Avery Knox has the ideal life—the perfect house, the perfect career, and the perfect husband. Still hopelessly in love after decades of marriage, she and Grady are the envy of everyone around them. But when Grady unexpectedly passes away, Avery’s perfect world is shattered.
In the wake of Grady's death, Avery does her best to pick up the pieces and move on with her life. But after eighteen months, she realizes that the only way to move forward is to stop living in the past. Eager for a fresh start, Avery makes the gut-wrenching decision to pack up and move out of the home where she and Grady spent decades building their perfect life together.
Within an hour of moving into her new home, she meets two strangers who will change the trajectory of her life Callum, the mysterious, gorgeous next-door neighbor, whose presence alone leaves Avery tongue-tied. And Mettie, the spunky, southern spitfire who makes Avery feel alive again for the first time since Grady’s death.
But just as she’s settling into her new life, Avery’s world comes crashing down around her... again. She quickly finds herself trapped in a nightmare she can't wake up from. When it comes to light that everything she believed to be true about her marriage—everything she thought she knew about her husband—was a lie, Avery is forced to face the truth. Perfect doesn't exist.
Was Grady's death a tragic accident, or cold blooded murder?
E.L. Westbury is a wife, mother of five (three humans and two fur babies), and vanilla latte lover. After years of scribbling ideas for a novel on coffeehouse napkins and figuring out a hundred different ways to describe a single smile, she eventually sat down and poured her heart into her first manuscript. Even though her writing is filled with twists, turns, snaps, crackles and pops, at heart she's a hopeless romantic. When she isn't writing, she's begging her husband to watch The Notebook with her for the hundredth time, laughing while learning the latest Gen Z lingo from her kids, or curled up on the couch covered in dog kisses. She resides in Texas and often escapes to Colorado, finding peace in wildflowers, red wine and the mountains. Her wish is to continue writing and leave her readers with a little piece of herself in every book.
Agreeable Avery? More like Addictive Avery. I did not want to put this book down - flew through it in less than 24 hours. Westbury’s writing never disappoints, SO ENTERTAINING.
This story was an absolute rollercoaster of feelings. I laughed out loud, then found myself holding my breath, sometimes within the same chapter. The emotional range this book put me through was unreal.
Equal parts fun, tense, and thought-provoking. An easy five stars from me!
Agreeable Avery has it all…..love, mystery, thrills, all in one book. This is E.L. Westbury’s debut novel and she had me hooked from page one. I’m excited for her next book!
I cannot believe this is her first book. She knocked it out of the park. I'll admit, it was a slow burn, but even still, I kept hurrying to get home so I could pick it back up and see what happened next. That's how you know it's a good book! The twist wasn't the typical twist either. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Definitely recommend!
I liked Drowning in Paper Flowers by this author so I wanted to read another one of her books. This was a flop for me unfortunately.
I like her writing style but I feel duped. It was way less drama and psychological thriller than the blurb would have you believe and more sentimental, corny and unbelievable Nora Roberts level romance.
I really enjoyed this book! I couldn’t put it down and couldn’t wait to see what was going to happen next. I loved the twist and how all the pieces came together. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to read more of her work!
My second book by this author! There's something about her writing that keeps me reading, even if it's more slow burn suspense and less like a tbriller. She also does good with the twists at the end!
4.5 ⭐️ This book had me in a chokehold. Every time I thought I had it figured out… BAM, plot twist. 😭 I was side-eyeing everyone and trusting absolutely no one by the end. If you love a book that keeps you guessing and makes you question everything, this one is definitely for you. Highly recommend. 📚✨
E.L. Westbury - HOW is this your 1st novel?! I am speechless in the best way possible. The book setting…… the character placement…. I felt like I was in the story!
Avery was an average woman living her perfect life with her perfect, to her, husband, Grady ….both very successful in their respective careers. They came so far in life from starting their relationship in college. But life took a turn and Avery got a knock on the door that forever changed her………. Grady had passed away on a work trip….. Then cue the rollercoaster of emotions thru the rest of the book. Avery moves and day 1 she meets her next door neighbor, Callum and her across the street neighbor, Mettie. Mettie and Avery were instant friends. Avery grew to adore Mettie and Mettie to Avery…… or did she?!?! Now is the time to sit down & buckle up……. Because this ride is in full force……… Will Avery find love again?!?! Will Mettie and Avery have the best friendship?!?!
I will admit, this book was really hard to get through. Nothing had really happened at over 200 pages in. I was over 1/2 way through the book and just forced myself to complete it. I will say that the twist was pretty decent; albiet, unbelievable. I dunno, 2.5 stars IMO. The book could have been 150 pages shorter and been better.
This book is not well written. I doubt that a human wrote this. The emotions are all wrong, the details repeat and summarize unnecessarily. There's too much going on and it's all messy and convoluted.
I enjoyed everything about this book. Wonderfully written with a main character so fully developed I felt like I knew her and I wish I did because Avery has an amazing story to tell.
I thoroughly enjoyed this read! It is hard to believe that this is the author’s debut book. I actually read her second published book first, and loved it, so I knew I had to read this one!
It was a bit of a slow burn at first, but when Avery moves and meets the new hot guy neighbor and what becomes her best friend neighbor, it takes off full speed! The plot twists were crazy and yes, there was more than one!!
What a great story with all the feelings of love, loss, friendship, suspense and romance!! Highly recommend.
A Gripping Thriller, Love Story, and Dark Comedy in One (And a little SPICY)
I can't say enough about this author and this book. I binged this one after reading Drowning in Paper Flowers. I was worried I might be let down after that spectacular book. But no I was not! Once again, the protagonist was incredibly relatable for me and the perfect balance of darkness, humor, spice and suspense kept me reading through the night. I may be wacky but the way this book appealed to me as an 80s kid, a people pleaser and a Van Morrison lover had my senses tingling - literal goosebumps. I actually put my headphones on in the middle of the night to listen to my favorite Van Morrison tunes as I read. If you're Gen X, just read this. Thank me later.
This Author!!!!! I am sure whatever she writes I will devour. Where have you been in the literary world dear E.L.? I love the wit, the thrills, and the fact that I can relate to the era in which the character has lived. I am the same age as the character in this story and laughed aloud to all the relatable content. The story itself was so flipping good. Her character development is outstanding. I was fully immersed in this thriller.
I decided to read this book after loving Drowning in Paper Flowers, and it did not disappoint! Agreeable Avery started off a bit slow, but let me tell you—it was absolutely worth it. The story picked up beautifully, and I couldn’t put it down. I only wish this author had more books!
How unrealistic is it that Avery had never attempted to date, but somehow found two perfect men with zero effort. And I still never understood why Mettie was so obsessed with Grady, when did they even meet ? in high school?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
I absolutely loved this book! I’ve read two of her books so far and I am hooked!! On my way to read the third! The way I catch myself laughing out loud, gasping in shock, and wiping tears…. All the feels!! Loved!!
This book started out rather slow, but boy did it take a fast hot turn. Then things got hotter, then a surprising twist. Loved another one by E. L. Westbury.
2 1/5 stars. I was almost halfway done with the book before something interesting happened and the end felt very rushed. Majority of the book had too many pointless details .
I really liked Drowning in paper flowers and wanted to try another one from the author. This was slow and hallmark cheesy. While it picked up at about 75% you quickly got through the excitement and back to the fluff
I never saw it coming. Maybe I missed the part where I was given a clue. This is a rare thing 4 me 2 be sooo thoroughly blindsided by a plot line. I give u a 10. A) because u write a great story. B) it was sooo very unique in direction. Not just another love story. My bad. C) because u surprised me with ur crazy character twist. I've never read another quite like this. Thank u 4 allowing me that adventure. Hope u keep writing I'll gladly read what u publish.
After reading “Drowning in Paper flowers” I knew I had to get my hands on this book!! Agreeable Avery was such a fun read! I’m not lying when I tell you the clever humor.
This book has a bit of everything I’d say from literary fiction, to women’s fiction/romance to thriller. Avery’s husband just passed so she finds herself moving to a new neighborhood when her neighbor Mettie drops by to welcome her. Now I’m still trying to decide if Mettie wins for my “character of the year!”
Lots of unexpected moments, twists you won’t see coming all while Avery finds her way in this new world without her husband by her side. Cue in new love interest to make things interesting!
This was an okay read overall…it felt very predictable..there was an attempt to blend romance with a bit of suspense, the balance didn’t quite work for me! I was hoping for more psychological thriller and there was a little too much focus on the love story and not enough thrilling elements to keep me fully engaged. I also didn’t feel strongly connected to the characters…which made it harder to stay invested and took me longer to finish than I’d hoped. Nothing about the book was necessarily bad… I just didn’t love it like I wanted to.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ It’s All Lies 📝 🔥 I’ve absolutely loved the two books of Westbury’s I read before - this one… not as much. I just didn’t like any of the characters and everything felt a bit too much. So maybe if you started with this one and haven’t read anything else of hers - check out the other two! I loved them! Avery + Callum Starting over after her husband’s death Avery is settling into her new home, making it her own and for the first time has a best friend. Everything seems to be going so right… until it isn’t. And nothing could prepare her for the nightmare that awaits. Have you read this one yet? What did you think?
This was good, maybe a little too lovey dovey for a thriller, but it definitely had thriller themes too. I think I enjoyed Drowning in Paper Flowers by this author a little more than this one. This was a solid 3.75. for me, maybe a little higher, but not quite a 4. I reserve 4 stars and up for books I won't forget or books I would definitely recommend. This one is teetering on the edge of recommending but I am not sure I will remember anything much about it or the characters in a few weeks. I would call it a very decent beach read.