March book club - The Girlfriend

Just finished the book and have to say I think it was one of the best psychological thrillers I have read in a long time, can't wait for Michelle to write more.

I really disliked Cherry so much that it spoilt my enjoyment of the book.The only character I warmed to was Wendy.I did want to see what happened in the end though and I ended up reading it this morning in a sunny churchyard in Dorking so that I could hand it on to someone else at our GN meet up.Had it been a short story I would have enjoyed it more.I felt it rather dragged in parts but over all it was OK.

Sorry, did not enjoy this book, from the reviews I expected some thing really gripping, but found it quite a tame read for a psychological thriller.

Sorry Gagagran I couldn't relate to Laura and her smothering at all, but maybe that's because I have 3 sons and so far have only managed to unload one of them permanently, another sort of and a third not at all.

I think all we Mothers of sons could relate to Laura and her difficulty in the thought of "losing" him to another woman even though she tried hard to suppress that and to be welcoming and she was looking forward to being a friend to Cherry. Initially, that is, but as soon as she sussed out Cherry as being devious and manipulative, her tiger mother instincts came to the fore.

I thought this book was a page-turner easy-read and I that the characters of Laura and Daniel were well drawn.

I wonder if Michelle has ever come across a character like Cherry in real life or if she is purely a figment of her imagination?

I really enjoyed this book. I'm not sure I would have had the nerve to have told the lie that the character did, although I could see where she was coming from. So as not to spoil it for others, I won't name the characters but will say that one had more than one side and was certainly rather disturbed, while the other was verging on the smothering side. As others have said, it was easy reading and one that I could get totally lost in. Which for me is the whole point of reading a book such as this. I would definitely read other books written by this author, it was a good physiological thriller in my opinion.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, it held my attention throughout, I thought Cherry was an awful person and wondered why Daniel couldn't see through her. I felt sorry for Laura who I thought came across as a very nice caring character, she was obviously distraught when she thought her son was dying and told Cherry he was dead, she should have come clean, that part of the story was taken too far. Nevertheless I was enthralled and I'm glad I got the chance to read it. Thank you.

I couldn't put this book down. At first I felt sorry for Cherry then It thought the she was the type of person who would never be happy no matter what. I liked Laura and really felt for her throughout the book although I do know she didn't do the right thing.
The suspense kept going and I never quite knew what to expect next. I think this book would make a great one off tv drama and would like to ask the author if there is a chance of that happening. This book will do so well during the summer as a holiday read and you won't be falling asleep on your sunbed reading it either. Thanks for the copy gransnet.

A fast paced easy read which would make good holiday reading this summer. The characters were well drawn but belief had to be suspended at times, but that's the same with quite a few books.

Of the two characters, Laura and Cherry I think Cherry actually came across as the more likeable. Yes she was a fortune hunter and hunting a man to look after her, but she was aware of this and she intended to make a bargain and stick to it. I thought Laura had very similar motivation but seemed unaware that she was in a similar situation, married to a man who didn't love her, fully conscious of this but wanting the lifestyle his money bought her. I wondered if the writer had met women who were like this.

I enjoyed this book and read it in a couple of days, it is the kind of story you want to keep reading to see how far the lead character is prepared to go to get her own way.
I felt it was unrealistic in that Cherry did not do any research after having being told that Daniel was dead. When I have been told that I have missed someone's announcement I usually go to newspaper archives and read the obituaries. It is also unlikely that Daniel was not on facebook or twitter seeing as he was a twenty something student.
Laura was rather too clingy as a mother and I understand that she had already lost a child but goodness me she did like to have Daniel to herself.
I loved the descriptions of the holiday in France and reminded me very much of our family holidays round the pool and eating at local restaurants.
As a first novel I found it very readable and look forward to future books, it was very obvious that the author had worked in TV.

I liked this book.there were quite a few different undercurrents running through it, and each character had their own flaw.There was a lot of co dependency happening and this obviously happens in real life too.
I like that Cherry and Laura both were not bad through and through, just in parts and I wondered if Michelle wanted us to feel sympathetic in any way to them or to despise them for their acts ? Neither started off totally bad, but both ended up that way, and both lost something along the way.Daniel seemed to lose out most of all, yes he had his money and his background to fall back on, but I couldn't help but feel sorry for him.I liked Michelle's description, and I too could feel the sunshine at the house in France, I just bet the author went there..purely for research purposes of course !!

I enjoyed reading the book, thank you Michelle.

I found this an easy book to finish. I became interested in the characters, speculated to myself on their histories and motivations as the dynamic evolved. I agree it would make a tv series. I would be interested to know more about the inspiration for this book.

I enjoyed this book,read it in two days. I felt sorry for Daniel being torn between two people who loved him.At the beginning I had sympathy for Laura which I then lost.

I am sorry to say I didn't really enjoy this book. It is very dark, and I found myself racing to get to the end so that I could read something lighter in tone. It did rather remind me of a television serial ( it would work well as one). The most sympathetic character, I felt, was Cherry's mum, Wendy. I would like to ask the author whether any real events prompted her to write this story.

How does anyone else feel about the lie Laura tells? Would Cherry really believe her? Social media is so important in most 20-30 year olds lives I found it hard to believe that Cherry wouldn't have checked it out.

Yes, me too!

It's a light read if you want to read about the super rich, if you are prepared to go with some of the plot twists and not question what you are told it's OK. But I like my crime novels to be credible.

Thanks, trisher - I quite liked the sound of it and was wondering about buying it. I won't bother now!

Finished it. Must say I disliked both the main female characters and didn't particularly care what happened to either of them, both could have died as far as I was concerned. So many holes in the plot it's unbelievable. Will post about those later.

Thank you for my copy, looking forward to starting it.

I agree about the lifestyle annsixty I think that and the unsympathetic characters were the things that made it hard reading for me at first.

Finished it in 2 days. It is very easy to read. The sheer opulence of the lifestyle irritated at first but of course it is very pertinent to the story. Characters hard to feel any sympathy for but enjoyed it very much. Will say more when more people get to the end so no spoilers.

Started it. Found it a bit hard at first, but then the sudden twists and turns start. It never seems to go the way you expect!