Verity

Author: Colleen Hoover
Genre: Suspense
Type: e-book
Source: Personal copy
Publisher: Hoover Ink, Inc.
First Published: December 7, 2018
Opening Lines: "Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Book Description from GoodReads: Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of bestselling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish.

Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read. Page after page of bone-chilling admissions, including Verity's recollection of what really happened the day her daughter died.

Lowen decides to keep the manuscript hidden from Jeremy, knowing its contents would devastate the already grieving father. But as Lowen's feelings for Jeremy begin to intensify, she recognizes all the ways she could benefit if he were to read his wife's words. After all, no matter how devoted Jeremy is to his injured wife, a truth this horrifying would make it impossible for him to continue to love her.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

My Review: I picked up this book knowing little about the author except that she typically writes romance. But Verity, as the author warns at the beginning of the book, is not her usual fare. It's a dark, twisty and oh-so-suspenseful romp through the lives of two authors and a devastated family.

It's a quick read but in its span of 250 pages, readers will feel a wide range of emotions and find themselves changing their theories of what happened to this family. Verity has a strong creepy factor and a slow building, unrelenting tension that helped me devour this book in a day. As I read, I was brought deeper into Verity's life and innermost thoughts making me feel like a rubbernecker at a crime scene -- I should look away because this is messed up! But I don't want to look away because this is so messed up!

Hoover is known for her romances and I'm known for not liking romances, so this was an interesting pairing. In amongst the creepy, dark and twisty suspense she includes quite a few love scenes which leave little to readers' imaginations. While I like some romance in a book, there are so many of these scenes that it felt excessive and a tad raunchy. Just not my cuppa tea.

This is a compulsive, dark, heart-racing and twisty read that will take readers to places that will make them feel uncomfortable, angry and sad but curious to find out the truth. I love it when authors branch out and try new genres and I think Hoover's first foray into dark and creepy suspense should be applauded. This is a very quick read -- make sure you get your hands on a copy ASAP.