One Perfect Morning is the first book I’ve read by Pamela Crane and what a book! It follows the stories of Mackenzie, Lily and Robin, three college friends who’ve been friends for decades. This book has everything you could want: secrets; lies; murder, deceit all wrapped up in a novel that I found impossible to put down. Well written and each turn of the page leaving you wanting to keep reading. Thank you to NetGalley, Avon Books and the author for the chance to review.

A tense, complex story which draws you in from the start and takes you along on a rollercoaster of a ride. The friendship of the 3 main characters is key and all events spiral out from this. You feel for each of the main characters but we will all pick our favourite. The teenagers bring a whole new dimension to the friendship dynamic. Events from the past gain more importance as the story progresses.

This book is set in America and introduces us to three friends, Lily, Mackenzie and Robin and their families. The structure is familiar in that the action is in the present day and flashbacks to the 1990s where one particular event was a hidden secret that eventually touches their lives today.

First, let me say, I really enjoyed this book and as the hype says it is very similar to Big Little Lies inasmuch as it has that flavour and is full of surprises. But (why is there always a but?), it is a bit like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Three women, best of friends, relying on one another as a support system but we have three totally different personalities, Lilly the divorced, predatory woman who doesn’t want children; Robin the Southern beauty who is a stay at home mum with 4 children and Mac whose husband is uber controlling. Difficult to warm to any of them because they felt very contrived.

So, murder, rape, drug addiction, infidelity, debt, but I still enjoyed it, just had to suspend reality for a little while.

This review sounds very negative but it is a good read and I am sure it will be very successful.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

A husband is about to have his throat cut in his own bed. To find out who - and why - we need to go back nine days and twenty years.

Mackenzie, Robin and Lily met when they all went to the same college in Monroeville, Pennsylvania and twenty years later they're still the best of friends. When they first met they called themselves the Spicier Girls as a nod to the famous girl band of the day. Lily would be Adventure Spice, Robin the Homemaker and Mackenzie - well, Mackenzie would be the supporting actress in her own life. She married Owen, her college sweetheart and they have a daughter, Aria, who's now fifteen-year-old.

Robin Thompson is married to Grant, a paediatrician and they have four children. Well, I say they have four children, but the eldest child, Ryan, was born three years before they met and was the result of Robin being raped when she inadvisedly accepted a lift home from a casual acquaintance one snowy night. Grant's always seen Ryan as his son and they've never actually felt the need to explain the details of his conception to Ryan, who's now eighteen. In fact, it doesn't seem important until Mackenzie walks in on Ryan and her daughter Aria. They're drunk and having sex.

Aria's father, Owen Fischer, is controlling and violent to his wife behind closed doors. Eventually, Mackenzie has no option but to tell her husband what she saw. Predictably, he loses control and Owen is a loose cannon in such situations. Will he go to the police? This could mean that Ryan has to do gaol time and will lose all chance of a decent life. Will he be violent towards Ryan? Mackenzie knows that there's history in this area and now she's frightened. She's a southern gal, brought up by a controlling father and now married to a controlling husband, only Owen is not as well-disposed to Mackenzie as Mr Kirkland used to be.

The third friend is Lily and she was the leader of the group. She was married to Tony, but her addictions drove a wedge between them and Tony left a year ago. She hasn't given up hoping that he'll come back, but in the meantime, there's other sport to be had. Grant's sex life with Robin has been non-existent since the birth of Collette, eight months ago. Something always seems to come between them - usually a child. Lily's charms are really quite appealing in these circumstances.

If you look at the cover of One Perfect Morning and think that you're buying a light-hearted romance, think again. It's dark, it's twisty and it's thought-provoking, particularly on the subject of when a woman can give consent to having sex. I was intrigued as to who was going to die - and who would be the killer. There's no shortage of candidates for both positions. I didn't work out the who or the why and this part of the book was particularly satisfying.

I did struggle with the three women, though. I didn't find any of them particularly likeable and there's a distinct lack of honesty between them. Morality seems to be a moveable feast which can be adjusted according to circumstance. That's me being very picky.

It was a good read and I finished it rather more quickly than I expected. I'd like to thank the publishers for making a review copy available to the Bookbag.

I loved the synopsis of this book and really wanted to like it but I struggled to get in to it. So much so that it was the first book in a long time I could not finish.
I can see from the other reviews on NetGalley that I am in the minority with this book so it would be unfair of me to leave a negative review.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, One Perfect Morning didn't do much for me. It felt like I had read this kind of story many times before, and Crane's novel didn't bring anything new to the table. I didn't particularly like any of the women we follow, nor did I find them interesting. The book is also much more focused on the drama between the characters, and it is light on the mystery aspect, while I personally prefer the opposite.
That being said, I liked the ending, and the resolution was quite good overall. However, the book was definitely forgettable for me.

Unfortunately I have had to take the decision to stop reading this book. I thoroughly enjoy read psychological thrillers, however I feel that this book is too intense and is providing Ann uncomfortable read.
I really enjoyed the opening chapters to this book (a little explicit mind but a great opener) however as the novel progressed, I began to feel that each character had too many secrets and flaws to be considered as realistic.
I was originally hoping to figure out who killed the husband however, I feel that I have to figure out two rape scenes, why Robin is in loads of debt, why Lily wants Mackenzie to kill her husband and why Mackenzie ordered to kill someone. Considering I have acknowledged all of this and I am only 35% throug the novel I feel that this is completely unrealistic.
I feel that if everyone is unhappy as it seems, why they did not divorce their husbands? It is for this reason as to why I feel that this is unrealistic.

This is the first book I have had to stop reading whilst using netgalley due to its explicitness and the amount of drama. Because of the drama I have been unable to connect with any of the characters and have taken a disliking to them all.

I will not post a review on my book blog as I do not wish to discredit this book.

I do believe that there is good writing here, however the contents seems like it’s needs to be watered down and spread over as a potential series. Maybe a book for each character?

I will also add that there is a narrative issue in Chapter 15. It states that this point of view is Robins but states ‘my dorm where I had hoped Robin and Mackenzie had...’

I wish you the best with the publication of this book.

Compelling Neighborhood Noir......
Compelling neighborhood noir. Best friends, small neighborhood, seemingly perfect lives, big lies and big secrets - things are about to get very sinister indeed. Suspenseful and entertaining.

I loved this booked - it was a one-sitting read for me, I genuinely couldn’t put it down.

The characters were excellent, the threads of the story woven together brilliantly and the pace of the story kept you guessing.

If I had a small criticism then the ending/last few entries weren’t as smooth & seamless as the rest of the book, but I still enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend.

Thank you Netgalley

A twisted and sadistic psychological thriller. A multi layered story which had me gripped from page one.
I LOVED the main characters who were well fleshed out and so believable. Three women who have been friends since school and one of their husband's is dead. A really good murder mystery and so much more. So many twists and turns and secrets and lies. Another fantastic read from this author.
Thanks to Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the ARC

Lots of twists and turns in this book, thoroughly enjoyed it. This was also a new author to me, I will look at her other novels with interest.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

I'd go as far as saying I enjoyed this book but it didnt excite me like I was expecting after reading the blurb.

Written in three alternative narratives, plus the odd input of a spouse or child, it was well paced but confusing at times (too many times for me in all honesty).

The characters didnt overly do it for me, I couldnt quite gel with any of them which proved tricky in the middle section because it made me question their actions and choices they made.

I think maybe there was just TOO much going on in my personal opinion, which added to the unease of following.

A very twisty read that did definitely keep me guessing throughout but I've got to say that even though the ending was brilliantly written and tied up beautifully it just felt so rushed, it literally went from 0-100 in seconds and then it was all over.

Definitely a mixed review! Alot to like and some to dislike.

Thanks to netgalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC.

This is the story of three American women and their tangled lives. There's a lot going on, with husbands, partners and growing up kids and how they interweave.
The women know each other from their college days and they have history and secrets. The writing is good but, unfortunately, I kept getting the women mixed up. Maybe I wasn't concentrating, or maybe they simply didn't grab me enough to keep my interest? Though plenty of different events befell each woman, their actual characters were a bit too similar for me and in the end I didn't really like any of them.
There was so much going on it was sometimes difficult to keep hold of it all - rape, affairs, violence, deception, abuse, drugs - it was all in there. Kudos to the author for cramming it in and I really wanted to like the story but I felt less might have been better...

A nicely paced story following a group of school friends as they cruise closer to their forties. Interesting plots within. Though I did feel certain characters lacked a bit of vavavoom. There is a situation where one of the characters goes on a blind date, I can't really say too much. But I would have felt a whole lot better if the situation exploded into something more than the damp squib it actually ended up being. A little bit disappointed there.
Also the twist at the end where a new character comes into the frame. Once again, I don't want to give it away, but it just doesn't add up that certain people get away with what they did, if that was real life, which I do think Pamela, the author was trying to show the suffering of certain females within society. Well observed of course, especially the chapters that point to when they were at school, quite icy and frightening, worth the read just for them. But how the police investigate something and the outcome, with so much circumstantial evidence, I don't think it would have gone the way it did at all.
Also, too many characters seemed far too forgiving, and unhurt from situations. Maybe the author was looking for a quick happy ending, didn't work for me.
I think Pamela Crane has the potential of something a hell of a lot more spine chilling, vindictive, colder, and darker than this. I also think it would be a top seller too, I would love to see how she writes in a slightly more gloomy, lost and hopeless style.
I enjoyed the book, it was a romp, but I think it was way to quickly wound up at the end, and not wound up the way it should've been. Pace throughout was good, keep it going..
Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for the ARC.

This story follows the lives of three college friends – Robin, Lily and Mackenzie. Although there are flashbacks to their college days the story is focused on them as adults. Mackenzie is married with a daughter; Robin has four children of varying ages and Lily is divorced without children. They all live in the same neighbourhood and are still best friends. There are parts of the book which I liked, but I struggled with it mainly because I found the main characters so unlikeable. Lily in particular comes across as shallow and needy. Mackenzie comes across as weak and her husband is despicable. Even Robin who seems to be the most normal has a problem with money, so I failed to really warm to any of the main characters. The other thing I failed to understand is that they all seemed to need to tell other people things which would probably be better left unsaid. Mackenzie in particular tells her husband about something that she must have known would cause huge repercussions for everyone involved. I felt that she would have been unlikely to have done this knowing his volatile nature. Overall it did have a plot which had a few twists and turns and kept me reading to find out what happened but it failed to keep me as engrossed as I would have liked. Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this book

This is my first pamela crane book. I enjoyed the story and it shows the story between 3 lifelong friends and different obstacles they all have to face in their personal life. Full of twists and turns, a cery enjoyable read

Another brilliant book by Pamela Crane, excellent characterisation and storyline. Gripped from the start, I didn't want to put it down, but at the same time I couldn't wait to finish it. The books Pamela creates are truly masterpieces. Highly recommended.

This book helped get me out of a reading slump.
One Perfect Morning by Pamela Crane, a group of three life-long friends who are tangled together through a web of deceit, secret and lies. As the story unfolds the secrets along with their friendships unravel and cracks begin to show. Lies come to the surface effecting not just their friendships, but marriages, family dynamics and work in this suspenseful story where not everything is as it seems behind closed doors. I really enjoyed this one and stayed up late until I had finished as I needed to know how it was going to end.

This will be my first ever review of a book and my first ever read of anything from pamela crane.
I'd firstly like to thank the author for making this available to read and review before publishing.

I liked the way you read from a first person perspecitve and how the story intertwined effortlessly throughout all characters, without repeating too much.
I felt alot more connected with the characters this way.
The story itself was more about the lives of the characters and how they'd grown up together. For me there wasn't a big twist and the story didnt twist and turn like the usual books I'm used to reading but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.
I enjoyed it enough to recommend it to a few friends and I've looked into reading some of her other titles.

I never read this author but enjoyed every minute of it. The twist and turns.

I will certainly b looking at more books by pamela