3-4 stars

Jenna Morgan enjoys a night out with girlfriends and decides to take a shortcut home through a park. She hears a cry for help and finds a woman has been stabbed and so calls the emergency services and tries to help her as best she can. Her Good Samaritan gesture is hurled back at her as the following day the victim, Charlotte Copeland accuses Jenna of the attack. Why does she do this? Not only is this a nightmare in itself but it causes all of Jenna’s life over the last two decades to unravel. The story is told by Jenna in the past and present day.

This is a quick and easy read which is a bit of a slow burner to start with. However, the pace picks up and the story gets more intriguing and twisty. A lot of Jenna’s actions do not make sense until you get further into the book. The characters are not especially likeable and I particularly dislike Jenna’s husband Damien and his judgemental mother - you know the kind of woman I mean as she seems to permanently suck a lemon. There are some good, mysterious elements in the book, it’s clear that Jenna is hiding things, she isn’t upfront about what is happening either but Damien is acting suspiciously and this is puzzling. The conclusion is surprising, it’s not predictable but it’s maybe a bit convoluted.

Overall, this is an entertaining read with some good sections and I like the ‘what if’ premise.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

They say she’s guilty. She says she’s not. Who do you believe?


‘Help me! Help me, please!’

When Jenna hears the cry in the park one night, she feels she has no choice but to run and help. Cradling the injured woman in her arms, the attacker nowhere to be seen, all Jenna wants is to keep her alive until the ambulance arrives and for the ordeal to be over.

But the nightmare begins when the victim wakes up…

Jenna’s relief turns to horror when the finger is pointed at her. There must be some mistake: she’s never seen the woman before in her life, and Jenna tried to save her life. Why would she accuse Jenna of a crime she didn’t commit?

As the case against Jenna grows, her world starts to fall apart. Her teenage daughter is keeping secrets and her husband is growing more distant every day. To save her family and clear her name, Jenna has to prove she didn’t do it. But someone knows something Jenna did do. And they want to make her pay…

This was a fast paced and quick read for me. A real page turner to try and figure out what Jenna was hiding.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

This is a really suspenseful and fun book that has all the ingredients I love in a thriller. A nice girl just like me unjustly accused? Check. (Maybe.) Unreliable narrator? Check. (Maybe.) Creepy messages from an unknown stalker? (Yup.) Is my husband cheating and/or a crazy murderer? Or worse, is amnesia, mental illness, or something else at play here, and I'm actually the criminal? (Check, check...spooky.) All the necessary elements for a good domestic suspense novel right here. I for one always enjoy these elements if they are done well, and they are here.

I also really liked the premise of this book - that a Good Samaritan just trying to help an injured woman might end up being accused of the crime herself. This is something that could happen to anyone (well, in domestic suspense fictionland, at least!) and Jenkins is a great writer and does a great job making you identify with the heroine right from the start. Her journey, beginning as the witness who discovers a terrible crime, then ending up accused of being the assailant, is gripping and believable. Reading this made me legitimately afraid of what might happen to me in the same situation.

In a book like this the most important things to me are (1) gripping suspense throughout and (2) an author who doesn't blow the ending! Jenkins does a great job with both here. I had an idea whodunit from the beginning and was rewarded with a fun and dramatic reveal that subverted my expectations with a few other bombshells along the way. Jenkins is a creative and talented suspense writer to watch!

This book to me was the epitome of 'just ok.' The premise was interesting - Jenna saves a woman in the park who was stabbed, only for the woman to then tell the police that it was actually Jenna who stabbed her.

My main issue was that I just didn't connect with the main character. Jenna was going through a horrible time but I never felt much sympathy for her and I didn't have the heart in my mouth, hoping everything works out for her feeling that I would have in a really good book. I didn't feel like we really got to know any of the characters, they were all just kind of 'there' rather than seeming like real people with multi-faceted personalities.

As for the positives, I didn't expect the plot twist at all. I suspected just about everyone who was mentioned in the book at one point or another. The fact that there was so much backstory about when Jenna met her husband made me feel that he would be more involved in the mystery than he was.

This is a well-written book, it was just missing the emotional connection for me.

This book promises you a twist and it delivers.

Jenna walks home from a night out with her friends, while crossing through the park she hears a woman call for help. She rushes over and saves her. When she goes to visit her in the hospital the morning after a whole series of horrible events unfold.

Written from Jenna’s POV it’s a strong thriller. I expected the husband to be involved somehow, and later the daughter, but I didn’t see this coming. Jenna is a woman of many secrets and some are still a secret at the end of the book, and I don’t mind one bit. The bit of mystery that you are left with is nice. It’s a really easy to read and compelling thriller.

I'm torn on this. I mean, it was fine. The twist was a little unbelievable, but not so much that it made me mad. Ultimately, not much to say about it except...yep. It was alright.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this copy for review.

Wow a really chilling read a true page turner.Characters that come alive a story that kept me guessing.Looking forward to reading more by this author.#netgalley#bookouture.

This one was a good read. A woman, Jenna, decides to take a shortcut through the park one night and ends up finding a woman who just been stabbed. She calls an ambulance and does everything she can to save her life. The next day she visits her in the hospital, relieved that she pulled through. But instead of greeting her with thanks, the woman accuses her of being the perpetrator. At first, Jenna assumes the woman is simply confused because of the injury and blood loss, but as the her accusation lingers and more unlikely evidence against her shows up, Jenna realizes she is in serious trouble. But why in the world is the finger pointed at her?

It's an intriguing plot that pulls you in, as there must be more here than meets the eye. Her husband seems to withdraw from her just when she needs his support the most, and her teenage daughter, Lily, defies Jenna at every opportunity. Are they just processing their emotions differently, or does Jenna need to look closer to home to understand the accusation?

I enjoyed how this one played out, nothing contrived or cliche about it. A satisfying conclusion to a great whodunit!.

Genna takes a short cut through the park one night on the way home. She hears a woman calling for help and sees two people struggling. Genna comes to the woman's aid. Next thing she knows the woman she helped is accusing her of the attack. I found the authors style a little confusing in that she writes about when Genna met her husband with no warning that it isn't the current time. For me , it dragged a little mid book.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and Victoria Jenkins for the ARC.

I enjoyed this novel tremendously. The plot was well crafted and the characters were people I could relate to and empathize with. Definitely recommended.

Wow ,great book I couldn’t put down . I loved the characters and the writing style . Great psychological thriller , would make a great film . I will be reading more from this author again

Gripping and unputdownable. This has been a great read which has kept me guessing and I have found really difficult to put down.
I have loved the writing style, the characters and it has been clear that this is a highly talented author.
I have loved this one.

Fantastic book with twists I didn't see coming. Didn't want this one to finish.

Thanks to the publisher and net galley for an early release of this book.

The Accusation by Victoria Jenkins is another fast-paced, twisty read from an author who has become yet another must read for me. Set aside a few hours for this one as you won't want to put it down.

Jenna is taking a shortcut through the park one night when she hears the cries of a woman in distress. Acting as a good samaritan, and without a second thought, Jenna remains at the unknown woman's side until help arrives. But when the woman later wakes up, making unjustified and troubling accusations, Jenna finds herself having to defend her innocence. As Jenna's life begins to unravel, she must fight to maintain her innocence, while covering up a past that refuses to stay buried.

This is a quick and compelling read that kept me turning pages in a bid to unravel Jenna's secrets, and to deconstruct a mystery that was anything but predictable. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

What a twist cant trust anyone. Read this morning as book wasnt too long. Makes you wonder why people are so sceptical about helping strangers. Gave 4 stars as book wasnt long enough

Have you ever done something you didn’t really think about thoroughly and made a snap decision that ended in you being in a much bigger trouble than you should’ve been?
That if you just thought it through and actually had a mature conversation with the persons involved, everything will be just fine?

Well, this is something like that.
Only made more complicated by adding more people and more lies in a span of 16 years.
I was so invested in this book that I finished it in a few hours.
I wanted to change my opinion of the author as I had read one of her book before and I hated it.
I wanted this to be so much more as it has a promising premise.

Anyway, it’s not bad, it’s just lacking of a “woah-there” moment. And the main character isn’t appealing or pleasant enough for me to feel any sympathy. As well as her family.

So for me, it was just okay.
.
Thank you NetGalley, Bookotoure and the Author for the ARC of this book!

I enjoyed this - easy to read and done in an afternoon it was a little short!
Jenna comes to the aid of a stranger who has been violently attacked but within 24 hours, she is accused of being the attacker and her world has turned upside down! Clearly of course she is not an innocent bystander and some of how we got to this was a little far fetched.
On the whole it got the job done - a good thriller, well written and enjoyable.

This book was given to me by Netgalley in exchange of an honest review.

The Accusation started with a ‘what if’ idea – what if someone took a shortcut home, and that shortcut changed the course of their life? The idea of being falsely accused of a crime is something that has always fascinated me, and there are many famous cases of people having served sentences for crimes of which they were later acquitted. I have often wondered when reading about such cases – or watching dramas or documentaries – how such a person manages to move on with their life afterwards, and to what extent the stigma remains even after their innocence has been proven. In the case of The Accusation, the ‘what if’ ran to a further idea of ‘what if the person was innocent of the accusation made, but was guilty of something else?’

I have enjoyed the experience of being well and truly inside a character’s head – if I was Jenna, how would I react to the accusation? What would I tell my family? Would I confront my accuser? Jenna is not without her flaws. Relationships are at the heart of the story, and Jenna’s love for her family is the motivation for every decision she makes. Despite her ‘crime’, I believe she deserves a happy ending, and I hope this is where the author has left her.