By the time Kate realizes she has to get away from Richard, things have gone too far. Isolated from her friends, scared he'll come after her, she flees to the Isle Wight in the winter, hoping the remoteness will keep him from finding her. But an insular place outside of tourist season isn't the friendliest of places and Kate is both scared and lonely. When she realizes that the woman she spoke with briefly is the same woman who disappeared while sailing, she becomes fascinated with her, to the point of listening in on conversations and watching the husband.

This book has all the elements of a solid thriller, but ends up being, well, not very thrilling. Whitehouse takes so much time setting up the story that it never really takes off, with the evil boyfriend not really posing much of a threat until the final pages. But the descriptions of island life in winter were lovely and and the story of a lonely woman finding a few friends was well-told. If you're looking for something with pacing and excitement, give this one a pass, but if you're open to vivid descriptions of life on an English island as well as an unconvincing love story, you might enjoy this one. I liked it well enough. ( )

This was one of the best books I've read in ages. The language is beautiful, evoking the locations' views, smells and feels.

I did have a niggle about why the police weren't involved sooner and I'd be interested to know the author's reason for this. But other than that, the story was gripping and the characters appealing. ( )

I'm a complete sucker for UK Psychological thrillers and I've been devouring Lucie Whitehouse's novels. Look, they aren't going to win any major literary awards but they're fun to read real page-turners, the prose is beautiful and so easy to get lost in. A perfect weekend read or just something to pick up when you don't want anything that requires too much concentration. I really enjoyed this, even if I did think the protagonist was rather dimwitted and could have made much, much better decisions but where's the fun in that? Also, in almost every sex scene nipples were being twiddled and it made me laugh a lot and I needed some laughter. Despite all the nipple twiddling, I do recommend you pick this one up. ( )

Richard tiene un aire peligroso... pero tan irresistible que nada más conocerlo en el Soho, Kate lo invita a su casa. El hechizo se rompe cuando descubre que está casado. Dieciocho meses después, Kate decide poner fin a la aventura y se muda a la lúgubre Isla de Wight... sin imaginar que la verdadera relación con Richard acaba de empezar.

I took forever to feel immersed in this book. Its geographic proximity to where I live (normallty a pull for me!) wasn't enough to draw me in or distract from the book's linear structure. Too much happens at the end (and it's the end you know is coming from right at the beginning) and not enough happens along the way to add depth and texture to the narrative. One or two tiny branches off the main trunk were added - almost haphazardly - towards the end but they led nowhere and were clumsily tied up in the final chapter as if to indicate that they never had meant anything in the first place. ( )