DNF at 25%. Thank you to Lake Union and Netgalley for the advance reading copy. I was intrigued by the premise of this book but unfortunately it’s feeling like many other stories I’ve already read. If you are new to the genre and haven’t watched shows like Desperate Housewives you may find it more surprising but this one isn’t for me.

RAVEN LANE is another excellent thought-provoking domestic suspense installment with superb storytelling by talented author Amber Cowie.  💕 She wowed me and readers worldwide with her knock-out thriller debut, RAPID FALLS, and she is BACK!     

Sexy, provocative, edgy, and scandalous!  

Meet the suburban neighbors of Raven Lane, a cul-de-sac with five detached homes arranged in a U shape, tucked into an area just two blocks away from one of the busiest commercial areas.   

Set in the Pacific Northwest, an exclusive neighborhood. Little traffic.   safe neighborhood? The residents of Raven Lane are drawn into a web of secrets, lies, betrayal, scandal, and tragedy.    

What happens behind closed doors? 
 

I adored the diverse neighborhood and characters; especially, the lyrical prose from Author, Torn Grace.   From a former model, a chef, an author, a real estate agent, a former movie star, an artist, plus more.    

"The Truth Can Bring Out the Worst in the Best of Friends."  

Atmospheric and twisty.  If you are a fan of  Robin Harding's THE SWAP, BIG LITTLE LIES, and the TV series, THE AFFAIR, (one of my favorites), would never miss an episode— you will find a lot to like here. 🎬 

The purpose of referencing the hit TV series in comparison to Raven Lane—I think there are some parallels and especially if you are a fan of the show, this current Season 5 which is moody, dangerous, sexier, and edgier than previous seasons. In the aftermath of horrific events, characters try to come to terms with the consequences of their choices, similar to the characters in RAVEN LANE.

Some people have darkness and monsters within them.  Often they fool others and sometimes they deceive themselves. As always, I adore Amber's writing and her diverse and dynamic characters. 

An ideal choice for book clubs and future discussions. 📚 An excellent Reader Group Guide is included. 

Highly Recommend!  Head over to my blog and check out my INTERVIEW with Amber's debut, RAPID FALLS, and LOSS LAKE 

A special thank you to Lake Union (print) and NetGalley (digital) for an advanced reading copy.
 
#JDCMustReadBooks

This book gripped me at the start, but I quickly lost interest.  I love stories that center around neighborhood and friend secrets, but it just got boring after awhile.  There were so many characters and it was hard to connect with any of them.  The ending felt really disjointed and didn't really make sense with the rest of the book.  It felt like the author needed to end it and ran out of ideas.

This book was just an okay read. Although there were a few twists in it the story overall was quite predictable and did not keep me interested.

I am in charge of the senior library and work with a group of Reading Ambassadors from 16-18 to ensure that our boarding school library is modernised and meets the need of both our senior students and staff. It has been great to have the chance to talk about these books with our seniors and discuss what they want and need on their shelves. I was drawn to his book because I thought it would be something different from the usual school library fare and draw the students in with a tempting storyline and lots to discuss. 
This book was a really enjoyable read with strong characters and a real sense of time and place. I enjoyed the ways that it maintained a cracking pace that kept me turning its pages and ensured that I had much to discuss with them after finishing. It was not only a lively and enjoyable novel but had lots of contemporary themes for our book group to pick up and spend hours discussing too.
I think it's important to choose books that interest as well as challenge our students and I can see this book being very popular with students and staff alike; this will be an excellent purchase as it has everything that we look for in a great read - a tempting premise, fantastic characters and a plot that keeps you gripped until you close its final page.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I cannot believe I missed giving feedback for this book before this! I wish Netgalley had a way to alert me if the book is about to be released and I haven't reviewed it. This book has such a great premise! All of these neighbors know each other and hang out! But do they actually know each other??? The book started out great, but then I started to lose interest, but I'm not sure why. I liked the cooking descriptions and the writing itself is great, but I'm not sure I connected with any of the characters.

Wow! This book is full of twists and turns, deceit and truths, love and hate and murder! This is my first book by this author and it was okay but there is so much to remember with who did what with whom and why that you get so tangled up you don't know if you're up or down. I'm sure there are others out there that will love it. Enjoy! 📚

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book. It is so interesting to see how thin people's connections to each other are when something terrible happens. Cowie constructs a web that you can't quite figure out and I loved every page of it.

A good domestic drama/thriller that's full of secrets and suspense. I'm not sure I'd want to live on Raven Lane, with so much of this going on! I found it a bit slow at times but it held my interest despite this. I'll look out for more from the author in the future.

This is a brilliant read.
Wonderful well written plot and story line that had me engaged from the start.
Love the well fleshed out characters and found them believable.
Great suspense and action with wonderful world building.
Can't wait to read what the author brings out next.
Recommend reading.

I was provided an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.  This is my own honest voluntary review.

Amber Cowie’s Raven Lane is a suspenseful domestic drama with a splash of neighborhood noir that kept me glued to the book until the very last page. A story about the secrets that we try to hide, but that always eventually come to light. Dark, character-driven, and addictive!

There were so many juicy and salacious secrets that came out in this story! Amber Cowie really delivered a suspenseful book filled with dark pasts and hidden truths. I would call this more of a character-study than an outright psychological thriller, though there are certainly some twists. Primarily, though, this is a story fueled by the character development more than the action. And I loved it!

Raven Lane is fascinating. A close-knit cul-de-sac who is heavily involved in the status of those who can move in. Former model Benedict and his wife who owns a highly regarded restaurant are instantly accepted into Raven Lane. But when Benedict hits novelist Torn Grace with his car, things begin to unravel. And it isn’t long before secrets start to come out, tearing apart the people in this tiny cul-de-sac.

I don’t want to spill much about the secrets, that is the best part of reading this book! I will say this—I definitely wouldn’t want to live in this cul-de-sac. These people have a lot of baggage and are a bit too involved with one another! But I certainly enjoyed grabbing my popcorn and learning all of the juicy, sordid details of this group who are quite frankly closer than neighbors should be!

A fantastic domestic drama that has made me a fan of Amber Cowie!

Thank you to Lake Union for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Secrets and lies galore! This book was really fun! I didn't really care for the characters, but I like it that way too lol.  Well written and a few good surprises!

Engrossing novel! The story has interconnected characters and a plot that involves all of them. The story is about a neighborhood and the people and the families who live there. They know each other and even attend parties together. One night this will all change when one of them is killed by another in a terrible accident. Then the secrets come out. Huge secrets and surprises throughout the whole story!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc to this book!

I actually started reading this LAST YEAR… and during the time I was “reading” the book on the kindle, I didn’t use my kindle at all. I was in a reading funk for some of that time and I think I just hadn’t been invested enough in this book to finish it when I had started it. With that being said, I decided to pick this back up and ended up reading the majority of this novel in the past week.

The story surrounds a tightly knit group of adult neighbors. The main character’s husband ends up backing his car into one of the other neighbors who was on his bike and not wearing a helmet. As the tale continues to unwind, you find that he may have had a motive to see him gone and perhaps others did too. The characters had well developed back stories and chemistry and once I got into it, I did find the story compelling.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

The idea of this book is great. There’s a small cul-de-sac of friends harboring  secrets from each other. Those secrets come to light when one of the people are killed by their own and everyone is investigated and exposed.

The book started out great and then took a turn towards the weird. So many issues were brought up that it was hard to keep track of everyone, who they were hooking up with and what else they were hiding.

This book was weird and not in a good way. It tried. It had the bones of a good story and kept me reading excitedly for the first 1/4 of the pages, but then it waned. I kept wanting and waiting for something exciting beyond these neighborhoods emotionally dramas and unexplained lusting for each other. Even a supernatural force explaining all this weirdness would have helped, but no help ever came. This book was not the best, but it was not bad either. It was ok.

This had been on my kindle forever....I finally got round to reading it and loved it! What a great storyline and a great ending :)

The premise of this book is great; a small cul-de-sac of friends all harbouring secrets from one another. Those secrets come to light when one of the residents is hit by a car and the police start to investigate.

Whilst the book started strong I felt it did fade in storyline. I had such high hopes. The characters didn't hold much appeal, but I don't think they were meant to and by the end I didn't really care for them. The plot dragged a little towards the centre and I found thing a little far-fetched. With an unorthodox ending, this book showed that we never really do know what goes on inside our neighbours homes.

That's not to say I didn't like this book, it just wasn't the best I have read either.