This story puts all other psychological thrillers to shame. The characters are compelling and complex. There are so many intriguing twists to keep the reader on the edge of their seat. Just when you think you have things figured out, the authors pull the rug out from under you. Right up through the last page, this book will shock and grip you. This should be on everyone's must-read list!

Holy twists and turns, Batman! This psychological thriller will keep you on the edge of your seat! Just when you think you’ve discovered the final puzzle piece and everything makes sense, you realize you’ve missed a huge piece completely! The blurb warns us not to make assumptions, but even with the warning, it is impossible to avoid!

So, all is not as it seems. It seems, Vanessa is the ex-wife that was cast aside for the newer, younger model. It seems Nellie is the new and improved wife. It seems Richard it the well to do husband who cast Vanessa aside and upgraded. It seems Vanessa is obsessed and unable to let go. But remember, everything and everyone are not what they seem. Everyone has secrets.

The writing in this book is great and the storyline will keep you guessing. The characters were well developed, and I loved that they were able to surprise me. The dialogue offered a level of realism that continued to hook me. I was unsure on how it would go with two authors, but their writing was seamless.

I’m going to keep this short, because this is a book you want to read without even a hint of spoilers. However, I will say it was well written, well thought out, and very entertaining. If you are looking for a book that will keep you on the edge of your seat guessing and playing detective, this is a great choice.

On a side note, it was also recently announced that this would be made into a movie. I am anxious to see how it compares to the book!

The story draws the reader in from the Prologue and takes them on a journey so full of twists and turns you’re never sure what on earth might be revealed or happen - and that applies all the way through to the Epilogue! It is a psychological thriller, having a series of threads that are so tangled you’ll not sort them out till the very last page and even then you’ll wonder what you’ve missed!

It is a story of double dealing, deception, lies and love . . . . an engaging read to keep you guessing. Told from the alternating points of view of Vanessa Thompson and Emma, the younger woman Vanessa’s ex-husband is planning to marry, it is a story of stalking, manipulations and betrays. The blurb warns you not to make assumptions - and that’s certainly advice I’d give. There are times when the tangles get knotted rather than sorted, and readers may feel like cutting their way through, but persevere to discover even more intrigues and mysteries . . . .Definitely different, it truly lives up to the tagline - 

'A Gripping Psychological Thriller with a Shocking Twist You Won't See Coming'
I requested and received a copy of this novel, via NetGalley. This is my honest review after choosing to read it.

This book is extremely twisty, a true psychological thriller!

I’ve seen this book everywhere and I couldn’t be more excited! I hope that Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen write more, I can only see their books getting better and better!

This story took me quite a while to get into. Part I had a fairly slow pace and I struggled a bit to stay invested. However, as soon as Part II started, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down! The second half of this story completely made up for the slow start. As soon as I thought I knew what was happening, I was wrong. Then I’d feel confident again, and BAM! I was wrong again. I love it when that happens.

This book is the definition of a psychological thriller. The narrator is very unreliable which I loved. It constantly makes you second guess what you think you know. I promise, nothing in this story is as it seems. Full of lies, secrets, manipulation, and betrayal it kept me on my toes.

Seeing this book compared to Gone Girl and The Girl on the Train< makes me so happy. For once, I can see the comparisons. Most of the time I feel like they are just using comparisons to past best sellers to get people to read the book while not actually connecting the plots together. This time, the comparison was dead on.

I am so excited that there is already a movie adaptation in development. Seeing this book come to life on the big screen will be amazing! What’s even better is that they same team that brought us The Girl on the Train will be bringing us this one. It’s already a must see for me!

Grateful to have received an ARC copy from NetGalley and the publisher, St. Martin’s Press, in exchange for an honest review.

This story blew me away!!The beginning was a little bit slow but once something happens everything change!It has many great things this story!One of them were the twists that I enjoyed most of them! This is actually a very simple storyline, you've heard it before. Husband, wife, mistress. What makes the difference is the way this story is told.The biggest enjoyment was trying to fit clues together!If you are looking for a different story this is perfect!

A novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement. You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves. You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.


Assume nothing.



* * * * *



I love to read physiological thrillers even though I am usually able to figure out just what is going on rather quickly. I just enjoy seeing how people's minds can twist and bend their reality. However in THE WIFE BETWEEN US there were so many turns coming out of left field that I wasn't able to peg exactly what was really happening. Heck there were so many twists that I plan on reading this book again hoping that I will be able to pinpoint them since I know the conclusion.


I do have to say that THE WIFE BETWEEN US is one of the best thrillers that I have had a chance to read in a long time. I would recommend it to any of my friends and readers who enjoy books that will keep them glued to the edge of their seats. The fact that this is a debut novel simply blows me away. Get this book! You will not regret it.


*** I received this book at no charge from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed within are my own.

Almost as timeless as the tale of boy meets girl is the tale of boy-leaves-girl-brokenhearted.

That’s just the part they don’t show in the rom-coms. You know, after the credits roll.

Also timeless is the tale of broken-hearted-girl-loses-her-shit-because-we-all-know-a-woman-is-nothing-without-a-man.

Okay, maybe not so much that last one.

I love twisty thrillers, so when this book, touted as the twistiest of twisty thrillers, landed on my (digital) doorstep, I jumped at the opportunity to read it.

The description was exceptionally vague, essentially telling you only two real things:

1. The book will in some way involve a complex marriage and/or divorce
2. EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

I’m down with expect the unexpected, so I rather anxiously, grabbed a glass of red wine, put on my comfy pants and dove in.

What I was hoping for was a truly…well…twisty experience.

I was hoping for plot turns I would never see coming.

Basically, I wanted, a real mind fuck.

Basically, “Gone Girl” but without the slashing NPH’s throat, because that got really fucking real really fucking fast.

So, did I get what I was hoping for?

Yeah, not so much.

By the time I got to chapter three, I was pretty certain that I had figured out “the twist”.

I kept reading, hoping that I would be wrong.

But I wasn’t wrong.

In fairness, as I would come to find, the book was divided into three parts. So while I had accurately forecasted the Part I twist, there were two other parts, each with their own twists.

#ExpectTheUnexpected

And, also in fairness, some of the twists, specifically the last twist, revealed in an epilogue, were actually a bit surprising.

But was it the “You’ll never guess what’s going to happen” thrill ride I’d been promised?

No.

Were it just for the fact that the plot points weren’t quite as surprising as I had hoped, I would probably still rate this a four cocktail read.

I did enjoy my reading of it – especially after a glass or two of pinot noir.

(But I would enjoy reading almost anything after enough pinot)

Unfortunately, my enjoyment was hindered by some relatively serious (IMO) technical issues… most specifically, those pertaining to fertility treatments.

I happen to know a lot about fertility treatments.

Not only am I the mom of a Clomid baby, I also ghostwrite for a giant fertility clinic. So… you know… technical inaccuracies in this area are kinda a thorn in my side.

If you haven’t read this book, and don’t want any plot points given away at all, read no further because discussions of these details could be ever-so-slightly spoilerish.

*Spoiler Alert*

So, when our couple first experiences fertility issues, the reader is told that the advising doctors made the decision to test the sperm first – because that’s less invasive.

So, yeah. That’s not how it works. That’s not how any of this works.

Regardless of the results of a semen analysis, any doctor worth his or her salt would also need a comprehensive picture of the woman’s fertility before developing a treatment plan. Even if the semen analysis showed a male factor issue (ie, his sperm isn’t ideal) if they don’t also assess female fertility, there is nothing to say that there isn’t a female factor as well.

And, also, assessing female fertility just isn’t that fucking “invasive” so let’s stop scaring people, mkay?

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the only fertility-treatment-related issue.

As we proceed further, the writers constantly bring up the ramifications of the protagonist’s ongoing Clomid use (mainly, that she’s gaining some weight – because NOTHING could possibly be worse than gaining 5-10 lbs… SMH. And, also, only 1 in 100 people who use Clomid report noticeable weight gain so, there’s that).

But here’s the thing – Clomid isn’t an ongoing medicine.

You literally take this medicine for five days... That’s it.

Sure, you may have to do a couple of rounds of Clomid before you get pregnant – so you might end up taking it for five days, it doesn’t work, and then THE NEXT MONTH you take it for five more days.

But you would never.

NEVER.

Be taking Clomid on the daily.

Also, slip on some fucking yoga pants and get over yourself with this “weight gain” BS.

And, before I step off the soapbox, there is one more issue.

This one is the MOST SPOILER-Y. So, I warned you.

As we get pretty far into the book we discover that, by some miracle, her husband lied about getting a semen analysis in the first place (as in, he didn’t get one… ever)

So, how exactly did this work?

The fertility doctor would have required a report directly from the lab detailing count, motility and morphology.

It’s not like the husband could just walk in there and be all, “Oh, yeah, Doc… They say my guys are great.” And the doctor would be all, “Oh, okay. I will take this oral confirmation of your fertility as gospel and proceed.”

Give. Me. A. Fucking. Break.

Sure, I can believe our asshole husband, Richard, being the kind of guy who couldn’t own up to issues with his fertility. But I don’t believe that he could have just gotten away with literally not getting a semen analysis.

It’s just not. Fucking. Possible.

Here’s the thing – While these issues might seem—and maybe they are—petty, I find it surprising that, in a book where the inability to conceive a child plays such an essential role, there wasn’t more attention to technical detail.

*End of Spoilers*

All the nitpicking aside, this book was a relatively well-paced thriller with some reasonable surprises. Ultimately, however these issues act as stumbling blocks, slowing my reading and substantially reducing my enjoyment of the book as a whole.

I give it 3 out of 5 cocktails.

Don’t avoid it like the plague, but it’s not one you need to run out and add to your shelf today, IMO.

41 percent in (I read it on Kindle), there was a twist and a huh? moment. This one will grab you and keep you turning pages. No spoilers for you! Vanessa has had a tough go of it, as has Nellie with Richard. Just wait till Emma comes along. And who is Kate? Suffice it to say, well written, deftly plotted and definitely worth a read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Recommend to those who like thrillers and psychological suspense.

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this amazing book!
I loved this book. I never would have guessed it would end the way it did. It is told mostly from the view of Nellie who was recently left by her husband. He has a new girlfriend and it seems like Nellie is trying to protect her from the same abuse she suffered....

The plot was very cleverly crafted. An extremely twisty and unpredictable story. I enjoy psychological suspense .I hated having to put the book down in order to meet requirements in my everyday life.
The setting for this novel is the city of New York. Its bustling, noisy, impersonal background is a great setting for this story about two women whose lives revolve around Richard. There is a twist at the end of the story. I will reread this again to ensure I have understood it correctly.
The story is told mainly from the perspective of Nellie, recently divorced from Richard. She learns that Richard is already engaged to someone else.
Read this with an open mind.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

4.5 stars.

Vanessa is a mess, divorced and living with her very patient aunt. She spirals down when she discovers her ex-husband is about to get married. With the aid of several wine bottles Vanessa knows she must come up with a plan to rescue the new bride from making the same mistakes she has.

Nellie is a sweet innocent preschool teacher on the cusp of marrying the love of her life Richard. She is dazzled by his lifestyle and his sophistication. Richard is handsome, rich and extremely close to his sister.

This is a very original twisted thriller that kept me engaged and enthralled. I admit I had to reread some passages to clarify what I was actually reading!!!!! Also to keep the characters and the timelines clear and to stop my tiny brain from exploding. It is so hard to believe this book is written by two authors. The writing is superb and seamless.

The first half of this book was brilliant. I had a nagging suspicion of what the first “Big Reveal” was going to be, though I was still blindsided. The second half was more subtle yet more fast-paced: the plot was working toward another reveal, but it wasn’t as obvious (at least to me). These are my favorite kinds of books – the ones where I have absolutely no idea where the story is heading. They’re fun because every page is a surprise, every twist and reveal is a shock.

I also enjoy books where the narrator is notoriously unreliable – Vanessa was still in emotional turmoil after her divorce from Richard and reeling from the revelation that he was now engaged to the “other woman.” Her revelations about the past read like a pile of jumbled-up snapshots that were scattered and never returned to chronological order. Even when she relays something about her and Richard’s past, you can’t fully trust her version of the truth.

"In my marriage, there were three truths, three alternate and sometimes competing realities. There was Richard’s truth. There was my truth. And there was the actual truth, which is always the most elusive to recognize. This could be the case in every relationship, that we think we’ve entered into a union with another person when, in fact, we’ve formed a triangle with one point anchored by a silent but all-seeing judge, the arbiter of reality."

Overall, this was a fantastic female-centered story. It was an important story about female relationships: how marriage can change them, how jealousy can fuel them, and how women can either be each other’s best friends or worst enemies. It was also an important story about how love can change a person, for better or for worse.

The writing was phenomenal and kept me guessing up until the last page. Even though there are tropes that feel familiar – the unreliable and jealous ex-wife narrator, the possibly-lying and possibly-manipulative husband, the “other woman” who destroys their seemingly-happy marriage – they feel fresh and new in the hands of co-authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. If you haven’t read this yet, read it. This book isn’t what it seems on the surface. Instead, it’s so much more.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced copy of this eBook in exchange for an honest review.

Nellie found her Prince Charming, and he was great--until he wasn't. Now he has a new fiancee, and she's determined to stop the marriage. The Wife Between Us, by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pakkanen, takes the reader on a few twists and turns in this tale of jealousy, marital hell, and revenge.


Vanessa, who met Richard on a flight and had a story-book romance, wanted to be a good wife, and Richard wanted to be the perfect husband. They both had secrets from their past. Anytime Vanessa's secrets came out, or she didn't live up to Richard's ideals, his controlling, manipulative, and sometimes violent side came out. After they divorced, she becomes determined to stop him from marrying again.


The Wife Between Us features zero likeable characters (except for Vanessa's aunt. She's OK.). This world is populated by people who keep secrets from people they love, make terrible life choices, and see other people as objects useful for their own goals. Richard is, conveniently, a moneybags, but we don't get much insight as to how he got there, other than he's a hedge fund manager. I don't guess it matters, but I'm a little bothered by people in fiction who are tremendously wealthy just for the sake of the story without the story telling us how he got there.


The story is suspenseful, but the suspense is a bit overplayed for the payoff. The back stories are slowly revealed, but, again, by the time I learned about whatever dark secrets the past held, I didn't much care. This is just the kind of story about nasty people and the nasty ways they behave that makes readers thankful that their own world is not full of such nasty people.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complimentary electronic review copy!

I haven’t read a great thriller like this in quite some time! It was not at all the book I thought it would be, due to the many twists and turns. Vanessa is struggling with the knowledge that her ex-husband is getting remarried. But this does not turn into the typical “man leaves woman and woman finds a new life” story. It’s hard to write much more, because I don’t want to inadvertently give away too much! I will recommend clearing your schedule before sitting down to read this book as it’s certainly a page-turner and you will not want to put this down for any reason! It’s a very engrossing story that will suck you in quickly.

Two authors wrote this book, and I must say, they did a phenomenal job. I’m not a big fan of co-authored books, but these two work together so cohesively that you’d never realize there was more than one person writing.

This book right here!!! OMG....what a ride. From page one I was pulled into the story of Vanessa,divorced from Richard and having a hard time with it. Enter the new fiancee, Nellie. Vanessa is having a hard time accepting her "replacement". What follows will have you not being able to put this book down. The twists and turns were great!!! Who do you believe? You have to read this book and judge for yourself. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

HAPPY BOOK RELEASE DAY!!!!!!

PHEW.

That was one wild ride.

I give this a STRONG and hearty 4 to 4.5 stars. The only reason I don't give it a 5 is because I am not sure if I would read it again.

The Wife Between Us is a novel of suspense that explores the complexities of marriage and the dangerous truths we ignore in the name of love.
When you read this book, you will make many assumptions. ( GUILTY )
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement. ( GUILTY )
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves. ( GUILTY )
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her. ( NOT GUILTY )
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships. ( GUILTY )
Assume nothing. ( ACCURATE )

I don't want to give anything away, because I want everyone to read this. All I can say is, assume nothing. You will. But try not to. Cause believe you me, even if you think you have it figured out, you don't.

The writing was brilliant.

The story was fascinating.

Literally one of the best psychological thrillers I have ever read, along the lines of Gone Girl and Girl on the Train.

All I can say about this is I literally had one of these moments while reading:

(WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!?!)

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for granting me an eARC of this book. I can't wait to force everyone to read this.

(Fully formatted review available at Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2050996789 )

3.5 Stars. It's best to avoid reading anything about this book. It's extremely easy to unintentionally slip into spoiler territory. A blank slate is best!

The chapters alternate between a man’s ex-wife and his new fiancée. When his ex-wife finds out he's engaged, she decides she must stop the wedding from happening. My immediate thoughts during the first few chapters:
The man: Walking red flag!
The fiancée: Sweet, but naive. She's jumpy and the harassing phone calls she's been receiving aren't helping.
The ex-wife: *groan* Another suspense novel about a heavy drinker obsessed with a past relationship?
It's a slow-starter that took me two attempts to finish, but once I finally reached "Part Two" it became an exhilarating read! My preliminary review went out the window when suddenly my every thought became a spoiler, even though I hadn't actually predicted any of the upcoming twist-and-turns!

This story deals with the imperfection of our perceptions and the incomplete pictures of ourselves we present to others. We see what we want to see and we present ourselves the way we want to be perceived. Sometimes the signs of what's ahead are there all along, but we aren't ready or willing to see them. Things that look obvious at a distance aren't always so clear up close and it can be easier to focus on the details rather than deal with the whole messy picture. Romantic love can further cloud perceptions by softening our critical impulses and compelling us to disregard inconvenient details. Even our own bodies can betray us by making it easy to conflate romantic arousal and fear.

The most compelling part of this story was (potential spoiler removed; can be seen @ Goodreads)

Part of the fun of this book was that at the same time these women are trying to sort their lives out, the authors also want the reader to confront their own blind spots and biases. In terms of enjoyable mystery/suspense/thriller stories, I'd place it in the Clare Mackintosh (I Let You Go) grouping rather than the Gillian Flynn/Tana French category. I'm rounding up to four stars because I really liked the execution of the story. It reminded me of a faster-paced thriller (potential spoiler removed; can be seen @ Goodreads) that most everyone has read, but it's different enough to stand out on its own. I really appreciate a moment that makes me gasp and go reread sections (more than once in this case). I think this book is worth the read just to talk about it with everyone else!

This book is eerie. I struggled to come up with the right word. But eerie seems the best way to describe this tale of new and old lives interconnecting. 

Vanessa and Richard were once married; living their happily ever after in a nice home, surrounded by their wealthy friends and fancy things. But then, Richard meets "the replacement" and everything changes for Vanessa. 

Vanessa's character broke my heart. I would feel like I hated her, then could sort of understand her, and I'd move onto annoyance with her behavior and then I'd go back to heartbreak. The authors captured her despair, abandonment, and chaos exquisitely.

Nellie is the soon-to-be new wife to Richard. Nellie is cookie-cutter. She's this sweet young woman, who teaches preschool, waitresses at night, and somehow manages to find "the one" in Richard. He never wants to talk about his ex and Nellie never pries. She has her own issues that she isn't sharing either.

One thing about this story is that it moves slowly. This isn't a fast-paced action thriller. It  sort of carries on, as if it's on a nice Sunday stroll.  It just is. I think that fact is what lulls the reader into comfort. You think you're reading about these two women, and their lives. The thrill in this story is how normal it seems. Men and women get married and divorced all the time. Relationships break apart. It could happen to anyone. 

Another thing that I didn't like initially but started to appreciate the more I thought on it is this book has several twists and turns. I figured out one but because this story is so dynamic, figuring out one of the twists didn't ruin the whole story. You can understand one portion of the puzzle but you still don't see everything. 

This book is reminiscent of "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train". If you enjoyed either of those stories, you will enjoy this one. I've heard a lot of buzz that this book is also being turned into a movie, and I'm not surprised to hear that at all. This book is dynamic, terrifying, and downright eerie. Readers will not be disappointed.

The Wife Between Us is a wonderfully crafted maze of intricate relationships and fast-paced events which all come together in a satisfying conclusion. Every character is complex and unpredictable, while every twist and turn is completely unforeseen. I could not put this book down. Highly recommended. Thanks to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5/4 stars

Okay, so I know this one was described as a suspense/thriller type of read, but I wouldn't call it that at all. It wasn't "thrilling" so much as an interesting mystery that had a few plot twists that made me go whaaaaaaaat? So, yes, I quite enjoyed this one... but I don't think anyone should go into this expecting a thrilling-roller-coaster-ride type of story. I believe with those expectations, they may be disappointed. The twists and turns definitely kept me guessing, and I personally really liked the ending and how it basically threw me for a loop. This was a good story that kept my interest, despite not having a ton of "OMG!!" moments. I great weekend read for sure.