than her last but it still doesn't beat her fantastic debut thriller "The Daughter in Law" which was phenomenally brilliant.

The story begins with an unnamed character slipping into bed and snuggling up to a child as she relives the memories of the past that still haunt her, a letter clutched in her hand. Then it slips back in time to 1991 then forwards to 2009 and then back again to 1988...where the story really begins. The timelines might appear confusing at first but they become clearer as the story progresses, after which the main timelines are 1988 and 2009 with the progression of time going forward. I will begin where the story does...

Dorset 1988: Eleven year old Sasha lives on the vast estate of Saxby House where her parents are employed by matriarch Josephine Clemonte as housekeeper and head gardener respectively. They live in a cottage provided to them under the terms of their employment and their children, Sasha and Hunter, enjoy the vast grounds in which to play. In the summer of that year, the lady of the manor's granddaughter comes to stay along with her parents and Sasha is excited at the prospect of meeting someone her own age. The moment she meets Caitlin Sasha is completely enamoured and a friendship is born.

However, Caitlin is not always as she appears and Sasha often hears her mumbling to herself and when she asks her to repeat it, Caitlin just stares at her blankly before continuing on her way. In awe of her beauty, Sasha revels in this new-found friendship despite Caitlin's odd behaviour and often cruel treatment of her new best friend. Regardless, Sasha is eager to be the bestest friend, hungry for her acceptance and approval and eager to please.

What follows is a foray into Sasha's sometimes lonely existence throughout the rest of the year when Caitlin is back at school in London. She longs for the summer when for three months, she and Caitlin are together once again. The following year Sasha meets Chuck, the son of a family friend, who attends the various parties the family hold whether it be New Years Eve or a birthday celebration. Sasha is drawn to Chuck who isn't as snobbish or as aloof as Caitlin though she realises that nothing could ever come of their friendship because people like them don't really mix or marry people like her. Still, she enjoys her time with Chuck...when she isn't with Caitlin, that is...because he accepts her for who she is while Caitlin is quick to point out the differences in their social status, as if some kind of power play to keep Sasha in her place.

And yet, Sasha is still eager to maintain their friendship and will do anything to please the girl who so obviously regards her more of a toy that can be picked up and put down whenever she chooses. As if Sasha is merely someone to entertain her during months of boredom.

Then one night Sasha discovers a secret about the Clemontes but is persuaded by Caitlin's mother Ava never to reveal it. As the reader, we are not privy to the secret until towards the end when the bombshell is revealed at Caitlin's wedding.

London 2009: It's been twenty years since Sasha and Caitlin became friends and yet the status quo remains the same. Despite everything she dishes out to her "best friend", Caitlin proudly proclaims that she never apologises. While as an adolescent I can understand her need for acceptance but as an adult I'm surprise Sasha continues to stand for it. But then Sasha has a plan...for what? Revenge? Or truth?

Caitlin's on-off relationship with Chuck over the years has somehow managed to earn a proposal which promptly preceded an impromptu trip to Greece for a "hen holiday". Her role as bridesmaid was to ensure everything from the trip to Greece to the choosing of the gown to the fittings to the party favours to the actual wedding itself went smoothly. Caitlin didn't appear to be at all interested in organising her own wedding and left it all in the hands of her competent best friend and bridesmaid, Sasha. In fact, the bride herself is completely indifferent about the whole event which puzzles Sasha. Surely Caitlin would be revelling in the glow of engagement and excited at the prospect of marrying Chuck...but it seems she's not particularly bothered. Until she sees the perfect wedding dress which bears a striking resemblance to her mother's own, stained red after convincing her mother to allow her to wear it for a play they put on one summer in which Caitlin had the starring role. But is it marrying Chuck that is at the forefront of her mind? Or is it the prospect of getting revenge on her emotionally-absent mother? Sasha isn't sure. But one thing remains clear...Sasha's own plans for Caitlin's big day.

While I went into this book expecting a thriller, I was surprised to discover that I enjoyed it even though it wasn't. Despite its slow start, the tension builds throughout where the pace picks up towards the halfway mark after which it explodes in a myriad of rainbow coloured shards to reveal the truth. However, everything is smoke and mirrors as the reader is left assuming something that isn't truth whilst revealing something completely different in the end.

A real page-turner I was surprised to enjoy THE BRIDESMAID more than I thought I would. But I wouldn't categorise it as a thriller. It's more of a dark contemporary suspense-filled drama with a twist. But in the end, even the twist kind of fell flat, not just to the reader but to the characters it was aimed at in the first place. I could relate to adolescent Sasha and her desire to please Caitlin in an attempt to maintain their friendship because I was Sasha at that age too. It's a difficult time where you are navigating the change from child to young adult and some of us are just eaten alive by the Caitlins of this world.

A story about friendship, co-dependency, family and secrets, THE BRIDESMAID is a compelling and somewhat addictive tale of two friends from two different worlds. Recommended to those who like dark contemporary tales.

I would like to thank #NinaManning, #Netgalley,  #RachelsRandomResources and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheBridesmaid in exchange for an honest review.

MEET THE AUTHOR:

Nina Manning began her career in the catering industry. She has worked as a private chef cooking for royalty and TV personalities.

She has a degree in Psychology and has three books published with Boldwood: The Daughter In Law, The Guilty Wife and The House Mate.

Her fourth Psychological thriller, The Bridesmaid, was published 27th May 2021. Her debut psychological thriller, The Daughter in Law, was a bestseller in the UK, US, Australia and Canada.

Nina is a voracious reader of many genres, is the founding member of a long standing book club and the founder and co-host of a book podcast called Sniffing The Pages.

She is a mother to three young children so when she is not writing or reading she can usually be found scaling a soft play tower or romping in the woods with the family and her chocolate Labrador. She lives in Dorset.

Social Media links:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Newsletter Sign Up | BookBub | Goodreads

REVIEW: The Guilty Wife by Nina Manning (ARC)

The Guilty Wife (previously titled "Her Darkest Fear") by Nina Manning

Genre: Domestic thriller, Domestic drama, Suspense, Women's fiction

Read: 12th July 2020

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(publication date: 26th March 2020)

★★★ 2.5 stars (rounded up)

After Nina Manning's brilliant debut "The Daughter in Law", I was thrilled to get the chance to read THE GUILTY WIFE (previously titled "Her Darkest Fear"). Sadly, it was a disappointment and in no way lived up to the brilliance that was her debut. The nemesis in her first book still haunts today as one of the most chilling characters I've come across. But based on the success of her debut, I continued in the hope it would get better. It didn't. That is to say, the climatic ending was probably the best part of the entire book, giving sense to some of it but not all of it. On the whole, it could have been better.

Frankie Keegan is a wife and mother of two - Pixie and Maddox (where did these names hail from?) - trying to make a success of a career in marketing (I think that's what her job is, as it never really is totally clear). Her husband Damian is, or rather was, an IT professional but for the past several years has been languishing through life trying to work out what he wants to do with himself. At the moment, he is working on some new fan-dangled app that's going to make him a success...apparently.

But Frankie hasn't the patience, that much is clear. She is struggling with her own demons whilst trying to maintain a peaceful environment for her children. But Frankie and Damian are drifting apart and all they seem to do is make snide remarks at one another while passing ships in the night. I felt much of the story was taken up with their drama which I found frustrating and irritating. If Damian was home all day while Frankie was at work, could he not at least clean up? Why must everything fall at Frankie's feet while he tried to find himself? And Frankie...why must everything be solved with a bottle of prosecco? I am tired of protagonists and unreliable narrators who drown themselves in endless bottles of wine. What is the attraction to wine? It's ghastly stuff and yet it's the adult equivalent to downing a six pack and getting high on weed.

At any rate, while her life seems to be falling apart, Frankie has been running from her past for twenty years, living with the guilt of her brother Kiefer being killed while trying to save her from bad decisions. But she was a teenager; she was sixteen; she didn't know any better. But that never changed the fact that Kiefer died trying to protect her.

But someone else has never forgotten either.

There are text messages from an unknown number. Crashes in the night. Pot plants smashed on the front step. Toy cars that are a replica to her brother Keifer's little green mini left on her doorstep or pushed through the mailbox. A 40th birthday card addressed to Kiefer. Shadows dancing in alleys.

Someone wants to remind her of the worst time of her life...and they want to make her pay all over again. But who?

Throughout the book there are diary excerpts written at the time of the tragic event. The grief and despair written in those entries and the guilt that she was left behind whilst her sibling died trying to rescue her. The significance of these diary entries are made even clearer at the end, and admittedly I thought it was rather ingenious.

The story unfolds through the past and the present through Frankie's eyes as both a teenager and an adult as it is slowly revealed what happened happened on that fateful night. Her decisions are clearly questionable in both aspects but as a teenager one does tend to live in the moment - not always a great idea. And it was her decisions as a teenager that have left her with such an overwhelming sense of guilt over her brother's tragic death.

I found THE GUILTY WIFE to be a slow burn but it is hardly a psychological thriller. There were some suspenseful moments but aside from that most of it was Frankie's drama, mostly of her own making. The tension didn't begin until the final 85% to 90% of the book, which in my opinion is far too late to be drawing readers in. But admittedly, it was a satisfying end with that clever twist revealed in the climatic conclusion.

With most of the book detailing Frankie's excessive drinking and family drama, THE GUILTY WIFE was a disappointment after Nina Manning's fantastic debut. I did not like Frankie, either as a teenager or an adult. I found her annoying and wondered why she just didn't deal with her past instead of creating drama where ever she went. I didn't like her husband Damian either. As a stay at home parent, he should have been more supportive and helpful, but instead he made snide remarks to his wife - and in front of the kids - and languished around waiting for his big chance to just fall in his lap. I really didn't get what his problem was. I didn't like her boss, Mason. I felt he was sleazy and up to something. Nor did I like Nancy. It seemed like she was hiding something and I didn't trust her. Basically I just didn't like anyone in this book.

That being said, I do look forward to reading more from Nina Manning in the future. Based on her fantastic debut "The Daughter in Law", I guess I would find any other book she'd written just unable to live up to its pure perfection in the thriller genre. But also based on that book, I hope her next one will be as exciting as her first and I look forward to reading it.

2.5 stars rounded up for that clever ending.

I would like to thank #NinaManning, #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheGuiltyWife aka #HerDarkestFear in exchange for an honest review.

REVIEW: The Daughter-in-Law by Nina Manning (ARC)

The Daughter In Law by Nina Manning

Genre: Psychological thriller

Read: 31st July 2019

Goodreads

Purchase: Amazon

(release date: 1st August 2019)

★★★★★ 5 stars

Wow! This is such a fantastic psychological thriller that it is hard to believe it is the author's debut. THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW had me glued to each page and devouring every word that I could not put down until I finished! So full of twists it will leave your mind reeling and your head spinning!

When I first read the premise for the book, I thought it would be something like Kim Slater's "Liar". I was wrong. This was so much more and then-some!

The story begins with Annie who lives in an isolated seaside cottage she inherited from her drunken father many years ago. As a single mother, she thought it was the perfect place to raise her son Ben and always kept him close, loving their life together. It had always been just the two of them - Annie and Ben. They needed no one else.

Until Ben met Daisy.

After a whirlwind affair and discovering she was pregnant, Ben and Daisy married in a quiet ceremony within months of meeting. He adores her and she is utterly in love with him and together they complete each other. They share a flat with Daisy's best friend Eve and are incredibly happy. Life is good within their little bubble...what could possibly go wrong?
Enter Annie, stage door left.

As it had always been just the two of them, Annie seemingly struggles with the concept of Ben finding love beyond his mother. She doesn't believe they need anyone else but each other. The fact that they married in secret without telling anyone - especially Annie - doesn't help nor thrill her one bit. So when Ben brings Daisy to his childhood home to meet his mother, it is not a warm or welcome meeting.

It begins with just little things that Daisy thinks she imagines them. The dismissive look. The accusatory glance. The smile that doesn't reach the eyes. Her hand pressed against the scalding hot teapot. The refusal to acknowledge her pregnancy. And the constant chill in the air of what should be a cosy home. Daisy doesn't know what it is but it's clear that Annie doesn't welcome her. Her appearance is an obvious intrusion into what Annie perceives as her's and Ben's lives. The image she had envisioned of a warm and fluffy woman from the photo Ben had shown her of his mother was merely just wishful thinking. Annie does not want her here.

Ben is caught in the middle of his mother and his wife. A musician whose work comes in fits and spurts, Annie makes it abundantly clear that they would struggle to rely on Ben's income. Daisy is confused - is she proud of her son or not?

Then Ben gets offered a huge gig in Scotland to record an album with a band - but it means leaving Daisy for several months. He is excited at the prospect and Daisy encourages him to take it as it would mean experience for him and money for them and the baby. While he doesn't need to leave until after Christmas, he hopes to be back before the baby is born.

When the flat they share with Eve erupts in a gas explosion, killing her best friend and destroying all their belongings, Ben and Daisy have no choice but to move in with Annie. But grieving the loss of Eve, Daisy is uncomfortable in Annie's house, as Annie obviously doesn't welcome her presence. Still she tries to make the best of it for Ben's sake and soon wonders if this could be a good opportunity for the women to bond.

But Annie has other ideas. She recognises Daisy's face from somewhere and has racked her brain from the moment she met her. Until it came to her. Searching the internet for information, she finds what she needs and prints it out to confront Ben with the truth about his wife.

Ben then confronts Daisy. They have words and Ben storms out the house and disappears to Scotland for this big job he had lined up. Daisy regrets their row and messages Ben constantly her apologies but receives no response. And as the days roll into weeks and months with still no word from Ben, Daisy must resign herself that he may not return.

Tortured with grief at the loss of her best friend Eve and now with the absence of her husband, Daisy spirals into a deep depression and finds that Annie is all she has now and that she must rely on her mother-in-law to care for her. Still she questions why Ben doesn't respond and after weeks of silence from him Daisy finds herself complying with Annie, believing that she probably knows best. But does she really?

From the beginning we know that something about Annie is off. Although the bond between a mother and child is strong, Annie's obsession with Ben and their "secret party of two" is not normal. Does she truly want what's best for her grandchild? Or are her motives more sinister? But then is Daisy all that she appears to be? What is her terrible secret that she feels she is unworthy of motherhood? What does Annie know about her that drove Ben away in anger? And why is Ben different? Why does he have memories that don't correlate with the upbringing he's had? And why does Annie insist that he loves his mum while Ben appears indifferent, reluctant to talk about her? So many questions as we turn the pages at a brisk pace in search of the answers.

Annie and Daisy tell their stories in alternate chapters in the first person, bringing a personal perspective to the plot. Their thoughts draw us into the abyss of their confused minds with their equally complicated narratives. And then there is Grace, who shares her own remarkable story. Who is she? And where does she fit in?

With each chapter the story unfolds delivering new revelations so shocking that make THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW a compelling and intriguing read you cannot put down. The characters are complex, emotionally damaged in their own ways, but entirely believable. It is easy to feel empathy for Daisy in her predicament from which she cannot escape. She is grieving and she is  missing her husband, added to that her hormones are playing havoc with her emotions making her easy prey for the mother-in-law from hell.

But almost from the start we know Annie is someone we just love to hate. She is a master manipulator determined to get her own way, with an overpowering dominance and a warped idea of love. The way she totally justifies her actions in her narrative just made me devour her chapters even quicker. The woman is a sociopath. She cannot feel love, only a misplaced sense of love, nor is she remorseful for anything she does or has done.

But mark my words, be prepared for Annie to get under your skin and stay there long after you have finished the book. She told us herself - "When I feel unhinged, who knows what I'm capable of?!"

THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW is twisted with a capital T. Clever, but oh so twisted! The psychological rollercoaster ride we are taken on is fast-paced and thrilling as the story progresses, keeping us guessing who is hiding the biggest secret?

With a Hitchcockian tension that is palpable from the start, THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW is filled with suspense so compelling that part of you will want to savour the sheer brilliance of such a twisted tale while the other wants to race to the finish just to escape Annie, who will both terrify you and infuriate you.

As the penultimate climax builds so does the tension unfolding to a dramatic conclusion that will keep readers glued to the very last page. My only complaint is that the ending felt a little rushed which could be due to the building tension throughout the entire book. Still, I had hoped for more karma at the end.

While there was plenty of confusion throughout, I did piece some of the puzzle together quite early but that never deters from my enjoyment of a good story. I had my suspicions and at other times I was completely baffled. A brilliant thriller, THE DAUGHTER-IN-LAW - which should really be called THE MOTHER-IN-LAW - was creepy, sinister and completely twisted. The more disturbed, the more delicious!

I cannot believe this is Nina Manning's debut. She excels in this genre so brilliantly and is an author to watch out for. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with next.

Highly, highly recommended, deserving of more than the 5 stars I can only give.

I would like to thank #NinaManning, #NetGalley and #BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of #TheDaugherInLaw in exchange for an honest review.