Book ~ "The Personal Assistant" (2022) Kimberly Belle

From Goodreads ~ When Alex first began posting unscripted family moments and motivational messages online, she had no intention of becoming an influencer. Overnight it seemed she’d amassed a huge following, and her hobby became a full-time job - one that was impossible to manage without her sharp-as-a-tack personal assistant, AC.

But all the good-will of her followers turns toxic when one controversial post goes viral in the worst possible way. Alex reaches out to AC for damage control but her assistant has gone silent. This young woman Alex trusted with all her secrets, who had access to her personal information and front row seats to the pressure points in her marriage and family life, is now missing and the police are looking to Alex and her husband for answers. As Alex digs into AC’s identity - and a woman is found murdered – she’ll find the greatest threat isn’t online but in her own living room.

Alex is a successful social media influencer, married to Patrick and has 12-year-old twins. She wakes up after a night of too much tequila to discover she had thrown shade on a 16-year-old actress in a post the night before. After years of her posting about encouraging positivity, Alex's fan base turns against her and her social media blows up with comments about her being a hypocrite. She turns to her assistant, AC, for help but AC had disappeared. When the comments get more dangerous with threats of violence and AC is reported missing by her roommate, the police look at Alex and Patrick with suspicion.

I've read many books by this author but I thought this one was okay. It's written from two perspectives which bounce back and forth (the chapters are labeled) in Alex and Patrick's voices. In the end, we find out what happened to AC and it was an interesting twist but not a big surprise. I found it odd that with all the threats (online and physical) they received, though Alex and Patrick eventually had changed the locks and upgraded their security cameras, they didn't seem overly concerned about any danger. to themselves or Alex's children. I thought it was irresponsible of Alex as a mother to expose so much of her life (she posted pictures of her daughters, Patrick, their house, etc.) in her quest to become a successful influencer.  As a head's up, there is swearing and violence.