The characters are well developed but are very unlikeable. The suspense in this book is so good. The ending was brilliant a great debut

Gwen’s whirlwind romance has now become the real thing and it’s not long before she’s parading around with a sparkler on her finger. She wants best friend Victoria to be the maid of honour but she’s not at all happy about it having taken a strong dislike to Michael, Gwen’s fiancé. There’s plenty going on (probably a bit too much) and a reason to keep turning the pages. Victoria was the most annoying out of the motley collection of characters. She’s meant to be a counsellor, really?! So much handwringing and repetition. With a bit more polish it could’ve been quite good. The ending was a complete letdown as if the book had suddenly run out of steam. Despite that, a pretty good debut though!

‘The Engagement’ is a debut novel by Nasheema Lennon and is a psychological thriller centred around a wedding with plenty of twists in the right places!

Victoria, Gwen's best friend, is shocked and upset to hear of the unexpected announcement that she is engaged - in her opinion, she doesn’t think Gwen knows Michael well enough or long enough. Gwen asks Victoria to be her Maid of Honour and despite her reservations that the wedding is only in 3 months' time, (and the fact that she has only been living with MIchael for 6 months), she accepts.

The plot and subsequent chapters focus on the wedding and Victoria's determination to prove that Michael isn’t the perfect man that Gwen believes him to be. Is Victoria right in her suspicions and her desire to sabottage her best friend's wedding? Does she have reasonable grounds for her suspicions or is she hiding her own insecurities from a troubled past of her own?

A good, easy-to-read, psychological thriller which took me 3 days to finish - it kept me hooked. A great debut book and I look forward to reading Nasheema's next one.

When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces she is marrying the rich and handsome Michael, celebrations are strained. Victoria doesn’t trust Michael – he’s hiding something. And he reminds her of someone she needs to forget.
THE DREAM WEDDING PLAN.
Too loved up to see Michael’s dark side, Gwen drags Victoria into a whirlwind of dress shopping, engagement drinks and elaborate maid-of-honour duties. Meanwhile, a mysterious visitor is leaving unwanted gifts in Victoria’s home, and Michael is becoming aggressive: no one gets between me and Gwen.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE?
The clock is ticking until the big day. Will Victoria expose Michael’s secret, and save her best friend from a marriage made in hell? Or will her past catch up with her first?
This has an interesting cast of characters that carry the story along a nice pace and create depth to the story. Great plot and I found myself filling an afternoon reading this in one sitting as I found it so enjoyable. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest , unbiased review. 4 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

The first half of this was really good, but the second half was getting more and more implausible, and the last few chapters were a little farfetched. However, it was an enjoyable read and a great debut novel with quite a guessing game and a few twists. I would definitely read another by this author

Tension Fuelled Suspense…
When things seem too good to be true, they usually are. With the seemingly perfect man and plans for the dream wedding underway, Gwen is a whirlwind of excitement as friend Victoria has doubts. Michael, the fiancée, may well have secrets but he is also evidently a controlling man. With a well crafted cast of characters, an immersive storyline and twists aplenty this is a tension fuelled suspense a promising debut.

The Engagement by Nasheema Lennon.
When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces she is marrying the rich and handsome Michael, celebrations are strained. Victoria doesn’t trust Michael – he’s hiding something. And he reminds her of someone she needs to forget. Too loved up to see Michael’s dark side, Gwen drags Victoria into a whirlwind of dress shopping, engagement drinks and elaborate maid-of-honour duties. Meanwhile, a mysterious visitor is leaving unwanted gifts in Victoria’s home, and Michael is becoming aggressive: no one gets between me and Gwen. The clock is ticking until the big day. Will Victoria expose Michael’s secret, and save her best friend from a marriage made in hell? Or will her past catch up with her first?
A brilliant read. Great plot twist. Can't wait to read more from this new author. 5*.

The Engagement is a cracker of a read. It held my attention throughout so much so that I had to force myself to put it down to get some sleep.
The characters are great and the relationships flounder about with all the wedding preparations. Victoria's suspicions of her best friends soon to be husband grows after she spots him talking to an unknown woman at his and Gwen's engagement party. Is Michael too good to be true? handsome, adoring, and just that little bit to smug. I began to dislike him intensely and was well and truly on Vic's side. Why though is she so convinced that he is not the right man for Gwen. As a character Gwen comes across as a bit simpering and totally wrapped up in herself and her relationship with Vic starts to suffer when she refuses to listen that her perfect Michael is just that, perfect.
As Vic begins to go through some scary moments she seemingly starts to fall apart and everyone starts to think she is just a nothing but a jealous troublemaker.
There are some absolutely brilliant psychological events that send Vic spiralling very quickly.
All in all I thoroughly enjoyed The Engagement and the ending is one that I certainly did not see coming.

Victoria's good friend Gwen announces her engagement to Michael. Victoria is wary because Michael reminds her of her own controlling ex and she believes Michael is hiding things. Victoria wants to "get the goods" on Michael so she can properly warn Gwen off him but unsettling things start to happen to Victoria and Michael is behaving in a menacing way toward her. This was a fun, fast-paced thriller that may not be the most original story in the world but the formula works and kept me glued to the pages.

It was a fun book to read, I’d give it 3.5 stars!

The characters were interesting, the main character believable and relatable and the whole plot was engaging and kept me reading!

I did guess part of the twist at the end and felt very happy about it, but the last additional bit did come as a surprise!

Overall, a fun thriller read, not too serious and easy to finish in a few sittings!

Thank you for the ARC, NetGalley!

Well written with a stroyline that gripped me right from the start and characters, whilst not always likeable were always believable. Fast paced and unpredictable, I read it inone sitting.

This is a great read for a debit novel. What an amazing job was done writing this book. I loved the way that it built up. You do have to stick with it a little bit. Because it does start off just being a dram type of book. But there is something there lingering in the darkness and like the night that slowly creeps up with you. This book unfolds slowly building up the tension as it goes. Great debut.

This started off as a light hearted drama. And at first I wasn't sure about it, but the more I read on the more engaged I was, A great read - a twist in a twist.

Gwen is getting married to the Michael a man she has been dating for a year.
Her best friend Victoria is delighted and with her friends Gwen and Victoria get set with planning the wedding. However when someone accuses Michael of keeping secrets. Victoria has her doubts and will do anything to protect her friend.

Victoria’s best friend Gwen is getting married, and whilst everyone seems to love the handsome and rich Michael something doesn’t sit quite right for Victoria. Not only does Michael remind her of someone she would rather forget but she is also sure he is hiding something.

As the countdown to the wedding is on, Victoria is determined to save her best friend from making a mistake, but first Victoria needs to discover what is Michael hiding?

The Engagement is Nasheema Lennon’s debut novel and what a fantastic debut it is. I was hooked and could not get through it fast enough. This was aided by the short chapters which meant I kept saying to myself ‘just one more’, as well as the fact that there was no unnecessary detail in the book- it was rapid and there was always something happening.

My only critique is there were a few leads which I would have loved to have known more about (for example, Victoria’s past) as well as characters who I felt were undeveloped and I was left questioning how they fitted into the story. However, this is just a minor critique and I still thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.
Overall, a solid four stars.

This book is everything you want from a thriller- fast-paced, full of twists and turns and unpredictable.

The Engagement will be published on the 27th October. Many thanks to NetGalley & HarperNorth for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Debut author and shortlisted for the ‘Owned Voices Novel Award 2022’ this book comes with a good cover and a recommendation that if you are a fan of ‘YOU’ ( Netflix ) ‘then it’s for you’, heady stuff and a lot to live up to in a ‘busy’ psychological thriller market…..
It was good, well plotted and told and a cast of credible characters, some unbearably ‘love to hate’ but the author did her job well and have to say although guessed around the edges of what was going on wasn’t really sure until the 2 endings
The jist of it all is a best friend doesn’t trust the man her friend is going to marry and after finding some shocking things out is determined to stop the engagement/wedding…..of course this is no easy task and everything that can stop her in her wake does so, although I do feel if she stopped fainting and panicking so much and got a grip of herself she may have done better and quicker but then the fun and tenseness of the book wouldn’t be there and there would be no story so……
All told this is a great debut and look forward to reading more from this author after this very promising start

Victoria hates Gwen's fiance Michael, as she believes he has controlling tendencies like her ex. To help prove this to Gwen, she delves into Michael's past. At the same time strange things keep happening to her - are the two connected?
Amazing book! I was hooked, with all the turns and secrets revealed. Perfect for suspense fans, and can't wait for the next book!

Rating: 2.1/5

For her debut novel Nasheema Lennon has opted to enter the psychological thriller market. Many new titles are published in this genre every month and a fair number of them end up on my TBR list. With so much competition already out there, any new authors really need to bring something different and fresh to the market, if they are to stand out from the crowd.

Unfortunately, although there are aspects of "The Engagement" that are well-written and show some glimpses of talent, this is ultimately an example of pretty standard fare for the genre. The premise is not especially original, the main protagonist does not come across as particularly authentic and stylistically it is quite awkward and reminiscent of any number of similarly average novels I have read from this genre. There are twists and turns, but they are quite clumsily handled and not particularly cleverly plotted. "The Engagement" isn't awful and I am sure there will be readers out there who will enjoy it, but there are many better examples of the genre available.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

This was just such an enjoyable dar and twisted little story. The premise isn't the most original but it's still got a really fresh spin on it and kept me guessing the whole way though. Its a good mix of character based and action and never veers off into pages n pages of filler or unnecessary description that just drags the pace down. A perfect wee read for these dark and cozy nights

When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces her new boyfriend Michael has proposed and they are now engaged and getting married within months Victoria rather than being happy for her friend is alarmed , something just doesn’t feel right about it all especially Michael. The problem is the more Victoria tries to find out about Michael the more she finds herself being the victim of strange happenings and Michael begins to be very aggressive towards her whilst Gwen won’t hear a bad word said about him. So from then on the story becomes a race against time as Victoria tries to get to the bottom of just who Michael is and what if any danger he poses.
I enjoyed this book I liked the characters and also the way it was written I read it in a couple of days mainly as I wanted to know how it would all pan out and wasn’t disappointed in the way it ended.
This a debut book and I was surprised at that I think Nasheema Lennon did a brilliant job at keeping me glued to the page and she looks certain to have a bright future ahead of her I’m sure and I look forward to any future books she writes.
My thanks to NetGalley and Harper North for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

#TheEngagement #NetGalley
Awesome twists.
When Victoria’s best friend Gwen announces she is marrying the rich and handsome Michael, celebrations are strained. Victoria doesn’t trust Michael – he’s hiding something. And he reminds her of someone she needs to forget. Too loved up to see Michael’s dark side, Gwen drags Victoria into a whirlwind of dress shopping, engagement drinks and elaborate maid-of-honour duties. Meanwhile, a mysterious visitor is leaving unwanted gifts in Victoria’s home, and Michael is becoming aggressive: no one gets between me and Gwen. The clock is ticking until the big day. Will Victoria expose Michael’s secret, and save her best friend from a marriage made in hell? Or will her past catch up with her first?
Although the main character was little bit annoying but yet i finished it and omg it was wonderful. Loved it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Harper North for giving me an advance copy.