She was a fab thriller, I’ve not read anything before by HC Warner but I will be looking out in the future for more.
Ben has split from longtime girlfriend, Charlotte, and very quickly meets Bella, and very quickly his life changes more than he ever thought possible. Within months they are living together, pregnant and married, it’s definitely a whirlwind romance but are things as loved up as the couple want you to believe? The first part is told from bens POV and the second is from Bella’s, this works really well as you get to know the characters really well.
This book was very well written with a lot happening on what seemed to be every page, there are a lot of intricately twisted secrets and lies that spiral out of control. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end and flew through the pages.
I would like to thank Netgalley and HQ for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Loved this book!

Psychological thriller which was both very subtle yet very direct. Great anticipation levels throughout. Wondering where this was going to go, the first third of the book is a story told from the viewpoint of one of the main characters...interesting enough but, from that point, the same story is repeated from the viewpoint of the other main character...mindblowing revelations...and from this point I was totally hooked! Don't want to spoil anybody's enjoyment, so not going into storyline, however it is a very worthwhile addition to your book pile if you like a well written, suspenseful thriller...few nice twists throughout too!

Brilliant escapism that I could not put down as it kept you gripped all the way through until the end, the characters were brilliant as was the writing. This was an easy 5-star read that I loved.

Wow! What a book. I started this last night when I got into bed.....and finished it the early hours of the morning. I couldn’t put it down. This is an excellent read that keeps the reader completely gripped. Told from Bens perspective first followed by Bellas. Parts of this were repetitive but absolutely needed to be to tell the story.

There’s so much I want to say but don’t want to give spoilers. I need my friends to read this now so I can talk about it. Absolutely amazing book dealing with some sensitive subjects.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the ARC in return for an honest and unbiased opinion.

This was a fantastic book to read, so twisty which is what I love about these types of books. It gripped me from the word go right up until the very last page and I really didn’t know how it was going to end.
Yet again another new author discovered thanks to NetGalley, without whom I probably wouldn’t have picked this book up until might later and maybe not at all.
This book is definitely a must read for fans of thrilling books with a twisty feel to it.
My thanks goes to NetGalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This was such a great marketing gimmick it sucked me in a treat. But with great gimmicks you also need a great story to back it up. Fortunately this has all that and more.

The first part is told from Ben’s perspective and introduces us to all his family and friends. Ben is an all round ” nice guy” who is feeling low after his girlfriend Charlotte gets the commitment wobbles and decides she needs space. Out for a drink with his best friend Matt he meets Bella and a very quick relationship develops. As controlling relationships go she slowly starts to cut him off from his family and friends and Ben is walking on eggshells around her erratic behaviour.

Then you turn it over and get to Part Two told from Bella’s perspective. What a shock and a revelation that was. Bella is very high on my list of favourite characters. She is evil, manipulative, clever and twisted. I love women like that in books.

The author has really highlighted domestic abuse and the subtle forms it can start with. To also make the abuser female and show how deviously she used her looks and female charms to get away with it while also blaming hormones was a refreshing change.

One warning do not start this book unless you have time to finish it as it’s so deliciously gripping you won’t be able to put it down.

I loved this book and it definitely keeps you gripped. A new author for me to look out for.
Thoroughly recommended.

Wow , wow , wow , loved this book . Right up my street . I couldn’t put this down from start to finish, loved the characters even the evil one . It was a harrowing read at times but that’s life and what really does happen in the real world . I’m pleased with the ending ,I was so involved with the characters im glad the ending was as I’d hoped. I will be reading more from this author

I actually really liked this book. It turned the tale of emotional and physical abuse on its head and made the female the villain. The story was well written and the twists I did not expect. A good quick read.

A book that puts the norm of the male being the psychotic one or the negative character in a story. This had me on the edge of my seat. Ben, after experiencing a really bad break up, meets Bella and gets swept along into a relationship. Before long he finds himself living a in a nightmare he can't escape and his family crumbling around him. Enjoyed this and found the authors characters well developed and likeable...exept Bella, I say now more! Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me an ARC in order for me to write this review.

This is a dark and twisted thriller showing just how far someone is willing to go to get what they want. The main character Bella has got to be every mother's nightmare for her son! She's beautiful but brutal, and incredibly manipulative. As the story progresses you can't believe the lengths she'll go too, and the people she's willing to hurt, just to get her own way. It's an addictive read.

Ben was shattered when his long term girlfriend broke up with him. She got on so well with his friends & family & he'd imagined that it was happy ever after. Meeting the beautiful Bella raises his spirits. When she reveals she's pregnant very soon after they get together, it is a surprise. However Ben is a good guy & before you know it the pair are married. It is not long before Ben's family & friends are firmly edged out of the picture. Bella want him all to himself & gets very angry when she doesn't get her own way.

The second part of the book is the events from Bella's point of view. There is a lot of repetition from part one but I found it quite interesting from another perspective so it didn't really bother me. Ben's life deteriorates rapidly. At times I did feel he was a bit of a wimp, but as I said he was one of the good guys. Bella on the other hand was one of the nastiest characters I've met in a while!

This was a fantastic read & I just couldn't put it down. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this five star book.

SHE tells the story of 30-year-old advertising executive, Ben, who is still devastated by the fairly recent split from his girlfriend of 12 years, Charlotte. While having a drink after work one evening with his oldest and closest friend, Matt, he meets the gorgeous, stunning and perfect Bella and though he doesn’t realise it, it’s the start of a nightmare for Ben, his family and friends!

Ben finds Bella irresistible – she is beautiful, head turning, intelligent and he is completely mesmerised by her. He is immediately smitten and he is surprised and pleased that she seems to feel the same way. Bella moves in with him straightaway and their relationship progresses at a whirlwind pace.

Told in several parts, we first learn about events of the past few months from Ben’s point of view, then we get Bella’s take on things and it’s intriguing – and chilling in Bella’s case – to see how they both interpret events and what they’re each thinking. It’s a little bit repetitive but helps us to understand Bella’s behaviour.

Bella is an amazing character – she’s awful, horrible and nasty but strangely compelling! She treats Ben so badly but he can’t resist her despite her controlling and manipulative behaviour. She regularly lies to Ben, is possessive and domineering and punishes him in all sorts of ways whenever she considers he’s done something wrong. She’s so selfish and passive aggressive and everything is about her and she can be quite woe as me and hard done by too. Bella wants Ben all to herself and alienates him from everyone else. This is such a chilling story of the worst relationship you can imagine!

I don’t want to say too much about the plot but the consequences of their relationship and Bella’s actions have far-reaching consequences for all connected with Ben and she has a devastating affect on his whole family and closest friends.

I was completely enthralled and horrified by this twisted and twisty book and found it really engaging and gripping. I thought it was well written and cleverly plotted and the characters are well drawn. It was terrible how beaten Ben became – a shadow of his former self – as he was unable or unwilling to stand up to Bella’s abuse for various reasons.

I really enjoyed this dark, tense, suspenseful psychological thriller and raced through it in a few hours! I couldn’t put it down and was frantically turning the pages to see if Bella got her comeuppance or if she was going to destroy everyone! I definitely recommend SHE, the author’s first psychological thriller, and look forward to reading more of her books.

My mother had a saying that you’re alright until your family starts mixing with other folks’ families! I guess that saying is taken to the absolute extreme in She.

Ben meets beautiful Bella in a bar whilst he’s out with his best mate, Matt. Ben has just come out of a long term relationship and right from the start he feels an irresistible attraction towards Bella and is very quickly besotted by her charm and irresistible beauty. Their relationship develops at a rapid speed and before long Ben and Bella are fully committed to each other. However, all is not well in this romantic paradise and it soon becomes obvious that Bella isn’t quite as charming as she first appeared.

The story moves along really quickly and there’s definitely a temptation to read faster and faster as it becomes impossible to put the book down for more than a few minutes. The author has done a great job of making beautiful Bella both irresistible, and obnoxious, and I particularly enjoyed reading the second part of the novel which gives us the story from Bella’s point of view, reiterating Ben’s version of events, but cleverly adding Bella’s chilling perspective on their life together.

She is a beautifully written psychological suspense story with some fabulous twists and turns and is absolutely stuffed full of fascinating characters who you love to hate one minute, and then sympathise with the next! Although, to be honest, Bella is totally unlikable all the way through!

She is one of those 'reads in a day' kind of novels, so, set side a time when you have absolutely nothing planned and no reason to leave the room except for tea and biscuits and let this dark domestic noir entertain you from start to finish.

I’m struggling to find anything negative to say about ‘She’ - it had me gripped from the first page.

Great storyline - works the switching perspectives narrative beautifully by having most of the first 3rd of the book narrated by Ben. Recently jilted by his long term girlfriend, he falls into an intense relationship with the very beautiful Bella, who he meets in a bar. The relationship is complex in many ways, some of which not even Ben is privy to as we learn from Bella’s narrative. We learn early on that she is the villain in the piece so to hear her story is a bit different and really works!

Can’t say much more without a spoiler alert so I’ll just say that it has twists galore, is well-written, easy to read and thoroughly entertaining. Awarding this one five stars is a no-brainer!

My thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for an advance copy of this work in exchange for an honest review.

She’s everything he dreamed of. Isn’t she?Ben can’t believe his luck when Bella walks into his life, just when he needs her most. Sexy, impulsive and intelligent, Bella is everything he ever wanted. And Bella wants him. All to herself.

In fact, Bella decides that everything is better when it is just the two of them, making it harder for Ben’s friends and family to stay in touch. And then a sudden tragedy triggers a chain of events which throws Ben headlong into a nightmare.

I really enjoyed She by HC Warner, a new author to me. The book follows the story of Ben and Bella and covers themes of controlling and narcissistic behaviour and essentially a toxic relationship. The book is split into two halves with the story told from Ben’s point of view at first, then switching to Bella’s narrative. This meant that the second half of the book was a bit repetitive as it went over the same grounds and events, albeit from a different point of view. Overall, this was fast paced with a few big twists and steadily built up to an explosive ending. A solid crime thriller.

Thank you to the publisher and Net Galley for an advance copy of this book in return for my honest opinion. I am also sharing this review on Goodreads and have recommended this book to friends.

Creepy and unsettling from the very start. I woke up at 7am to finish it!
Really well-written with believable characters. Look forward to more by this author.

My thanks to HQ for an eARC via NetGalley of ‘She’ by HC Warner in exchange for an honest review. It was published as an ebook on 1 January and will be out in paperback on 23 January.

Once I started reading this I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a single sitting. I won’t say too much about the plot in order to avoid spoilers and would strongly suggest that it is best read ‘cold’.

Very briefly it features Ben, a successful London-based advertising executive, who has recently been dumped by his girlfriend of twelve years. He’s not in a great place but then Bella enters his life. She is sexy, spontaneous and intelligent, and it seems that Bella is everything he ever wanted. And Bella wants Ben in return - all to herself....

I have read any number of domestic/psychological thrillers that have featured controlling men so this proved an interesting twist on the premise of the manipulative partner.

Again, I am cautious about revealing too much. All I will say is that this was a brilliantly executed domestic noir that proved very satisfying and was a highly engaging page turner.

This is H.C. Warner’s fifth novel though this was her first foray into the darker territory of the domestic noir/psychological thriller. I hope that it won’t be her last given how compelling and twisty this was.

Feedback not included on commercial reviews: Kudos to the cover designers as initially when I looked at the cover I saw two metallic-faced black and red robed figures standing in front of podiums in a winter setting as one might find in a SF novel about artificial intelligences. I then realised that this was an optical illusion and the cover showed a pair of high heels!

This book is a total page turner, one I didn't want to put down until it was finished!

Ben's long term relationship with Charlotte has recently came to an end and then he meets the stunningly beautiful Bella and everything just clicks into place .. she's perfect .... isn't she? So why is she alienating Ben from his friends and family?

I can't really say much else about this book without spoilers and this is definitely a book that should be read without knowing what's coming!

I liked how the story for the first part of the book is told by Ben and then switches to Bella's account of things. Both characters are written well as is the way the author deals with the subject of domestic abuse and coercive control showing it can happen to anyone.

It's deliciously dark and at times disturbing with a shocking twist.

Thanks to Netgalley and HQ for the ARC.

She by HC Warner is a 4 star read.
Ben has just come out of a long term relationship and is feeling pretty sad about it when he meets Bella in a bar and falls in love with her instantly, their relationship moves along very quickly with Bella falling pregnant and then getting married within the first few months. All of Ben’s family and friends are happy at first until they start to see less and less of him and start to worry over Bella’s controlling ways.
The author draws you in from the first page, I couldn’t put the book down until I’d finished it I just needed to see how it ended.
I voluntarily reviewed an advanced copy of this book through Netgalley.