Audiobook - The Assistant by Marni Mann • Ana's Attic Book Blog

The Assistant by Marni Mann

Narrated by Erin Mallon, Jacob Morgan and Therese Plummer

Suspense, Standalone

We were looking for a dark romance or romantic thriller for our book club, and I chose The Assistant because Marni Mann’s ‘When Ashes Fall’ was a favorite. The Assistant was classified as Romantic Thriller, so I didn’t even read more than the blurb. I wouldn’t really classify it like that though. To me, it was more of an emotional, suspenseful drama with lots of twists.

Jess and Emery have very happily married for 24 years. Well at least he seemed happy, obliviously so.

“That picture had been next to our bed since we got married, and it had moved with us to all the places we lived. The smile in that shot was nothing like the one I wore now. It had dulled. And I knew exactly when it’d happened.”

They have two beautiful kids, and they both have hugely successful careers when Jess decides to step back from her company to be with her family more. Since Emery works from home, Jess knows she will end up as his assistant instead of spending time with her kids, so she helps him hire the perfect assistant.

Very unique, with lots of twists and turns, I didn’t want to put it down. I figured out one of the twists early, but one blew me away. The only thing that detracted from the book to me, is that It just felt a bit incomplete. There were a lot of loose ends which made it a tough ending for a romance reader like me. But I will say, I haven’t stopped thinking about it!

My book group consensus seemed to be the same:
Deborah called it “amazing”, and she loved the ups and downs. She said “My god I couldn’t put it down”.
Kristin said “Definitely wasn’t expecting the ending. A little slow to start but the end was a shocker.”
Cristine said “I am very much a rookie reader, so for me the twist was very unexpected. I did enjoy it though, and I would recommend.”
When our book club met, many hadn’t finished it yet. The ones that had were DYING to talk about it and we couldn’t! You don’t want ANYTHING to spoil it. You think you know…but you don’t.

I’m not going to do my regular likes and dislikes here because I think they may give too much away. But let me tell you, Marni Mann can write! This is so different than my usual romcom or alpha male reads, and it was a wonderful and exciting change.

The Narration:

I loved that there were three fantastic narrators, and I definitely think that the narration added to my enjoyment of the book.

The Down & Dirty:

Our book club really enjoyed The Assistant. It was not at all what we expected, and while some of us guessed at some of the twists, we were all surprised at times. One thing we all agreed on: We couldn’t put it down. But we were all left with questions at the end, which would lead to great discussion if we didn’t want to spoil it for anyone else. Sadly, now that we are social distancing, it will be a while before we meet again.