Publication: 1st April 2021 – Simon & Schuster UK
Joe Goldberg is back. And he’s going to start a family – even if it kills him.
Joe Goldberg is done with cities, done with the muck and the posers, done with Love. Now, he’s saying hello to nature, to simple pleasures on a cosy island in the Pacific Northwest. For the first time in a long time, he can just breathe.
He gets a job at the local library – he does know a thing or two about books – and that’s where he meets her: Mary Kay DiMarco. Librarian. Joe won’t meddle, he will not obsess. He’ll win her the old fashioned way . . . by providing a shoulder to cry on, a helping hand. Over time, they’ll both heal their wounds and begin their happily ever after in this sleepy town.
The trouble is . . . Mary Kay already has a life. She’s a mother. She’s a friend. She’s . . . busy.
True love can only triumph if both people are willing to make room for the real thing. Joe cleared his decks. He’s ready. And hopefully, with his encouragement and undying support, Mary Kay will do the right thing and make room for him.
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After reading Hidden Bodies I thought it was game over for Joe Goldberg, the man who always gets away with murder, but I am thrilled that he is back and ready to find a new love. Leaving behind New York and Los Angeles (and quite a few bodies), Joe is ready for a fresh start in Bainbridge, just outside of Seattle, where he’s bought a house and he volunteers at the local library. And here meets his next obsession: Mary Kay DiMarco, librarian, mother, and good friend. Mary Kay is too busy to give her full attention to Joe: her teenage daughter has an obsession with mass-shooting serial killers, while her friends are always in need of her attention. But Joe wants to be good this time and tries to control his instincts, even though it is not always easy. Also, Joe discovers that he has his own stalker/blackmailer with a taste for art who follows each of his moves. And it is not easy to get rid of people when you are constantly watched…
I think this is my favourite book of the series. The plot is twisty, chilling, addictive, and full of dark humor. Joe is still the same twisted (I hope never to cross my path with someone like him) and yet amazing and well-developed (I can’t stop reading about him) protagonist. He targets people who are flawed, self-destructive, and, sometimes, with much more psychological problems than he has.
I love the author’s writing style and the way she structures the novel. You find yourself right inside Joe’s mind as he explains to his current victims his actions, his motives, and his emotions in a way that you know it’s disturbed, but also makes you understand him.
I don’t think it would be difficult to read You Love Me as a stand-alone if you haven’t read the first two novels (You and Hidden Bodies), but I highly recommend you read them because they give you a lot of background on Joe’s character and story… and also because they are gripping and suspenseful and really worth a read!
A huge thank you to Jess and Simon & Schuster UK for providing me with a proof of this thrilling read which is out today!
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Caroline Kepnes is from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Her first novel YOU was translated into 19 languages and shortlisted for a CWA New Blood Award. Her second novel HIDDEN BODIES is a sequel that Booklist describes as ‘the love child of Holden Caulfield and Patrick Bateman’. Caroline earned a BA in American Civilization at Brown University and worked as a pop culture journalist on Entertainment Weekly and a TV writer on 7th Heaven. She now writes full-time and lives in Los Angeles. A 10 episode TV series based on YOU will premiere on Lifetime Network in 2018.
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