Cover Image: Date Night

Date Night

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Member Reviews

Exciting, Suspenseful, & Thrilling. A great story with a lot of twists & turns; that keeps you guessing.. Will highly recommend to others

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There’s nothing worse than when you’ve been married for quite a few years thinking your marriage is pretty solid and secure, and then one day everything changes to make you wonder was your entire marriage a lie!

Libby was a great caterer and her husband a veterinarian. They shared a four-year old daughter, Alice. Life was really good for them. Both were living their best lives, until one morning when Libby found a note attached to her car windshield that changed everything. The note read, “your husband is cheating on you.” Hmm, was this some teen prank? Possibly a disgruntled employee trying to get even with her husband, Sean?

No matter how hard Libby tried to erase those words from her mind, they were forever burned in her memory bank! She called a good friend to discuss the note and what she should do about it? Of course, her girlfriend told her she shouldn’t worry about it because she and Sean had a great marriage and neither of them had cheated on each other before, and why would she want to rock the boat now?

She chewed on the advice her friend gave her, but no matter what, at the end of the day, she could not peacefully digest what the note said. So, what does Libby do? She places the note away for safe keeping and decides to confront Sean. Of course, Sean flat out denied an affair and told his wife she was being silly for even thinking he’d do such a thing.

Even though Sean denied the affair, Libby wasn't one hundred percent convinced. But, despite her misgivings about the whole thing, they decide that what they need was a good night out. A date night to be exact. They call seventeen-year old Sasha, their babysitter, to come over to watch Alice while the two wannabe love birds patch things up. When they arrive at the restaurant, everything was going smoothly until Sean’s phone began blowing up. Umm hmm, there it is! His lover is texting him while he’s having a supposed romantic date night out with his wife. Well, Libby had had it! That was the final damn straw that broke the camel’s back. Enough was enough, or was it?

The couple leave the restaurant early and head home to find that Sasha had all but disappeared and left four-year old Alice alone to her own devices, and that, readers, is where this story gets sick and twisted even farther.

Holy cow, Batman! Talk about a story with twists and turns? My goodness, I had no idea where this story was going to lead me. My mind was whirling all over the place, but I’m happy to say, I managed to figure out a couple of things along the way, but the ending did come as a surprise. Overall, I felt the story line was strong and managed to keep my interest, but at the same time, I felt the story dragged on too long and could have ended much sooner than it had. Many times, I felt myself yelling at my Kindle, “enough already, let’s get to it!” As my readers know, I like to get right down to it and I do not like when stories tend to drag on and on, but I realize that is the style some writers tend to use. Unfortunately, I’m not a fan of that, but having said that, this was still a damn good book though!

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You can never go wrong with a book by this author! When Libby receives a note on her car’s windshield that her husband is having an affair the message couldn’t be clearer. And so begins Date Night where she and her husband try to work through some of their issues. But this is just the start of their issues because when they arrive home the babysitter is missing. Gone. As the investigation grows Libby finds herself arrested and pleading to be believed. Will anyone listen? Told from the Present Day to the weeks leading up to the penultimate ending this book will have you racing to the finish to find out what happens next. Special thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for my ARC.

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Based on the synopsis I knew this book would be right up my alley! Date Night is a psychological thriller with so much suspense. It’s fast paced and exciting.

I was immediately sucked in, then the plot took a little while to build up, but I still felt the tension and suspense that I have come to love from this genre.

I definitely recommend this one!

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Wow! I was not expecting this book to be so unique and so intense. From the very start to the very end it kept me hooked. There are so many twists and turns that you can never see coming. This book had every element that makes a book exceptional from well developed characters to an amazing plot to maximum suspense. I highly recommend this book.
Just wait until you find out what really happened to Sasha and why.

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Don't let the title fool you- Date Night is not a rom com! It's a psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns.

I liked the small village setting and the layers of mysteries that spanned generations. I did not see parts of the ending coming at all, which is always great with a thriller!

I did struggle a bit with Libby- I normally like unreliable narrators but I found her a little annoying throughout the story and wanted to shake some sense into her!

This is my first read by Samantha Hayes and I look forward to reading more.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5 rounded up to 4

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book. I give this book three stars because I was into it but felt a bit jumbled as I read. Between the different timelines and the scattered memories of Libby I was a little confused. I read to the end to find out what happened and then the ending was so random and unexpected that I’m not quite sure how to feel about it.

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This was a great book! Very fast paced and definitely a great read! I hope to read more from this Author soon.

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This book was a little frustrating, I think i couldn't relate to the characters and I couldn't understand why they were doing what they we doing. I didn't care for the characters, but the writing was fantastic, the writing kept me reading. I would try something else of this authors, just this plot line didn't work for me.

I was given this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book for an honest review.

This book is about trust in a marriage and the consequences of breaking that trust. This book is also about a marriage based on secrets and lies with catastrophic results for friends and family. Date night is a good read however I found it a bit waffely at times. I also found some discrepancies with the police investigation however I did not see the eventual outcome and it was a very clever plot.

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I was given this book to review by Netgalley for an honest review. Date night was a tougher read for me. There wasn’t anything wrong with it specifically that I can point out. It just felt like I’d read it already. It felt similar to many other mysteries I’ve read. I saw most of it coming. I’m going to try to be non-specific details. I knew who the murderer was and how it was covered up within the first 3 chapters. It made the rest of the book, pretty boring. I didn’t see the epilogue coming though. That was a nice little twist. Samantha Hayes was very descriptive and is a great writer. The book was captivating, and I was able to read it easily. I just needed a little more mystery.

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Libby, Sean and their 4 year old daughter Alice seem like the perfect little family, that is until Libby finds a note an anonymous note left on her car’s windscreen. Is her husband having an affair? Things take a sinister turn when the date night Libby has high hopes of is cut short and they return home to find Sasha, the babysitter, nowhere to be seen.

What follows is a psychological thriller that will lead you a merry dance as the plot moves one step forward and two steps back. However, Samantha Hayes had me turning those pages so fast trying to find out what happens that I thought the book would burst into flames.

The ending left me reeling!

Hypnotic!

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You have the perfect marriage until you get that note. You go on a date night which ends suddenly and come home to a nightmare.
Sasha the babysitter is missing . Alice is ok she’s fast asleep in bed.
But what happened had Sasha left of her own free will or has she been taken?
Libby starts to worry more about the note and she is falling apart.
Then Libby gets arrested for Sasha’s murder the nightmare is becoming real.
This book had me hooked from the start and the ending was far from what I imagined.
A fantastic book Samantha
Thanks Netgalley

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I struggled to finish this book. I don't understand women who won't face up to, or flat out go through her husband's things, if she believes he is having an affair! It is better to know the truth, get out of the situation, move on, before something worse happens! I am sorry, this type of woman drives me nuts!
I would not read it again! Thank you Netgalley!
carolintallahassee.com

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A solid psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns. This story focuses on a missing babysitter and the mystery surrounding her disappearance. The small village setting was very enjoyable to read about...I love scenes set in pubs and on farms. The characters were unreliable and well developed, I found myself questioning what was really true throughout the story (in a good way).

The title didn't seem to fit the story...there is a date night in the story but it's not the main focus of the plot.

Although I enjoyed this story, there wasn't anything special about it that will cause me to revisit it later and it seems like it will be a "forgettable" book.

I received an arc of this book from the publisher to review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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Samantha Hayes is an author I’ve highly rated in the past so I was delighted to have the opportunity to review an advance copy of ‘Date Night’. This is the story of Libby who finds herself arrested following the disappearance of her babysitter on a disastrous date night.

Until I finished this book I had forgotten how clever Samantha’s writing actually is - without giving the plot away I think it’s safe to say she uses smoke and mirrors to great effect - predictable it most definitely is not!

While I felt my attention wavered a little in the middle of the book, the ending packed enough punch to make it a worthwhile and highly enjoyable read overall.

Many thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for the pleasure of reading this book in exchange for an honest review.

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A great psychological thriller! Lots of twists and turns, and an amazingly tight plot line. Could not put it down.

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Another chilling, up all night read by Samantha Hayes. Well done. I enjoyed this one a lot of it was full of twists and turns and what the what moments. What started out as just a date night goes all twisted and psycho.
Its best not to give anything away on this book because the surprises are awaiting inside of it : - )
5 stars!
Thank you #Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review. Posting on Goodreads as well,

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I've read a number of books by this author, and Date Night was another winner! This one really kept me on my toes and guessing until the end. Recommended!

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Take your seats, get your popcorn & get comfortable ladies and gentlemen because the show is about to start! And you DEFINITELY don’t want to miss this one!

The opening Scene begins:

We see a woman in handcuffs being led into the back of a police car. She is shaking and nervous. The neighbors on the street are all standing outside their houses, staring as the woman they all know as Libby climbs into the back of the police car. She looks down at her hands. Their is dried blood on her fingernails. When they arrive at the police station Libby apologizes. She is sorry, she tells them for being nervous. It’s just that she has never been arrested before. Especially for MURDER.

Cut to the next scene. We have gone back in time:

After finding a note on her car saying Libby’s husband is having an affair, and an explosive fight between Libby and her husband Sean, they decide to make up. Sean swears to Libby he isn’t having an affair. Libby WANTS to believe he is telling her the truth. They decide to go out on a date night to try to reconnect and put the fight and the note behind them. They get dressed up and call their regular babysitter Sasha, a college student who regularly babysits for Libby and Sean’s daughter Alice.

Alice arrives while Sean is in the kitchen, Libby comes downstairs, greets Sasha, talks to her for a little and tells her she put a plate for her to have for dinner on a plate in the fridge. Libby tells Sasha they won’t be home too late. Sasha seems upset or distracted for some reason. Libby asks if she is ok. Sasha says “yes”, and Libby and Sean’s can has arrived to take them to dinner. They say goodbye to Sasha and Alice and walk out the door.

Libby is excited to have a dinner date night with Sean and get things back to normal. But Sean seems distracted. And why does Seans’s phone keep ringing? And who keeps texting him? He tells Libby it’s nothing, but refuses to show her his phone. She starts to have doubts again. Maybe he IS lying. He can’t be, right? But WHO keeps calling and texting him? And why is he being so secretive about it?

The dinner is cut short and Libby and Sean decide to go home early. Hopefully Alice is asleep. Libby thinks Sasha may not be happy they came home earlier than expected, but Libby will pay her for the full night she thinks. But when they walk in the door something isn’t right. Sasha’s backpack and school books are on the table where she left them sprawled out. But the contents of her backpack have been dumped out, like she was looking for something in a big hurry. Her cell phone is on the table. Alice is asleep in her bed. But Sasha is no where to be found. WHERE did she go? Why would she have left Alice there all alone, and why would she have left without her phone and her backpack? There is no sign of break in but NONE of this makes any sense.

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Hope you stop and refill your popcorn because it’s about to get REALLY good. Make sure you set aside a night to read this one, because if you are anything like me you will read this in one sitting!

I am someone who when I read, I am always trying to think 10 steps ahead of what is currently happening in the book to figure out what’s going on. Samantha Hayes had my head spinning, leaving on my toes, with twist after twist coming out of nowhere! I love books that I think I have figured out and can continue to leave me gasping out loud from shock after shock! And Date Night is definitely one of those books! You may think you have it figured out. But you will probably have to pick yourself up off the floor after falling out of your chair when you read the final crazy, shocking twist at the end! I LOVED this EXPLOSIVE, SHOCKING and CREATIVE ending!

If you are in a book slump, or looking for that fast read that is going to remind you exactly why you love to read, this is DEFINITELY the book to read! This one is on my top 10 books for the year, so don’t miss it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

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