This book is about a family that experiences a great loss. The mother/wife has a secret and it's about to change their lives forever.
This isn't a bad book but it's not a great book either. It's categorized as a psychological thriller but there's nothing psychological nor thrilling about the story. It's more a drama with a mild thrill. The author could have dived into the badie's background and given us a look into his psychological deficiencies. Instead this reads like every other drama/thriller out there - it's not very memorable; I will forget this book in a few days.
None of the characters are really very likable and as such I don't really care what happens to any of them. Also, they are not very fleshed out characters.

It was a good story but not great. The editing was just horrid. Did anyone check this over? Why did Justin's name change halfway thru the book? So much was not needed. I wanted it to be good i really did. It was too easy to figure out but also hard to put down.

With thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for this ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

I first discovered Sheryl Browne after reading The Babysitter earlier this year. When I discovered Bookoutre was due to release The Affair I was excited to get my hands on it.

On a balcony a person stares the fifteen floors down to the pavement, they have total control over their victim. The person contemplates what the victims death will be like as they plunge to the ground.....

Alicia was happily married to Justin a hospital consultant, they had two children fifteen year old Sophie and six month old Lucas. When Alicia`s car broke down , Justin offered to drive Alicia, Sophie and baby Lucas to school and work. On the way a car drove into them with devastating results.

Shortly after the crash Paul Radley a work colleague who Alicia had an affair with sixteen years came to the house. Paul has returned to the UK after working in Dubai and wanted to start the affair again. Alicia`s affair with Paul had been a mistake and was desperate for Justin to never find out. When Alicia`s sister Cassie tells Justin the truth the already traumatized family shatters into tiny pieces.

First of all well done to Bookoutre for the eye-catching front cover.

The first part of this book shocked me to the core, I was not expecting that. The aftermath after the crash felt so real and left me in tears.

After that the story went went at a fast paced with plenty of twists and turns. The story was told from the POV of Alicia, Justin and Sophie. I really enjoyed the characters in this book. Justin a doctor instilled to do no harm who easily slipped into violence to protect his family. I initially disliked Alicia until she explained her affair and I completely changed my mind. But my heart went out to poor Sophie who overheard something she shouldn't, putting her self in danger.

My only criticism Is I felt like there were gaps in the story that needed explaining. The murder of Paul`s family years earlier was glossed over, but I wanted to know if the killer had been arrested. I was also interested in Cassie and wanted to know if she was helping Paul or just using the situation to her advantage.

I still enjoyed this book but it stopped it being a five star read. I look forward to Sheryl`s next book.

Firstly, thank you for giving me the opportunity to review this title. This is the first book I have read from Sheryl Browne. I thought it was going to be quite mundane, even with the psychological twist you wouldn’t see coming. I was very wrong. I couldn’t put this book down! I love the startle of writing, with each character having their own chapter, and I really didn’t see the twists coming, believe me, there is more than one!! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and will be adding The Babysitter to my reading list

My first read from this author and for the most part I really enjoyed this book!

I had heard a lot of wonderful reviews on this book with plenty of twists but for me I saw them coming and picked them all. That being said, this book captured me from the very start and had a very easy to follow storyline with likeable (and some not so likeable) characters. I’m a very fussy reader who often gets bored with books in the middle however this book never bored me and kept me happily flipping the pages.

A massive thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. I look forward to reading Sheryl’s next book, The Babysitter.

The best psychological thrillers are the ones in which you believe you know everything, but in the end you realize you knew nothing.
This is in short, the plot of The Affair. You may think it's about a struggling marriage, a wife who is keeping secrets and a possible affair from her husband.
Think again. Because Browne takes you on a whooping insanely well-written roller coaster where the truth is far more shocking than you could ever have imagined.

Wow what a rollercoaster of a ride! I was hooked from the first chapter and thoroughly enjoyed every page!

This was a great psychological thriller that will keep you guessing through the whole book! It was quite enjoyable!!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

I had heard this was a gripping read and they weren’t wrong! This was an unputdownable book! I found from the start it was full of suspense especially with the sensitive themes it covers at the beginning. Browne executed the storyline brilliantly which certainly keeps you captivated from the start and throughout with various lines of suspicion.

Great gripping read!

A slow read to start with, it did pick up enough for me to finish it and I did read it fairly quickly.

I didn't like the naïve characters and how unrealistic it was in places.

The characters cried a lot and I found myself frustrated as the book repeated itself.

I also predicted all the twists. The ending was average.

This was not a gripping read as the front cover suggests.

Excellent loved loved loved it!! Couldn't put this one down. Keep me Intrigued all the way till the end. Will be looking for more from this author for sure. 4.5 stars

First I would like to say that I believe this book was not about an affair, but about lies and deception. The truth being withheld and the consequences that came later as a result of those lies. I felt the story was very easy to figure out but it was intriguing enough to keep me wanting to read it. The characters were mostly all likable and there weren't too many too get confused. I enjoyed the story but I've read better. I give it 3 1/2 ☆☆☆

Absolutely outstanding. She hasn’t been truthful but no wonder. Such tradegy as a result . Characters well
Written

Unfortunately I didn't enjoy this book as much as I was hoping - whilst the different narratives felt fresh the story itself wasn't new or had a particularly strong angle, and I did feel like 'id read it before'

It would be a good holiday read - I didn't feel too much of the thriller aspect from the blub.

What happens when in a weak moment of your marriage, you let another person into your life? It can be exactly what you need, to de-stress from the mess your life is in. But, it can also be an inadvertent mistake wherein you run the risk of making your life a living hell. It takes one bad decision to cause a catastrophic outcome in your life and it makes you wonder who you can and can’t trust.

When Alicia’s past, Paul, walks into their lives, she knows that this was not a chance meeting. Her biggest mistake was her decision to keep secrets. In the process, she trusted the wrong people leading to the most devastating event in her life.
One accident that rocks her world – and shakes her family to the core.
Who is to blame? Alicia? Her husband, Justin, who was driving without having slept a wink in 36 hours, or is it the reckless driver who has disappeared without a trace?

Told from different point of views: Justin, Alicia, and their teenage daughter, Sophie; this book deals with the complexities of a post-traumatic relationship which is at its fragile worst. Even as Alicia and Justin question themselves about everything leading up to the accident, the disturbing secret, which Alicia has been hiding for so-many-years, is revealed.
And then, to make matters worse, Sophie goes missing – and she’s gone without a trace.

Will the grieving parents be able to put their differences behind and help find their daughter? Or is it too late to salvage the normalcy of a family?
I didn’t relate to Alicia - I found her to be indecisive, weak and perhaps a little stupid. I also felt like shaking some sense into Sophie – the teenage rebellion is captured beautifully, and you only feel frustrated with her for not seeing things as they are, when things seem to be glaringly evident. Last, but not the least, you cannot help but feel for Justin, who despite his immense pain tries to ensure his family gets through the crisis.

PS – This is NOT a psychological thriller as the blurb claims it to be. It is more of a family drama.
PPS – If you want to have an affair, make sure you choose your partner wisely!

Enjoyed this book, wasn’t the best I’ve read but good story line. Fits in with everyday life and the real world full of trials and tribulations.

Fantastic read, hooked from the start! I will be looking for others by this author now. I thought I guessed the end then changed my mind , well written and was well read by me!

Alicia is married to Justin, a doctor, and has an older daughter Sophie and baby Lucas. Alicia has been keeping a secret for a number of years and when an old colleague returns her life, and the lives of her family, are turned upside down. A car accident leaves the family devastated and when Justin finds out about her affair he questions the paternity of the children. Alicia is full of guilt and regret and struggles even more when Sophie disappears. The Affair is a very emotional read about the lies, secrets and deceptions that leaves a family reeling. It has a tense, well written plot with plenty of twists and turns and a book that I couldn’t put down. A must read!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

The Affair by Sheryl Browne had me gripped from the very start. There was just so much suspense in the story from the beginning that I was impatient for things to get better for the Cole family! The story revolves around how a family suffers the consequences of a long buried secret.

I think the main reason I enjoyed reading it was how connected I felt to the characters. They were relatable, especially the daughter Sophie who I quite related to. I rushed through the book in under a day hoping that they'd all make it out the other end alright.

As far as the writing is concerned, the book does start out slow and steady but the pace eventually builds up until the climax! And boy was it a great ending!

I’m afraid I found this quite hard going.

It starts very emotionally, with a terrible accident which devastates a family, and this is definitely a tear jerker which engages the reader’s emotions. After that, though, things just seemed to go round in circles for ages (there’s a lot of “who said what to who about what”) and I never really managed to engage with the story, to the extent that a couple of days after finishing it, I find it quite hard to say what it was actually about.

Well, there’s a family (Justin, Alicia, teenage daughter Sophie and baby Luke) whose lives are about to be torn apart due to an “affair” Alicia had in the past. There’s Alicia’s sister who kind of has a role and there’s a very villainous villain. None of the characters really came together for me though - Justin was probably the most fully realised and much of the story is from his viewpoint, but Alicia and her sister Jessica never emerged for me much and there’s little explanation as to why the villain is the way he is. (I don’t need a full psychological evaluation but a little backstory would be nice.) And I’m still not sure what Justin’s tragic past has to do with anything.

Plot wise, a few things jarred. I’d hope the police would take the disappearance of a vulnerable fifteen year old girl a little more seriously than they seem to do here - I’m pretty sure they would at least want to establish she was safe. And it annoyed me that Alicia worried about “custody” and “access rights” - terminology which is now very outdated, and yes your average person might not know that, but... Alicia is a children and families social worker! (And should also know that at the age of fifteen, a child might also be expected to have some say in the matter.)

I couldn’t be more fed up of books being marketed as Gripping Psychological Thrillers with Shocking Twists. I don’t necessarily need a Shocking Twist in everything I read, I just need a good story. And in this case I’m not even sure what the shocking twist was supposed to be - nothing happened that was hugely surprising.

The Affair has a lot of good reviews so clearly many people enjoyed it, but I’m afraid it wasn’t for me.