Blog Tour
for
THE ENGAGEMENT
Book: The Engagement
Publication Day: 10 January 2023
‘There’s someone I want you to meet,’ Belle says, as a man draws up to her side. He’s tall with dark hair and stubble on his square jaw. He’s not exactly smiling, but the corner of his mouth curls upwards as he slides his hand around my daughter’s waist.
I grab my husband’s arm to steady myself, as the room spins around me.
I stare into the man’s eyes – jet black. Nothing and everything hidden behind them.
Fear prickles my skin as I remember what he did.
How I only just escaped.
All the lies I’ve had to tell since.
‘I want you to meet Jack,’ Belle says, brimming with excitement. ‘He’s my fiancé.’ She rests her head on his shoulder. ‘Isn’t it exciting? We’re engaged!’
Fear hammers in my chest. I have to stop this.
My daughter’s life is in danger, and it’s all because of me…
A totally gripping psychological thriller from an Amazon No1. bestseller that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and have you gasping at the twists. Fans of The Housemaid, Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train will be flipping pages all night long!
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THE ENGAGEMENT by Samantha Hayes is the first thriller I’ve read this year, and it was a great way to start.
As soon as we meet Hannah Greene, we can sense her anxiousness. She’s the mother of two daughters, but her focus is definitely on her just-about-to-turn-18 daughter Belle. Belle’s been in France for several months and out of Hannah’s reach. She cannot keep her safe, and this is proved true when Belle returns home announcing she’s engaged to a man more than twice her age. More distressingly, it’s someone Hannah knows from her previous life – a life no one else knows about, and one she wants left firmly in the past.
The book does at times delve into human trafficking and sex work, but it’s done in a sympathetic and non-gratuitous manner.
I found the author to be skilled in her portrayal of her characters: an anxious and stressed Hannah, a know-it-all teen in Belle, and a whole host of people just trying to get by. Some succeed, while others are taken advantage of at vulnerable times.
The author succeeded in surprising me time and again. While the overall story does stretch the bounds of credibility – hey, it’s fiction - it’s told in a way that makes you want to believe it because the twists and turns in it are really good. And that ending! That really surprised me. Well played, Ms. Hayes.
When not writing, Samantha loves to cook, go to the gym, see friends and drink nice wine. She is also studying for a degree in psychotherapy. She has three grown-up children and lives in Warwickshire.
https://www.samanthahayes.co.uk/
