By: Miranda Rijks
Narrator: Helen Day
ASIN: B0B15LJTQV
Publisher: Dreamscape Media
Publication Date: 09/27/2022
Format: Audiobook
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
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, and 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, and her business disintegrates.
Lydia is convinced that someone is trying to destroy her happiness. But she’s wrong—they want so much more than that...
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My Review
Miranda Rijks' ROSES ARE RED is a twisty whodunit domestic suspense with unreliable characters, misdirection, lies, and secrets.
How well do you know your husband?
Adam and Lydia Palmer seem to have it all. House, family, business, looks, and luxury cars. Adam is narcissistic and uses his money and privilege to manipulate and get what he wants.
In Chapter One, we learn Adam is murdered. He drowned in his pool. Someone set it up. Who? Motive? Electrocuted.
Lydia has been married to Adams for eighteen years. They have two children, Mia and Ollie. She had the company Cracking Crafts (co-owns) two years before she married Adam. Adam was the firm's finance director. She and her best friend Cassie are co-owners. Ajay oversees operations and technology and Lydia handles the marketing and ongoing shopping channels.
Adam has been having an affair with Marianne (Ajay's wife). The couple's marriage was over and they planned to get a divorce. Lydia hates he died, but her life will be easier, not having to fight for custody and money.
There is an investigation by DI Cornish and DC White into the death of Adam, and nothing has been solved. She is going to inherit a lot of money and is a suspect.
In the meantime, months later, Lydia wants to start dating again. Even though she is a business owner, she makes impulsive and reckless decisions about dating. She meets Patrick online, and he sweeps her off her feet. They soon marry. Patrick is everything she wants and always brings her roses. But why is he in such a hurry to get married?
Things go downhill from here. What happened to the nice guy she married? Is he a freeloader after her money?
Her daughter blames her mother for her father's death. She is not happy she married quickly after her father's death.
Lydia thinks maybe it was her business partner who murdered Adam—his wife was sleeping with her husband. Her business begins failing. Her daughter is acting out, and she feels like a terrible mother. Her world is falling apart.
Could AJ have killed Adam, and what if he is trying to get control of Cracking Crafts? He wants her to sell her shares. Is there something more sinister going on?
Then Lydia finds some mysterious letters to Adam from his Mum and from Adam to his Dad. Then the silent calls begin, noises, shadows, in the night, a dark maroon car, her brakes were tampered with, the peanuts (allergic) —is someone trying to scare and gaslight her?
But then nothing will prepare Lydia for what is to come...
The ongoing whodunit mystery is who murdered Adam, Adam'spast, and what Patrick is hiding. Whom can she trust? Who is Patrick?
Be careful what you wish for ...
ROSES ARE RED is a mystery of domestic suspense tale of revenge and obsession that unfolds piece by devastating piece. A cautionary tale (more so than a thriller) of the dangers and victims of internet dating and fraud—when things are not as they seem.
The twists will force readers to shift their allegiances from character to character, never entirely sure who to trust or what's going on.
When people are desperate for love, they often become a target for others to unearth their vulnerabilities. Evil people disguised as friendly and charming.
I purchased the e-book and audiobook, and while I enjoyed the audiobook narrated by Helen Day, there were not very many likable characters here and was not invested in them. While I enjoy Rijk's books and writing, this one was not my favorite. I recommend reading her newer novels.
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 3.5 Stars
Pub Date: Sept 27, 2022
About the Author
Miranda Rijks is the internationally bestselling author of psychological thrillers, many of which have been Kindle bestsellers. She is the author of twenty books: (Seventeen psychological thrillers, one non-fiction, one biography, and one women’s fiction.) Before becoming a fiction writer, she helped newbie entrepreneurs turn their ideas into successful businesses. In 2015, she was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma, a rare bone cancer, and everything changed.
Rijks lives in Sussex, England with her husband, musician daughter, and black Labradors. When she's not writing, she's dreaming about living in a chalet on a Swiss mountain (a reality), obsessively knitting, and painting on her iPad (procreate artist at Chalet Artstore, online gallery).
Her books include: The Concierge, Forget Me Not, The Insomniac, The Arrangement, The New Neighbour, The Second Wife, The Only Child, The Visitors, What She Knew, The Influencer, Roses Are Red, You Are Mine, Deserve To Die, I Want You Gone, Fatal Fortune, Fatal Flowers, and Fatal Finale.
You can find Miranda online at www.mirandarijks.com If you'd like to receive her free short stories, info on her writing, and be the first to know about her upcoming releases sign up for her newsletter at https://mirandarijks.substack.com
