Day: February 5, 2023

Blog Tour: An Extract from The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden

Today as a part of the blog tour, I am sharing an extract from The Perfect Girl by Kelly Golden. This one looks is right up my alley since it’s a thriller! I’m also currently reading it and was hoping to be able to share my review as well, but life happens! My review will come sometime this month! The Perfect Girl is available to purchase now!

Book Description:

He always said she was just a friend… What if she’d kill for more?

Sophie is perfect. She has blonde hair and blue eyes and when she smiles her teeth sparkle. And she cares; she’s passionate. Everybody loves her. So would I, except she’s my husband Mike’s best friend, and sometimes they seem a little too close for comfort.

This summer, Sophie is renting the grand house next door, bringing over fancy wine, offering to babysit our beautiful three-year-old daughter. It’s nice, actually. She’s smart and funny. Maybe the way she is with Mike – squeezing his arm, tilting her head when she laughs at his jokes – is just how she is with everybody.

But then she says something that sends a shiver down my spine – does she know something about me she shouldn’t?

And when her new husband arrives, looking slightly too familiar, I realise my time is running out. My baby girl and I are in terrible danger.

Sophie really is perfect. She has me perfectly trapped. And as my world begins to crumble, I start to wonder: does Sophie just want to steal my husband, or has she planned the perfect murder?

A completely unputdownable psychological thriller that will keep you flicking through your Kindle late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Housemaid, The Guest List and anything by Louise Candlish, Erin Kelly or TM Logan.

Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK


A note on the extract from the author: 

This is a little way past the middle of the book with a couple of spoilers removed! Emma has come round to trusting Sophie and is trying to do the right thing, telling Mike, Emma’s husband, that she’s concerned Sophie might be being abused by her husband, Johnnie. Sophie’s reaction is predictably unpredictable.

Chapter 52 – Tuesday 19th July 2022

‘Why, oh why, would you tell Mike?’ Sophie is digging in her handbag and I can’t see her eyes behind her hair. The bag is the shape of a butterfly, black leather, brown velvet, shiny dots of red.

A field of cows flashes past. A cardboard sign advertises fresh eggs. The sun dazzles my eyes and I pull down the sunshade. ‘He’s your oldest friend. I thought you needed help.’

I need help?’ She laughs, bending forward slightly against the seatbelt and I feel myself tense. She keeps rummaging, pulls out a slender glass tube, unscrews the lid and rollers something onto her wrists then puts it back again.

The scent of jasmine fills the car. It reminds me that an hour ago I was in the surreal normality of my soap class. Freya showed me how to cut and pull a layered candle so it looked like an orchid.

‘You’re a puzzle, Emma. I thought you were good at this.’ Sophie gets the bottle out again and puts some on her neck, then more on her wrists.

I don’t know what she means. She seems unhinged. I’ve already had a very confusing morning. After my class I went to the doctor, but Maisie, the receptionist, said I’d called to change to the Monday and had missed the appointment and I had to rebook for the following week. I hadn’t called. But, of course, it was me who seemed crazy. Maisie’s look had confirmed it.

‘Good at what?’

‘Getting what you want.’

I wish I could look at her properly, but the bends in the road are too sharp and the hedges too high for me to take my eyes off it for long. ‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean, what happens now?’

I risk a longer glimpse at her and she stares at me intently with those turquoise eyes. I’m completely lost. I try to remember what she’s said. I have the feeling I’m missing something. Her jaw is clenched so tight.

‘Sophie? Are you okay? I’m sorry I told Mike, but I was really worried about you.’

‘Fine. Fine.’ She turns and stares out the window.

‘Are you sure he isn’t hurting you?’

‘We’re married. Of course he’s hurting me. That’s what we do to the people we love.’ She seems like she’s about to snap. Or maybe this is her snapping.

‘I don’t think that has to be true,’ I say.

‘That’s because you’ve got Mike.’

I realise I’m going too fast, and slow as we approach the bronze cow. Someone has hung a garland of orange flowers around its neck.

I’m too scared to ask her what she means again. I’m out of my depth. My stomach turns. What did she mean, that I was good at getting what I wanted? Does she just mean that my life has turned out nicely, or that she knows something about how I achieved it?


About the Author:

I’m the working mum of a bossy little girl and a bossier cat called Pesto. We live in the southwest of England and escape to the beach whenever we can. I’ve never stopped writing my whole life but this is the first time I’ve published a book! 

Contact Kelly:
Twitter: @
KellyGolden1234
Instagram:
@kellygoldenbooks