Similar Features by Gemma Johns is a murder, mystery, thriller. I absolutely loved it!
The book is narrated by Cassandra, Jade, and Fiona.
Cassandra has been in a relationship with Jade ever since her marriage ended. She was married to Patrick Henderson and was the first Mrs. Henderson.
Cassandra and Jade are now married, have a beautiful house in the suburbs and her business is successful.
Life was perfect. Until she was contacted by Fiona.
Fiona is married to Patrick Henderson, she is the second Mrs. Henderson.
She knew her marriage was in trouble the moment she found Cassandra and Patrick’s wedding album. She is blown away by their similar features, they could be twins or at least sisters!
Troubled by Patrick’s lies, missing money, and unexplained disappearances, she leaves him and files for divorce. Hoping to get answers to her questions and maybe broker a better financial settlement, she makes contact with Cassandra.
Cassandra decides to meet Fiona, mainly out of curiosity. She too is amazed at how similar they both look. Cassandra finds she really hasn’t had closure on her divorce and also has the same unanswered questions about Patrick.
The three women become friends.
Patrick, who has kept an eye on his first ex-wife and also on his soon-to-be second ex-wife, realises they have now joined forces. There is every chance of his secrets being exposed.
What will Patrick’s next move be?
This is a murder mystery story that flicks between the present and the past.
I found I couldn’t stop reading, wanting to find out all the answers. This to me is a sign of a good book when it keeps you enthralled and guessing from the beginning to the end.
I thouroughly enjoyed this book and definitely recommend it.
Author: Gemma Johns
Copy courtesy of Gemma Johns and Spectrum Books
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club Members are reading Similar Features by Gemma Johns. You can read their comments below, or add your own review.
You ma also like to read The Marriage Sabbatical.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Similar Features an ebook published by Spectrum Books and written by Gemma Johns starts from an interesting base – two uncannily similar looking women, Fiona and Cassandra, who had each been married to the same man, and who work in the same field, begin a friendship…It is all a little odd. And as the story progresses you do wonder what is going on with all these similarities …
Patrick the charming but creepy and manipulative ex husband seems to find it hard to move on from both his ex’s. He is very possessive/obsessive. And he has lots of secrets, including unexplained absences and financial discrepancies… His second wife Fiona is keen to uncover what those secrets are, and although Cassandra his first wife has moved on with her new partner Jade, she too wants to know more. When Patrick is murdered, Fiona, Cassandra and Jade are obvious suspects…
The story is initially told by the two main characters Fiona and Cassandra, swapping from one to the other, and I found this quite clunky and confusing. However perhaps this was a deliberate device to reflect the way their unusual and confusing relationship starts out. As the book progresses and the friendship between Fiona and Cassandra develops, I found that the narration became smoother. Then, when Patrick is murdered and everyone’s emotions are in chaos, the narration once again switches to being disjointed and also more narrators are introduced.
This was an interesting story and had all the hallmarks of being a good psychological thriller. However ultimately I found it fell short. The ending and revelation of who killed Patrick and why, seemed a bit rushed and under developed. Nevertheless it was an entertaining read.
Thank-you Beauty & Lace for giving me the chance to read & review ‘Similar Features’ an e-book by Gemma Johns.
Cassandra and Fiona meet and form a strong friendship, what is unusual about this is that they were both once married to Patrick. Although Cassandra has moved on with marriage to Jade and Fiona is in the process of divorce, they both have questions over Patrick with his lies, money issues and unexplained disappearances during their marriages.
As Cassandra and Fiona slowly learn to like and trust each other, with the support of Jade they realize how similar yet different they both are to each other. Both become increasingly worried about Patrick’s behaviour and then they find out he has been killed! More questions are asked until the truth is finally revealed.
I really enjoyed reading this book and didn’t want to stop reading as I needed to find out what had happened. At first, I was suspicious of one character and then it was another, with a bit of a twist in the end. Thank-you ‘Beauty & Lace Bookclub’ for the opportunity to read ‘Similar Features’ an e-book by Gemma Johns.
I must say that I didn’t like this book at the beginning but then it caught hold of me and I couldn’t put it down.
It was an interesting psychological thriller and I enjoyed seeing how the three girls met up and got on. I felt suspicious of each of them throughout the story but didn’t pick up on the killer until the end.
Wow I loved this book! Similar Features by Gemma Johns is a page turner that will have you thinking you have everything figured out only to read on another chapter or two and have you thinking something different.
The story focuses on Cassandra and Fiona who were both married to Patrick. Fiona – the second wife – reaches out to Cassandra – the first wife – after deciding to end her marriage to Patrick and they forge a friendship after a rocky start. This of course does not make Patrick happy. There are some heated scenes before Patrick ends up murdered. The journey to find the killer has many twists and turns and will have you racing to the end of the book.
I highly recommend this book!!
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Spectrum Books for the copy.
Wow! What a story! I love it when you get a book that you just can’t put down, when you just HAVE to keep reading because you need to know what happens next and “Similar Features ” by Gemma Johns was just that book. I had no idea what the outcome was going to be, but I loved all the twists and turns along the way. Highly recommended and I will now be looking for other books by Gemma. Thank you Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book >:o)
Similar Features by Gemma Johns is a great read
that will keep you enthralled from the first page.
One Husband with 2 ex wives.
A great Thriller and who done-it that will have you guessing until the end
and then you will realise you were so wrong!
Amazing twist that you won’t see coming.
Thank you Beauty and Lace and Spectrum Books
for the opportunity to read this book.
Thanks to Spectrum Books, Beauty and Lace and Gemma Johns for the opportunity to read Similar Features.
This is an interesting read and I will be honest I struggled in the beginning to get a rhythm of the story as it chopped and changed between the two main characters Fiona and Cassandra. But I hung in there and …. wow!
This is quite a story and a fun read for anyone looking for something a bit different. Pay attention and you will really enjoy where Similar Features goes and the ending. Great characters interesting story line and a great read.
Thanks again!
Wow Jemma Johns certainly writes a great book
Had me intrigued from the start to finish
One husband Patrick and two x wives Fiona and Cassandra who not only become work mates but friends
This is a book that was hard to put down as I needed to find out who the killer was
Certainly was a great read
No spoilers
Similar Features is the second book I’ve read by Gemma Johns. At first I found the switching between the characters telling the story a little confusing, but once I worked out who was who it was a good read.
The characters were interesting and likeable. It’s about Patrick and his two ex wives Cassandra and Fiona who befriend each other. Cassandra now has a new partner Jade and the story goes back and forward from the past to the present telling the story of the women’s relationship with Patrick.
I feel like some of the story lines could’ve been explored further and the end seemed quite rushed and new characters were suddenly introduced.
In saying that it wasn’t predictable and it had you guessing until the end.
Thank you Beauty and Lace, Gemma Johns and Spectrum Books for this ebook.
I was intrigued by the concept of this book, two women who had been married to the same man becoming friends. The characters were likeable, or at least understood their motivations. For me it raised the question of “how well can you really know the person you are in a relationship with?”
The story was written ftom the perspectives of Cassandra and Fiona, in present time and the past. The story was well written however I felt some parts could have been fleshed out more while others could have been more succinct to keep the momentum of the story. The end seemed rushed.
Thank-you Beauty & Lace for giving me the chance to read & review ‘Similar Features’ an e-book by Gemma Johns and Spectrum Books.