Synopsis:

A stand-alone novella from the author of Manipulated Lives
A perfect friend … or a perfect impostor?
Alexa is an energetic and charismatic professional and the new member of a Parisian PR company where she quickly befriends her colleagues Rosie and Jack. She brings a much-needed breath of fresh air into the office and ambitiously throws herself into her new job and friendships.
But is Alexa all she claims to be?
As her life intertwines with Rosie and Jack’s, they must all decide what separates truth from fiction. Will the stories that unfold unite or divide them? Can first impressions ever be trusted?
In this original novella, H.A. Leuschel evokes the powerful hold of appearances and what a person is prepared to do to keep up the facade. If you like thought-provoking and compelling reads with intriguing characters, My Sweet Friend is for you.

Similar to ‘Manipulated Lives’ this is a book about a narcisstic character – it takes a little while to figure out which character it is with this personality trait because of the way they twist reality in their minds.
Leuschel is always brilliant at the way she portrays these characters and this time I actually had some sympathy for the character in question – you can’t help the way you are and narcissists aren’t inherently bad, they’re trying to get ahead of everyone else but stamping on others is just a side-effect of this.

I love the way Leuschel really brings her characters to life, I love reading the dynamics between them and you learn that some people are more susceptible to being manipulated than others – being empathetic can make you very vulnerable in some friendships.

I did find some of the dialogue between characters a bit stilted though, it was trying too hard to illustrate the author’s points and didn’t feel entirely natural but it wasn’t enough to distract me from the real impact of this novella.
I can’t wait for the next book from this author!