The description of this book sounded pretty good - 3 women have been friends since college, but 20 years later one of them is standing on a bridge and someone else is urging her to jump - but the execution of the book just didn't quite live up to it. Though the book starts with that scene of someone (we don't know who) being urged to jump, the book then jumps back in time 20 years to tell the somewhat slow story of 3 very different roommates who meet and become (alleged) best friends - the depressed rich party girl, the overachieving townie, and the poor girl with a troubled homelife. Other than maybe one or two chapters that jump into the present, the action stays firmly rooted in their freshman year of college until about halfway through the book, when suddenly the book becomes basically a whole different book, a mystery about what happened to one of the roommates who is now dead. While there are certain plot reasons why I am guessing the author did not go the typical route of jumping back and forth between the 2 time periods, the ultimate effect is that it seems like 2 totally different books smashed together. The other issue is that truly all the characters in the book are deeply unlikeable and unsympthetic. That being said, the book did keep me reading and the ending surprised me.

**Thanks to Goodreads for providing me a complimentary copy of IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND in exchange for my honest review**

Twenty-two years ago, somebody died on that notorious bridge. Murder? Suicide? Accident? Four people know the truth. One has amnesia. One pushed the victim. Two covered up the truth. Freshman suite-mates, the Whipple Triplets were the envy of all on Carlisle campus. The beautiful, wealthy, troubled Kate idolized by scholarship student Aubrey and sensible, steady townie Jenny vowed to be best friends for life. By the end of the year they'd be bound by a tragic secret.

Michele Campbell pulled me in with the "who died" question. The three roommates drew my interest, each having sympathetic qualities, none completely likable. I identified most with Aubrey and Jenny, but felt sorriest for poor little rich girl Kate, the least likable, biggest problem creator. If not for Kate, the entire story wouldn't have happened.

I enjoyed Campbell's writing style, as well as plot and surprising resolution. At times during the investigation I thought the story lagged and lost some pacing, but for the most part IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND was a page turner.

I would have loved part of the epilogue to include the fates of the two living women and their husbands.

IT'S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND would make a great beach read.

It's Always the Husband was a great read with believable twists and turns throughout. It kept me guessing and trying to predict what would happen next. The characters are well developed, making the reader love or hate them, sometimes both. I liked the suspense and the descriptions and highly recommend the book.

"Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny. They first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, even though they are as different as three women can be. Twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge . . and someone else is urging her to jump."

This book continued to give me mixed feelings throughout the entire read. There were parts where I was completely engrossed and yet there were parts where I became bored. I feel like the author did an amazing job when it came to developing the characters. Honestly, I could not stand Kate, Aubrey, or Jenny, but the characters were so perfectly written it was believable. I also really enjoyed the author's take on how close knit small town's are as well as Ivy league schools, it really added to the story.

I must admit throughout the up's and down's of this book I loved the ending. I want to say I knew how it was going to end but I didn't, I kept suspecting different characters and different scenarios while I was reading.

Thank you Netgalley and the publishers for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

It's Always the Husband is an EXCELLENT book. The characters are realistic, some more likable than others, with authentic dialogue. Michelle Campbell is able to write descriptively without being wordy or providing too much information. The story is interesting until the very last page and thoroughly enjoyable!

This was a great book, thoroughly enjoyed it - and did not see what was coming at all! I don't normally read thrillers, but I couldn't put this down. A great story about 3 friends, particularly well written and has converted me to read more of this genre!

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title. Unfortunately, I was not able to finish this book which means I will not be able to review it. I truly appreciate the opportunity and apologize for the inconvenience the lack of review may cause you.

Sorry unable to review as I couldn't finish the book. I didn't enjoy it.

These characters just never got my attention. I couldn't stick with it. Kept asking myself, why?

I didn't really enjoy this book, which was disappointing because it had an interesting premise. I think the undoing for me was how much I didn't like or relate to any of the characters. What's more, is that the characters themselves didn't seem to like each other at all, either.

I came to the conclusion that this must be a case of "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer", because why on earth else would any of these characters stay in touch, let alone remain "friends". I get that the friendships some people make in college can be lifelong, but they don't have to be if they are toxic, fuelled by drugs and basically NOT GOOD FOR YOU. You CAN just walk away, which is how I felt reading this book. But, like the characters, I saw this relationship through to the bitter, unsatisfying end.

It’s Always the Husband
Michele Campbell
St. Martin’s Press, May 2017
ISBN 978-1-250-08180-3
Hardcover

From the publisher—

Kate, Aubrey, and Jenny first met as college roommates and soon became inseparable, despite being as different as three women can be. Kate was beautiful, wild, wealthy, and damaged. Aubrey, on financial aid, came from a broken home, and wanted more than anything to distance herself from her past. And Jenny was a striver―brilliant, ambitious, and determined to succeed. As an unlikely friendship formed, the three of them swore they would always be there for each other.

But twenty years later, one of them is standing at the edge of a bridge, and someone is urging her to jump.

How did it come to this?

Kate married the gorgeous party boy, Aubrey married up, and Jenny married the boy next door. But how can these three women love and hate each other? Can feelings this strong lead to murder? When one of them dies under mysterious circumstances, will everyone assume, as is often the case, that it’s always the husband?

I’m kind of conflicted about this book because, while I think the story of these women’s friendship is interesting, I can’t say I actually liked them or the police chief very much. As college students, they seemed like an oddly matched trio and they aren’t really any more compatible as they get older. It’s all just a little sad in a way and, although it’s true I didn’t connect emotionally with any of the three, I was still compelled to keep reading.

The first section drags a bit or perhaps it would be fairer to say that the pacing is on the slow side, deliberately so, and that makes the contrast with the second section even more noticeable. That second section is when I began to pay attention and wanted to know what would eventually happen but I still couldn’t find much in any of these women to care about. Kate in particular is an enigma or, rather, everyone’s near adoration of her is the enigma as she is one of the most unpleasant, better-than-thou people you can imagine.

An awful event in their younger years cements their connection to each other and that secret from the past has deadly implications in the present. This is the interesting part, getting bits and pieces from earlier years that begin to come together now, but it doesn’t quite make up for my dislike of these people. All in all, this is not a book I was crazy about.

Reviewed by Lelia Taylor, June 2017.

I'm a true crime murder mystery, 48 Hours nut & I know if a woman winds up dead, the investigators look at the husband first. So, Michele Campbell's, It's Always the Husband intrigued me with the title alone.

The start of the book started off pretty strong. We meet the three friends at the prestigious Carlisle college & we start to learn about each of them. I particularly liked Jenny because she was so strong & determined. As we learn more about each girl, we see how deeply flawed each of them are & as a reader, I became less convinced their friendship would remain strong as the story progressed. If they weren't roommates, would have they ever become friends? Likely, the answer is no.

Then the story took a turn & I wasn't ready for it. I was ready for a thriller jumping back and forth between the past & present & instead of filling in the RIGHT NOW (which is what I was dying to hear about) Michele gave us more history on these characters. So much history that I almost quit reading because I wasn't sure the story would pick back up where we left off which is that someone is being coaxed to jump off a bridge. I was patient, as I urge you to be & the story came together incredibly well. I didn't see the ending coming & it left me wanting to talk about it with a fellow reader, which is always a plus for me.

Thank you, Michele Campbell, St. Martin’s Press & NetGalley for providing our copy in exchange for an honest & fair review.

Michelle Campbell's novel, It's Always the Husband is a fascinating look at how class, income, and social status can influence lives. Three college students are put together as roommates at Carlisle, a prestigious Ivy league college in the New England town of Belle River, and remain friends – frenemies throughout their lives. Kate, who is beautiful, rich, narcissistic, and spoiled, is looked up to – almost worshipped - by Aubrey, who is there on a scholarship and is from a poor, broken home; Kate is tolerated by Jenny, who is a local, middle-class girl with plenty of ambition. Kate has no trouble attracting any of the college guys she desires, and she has no qualms about sleeping with them and using drugs and alcohol to excess. When a local boy tries to break up with Kate, a few friends including her roommates, witness her pushing him off a bridge to his death, which is covered up by her powerful, rich father. Later, after they have all married – Kate to a mega-rich member of their college circle of friends, Aubrey to a doctor, and Jenny to a local, Kate continues to influence all of them, especially when she moves back from her trendsetting life in New York to Belle River and is found murdered.

Campbell has done an excellent job in developing her characters; they seem like real people who resemble someone most of us are acquainted with in real life. Their actions seem to fit their different personalities, and the novel has plenty of twists and turns that end up with a surprise dénouement that comes at the very end of the novel. The story illustrates how money and political influence can change lives – not always for the better – and how much influence a narcissist can have on the lives of others.

Parts of the novel are fast-moving, and other parts seem to drag. Most of the characters are actually unlikeable, and readers will be glad that they aren’t in their personal circle of friends. Still, this is an especially good summer read, and has plenty of substance to keep a readers interest.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This one was really just okay for me. It’s about three college room mates who both best friends and their own worst enemies. The girls have their fair share of college days trouble and are generally just a mess. Flawed and dysfunctional is their deal. We follow Kate, Jenny, and Aubrey through college and into adulthood where they remain sort of friends. One of the girls ends up dead and the mystery is exactly how she died and of course, who did it – if anyone.

The story is interesting but it certainly was not an unputdownable read. It was mystery enough though certainly not a thriller. You think you know what’s happening and then the author does a good job of really making you second guess yourself. A bit of a twist in the end but I have to say I was disappointed in the end completely. It was sort of a fast forward a few years and this is what really went down. The whole story was tied up nice and neat in a chapter and I just never like that sort of ending. I like a little mess left over.

My biggest issue with this novel was the characters – pick your stereotypical trope because this one has them all. Rich, beautiful girl with daddy issues even though he swoops in and saves her repeatedly. Girl from the wrong side of town tries to make good. Wealthy jock college boy who parties too hard and has life in the palm of his had. Honestly, the lack of character development and the blatant cliche’s made this novel tough to really get into.

In the end – it wasn’t a terrible read by any means but I don’t think you’ll see it on any lists for best books of the year.

These three girls are a trainwreck and I enjoyed reading every minute of it. I thought the story was really well done and I liked having the multiple points of view throughout. I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Suspenseful and twisty, but sometimes a bit slow. Could not connect with the characters.

I really enjoyed this novel and didn't see the twist coming on the last few pages. Perfect for readers who enjoy light suspense ... nothing that's going to keep you up at night.

So you think you've figured out who committed the murder, then you change your mind, then change your mind again and finally, the murderer is revealed. It's easier to figure out than what I thought, but I didn't (and you probably won't either) since I was too involved in the mystery and read into the details too deeply.
Great first mystery/suspense novel!

Three girls meeting first as college roommates coming from very disparate backgrounds and with equally different personalities. This book follows them through their turbulent college years and relationships both with each other as well as the college men they get involved with. It takes you through a tragedy that will stay with them and the secret they share right through adulthood which has a great impact on each of them and a murder that harkens back to their past. This is a whodunnit with several possible perpetrators each with his/her own motives.