Best Day Ever Review

**Thank you to Harlequin (Australia) and Netgalley for sending me an ARC of the book in return for an honest review. 4.5 stars!!! When I started this book, I was hooked from page one. Set in a day, the novel focuses on MC Paul Strom and a romantic getaway that he has planned for him and his wife. The structure of the book is unique as each chapter is separated according to time slots. Thus, the title of the book. I found the concept and layout for the novel highly original and the plot didn't disappoint as well. From the get go, although we are led to believe that our MC has a perfect life - a beautiful wife, children, job, and house. There is an undercurrent of something dark and sinister. The prose is beautiful and even in the details of the mundane, the author does a fantastic job of showing the cracks in this flawless veneer. Written from the POV of a narcissistic psychopath, we catch a glimpse of how our MC loves to control those in this life. We see how he views himself and his intolerance for all those things he views as not being perfect in his context. From the constant repetition of the phrase "best day ever" and the use of superlatives to describe his actions, it becomes quite obvious that the MC has something big planned. Every character in the book has been fleshed out. We see raw emotion and the twisted psyche of a sociopath. This created for a complex, gritty and intricate story which I loved. The story starts off slow but as the best day planned by the MC progresses, the author slowly reveals twists and revelations. It was like this gift that you keep unwrapping and find multiple surprises. Although the story is based on dysfunction in marriage, the author keeps the story suspenseful enough. Throughout the story, I kept trying to figure out what was happening and why the characters were behaving as such. What were the secrets that they were hiding? This made the book especially engaging and made reading a breeze. My only negative was the ending, I am a bit unsatisfied as I feel there's a bit of a loose end there. I don't feel things were tied up properly and the revenge that was exacted fell kind of flat, in my opinion. However, I would still recommend reading this book. It's definitely heart thumping and I loved delving into the mind of a damaged person. I was looking for something atmospheric and I definitely got it from this novel.

#KairaRouda #adult #pyschologicalthriller #suspense #mystery #narcissism