📖 Publication Day Book Review ~ I Want What You Have by Hayley Smith

Bookouture
8 September 2025

My thanks to the publisher for my copy of this book to review 

As I watch you check in for a romantic week for two, his arm protectively around your waist, I smile to myself. You have no idea that this was all planned. Or what’s coming next…

‘Welcome to LunaBliss.’ I smile widely as I greet Gemma and her husband at the resort. As we clink glasses to toast the start of a gorgeous week, she doesn’t seem to remember that we’ve met before. And that I’ve waited so long to see her again.

Every detail of the week has been planned. From the carefully placed black lilies around her luxury room to the ex who broke her heart turning up unannounced. I will make sure she remembers who I am.

Because I’m the only person who knows Gemma’s secret. I know just how far she’ll go to stop it from coming out. And soon, she’ll realise there’s no way out of this place, and that I’m here to take what’s hers.

But as old secrets surface and perfect lives are destroyed who will make it out alive?

📖 My Review..

Gemma and Sophy have been friends since their school days so when Gemma wins a giveaway competition organised by Addie, her favourite online social media influencer, Sophy and her husband Tom are the perfect choice to accompany Gemma and her husband, Matt on an idyllic escape into the Welsh mountains. This is the perfect chance for the couples to relax and enjoy some together time in beautiful surroundings however, Addie’s surprise arrival at the retreat the dynamics of the group are altered dramatically, and not in a good way.

What then follows is a suspenseful thriller which uncovers many dark secrets which, once revealed, will have a devastating effect for one person in particular. I really enjoyed all the twisty turns of this complex thriller and enjoyed trying to piece together all the pieces of the puzzle. The characters are a strange bunch, not always very likeable as they all have their secrets but I enjoyed how such a set of unreliable narrators could have such a powerful effect on the outcome of the story.

Well written, by an author who knows how to crank up the tension I Want What You Have is a complex story of secrets, lies and unbridled jealousy.

About the Author

Hayley Smith is married with three children and lives in a north Derbyshire village. She has worked as a graphic designer, youth worker and musician, and has been involved for many years in organising music festivals and gigs. She studied English Language and Creative Writing with the Open University and is an avid reader of psychological fiction. Having a penchant for all things alternative, she often dips into the counter-culture scene for writing inspiration, producing quirky rough-edged characters and dark, unpredictable twists, turns and moral dilemmas.

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