One moment that truly is life – changing, but how?

Synopsis

Do you believe in love at first sight?

Holly does, in spite of everything that’s happened in her life. Sometimes the thought that her soulmate is out there is the only thing that keeps her going.

Then she hears her favourite song being played in a train station. She’s drawn to where the sound is coming from, as if by a magnetic force. There is a handsome young man sitting at the piano, who smiles at her, and she feels that spark she’s always dreamt of. She asks if she can join him, and sings along, seeing his face light up.

He’s called Mark, she later discovers. And he feels the same. They both feel like they’ve been hit with a thunderbolt. But even though it seems like they’ve known each other for lifetime, the truth is that they’re strangers.

Because Holly has secrets. And so does Mark.

And one of them might just kill to keep them…

The Soulmate is the most breathtaking, cat-and-mouse psychological thriller you’ll read all year! A thriller about obsession, love, deceit and murder, perfect for fans of Gone Girl, The Housemaid, and You.

My review

When Holly hears her favourite song being played at a piano at the train station, she cannot help herself, she has to see who is playing it. And when she meets the eyes of the handsome player, a spark ignites. And then she starts to sing along with Mark, and Mark even feels the same spark! But Holly cannot just see what this is between her and Mark, because Holly has many secrets about her life and about her past. But Mark has secrets of this own… And after all, they are complete strangers, right?

Love at first sight, isn’t that something most of us dream about? Just locking eyes with someone and then ZING! Of course, the odds of happening that in real life are rather slim, so at least we will always have books where such things happen.

But what when the meeting eyes with someone is not that easy, and there is so much sanding between the pair of you? And what if the both of you are keeping secrets that are not just silly little secrets, but real dark ones…

Right from the start it’s clear that Holly is a sad character, as she is not living her life at the fullest, and that her current relationship isn’t one built on trust and love. It’s the complete opposite, as she is in an abusive relationship, emotionally and even physically. But getting away from it isn’t that just easy for her, as her past can come back to haunt her at any moment.

And I wanted her to find someone truly special, I wanted Holly to find love, the kind that is genuine and real. I wanted her to have an escape and to have a happily ever after. As a reader we don’t know immediately what happened in her past, yet it’s clear that isn’t not a kitten up a tree, but something really big. But I wanted Holly to have the chance to let go of her past and just be free.

But this is a psychological thriller, so I had to pack away all the romantic thoughts I had, and I had to switch them into darker ones, as the story of Holly and Mark won’t be one with rainbows and unicorns…

Initially, I was hoping that Mark would be everything that Holly needs, a Knight in shining armour, someone that would save her from the dark clutches she is being held.

Yet nothing is what it seems, and while initially Mark for sure seems the right person, there are some red flags appearing. And it even angered me to see those red flag being real, as slowly Mark allows the readers to see how own dark secrets…

I also have to say, I wasn’t sure for a rather long time if both characters could be trusted completely. It’s safe to say that they both appear to act in odd ways, and while I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt, I knew that without knowing the whole truth, I couldn’t give my compete trust.

But let it be clear, between all the twists and turns the author lets us going through, and revelation after revelation, there is truly only one person to feel compassion for and one person to despise…

I liked it how the author took a popular trope from romance books and turned it into something sinister. Because no matter how good things may look like at first sight, we cannot always trust our gut feeling. And that sometimes escaping from hell, doesn’t mean you go to heaven…