This is my second book from the author and although I can admire a slow build, I guessed what was happening about halfway through. I couldn't stand the fact that no one believed Palmer about her suspicions about Darcy, not even her husband or sister! Darcy seemed like a nut from the first time her and Palmer met. How do you become such fast friends after 1-2 weeks? So much that you have combined birthday parties, picking up your child, and going into business with their husband? Make it make sense! SMH The ending was satisfying for me though.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC.

4.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley for an early copy to review. This is just the type of thriller I enjoy reading. I was able to predict some “twists” but not the ending. I enjoyed the audiobook narrator. The flashbacks to years before really helped the story. I had wanted to read books by the author for years but just hadn’t yet. Will definitely seek out others to read. Boland’s writing was very engaging and the layout of the plot was perfect. I do not like the cover as the people appear much younger than the characters.

I hate to say but this story felt a tad late. I don’t try to ruin a book by making it my mission to figure it out as fast as possible. I want to enjoy it and hopefully make it last as long as possible but it was pretty predictable.

The pacing slowed a bit for me with the other timeline knowing where that was going. The husband was annoyingly stupid and unrealistic. She should still get rid of him in my opinion. I am a husband and could never be tricked so easily no matter how many times we were reminded how good of a manipulator Darcy is.

The voiceover work was nice for the women but hearing a woman talk low for a mans voice is cringey.

After the initial “ending” all the extra stuff and exposition felt like add ons way after the fact. It felt like someone didn’t like the story but it was too late to fix the whole thing so the 6 months later, 2 years later was added after feeling guilty for what came before it.

I appreciate the opportunity to listen to this but this was the weakest of hers I have read but if this was a necessary stepping stone to where she is now I’ll take it.

I so love Shalini Boland, all her psycholocical thrillers are great. This also is fast paced and engaging, not my very favourite of hers, because I felt the end was not as good as the rest of the book, but still a very enjoyable read.
The narrator was spectacular, I loved the tension she was able to convey. Great!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Louisa and Jared enroll their son Joe into an expensive private school believing this will be a perfect environment for Joe to grow and develop in. Louisa becomes friends with one of the mums, Darcy. Darcy seems to have it all, the perfect home, perfect husband and perfect friends and soon becomes a constant in Louise's life. As time moves on Louisa becomes suspicious of some of Darcy's behaviour and it soon becomes obvious that there is more to Darcy than meets the eye. Louisa's life soon becomes a nightmare due to her relationship with Darcy and she wonders what is really going on with her friend. When Louisa confides in her husband about these issues he seems to take Darcy's side and tells her that her imagination is running wild. Is it all just in her mind or is something else very disturbing happening? This is an excellent book to listen to ( I have also read the book itself) which I thoroughly enjoyed and I highly recommend. (less)

Reading Between the Wines book review #38/135 for 2022:
Rating: 4 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Best Friend
Author: Shalini Boland
Genre: General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
RELEASES in audio on May 31, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: Show me a Shalini Boland book that I don’t like, and I will tell you to double check the cover because it cannot be true. Boland’s books are always so juicy, real and thrilling. The Best Friend is a book that will have you screaming at the characters and just mad at the world. If “with friends like these who needs enemies’’ were a person, then they would be named Darcy Lane. Add this book to your TBR pile so you too can just be mad at the characters, lol. On to Boland’s “The Girl from the Sea” audiobook, can’t wait to share this review with you soon.

Cheers and thank you to @BookoutureAudio, @Shaboland and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of @TheBestFriend.

#TheBestFriend #ShaliniBoland #BookoutureAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #GeneralFictionAdult

It definitely had my heart pumping in quite a few spots! It was a great thriller! The storyline was very interesting and flowed nicely, I will definitely recommend reading this book! It was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me! Awesome… What are you waiting for?! Snap this one up ASAP!

Interesting and well written I just personally couldn’t get into the story. Definitely creepy. Just a little slow and unbelievable at some points. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A psychological thriller that is fast-paced and will have you flipping pages to find out what’s coming in the end. Louisa has a new friend Darcy who has a wonderful life and seems so happy to help Louisa in every way possible, only, Louisa is starting to wonder why she’s being so nice to her. When Louisa discovers she is being stalked and Darcy approaches her stalker, it really makes Louisa start to wonder about Darcy. Louisa approaches her husband about Darcy, but he thinks she’s gone crazy, but is Louisa really the crazy one? Does Darcy have it out for her? And if she does… why? Many parts of the story are pretty predictable, but there is a twist in there I didn’t see coming that ties the whole book together. Overall, I really enjoyed the book - I listened to the audio version and the narrator was great, so I do recommend the audio version. I’m excited to pick up her next read on my TBR, The Girl From the Sea!

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 💫

Thank you to @Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ACR of this book!

I really enjoyed this fast-paced psychological thriller, and I thought the care home plot was unique. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters, and I also enjoyed the plot flashbacks. I finished this audiobook in three nights because I couldn't put it down. I didn't see the twist coming, which always adds to the suspense. I thought the narrator did an excellent job with all of the different characters and accents, and I can't wait to read more by this author!

4/5 ⭐️
This was so good! I definitely wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I did. I didn’t see any of the twists coming either.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to this book early! I really liked it! This is my 2nd Shalini Boland and I love how she does a straight forward, entertaining AF thriller. This book is about a woman named Louisa. She is married with a young son in private school and a sister who doubles as her best friend. Things aren't perfect-- they're living a little above their means and she's juggling a lot (like most moms)-- which gives her the perfect amount of insecurities to be both relatable and vulnerable. She meets another mom named Darcy and the 2 become friends. Darcy has everything she doesn't-- a huge house, a nanny, a maid, etc. and when she starts offering favors, Louisa is filled with gratitude. However, things quickly start seeming fishy and we start questioning Darcy's motives. My biggest complaint is that Louisa was really dumb, naive, and a doormat. Things should've stopped long before they did, but then we wouldn't have had this book. I was surprised by the ending (even though it was unrealistic) and was entertained throughout so I'd definitely recommend this book, just don't expect anything UBER unique or crazy!

SPOILERS AHEAD:
Darcy was out to kill Louisa because they were both foster kids and Louisa's family picked her instead of Darcy (actually named Nicole) and her brother. She was resentful of the life she got because she spent a lot of time without a home and things weren't as good for her. A man was stalking Lousia throughout the story and he comes to her as an ally saying Darcy ruined his life too and then we find out its actually Darcy's brother and they're working together. At the last minute he has a change of heart so Darcy kills him. She escapes and gets away but eventually Louisa finds her and tells her how happy she is and leaves that as punishment enough. She knows that will bother Darcy more than going to jail will.

A nice quick domestic thriller. "Big Little Lies" meets "A Good Marriage".

There is a prior time-line that is meant to make you question which main character's history this is. I found it easy to determine which person it was but as it did not answer the question of why until the end so I did not feel that it lessened my enjoyment.

Overall I found "The Best Friend" an average thriller. Nothing to out of the box but still an easy fast pace thriller that was easy to finish in one day.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced audiobook for review.

Super entertaining!

I couldn’t wait to get in my car every morning and start listening on my way to work. Definitely not a really twisty story, but still entertaining.

I didn’t like the back stories however. I know what the author was trying to do, but they seemed a little bit pointless. Maybe if the stories were different? And made it connect a little neater?

Either way! I definitely recommend this book and audiobook.

New friends. New school. One living a lavish life and the other living a tawdry life. Louisa’s new best friend has it all –the house, the status, the money –but she’s also hiding a dark secret. And, as Louisa is drawn deeper into her friend’s life, events take a chilling turn ...
Louisa’s husband is an ambitious man striving for the lavish lifestyle his new friends have. Meeting this family gives him the sources to achieve it.
Louisa’s not convinced that her friendship with Darcy is sincere. After a few weeks Louisa grows anxious and jealous of Darcy. When Louisa shares her concerns with her husband Jared, it causes a strain on there marriage.

Jared, Joe, and Louisa Sullivan live a simple life. Jared’s in advertising. He’s always wanted to open his own agency. Louisa worries about money. She’s not a risk-taker like her husband.
Darcy, Mike, and Tyler Lane. Tyler and Joe become fast friends allowing Darcy and Louisa the opportunity for play dates. Play dates soon became sleepovers. Sleepovers became shared birthday parties. But this fast friendship quickly becomes toxic after a few mishaps. Before you know it each person is casting stones at one another.

Katie Villa is the solo British female performer. She read the Best Friend in its entirety performing all the voices. This was my first listening experience by Katie. She enhanced my listening experience. I own the ebook version and enjoyed following along with the audiobook version. I listened using the Netgalley app at 1.75x speed. There were a few changes made in the audiobook so it’s not a 100% unabridged. The changes were minor and by no means hindered my ability to follow along. Katie made it easy to follow along. Her voice was ideal to the characters in the story. She was perfectly casted for this book. I definitely recommend this audiobook as well as the ebook.

As Shalini Boland writes the Best Friend readers get chapters with alternating scenes from both the past and the present. It’s thrilling as a reader trying to piece together the mystery behind the drama that unfolds between Darcy and Louisa. The chapters from the past opens the readers mind to uncertain motives giving an edgy sense of danger and mystery.
Shalini Boland is my go to author for psychological thrillers. Her writing voice is steady. She offers readers fresh new concepts that are entertaining. She’s written fifteen psychological thrillers and I’ve read each one. She lives in Dorset, England and readers will find that her writing voice is present in her books meaning the British language is part of her writing style. This was a nail biting gripping thriller. This book definitely was a page turner. Shalini included so many layers to the story. There was never a dull moment. All the activities these characters were involved in were just as thrilling and suspenseful and tied in well with the plot. All the layers connected together seamlessly at the end.

This is the first Audiobook I listen fro my this author. Although it was a fast paced thriller and enjoyable to listen as the narrator was very good, the story was a little bit predictable and some actions of the main characters were not very believable.

5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
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Thankyou #netgalley #shaliniboland #bookcoutureaudio for a audiobook copy of this book for a honest review.
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Trigger warning ⚠️
Jealousy .
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Okay. This book got me round circles ( in a good way) as the first chapter of the story felt like you know the story will end.
Jealousy type of friend,going after this and after that but I’m wrong.
Quite twisty at the end and I love the ending. Showing that Louisa was strongly a great woman and very simple indeed.
I couldn’t still find the story about darcy how she has done so many thing before they met on a school run. However, I don’t want to spoil more🫣
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Great narrator too . Easy 5⭐️ For her!
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Worth it to read. And it won’t be the last I will ready shalini’s book👍
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❤️Shaye.reads

The narrator of an audiobook makes or breaks it for me and I really didn't care for this one.

That being said, I did enjoy the storyline. I've never read anything by the author before, but I think I would check out her other books. I've been on a thriller/suspense kick for awhile and this fit perfectly in that genre.

Another solid story by Shalini Boland! This was my second book by this author, and I enjoy her writing. I did, however, find myself often frustrated with the main character and didn’t feel much of a connection with her. Despite the disconnect, the ending is filled with twist upon twist and kept me wanting to keep going. The very end was a great conclusion to the story for those who like things wrapped up nicely at the end. I listened to this as an audiobook and enjoyed the narrator, Katie Villa.

A great big thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Shalini Boland for allowing me to listen to this gifted copy in exchange for my honest review.

3.5⭐ rounded up for the audiobook
This is another book that's been out for a few years, but is just now getting an audio version.

Predictability galore and not an original plot for this fast paced, psychological thriller, but I still liked it.

Louisa and Darcy meet and become fast friends. Their husbands, Jared and Mike, are getting along well and their young boys, Joe and Tyler, often play together. Louisa is just a smidgen jealous of Darcy's wealth. But it turns out that Darcy is slowly trying to take what Louisa has, or is Louisa just being paranoid and that isn't the way it is at all?

The birthday party mishap broke my heart for poor, sweet Joe.

Told mostly in Louisa's perspective with some flashbacks to the 90's and early 2000's about a not so nice person, which gives a little mystery aspect.

Katie Villa did a nice job narrating and keeping me engaged in the story. It was a pretty quick listen at 8 hours and sounded great at 2x.

Overall, this was a decent thriller, but not overly wowable for seasoned thriller readers.