This was a rather sexy and suspenseful read. Think the classic movie The Apartment meets a combo of Hitchcock and Highsmith.

The story opens with a prologue. Jean Smith has witnessed her neighbour in her flat having a loud, violent dispute which ends in a gunshot. We know someone is dead but we don’t know who.

Rewind 5 months and we follow Alice, in her late 20s. She’s inherited an apartment from an elderly woman she took care of. Alice may seem affluent but she’s not. Her life is full of ups and mostly down and lots of bad luck. It’s after much hustle she’s landed an intern at a publishing house under the editor of Mina. Mina is 40 years old, accomplished and married to a MP. Wealthy but the one thing she lacks is privacy. Her husband seems to have lost interest in her so Mina finds her daring to cheat and creates a fake account on a dating app. She just can’t seem to find a hotel where she can maintain her anonymity and have fun, until one evening when she’s out with Alice and it pours cats and dogs. Alice invites her boss to her central London flat and Mina proposes a plan - £1000 to borrow Alice’s flat for a night. This exchange sets into motion a chain of events that results in tragedy.

I highly enjoyed this one and devoured it in two hungry sitting. I found Alice to be a fascinating character. Her hardship, her struggles. I was rooting for her through and through. Even though she makes some poor decisions I understood her motivation and how desperate she felt.

Mina, on the other hand, was super annoying and really got on my nerves. A privileged and rude woman. I found her relationship with the MP and how it began bit confusing. Was the author trying to imply that Mina was groomed? It just didn’t make sense to me why he would divorce his then wife and marry someone so young when he didn’t really benefit from the marriage, especially if he’s maintaining a conservative image and not to mention Mina being working-class, he would have nothing to gain from it. I want to say more but want to refrain from giving spoilers so will stop. But there was something else that really niggled at me. It just felt Mina’s backstory was a bit too much plot and a bit out there.

I did find the pacing in the last quarter really goes into high gear and there was too much happening in the climax. I really disliked Mina and felt she didn’t get her comeuppance. She was vile to Alice and the way she stole credit for her work was infuriating to watch. I wanted to see Mina grovel a bit and make it up to Alice.

On the whole this was a gripping read with themes of class and privilege, and voyeurism. Parts of it were quite sexy and hot. The pacing was abit uneven at times though that doesn’t take away from it. This is my first Lily Samson book and now I just want to read her debut The Switch.

5🌟

I really enjoyed this book! Sexy, exciting and a lot of suspense!
Wasn’t really sure where it was heading and some very unexpected turn of events along the way!
Loved the ending (although weird) lol
I wasn’t sure if I liked or disliked Alice or Mina during the whole book as I wasn’t sure who was keeping secrets and who was telling the truth!
Thank you to Netgalley & Cornerstone for allowing me early access to this book in exchange for my honest review.

I have not enjoyed this book too much. I felt that it was all rather contrived and unbelievable. Some very strange characters......who has time to hang about outside a flat day after day at seemingly all hours of the day and night.. Not a good read for me.

I’m such a sucker for strong female characters, mystery, spice and men that I love to hate.

Lily Samson has got it all packed into this book. I love to clearly be able to read each chapter in that specific characters voice - there’s such a clear distinction and it makes the book a genuine pleasure to breeze through.

#WatchMeWatchYou #NetGalley
A fun read.
Alice’s life in London seems picture-perfect—until you scratch the surface. Struggling financially, she envies her wealthy boss, Mina, who is married to a high-profile MP and enjoys a life of luxury. When Mina makes Alice a tempting offer—loan her flat for just one night—it seems like easy money. But Alice has no idea what she’s agreeing to. Soon, Alice is entangled in a dangerous game of secrets, manipulation, and deceit. As the truth about Mina’s intentions unravels, Alice realizes she’s in way over her head. The question is: How far will she go to protect herself? And will she survive the fallout?
Overall, Watch Me Watch You is a gripping, fast-paced read that keeps you hooked from start to finish. It’s a story of power, manipulation, and the deadly cost of secrets.
Thanks to NetGalley and Random House UK Cornerstone Century for giving me an advance copy.

This book is fabulous! It will definitely be one of my favourite reads this year.
I loved Lily Samson’s first book, however this is even better. It’s the perfect psychological thriller and delivers plenty of twists throughout. It’s more than worthy of 5 stars!

What a brilliant, brilliant story!! This is a psychological thriller that is just a touch more risqué than most - it is utterly compelling and ridiculously hard to put down!

The story comes with its fair share of plot twists as it tells the tale of Alice, a 20something woman who has known hardship - amazingly despite living hand to mouth, she was the sole beneficiary of a 2 million pound apartment in an affluent London residence. Alice obtains a voluntary role in a publishing agency, and is instantly drawn to her boss, the beautiful and enigmatic Mina. An unlikely friendship develops between the 2 alongside the somewhat unusual arrangement whereby Mina pays for use of Alice’s apartment for her own covert uses. Unbeknownst to Mina, the flat comes with 1 or 2 secrets of its own! Thrown into the mix Alice’s stalker, on-off boyfriend and Mina’s politician of a husband and a great story unfolds!

I won’t say more for fear of providing plot spoilers- it is a book that needs to be read and can’t be recommended highly enough!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

I was so lucky to be able to meet Lily Samson when she was promoting her first book The Switch and I instantly loved it so I was thrilled when I saw she had a new book out. Watch Me Watch You is an excellent psychological thriller which honestly does mess with your mind as you are reading! So many times I tried to guess what was about to happen but there is no way I could have guessed some of the twists and turns throughout the book! Excellently written and addictive!

Having loved The Switch by Lily Samson, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her newest release. This book is even better! Absolutely recommend this twisted tale of a women’s friendship.

I enjoyed reading this tangled web of characters double-crossing each other and keeping secrets. The story is told in dual perspective by Alice and her boss, Mina. You know that the story is building up to an 'event' and the tension builds throughout the book until it all comes together at the end. I liked that as the reader we could never be sure of each character's motivations and it was fun to piece together who was behind what. My favourite characters were the birds! I'm glad they were still thriving at the end of the book, I will always deduct stars if the pets don't make it. My only criticism is that some sub plots were introduced and built up quite a bit, only to not go anywhere. Overall though, I enjoyed this book and would recommend it.

On the outside Alice appears to be one of those lucky girls..

But Alice is struggling financially and she's in a fix with seemingly no way out. Mina seems to have the answer and offers Alice her luxury flat for the night....

This is a twisty and unexpected thriller. I neither liked Alice or Mina but quite honestly I was hooked. It is a fascinating read and it was a one sit read for me I couldn't put it down..

Another twisty page-turner from Lily Samson. Just when I thought l'd worked everything out, another plot twist appeared. I read it in two nail-biting sittings as I didn't want to put it down.

It was fabulous grabs you at page one and never lets go. Prepare for a rollercoaster thriller with a twist that will leave you breathless!

Mina what a character that’s all I’ll say my mind is blown! A massive 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars from me!

While her life seems perfect on the surface, Alice is struggling privately - not least, financially. So when she is made an offer she can't refuse by a politician's wife, Mina's charisma convinces Alice that she has found an easy way out of her troubles.

But that turns out to be far from the truth. And the events of one night are about to change Alice's life forever...

This is an easy read, and an interesting story. Worth checking out if you like twisty thrillers, it gets 3.5 stars.