Thank you Thomas & Mercer, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of Hello, Juliet in exchange for my honest review. I purchased the audiobook for my own collection.
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer / Brilliance Audio
Published: April 29, 2025
Summary:
In a dark thriller from USA Today bestselling author Samantha M. Bailey, a TV reunion brings costars back for the drama and betrayals their viewers once craved—and this time, the stakes are deadly.
Ivy Westcott fled LA as her acting career imploded. In a flash, she lost her first love and chosen family—her Hello, Juliet castmates. But she never discovered who turned her closest friends against her. Now the whole world knows her as #PoisonIvy.
A decade later, Ivy is horrified when a celebrity exposé thrusts the Hello, Juliet cast back into the limelight, dredging up the old scandals she hoped to escape. Desperate for a fresh start and some financial stability for her mother and manager, Ivy agrees to participate in a top-secret reunion episode.
Ivy’s poised for a comeback, but past betrayals become a present danger when she and the man who once broke her heart find their costar dead.
Determined to find justice and clear her name, Ivy must tear down the facades of cast and crew to uncover chilling secrets that have plagued the Hollywood set from day one. Or she could be the next to die.
My thoughts:
I have been a fan of Samantha M. Bailey’s books since her debut novel, Woman on the Edge, and was thrilled to finally get to this latest book, especially as I knew I’d be seeing her at the @MontrealMysteryFestival. And let me just say…it did not disappoint!
This book just might be my new favorite by her…I mean any book that manages to give me one of my favorite “It shows” from back in the day vibes – and yes, I’m totally aging myself here, but 90210 was all the rage at one time!!!
Give me all the juicy drama of a reunion TV show and flashbacks to the original show and how an unknown gets the lead role? Toxic friendships, romance, mother-daughter relationships–this book explores it all, with a darker lens than I was expecting but couldn’t have loved more. The twists and turns kept me guessing where it was ultimately headed. This is the perfect example of a story that builds in intensity and just when you think you have it all figured out, the floor drops out from under you. I cannot recommend this one enough!
Audio thoughts:
This was amazing on audio, with Kira Fixx, a new-to-me narrator, at the helm. I thought she did such a great job infusing just the right amount of suspense and emotion into her voice as needed.
Purchasing from the link below supports independent bookstores and my blog!
Thank you for the review.
Author
Of course! Have you read this author yet?