Synopsis
She wants what you have…
Hannah Parker is a woman who always gets what she wants.
When her current husband discovers she has been lying to him – again – she knows it’s time to move on and find someone who can give her the life she desires… The life she knows she deserves…
But who will be the lucky man?
When her eye catches a glimpse of an old flame in a photograph, she’s sure it’s a sign. Mark Shepherd has always been in her thoughts – they’d been happy once, he’d adored her, but she’d made a mistake and let him get away. She won’t make the same mistake again….
Hannah is older now and wiser. She knows what men want and she knows how to keep them happy.
So what if Mark is happily married with a family of his own?
All good things must come to an end…
My Review
I have read and loved each and every book that Valerie has written to date. I read the synopsis of ‘The Mistress’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of book I have come to expect from Valerie – a gripping psychological thriller with several twists and turns. Well it was certainly that and so much more. I really enjoyed reading ‘The Mistress’ but more about that in a bit.
I must be honest and say that it took me a little while to get into ‘The Mistress’. Part of the problem was that I found it rather hard to warm to the main character of Hannah. I started off feeling sorry for her and with an open mind but as the story continued I got to know her a bit better and I ended up rather disliking her. Hannah comes across as a devious and manipulative character and you certainly can’t trust her. I had my own suspicions as to how the story was going to develop and so I had to keep reading to see if I was anywhere near the truth or if I had wandered off in the opposite direction. The more of the book that I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. I was so wrapped up in the story that I didn’t realise just how quickly I was getting through the book. All too quickly I reached the end of ‘The Mistress’. I found ‘The Mistress’ to be a gripping, tense and dramatic read, which certainly kept me guessing and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.
‘The Mistress’ is superbly written but then I have come to expect nothing less from Valerie Keogh. Valerie certainly knows how to grab the reader’s attention and draw them into what proves to be one hell of a story and then some. Valerie describes her characters so vividly and realistically that they seem just as real as you and I. The story is divided up into chapters with each chapter being voiced from the point of view of one of the two female lead characters. The chapters interlink well and the story flows seamlessly as a result. Reading ‘The Mistress’ felt like being on an at times scary and rather unpredictable rollercoaster ride with several unexpected twists and turns along the way. I love the way in which Valerie makes the reader feel as though they are part of the story and at the heart of the action. That’s how I felt anyway.
In short, I really enjoyed reading ‘The Mistress’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Valerie’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.
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