I was intrigued by this book as soon as I saw the synopsis – the idea of waking up not knowing who is next to you and then finding that that person is dead is terrifying and such a great premise for a thriller.

I was immediately drawn into Tara’s story wanting to know why she was in Lee’s bed and whether she had anything to do with his death. The theme running through this book is secrets and lies and the damage they can do always makes for a thrilling read, and I was keen to find out what was going on under the surface of these characters’ lives.

I did find the plot quite far-fetched as it went on but once you realise that and are prepared to suspend your disbelief then this continues to be an enjoyable, intriguing read. It was one of those books that was an escape from my own life and I enjoyed it for that, it’s always nice to be taken out of reality whilst reading a book and this certainly did that for me.

This is a fast-paced read – I read it in just one or two sittings. It’s a gripping novel that really holds your attention all the way through.

I received a copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Wow. Just WOW!

I was completely hooked and was convinced I wouldn't put it down when I finished the first chapter. Within the first few pages it opens to Tara waking up to her dead next door neighbor, naked. What happened? She can remember small talk, intense talking about life and a few glasses of wine. Was she drugged? Was someone else there? Did she cheat on her husband? All she knows is she can't remember and she needs to get out of his house.

Through this book I was taken on a rollercoaster ride. At the beginning of the story you learn about how out of control Tara's daughter Rosie is. She lies, she deceitful, and she shows no remorse. But most of all she's obsessed with men. I definitely thought it was her. It all made sense but I can tell you that I never ONCE had Lee who was Tara's neighbor figured out.

All the way you are frantically reading to help Tara solve Lee's murder she deals with every family situation you can think of. She has a daughter who is a stalker and emotionally unstable, a husband who had an affair and is a liar, a sister who appears to have the most wonderful life comes to a crashing halt when her boyfriend beats her ungraciously and a son who is just as confused and feels out of place as she does.

This family is far from perfect but once they all become suspects (except Spencer the son), it creates the question how well do you know anyone? How well can someone actually be trusted?

This story is told from Tara's point of view. It goes deep into all the different feelings she encounters: fear, rage, confusion, protective, caring and sadness. There were so many twists inside the novel that I didn't know if I was ever going to figure it out and I couldn't until the story told me.

I struggled with one character and one character only and that was Tara's daughter Rosie. She came across as too strong and too unstable. I was very uncomfortable with her by her actions and her lies. Then I became mad with Tara and Noah for giving her so many second chances when clearly all she's ever done is lie to them. I personally don't have children but reading Rosie's character I would have acted much differently with her if she were my own than they did. But if this is how she's supposed to come across, well done Kathryn!

I also felt like Detective Holden and Tara's relationship was a little unorthodox. I'm not going to lie I was secretly rooting for them but the idea of that sort of relationship as she was a prime suspect and he was an active investigator just doesn't seem real life.

What a fast paced read that kept me on the edge of my seat. I can't tell you how many times I set the book down to talk out loud so I could rack my brain for information I may have been missing. 4 stars to you Kathryn for such an intense, mind-blowing read! ★★★★

Thank you to Bookoture Publishing for providing me a copy via NetGalley. It was a great pleasure to provide an honest review.

For my full review: Head over to novelthrillsandchillsreview.wordpress.com

It's the very worst of "morning after"s. Tara wakes up next to her neighbour with no recollection of the night before. To make matter's worse he's dead, and worse still he's brutally murdered. Tara returns home and attempts to cover up whatever it was that did happen. Tara has to protect herself, her family, and on top of it all cope with a stalker.

The characters had few redeeming features, which seems to be common with the "psychological thriller" of today. The narrative is full of twists and redirections, to the point where no matter what is happening the reader ends up questioning EVERYTHING, yet nothing is particularly surprising. Disbelief definitely has to be left on the first page, as there is little that feels 'real', particularly the relationship which springs up mid-way through,

I had a lot of hopes for this being a 4/5 star novel - the synopsis sounded brilliant. But the storyline is just taken too far, turning it into waffle rather than entertainment, and I had to force myself to finish the story. A complex story requires a thorough, critical editor - which is what this perhaps sadly lacked.

Thrilling read. Tara wakes up in bed next to a man who she realises is not her husband but a neighbour and he is dead! She panics and runs from the scene and carries on as if nothing has happened. Of course this leads to lots of questions being asked.

Little does she know but she has been seen. She has no recollection as to how or why she was there but she may have to tell someone as the police are suspecting someone close to her and she is in a dilemma.

The book is full of odd personalities and it kept me intrigued as to where they all fitted. Tara 'believes' she has not done wrong but the book kept me guessing right to the end, though I had wrongly guessed several times.

A great thriller.

Really love this kind of muder mystery book. However I kept having the feeling that I had read this book before. It still kept me interest till the end.

I love crime books but too often I am able to figure out who the criminal is before I get through the book. This one though the author did such a good job with her red herrings I never saw the real criminal coming! Croft has a great knack for hiding the obvious and wringing every emotion possible out of the reader before revealing the truth. I did not want to put this book down until I knew for sure how it was going to end!

I wish people would stop comparing every psychological thriller to Gone Girl. I am getting quite tired of hearing of so many novels being "perfect for fans of Gone Girl" and I'm saying this because it is unfair to the author and their work. An author could have written a really good story, but then having this name-dropping means that people will read their book and expect it to be just like Gone Girl. When it isn't like that at all, then readers feel that they have been cheated. That's why I've decided to ignore any comparisons to other books that are used, and just focus on the premise of the story itself when choosing the next book I want to read. That's what I did with this novel, and I don't regret my decision at all - because this book was good in its own original way!

This is the first time I've read a book by this author and it was quite good! The story was gripping and from the get-go, I was hooked. This is a fast-paced novel and it is easy to get caught up in the mystery of it all. There are so many weird characters, who could all potentially be involved in the murder, so I was guessing the entire time! At one point, I thought the author was going with one angle that I really wasn't too pleased with but at the last minute, she added a twist that really caught me off-guard and worked well with the whole story! Most of the time, I enjoyed the story and the dialogue but at times, I found Tara to be a little cheesy and weird when confronting people. Other than that, I had a great time reading this novel, and I hope to read more by this author!

This was a good psychological thriller and kept me in suspense until the end! Tara Logan lives a seemingly quiet life in a small neighborhood with her husband, Noah and her two children Rosie and Spencer. Tara has a glass of wine with her neighbor, Lee while her husband is out of town. She wakes up naked in bed next to Lee who has been stabbed to death. She is unable to remember anything about that night and makes the decision to remain silent. The story unfolds from there and her family life starts to unravel while many secrets and lies are exposed. This is definitely a page turner and many times I thought I had figured out who the killer was only to realize I was wrong. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely gripping, as all good thrillers twists and turns with a great insight into family life.

I now understand why there are so many conflicting reviews for this book.
WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING by Kathryn Croft is a psychological suspense/thriller that is fast paced and a page turner, with many red herrings and twists. It will keep you reading until the end, but it was not my favorite.
When Tara Logan wakes up naked next to her dead neighbor in his bed, she has no memory of how she got there or what happened. She dresses, runs across the road to her own home and decides not to say anything.
She has a husband, Noah, who has cheated on her, a teenage daughter, Rosie, who has a history of lying and stalking and her young son, Spencer. As the investigation into her neighbor’s death progresses everyone comes under suspicion for differing reasons. The picture of the perfect family is no longer perfect and Tara no longer knows who to believe. Besides the family, there are secondary characters that are creepy and questionable.
This is a well written plot that constantly keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat and the ending was a big surprise but it didn’t deliver. It just sort of fell flat for me and then it is the end very quickly. I also had a huge problem with the DCI working the case. He gives a suspect information and becomes involved with her, but then he is worked out of the story. If his purpose was just to deliver info, it wasn’t realistic and another way should have been considered.
Very interesting premise and plot, great use of plot twists, interesting characters, just not a good ending for me.
Thanks to Bookouture and Net Galley for allowing me to read a free eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Absolutely loved this book! Several twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. Highly recommend this book.

A mystery and suspense that delivered.

Loved how the plot evolved and kept me coming back for more.

The characters made me experience a lot of emotions.

Another winner from Kathryn Croft,a superb psychological thriller from the queen of this genre.When Tara awakes in her neighbours bed and finds him dead her life is thrown into a nightmare situation because she has no recollection of the night before.What follows is a book of twists and turns which had me gripped and had me turning the pages at pace,Tara can trust no one not even her husband Noah and when her daughter Rosie becomes the main suspect in the murder she is in turmoil as to who to trust,she turns to her sister Lisa for support but even she has her own problems.What unfolds is a brilliant thriller from an author who is at the top of her game.Another 5 star read from Kathryn Croft.

I would like to thank netgalley and bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.
Wow, what a start to the new year, this book has set the bar high in this genre.
The book starts you off right in it with Tara the lead character waking up in her neighbours bed to find him stabbed to death with no recollection of how she got from the lounge drinking wine to being naked in his bed.
Tara is the lead character and lives with her husband Noah and her 2 children Rosie and spencer. This is quite a disfunctional family as Tara left a murder scene telling no one, Noah has had an affair and Rosie is a wild child that is the main suspect for the murder, and spencer who seemed like a genuine young boy but perhaps in the wrong family!!
The story has a good pace moving forward at a good rate. There were twists and turns with a few red herrings thrown in along the way and to be honest maybe I was a little thick with this book as I've usually worked out the murderer way before the end of the book but not with this one, I felt stupid to have not have thought of this so well done Kathryn!!
This is the first book I've read by Kathryn Croft but definately won't be the last.

Start reading this book in the keen anticipation that it will keep you gripped and wondering about just about every character until its chilling denouement.

Tara is the main character, and she lives in a South London cul-de-sac with her husband Noah, teenaged daughter Sophie and son Spencer (11). One night, when her husband is away on business, she pops in to speak to her neighbour, and ends up having a drink with the neighbour's husband. The next thing she knows, she is waking up in her neighbour's bed, next to Lee - who is dead - with no memory of how this came to pass but certain she had not had enough to drink to explain this lapse. Shocked, she makes her escape from the house and begins the switchback journey to make sense of what happened, initially deciding not to go to the police. There are plenty of shocks and surprises along the way and Tara's trust in all of her family is challenged to the extreme.

Wow, what a start to a book, waking up in your neighbours bed with him stabbed to death and having no recollection of what happened. I have read a few of Kathryn Croft's book as and I have loved them all, and this one was just as good if not better.

It was a gripping story from the very beginning and kept me captivated all the way through. Full of twists and suprises.

I loved it and give it a full 5 stars.