Well Instagram brought this book to our attention and it sounded so interesting! A thriller with a unique premise is difficult to come by, but this one had us sold right away. I mean, read the blurb for yourself (per Amazon):
From bestselling author Britney King comes a hypnotic and terrifying psychological thriller about a man held hostage in a remote location by the “love of his life”—aka the woman he refuses to marry.
She only wants one thing:
for him to love her the way he used to.
When her boyfriend hesitates to propose—and then cheats instead of leaving—she decides the relationship needs structure. Space. Consequences. A reset. Retreating to an isolated house in the countryside feels like the responsible choice. A place where distractions disappear and commitment can finally take root.
He doesn’t see it that way.
At least not at first.
To the outside world, the man in her basement is her ill husband—too fragile for one of those homes, she explains. She’s devoted. Patient. Doing the work. No one asks too many questions.
Enter Luke.
Luke fixes problems.
Not the kind you call the police about.
The kind people quietly hope someone else will handle.
When he takes a job renovating an isolated country house, he knows something is wrong immediately. The work requests are about privacy, sound, containment. The woman who hired him is calm, polite, and lying badly.
He doesn’t intervene.
As Luke works, he watches her devotion harden into something stranger—and far more interesting. When he realizes her plan is flawed, he doesn’t stop it. He improves it. Suggests a way to make her boyfriend jealous. Engaged. Afraid of losing her.
It works.
What begins as an experiment turns into alignment. What looks like obsession becomes efficiency. And as lines are crossed—quietly, rationally—Luke understands the truth before she does:
Some relationships aren’t meant to be saved.
They’re meant to be replaced.
Book Stats
- Publication Date: 03/19/26
- Publisher: Hot Banana Press
- Format: ebook
- Chapters: 69, with 1 prologue
- Pages: 308
- Narrator POV: 1st person, alternating between Luke and Marin’s POVs
- Kindle Unlimited 🖤
Ronni’s Review
Book Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/ 5
Unlike Shayna, I actually really enjoyed this one! It’s not going to be a life-changing, thought-provoking read, so please don’t go in expecting that. Think a quick and fun (if you can say that about a thriller) read that you can devour in one or two sittings. Think Freida McFadden but… not?
I spent the entire story waiting and hoping that Marin and Luke would get together. Honestly, I was not expecting the storyline with Charles to end up where it did but I loved it and I 100% need stories about Mrs. Mathers because this is clearly not her first rodeo!
Shayna’s Review
Book Rating: ⭐⭐/ 5
Spice: 🌶️🌶️/ 5
I hate to say it, but I didn’t love this. Like, at all. The idea was so interesting, but the actual story? Not for me.
So, I feel like the blurb really oversold it. This was my first Britney King book, and some of the reviews said this was her best work yet, but I don’t understand why. The writing itself wasn’t bad. I like short chapters and quick reads. But this book was not enjoyable for me at all.
I felt like everything happened in the first couple chapters, while King was setting up her story. But then nothing happened. Like, at all. For the entire rest of the book. And I thought maybe it was just me because there were some great reviews, but my mom felt the exact same way. So, I don’t know.
For real, I was so excited when something SEEMED like it was happening in the second half, but then on the very next page (not exaggerating – 1 page), the situation was done. Over. I couldn’t believe how anticlimactic it was, honestly.
I mean, at least the chapters were short? I do love a quick read sometimes. 🤷🏻♀️ But none of the characters were likeable and I kinda hoped they would all die or end up in jail because at least that would’ve been interesting.
But no. The ending was way stupider (more stupid?) and way less exciting.
I’m sorry. I really try not to shit on people’s work, but I don’t know how else to discuss this book. I was bored and I didn’t find anything I liked about it, except for the short chapters. If this wasn’t a book club book, I would’ve DNF’d and it would’ve been 1 star. But since I finished it for book club, that made it an automatic 2 star for me.
I don’t know. I truly hope others loved the book. My mom and I discussed the fact that maybe we’ve just read too many thrillers or something and that we expect too much? Like, this story wasn’t thrilling in any way, and I wouldn’t personally consider it a thriller, but maybe that’s because we’ve read some real fucked up stuff and this just seemed super mild? I really don’t know.
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