The title and attractive cover art kept nudging me to pick it for my next read, and so I did. I enjoyed the first few chapters, being introduced to down-on-her- luck Samantha, nickname Sam. Description was well done and Sam’s character was beginning to be fleshed out. Frustrations and past conflicts were unfolding. But then Sam reconnects with her old college roommate and one-time good friend Erin, and the characterizations of Erin, and especially her husband David, felt vague and flat. I’ll give credit to author Rowney for taking the friends to a classy resort setting in Aruba; but description of the women’s’ seminar Erin presented felt contrived. The dialogue was often repetitive, but didn’t help the story’s tension or progress. For me, the story truly falls apart when Erin suddenly disappears, The actions and motivations are questionable, and later when explanations that seemed intended as plot twists are offered, they don’t seem credible or well explained.

Wish You Were Her had such an intriguing premise, and I really wanted to love it—but it just didn’t quite land for me. I was immediately drawn in by the beautiful cover art as well as the description of the story with its themes of ambition, betrayal, and manipulation. The book follows Sam and Erin, once close friends and co-founders of a successful wellness brand until a betrayal splits them apart. What follows is a psychological back-and-forth full of secrets, lies, and a mysterious "framework" that’s supposedly life-changing. The writing was quick and easy to fly through but it felt repetitive, which made the plot drag. Yes, there was tension in the story, but somehow I just didn’t feel much actual suspense. Moreover, the psychological sparring match in the last few chapters was more exhausting than exciting, and I couldn’t connect with any of the characters enough to care who "won." Overall, the pacing felt off, the “framework” was more confusing than profound, and the whole thing just didn’t live up to its potential.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Wish You Were Her by J.E. Rowney is a psychological thriller that started out strong but in the end just did not quite work for me.
Down on her luck Samantha is mortified when she accidentally likes a social media post from a former friend that she had not spoken to in years following a falling out but her snooping results in her old friend not only getting in contact but offering Sam a place to stay for a few weeks while she gets her head together and figures out what to do next. The fact that it is a tropical beach side resort is just the cherry on the cake
Erin has built a hugely successful career in personal coaching and development but sometimes finds the success a little overwhelming so the chance to reconnect with her old friend Samantha seems like the perfect chance to get back to her roots, but does she have ulterior motives for her kind offer to fly her to Aruba? Of course she does!
The concept of a betrayed friendship was probably the best thing about this book, the characters were poorly fleshed out and not very credible, making it difficult to connect with them or care about their story and the pacing felt all over the place with the ending feeling very rushed in comparison to the rest of the book. Erin's motivation for her actions never rang true and that is why the book fell apart for me in the final chapters.
I read an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

Wish You Were Her - J.E. Rowney

Umm 🤔 it definitely wasn’t the worst read ever, I guess. It started off really well, then towards the last part of the book the paragraphs were repeated & re-phrased several times over. And what was that ending all about? Rushed? This book could have been so much better.

I can't recommend it enough! I really enjoyed this book, I couldn't put it down, I finished it in a couple of days!

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

When Samantha is left on her own, her old life in the distance, she is crumbling in her cheap motel room, when she accidently likes a photo on instagram. Little did she know that this accident was going to change her life and reconnect her with her college friend. As we quickly learn, this college friend had taken so much from Samantha, including her philosophy that Erin has now made millions off of. Samantha is skeptical at first with Erin bringing her in, and neither addressing their past. But Samantha is at such a low point that she agrees to tag on along with Erin on her retreat. On the retreat Erin suddenly disappears leaving Erin to pick the pieces...

A twisty thriller in the style of something like Girl on the Train, though it remains less convincing than some in its unfolding. I wish it were more clear whether the author was praising the greedy, posing lifestyle of a self-help guru or longingly wishing to experience it. A tad repetitive and unfortunately marketed with an encouragement for those seeking "actual psychology" that "respects your intelligence."

Wish You Were Her by J.E. Rowney is a slow burn psychological suspense novel that centers around friends Erin and Samantha. Samantha's life is falling apart when she receives an invitation from an old acquaintance - an escape to paradise, complete with beautiful beaches, delicious cocktails, and picture perfect views. As Samantha begins to relax, she starts to believe that this may be the fresh start she needed. But, of course, secrets have a way of revealing themselves and maybe, just maybe reconnecting with her old friend Erin wasn't the best idea after all.

While this looks like an awesome, quick, beachy read, this wasn't a hit for me. I wasn't able to connect with any of the characters, which makes it hard to care whether any of them come out on top. I was also frustrated by how repetitive the book was. There were times where I thought I was reading the same part over and over again, but it was just the same info being rehashed again. There is so much self pity happening that I was annoyed with the characters almost immediately. After wading through so much, I didn't find the ending of the book to be worth it for me. I am sure other readers had more to say and better things to say, but this one was a let down for me.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

Thank you for allowing me the opportunity to read this as an ARC, here is an honest review of my experience.

I really enjoyed this book! I think the unexpected twists weren't too predictable and the pacing of the plot was really well done. The characters, including back ground characters, had well fleshed out and believable personalities and the rising action and conflict was perfectly done.

For me, there isn't really anything negative about this book, this is my first beach/tropical type setting for a thriller so this was quite new territory and I think it is a good introduction to the genre, especially for those newer to it. I look forward to being able to read more books in the future available to read as an arc.

Based on the reviews, I'm beginning to see J.E Rowney's storytelling style is not quite for everyone. I enjoyed The Other Passenger, and I was excited to get a copy of Wish You Were Her and see what she's done with it... The premise, concept, and delivery were executed nicely to my taste. The characters are flushed out in a way that you are not sure who you are supposed to be rooting for (if any of them). While we have David and Emma in The Other Passenger being complete strangers with an ulterior motive driven by circumstances, Wish You Were Her introduces long-term friends Samantha and Erin having an axe to grind. Estranged for 6 years, they each followed a life path 'destined' to oneself until an accidental Like on an Instagram post brings them back together...and all Hell breaks loose. The storyline actually had me ponder and reflect on my own life achievements! The final few chapters of the reveal volley the 2 characters' motives (grab some popcorn!), and I wasn't too impressed with each other's reactions - they felt unnatural and very "why would she react that way if she knew better". Regardless of that, a very good read! Many thanks to the author and Netgalley for providing a copy for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Fox Publishing, and the author for providing an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

While I enjoyed the twists, the plot felt a bit far-fetched. I found it repetitive at times, which affected my engagement with the narrative. I didn't care for or connect with any of the characters. I appreciated the short chapters which kept me engaged and I felt the storyline picked up towards the end.

Overall I enjoyed this book and didn't want to put it down until I finished. The beginning really pulled me in, trying to figure out what everyone's motives were. Once we got to Aruba, I feel like things could've gotten really exciting but it fell a little flat. Erin wanting to escape the perfectionism that her world demanded was understandable and passable for her behaviors. And Sam fit right into Erins world, taking over running the retreat and teaching her work. It was almost too acceptable that that was a scenario that could work for both of them if they weren't being so childish. I enjoyed the supporting characters and felt like they gave the story life. The ending became quite repetitive, unnecessarily so. with the constant one-upping and "I win" "no I win" This was almost amazing but just not quite there. I'd be interested in reading future books from Rowney to see her work progress.

I hate I can’t rate half stars, but I would give this book a good 3.5. It was a quick read (which I like) but I felt like there was a lot of redundancy and the same recaps repeated over and over again. The story was a good revenge mystery, but there weren’t any real twists or turns that left me mind blown.

I finished this book in one night, it was a real rollercoaster ride of a thriller! Just when you think you’ve got the plot figured out, another twist hits you in the face! Wow, just wow! The vivid descriptions of the destination really made me feel like I was there.

Really enjoyed this book. It was a great bait and switch and I think it would make a great series for TV

Wish You Were Her sounded like a good beach read for the summer. It was fairly interesting, until it all started getting over the top unbelievable in my opinion. I feel as though you have to really to suspend some belief in order to follow along with the storyline as Rowney presents it. Who was plotting against who first? Every time you think you've gotten to the bottom of it, there's yet another level. I'm just not buying it. On the positive side, it was a quick and easy read.

Ahhhh! I loved this book!! I loved the writing style and I love the story line. I highly recommend this book as a next read!! Can’t wait to buy

This one wasn’t for me. I felt the two main characters were both awful people and I didn’t want to root for either of them to succeed. I took issue with repeating information that occurred a couple times within the book. It almost felt like listening to my forgetful Granny relaying a story because at some points it was nearly identical info being regurgitated.

[NetGalley Read #42]
3.25 ⭐️

"I have hit rock bottom so hard, I think I've left a dent."

This is the third book I've read from this author and the writing has really grown on me. Going in, reading the first chapter, the first sentence, I knew what I was in for. And I enjoyed it immensely. Does that mean it's a great, perfect book? No. But would I read another book from this author? Absolutely!

There is an inherent sadness and melancholy to Rowney's characters. Their backstories (or their current situations) are so spectacularly sad. Whether it's David in 'The Other Passenger', Isla and Clara in 'Xmas Break', or Samantha in this book, their souls and sense of self are so beaten down by society or their circumstances or their relationships. There are common themes of suffering, loneliness, and redemption. And one might argue that some of those are horrible things. They are. But the way they are written is so...alluring. There is a magnetic pull that attracts me to the writing style.

The plot is interesting. The execution is alright. One thing that bugs me is the repetition. Though I found it amusing in this book because whenever Samantha was thinking: "My ideas. My concept. My framework. My vision." A part of my brain, in a deep, sinister voice, went: "My desert. My Arrakis. My dune." while picturing the Baron from Dune, floating in the air.

The plot does end up feeling ridiculous towards the end. It requires great suspension of disbelief to accept every twist and turn that occurs in this story.

It's a short book (200+ pages). Easy to read. Slightly frustrating at times because of the character choices and the twists that end up not making sense.

If you've read books from this author before and enjoyed them, then there's definitely something to enjoy here. If you like reading characters at their rock bottom, trying to claw their way out, this could be the book for you. Otherwise this might not be for everyone.

For someone who loves plot twists, this read had a few. Perfect for anyone who likes a perfect revenge thriller book with complicated characters.