Zoe meets "the one" and marries the successful Daniel. He just wants to look after her, so encourages her to leave her job as a waitress and write the book she's always wanted to, providing her with her own home office and everything to go in it.

Once written Zoe presents it to her husband and his reaction is not one she expected and she soon finds out her dream husband is cruel and controlling towards her. She runs away but her finds her and she returns to him.

However, soon enough Daniel decides Zoe is no longer part of his life plans. At the same time as Daniel's plans, Zoe has her own in motion to leave him for good this time without him finding her.

This novel is an interesting one; at first you think it's another story about a wife stuck with a controlling, paranoid husband, and her getting away. You can see he's playing her when they are first courting as all his answers mirror hers in their pain of loss of parents, wanting children.
I wanted to shout don't marry him at the book you can see big problems coming for Zoe!

The story turns completely on its head and takes you by surprise with its direction as I certainly did not see that coming, which makes the story strange, alarming but also gripping.

The chapters are written from a then and now perspective in the first half of the book, easily swapping between the two, which carries the story along well. The second half concentrates on the present with the odd flashback to the past.

#kissmekillme was provided by #netgalley in return for an honest review.

This book made me burn my dinner !! I literally couldn't put it down and was picking it up the minute I had a break at work. This book features Zoe , a woman who met a man Daniel and thought she had found her happily ever after ... that is most certainly not what happened . My ONLY criticism is I would of liked more of the Daniel story line and less of Gabriel. ( Gabriel story drags slightly ) Seriously though I am picking there . Great book , great page turner .... just don't try and read it whilst cooking.

I thought that this book ‘Kiss me, Kill me’ reminded me very strongly of another book I had read, which was ‘Behind Closed Doors’ by B. A. Paris which was published in February 2016 and was the author’s debut novel.
Whilst I am sure the author J S Carol has never read this book, it was too similar for me to continue reading and give the book a favourable review.

The first half of the book describes how Zoe meets with Dan and discovers, after marrying him, that he is not at all what she thought. Flitting between past and present the reader sees how Dan isolated her from her friend and essentially keeps her a prisoner in her own home.
Quite early on I wondered whether to continue with the book. I seem to have read a few books lately about dysfunctional relationships and abusive husbands and this book felt really obvious. There was no nuance, no character development, no real reason why Zoe would fall for Dan or why he behaved the way he did. I checked out a few reviews and there was mention of a big plot twist so I continued reading on this basis, and honestly felt like I had just wasted a couple of days reading a book that offered nothing new. The plot twist was really just another character who wanted to keep Zoe a prisoner. Again, there was no real reason why and no character development. All in all the book felt very flat to me.

Thanks to the publishers and net galley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2249418996?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1

I really enjoyed this book at the start. It didn't go quite as I expected? hoped? but despite this, I did quite enjoy the read.

I started reading this and shivered from the word go. Abuse in a marriage is no easy matter to read about and the early pages, even when the husband is not on the page is quite something. And that’s just the start of it all.

There’s a lot of uneasy feeling in this novel and some very dark moments. Just when you think you might know what’s going on though, things change and this whole novel is one long guessing game and the ending twist is a biggie. Not very realistic but an interesting angle for the book to take. It gets your attention that’s for sure.

Fans of psycho thriller will drink this up. The structure of the novel - Zoe and Daniel in the past, then Zoe in present day ; whoah! nicely done. It messes with your head ever so slightly!

Three stars as it did drag a bit and the inner dialogue felt tired at times. It does read very similar to another novel I've read but can't remember the name of. But fans of thrillers will eat it up.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre for an advance copy of Kiss Me, Kill Me, a stand alone psychological thriller set in Portland, Oregon.

After three years of marriage Zoe is desperate to escape her abusive husband, Daniel. But how, when he doesn't let her have any money and micromanages her every waking hour?

I thoroughly enjoyed Kiss Me, Kill Me on various levels. Firstly I think the structure is amazing and perfect for the subject matter. It is made up of three parts with parts one and two being Zoe's and Daniel's versions of their current life with flashbacks to how they got there. The contrast is fascinating. The third part is Zoe's life in real time and boy, does it contain some twists. Secondly I like the way Mr Carol takes a fairly generic tale of abuse and turns it into something completely different. The tension ratchets up as the novel continues. Thirdly I wonder about Mr Carol's own domestic arrangements when his imagination can conjure up such creepy details of abuse.

The novel starts with some details of Daniel and Zoe's life. They make the savvy reader slightly uneasy and suspicious but as the full extent of his control becomes apparent it's deeply unsettling, not least because there is little explanation for it and because of the gradual nature of it. Zoe, however, is not a particularly likeable protagonist as she comes over as a bit of a wet blanket but constant abuse and degradation have that effect so she's probably very well depicted. Her poor judgement is at the root of many of her problems. Her terror and desperation are well described and easy to identify with. I'm not even going to discuss Daniel as controlling psychopath covers his character adequately.

What happens as the novel progresses is a major twist I defy any reader to anticipate. It's not very likely but it ratchets up the tension and draws the reader in further, turning a sad story of domestic abuse into a tense thriller.

Kiss Me, Kill Me is a good read which I have no hesitation in recommending.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bonnier Zaffre and J S Carol for the ARC of ‘Kiss Me, Kill Me’ in return for my honest and unbiased review.

This is the first time I have read this author and found the writing style during part one to be clear, concise and utterly real. However, it felt like I had read and seen movies covering this topic so many times. Having said that, the ending to part one led me to believe this would develop into something special.

From that point on it didn't work for me. I felt let down. I found myself skip reading the final chapters. I was determined to finish the novel as I always feel honoured to receive an advanced copy, but I did struggle. The characters and their relationships seemed false and, at times, unexplained especially the introduction of the step brother.

The whole relationship with Lizzie felt superfluous to the plot after part one. Maybe I missed something vital but I do believe this had the potential to be so much better.

Really sorry.

This was a brilliant book it had me hooked right from the first page and never let me down.

Zoe meets and falls in love with Daniel. She thinks he is perfect and she is so smitten with him she can't see what he really is like.

Lizzy, her best friend, tries to warn her what Daniel is like and Zoe thinks that Lizzy is jealous of their relationship.

But as time goes on, Zoe sees that Daniel wants to control her and she has to do what he says and what she can wear he keeps her locked up like a prisoner.

As the book goes on you see what Zoe is going through but you start wondering if she has bought this on herself. I had so many mixed emotions though this book I felt sorry for Zoe then I was like for gods sake stand up for yourself don't let him do this to you.



This book just gets better and better and I don't want to spoil the twist and turns but there is a happy ending and it was a brilliant book.

A book in two halves. A fine crafted ‘now and then’ story line at beginning of this book sets a good pace but about half way through there is a twist that seems to slow down the pace of the story a little. All in all a good read but I don’t think it’s as good as this authors Jefferson Winter series

There are lots of domestic abuse turned into murder stories around at the moment and to start with I felt that this is what this book was. Some of the descriptions felt very uncomfortable they were so well written yet I did feel slightly that Daniel as the protagonist lacked some depth to his character. However, this book did have enough twists and turns as we went through it that it wasn't the same as anything else I had read. I would have liked another chapter or 2 at the end before the epilogue. It was a totally gripping read especially once I reached part 2 and I did find myself unable to put it down.