Author: Tasmina Perry
ISBN: 978-0-7553-5849-6
RRP: $29.99
Tasmina Perry’s latest novel is a gripping page turner that held me in thrall start to finish. There is something for everyone with elements of crime, suspense, romance and travel.
In an ideal world this is one book that I would have devoured in a single sitting, I found it extremely difficult to put down and was always itching to get back into it. In part I can attribute this to the various strands of storyline playing out simultaneously, the chapters focus on different characters so at the end of every chapter you want to continue until you can get back to those characters to see what they’re up to.
The story is told in the third person which keeps the story flowing fluidly through chapters as it focuses on different characters. There are straightforward links between some of the characters from the beginning so you know how they fit together. As the story progresses the twists begin and we start to see that often things are not what they seem.
Yet again Tasmina Perry has set her story in the midst of the wealthy, leading lives of privilege. Gorgeous houses, everything money can buy and shallow characters concerned more about bank balances and appearances than actual people.
Sophie Ellis is a spoilt, materialistic young lady drifting through life on Daddy’s bank balance until he loses all the family money in a Ponzi scheme, and then 12 months later passes away from a heart attack. Chapter One opens with Sophie at her father’s funeral trying not to let the other attendees see how much she’s hurting. After the family lost all their money it seems they lost most of their friends as well. She is forced to reassess her life and start standing on her own two feet, which is how she ends up working in a gym and then starting her own personal training business.
Before long Sophie is house-sitting for a client, which is how she meets Nick Cooper and quickly becomes involved with him. Within a week Nick is murdered in his hotel suite and Sophie is a suspect. From this point Sophie’s life rapidly spirals out of control, it is also where our other leading lady and gents enter the picture.
Ruth Boden is a committed newspaper journalist out to catch a story big enough to land her the promotion she is desperate for, which lands her in Nick’s hotel suite ready to give her all in the pursuit of this story.
Inspector Fox is a detective on the Nick Cooper case chasing every lead he can get his hands on to track down Nick’s killer.
And then there’s Josh, an apparent friend of Nick’s and the only person Sophie could think to contact trying to find answers of her own.
Tasmina Perry doesn’t just write her characters, she creates them, and these ones are very 3-dimensional and in focus. There is not a great deal of background on Inspector Fox because we only really see him when he is totally immersed in the case and he is on duty almost 24/7 so even though we only see Inspector Fox and not the man he is off duty it still seems like a complete picture because he seems to live and breathe the job.
Josh is another character who remains shrouded in mystery throughout the novel and I think this works well because we need that slight sense of vagueness to keep us guessing.
Ruth Boden is a character we do get to know inside and out, on duty and off. She is a cut-throat journalist willing to do pretty much anything to get her story. Yes, over the years she has learned to play the game so to speak and her integrity isn’t neccessarily what it once was and she is a journalist who is always on duty but we still see Ruth Boden the woman as well as the journalist.
Sophie, well Sophie is on a roller coaster ride of discovery, much of it self discovery and that brings us closer to her as the pages turn. A young woman who started the book a spoilt little princess grows into a strong and assertive character who is more than capable of standing up for herself.
I loved this book. I love the characters, I love Perry’s writing style and I love the never-ending twists. Looking back I can see that there were clues to head us in the right direction but never enough to completely join the dots because things are often not what they seem and this plot is layered much more intricately than I was expecting.
I can’t wait to hear what our book club readers have to say about it.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
Thank you for the opportunity to trial this enjoyable book.
This is the first book I read by Tasmina Perry and loved it. I found it entertaining with enjoyable characters who all had their strengths, weaknesses and struggles in their personal lives that were believable.
The plot is interesting with air of mystery as the chase for the truth takes Sophie and Josh over the English Chanel into France and the luxurious Riviera where they are both searching for truth yet running for their lives from the bad guys that were snapping on their heel everywhere they went.
I am a romantic at heart so I was reading away with fingers crossed that Sophie and Josh end up together.
I found the novel gripping and very entertaining and will be looking for Tasmina Perry novels in the future.
Thank you :):):)
The butler did it… Ok, lame jokes aside I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The characters, storyline and big print all made this a very enjoyable and easy read. It would be a perfect summer read.The combination of mystery and romance is a favourite genre of mine and I will be seeking more Tasmina Perry novels to read in the future. If a Mills and Boon book had a baby with an Agatha Christie novel – this would be it. It may not be the most high brow of literature but we all can do with some interesting escapism every now and again.
Oh my goodness, I had a love/hate relationship with this book. I loved it, well written, gripping storyline and great charactor development. Hated it as each time I went to put it down I couldnt due the fact that I didnt want to miss out on what was happening! Some very late nights, and the occasionally locking myself in my room for my fix, I finished it and wanted more!
Well done, I highly recommend this book and if any other Tasmina Perry books are like this one ‘Count me in’!
If there is one thing I do love it’s a thrilling adventure, suspense crime story, heartache and of course romance thrown in. This novel did have a few very sexy passionate sex scenes that were not your average mills & boon romance but it did make for interesting reading of the characters involved. After reading 50 Shades of Grey the sex themes in this book are quite tame.. believe me.
The beginning of the book starts with the Prologue which really didn’t hold my attention and had me wondering what I was actually reading. It wasn’t till I started reading the story of Sophie’s journey that I was then intrigued to keep reading. The chapters alternate with another character called Ruth who is passionately in love with her job and in helping Sophie. When Sophie meets Josh we get to travel and feel fear with them.
I was not let down with the storyline, I was totally absorbed with the other characters involved. You know you are reading a great storyline when you start reading and cannot put the book down.
One hundred percent I found this book enthralling and was captivated in Tasmina’s writing. She certainly has you on the edge of your seat with each chapter. She makes the characters real and likeable.
Thanks to B&L for another great book and making me aware of another great author 🙂
Thanks for opportunity to do a review on this book.
I had never heard of this author but, I will definitely read more of her books in the future. I think she is very talented.
I couldn’t read it quick enough.
It was entertaining from the start to the finish.
I love mysteries with a bit of romance.
It kept me interested the whole way through the book. I didn’t want to put it down. I really enjoyed it. 🙂
I love to read….so, I am more than happy to do reviews for you at any time. 🙂
Little did I know what wonderful reading would await when I opened my letterbox to receive this book. It’s rare that I can say my favourite part about a book overall is the way it is written, but this completely applies to Perfect Strangers. The storyline was empowering, fantastic and quite engaging. I was so consumed by the character of Sophie, so intrigued by Nick…I enjoyed reading of their intimacy, it was quite interesting and had a strong sense of mystery attached, particularily when he is no longer. Wow, what an interesting read :))
This book is a roller coaster ride from beginning to end. I really enjoyed the characters – Sophie, Josh, Ruth, Lana are all great. Their stories are interestIng and trying to work out the goodies from the baddies is hard! The story grabs the reader from page 1 and doesn’t let go. I read this book in 3 days – I couldn’t put it down. Made me sad to stop reading it. And sad when it was over!
Highly recomended. I will be reading all of Tasmina Perrys earlier books and I look forward to to the next one!
The bright colours on the cover of this book makes me want to look at it and read the writing on the front! They say you should never judge a book by it’s cover but you can with this one! The cover is excting to look at and draws me in – just like the story itself: exciting and draws me in!
Exciting and intriguing this book captivated my attention and lured me to escapism. Twists, turns and touching on a variety of content types this book was a punchy book to read and was entertaining to say the least. Easy to read I could recommend this for anyone wanting to embark of some fictitious excitement in their lives!
Firstly I would like to say what a great book and thank you for the opportunity of doing this review!
I found it a little bit hard to follow for the first few chapters as you were introduced to quite a few characters very quickly, but then I got into the rhythm and it was very easy to read – i had trouble putting it down after that.
I became quite absorbed with the storyline and grew rather attached to the characters. I really felt for Sophie and I was amazed at how she grew as a person throughout the book. There were two points where I had tears in my eyes (as lame as that sounds!) but she managed to keep going, i liked how she was quick to trust people and enjoyed her growing relationship with Josh.
I liked all the twists and turns along the way, it kept me guessing and i think that is why it was hard to put down.
I thoroughly enjoyed Perfect Strangers and have no trouble recommending it to others! (In fact my sister is taking it to read on the plane to Europe next week!)
This is the first Tasmina Perry book that i have read, but i will definately look for her others as i really enjoyed her style of writing.
This is one of the most stimulating books I have read in a long time. I found it difficult to put this book down as I couldn’t wait to find out what would happen next. Packed full of eventure, intrique with many twists and turns.
Perfect Strangers is the perfect book to draw you into a world of excitement. I loved this book so much.
Great writing, great story line. It just kept me captivated the whole way through. Highly recommend this book and would love to read the next book this author brings out. If it anything like “Perfect Strangers” then this author has a winning book on her hands.