You Shouldn't Have Come Here by Jeneva Rose

You’ve opened up your house and your heart to a total stranger … What could possibly go wrong?

 

Grace Evans, an overworked New Yorker looking for a total escape from her busy life, books an Airbnb on a ranch in the middle of Wyoming. When she arrives at the idyllic getaway, she’s pleased to find that the owner is a handsome man by the name of Calvin Wells—and he’s eager to introduce her to his easygoing way of life. But there are things Grace discovers that she’s not too pleased about: A lack of cell phone service. A missing woman. And a feeling that something isn’t right with the ranch.

 

Despite her uneasiness, the two bond and start to fall for one another. However, as her departure date nears, things change for the worse. What began as a playful romance soon turns into a complicated web of lies. Grace grows wary of Calvin as his infatuation for her seems to have morphed to obsession. Calvin fears that Grace is hiding something from him—including her reason for staying at his ranch to begin with. Vacation flings typically end in heartbreak, but for Grace and Calvin, it’ll be far more destructive.

Publisher: Blackstone Audio | Narrator: Andrew Eiden, Andi Arndt |  Length: 8 h 1 m |  Genre: Thriller | Source: Libby  | Rating: 1.5 

Needing to escape New York for a bit, Grace throws a dart at the map and finds herself in an Airbnb in Wyoming. While Calvin, the owner, is attractive, she has a feeling that something isn’t right but that doesn’t stop her from falling for Calvin. As her departure date draws closer, Calvin starts becoming obsessive and the locals are telling her to flee. Grace’s suspicion of Calvin is growing by the minute but Calvin feels that Grace is hiding something.

I’m not sure what I just read. Was this a romance? Was this a thriller? Was it a story of obsession? Whatever it was, I’m not sure the mashup worked. This one had the potential to be a great thriller—a woman stranded at a ranch more-or-less cut off from the outside world with an obsessive/possessive host and a slew of questionable locals—but this one was a bit of a train wreck.

Calvin was creepy from the start and you can tell he was obsessed with Grace. Grace seemed eager to go along with Calvin’s insta-obsession regardless of the fact that everyone was telling her something was wrong with Calvin. Then there was this love triangle between Calvin, his (maybe) ex, and Grace, not really sure why it was thrown in other than to make this book even odder.  Oh, and I can’t forget the group of locals that gave off a Deliverance-vibe.

Had the plot stuck to the synopsis, even with their little romance, this could have been a fantastic thriller. I don’t feel as though this book had a direction. It almost felt like the author was working on two books, a romance and thriller, then decided to combine them without making the pieces fit. There were so many thriller clichés and just odd phrases it made the book a little cringe-worthy.

Then there was the ending. It felt as though the author was attempting to do something clever that ultimately fell flat. If you want an ending that your reader doesn’t see coming then don’t have your character read a book synopsis that says, ‘the best thriller of the year with an ending you’ll never see coming’.

The narrators, Andrew Eiden, Andi Arndt, were great but I did end up listening to this at 2.0 x the speed.

Overall, this one just wasn’t my favorite and I’m not really sure there’s anything to recommend.