Roses are Red by Miranda Rijks

ABOUT THE BOOK

She wanted a second chance at happiness. She got a first-class ticket to hell.

Lydia Palmer seems to have it all – a thriving business, a beautiful house, a picture-perfect husband and two wonderful kids. But things are different behind closed doors – Lydia is desperately unhappy and wants a divorce. Then, shockingly, her husband Adam dies.

When her grief eases, Lydia starts online dating and almost immediately meets Patrick. Handsome, successful, loving, he’ll make the perfect second husband.

But is Patrick too good to be true? Can you really find prince charming online?

These are questions Lydia is forced to ask when her world begins to collapse. First, the police say Adam may have been murdered. Then her daughter turns against her, her business disintegrates…

Lydia is convinced that someone is trying to destroy her happiness. She’s wrong. They want so much more than that…

Roses are Red is a gripping psychological thriller that will keep you up until the early hours. Perfect for fans of K. L. Slater, Teresa Driscoll, and Andrew Hart.

MY REVIEW

This is my first Miranda Rijks novel which is an intense and captivating psychological thriller.

Lydia Palmer is co-owner of Cracking Crafts, a multi-million-pound company “selling new crafting gizmos from all over the world”. She has everything she ever wanted, two beautiful children, a beautiful home, but an unhappy marriage. And now her cheating husband, Adam, is dead. The police say he was electrocuted in their swimming pool and her business partner, Ajay, is a suspect. After some time, Lydia meets the handsome and charismatic Patrick Grant who sweeps her off her feet and before she knows it is married to him within weeks. After some unfortunate accidents, strange phone calls in the middle of the night, and unusual behavior from her friends and new husband, Patrick, she starts to second guess her decisions. What the hell has she done?

Lydia is not one of my favorite characters. For a savvy businesswoman, she is very naive when it comes to relationships. I realize she just lost her husband and is vulnerable, but she has two children who need her support and discipline during such a tragic time. in addition, the supporting characters like her friends, Cassie and Fiona, and her business partner, Ajay, had me doubting who was genuine and who was being shady.

Overall, this was a slow-building psychological thriller with an unsurprising outcome. However, the story kept me absorbed with Lydia’s mess of a life right to the climactic ending.

Thank you to Ms. Rijks for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Miranda Rijks is a writer of psychological thrillers and suspense novels. She has an eclectic background ranging from law to running a garden centre. She’s been writing all of her life and has a Masters in writing. A couple of years ago she decided to ditch the business plans and press releases and now she’s living the dream, writing suspense novels full time. She lives in Sussex, England with her Dutch husband, musician daughter, and black Labrador.