Great book not sure why I took so long to read this apart from I received it during Covid and was working all the hours possible.
Recommended

I tried so hard to get into this book. I thought it was exaggerated and over the top, then found it it was based on a true story!

I just fpund the author over the tip and she kept contradicting herself about how she was so empowered but would then fawn all over the man in the next sentence.

I hope the lady is OK in real life but this book just wasn't for me.

I never really understood the allure of true-crime documentaries or podcasts, but then I started reading this book and now I get it! This was reality but more over-the-top than fiction. And while it's terrible what happened to author, the story itself was hard to put down. I needed to know what would happen to her, to the man doing all this to her (can I say I was also fascinated by all his lies...?)
This was as utterly readable as it was tragic. I can't believe the level of detail in the recollections...and also the level of trauma in said details because to remember all this, so starkly?
Fascinating read - couldn't put it down! I hope Carolyn Woods is finding a slice of peace and tranquillity in her life now, after all she went through.

Great book.
Listened on audio.
Really captivating, interesting and suspenseful
Highly recommend

If you love a good true crime scam story, this one’s for you. It’s definitely a page turner. It’d be a great book for a bookclub with your girlfriends if you wanna drink wine and gossip about the main characters. As a fair warning though, the storyline is a little disjointed, most likely because this man confused the hell out of this poor woman. And while I feel bad writing this because she is a real person... a HUGE complaint of mine is that he whisks her away from living in a small cottage and places her in a mansion full of Chanel and Dior, with maids at her beck and call and all she does is complain about how cooped up she feels. Like I get that it was all a scam, but he DOES put her up in one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in England for a year and all she does is complain incessantly about things not being good enough for her.

THEN she lets him belittle the crap out of her family. Idk. I've had a relationship with someone a bit similar and just can’t justify her “poor-me” attitude. Case in point, “He offered me two renovated houses that I could rent out, but I wasn’t interested.” ...🧐 Must be nice to afford to simply not be interested in TWO free houses. And she’s blown away by standing in a queue for an easyjet flight 🤣 I don’t understand what her aim was… to get us to feel sorry for her? She never gets a job and incessantly complains about things normal people deal with every day.

Then in the end of their relationship, after he’s taken all her money and left her with thousands in debt, she (a forty year old woman) thinks it’s a good idea to go on a solo trip to France to meet him with just €50 to her name, when she KNOWS he cannot be relied on. WHAT?! I mean this goes beyond being a scammer victim to being an irresponsible Hollywood housewife.

Unfortunately, unlike a Netflix documentary, where an objective eye can put the story together, the post-breakup first person account devolves into a list of all the reports and complaints made to various police agencies and ombudsmans. The POSITIVE point is that she does a great job of pointing out the insane number of errors the police made.

She admits that much of her book’s “emphasis is on the struggle and the pain." Just be warned that it's an extremely effective emotional rollercoaster.

What an awful thing this lady went through with this man . Having some personal understanding of psychopathic men , I can understand a bit of the brainwashing that she went through . It was very well written and was a fascinating read . I would highly recommend anyone to read this book to see how easy this can happen . 5 stars from me

A fascinating and enthralling true crime account of how one woman fell for the charm of a manipulative conman and sociopath with malevolent intentions and how she found a way to carry on after she felt like she had lost everything worth having. Intricately woven and replete with intrigue and gasp-worthy twists, this is a riveting true crime caper that is enjoyable to everyone except perhaps the victim.

Sadly, Sleeping With A Psychopath was disappointing for me. And I hate saying that about books like this because who am I to judge anybody’s story. I guess with the wealth of true crime out there at the moment, plus some really great fictional thrillers, my expectations for real life is way too high.

I think the main thing that distanced me from the book was Carolyn’s writing style. I appreciated that it was raw and very much her own voice. However, I would have liked some more scene setting, something a bit more dramatic to heighten what she was going through. At the end of each chapter, the author also touched on the traits of psychopathy and attempted to relate them to Mark. What was included was too vague for my liking and I think these sections needed more depth or to be left out entirely.

The first half of the book was very slow. It was frustrating to see the mistakes that Carolyn made and admittedly, it was hard to be empathetic when I couldn’t understand how she didn’t see the same red flags everyone else could see. The second half of the book did pick up though, and I found myself more interested in the story, although not enough to truly love this book.

Again, it’s hard to review a book like this as I don’t feel equipped to judge someone’s life. I don’t want to take away from anything the author went through and felt. However, if I look at this from a pure entertainment point of view, Sleeping With A Psychopath just wasn’t for me.

I was drawn to this book because of past experiences and felt as a lover of true crime that it would be right up my street.
This brave account was hard to put down, my heart hurt for her, and I get some may find it hard to understand how naive someone must be to be taken advantage of in this way, but unless you’ve lived through something similar I guess that’s difficult to get your head around.

For me it was close to home, relatable in parts and to me this is a book women should read to try and ensure they don’t go through similar

Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read in return for a review

This is a good read to learn about the case. I struggle reviewing memoirs as it is someones real life experience so who am I to say if the account is good or not. There was something about the writing that made it difficult to connect with the writer but it is an interesting read.

I, like the majority of people these days, love anything to do with true crime. I was vaguely familiar with Carolyn's story so I was interested to hear the intricate details surrounding what happened.

Divorcée Carolyn Woods met Mark Conway (real name Mark Acklom) and quickly set his sights on her. He duped her into a whirlwind relationship, managing to get her to transfer all of her savings to him and being very clever whilst doing so.

When I hear stories like this in the news, I am always confused as to why these women put their trust into men like this and Carolyn explains exactly how everything transpired. She seems like a very headstrong and independent woman at the start but, I felt, barely recognisable by the end. Mark was great at theatrics and made everything so believable.

Not only did he take Carolyn's savings, leaving her with nothing, he destroyed relationships and left her reaping the consequences for years afterwards. I am so happy that she is living a better life now but can't believe that Mark will be free soon and clearly he will continue on!

I remember seeing parts of this play out in the media over the years and unfortunately this added very little to what we already know. All power to the author, it's a very strong and powerful thing to write about something so awful that has happened to them, and they write very well. The problem is that the author doesn't come across well and the conflicts between how the author wants to be portrayed, versus what they are potentially actually like, came through on paper creating a discord when reading.

Fascinating story, I enjoyed most of the book. Reading all about the betrayal and lies you almost forget it’s a real life story. I found the last few chapters a bit long winded and I hate to say it, a bit boring. It didn’t flow well.
Saying that I’m the glad author found peace and happiness.

I tried to read this twice and on both occasions just could not carry on.
Did not engage with this book at all. Found it difficult to read.
Has expected great things

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started this book, sometimes the true life stories aren’t particularly gripping, but this one was in all the right ways.
We follow Carolyn through meeting and her subsequent relationship with Mark. With the benefit of hindsight, Carolyn is able to point out where she should have seen red flags and where she should have questioned things more. The story that she told and then excuses that Mark came up with throughout their relationship were so outlandish that you would think that she would have seen through them, but I think that Carolyn thought they were so crazy that you couldn’t possibly make them up and think you could get away with them.
We then follow Carolyn through the process of deciding to end the relationship, realising who Mark really is and the process of going to the police, the long process trying to get him arrested and the subsequent court case. It was interesting for this to be included in the book, as quite often the book ends after the relationship has ended with a quick chapter on what has happened since and how they got their life back on track. But this was different, as it showed the process she went through and the way that she was failed quite a lot by the police at the start of the investigation, but by being persistent and not dropping the case (even though it was obvious the officer wanted her to) she eventually got what she wanted. Although it wasn’t solely the police investigations that got her to that point, and Carolyn writes that if anything like this ever happens to you, you should make sure you become friends with a good investigative journalist as they will help you with leads that the police may not even have.
I did enjoy this book, and was happy that Carolyn is now rebuilding her life and seems happy. It is amazing to see how resilient she has been, and although she may have lost herself for a good few years, she shows how victims can get their lives back and become a new version of their former selves. The photos included at the end of the kindle edition were interesting to see, and you finally get to put faces to the names (especially Mark’s) and it makes it all the more real.

I'm so sorry, I thought I had left feedback on this title.
Incredibly interesting story (even though it was real life!) on how a con man wriggled himself into someone's life and took everything, not just money, but dignity and her whole life.
I wanted to shout the whole time to say look what he is doing, but you know its not as easy as that and we were not living this life.
How he got away with so much is shocking, I was so lost for words. I was literally googling the whole time.
Perfect worded book that will leave you gobsmacked!

Fascinating, shocking and illuminating - a brave, honest account of falling victim to a narcissistic conman. Although there are red flags that are easy for the reader to spot in this true crime story, Carolyn Woods shows how it feels to be on the inside against an experienced serial manipulator. I was gripped to the end.

Interesting premise, but honestly I got bored about two thirds of the way in. Writing style was amateurish and the main character / author was just so vanilla and guillable I found it hard to have any sympathy for her.

I absolutely love True Crime novels. Although I had never heard of Carolyn Woods, I thought this sounded like it could be an interesting read. I was not disappointed. This would be a good read for anyone interested in psychology and especially psychopathy.