A Small Affair by Flora Collins

A Small Affair by Flora Collins

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778386933

Trade paperback, $17,99, 336 pages

As Flora Collins' suspense novel A Small Affair opens, Vera has decided to get back on dating apps now that her work life has calmed down a little. She was in on the ground floor of a successful fashion designer, helping to build it from a small one person operation into a huge success in the New York fashion industry.

Vera's roommate Quinn chooses a great match for her- Tom is ten years older than Vera (37), handsome, a great job in tech, and a father of one child. They meet and hit it off right away, and Vera ends up spending the night.

One year later finds Vera living in her mother's guest bedroom in her hometown in Westchester, with no job after a tragedy that Vera was a part of, but not responsible for. But the tabloids did not see it that way, and Vera has been hounded out of the life she loved and into hiding. And two other people are dead- Tom and his wife.

Vera decides that she wants to learn more about Tom and his wife Odilie, and when Odilie's sister Page contacts Vera, she sees this as her opportunity.

The novel also shifts in time as we meet Odilie ten years ago and see how she and Tom met, through a young woman named Peri. Peri was everything that Odilie wasn't but wanted to be- she was beautiful, bold, unafraid, and she had gumption. Peri brought Odilie into her and Tom's world, a world filled with rich and powerful men. (Rich people- they're not like us.)

Vera and Quinn, along with Quinn's on-again, off-again life partner Sam, decide that if they discover what truly happened to Tom and Odilie, Vera can get her life back, and maybe Vera can get a book out of her story.

A Small Affair lures you into the story, much as Peri lures Odilie into a new life. The characters aren't necessarily likeable- Vera's lack of outward emotion causes people to call her cruel and cold. She is impatient and ambitious, a trait that in women is not considered attractive. Peri is manipulative and rude, and we don't know quite why she has attached herself to Odilie. Many people try to warn Odilie to stay away from Peri.

Social media plays a big part in the story- Vera's job requires her to shares her life on Instagram, she meets Tom on a dating app, and she is hounded on Twitter by people who don't know her. Vera stalks Odilie's Instagram account to get more information on who Odilie was. Being an influencer is a life goal for these people.

The final twist doesn't come until the very end and it's one I didn't see coming. I liked how the author just dropped it there. If you are a fan of Law & Order:SVU and White Lotus, you'll want to put A Small Affair on your reading list.

Thanks to Harlequin for putting me on their Fall 2022 Mystery & Thriller Blog Tour.

The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman

The Opportunist by Elyse Friedman

Published by MIRA ISBN 9780778386957

Trade paperback, 336 pages, $16.99

In Elyse Friedman's twisty novel, The Opportunist, Alana is a single mom raising her young daughter who has a type of muscular dystrophy. She is estranged from her family- her wealthy industrialist father Ed and brothers Martin and Teddy, who work for the family business. She was very close to her sister Lillian who died years ago.

 She receives a call from her brothers asking her to come home to stop their father's wedding to his 28 year-old nurse Kelly. The brothers are convinced that Kelly is a golddigger who will end up with all their father's billions and they will be cut out. 

Alana could care less about who her father marries, but her brothers offer her a lot of money to help them expose Kelly, and Alana, who works at a domestic violence shelter, could use that money to make her daughter's life easier.

Reluctantly she agrees, and off she goes to the wedding. She meets Kelly and sees that Kelly appears to be very devoted to Ed. An attempt by the brothers to pay off Kelly backfires, and although Alana believes that Kelly loves her father, Alana needs the money for her daughter and continues to help her brothers.

There are so many twists and turns in the plot, and trying to figure out who is playing whom will keep the reader turning the pages. I liked reading about Alana's life with her daughter and the ostentatious displays of the obscenely wealthy family's lifestyle (especially the scenes set on the super yacht) are crazy. It is no wonder that Elyse Friedman is a screenwriter, her novel would make an intriguing movie.

There is a big reveal late in the book that I didn't particularly like, but the final twist did take me by surprise which I do like when reading a psychological suspense novel. Exactly who is the opportunist in this story? If you are a fan of HBO's Succession or books by B.A. Paris or Lisa Unger, Elyse Friedman's The Opportunist is for you. 

Thanks to Harlequin Books fro putting me on their Fall 2022 Mystery & Thriller Blog Tours.