The Blame Game by Sandie Jones

 Naomi Chandler is a psychologist specializing in domestic abuse in The Blame Game by Sandie Jones coming out mid-August. The problem, according to her husband Leon, is that she becomes overly involved in her patients’ lives. 

One of her recent clients is an abused husband named Jacob. After working together for three months, she supports Jacob’s decision to leave his wife, even offering another home she owns to him for a safe house. She knows what Leon will say so she holds off on telling him they now have a renter. But suddenly Jacob is missing, and the police want to talk to Naomi about her “involvement” with him.

Naomi is also treating a client named Anna, who is also an abused spouse. With her house now rented out to Jacob, she makes Anna and her children an offer to use the spare two bedrooms of the house she and Leon live in. 

The situation with the missing Jacob escalates as readers learn Naomi’s back story in which a murder occurred when she was a teen that changed the trajectory of her life as well as that of her sister Jennifer, from whom she is estranged. Strange things start happening such as Jacob’s file disappearing from her cabinet, news of her father’s release from prison, and neither Jacob nor Anna might not be who they say they are. The plot becomes quite entangled, and the epilogue leaves one puzzling the outcome and the loose ends. 

This is the second Jones’ book that was a page turner until it fell apart in the “twist.” For a better example of what Jones can do, The First Mistake is a real page-turner with a twisty plot in which not all is as it seems as it reaches a startling conclusion.

Working as a freelance journalist for more than 20 years, Sandie Jones turned to fiction with her debut novel, The Other Woman in 2018, and has now completed her fifth book. She lives in London with her family.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting May 13, 2022.

I would like to thank St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

The Bodyguard by Katherine Center

Hannah Brooks is The Bodyguard in the latest novel by Katherine Center coming out in mid-July. Hannah is a petite person, but she can take out an attacker with a wine bottle opener, a ballpoint pen, or even a dinner napkin.

When her latest assignment is with celebrity Jack Stapleton, she has to prove herself to him by flipping him on his back and possibly dislocating his shoulder because he thinks she is just the cleaning lady he has hired. While Jack needs a bodyguard because he is being stalked by a crazy fan, he doesn’t want one. Instead, he wants to just visit his family home in Katy, Texas, without his cancer-stricken mother learning that he may be in potential danger.

Pressured by the studio, he accepts Hannah only if she poses as his girlfriend rather than doing her job in the regular fashion. Hannah is not happy about that tweak, but her boss insists she will do what the client wants. However, thanks to photos of her with Jack finding their way to the Internet, her cover is blown, and she becomes ripe for attack by the stalker herself.

Thwarting threats and guarding vulnerable people is a job Hannah truly enjoys. She never mixes business with pleasure, but when she is forced to play the role of girlfriend for Mrs. Stapleton’s sake, her heart becomes vulnerable. The plot from there is predictable and a bit sappy, but it is an enjoyable, lighthearted read.

Katherine Center is the New York Times bestselling author of eight books, including How to Walk Away, Things You Save in a Fire, and What You Wish For. Her book The Lost Husband was made into a Netflix movie, and Happiness for Beginners will soon be offered on Netflix starring Luke Grimes from the TV series “Yellowstone.” She lives in her hometown of Houston, Texas, with her family.