Review of Better than the Best by Amabel Daniels

[Sarah G]

Better than the best follows the story of an ex A&E nurse called Kelly. After finding her husband cheating whilst suffering from the guilt of a lost patient at work, Kelly moves from Atlanta to the small town of Churchston to escape her manic life. In Churchston everyone knows everyone and rumour and gossip is the talk of the town. Kelly has never been one for gossip, which leads to her talking to Will, who is apparently the town drunk. However, after closer inspection, Kelly starts to see a different side to him. Could he really be the monster the town portray him to be?

Everything seems to be going well until Kelly’s friends are being involved in strange and dangerous accidents, such as a car crash after the brake lines have been cut. It appears something from Kelly’s past may be haunting the little sleepy town of Churchston.

I really did enjoy this book. Although it may have had a slow start, the pace increased in the second half of the book with a very intriguing story line. I liked the suspense twist that Daniels created on the normal love story. It got me hooked and I struggled to put the book down.

There were some very good character developments throughout the book, with my favourite being Will. He starts off as a very angry character that was very emotionally guarded after losing his best friend in Afganistan. It is interesting comparing Kelly’s reaction to the rest of the town on small matters. The mob mentality of the town added a realness to the story.

The only negative I could really find with this book was that I did find it took just a little too long to get going, but that may be due to the fact I read more thriller novels than romance, where the stories can take longer to blossom.

Overall I would rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. It is a very good read and had a really gripping story. The reason I didn’t give 4 stars was that it was missing that spark. That may have been to the slower start to the story.

I would recommend this book more to those that love a good romance novel rather than suspense, as romance is the main genre.