The Honeymoon by Kate Gray @welbeckpublish @KateGrayAuthor #TheHoneymoon #NetGalley

 

The Honeymoon by Kate Gray

Published by Welbeck Publishing

Publication Date: 20th July 2023

My thanks to Rob Cox at Welbeck Publishing for the early copy of this book via NetGalley.

Book Description:

Two happy couples.

One dead body.

A whole load of secrets.

Married life wasn't meant to start like this...

On honeymoon in Bali, you hit it off with another newlywed couple and celebrate your last night at a fancy cliff-side restaurant.

No one predicted the evening would end with a dead body. But it was an accident, right? A tragic accident.

The honeymoon may be over but it soon becomes clear that there's another side to this story . . . and your life depends on uncovering it.

Many marriages can survive anything – but when it starts on a lie is it really 'til death do us part?

My Thoughts:

Two women, both on honeymoon, meet pool-side in a Bali hotel. They get chatting and end up with a dinner date for themselves and their respective husbands at the Blue Fin restaurant later that evening. It's the last night of the holidays for all of them, and it seems a nice idea to spend some time with like-minded people. But the evening ends on a sour note - moreso for one of the couples who find themselves with a bit of a dilemma.

This book packs a shocking opening scenario, and with the chapters coming short and sharp throughout, the reader is bombarded with information and question marks about the respectability of all those involved. Emotional wedges are driven between Erin and James before they've even left the island, but why are Sophia and Mark so keen to keep in touch once they're back in the UK? None of the characters is at all likeable and you will switch allegiance multiple times along the way as information about the characters filters down the pages. 

This would make a decent page-turner of a beach read (if ever we get a summer!) and I don't think you're likely to guess the conclusion of the story - I mean, it's not the biggest curveball ever, but it had sufficient intrigue as I didn't entirely work out where the story was heading.

My thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this via the NetGalley platform.

About the Author:

The Honeymoon is the first thriller published by Kate Gray, who has previously written feel-good reads under the name Katy Colins.

I may have a little book-buying problem...

Or there again (as is my argument) I just don't have enough storage space or hours in the day to read!

With access to books being pretty easy in my world, I can say I am extremely lucky compared to others, and having a partner who, while he doesn't turn a blind eye to the number of books which randomly appear in our home, gently reminds me on a regular basis that I do actually need to read some of them before our house either explodes, or turns from a house into a bungalow. It seems that the saying that book buying and book reading being two different hobbies finds a lot of truth in my case.

I have to admit to having been rather extravagant lately; these are new books which I have treated myself to as they were just too tempting to leave behind.

I just HAD to buy the signed copy of Jack Jordan's Conviction at Waterstones in Greenwich as a reminder of my trip to London!

Then there are the preloved books which have made their way into my possession recently, whether from charity shops or passed on to me by friends. These have certainly made an impact on my TBR pile and made it rather precarious!

And to put the cherry on the top of the pile, I had reserved a few books from my local library at various points recently as I was increasingly aware of how many I'd bought, and a few of them also arrived all at the same time. 

So basically, I need to put the brakes on my buying/loaning of books and actually crack on and read as many of them as is humanly possible. In my defence I have stopped looking at the new issues available via NetGalley as I know I cannot realistically fit any of them in by their deadlines, so it wouldn't be right to request anything for the foreseeable future and I've set up a new photo folder on my phone where I add pictures of the books I'm interested in rather than just rushing out to buy them or reserving them at the library. 

I will endeavour to add my thoughts and recommendations to my blog page as much as possible but please excuse me if this slips a bit while I try and play catch-up for a while.