The Engagement

By: Samantha Hayes

Narrated by: Sarah Durham

Length: 11 hrs and 32 mins

Publisher's Summary

You thought you had escaped him. Until he proposed to your daughter.

"There’s someone I want you to meet," Belle says, as a man draws up to her side. He’s tall with dark hair and stubble on his square jaw. He’s not exactly smiling, but the corner of his mouth curls upwards as he slides his hand around my daughter’s waist.

I grab my husband’s arm to steady myself, as the room spins around me.

I stare into the man’s eyes–jet black. Nothing and everything hidden behind them.

Fear prickles my skin as I remember what he did.

How I only just escaped.

All the lies I’ve had to tell since.

"I want you to meet Jack," Belle says, brimming with excitement. "He’s my fiancé." She rests her head on his shoulder. "Isn’t it exciting? We’re engaged!"

Fear hammers in my chest. I have to stop this.

My daughter’s life is in danger, and it’s all because of me.…
A totally gripping psychological thriller from an Amazon No. 1 best seller that will take you on a rollercoaster ride of emotions and have you gasping at the twists.

©2023 Samantha Hayes (P)2022 Bookouture, an imprint of Storyfire Ltd.

Incredible!

Fantastic story, convincingly strong narration and an extremely entertaining ending!! Everything you could want in a good listen. If you’re on the fence, just get it! Well worth the credit!!!

Original and very graphic !!

I don't really know how to review this book, because I've never read or heard anything like it.
It was a wild and sometimes frustrating ride, and it was SO graphic in several ways... sometimes it made me feel like I was right there, and sometimes it just made me cringe.
I'm not sorry I listened to it, but I'm also not sad that it's over.
So many secrets

Somewhat Contrived

I don’t want to listen to books which are too short, I.e,, four and five hours. This, however, was just a little too long. The goodies were really good and the baddies were really bad. There were twists that I didn’t foresee which I enjoyed. There was also another interesting twist at the end, which I again did not foresee.
I dinged the performance, because the narrator had the unfortunate habit of lowering the voice to a whisper to portray a man speaking. Unfortunately, you couldn’t hear so you turned up the volume and then, when normal speaking began it was too loud. I missed several sentences because of this whispering . It was very annoying having to back up several times to hear what had been said.
Overall, it held my interest, and I am beginning to like this author.

Not for me

This story was too long, drawn out, and predictable. I couldn’t stand the main character. She was more worried about her own reputation than her daughter being trafficked.

Characters completely unrealistic

This is a sloppy job. The villain is entirely one dimensional. The main character's transformation makes no sense. Her daughter is so incredibly gullible that it is impossible to feel any stake in what happens to her.

Another hysterical Mom

On the plus side: did get me interested right away, and the last twist was nice. On the minus side: features the most clueless, dumbest 18 year old on earth. I mean I was dumb at 18 but even I knew better than this kid. Second: does ANY mystery writer in the world have a plot idea that doesn’t involve hysterical women and lost children????? I mean it’s been done and done and done to death, in books and Lifetime movies and all with the schmaltzy sappy ending. Even when nicely written it’s gotten cringey. Looking for something more original than super macho Harry Bosch types or Mommy plots. Not enough out there for this reader.

Twisty

This audiobook was very interesting and kept me interested all the way through. Good read.

Whoa 😮

The ending...I love that. That was chilling. Samantha Hayes did it up with this one....yes keep doing these

Great listen

Such a great story with a shocking twist at the end that I didn’t see coming!!! I enjoyed it very much and found myself not wanting to turn it off because I was so sucked in to it!! 10/10 would recommend

Good,but could have been shorter

I did enjoy the book. I wish I could have given it a 3&1/2 star rating. I liked the story but I felt like there was a lot of unnecessary fluff. It seemed that information was repetitive or implied in places & didn’t need restating.I did enjoy the twist at the end,it just seemed a long time in getting there. I was a little disappointed in the narration. This narrator sounded completely unbelievable as the male character(voicing Belle’s fiancé). And as the main character, her voice was a bit raspy to be voicing a character in her late 30’s.

It was okay

I guessed the 'twist' without even realising it was a twist because it was so obvious so unfortunately I was disappointed when a twist didn't occur.

Great narrator though and was an easy listen.

a little confusing at times

Found the storyline a little confusing and even boring at times, but this could have been because I was a bit distracted by personal events, so I feel I want to read again to get a better handle on it. Great twisty ending as usual with this author. the narration was very good.

Loved it!

Really got into this book, loved it. Liked the narration and liked how each persons perspective complemented each other. Listened to it more than I have in months, highly recommend.

Predictable…

The story was just ok, only one decent twist, the rest was so predictable. I don’t know how many times I thought “just be honest!!” I wouldn’t recommend, but it’s ok if you’re desperate.

Not sure if I recommend this book

The story is a bit dragged out and the plot twist was actually predictable
I regretted spending my credit on it

Well read and interesting to a point ......

.......beyond which I just could not take it any longer. We all make mistakes in our younger years and we may all keep a few secrets, but this heroine succeeds in making a real meal of her mistake. She is far from unintelligent and married to a good man and I saw little reason for not coming clean when her past rears up and threatens her beloved daughter. But she doesn't and everything escalates into melodrama and absolute nonsense. 11 plus hours that could have been condensed into 5 and would have proved a much better novel. Stop with the padding, get to the point, stick to it and hold the interest of the listener 'cos this one skipped almost half of the book and was relieved to get to the end ......and I guessed that too. Most unsatisfactory and will be returned forthwith.

Huge twist!!!

Don’t hesitate! This story is fab and I really didn’t see the huge twist at the end coming!
Clever writing. Thoroughly enjoyed. Go for it! 😍

Brilliant with a fab twist

This is the first Samantha Hayes book I have listened to but certainly won’t be the last.
Excellent narration by Sarah Durham.
Really gripping story and is a bit dark in places but worth it.
I just wasn’t expecting the twist!

Really enjoyed

I really enjoyed the story; it kept me interested all the way through and now the narrator had me intrigued and the plot kept twisting.

was a bit slow but I didn't mind that.

I do recommend.

loved every minute

couldn't switch it off, I was hooked. the narrator was great, using different voices for each person, which was great for me so I didn't get list with who was who.