#BooksonTour #TheToxicFriend #NicoleTrope #Bookouture #NetGalley

 

The Toxic Friend

Nicole Trope

• • Amazon: https://geni.us/B0H1RJKNJMsocial

Best friends are supposed to trust each other. But what if the only reason you’ve stayed friends all these years… is to watch each other closely? And what if your toxic friend is about to destroy your life?

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 carefully snap another photograph to add to my collection. Neither of them knows I see everything they do. They’ll find out soon enough, when I bring their lies out into the open. Then it will be just the three of us, together again after all these years.

Because the past is coming back to bite these two women…

It’s me. I’m the past. Here I come.

A totally addictive psychological thriller by million-copy bestseller Nicole Trope that will have you racing through the pages late into the night! Fans of Andrea Mara, Shari Lapena and Freida McFadden won’t be able to put this down.

Nicole Trope

Nicole Trope went to university to study Law but realised the error of her ways when she did very badly on her first law essay because, as her professor pointed out, ‘It’s not meant to be a story.’

She studied teaching instead and used her holidays to work on her writing career and complete a Masters’ degree. In between raising three children, working for her husband and renovating houses, she has published multiple bestselling novels. She lives in Sydney, Australia.

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The Toxic Friend 

Written By Nicole Trope 

Review By Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews

First, I want to thank Nicole Trope, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review. 

Ohh Nicole Trope is back and this time around she introduces to a friend of hers. Not just any friend mind you…oh no this is The Toxic friend and let me tell you she is TOXIC!!! She drove me absolutely BATTY!! There were many times in this book Camilla made me ginger snap!! May I add that rarely characters rub me the wrong way but this one did. She had a vendetta and kept repeating herself over and over but didn't get to her point. It made me want to scream. 

I have to say I loved how Nicole named one of her characters Reese! My sister married into the Reese family and well that is my favorite candy too. So when they had kids I nicknamed them my little Reese’s pieces (even though they are teenagers now). So, I smiled when Nicole used that name in the book. 

Being on social media for various accounts I can’t imagine getting hate from someone from your past knowing they know the truth about your life and it was based on a lie. That would just freak the heck out of me for a variety of different reasons. Not to mention out of the blue years after you had not seen or heard from that person. Why are they just getting in contact with you now? What do they really want from you? Who else may they have contacted that knows anything? 

A smile came to my face when I read how the names of Reese’s kids Dylan and Cash came about! What a fun story for when they become older. 

OMG there are seriously massive wicked twists that will stop you dead in your tracks and you will have to pick your jaw up off the floor!!! For who you thought was sending the messages might just not be the one sending the messages at all. So….who is really The Toxic Friend?! What does this person want? Trust me you will want to add this to your TBR List!! It is one of Nicole’s must read books! 

#CoverReveal #TheTwentyDates #KoPorteous #TheEmptyNesterSeriesBookTwo #PublicationDateOctober8th2026

 

The Twenty Dates

The kids have left, assuming love endures. But can yours?

Book #2 in The Empty Nesters Series

Claire’s marriage is in (total!) crisis. Her husband, Mark, is distracted, presumptuous, and utterly clueless - smart scales for their 19th wedding anniversary? Really? Perhaps she'd be better off alone. At least there'd be less laundry.

When Claire suggests separating, Mark panics. He asks for one last chance: twenty dates, one for each year of their marriage, to prove they're better off together than apart.

What follows is a series of adventures Claire never saw coming - some mortifying, some exhilarating, and some that make her question everything she thought she knew. About Mark. About marriage. And about the woman she's quietly become while she wasn't paying attention.

As the dates tick down, Claire must decide: is the spark still there - or has their marriage simply run its course?

Pre-order Links

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

https://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Dates-Empty-Nesters-Book-ebook/dp/B0H5G54FXK/

Publication Date: 8th October 2026

Author Bio – 

Ko Porteous lived in a tiny fishing village in the north of Scotland before moving to Edinburgh aged 10.   

Ko loves meeting people with interesting stories to tell and is constantly on the lookout for knotty story themes, particularly involving women navigating the messiness of mid-life. She has worked as a Research Chemist, Assistant Chef, Teacher and School Leader.   

As well as writing, Ko works as a Business Manager and a Funeral Celebrant.   

In her free time Ko loves to run, meditate and travel; preferably all on the same day.    

Ko has been married for 25 years, has 2 children of her own and is now navigating her own empty nest.   

The Twenty Dates is Ko’s second novel and the second book in ‘The Empty Nesters’ series.   

Social Media Links – 

Instagram: @koporteousauthor

Facebook: Ko Porteous Author

#BookReview #Stolen #RubySpeechley #BoldwoodBooks #NetGalley

 

Don't miss this gripping, twisty psychological thriller, perfect for fans of K.L. Slater, J D Kirk and Freida McFadden 📚

He's been in my house.

He's taken my children.

What am I to do?

Vicki has done everything to protect her children. Their father was out of control – every day, his life embroiled in lies, drugs, chaos. So she cut him off, for good.

But when she comes home to a distraught babysitter, panic hits.

The kids are gone. And Lee says he’s not bringing them back.

Vicki can see how he persuaded the babysitter – Jess is young. Naïve. Easy to manipulate. The perfect pawn in his twisted plan.

But then Jess disappears too.

Is this just a father trying to take back what’s his? Or has something much darker wormed its way into her perfect family?

From the bestselling author of Missing comes an unputdownable story of a mother's strength, a family's secrets and the neverending question of: just who can you trust?!

Ruby Speechley is a bestselling psychological thriller writer, whose titles include, Gone, Missing, Guilty, The Uninvited Guest and Stolen. Vanished, her tenth novel, will be out on 15th July 2026.

Ruby's early novels, Someone Else's Baby, The Daughter You Left (previously, Every Little Secret), and A Mother Like You, have all been recently re-published by Boldwood Books (originally published by Hera). They Have My Baby (previously, The Face at the Window) was re-published on 14 May 2026.

Known for their twisty page-turning plots, relatable characters and gripping suspense, Ruby's novels explore dark domestic themes involving trust, secrets, confessions, betrayal, parenting and dysfunctional families, alongside crimes such as abduction, blackmail, online surveillance, and the dangers of AI and social media.

Born in Lisbon, Portugal, Ruby came to the UK as a baby and was raised here by her English father and Portuguese mother. She moved to Cheshire during lockdown in 2020 with her husband and two of her three children (and two Springer spaniels) to be near her eldest son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

You can contact her on X: @rubyspeechley

Facebook: Ruby Speechley Author

Instagram: rubyjtspeechley

Blue Sky: rubyspeechley .bsky .social

Stolen

Written By Ruby Speechley

Review By Heidi Lynn’s Book Reviews

First, I want to thank Ruby Speechley, Boldwood Books and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review. 

Ruby would like to dedicate this book to her bookworm daughter Sophie. 

Dang!! Ruby Speechley wasted no time and dove straight into the intense nail biting edge of your seat scenes in her psychological thriller Stolen. Ruby’s descriptions were insanely detailed, the storyline was fast paced. I felt as if I was a fly on the wall watching the events in the prologue unfold. Being a fan of not only Ruby Speechley but of missing person cases I really enjoyed this book and would recommend this to anyone’s TBR list. 

My heart was beating outside of my chest putting myself in Vicki’s shoes not knowing what was going on with her children who she put in the care of a babysitter-Jess!! Why couldn’t she get a hold of her children or the babysitter? Why were their phones off? My anxiety was going through the roof along with Vicki’s!! I was praying that they were ok. 

Lee was my least favorite character for oh so many reasons!! You will just have to read the book to figure out why I said what I said! Let me know if you agree that he is your least favorite too! 

Stolen is very fast paced, thrilling, gripping, nail-biting, twisted read that you will want to put on your TBR list.