Showing results by publisher "Hachette UK - Bookouture" in Psychological

I watch Victoria and Reese leaving their favourite coffee shop arm-in-arm. They like to go there to catch up, brag about their perfect husbands and their perfect children. But I know the truth. Behind those big smiles, Reese and Victoria have kept each other close so they can watch each other. Their friendship is toxic. And their lives are built on one big lie.

I stand on the balcony with my gorgeous husband, Reuben, by my side. My family have returned to this beautiful French hotel to celebrate my mother’s seventieth birthday. The sun is shining and everything seems perfect. It’s paradise but I feel like I’m trapped… Because twenty years ago someone was killed in the glittering swimming pool.

She’s looking for love. I know the perfect man. My husband. To the rest of the world, he’s charming, delightful Freddie. No one knows what he’s really like behind closed doors. And how can I ever escape a man everyone loves? Over dinner I say, casually, carefully, ‘My friend Cat is looking for a date.’ I pass him a picture. Ask if he knows anyone. I’m betting Freddie will see young, pretty Cat and decide to meet her himself. He’ll never know that I’m pulling the strings. And then, finally, the world will see exactly what kind of man I married.

From New York Times, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author Freida McFadden comes the next installment of the unbelievably twisty, tension-packed and globally bestselling Housemaid series. This book can be enjoyed as a standalone listen: and once you start, it will have you up all night until the final explosive twist.

It’s hard to find an employer who doesn’t ask too many questions about my past. So I thank my lucky stars that the Garricks miraculously give me a job, cleaning their stunning penthouse with views across the city and preparing fancy meals in their shiny kitchen. I can work here for a while, stay quiet until I get what I want.

Alana: She’s outside my house again. She must think I haven’t seen her, that I don’t notice her watching me. I’m shocked by how similar we look. I have no idea why she’s here. But her arrival could change everything. Laura: I stare at her through the window. She looks exactly like me, except her make up is flawless, her hair is perfect and she’s wearing expensive clothes. I know it’s crazy, but I have to find out who she is. I visited this windswept Cornish village when I was a child, does she have a connection to my past?

‘Hi,’ she says, ‘I’m your new neighbour.’ Her smile is bright but her shoulders are tense as she stands on the leafy green Edinburgh street. She seems friendly. But soon I’ll discover her dangerous secret.... On the first day I meet my new neighbour, we share a glass of wine and talk into the night. We swap numbers and I vow to get to know her better. But as I get closer to her, I discover something about her past that changes everything. She isn’t who I thought she was.

Every day I walk up the driveway to this gorgeous house and through the window I see the picture-perfect family: a husband and wife playing with their two adorable children. They think I’m just the delivery driver–a woman who is only here to drop the expensive packages that Sadie Hunt orders. They have no idea who I really am… Sadie pretends to be the perfect wife and mother, but the truth is that her life is spiralling out of control. I notice the cold stares she gives her husband and the way he always tries to make her smile.

I stare at the photograph. It was taken on an ordinary day at the park. The four of us look so happy–our smiles wide and cheeks rosy. But just a month after this image was taken, I lost everything. I’m watching them now, walking in the park together: my handsome husband, my beautiful daughter and my adorable son. They’re with her. She’s playing happy families with my loved ones. She stole them from me. She thinks she’s got rid of me. But I’m going to get my family back. And I’m going to get revenge…

I can’t believe how lucky I am. I’m sitting by the glittering pool at a stunning Greek villa with my handsome boyfriend by my side. He’s treating me to a week on a sun-drenched island. The only problem is that we’re not the only couple staying here… Dominic has invited his university friends. When I’m introduced to Victoria, Simone and their husbands, I see Simone’s lip curl and my stomach drops. I know that I’m not going to fit in with these beautiful people and their charmed lives. But despite their expensive clothes and smooth words, the cracks in their perfect lives begin to show.

I thought my first husband died ten years ago. But now he’s back... Opening the front door, I’m stunned to see a familiar face. I never thought I’d see Freddie’s deep brown eyes and crooked smile again. But how is this possible when he died ten years ago…? It took years to move on, but finally my life is almost perfect.

I thought he was dead. Until I saw him staring back at me… Ten years have passed since my beloved sister was murdered, leaving behind her sweet five-year-old daughter, Lily. I’m trying my best to care for Lily and salvage what’s left of our shattered family. I promised to keep her safe after all she’s been through, and after a lot of challenges, I hope she might be starting to lead a normal life again. But then I see a face in a photo I took just yesterday that turns my blood to ice.

The night I escaped from our abductor was the last time I saw my sister. I’ve never forgiven myself for the fact that I made it out and she didn’t. By the time the police found where we were held, there was no sign of her. Or the man that took us. I’ve spent decades trying to forget that I couldn’t save my own sister. But on the anniversary of our abduction, I find a black rose on my car. There’s no one in the parking lot, but I know it’s a warning. My stomach churns to think it could be from the monster who held us captive all those years ago, wanting to take back what he believes is his.

Seven-year-old Cassie disappears from her bedroom seemingly into thin air. Her parents, Grant and Holly Logan, are devastated. The interviews, the television appearances, the endless social media posts: it all comes to nothing. Cassie is gone. Years later. Holly’s best friend’s daughter Aurora is like another child to her. But one morning, when Holly gently swings open Aurora’s bedroom door… there is no soft hair splayed across the pillow, no sounds of deep breathing. Aurora’s bed is empty.

I take a sip of coffee as I plan my day. My surgeon husband, Cole, slept at work last night, so I had to get the kids ready on my own, again. I can’t complain, though, I’ve loved him ever since we met, long before he became a famous surgeon and the papers started calling him the pride of the hospital. Our latest family photo hangs on the kitchen wall and I remember that day so clearly. Cole screamed at me over nothing, then apologised saying he was stressed at work. My heart pounded with fear, but I plastered a smile on my face for the sake of my children.

My darling son, Sam, is marrying his childhood sweetheart, and I couldn’t be prouder of the man he’s grown into. Walking out on his abusive father all those years ago was the best thing I ever did. And today he stands, tall and handsome, saying "I do" to my dream daughter-in-law. If I hadn’t pushed them together all those years ago, he might never have found a girl as perfect as Lauren. It’s true what they say, mother always knows best.

Stroking her baby bump in the new home she shares with boyfriend Jack, Kara jumps at a knock at the door. On the doorstep stands Jack’s former mother-in-law. ‘Your boyfriend killed my daughter,’ she says. Jack always said his ex, Natalia, disappeared on a family holiday. It’s a heartbreaking story – and Kara knows she’ll never replace his first love.

Last night, we celebrated our anniversary. Over candlelight, we talked about the children, our work, and I was so happy, and felt so loved. But the next morning, when I check my phone, there is a message. From a friend. And a string of photos appear of my husband, Will, with another woman: walking along the street holding hands. Going into fancy hotels. Standing at a window, his arms around her, her head on his shoulder…

I walk through the beautiful house, my hand lingering on the handrail of the polished mahogany staircase. Looking around the grand hallway, I can’t believe my luck at being here. If Rosemary knew who I was, she’d never have invited me in. Ten years ago, she adopted my daughter. Gave her the life I never could: safety, stability, a normal childhood. All I wanted to do was catch a glimpse of my precious girl, to check she was happy. I would only have stayed for a moment. I would never have done anything. But as I spot Faith’s rich auburn hair and whisper a hello, Rosemary tells me she’s mute.

‘Just rest, Frankie. I’ll take care of you.’ I feel my baby kick as my nanny fluffs my pillows and lays me down. She gives me a soothing smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes. She knows I’m afraid of her… When I shake our nanny Jasmine’s hand for the first time and catch her perfect smile, I can’t ignore the feeling that we’ve met before. But I tell myself it’s nothing. I desperately need help around the house. Since I got pregnant, I burst into tears over the smallest things and my mind is a haze. I can barely look after my toddler Olivia. Jasmine is a godsend–isn’t she?