"Amy Whey is proud of her ordinary life and the simple pleasures that come with it—teaching diving lessons, baking cookies for new neighbors, helping her best friend, Charlotte, run their local book club. Her greatest joy is her family: her devoted professor husband, her spirited fifteen-year-old stepdaughter, her adorable infant son. And, of course, the steadfast and supportive Charlotte. But Amy’s sweet, uncomplicated life begins to unravel when the mysterious and alluring Angelica Roux arrives on her doorstep one book club night.

Sultry and magnetic, Roux beguiles the group with her feral charm. She keeps the wine flowing and lures them into a game of spilling secrets. Everyone thinks it’s naughty, harmless fun. Only Amy knows better. Something wicked has come her way—a she-devil in a pricey red sports car who seems to know the terrible truth about who she is and what she once did.

When they’re alone, Roux tells her that if she doesn’t give her what she asks for, what she deserves, she’s going to make Amy pay for her sins. One way or another.

To protect herself and her family and save the life she’s built, Amy must beat the devil at her own clever game, matching wits with Roux in an escalating war of hidden pasts and unearthed secrets. Amy knows the consequences if she can’t beat Roux. What terrifies her is everything she could lose if she wins."

Acquired via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

Amy is content, living in Florida and working as a dive instructor. She has a husband, a teenage stepdaughter, and an infant son. Life is good. Until the day a new neighbor, Roux, drops in at book club and stirs things up. She somehow knows things, and she knows some of Amy's secrets from her past, secrets which no one in her current life know anything about. When Roux begins to blackmail Amy, Amy must decide whether to give in or to try to beat Roux at her own game.

I've read quite a few of Joshilyn Jackson's novels and I'd probably have to say that she ranks up there as one of my favorite authors, or at least one that I enjoy returning to again and again. Most of her books have a nice mix of dysfunctional, southern craziness while exploring fairly serious subject matters. In this one, however, she branches more out into the thriller genre. So there's less crazy, but more suspense. I wasn't pulled in to the story immediately, but the further in I got, the more invested I became, and then I was hooked. Unlike many thrillers, some of the secrets were revealed early on, but there were still enough twists and turns to keep me guessing. I wouldn't say this was my favorite novel of Jackson's, but it was good enough and fairly impressive for her first foray into the thriller/suspense genre.