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all's war in love

Taylor Bishop was devastated when her boyfriend Angus broke up with her. It was sudden and gutting, especially when she found out that he had not only taken his ex-girlfriend on the skiing vacation they were just about to go on together, but he also leaked a private video of her online (yes, one of those videos). Taylor works in finance, and if her employer were to somehow find that video, she could lose her job. Angus’ way of torturing her added insult to injury, and at first she doesn’t know what to do about it.

Then she starts to read The Art of War. And she feels like maybe she can level the playing field. She knows that it might be best to just let it go, but when she remembers that video, online, for anyone to see, she sees red all over again and strikes out.

Taylor breaks into Angus’s apartment and steals his favorite socks. She opens a pipe under his sink, so there will be a leak into the downstairs flat. She buys a romantic gift for his next-door neighbor in his name, knowing that she is in a relationship and will not be happy with the attention. She goes onto his computer to try to find and delete that video he leaked, and while she's there, she uses the opportunity to order two prostitutes to show up at his place on his birthday, charged to work credit card.

But she never anticipates his next move.

Angus does the most crazy, unthinkable, mind-bending thing of all—he shows up at her doorstop, roses in hand, to apologize profusely and ask her to take him back. Taylor is torn. She loved Angus deeply, felt a truer connection to him than she had ever felt to anyone. But he hurt her deeply, and she’s taken secret steps to ruin him professionally and get him kicked out of his apartment. Does she confess to it all and help him undo what she's done? Does she take him back, but not say anything about what she’s done? Or does she just say no and move forward with her life?

Meanwhile a big project at work takes a precarious turn, and Taylor finds herself in hot water for decisions she’s been a part of. Taylor finds herself needing to be focused on making things right, but the return of Angus is distracting to the highest degree. Taylor tries to balance her work with her relationship, and her anger at Angus and her mistrust at some of his behavior. And then she learns the one thing that changes her whole view of her relationship, and Taylor knows her whole life is in jeopardy.

The Sunday Girl by Pip Drysdale is a thrilling look at relationships, revenge, and redemption. Anyone who has been in an emotionally abusive relationship will see pieces of themselves in the character of Taylor and spend the chapters turning those pages and cheering her on. I adored this book and raced through it, aching to find out how it ends. There are some delectable twists and lots of amazing surprises. There are some difficult scenes of intimacy between Taylor and Angus, so if that’s a problem, I’d skip this one. But otherwise, it was a wonderful nail-biter about a bad relationship, a series of emotional decisions, and waiting to see where the chips fall. (Again, loved it!)

Galleys for The Sunday Girl were provided by Sourcebooks Landmark through NetGalley, with many thanks.