Books That Inspired Hailey’s Promise

Every book I write is a mix of lived emotion and borrowed inspiration. For Hailey’s Promise, I drew from my deep love of psychological thrillers, the kind of stories that stay with you, not just because of the plot, but because of the unease that lingers long after the last page.

While the story and characters are entirely my own, a few books inspired the tone, pacing, and emotional layering:

• Verity by Colleen Hoover: The unease of not knowing what’s true. I loved how Verity makes you question the narrator’s version of reality, and I wanted Hailey’s Promise to play in that same shadowy space.
• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides: This one showed me how restraint can be powerful. How a character’s silence can speak louder than their actions.
• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn: Flynn’s prose is cutting, raw, and unflinching. I wanted Hailey’s emotional unraveling to carry that same emotional weight.

But beyond specific titles, Hailey’s Promise was born from a feeling. That haunting, heart-clenching space between truth and perception. Hailey is a woman clinging to a promise, not just to someone else, but to a version of herself she’s afraid she’s lost. The book explores memory, guilt, and how easily the lines blur when you want to believe in someone so badly it breaks you.

It’s not just a thriller, it’s a quiet scream into the void. And that’s exactly what I wanted it to be.