My enormous thanks to Kelly Florentia for sending me a copy of her latest psychological thriller, Mine, in return for an honest review. I’m delighted to share my review today.

Published by Bloodhound today, 1st February 2021, Mine is available for purchase here.

Mine

When you’ve been destroyed, who can you trust?

When loner Lucy Harper, accepts a Facebook friend’s request from Jasmine, an old school friend, the last thing she expects is for Jasmine to run off with her husband, Andrew.

Now, newly divorced, Lucy lives in the flat she still part-owns with Andrew. After a drunken night out, she wakes up with Teddy Fallon. But this is the least of her worries.

The night before a text came through claiming someone knows her secret.

But what is Lucy hiding?

Before Lucy has time to process everything, her ex drops a bombshell – fiancé Jasmine is pregnant, and he wants his share of the money from the flat.

Then the blackmail begins.

Who is after Lucy and why?

Love isn’t always innocent, and Lucy is about to learn a lesson the hard way.

My Review of Mine

Lucy’s life is about to take a turn for the worse!

With a dramatic and threatening opening, and a hugely surprising epilogue, Mine is a compelling thriller that kept me hooked throughout. Part of the appeal comes through the fact that the plot often hinges on fairly ordinary actions, such as too much to drink or a phone call or text, which means the narrative is all the more believable, and all the more tense, for the realisation it could possibly happen to any of us. The title, Mine, is so apt because it relates to many different aspects of the story, from physical items to over possessive relationships, with characters claiming or rejecting people and things as the narrative progresses, making for real interest.

Settings are reduced, with much of the action happening in Lucy’s flat so that there’s a tense atmosphere of claustrophobia underpinning the story and making it even more gripping. With themes of identity, trust, friendship, revenge, family and betrayal there’s a menace behind the plot that I thought gave added layers of interest too so that I was intrigued throughout. Although I had my suspicions, I had no idea how Mine would end and whilst I guessed some aspects, I was treated to some surprises too so that Mine kept my attention completely.

Lucy’s first person narrative is clear and strong and I have to admit that I didn’t much like her. She’s unreliable as a friend, not entirely trustworthy, rash in her behaviour, frequently far too gullible and often drunk. Consequently, I found it fascinating that Kelly Florentia made me care about what happened to Lucy and I was totally invested in her success. Whether she achieves it, I can’t say for fear of spoiling the story. I didn’t feel I got to know the other characters as deeply as Lucy and this is by no means a criticism. One of the key drivers of Mine is the fact that we don’t ever really know others completely and we don’t always know their ulterior motives. It’s an intriguing aspect of the story. I loved trying to work out who could be trusted and who was a danger.

I found Mine thoroughly enjoyable and very entertaining. It’s left me wanting to read more of Kelly Florentia’s work and wondering I haven’t done so sooner.

About Kelly Florentia

Kelly Florentia was born and bred in north London, where she continues to live with her husband Joe, and where her novels The Magic Touch, No Way Back, Her Secret and her latest, a psychological thriller, Mine, which publishes in February 2021 by Bloodhound Books, are set.

Kelly has always loved writing and was a bit of a poet when she was younger. Before penning her debut, she wrote short stories for women’s magazines – To Tell a Tale or Two is a collection of her short tales. In January 2017, her keen interest in health and fitness led to the release of Smooth Operator – a collection of twenty of her favourite smoothie recipes.

As well as writing, Kelly enjoys reading, running, drinking coffee, gyming, watching TV dramas, and spending way too much time on social media.

For more information, follow Kelly on Twitter @kellyflorentia, visit her website or find her on Facebook and Instagram.