Thrill of the Week: The Personal Assistant by Kimberly Belle

Kimberly Belle, who has often been referred to as the queen of domestic suspense, is back with another thrilling, entertaining twisty story not to be missed!! However, I think Belle is the queen of women in trouble twists!! No matter what she writes, I am on the edge of my seat, turning the pages as fast as I can.

What is going on between the covers

This storyline is a current hot topic and was easy to fall into. It was interesting to get an inside glimpse into a social media influencer perspective. Alex is a social media influencer. Her motivational messages and real life shared family moments have earned her a huge following. Her social media success demands more than she can manage and she hires a personal assistant. Things quickly turn against Alex when a controversial post goes viral — a post that Alex did not create or know about. ~ Lindsay

Themes

Revenge, betrayal, putting things in perspective, reality versus fake, and the dark side of social media. Somewhat darker than I expected from Belle, with themes of revenge and betrayal, but that’s the thing about her stories, you can expect the unexpected. ~ Brenda

Twists and Pay off

Belle does have a favorite trope that makes her book feel similar to each other, but the twists are all in that trope. The suspense and tension increase with new information as questions are answered, and new ones are opened up right up to the explosive climate and unexpected rewarding ending. ~Brenda

Belle’s writing grabbed me from the start and kept me curious to the very end. The multiple perspectives kept the story fresh and multi-layered. I did find pieces of this story similar to this her last release which was a bit disappointing. ~ Lindsay

Believability element: 

It’s an entertaining read that sometimes felt over the top, and I needed help to buy into the plot itself. However, Belle is a thoughtful writer as she quietly layers in takeaways with the character’s motivations and themes to her stories. ~ Brenda

I liked Alex immediately and felt invested in her situation. My connection to the characters and storyline did lessen in the last third of the book as the plot believability wasn’t there for me and some of the writing felt rushed and overdone. ~Lindsay

Overall

A fun, current and intriguing book that kept me entertained. It lacked the “wow” and shock factor I usually expect from this author but was fresh and unique. I look forward to what this author comes out with next! ~ Lindsay

While the timing is a bit off with the whole social media plotline, I thought it was an easy, entertaining, and thought-out story with a fantastic takeaway!! ~ Brenda

Published in Nov 2022 by Park Row /Read in Nov 2022

Source: EW