You Don't Know Me

by Nancy Kelly, Nancy Bush

Dear Reader,

You Don't Know me was the first romantic suspense novel I ever wrote. It was originally published as Tangled in the early 90s under the pseudonym Nancy Kelly. I'm delighted that it's finally available again in this repackaged edition.

Everyone in Wagon Wheel, Oregon, knew that Thomas Daniels was a mean, violent man, twisted by liquor and hate. His stepdaughters, Dinah, Denise, and Hayley, knew it better than anyone. And then, with one desperate act, their lives changed forever.

Now, years after he disappeared, Thomas Daniels’s remains have been found and a murder investigation is underway. All three sisters--Dinah, a respected journalist, acclaimed actress Denise, and Hayley, hungry for her own chance at stardom--find their lives intersecting and unraveling again. And piece by piece, they'll confront the truth about that deadly night--and the dark secrets that could turn one of them into a killer. . .

With its new title and new cover, You Don't Know Me feels like a whole new book to me--one I hope you will enjoy as much as I do!

Nancy Bush

Genres: Suspense, Mystery, Fiction, Romance, Crime, Romantic Suspense

400 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1994

About the author

Pseudonym for author Nancy Bush.

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm starting to get annoyed at what is qualifying as a Romance Novel at this point. There was absolutely nothing romantic about this book until the very last couple of pages. Before that we read about physical abuse, sexual abuse, mental and emotional abuse and the torment that follows after a crime of passion.

This is a FAIL romance novel.

[Annette · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm not going to do what a lot of people do on here and just rehash the story. I will say it was filled with useless pages that did nothing for the story other than dilute it. I have read many of Nancy Bush's novels and this is the only one I did not enjoy. I struggled to finish the book at all as you can see by how long it took to finish

[L Cherry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very complicated story about twins and a third sister who went though a traumatic teen life. The past follows them in vague memories of what actually happened to them. They desperately tried to avoid real romantic feelings due to the trauma fears. Watching them try to avoid feelings for others was exciting when it became obvious which man each should really care about and trust.
The mystery could have gone in many different directions and was completely a surprise to me in the end.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book opens with an unknown female dragging a dead body to place in an isolated storm drain. Eight years later, the body is found. It belongs to the most hated man in Wagon Wheel, Oregon so the list who might have killed him is long. His three stepdaughters left shortly after he disappeared so private investigator Conor Jackley focuses on twins Denise and Dinah and younger sister Hayley who are grown now. Denise has made it big in Hollywood but drugs and delusions have her in a downward spiral. Hayley wants to break into the big screen. Dinah, the brightest and the fixer of the bunch, writes a newspaper column.

This book originally came out in 1994 under the pseudonym Nancy Kelly. It was re-published in 2016 under Nancy Bush's real name. If you like romantic suspense, you should enjoy this book as it is typical of the genre. There are some dark scenes in the book related to child sexual abuse, drugs & alcohol abuse, bipolar disorder and mental illness, and domestic abuse. I was convinced at different points that I knew who killed the stepfather. I had four females in mind and one turned out to be correct but the author leads you down all kinds of paths to get there. This was the author's debut romantic suspense and I think her writing has gotten better over the years. I particularly like the stories she writes with her sister Lisa Jackson.

[Andrew Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story....easy reading. I like Nancy Bush even under her pseudonym.

[Barbara Hornak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Three beautiful Angles with ugly secrets

Everyone has secrets. When three sisters have a shared secret it effects each one totally different. From drugs and self loathing to total denial each chooses their own path in life. How it all comes together in the end caught me unprepared. This is rerelease of a book written years ago but is still b believable today. Great job, Nancy Bush!

[Kemi]

I didn't give a rating because I only read about 80 pages before I gave up, and those 80 pages took me nearly all the month of October. It was bad. Like, avoid-at-all-costs bad.

It was like reading the first draft of a creative writing assignment by a socially-awkward high school girl who has only ever read Harlequin romance novels, and tries to incorporate a little of each book into her story. It was too much, and at the same time, not enough.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Secrets...yup everyone has a few. The three Scott sister have their share and then some. I like the basis of the story but the switching from one "story" to another made it hard from me to get into a character and like or know them. The last thirty pages are what brought it home for me.

[Vicki Melendez]

loved this book loved who done it

[Joanne Cobb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book alto of twist and turns. I got to read the next ones

[Katie Sunderlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was labeled as a romantic mystery.

The "mystery" part is the skeleton of a man who disappeared a few years early. The man was a violent, alcoholic that no one cared about. The sherriff in the area sent a former police officer turned PI to do some digging. His digging involved a few conversations with three sisters who were the stepdaughters of this man who was abusing the girls mentally, physically, and sexually.

There was very little focus on the mystery and it feels the only reason it was put in the story to act as the love interest of one of the sisters.

The generally gist of the story was following what the sisters were doing after the discovery of the stepfather's body (the body was Oregon whereas the woman were in LA).

The story plays itself as a romance. The oldest sister, Dinah, falls in love with her twin sister's ex husband whom thought she was his ex wife. The man was verbally and physically abusive with her. That all changed when he realized she wasn't his ex of course but this is very problematic especially considering Dinah's past experience with abuse.

Denise, Dinah's twin, is a famous actress, is suffering from untreated mental illness which we later learn is bipolar disorder. She ends up falling in love and marrying her own therapist. Which is unethical and unprofessional.

The younger sister, Hayley, is the only one whom seemed to get into a non problematic relationship with the PI.

We later learn that Denise and Hayley witnessed their stepfather being murdered and Dinah dumped his body into a culvert where it was discovered. Yet no charges were brought which considering everything the man put them through.

However the one who did kill the man was the sisters' stepsister, Candy. Candy had also suffered the same abuse at the hands of the man. She had killed him when he was attempting to rape Denise and then began to punch Denise in the stomach upon learning she was pregnant (which caused her to miscarry).

Despite all that Candy is arrested and brought up on charges. The end of the book has her out on bail awaiting her trial.

This is problematic to me because Candy is obese, weird, and it is brought up several times that she is also promiscuous. So her much prettier stepsisters go on to live charmed lives without so much of a thought to their stepsister.

[Carol Schneider · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an alright read. Not terribly suspenseful. I wasn't surprised by who-dunnit and the supposed love stories that were interwoven within the suspense were bland and not very well "fleshed out" for lack of a better way of stating it. I had difficulty with the time line presented. The murder of the Scott sisters' step-father was 8 years in the past. The girls flee Wagon Wheel, Oregon days after his disappearance. The eldest girls, brainy, Dinah, and beautiful, Denise are high school seniors. Their baby sister, Hayley, is 16 when they head to Los Angeles. Having this knowledge places the Hayley character square at 24 and her older sisters at approximately 26. However, Denise's high-school sweetheart is described as a balding 30-ish gentleman when he returns to Wagon Wheel. Thirty-something does seem to be the appropriate age of the Scott sisters judging by past events of the story and actions however we know they can only be 26 or 27. This miscalculation in the characters timeline was an enormous distraction as well as referring to the stepfather by completely different name in more than one instance is disappointing. Simply a middle of the road book but it got me through on the sidelines this softball season.

[Beth Lechman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one will keep you going in circles trying to figure out who the killer is. Three sisters who all lead a very different life and are all hiding a secret. Denise, an actress who is so screwed up she doesn't know what the truth is. Her twin Dinah, a writer who is the fixer and Hayley the youngest who is determined to get what she wants at any cost. They are all running from the same thing and they have repressed their memories for so long they aren't even sure of the truth.

[Amanda Baker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldnt even finish this book. A bunch of useless pages with useless character information that has nothing to do with the story. Jumping from character to character made it ridiculously hard to follow. I lost focus on who was who. Normally I like her books but this one was definitely a waste of time.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great story, but really dragged in a lot of places. Lots of pages could have been left out and the story would still. Be the same. Overall it was a good book and I do love this author and her sister too!

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is non-stop suspense with some romance sprinkled in here and there. The character development of this book was wonderful and the story line has great flow and as for the mystery of who did it...... I never thought it was her! Great read.

[Conni Harness · Rating 5 out of 5]

A different kind of story, but well done. Another good read by a strong author

[Angela]

0

[Wild Rose Reads · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF past page 212.
0 stars for suspense
0 stars for "fun to read"
0 stars for romance
🚩Content warnings for drug abuse, PTSD from sexual abuse, untreated bipolar disorder, and questionable consent during most sex that has occurred so far.🚩

This book failed at everything it promised from the genre. I went in expecting a small-town murder mystery with a side of romance, possibly between one of the sisters and the cop investigating the murder. But instead of the three sisters being pulled back to their small-town home for the investigation, we are dragged all over multiple states while we get all 3 sisters' POVs on their rather dismal lives.

The Mystery
Short of the step-father's death being the reason the ex-cop turned PI is tracking down the sisters, the mystery isn't being investigated...at...all... The cops in town seem to wish the case would just go away, considering how awful the victim was. But as Conner (the PI) says, "a life was still taken". Another odd thing I found: Why weren't any of the sisters notified about his death by the police?

The Sisters
Wow...The only sister leading an even slightly "normal" life is Dinah, the columnist. I say slightly because as the book opens she's pretending to be her famous twin, Denise the actress, who asked her to house-sit for her after a messy divorce. Denise, by the way, hasn't even acknowledged publicly that she has sisters or family, let alone an identical twin. Dinah's POV quickly gets complicated when her sister's ex-husband shows up at the house and sparks start to fly, while he thinks she is her sister. 🤨

Meanwhile, Denise's POV drags us through her confusing, drug-ridden mental collapse as she lounges by pools often high on drugs, pops pills without knowing what they are, and sleeps with whomever "asks". Her trauma from the sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather has left her with no self-esteem, an inability to distinguish between dreams and reality most of the time, and a lack of ability to fight back if any guy sexually assaults her. Her reputation seems to be that she likes it rough, and most of the men involved with her have done just that: "taken" her with questionable consent and most of the time when Denise is drugged or high on something.

This is uncomfortable to read, especially when it happens over, and over, and over, and over again. It didn't seem necessary. We could have moved on to Denise having a breakthru with her therapist, or something much earlier. Instead we as readers are forced through multiple depressing lapses in memory, more pill-popping, more sex, and physical and sexual abuse. 🤦‍♀️

The youngest sister, Haley, isn't much funner to read. She is a wanna-be actress with sights on the lead in an upcoming movie. But instead of being interesting, she comes off as impersonal, snotty, and preoccupied with getting whatever she wants. This doesn't make her the least bit likable. And part of what she does to "prepare" for the role, is hang out with prostitutes and try to learn the craft. And again, we aren't subjected to this just enough to make us understand her, we are dragged through chapters of this.

So, at this point, we are halfway through the book, and we are no closer to finding out who killed the stepdad (Yep. There was supposed to be a mystery buried under all the sleaze and debauchery we've seen.)

The Romance
Most books that pitch romance at least make it clear who the hero is going to be within the first chapter or two. However, in this book, there seems to be possibly 1 hero for each sister. And the introduction to them as love interests instead of just side characters is extremely slow.

A big turn-off (or, another one?) is that every man in this book is described with less than complimentary words. This makes it rather hard to decipher who is supposed to be the love interest when the writing is taking the "all men are ass-holes" approach 🤷‍♀️

So at this point, I could not care any less about reading more of this. It's depressing, makes me feel icky, and we haven't even skimmed the surface of suspense. Or romance for that matter.

[Irene · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah um I felt like I was all over the place. I would be reading in Dinah's point of view, then Denise, then another character. It was hard to keep up with who was who. At one point I thought Denise was Dinah, however she couldn't be in 2 places at once. Their younger sister Hayley seemed to want to follow in Denise's footsteps of being an actress. She didn't have a clue. I really couldn't finish the book. As much as I wanted to, it was so hard to keep track, then it seemed like the characters just rambled. In a way you can tell this is Nancy's earlier work. Her books now I have no problem following through.

[Shirley J. Perry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read a few chapters of this book. The story kept jumping around from person to person with no indication of the change. One sentence Denice was telling the story in the first person then, without warning, it was Haley(?) in the first person. I found it impossible to follow, much less enjoy, such a convoluted narrative. I have read most of Nancy Bush's books but if this had been the first it would have also been the last!

[Danielle Bush · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was just confused about what was actually happening with a of the shifting perspectives. I liked Dinah and John but everything was all over the place.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Whoa...stayed up too late to finish this book. I am glad I did as the ending was a bit of a surprise! I rated this book with four stars as I felt it dragged at points. Curious by nature, I kept picking up the book to find out how this was going to turn out for the three sisters. It is an interesting read, many times unbelievable, but still a good read.

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me best of her work yet!

Nancy Bush has stepped out of any shadows with this novel! This is a fast paced well written psychological thriller. It demands your attention and you willingly give it! With ease it slips from character to character from present to past and back again. I loved it so will fans of Gardner, Jackson, Brown and Patterson!

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gripping tale

Three sisters living their lives warped by a secret so ugly it has scarred them all. The story was riveting, but the jumping from sister to sister without any indication of changing perspective or location leaves the reader floundering unsure where they are or who.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Previously published under a different name this book has been slightly modernized with references to Twitter and Uber. There was not much to the overall mystery, and the sisters weren't always sympathetic. More suspense than romance.

[Suze · Rating 1 out of 5]

YOU DON'T KNOW ME

I wish I had read the negative reviews first. This book was not what I expect from this author. I read about one third and then skipped to the end. Disappointed!

[Phyllis F. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard To Follow

The author jumped around from character. I did not finish book.


I Have read other books by this author. This one i did not like.

[Ronda Six Garnett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Glad I stayed with it...

[Elaine DiMeo · Rating 5 out of 5]

entertaining read

Great story with characters that you grow to care about. Keeps you guessing till the very end. wonderful author that never disappoints!