Lauren's life is turning around, she's met Jason. She's happy, she's in love and living a natural way of life; this is fate. But Jason is hiding a secret, and so is she. Lauren is here to find out some answers and it's time for Jason to confess.

If I hadn't listened to this via audio I think I may have stopped reading halfway through. this novel is slow to begin with and switches pace halfway through, which then captured me. In the beginning, I struggled to find where this was going.

I did feel these characters reminded me of people I knew which was a little scary, however, I didn't like all of their characters, I felt Rick wasn't consistent and the switch didn't make sense so I didn't feel him to be realistic.

This novel had a great concept and I would like to read this author again I didn't feel this narrative worked as well as it could have, although I did not see the twists coming.

Lauren and Jay fell for each other almost immediately after meeting at a music festival and quickly decide to take the next step and move in with each other. This is when we start getting glimpses of each of their personalities and realize no one is really quite who they appear to be.
I really really thought starting out that this was going to be a story that has been done many many times before, but I was very wrong. This is pretty slow and drags to start and I was really confused for a while, but then something major is revealed and I feel like it changed everything. I really did not see it coming at all! After that things definitely picked up and I ended up really enjoying the rest of the book.
Thank you NetGalley and Hayley Smith for allowing me to listen to an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Perfect Girlfriend by Hayley Smith and Narrated by Katie Villa was an absolutely gripping and breathtaking psychological thriller that will have you gripped from the beginning till the very end and a great audiobook. The narrator Kate Villa was excellent and made this latest book come alive.

I highly recommend this book and a great holiday read.

I enjoyed listening to this, although at first I wanted to shout at Lauren for being so stupid and missing all the red flags in her relationship with Jay. How could she be so blind? Gradually all became clear, and although some of the plot was a tad predictable I did find this a good listen to for the most part. I just felt it could have been shorter – the story tended to be repetitive in certain parts. The audiobook was superbly read by Katie Villa, whose wonderful voice and accents elevated the story.

Lauren meets Jay at a music festival. Their romance moves at break neck speed. Two weeks after the festival, her bags are packed in her car and she is heading to the Midlands to live with Jay. She has nothing to stay for, no job, her best friend gone and a sister who looks down at her.

Jay slowly ramps up the controlling levels over Lauren, but Lauren seems happy for him to do so, she is smitten?

To say anymore would be to ruin the book.

The base of the story was pretty good, albeit somewhat predictable and seemed a little dragged out in my opinion.

None of the characters were particularly likeable or even relatable. They all seemed a tad shallow and one dimensional. Lauren was both weak and strong supposedly, she contradicts her own personality which I found hard to swallow.

It centres around a dark theme and anyone triggered by drugging or rape should probably not read.

All in all a decent story, but better written characters would have made this much more enjoyable. I give it 3.5/5 rounded down to 3.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc, in exchange for an honest review!

I liked the perfect girlfriend. We follow Lauren, a 30-something who falls head over heels for Jay at a music festival. They move in together and everything seems great, until We discover that they both have secrets… The beginning got me instantly and then i just couldn’t stop listening! The characters felt real, although a bit stupid (why move in with a man you’ve known for a week) but i guess that could happen in real life too. I actually wanted to scream at Lauren so many times to just leave! But at the same time i understand her during the circumstances.

The writing style was easy to follow Which I as a non-native english speaker appreciates. Also that ending? The plottwist? Kinda insane. It got me i won’t lie. Another one to the ”good for her” list!

Overall I liked this book and i had a good time! I recommend it if you like a fast paced thriller with many plottwists! And Lana Myers vibes!

Twisty turny thriller. Loved it. Great as an audio book. The narrator was spot on. Captured the vibes beautifully

Suspense builds with every page. You can just feel it coming, but when the final surprises hit, you still aren't expecting it. I listened to the audio, and the narration was perfect.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

I stalled out in this book a couple times and finally forgot about it at 22% through. It was written well and wanted to keep listening but it wasn’t my cup of tea.

Woof was this taxing!

What I’ve discovered about myself recently is that I’m not a fan of a slow burn thriller. And unfortunately, this falls into that category.

I’m not even kidding when I say that nothing really happens for the first 50% of this book. Our 2 main characters meet at a music festival and immediately move in together. Lauren then spends 50% of the book doing home renovations & nothing thrilling happens. I was literally sooooo bored 😴

It seems like domestic abuse in thrillers is becoming popular. I’d rather not have the physical and mental abuse present in my thrillers & it being a plot twist or devise.

I’m going to keep an eye on this author and see what she does next!

First of all, the generic cover does not do this novel justice. I would never have picked this up in a book shop, never would have guessed there is more to The Perfect Girlfriend and it's domestic-thriller-coded, bright yellow face. Bless the netgalley gods for this particular jewel, then, which made my spider-senses tingle without letting me know the reason for my unrest until well after the big secret was revealed. Because so much seemed just... off.

Why would Lauren move into Jay's "cottage" after a hasty affair at a music festival?
Why does she not immediately turn around and leave when it turns out to be a seedy building in the middle of nowhere?
Why invest so much money and time into a complete home renovation by herself?
Why tolerate his mean friends?

Well, you know, now I have to state my unpopular opinion that the British are simply better at thrillers. No divorces, no rich husband, no secret children. This is so far away from the usual setting, it might as well be placed in a different genre.

3.75 stars

A debut novel? Wow, I’m impressed! This was one of the tensest books I’ve listened to in a long time. I felt like my body was going to jump out of my seat during the last 25%.

Although this book started off slow, it picked up the pace as it went along. I grew attached to the MC Lauren. I felt so many different emotions. I vacillated between frustration, excitement, fear and hope, to name a few. The ending was gripping and the reveals along the way were unpredictable.

Lauren meets Jay at a music festival. The two get close quickly and before long Lauren has moved into Jay’s small remote house. As Lauren becomes more entwined in Jay’s life and more invested in fixing up their home, Jay’s behaviour seemingly becomes more erratic. Or does it? What seems to be at first glance, may not be the whole picture.

What I loved about this book was the suspense and uncertainty. I never really knew where it was going and just when I thought I did, wham! Another twist! The audio performance hit all the notes. Told from Lauren’s perspective, the narrator did a wonderful job of adding depth to the story.

Thank you #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an audiobook in exchange for an honest review. #ThePerfectGirlfriend

While this book started off good, it was a struggle to get through. I personally thought the ending was just okay, and that the entire story was pretty predictable, missing elements of surprise throughout. It was an easy listen though. Thank you NetGalley for the audiobook.

3.5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lauren and Jay meet at a music festival that she is preforming at and there is an instant connection, they spend the entire weekend locked in his van. When the festival is over Lauren agrees to move in with Jay to his cabin in the woods, she readily agrees since she has over stayed her welcome at her friends apartment. The cabin is dingy but she believes she can turn it around. Jay likes to live off the grid with controlling demands on Lauren and a dark past that is beginning to unlock itself.

I have to be honest I really struggled with this book and nearly stopped listening multiple times. There's a lonely mute neglected girl playing with a make-believe child and the adults ignore her. The home has secret locked rooms with boarded windows and hooks in the wall. When Lauren drives around town in Jay's van people graffiti it with news clippings of a dead woman. I was preparing for an all out horror show and luckily there are twists that pivot where I thought this was going and really salvaged it for me. I disliked all of the characters because they are creepy, twisted and bizarre. I spent the first half of the book thinking Lauren was the stupidest woman ever her twist was the saving grace of the story. I still questioned many of her choices even after the twist. This is still a rough topic and had some major plot holes (the sister?) it was a much better novel than I was expecting it to be.

I had the audio version read by Katie Villa who did a good job of keeping me listening.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this audio-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Perfect Girlfriend is an easy listen, narrated in a way that keeps the reader on their toes. The story itself is intriguing, with enough twists and turns and character-led storytelling to keep the plot moving, however the first half of the story does lack in terms of pace.

As a psychological thriller, it does exactly what it claims to and, while it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the genre, it offers an engaging read that keeps you guessing as you go.

The Perfect Girlfriend
by Hayley Smith
Narrated by Katie Villa

**Trigger Warning** Underage Sexual Relationship w/Adult, Drugs, Rape

The Perfect Girlfriend was a decent, easy listen. The first half of the story was a bit slow to take off, and Lauren, the main character, is just kind of screwed up. She accepts and puts up with her idiot boyfriend, Jay, who may or may not be hiding secrets. So, here's the thing. There really aren't any of the adult characters that I actually like or care about. Lauren overlooks so much poor behavior in those around her, and Jay just needs a swift kick in the ass because you, as the reader, can clearly see what he's doing to poor Lauren. But Lauren has secrets of her own that she's hiding.

I will say that the second half of the book really picks up, and thankfully so. There aren't many major surprises, as much of what is revealed has already been building through the first part of the book. It was still an enjoyable listen. I thought Katie Villa did a good job narrating this one. Oh, and I loved Lolly, Jay's friends' kid. She was cute, and I liked her relationship with Lauren.

Thanks so much to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and the author for the chance to listen to and review this ARC!

This is a psychological thriller which I enjoyed reading, although it was a bit too crazy and creepy for me. The story is about a musician called Lauren, who meets Jay at a music festival and moves in with him right away. Jay is abusive and controlling to her, but she doesn't seem to mind, as she sees it as him giving her his full love and attention. He is also drugging her. But is Lauren all she seems? Maybe she is hiding some secrets... you will have to read the book to find out!

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This debut novel is an interesting psychological thriller involving toxic relationships and secrets all around. There were supposed to be these big secret twists that were shocking, but I found most of them to be pretty obvious. The only one I didn't see coming involved Ruth, outside of that everything else was pretty not surprising or shocking.

We only have one POV in this story and that is of Lauren. Lauren has had a hard go at relationships. Now she has found Jay, and though he wants to control every aspect of her life she seems pretty content to feel needed. An emotion that she has lacked in all of her other relationships. She spends her time tearing apart Jay's dingy cabin and making it her own, uncovering secrets along the way. Jay's friends don't seem to like her and she feels pretty isolated. The highlight is a strange child named Lolly who seems to have taken a liking to Lauren. Lolly doesn't really talk anymore due to a trauma response, but she does talk to Lauren.

I found the pacing of the book to be a bit slow and predictable. There were elements that I would like to have seen more of, like Lolly. I loved Lolly, I thought she was the best side character in this whole story. I would totally read a whole book about her. That poor girl has been through a lot! The ending seemed pretty anticlimactic and like we wanted to put a neat little happy ending to everything, when the entirety of the story is anything but happy. None of our characters are good people and Lauren's choices are very, very questionable, at best.

The narrator (who also performed Little Ghost) did a good job overall. She was able to bring the chaos and crazy to the characters, which was just lovely.

Overall, the story is ok. It has some great elements, the constant search for answers, and the let down when you have them.

This was quite a twisty story! Sometimes I could not even keep up with who was deceiving who. But I did enjoy the novel and the audio version that I listened to was done very well by Katie Villa.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and Netgalley for an advanced readers copy of this book for my honest review.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book and I thought it was narrated well. Some good plot tiwsts, that emerge as the book unfolds. Some annoying character traits but I guess that only makes them human. The only thing I would mark it down slightly is I was expecting a further twist in the final chapter/epilogue and I didn;t feel that hit the mark.