THE OTHER WOMAN by Sandie Jones
Emily met the man of her dreams , there is just one problem. ..another woman in his life .
When I look for good books, one of the things I look for is uniqueness, or the authors ability to surprise me. I have to say not only did the author keep me hooked through the story , (I read it in 2 days) but she kept surprising me especially at the end. Yea...this is a very good book..I loved it. I think you will too!

If subtlety were water, this book would be Mars.

This is happening more and more with these "twist ending" books, and it's frustrating. Because I am really beginning to enjoy psychological thrillers, and the ones that have been pushed down the assembly line are all trying way too hard.

Emily is a no-nonsense kind of woman. She's the top sales person at her job, which she'll proudly tell you. She's not afraid to slap down a misogynist, or stand wherever the hell she wants in a bar, ability of waitstaff to do their job not withstanding. She's a strong, independent woman who don't need a man. And when she's with her family, they are sooooooo hilarious, she'll make sure to tell you that in case you didn't see that in the snappy dialogue.

Emily meets Adam, the perfect man who she mentally undresses within minutes of meeting him, and finds him acceptable. They begin to date. She's upset that, a month in, he doesn't answer "RIGHT AWAY" to questions regarding them getting married, and the fact that he hasn't introduced her to his mother.

His mother shows her pictures of Adam as a child, and tears up talking about her late husband.

The feathered hairstyle, cut close around her face and neck, with its en vogue streaks of gray, so evenly distributed that it could only have been done in a salon, could never disguise her pain.



Yeah, that's what we're dealing with here.

But wait, no, she's not a delicate flower. She's actually a PSYCHOPATH out to RUIN Emily's happy life. And we spend the entire book seeing just how mustache twirling and mwa ha ha'ing Pammie (PAMMIE) will do to break up Emily and Adam.

Seriously, I can't. This was so bad. The clunky plotting is bad enough, but this dialogue, holy shit.

"I assume you mean my love life. Isn't that the only thing girls really want to know about?"

I lifted my shoulders and wrinkled my nose. "That obvious, eh?"

Um, ew?

And then we get to the last 1/4 of the book, and Adam's personality (what there was of it) is flipped. Or more accurately, Emily finally reacts to what we've all been reading for 300 pages. And then we get to the end, which literally makes no sense. None. There is so much that doesn't make sense, because a part of me suspected this is what we were heading toward. And actually, it could've been really good, the path we were taking.

But it is so freaking clunky. This book went over like a lead balloon, and I can't even put into words the multitude of problems. No. Just no. This is not the next Gone Girl, guys.

This one was interesting, and there were quite a few twists; but, I found it a bit too predictable. Pammie was definitely a dynamic character, but I found the other characters a bit dull.

A strong psychological thriller. Jones knows how to write characters that get the reader emotionally involved, whether that’s loving a character or hating a character or being pushed to frustration by them. This is a read for fans of psychological thrillers, fast paced, un-put-down-able reads.

This book is a really good read. I enjoyed it immensely. I would not call it a mystery though. It is a contemporary family drama. I don't want to say anymore because i do not want to give away the twist. I could not put it down.

I thought the synopsis of The Other Woman sounded kind of like a Lifetime movie and I was expecting a really fun, guilty-pleasure type of read. Unfortunately, it fell short of my expectations.

I was really looking forward to seeing what a psycho Pammie would be. Even her name is perfect for the frustrating, overbearing mother-in-law. While she definitely did some underhanded things, she just never got as over-the-top as I wanted her to be. I think for this type of book you really have to go big and it never really got there for me.

I also found Emily, the main character, to be exasperating. She was one of those characters that just always made the wrong choice. She was also pretty spineless. She rarely stood up for herself and when she did she went about it in the wrong way. There were so many times I just wanted to slap her and tell her just to be HONEST and maybe she wouldn’t have all these problems. In addition to not liking Emily, I really didn’t like Adam. I expected him to be a sweet, yet clueless mama’s boy, however he was actually just not a very nice person. I thought he could be abusive and controlling and there were definite red flags – besides Pammie – that Emily just ignored. Their relationship was far more frustrating to me than Emily’s relationship with Pammie.

There was a bit of a twist at the ending, but I wasn’t really a fan of it. It was something I had begun to suspect, so it wasn’t very surprising. I also thought the epilogue left a lot to be desired. I didn’t really see the point in it.

Overall, I found The Other Woman to be underwhelming. I really liked the idea of it, but it just never lived up to my expectations. I thought it was pretty slow-paced and drawn out and Pammie never got as crazy as I wanted her to be. My biggest complaint, though, is with Emily’s character. If she could have been just a little less annoying I think I would’ve enjoyed the book a lot more. However, almost every other review I’ve read of this has been very positive, so it might be worth checking out.

Overall Rating (out of 5): 2 Stars

Emily and Adam have the perfect relationship and can't wait to be married. There is only one roadblock: his mom, Pammie. Pammie keeps doing things to undermine their relationship, to give Emily doubts, and make her feel as if she is going crazy. Adam is turning a blind eye towards it all, so Emily is left to deal with it all on her own.

This book started out a little tame at first, but it quickly got insane. The lengths Pammie went to were horrifying, and I wanted to shake Emily for staying in the relationship, and knock some sense into Adam. I was utterly shocked at the way it ended. If you love a good psychological thriller, then this is the perfect book for you.

Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.

I don't know where I fall on this one but I'm going to have to round up to 3.5 stars. The antagonist is a woman that you love to hate, The Mother of all mothers-in-law. She is decidedly twisted and inserts herself in the middle of her son's new relationship. The protagonist, Emily, is a strong independent woman but can't seem to stand up to her boyfriend or his whacky mother. As the relationship progresses and marriage is on the horizon things deteriorate at a quick pace. I have to admit that I stayed up late to finish, hoping that mommy dearest would get hers in the end. However, the author throws in a plot twist that requires a stretch of the imagination. I think that readers of chick lit/psychological thrillers will enjoy this one.

Emily and Adam meet at a bar and just have that spark. Everything seems to be going well until she meets his mother, Pammie. She is all your worth mother in law nightmares, in one. You will probably spend most of this book wondering why she puts up with Pammie and Adam’s lack of support. I know I did. I would have left that mess a long time ago.

I had some issues with Emily as a character. I tend to be more drawn to strong female characters. Regardless, it was a fun and light read. I read it quickly and was engaged most of the book, wondering what was going to happen next. Check this out if you’re looking for a thriller that’s perfect for the beach.

This is the best book I've read this summer - hands down. It's well written, flows well & the characters are relatable and likeable. Thank you Sandie Jones!!

Emily and Adam fall in love hard and fast. As the are preparing for their upcoming wedding, Adam's mother is driving Emily crazy and Adam is blind to it, resulting in issues for the young couple.

Do yourself a favor and read this book to find out what happens. It's a easy, quick read that I just couldn't put down. I look forward to more from Sandie Jones.

Thank you to #netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of #TheOtherWoman in exchange for an honest review.

You’re young, you’re happy, you think your guy is just perfect….then you meet his mother….a woman who appears to be just a little too involved in her son’s life. (Jessica Lange in HUSH and Angela Lansbury in MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE come to mind).

Adam Banks is the perfect man except for his tendency to ignore or resent anything negative said about his perfect mother, Pammi. Emily Havistock is a twenty something and relatively successful in her career of choice when she meets Adam and falls head over heels for this very secretive guy. It’s a plus that he’s a great lover who has the ability to turn her to “mush” every time their bodies meet so she ignores every warning, including those from her friends Pippa and Seb, and continues down the road to what she sees as “happily ever after” but, of course, Pammi has other plans.

Author Sandie Jones draws you into this tangled web of a page turner with some unpredictable twists that imbue the narrative with enough suspense to keep you questioning the identity of the true villain of the piece.

This book was great! You will not regret the purchase for this novel. It had a very unexpected twist of events that made it even better than I had anticipated it being when I was 3/4 of the way into the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced readers copy of this book in turn for an honest review. #goodreads #netgalley

The Other Woman is a fine debut with an intriguing plot, maddening characters, and a shocking twist!

Emily believes Adam is the man she's meant to spend her life with, but Pammie- Adam's mother- doesn't agree.

These characters made me want to pull my hair out multiple times. Pammie was easy to hate. The future mother in law intent on ruining her son's relationship... But the only one witnessing her interference and nasty ways, is Emily. To everyone else, Pammie is a sweet, gentle and kind woman. There's no way she's capable of the things Emily accuses her of...
I kid you not, if I had been Emily, I'd have hit the road so fast if I had to deal with a MIL like Pammie. So often I asked myself why the heck this woman stayed! Are you really willing to live your life with a woman like that and a man who's such a mamma's boy it's a miracle he doesn't still live at home?!?

As the story unfolds there's drama, finger-pointing and of course, the blame game. The tension is high and a big twist along with a few secrets are revealed by the characters, completely throwing the ending in a direction I wasn't expecting!

If you're looking for a unique spin on the domestic thriller, add this one to your list.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and Minotaur Press for a copy of The Other Woman in exchange for an honest review.
I love a good gaslighting story and this was very well done! I could not put it down and was completely shocked.
Adam and Emily meet in a bar and fall in love quickly. When Adam brings Emily home to meet his mother, Pammie, she realizes something may off with her. Pammie does not want her around but how far will she go?
The Other Woman made me happy to have the mother in law that I do!! The plot and the things Pammie did to poor Emily, was all too possible which for me is the marking of a good psychological suspense. You will not want to put it down!!
Publishing August 21, 2018.

The story starts out simple enough. Emily is in love with Adam. He’s the perfect man for her. And Adam loves Emily. They have one little problem though. Adam’s mother, Pammie, is very protective of her son, to the point of being dangerously possessive. She doesn’t want another woman coming between her and her son. And Pammie will do anything to make sure Adam doesn’t leave her. Ever.
I couldn’t put this book down! This is Sandie Jones’s first novel and she shows tremendous talent. She deftly escalates suspense throughout the book and you’re never quite sure just how far Adam’s mother will go until the very explosive ending. Highly recommended!

7 hours later. Still not over it.

I don't often read thriller novels, and this is just a personal PSA for me to do it more often. This was top-notch. I found the beginning to be a little slow, with a bit too much look-back-into-the-past moments, but once the "Other Woman" came in ... HOT DOG! I'm in!

The ending though. Happy and disturbed to say I did not see that coming at all. The whole time Jones had me pegging for something and I was shook when the ending transpired. I mean, hot damn. In case you haven't noticed, I'm struggling with my words here because it's so hard to describe how wowed I am. Throughout, I found certain characters to be kind of boorish or silly, but once you got to the end, so much made sense!

Easy 5/5

I won this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you NetGalley! I had seen SO many people posting about this book on various Facebook groups and on several websites. I couldn't wait to dive into it! I think that the author does a great job of building characters - she REALLY made me dislike people in this story! I will leave it at that as to not spoil anything for anyone! This is a great, quick read and there are a lot of twists and turns that I did NOT see coming. I kept finding myself thinking, wait, I thought....? I love that in a book! I would definitely recommend this to others!

3.5 Stars

I'm in the minority with my thoughts of The Other Woman, but this just didn't work for me or live up to all the hype. I don't think this book fits the description of an "addictive, fast-paced psychological thriller", but it was more of a domestic, contemporary drama type book so once again, it is a book marketed to be something that it is not, which seems to be happening more frequently. In my opinion, there wasn't any suspense until the very end and that still felt more like tense-filled domestic drama. Honestly, The Other Woman reminded me a bit of The Girlfriend published in January also as a psychological thriller when it was nothing more than a suspenseful family drama, which was my issue then as well. I guess I expect a psychological thriller to actually thrill me!

I had a very hard time connecting with the story, and I had to make myself keep reading after the first couple of chapters, which I'm glad that I did because the novel did get better. However, I didn't like any of the characters, which isn't a bad thing. I've read plenty of books with characters that I've hated and still loved the book. Yet, in this case, I couldn't muster any sympathy for Emily, the main character when her new boyfriend's mother was being evil and blatantly trying to destroy their relationship and she just decides to stay with Adam and put up with it.

While reading, I kept thinking that no man was worth being treated like garbage by a soon to be mother-in-law, especially when the man she was about to marry was a) no real prize except in the looks department and b) refused to see what was going on or stand up to his mother when he was told what she was doing! Oh, no! I would never marry a man who let his mother treat me like a dog! So I had a problem with Emily's needy act. I'm tired of reading books about helpless females fighting over a man. It's the 21st century, seriously! I just wanted to yell at Emily and tell her to RUN AWAY!!

Pammie was the only character that I did like....to hate. She was just awful, and Jones did an excellent job making her diabolical. I'm glad that I don't have a mother-in-law like her.

For a debut, Jones writing is solid, flows well, and she is hugely talented. I do look forward to reading more from her in the future, For me, I guess the problem  is that not only is the evil mother in law trope overdone, but I just am tired of the helpless female act because that is what Emily is or she not only wouldn't have let Pammie or Adam push her around because  honestly it was simply abuse letting them both emotionally and verbally continue to attack her, and that is something that I just don't enjoy reading about.

In all honesty, I would have rated the book 3 stars BUT Jones did manage to pull off the mother of all endings (this must be the season of books to end with an unexpected bang), so I gave it an extra half a star! I only saw this one coming at the very end because all Pammie's lies and deceits had thrown things off a bit. I had an inkling that something was way off but I was still blown away by the shocking ending. Just wow! Now that is what I call thrills, and too bad the entire book was not like that or it would have been a 4 star or more read for me!

Since I seem to be in the minority with my rating, I still highly encourage you to pick this one up. It is a fast read, and I did enjoy it even if it wasn't the psychological thriller that I expected based on the synopsis but was just domestic, soapy drama. I do think a lot of people are going to love this one, so I encourage you to read it for yourself and expect to be shocked by the stunning ending!!

**Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC to read in exchange for my fair and honest review. **

Can't say too much about this one without spoiling it. I will say that it sucks you in and is a very fast read. It was a little frustrating as I didn't feel like any of the main characters were worth rooting for but I was racing to see how it ended. 3.5 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

I don’t have an evil step-mother, I have an evil mother-in-law.

Can Pammie really act the way she does and lie about it all without her sons seeing she is trying to thwart their relationships?

Adam and Emily seemed perfect together except for his mother’s interference. Adam sided with his mother and totally ignored what his mother was doing. And...what she was doing was trying to make Emily take the blame for everything that she was conniving and lying about.

What hold does Pammie have over Adam that keeps him from seeing what his mother is really doing?

THE OTHER WOMAN has characters that you will hate as well characters that will have you wanting to say wake up.

I wanted to jump into the book and tell Emily that she needed to move on and get away from Adam and the Banks family.

THE OTHER WOMAN definitely kept my interest, but it also kept my blood pressure up.

The stress Emily was under kept the book moving, but also felt unreal.

The author's writing style didn't leave you wanting anything but to continue reading so you could find out what was going on.

Then we have the ending...surprising and unexpected.

If you haven’t met Pammie and the Banks Family, you will want to. 5/5

This book was given to me as an ARC. All opinions are my own.