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The Wrong One
A killer is stalking Chicago’s shoreline, and Kamika Mulford is getting dangerously close to their grasp in this sultry, adrenaline-laced romantic thriller.
Kamika’s best friend Jayla has vanished, at least according to her. Jayla Freeman is Chicago’s hottest influencer. She travels the globe and answers to no one. When Jayla doesn’t respond to Kamika’s messages, few are startled. From jealous followers to resentful family, the list is long for people who might want Jayla gone.
It only gets worse when Scottish rock star Finlay MacGregor saunters back into Kamika’s life and straight into a very compromising position. His deadly good looks may be sweet, but his sordid reputation casts a shadow on his spotlight.
With the clock ticking on Jayla’s sudden disappearance, Kamika finds herself questioning all that she believes while treading deeper into unsafe waters.
When love and fear meet, a question is raised; could this be the wrong one?
Kamika’s best friend Jayla has vanished, at least according to her. Jayla Freeman is Chicago’s hottest influencer. She travels the globe and answers to no one. When Jayla doesn’t respond to Kamika’s messages, few are startled. From jealous followers to resentful family, the list is long for people who might want Jayla gone.
It only gets worse when Scottish rock star Finlay MacGregor saunters back into Kamika’s life and straight into a very compromising position. His deadly good looks may be sweet, but his sordid reputation casts a shadow on his spotlight.
With the clock ticking on Jayla’s sudden disappearance, Kamika finds herself questioning all that she believes while treading deeper into unsafe waters.
When love and fear meet, a question is raised; could this be the wrong one?
339 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 1, 2021
22 people are currently reading
14 people want to read
About the author
Josie Grayson
5 books7 followersJosie Grayson currently spends her days in the dynamic city of Chicago, Illinois. She studied French Literature but writes in her native tongue. She loves crafting bone-deep romance and taut, adrenaline packed thrillers.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
March 2, 2021
A Must-Read Romantic Suspense
The Wrong One is this year’s must-read romantic suspense novel. If you like your romance novels with a shot of adrenaline, you’ll be delighted. The engaging characters and plot really grabbed my attention. So much so that at times I became angry enough to throw my Kindle at the wall. It all felt so real.
The Opening
The opening clearly sets up the main conflict and lets the reader know what kind of story to expect. It’s clear the protagonists are playing for the highest stakes possible. Strangely, we don’t meet the two main protagonists until chapters three and six. But there’s so much happening that it doesn’t matter.
The Characters
Kamika is a perfect strong female protagonist. I could write an essay about how wonderful she is, but I’ll try to keep this brief.
Firstly, she is immediately established as a sympathetic character due to her concern for first her young nephew Andre and then her friend Jayla. Within the very first chapter we meet her, she passes the Bechdel-Wallace Test with flying colors as she speaks with another significant female named character about Jayla about a topic unrelated to relationships with men.
Later revelations make Kamika even more likable as we discover she is a confident, knowledgeable, self-made businesswoman. And then she gains more of our sympathy as we discover she has experienced not just one but two life-changing break-ups and is now raising a (near-adult) son alone.
There are intriguing elements to her character that remind me of Shirley Keeldar from Charlotte Brontë’s novel Shirley. What I mean is that, much like Shirley, Kamika is a confident woman who wishes to take charge and see change. When she interacts with police officers, she is dismayed to feel that they do not take her knowledge and experience seriously even though she is speaking about her area of expertise.
Shirley Keeldar suffered for being a woman pushed by birth into a man’s role in a misogynistic society where women were not allowed to vote or work in a man’s profession. Similarly, Kamika is marginalized within Chicago’s upper-middle-class society due to both her sex and her color. She is not taken seriously because she is a black woman doing what is perceived by some as a white man’s job.
But, like Shirley, Kamika is a much more complex character than this. She is a very real character who cannot be slotted into a specific hole. The prejudices dealt with within the text are handled subtly in a way that makes the reader even angrier at how she and her friend Jayla are treated by people in authority.
Another interesting similarity to Shirley is that they both are publicly assertive but privately submissive. Kamika wants a man to dominate her, but not just any man. She feels the need for a man who can make her feel safe in a way her ex-husband never did. Shirley once declared to a friend that she wanted to find a superior man who could “master” her, but doubted such a man existed. Kamika seems made from the same mold.
I also like that Kamika is a mature woman. She has a near-adult son which, given what we learn about her backstory, implies she is in her early forties. She has a life of experiences behind her that makes her so much more three-dimensional than many other romance novel protagonists.
Finlay is another wonderful character. He is the kind of Byronic hero the Brontës would love. A rockstar with a dark past, he is a true bad-boy character. But there are enough details given about his backstory to make him appear human and gain sympathy from the reader. However, there are also things about his past Kamika doesn’t know and which may make him dangerous for her to be around.
I wish Bailey featured more in this story. Like Kamika, she’s great. But I wish she’d appeared earlier than a quarter of the way through. When she appears, it’s a bit confusing since we suddenly have another viewpoint character after we’ve already read a long way into the story.
At first, I didn’t understand how she fit into the plot. But everything soon became clear. I would have liked to have seen more of her because she was potentially the most interesting character. She is clearly cleverer than Kamika, who is already a tech genius, but at the same time she is also in some ways even more messed up than Finlay.
The Plot
As this is romantic suspense, we get two main plot lines. The romantic plot is a simple second-chance romance. Kamika and Finlay were once an item but long ago split up. The question is, can they ever be together again? Certainly not if he’s the person going around kidnapping women.
The suspense plot focuses on disappearing female internet influencers. Kamika fears her friend may be a kidnap victim or worse. Why won’t anyone take her fears seriously?
The suspense is good throughout this novel and becomes fantastic toward the climax. After around 70% of the way through, the foreshadowing became a little too heavy for me. I would have preferred more mystery at that point.
However, I am one of those people who guesses “who dun it” in the opening scenes of some novels, so this may just be me. And, besides, the action toward the end and the increasing suspense more than makes up for the loss of mystery in the final sections. If it were a film, I would have been gripping my armrests.
I was both surprised and extremely pleased by how this story ends. I cannot tell you why without providing a huge spoiler, but you’ll know what I mean when you get there. It certainly didn’t end as I expected, and I was much happier with how it did end than how I expected it to end.
The Setting
Lake Michigan is almost like a character in this story. It is ever-present and plays a key part in both the opening and the ending. The buildings where most of the action takes place are easy to visualize.
I’m pleased to report that The Wrong One does not confuse us with unnecessarily complex tech jargon as Kamika performs her work. Yet at the same time, enough details are provided about her coding and Finley’s music for the reader to see what’s happening inside their heads.
The Prose
Josie Grayson is a truly talented author. She understands how to utilize short chapters with page-turning endings and active prose to create suspense. Her narrative is engaging and keeps you entertained all the way through.
I only noted one small error near the opening. In a paragraph beginning “What are you talking about? Finlay walks near me…” there is missing punctuation on the dialogue and this paragraph should be merged with the following paragraph because they involve the same speaker. There may, of course, have been other errors. However, I was too enthralled by the action to notice.
My Opinion
If you are only going to read one romantic suspense novel this year, make it The Wrong One. It has all the right ingredients for both a thrilling suspense novel and a steamy romance.
Despite my slight reservations about the heavy foreshadowing, I can’t help but grade this romance novel as an easy 10 out of 10. On Goodreads and Amazon, that will be 5 out of 5. This is a must-read romantic suspense novel that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. However, if you want to read it, you will have to wait until it is released on Tuesday 2nd March 2021.
Notice:
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Wrong One is this year’s must-read romantic suspense novel. If you like your romance novels with a shot of adrenaline, you’ll be delighted. The engaging characters and plot really grabbed my attention. So much so that at times I became angry enough to throw my Kindle at the wall. It all felt so real.
The Opening
The opening clearly sets up the main conflict and lets the reader know what kind of story to expect. It’s clear the protagonists are playing for the highest stakes possible. Strangely, we don’t meet the two main protagonists until chapters three and six. But there’s so much happening that it doesn’t matter.
The Characters
Kamika is a perfect strong female protagonist. I could write an essay about how wonderful she is, but I’ll try to keep this brief.
Firstly, she is immediately established as a sympathetic character due to her concern for first her young nephew Andre and then her friend Jayla. Within the very first chapter we meet her, she passes the Bechdel-Wallace Test with flying colors as she speaks with another significant female named character about Jayla about a topic unrelated to relationships with men.
Later revelations make Kamika even more likable as we discover she is a confident, knowledgeable, self-made businesswoman. And then she gains more of our sympathy as we discover she has experienced not just one but two life-changing break-ups and is now raising a (near-adult) son alone.
There are intriguing elements to her character that remind me of Shirley Keeldar from Charlotte Brontë’s novel Shirley. What I mean is that, much like Shirley, Kamika is a confident woman who wishes to take charge and see change. When she interacts with police officers, she is dismayed to feel that they do not take her knowledge and experience seriously even though she is speaking about her area of expertise.
Shirley Keeldar suffered for being a woman pushed by birth into a man’s role in a misogynistic society where women were not allowed to vote or work in a man’s profession. Similarly, Kamika is marginalized within Chicago’s upper-middle-class society due to both her sex and her color. She is not taken seriously because she is a black woman doing what is perceived by some as a white man’s job.
But, like Shirley, Kamika is a much more complex character than this. She is a very real character who cannot be slotted into a specific hole. The prejudices dealt with within the text are handled subtly in a way that makes the reader even angrier at how she and her friend Jayla are treated by people in authority.
Another interesting similarity to Shirley is that they both are publicly assertive but privately submissive. Kamika wants a man to dominate her, but not just any man. She feels the need for a man who can make her feel safe in a way her ex-husband never did. Shirley once declared to a friend that she wanted to find a superior man who could “master” her, but doubted such a man existed. Kamika seems made from the same mold.
I also like that Kamika is a mature woman. She has a near-adult son which, given what we learn about her backstory, implies she is in her early forties. She has a life of experiences behind her that makes her so much more three-dimensional than many other romance novel protagonists.
Finlay is another wonderful character. He is the kind of Byronic hero the Brontës would love. A rockstar with a dark past, he is a true bad-boy character. But there are enough details given about his backstory to make him appear human and gain sympathy from the reader. However, there are also things about his past Kamika doesn’t know and which may make him dangerous for her to be around.
I wish Bailey featured more in this story. Like Kamika, she’s great. But I wish she’d appeared earlier than a quarter of the way through. When she appears, it’s a bit confusing since we suddenly have another viewpoint character after we’ve already read a long way into the story.
At first, I didn’t understand how she fit into the plot. But everything soon became clear. I would have liked to have seen more of her because she was potentially the most interesting character. She is clearly cleverer than Kamika, who is already a tech genius, but at the same time she is also in some ways even more messed up than Finlay.
The Plot
As this is romantic suspense, we get two main plot lines. The romantic plot is a simple second-chance romance. Kamika and Finlay were once an item but long ago split up. The question is, can they ever be together again? Certainly not if he’s the person going around kidnapping women.
The suspense plot focuses on disappearing female internet influencers. Kamika fears her friend may be a kidnap victim or worse. Why won’t anyone take her fears seriously?
The suspense is good throughout this novel and becomes fantastic toward the climax. After around 70% of the way through, the foreshadowing became a little too heavy for me. I would have preferred more mystery at that point.
However, I am one of those people who guesses “who dun it” in the opening scenes of some novels, so this may just be me. And, besides, the action toward the end and the increasing suspense more than makes up for the loss of mystery in the final sections. If it were a film, I would have been gripping my armrests.
I was both surprised and extremely pleased by how this story ends. I cannot tell you why without providing a huge spoiler, but you’ll know what I mean when you get there. It certainly didn’t end as I expected, and I was much happier with how it did end than how I expected it to end.
The Setting
Lake Michigan is almost like a character in this story. It is ever-present and plays a key part in both the opening and the ending. The buildings where most of the action takes place are easy to visualize.
I’m pleased to report that The Wrong One does not confuse us with unnecessarily complex tech jargon as Kamika performs her work. Yet at the same time, enough details are provided about her coding and Finley’s music for the reader to see what’s happening inside their heads.
The Prose
Josie Grayson is a truly talented author. She understands how to utilize short chapters with page-turning endings and active prose to create suspense. Her narrative is engaging and keeps you entertained all the way through.
I only noted one small error near the opening. In a paragraph beginning “What are you talking about? Finlay walks near me…” there is missing punctuation on the dialogue and this paragraph should be merged with the following paragraph because they involve the same speaker. There may, of course, have been other errors. However, I was too enthralled by the action to notice.
My Opinion
If you are only going to read one romantic suspense novel this year, make it The Wrong One. It has all the right ingredients for both a thrilling suspense novel and a steamy romance.
Despite my slight reservations about the heavy foreshadowing, I can’t help but grade this romance novel as an easy 10 out of 10. On Goodreads and Amazon, that will be 5 out of 5. This is a must-read romantic suspense novel that will keep you turning the pages until the very end. However, if you want to read it, you will have to wait until it is released on Tuesday 2nd March 2021.
Notice:
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 2, 2021
Wow. So- I didn't sleep last night, or the night before. I have been GLUED to this book. The Wrong One is a romantic thriller, and it is probably going to be a standout for me in 2021. It was just EVERYTHING.
The story begins with a pulse-pounding scene and from there I was hooked. I don't want to give away anything, so I will choose my words wisely. After the initial action, we are introduced to our main characters, and I really like both Kamika and Finlay. Though, Kamika isn't sure if she likes Finlay, and for good reasons.
Every time I begin to type something here, I worry if I'll ruin the plot for someone. Still, I LOVE the influencer threads throughout. The whole book just felt so realistic and puled from headlines. Needless to say, this plot is a double whammy of love and thrills. Kamika is truly fighting for her life and we are constantly wondering just WHO is putting her through these things.
The ending of this book actually made me a bit emotional and I thought it was very creative and the total opposite of what I imagined. That being said, it did provide romance readers with a HEA.
You will not be let down with this one. It is truly action and suspense packed! More of this, please!
The story begins with a pulse-pounding scene and from there I was hooked. I don't want to give away anything, so I will choose my words wisely. After the initial action, we are introduced to our main characters, and I really like both Kamika and Finlay. Though, Kamika isn't sure if she likes Finlay, and for good reasons.
Every time I begin to type something here, I worry if I'll ruin the plot for someone. Still, I LOVE the influencer threads throughout. The whole book just felt so realistic and puled from headlines. Needless to say, this plot is a double whammy of love and thrills. Kamika is truly fighting for her life and we are constantly wondering just WHO is putting her through these things.
The ending of this book actually made me a bit emotional and I thought it was very creative and the total opposite of what I imagined. That being said, it did provide romance readers with a HEA.
You will not be let down with this one. It is truly action and suspense packed! More of this, please!
March 26, 2022
This could have been so much better. It started off strong with the character introductions and the events that lead up to Bailey's obsession with finding the man who drugs partygoers and made a business out of revenge porn. My problem with this story is that I found myself caring more about the suspense and Jayla's whereabouts with her captor , than about the romance between Kamika and Finlay. Their coupling was underdeveloped, so I didn't find myself caring about the relationship. Unfortunately, this book focused more on Kamika and Finlay's reconciliation, so I found myself skimming through a few pages with them. Lastly, I grew frustrated with the absurd decisions that the killer had made throughout this book, which made the ending an absolute eye roller. Although I consider this a 2.5 star book, I might check out other works from this author since there are certain elements of this book that I enjoyed. I want to mention that Kamika's nephew in this book behaves exactly like my own autistic daughter, so that familiarity was one of the bright spots in this book for me.
March 3, 2021
The plot was developed enough to catch my attention. I also enjoyed the idea of a sisterhood taking down evil. Tamika, Jayla and Bailey were impressive in different ways. They had one thing in common though, grit. Either to make a life for themselves like Jayla or to make sure that justice was served like Bailey or to find her friend like Tamika. Where the book failed in my opinion is on the romance side. They was no buildup, no time together. If more details had been given on their past relationship (Tamika and Finlay’s) then maybe it would have been easier to buy their closeness. As for the suspense side, there were a few things which didn’t compute either. For instance, Jayla is a celebrity, why wouldn’t Tamika bypass the cops and go straight to the press once it became apparent that they couldn’t be bothered? As for Fin, given his past with the cops, why would he let them in or answer any questions without his lawyer? The ending felt rushed. Again it was an opportunity to build the romance and talk about how the company survived, how Tamika and Fin are dealing with the paparazzi. Lastly and these really cost the book a star, the lack of physical description of Tamika really annoyed me as we know exactly what Fin looks like. The first person writing at the beginning was really hard for me to read. There were also a few editing issues.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2021
This book gripped me by the first page and i didn't look back. It was a suspenseful and flirtatious pleasure ride! The thriller aspect makes it down-right terrifying in some scenes. It reminded me of a sexy hollywood thriller with the way that it never truly dropped the tension or glamor. Love. Didn't want to look away just devoured it. This is a great romantic suspense and truly a thriller. The last few chapters really gave me chills. I had goosebumps.
Finlay MacGregor is a brooding bad-boy that I was in love with by the end of the book. He was so real and all of his sloppy, pained, and mysterious years away from Kamika have lent an air of true danger to him. To be in his grip...
The influenecer story line was pitch-perfect and it served up that juicy backstage vibe of an elite member of society. I love Chicago and the writer obviously does, too. This put me exactly on the lakeshore path with the water and the high rises meeting. This made the scenes involving the water so creepy, because she did a good job and it freaked me out that I had been on those beaches. Ha.
The romance was steamy and fun and touching. It hit the right notes for me and I was simply enthralled or enchanted by this book!
Finlay MacGregor is a brooding bad-boy that I was in love with by the end of the book. He was so real and all of his sloppy, pained, and mysterious years away from Kamika have lent an air of true danger to him. To be in his grip...
The influenecer story line was pitch-perfect and it served up that juicy backstage vibe of an elite member of society. I love Chicago and the writer obviously does, too. This put me exactly on the lakeshore path with the water and the high rises meeting. This made the scenes involving the water so creepy, because she did a good job and it freaked me out that I had been on those beaches. Ha.
The romance was steamy and fun and touching. It hit the right notes for me and I was simply enthralled or enchanted by this book!
March 3, 2021
Kamika Mulford is content with her life. She owns and operate her own digital security, has a friendship with Chicago's hottest influencer, Jayla and a decent relationship with her sister Vanessa. Kamika worries when Jayla doesn't return her call after traveling out of country. To make matters worse, her ex, Finley MacGregor, a Scottish rocker with a bad boy past returns to claim the one that got away. Toss a murderous stalker and you have the perfect recipe for disaster.
The Wrong One raises the question of how safe are we, when so much of our lives are on the web. A few clicks of the keys and bank information, personal information and security systems can be accessed and used.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
The Wrong One raises the question of how safe are we, when so much of our lives are on the web. A few clicks of the keys and bank information, personal information and security systems can be accessed and used.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
March 30, 2022
So many moving parts
This story had so many moving parts that I almost became lost. Then it started to fall into place. Kamika, a security specialist, became worried when her best friend Jayla went missing. Her nephew provided some insight; however, they had assumed that Jayla had company. To top it off, Kamika’s former boyfriend and rock Finley MacGregor is back. He wants to reunite with Kamika.
It would help if you had a murder map to follow the storyline as the author takes you back to the beginning, brings you back to the present, and takes you somewhere in between. One thing about this story that would have satisfied me; was those Detectives finding out that Kamika was right about Jayla being missing.
This story had so many moving parts that I almost became lost. Then it started to fall into place. Kamika, a security specialist, became worried when her best friend Jayla went missing. Her nephew provided some insight; however, they had assumed that Jayla had company. To top it off, Kamika’s former boyfriend and rock Finley MacGregor is back. He wants to reunite with Kamika.
It would help if you had a murder map to follow the storyline as the author takes you back to the beginning, brings you back to the present, and takes you somewhere in between. One thing about this story that would have satisfied me; was those Detectives finding out that Kamika was right about Jayla being missing.
March 3, 2021
The Wrong One is a thrilling book and I just loved it! I have read so many different thrillers from bigger names and this one stands with them. This is my vibe. This book is one of those books that can really meet a wider audience, as in I would definitely suggest this to my friends. Steamy and filled with the ghost of Kamika's broken heart. When she sees him again, she knows he is trouble but then suddenly must come to terms with the fact that he could be deadly. Oh my! I say to go with this one for a solid thriller suspense romance, you just won't regret it.
March 26, 2021
The serial criminal bit into more than he could handle, this time!
This was a thrilling romance-serial killer story of a psychopath who messed with the wrong woman, Bailey, who became just as tenacious as the serial criminal! Bailey, Jayla and Kamicka were kidnapped and concluded that it was a case of him or them, so they fought with all they had left in them to survive! They became the victors and bonded through that victory! Very nice romance on the side with Micka and Finley, which added some sugar and spice! Very intriguing story!
This was a thrilling romance-serial killer story of a psychopath who messed with the wrong woman, Bailey, who became just as tenacious as the serial criminal! Bailey, Jayla and Kamicka were kidnapped and concluded that it was a case of him or them, so they fought with all they had left in them to survive! They became the victors and bonded through that victory! Very nice romance on the side with Micka and Finley, which added some sugar and spice! Very intriguing story!
March 23, 2021
The Wrong One
I completely enjoyed the book. The author captures the Chicago Gold coast esthetic and the west coast techie attitude. My only disappointment was reaching the ending. Nice touch on the influencer outlook without judging.
I intend to read more books by this author.
I completely enjoyed the book. The author captures the Chicago Gold coast esthetic and the west coast techie attitude. My only disappointment was reaching the ending. Nice touch on the influencer outlook without judging.
I intend to read more books by this author.
October 18, 2021
The Wrong One is the right one!
This book had me hooked from page one. It was a page turner I could not put down. I totally recommend this book to every mystery/romance lover because it has both in spades.
This book had me hooked from page one. It was a page turner I could not put down. I totally recommend this book to every mystery/romance lover because it has both in spades.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews