5 Stars from me

This was a most enjoyable foray into the lives of the inhabitants of the picturesque village of Helesbury.

Miranda is the newbie and current queen of the village, having recently moved in from London and with the whiff of having been 'someone' evident in her every footstep, handbag, hairdo and perfect family. But is there a shadow of a secret lurking their too?

Miranda's status as Queen Bee looks set to be rocked by the arrival of Verity onto the village scene. This quiet and ostensibly unassuming new comer unsettles Miranda and seems hell bent on stealing her best friend.

Now, don't be fooled into thinking this is a cosy little domestic drama - it is far from it - there are many secrets behind closed doors and Nina Manning reveals them in little teases as the story unfolds.

Loved it!

An absolutely gripping read of secrets, lies, jealousy and so much more!

After moving from inner London to the country, Miranda feels she has found her place in the village of Helesbury. She is proving to be very popular within the small community and has finally gained something she has always craved – a best friend. Until that is, Verity arrives on the scene and seems to have taken over Evie’s time, attention and, yes, even her affections leaving Miranda on the outside where she definitely doesn’t want to be. Full of insecurities, Queen Bee Miranda can’t help her feelings of jealousy and is certain that Verity is hiding something – and she knows all about that. Can she keep her pivotal position – or is she about to lose it all?

Having read Nina Manning’s work before, I was eager to reach this one on my list and I was definitely not disappointed! Here is an author who knows how to keep her readers engrossed and wanting more – it’s a very hard book to put down! Adult relationships sometimes reflect those in the playground and isn’t that a scary thought? I was hooked from the very beginning and read this much faster that I needed to, eager to find out exactly what was going on. Did I work it out? Did I heck! Beautifully written, this superb story is one I’m very happy to recommend and it’s easily earns all five sparkling stars!

My thanks to the publisher for my copy and to Rachel Gilbey for my spot on this blog tour; this is – as always – my honest, original and unbiased review.

Miranda Wallace seems to have it all. Living in a picture perfect village. A good looking talented husband. The centre of a social circle, the real queen bee.
However her life is upended when a newcomer to the village arrives. Verity!
Verity has her secrets but then doesn't Miranda. However Miranda feels that Verity could destroy everything she's built since leaving her old life in London.
What secrets do these women hide and what lengths will they go to protect those secrets.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to see an ARC

Book Review “Queen Bee” by Nina Manning
JANUARY 26, 2022 ~ NIKIPRESTON
Psychological Thriller


SYNOPSIS/BOOK BLURB

Queen Bee

In the quiet village of Helesbury, Miranda Wallace prides herself on being the most popular member of her small social circle; the perfect friend, the best mum – the queen bee.

Until one day, Verity arrives. Cool and indifferent, Verity is everything Miranda isn’t, but she threatens to shatter Miranda’s picture-perfect life.

Suddenly plagued with insecurities, Miranda is certain Verity is hiding something. And Miranda knows all about secrets and the damage they can cause, because she’s hiding some of her own.

So when Verity threatens to reveal the truth about Miranda and destroy the perfect life she’s built, Miranda knows she has to act to protect the people she loves – even if the results are deadly.

REVIEW ~ NIKI PRESTON ~ 4 STARS

Queen Bee revolves around the central character Miranda who has many insecurities and has an over whelming need to be at the centre of everything but most of all, to be liked. When her best Friend Evie calls her the Queen Bee of the village, Miranda feels that she has made it and only wants to cement this new found title in the whole village. Yet something and someone is right around the corner ready to upset her apple cart.

Throughout the book I was constantly willing Miranda to stop over thinking every action of her friends. I just wanted her to talk to Evie about her new found friendship with the interloper, Verity, but that certain something from her past seems to not allow Miranda to fully let go. She keeps looking back and thinking people are like those from her past. Miranda is definitely paranoid and has some issues that at times I found really annoying! However the author clearly wants to instil this feeling in the reader and boy does she do it well.

I really enjoyed the past and present approach to the chapters, which helped me to see just what Miranda has been through that has made her the person that she is today. The constant threat of danger and Miranda’s escalating downward spiral and utter hatred for Verity builds well throughout the book. When the end comes it is a total twist and not at all what I was expecting. A great ending to an equally great book. It’s a slow burn psychological thriller that lets you in to the characters lives, allows you to reach your own conclusions as to the behaviour them all, even the children are brought into the story expertly and we get to see life through their eyes too. I enjoyed Queen Bee immensely and would recommend to anyone who likes an uncomplicated thriller that still leaves you enthralled, with a great and unexpected twist.

Purchase Link – https://amzn.to/3bvUdh1


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author Bio –


Nina Manning studied psychology and was a restaurant-owner and private chef (including to members of the royal family). She is the founder and co-host of Sniffing The Pages, a book review podcast. Her debut psychological thriller, The Daughter in Law, was a bestseller in the UK, US, Australia and Canada. She lives in Dorset.

Social Media Links –

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ninamanningauthor1/

Twitter https://twitter.com/ninamanning78

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ninamanning_author/

Newsletter Sign Up: http://bit.ly/NinaManningNewsletter

With Thanks for the Advance copy for the #Blogtour to …….

Rachel Gilby https://www.rachelsrandomresources.com/

Nina Manning http://bit.ly/NinaManningNewsletter

Boldwood Books https://www.boldwoodbooks.com/

I was really looking forward to this after reading the synopsis, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I didn’t warm to the main character, Miranda, and the constant nearly reveal of the “big secret” got a bit repetitive after a few chapters.

It is an easy, well written book that has “before and now” chapters which I always enjoy in a book, and they certainly kept me guessing. There were a lot of what seemed to be “sub secrets” within the story and this made it a bit chaotic sometimes.

Overall, a quick easy read but just not for me.

This was a solid psychological thriller.. I didn’t get why it got so many negative reviews on Goodreads but to each his own I guess. It wasn’t great but enjoyable and a page turner. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

This was a slow-burning read. I didn’t like the characters much and at times the book dragged . But, nevertheless I carried on and ended up enjoying it especially the ending. My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

Miranda is the new queen bee of a small town. She recently moved to the suburbs for a restart after a terrible incident. For much of the book we know there was an incident but don’t know what it is.

I love Nina Manning’s writing style. This book is in the present and distant past. It is also before and after something happens with Miranda in town. Between each chapter there is an interview with townspeople from after the event, which gives small clues.

This book is a fairly quick read and I was able to read in one day. The ending is a surprise and makes you want to go back and read the book again to pick up on clues!

Oh the Queen Bee

Growing up, we all know that one girl that was IT

This story takes a very good look at the concept, and how it can work in a thriller setting, very entertaining read

So. This story. There was so much potential in it that, sadly, was not utilised. I'll be honest - I was excited to read this book, the synopsis was very promising, but the more I read, the more confused, disappointed, cheated and, eventually, annoyed, I started to feel.
There was a secret or two to the plot. One was about the little girls with her mother, all the time moving places, and he second one about Miranda and her past - something really, really bad happened that changed her life, she lost all of her friends - the whole programme. The situation about Miranda was explained at 70%, the one with the girl and her mother at the end. In the meantime, the story focused on Miranda's obsession about Evie, it was all about Evie, Evie this, Evie that - if I were David, I'd divorce Miranda immediately - and also all the time mentioning Miranda's secret. Guys, it made me feel frustrated. It dragged on and on, it was going in circles, moreover, I couldn't warm to the characters, so I really couldn't care more what's going to happen and if Evie and Miranda will stay best friends forever. Miranda's behaviour was fristrating, childish and there was no depth to her characters, the author didn't manage to capture their the feelings and emotions and so, in the end, all the "revelations" made me go "phew" and roll my eyes. And the end - the high dramatic end that took two pages after building the tensions throughout the whole story. Really, not worth it.

The obsessive and paraniod Miranda and the lukewarm characters simply didn't work for me. I also think, if some of the things were mentioned earlier, I'd be more engaged in this story. However, I liked the writing style, it was easy to follow and the author is a lovely story - teller - however, first, there must be a story.

It pays not to cross the cool girl. Really enjoyed this novel. Interesting characters (who had it coming) kept me thoroughly entertained. Would recommend to a friend too!

Even though I understood Miranda's anxiety about being accepted by her peers, I instantly took a dislike to her. She is entirely focused on herself, even when she believes herself to be thinking about her friends, it's still all about how 'they' are making 'her' feel. She is a compelling character, but not necessarily a likeable one and her intensity in her relationships with friends, is frankly a little scary. It felt like I was reading about a small child at times because she seems to think in much the same way as my 6yo does. In fact, her daughter often seems more emotionally mature than she does.

Structurally, having the interviews with the various characters interspersed with the narrative, works really well because it ramps up the tension and the sense of expectation for whatever catastrophic event is coming. That people are being interviewed, indicates the seriousness of whatever has happened and the introduction of various mystery characters and the lack of identification of one of the narrators, all supplement this feeling of tension and anticipation.

Miranda's social media addiction is also easy to understand. I've written various blogs in the past about the pressure we put on ourselves to meet the standards of other people's Instagram and Facebook accounts, when inevitably, their lives are nowhere near as picture perfect as they like to make out. However, even though we know on some level that much of what we see is not real, we still idealise other people's lives and it's very easy to get into the habit of checking social media throughout the day. How many of us have posted things and then spent the next hours checking how many people have liked it? If it's lots, we get a huge sense of satisfaction, if it's less than we expected, we may begin to wonder if people have fallen out with us, even if we know we've done nothing wrong!

For me, my over reliance on social media tends to be caused by one of three things: I'm tired and can't be bothered to do anything more energetic than scroll through my phone; I'm bored and am subconsciously looking for something to either entertain me or annoy me so I have an excuse to vent my frustration; I'm trying to avoid doing work. It strikes me that the same could be said about Miranda - she seems to turn to social media as a way of getting the acclaim she is desperately searching for (and often failing to find) in real life. She is desperate for praise and when she doesn't get it from those around her, she goes in search of it online.

Throughout the first half of the book, it's clear that Miranda has done something awful, but at the halfway point I was undecided whether it was going to turn out to be something truly terrible, or if it would end up being something that would only be understood as 'awful' in the Instagram influencer world. In the end, it's a little bit of both. By the end of the book, everything is resolved and all questions are answered and as I left the characters to continue with their lives, I was hopeful that they'd all learned their lessons and would be happier as a result.

A huge thank you to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the advance copy.

This is the first book I have read by this author and I must admit I was a little disappointed. Miranda's character was in my opinion a little overwritten. She was very needy and whinging. Not a bad read overall. I look forward to reading more from this author.

Squeakin' Rubber Ducky 😳😳

Well mighty fluff! That was one heckuva long ride. Definitely nothing of what you would think with this psychological thriller. Miranda has become the "queen bee" of the book club group in the village where her best friend Evie attends along with Hatty, Beth, Tash and Olivia. However, a new comer, Verity, moves into the village and soon things are thrown off kilter with Miranda seeing green. Miranda is determined to not only solidify her friendship with Evie, but remain at the top in the village; not to repeat a past mistake in London. But who is Verity? And what's with Miranda's past? I will say parts seemed to drag on and Miranda really could get annoying at some parts. However the ending was definitely surprising and unforeseen. I can't believe the ending.

Thank you to netgalley and boldwood books for this ARC!
Release date: January 25, 2022

I give this 3 / 5 snowflakes! ❄️

Nina Manning holds up the mirror to society and encourages us to take a look at the effects of a dependency on social media.

To carry her cautious tale, she turns a spotlight on the Helesbury Village in Gloustershire and on the dichotomy resulting from social media addiction. Hatty Willoby, Natasha Redwood, Olivia Cunningham, Beth Higgson and Evie Pollard welcomed Miranda Wallace last year when her family moved to their little village from Chelsea. She soon became the Queen Bee of their social group and loved life in the tight-knit community. When a newcomer arrives and gatecrashes Miranda’s book club, everything changes.

Readers watch as the Queen Bee’s carefully curated façade starts to crumble. She reverts to a people pleaser who “needs others to see her perfection.” When a woman from her past catches up with her, it triggers Miranda’s insecurity, and she gives in to her secret addiction and its “endless dopamine release” that she craves. Unfortunately, the rose-coloured lens she’s now looking through taints her view of reality and causes further dichotomy in Helesbury.

Manning’s blaring tale of caution stopped me dead in my tracks. WOW! Mid-pandemic; what a perfect time to publish. With our busy lives and now lockdowns and quarantine/isolation, it’s meant that we often have less time to socialize (or are restricted from socializing) and therefore we turn to a social media alternative to physical contact in a desperate desire to satiate our recognition hunger. Manning shows us what it really is; a rabbit hole. Instead of helping Evie with whatever was bothering her, Miranda turned it inward and made it all about herself and her insecurities. Had she been truly interested in a friend who “valued integrity over possessions,” she’d have discovered why Evie was so distant.

I love the title! In nature, the queen bee is dependent on the worker bees and without their care, she will not survive. Likewise, Miranda needs confirmation and affirmation that she craves. Without receiving it from the ‘hive,’ she’d die. The queen bee does not control the beehive. Likewise, Miranda is controlled by what others think of her. Manning reveals that being the queen bee is not worth the buzz.

If you frequent social media, you need to read this book. We all need someone to place the mirror in front of us and show us what a psychological drive for recognition can do to us and those we love – Nina Manning is that person.

I was gifted this copy by Nina Manning, Boldwood Books, and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

3.5 stars rounded down to 3

In the quiet village of Helesbury, Miranda Wallace prides herself prides herself on being the most popular member of her small social circle; the perfect friend, the best mum - the queen bee. Until one day Verity arrives. Cool and indifferent, Verity is everything Miranda isn't, but she threatens to shatter Miranda's picture perfect life. Suddenly plagued with insecurities, Miranda is certain Verity is hiding something. And Miranda knows all about secrets, and the damage they can cause, because she's hiding some of her own. So when Verity threatens to reveal the truth about Miranda, Miranda knows she has to protect the people she loves.

On the surface, there's not a lot goes on in the village of Helesbury, only a small book club and the local schools PTA meetings. But when Miranda gets too friendly and paranoid over her friendship with Evie, secrets are slowly revealed.

This is a quick and easy book to read. Although I enjoyed the story, it seemed to lack something substantial. I do like the authors writing style. The character were well rounded but Miranda annoyed me with her jealousy.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #NinaManning for my ARC of #QueenBee in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Boldwood Books and by #NetGalley. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Thrilling, captivating and riveting enough to keep you on the edge of your seat.

This was the first book by this author for me so I didn’t know what to expect. Overall, I quite enjoyed it.

I have got to say that I was not a huge fan of Miranda’s. She was so needy. She had to be Queen Bee and needing constant reassurance. I know other characters didn’t know that but I was fed up of her whining. The whole social media thing as well. I know it can take over but she was a bit dramatic over how she was with it. I will say though, she cared for her me family and the impact it had on them so it made up for it a bit.

I found myself getting to a point where I wanted it to end. I think it was because her past indiscretion was dragged out a bit too long. Once I knew then I enjoyed it a bit more and didn’t feel that way. I liked the ending. I didn’t expect that angle and think it was a good explanation to the paranoia Miranda encountered. I couldn’t have predicted that so that’s a good sign!

Thank you to @rachelsrandomresources #boldwoodbooks and Nina Manning for a copy of this book for review.

#blogtour

I am disappointed to say I expected something a bit more to the story. Although you can grasp Miranda's insecurities due to her past, and moving to a small community is always daunting being the new one to fit in. But I still don't fully understand her attachment to Evie, or why Evie had to keep everything such a secret and be so rude to her, knowing full well that Miranda had a past. The point in chapter 33 about Verity looking 'unhinged like she had a tic' is damaging and preferably needs to be removed. Manning's writing style is good but there just wasn't enough story here for me.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. Miranda the central character is soo unlikeable. She acts ridiculously just because her friend makes a new friend. I did think her backstory would have been a really good main plot instead of the main one. A good read but a bit too long with a very unlikeable main character