Member Reviews

Kylie Gillingham is missing, presumed dead. Her husband is a suspect, the only problem is, which one? It turns out Kylie is a bigamist. As the police focus on her second husband, Daan, he is determined to prove his innocence by tracking down the real killer.

I have a couple of confessions. Firstly, I didn't realise this was a sequel to Both Of You, it was only when I'd finished the book and read a "Spoiler Alert" by the author that I found out that Just Between Us continues the story of Kylie Gillingham. The fact that I hadn't read the first book makes no difference as Just Between Us works well as a standalone novel.

My second confession is that I always assumed that Adele Parks wrote "chick lit". Well, this book has proved me very wrong, I'll certainly put the author on my reading list in the future.

Now to my review. I liked the opening, it was very ambiguous. We quickly learned about bigamist Kylie Gillingham and the fact that she was missing, presumed dead. The police know where Kylie was held captive, beaten and starved but the whereabouts of her body is unknown. The fact that we don't know for sure if Kylie is alive or dead, and exactly who is responsible, is what draws you in.

The story is told from a number of different perspectives. We get the thoughts, feelings and actions of both husbands, the best friend, the detective and Kylie's two sons. The constantly changing narrative made the story feel very fractured for me, I couldn't seem to get any flow. This was then complicated by jumping to a seemingly unrelated character and story-line, that of Stacie.

I had a lot of empathy for Stacie. Recovering from a brain tumor, she has lost her memory. Nursed by her aging father in a remote cottage, you really feel her struggle as she tries to dredge up memories of her earlier life. Stacie's father does his best, recounting her early life and showing her photographs. While this part of the story feels completely unrelated, for a seasoned reader of thrillers it was obvious where this thread was heading. The main questions being how and why?

Around about two-thirds of the way through I found the story began to coalesce. As Stacie began to have vague memories and the action shifted to Dorset I was finally gripped and began to worry that the killer would be increasing the body count. A race against time, involving a number of characters, puts a lot of people at risk and increases the tension.

The final part of the conclusion ties up all of the loose threads and I can honestly say that I was happy about the way that things worked out. I'm sure that if I'd read Both Of You I'd have come to the same conclusion.

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Adele Parks just gets better and better with each book. The story centres around Kylie, a bigamist who is missing believed dead . The spotlight is thrown on her two husband's who knew nothing about each other, nor Kylie's deception until now, and either one of them them could have murdered her having found out the truth. Add to the mix Fiona, Kylie's best friend, who steps into her shoes to help look after her two step children and their father.
You think you know what's happened until we meet Stacie and her father, leaving DCI Clements with a tangled plot to unravel and time is running out.
Just brilliant!?

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Just Between Us is the long awaited sequel to Both of Us a book that I really enjoyed .It could easily be read as a standalone though .There are two different story lines which eventually entwine .What a good read ,loved the twists and turns ,a great plot and all the loose ends of the previous novel are neatly tied up in a great ending .Thank you to NetGalley for my ARC.

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My thanks to netgalley for my copy of Just between Us, such an amazing read. I didn't even realise until I'd finished that it was in fact a sequel, but it didn't take anything away from my experience as it worked very well as a stand alone novel. All humanity is here and I am feeling rather sad that I've finished it but console myself with the fact that the ending was perfect.

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I didn't realise until I'd finished the book that Just Between Us was actually a sequel to a previous novel, Both of Us, however it reads well as a stand alone novel. It is 2020 during the COVID pandemic when the country is largely locked down. Kylie Gillingham has been exposed as a bigamist but she has disappeared and is presumed dead. Meanwhile, in another strand of the story, Stacie Jones is recovering from surgery and has returned to live with her father by the sea near Lyme Regis.
The book is told from many different perspectives: the investigating officer, DC Clements, from Stacie, from Kylie and from the viewpoint of her friend Fiona and her husbands. This format allows the author to explore the characters different motivations as the plot unravels.
Adele Parks writes page turning novels and this one is no exception. I have to say I found the story a stretch far fetched but I was deeply involved with the characters and more than happy to read on and find out what happened to them. The writing is gripping and the twists and turns compelling. An excellent read.
With thanks to Netgalley and HQ for an advanced copy in return for an honest review.

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Wow what an understanding book that had me gripped from the 1st page and I ended up staying up till 3am to finish it , I loved all the twist and turns in this book and the ending wow wow wow left me speechless I won't ruin this review with any spoilers but if you loved the author previous books you will love this one

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Just Between Us, Adele Parks

I read Both Of You and really enjoyed it. I was therefore really pleased that the author had written a sequel to it. She actually says in her afterword that people wanted to know more about what happened to Kylie Gillingham (or Kai and Leigh). I did and I also wanted to know what happened to Fiona, Mark, Daan.

I love this book, I really do. It is as good as Both Of You and can be read as a standalone, though better as a sequel in my opinion.

I think the story was cleverly written, Kylie’s love for her stepchildren shone through, as did theirs for her which is so unlike many books.

The ending for me was perfect and as I would have wished it to be. A really great read.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for a copy of this book, I rate it 5 stars.

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Following on from where the book Both of you left me screaming that it couldn’t end like that we finally have some answers as to what happened to everyone and if justice was served to the correct person. I loved the interwoven stories between the missing wife and the father caring for his sick daughter during lockdown. This book had me spinning from page one and it was a perfect ending to everyone’s story. Loved it.

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I didn’t realise when I started reading this book that it was the sequel to Both of You but it actually worked really well as a standalone book and I didn’t feel as if I was missing out as I hadn’t read the previous book.

Kylie Gillingham is leading two lives - one as a wife and stepmother to two boys and another one as a wife to a wealthy businessman.
Her bigamy goes undetected until she goes missing. Both of her husbands are shocked that she has deceived them and that she was leading a double life. Her best friend Fiona was also in the dark about it.

Stacie Jones lives in a beachfront cottage with her dad. She is recovering from an operation on her brain as she had cancer. She has no memories prior to the operation and hopes her memory will return soon.
Stacie desperately wants to remember her life before the cancer but it’s lockdown so she can’t go anywhere and they have no internet access and she has no mobile phone.

The book tells both Kylie and Stacie’s stories in parallel. This was a great read and had me hooked. Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for my advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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A superb read that kept me wanting to find out what had really gone on. One person Kylie known by her two husbands as Kai and Lee managed to live 2 lives successfully, or so it seems. As well as the 2 husbands there are 2 children and her best friend who take pride of place throughout the book. It was a captivating read with a lovely twist at the end. Highly recommend this to anyone who likes a good mystery that ends with a warm feeling.

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That moment you start a book and realise is a sequel of a previous book! I read Both of You when it came out and recently gave it to a friend when I realised this one follows that story. Even though this one can be read on its own, it is better understood if you read Both of Us, otherwise without the full back story this one can get confusing. It has lots of twsists and turns and I didn't like any of the characters but didn't stop me from enjoying it I have binge read this one!

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I wanted to like this but really, nope. There is much over determination of characters, right from start with main detective pondering her junior associate .. and it continues, and probably this inclination is what drove author to work out this implausible story of secrecy and duplicity about identity: mother in 2 families cannot keep to one family .. and then, his. The soaking treatment she receives we are perhaps supposed to accommodate since she's acted appallingly by hiding one husband and family from another. Hmm .. All too much!

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This books is a sequel to a previous book by this author called Both of You.
I wish I had known this and read the previous book first so that I had a better knowledge of the back story.
The disappearance of a woman has everybody concerned. Kylie has gone missing during the pandemic and the police have found out that she is a bigamist and has two husband and also stepchildren.
Plenty of suspects to choose from in this story.
Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

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This book is fairly slow to get going. It is told from several different viewpoints and the story gradually emerges. By the time I was thinking it was too slow going, the action picked up and it became a real page turner. The characters started to emerge and the plot started to make more sense. I like Adele's no nonsense writing and the descriptions of characters who feel very real.
This book is set in the time when lockdown was finishing, which added an extra dimension to the investigation and the crimes.
A great read, thanks to Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review

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Thanks to NetGalley for a ARC of this book. I was about halfway through, and really enjoying the story, when my loan copy expired! Now I will have to go buy it to find out how it finishes!
So far:
I’ve read a few books where the author references the pandemic, and a couple where it triggers the storyline, but A.P. cleverly weaves the confusing mass of restrictions of 2020 through the story: how it affects the police in their investigation, the behaviours of the main characters, and the possibility that some types of crime could be more easily concealed.
Wish I could say more but I’ll need to finish it first!
( So there may be a P.S. to come……..)
Update: finished! And we’ll worth reading! Well paced, and the tension ramps up nicely towards the end.
I didn’t realise at first it was a sequel: now I’ll have to go read the first one!

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I have to say I normally love Adele Parks however this was not her best book for me.

I haven't read Both of You so not sure if that is the reason that I didn't really feel emotionally invested in any of the characters but there was no-one in the book who I was rooting for at any time so I found it difficult to enjoy it to the full

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My thanks to NetGalley and HQ for a copy of “ Just Between Us” for an honest review.

I’m a longtime reader of Adele Parks so I was really happy to get the chance to read her latest pre release.
Unfortunately , for me, this was a bit of a disappointment .It didn’t really grab my attention .I found all the characters very unpleasant and I rushed to get to the end.
Where as I normally would give Adele Parks full marks i can only give this an average 3

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I really enjoyed this book. Haven’t read anything by this author but it was well written and a great plot. Recommend.

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The sequel to both of you, this book picks up where the last left off following the disappearances of Kai and Leigh. The story was cleverly spun interweaving new and complex characters.

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This is a sequel book to Both of Us which I didn't realise until the end of the book. I found the beginning of the book slightly confusing, but the middle was very powerful and the ending tied up lots of loose ends for me as a reader.
Kylie or Leigh or Kai as some may know her is missing presumed dead. She is a bigamist having married both Mark and Daan. The other main character Fiona also has relationships with both Mark and Daan so it's very mixed.
I won't leave any further spoilers about characters to spoil for future readers.

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