Perfect Strangers by Tasmina Perry

Just an innocent invitation... When Sophie Ellis is asked to house-sit at a luxurious Knightsbridge townhouse, it appears to be the offer of a lifetime. Drawn into the glittering circle of the home's owner, she meets wealthy American businessman Nick Cooper and is swept up into a thrilling and passionate affair. But when Nick is found dead in his hotel suite, Sophie is suddenly the prime suspect for his murder, and soon realises Nick was not the man he seemed.

Racing to find the truth and clear her name, Sophie must elude not only the authorities but also a group of dangerous players who believe Sophie has something that they want. And who won't stop until she's caught... Escape with Tasmina Perry from London to New York to the exotic Cote D'Azur, and into a world where a simple case of mistaken identity unravels a web of lies and international conspiracy.

I have previously only read one book by Tasmina Perry which was Private Lives which I really enjoyed so I was looking forward to making a start on Perfect Strangers. Tasmina Perry books always look so warm, bright and summery which always leads me to think they are going to be light easy reads but that is definitely not how I would describe this authors books. They are in depth action packed fast paced reads and this book is no exception!

Chelsea girl Sophie is still grieving for her father, he died of a heart attack after he had lost all their money leaving his family with nothing. Sophie is trying to earn some money and so works in a gym and it is here she meets Lana who offers Sophie the chance to house sit for her in her grand home in Knightsbridge. It is one evening when Sophie is at a high flyers party that Lana was meant to be invited to that Sophie meets Nick. A fast pace relationship begins with Sophie and Nick but things so go wrong when Sophie returns to the hotel room one day to find Nick’s body in the bathroom, problem is there are no other suspects so everything  points to Sophie. Sophie needs to get answers quick and there is only one person who can possibly help her that is Nick’s friend Josh.

I felt my shoulders visibly stiffen when I was reading this book. It was a very intense chase with lots of unexpected twists and turns. The great thing was Sophie didn’t have a clue who was after her or who could have killed Nick and we are in the dark as much as she is. We only begin to unravel truths at the same time as Sophie so we can relate to how she must feel.  There really is no safe place to put this book down, you need to find out what new clue they are going to find out next to try and help us solve the mystery of Nicks death.

I was a little surprised how Josh came across as he was a big part of Sophie’s journey and so having such a big role I thought he would be a male character who we would drool over but although he was protective and seemed to care about Sophie’s wellbeing there was something a little smarmy about him and I think this is because of the reaction from him when he first met Sophie when she was with Nick, this seemed to stay with me all through the book and so I was on edge with his character all the way through. Sophie was a fantastic character who you are routing for from the beginning of the horrible mess she was dragged into. There were many characters in this book but each of the characters were well written and easily defined.  

The book is unpredictable, each time I had an inkling as to who the killer was something was then thrown into the equation to throw me off track. This book was action packed and had me on edge for the majority of the book!

It was a truly thrilling and captivating read that I would definitely recommend. Roll on the next Tasmina Perry book!

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