How far would you go to protect your family?  Rachel thought her husband Phil was having an affair - and she wished he was when she finds out the truth about his meeting at a hotel.  Suzie's biological clock is ticking and she's finally met the man of her dreams - but he isn't the man she thinks he is.  Page turning thriller - highly recommended.

Four and a half star rating.
Rachel and Suzie are best friends but they are also involved with men who have secrets.  This is one of those books which are merciless and grab you immediately and then let you go with a big thump at the end!  What an amazing debut - loved every line of it, even if Suzie was either naive or just too trusting.  This is a great thriller but also shows how the actions of one person can affect so many others.  Loved the descriptions of Chester.  Highly recommend this and definitely look forward to the second book by this new author.

This is a really interesting concept - Rachel finds a Twitter message which looks like her husband is having an affair.  A romantic meeting has been organised, so Rachel goes along to find out what's happening.  However, she actually witnesses a hit and run.  Rachel's business partner Suzie is also having a tough time of it - her fiance has not been in touch for days, and she discovers large debts have been accumulating in her name.  She thinks he's left her, but then she starts to receive threatening phone calls.
Both women try to find out what's going on.  One aspect I didn't really like was the way they doggedly defend their respective partners and kept making excuses for them; however, as the story progresses, it does get more interesting.
This is a really credible debut novel, and has lots of twists and turns.

I enjoyed this. Told from two friends viewpoints hits. It’s not what you expect. It’s realistic and you’ll feel for the characters involved. The best not down point is some parts were just not believable. But that happens in most books. Suspend your reality and you’ll love thIs.

I thought this was a great debut novel and I really enjoyed it. The main 2 characters are very likeable and it’s an easy read that I devoured in one go. I’d highly recommend this book.

What a great debut novel and totally great main characters.  Really liked Rachel.  Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher for allowing me to review this book.

Thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy to review.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is about two friends Rachel and Suzie who are drawn into a spiral of deception, manipulation and empty promises.

A twitter message that Rachel was not meant to see begins a series of dramatic events, of twists and turns which left me intrigued until I knew the outcome.

A brilliant debut book by this author which I definitely recommend.

A gripping read with lots of twists and turns. Enjoyed the fact the book follows the 2 desperate characters. Easy to read and fast paced which I like about a book. Would definitely recommend this book and will read more by the author in the future

A really interesting and twisty thriller. I very much enjoyed this novel and will look forward to reading another book by the same author.

I enjoyed this book which follows two friends, Rachel and Suzie. Rachel has seen a Twitter account open on her laptop and has seen a direct message abput an assignation... her husband and father of her two daughters is having an affair. When she decides to follow him and witnesses a hit and run, she is horrified to see that the offending driver is none other than her husband! The shock of what she’s witnessed causes her to have her own small car accident so she calls her housekeeper and asks her to call Suzie to the hospital where she is told she has broken her ankle. Despite Rachel having asked her not to Della the housekeeper has also phoned Rachel’s husband and told him about Rachel’s accident. 
Suzie and Rachel have recently opened a business together, organising functions and parties with Suzie as the photographer and creative force and Rachel being the ‘brains’ of the outfit and doing the catering. 
As Rachel continues to be consumed by worry and fear of her husband who appears to be isolating her and keeping her phone from her, Suzie is now having worries of her own. Her new partner, already her fiancé despite him having not even met her friends yet, is also a photographer and has been away on assignment. When he doesn’t return home as expected she begins to worry him but nothing prepares her for finding out that her bank account has been completely emptied and that loan sharks are now phoning her. 
I was convinced that this would be a story about two friends supporting each other through terrible ordeals; what I didn’t realise is that the two stories were intertwined. This could so easily be sensational and unbelievable but Lea makes it all perfectly possible and frighteningly probable in today’s society. Rachel and Suzie are both flawed women but strong ones and ones that you support and are cheering on. Her characterisation of the two teenage daughters is very good two. The men are slightly two dimensional but for me that doesn’t detract from the novel at all. 
I was glued to this book and stayed up late to finish it. 
The ending could have been trite and overly sentimental but as with the rest of the book, Lea keeps it real and the ending is just right.

This is a light and easy read; I finished the book in one sitting. I wasn't wildly keen on any of the characters, but I enjoyed the story about trust, betrayal, the nature of love and friendship and more. It's well plotted and I was keen to know which, if any, of the relationships would survive the dreadful events.

My thanks to the publisher for a review copy via Netgalley.

I received a digital ARC of #IfHeWakes from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow what a great book! I loved it! I thought I knew who the Twitter message was from and how certain people were involved, but I was wrong. Once it becomes clear what did happen, the people who were involved and the reasons for them being involved, I could not put it down. It was emotional and upsetting reading at times, but this is definitely a subject that needs highlighting, so well done to the author for doing such a great job! If this is her debut novel, then I can't wait for her to write more books. I will certainly be reading them.

Hell have no furry like a woman scorned- true- but what about a man?
Well in this story we have a tight knit family that is dealing with a set of lies that has snowballed into a man in a coma and a family hiding a deep dark secret.
Will that secret come to the fore front and will those involved be charged for their crimes?
Rachel is a mom x 2 ( Katie - 14yo and Jessica 16yo) and sadly she believes her spouse Phil is having an affair and worse she believes he's involved in a hit and run.
Suzie is Rachel's friend and her fiance Adam is in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. He's put her into bankruptcy, swindled her money, and let her racked in debt. 
But could that be just the tip of this ice berg?
YES, because what's beneath is even more shocking than what is in plain view.
Folks, there are shocking secrets on both men here and this friendship may not survive it all much less these relationships.
What's ironic is that Rachel was involved in a fender bender just metres from where her husband Phil was seen driving away after the hit and run.
So could this all be related somehow and in some way more than what meets the eye?
Well, it's funny you mentioned vision because it's what's seen on video and in pictures that really hits home and hard here.
OMG! This brought chills as a mother and a parent of 2 teen girls. 
I can't imagine this unspeakable act involving one of the two girls and someone they thought they could trust.
As a model myself you must be aware of those who are in it for the right reasons and those who are sickos seeking fame and fortune involving get rich schemes.
This truly is a must read for 2018!
Thank you to Zoe Lea, the publisher, NetGalley, and Aldiko for this ARC copy in exchange for this honest review.

Bit and unusual story,I thought I knew where the story was going,boy was I wrong. Could see links forming but still didn't foresee where it went.

3.5 stars

From its first chapter, I was immediately hooked. The story was told in two point of views, Rachel and Suzie who are each living separate lives, in which their husbands are each keeping something from them. When Rachel thinks her husband is having an affair, she follows him, but what she witnesses instead is a lot worse. Suzie's husband has placed her in debt and he is nowhere to be found. What is going with each of them? 

It's such an interesting novel because you don't know what to expect when you're reading it. The element of surprise is definitely major in the story as Lea shocks the readers with her twists. It was a very obvious one, and for me it took a little from the enjoyment of the novel since I knew where it was heading. But it did manage to keep me hooked until the end because I wanted to see what choices would be made. 

I love a story with women as protagonists. The women in the story are perceived as strong and it's great to see how much progress we've made in society, especially with many movements on the go, and I think Lea incorporates the role of women very well in the story. 

For me, some parts were uncomfortable to read because the topic isn't something that people enjoy reading about, it makes you cringe. But it also alludes to the real world because this happens all everywhere and it's just sickening. Again, I really liked how Lea brought problems in the real world and linked them to the story. It displays the fact that there are authors who are not afraid to shy away from the harsh truth (reality), which is something that I feel a lot of novels do these days.

This might not be a book for everyone, but the message that it delivers, I found to be meaningful. 

Many thanks to NetGalley and Canelo for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A truly gripping read.  The story immediately sets a scene that is horrific for Rachel to take in.  It seems we know who has created this situation right away and I thought I had it all figured out.  I so felt for Rachel but she has great support from her best friend and business partner and  then hold on - Suzies' life starts to unravel as the man she is madly in love with disappears.  The tying up of this great saga is very clever and I really enjoyed this story with all its twists and turns.

"You can always trust your best friend....can't you" 

That's the strap line for the book, and yet the book was less cat and mouse game between best friends, more a sad story of acting on impulse and how the selfish and abusive actions of one man impact on those around him. The title is also a bit of a misnomer; there was no tense build up to whether 'he' woke up, because everyone had worked out who had done what long before that moment. There was even a section of the book where one of the characters tries to work out who was in hospital, but the title is a BIG giveaway, so there was no real suspense. I also remembered reading earlier in the book the sex of the victim. 

I couldn't ever relate to the main characters (a week on from reading it and I've forgotten their names) and found them overly simplistic in their rendering. Similarly the plot itself progressed in fits and starts, never quite building up sufficient pace to keep me gripped. 

Not one I would recommend. 

I received an advanced copy from the publishers via net galley in return for an honest review.

Rachel and Suzie were close friends at school but lost touch.  Rachel is now married to Phil with two children, Jessica and Katie and runs her own successful catering business.  Suzie is engaged to Adam and they run a photography business together.  After running into each other, Rachel and Suzie become friends again and decide to set up in business together as event organisers with their first big party due in days.  Then both their worlds fall apart when Rachel sees a message on Twitter and believes that Phil is having an affair and Suzie finds her business is not doing as well as she thought and Adam has gone missing.  The reality is worse than they first thought and rips the friendship apart.
Really enjoyed reading this although the ending was a little disappointing.

Absolutely loved this. A real twisty plot that kept me guessing most of the way. A real page turner that I couldn't put down.

I really enjoyed this book and how it all tied up in the end. 2 stories running in parallel. Both equally interesting characters and I was enjoying reading how they had met and started a business together. This combined with the main story of possible adultery and a web of lies made it a page turner for me. Every page for me was entertaining and the build up to the climax was very clever. Definitely 5 ⭐️