Member Reviews

Faye Townsend has sorted a birthday surprise for her husband. A lovely trip to his childhood home town with their son as well as his his sister, husband and kids. Why isn’t Jake more excited by the trip? Faye encourages him to take their son Dylan on a trip out but they never return. What follows is a nightmare for Faye as the police and community try to find them.
I loved this book and how the story unfolded. A new Shalini Boland will always be a must have purchase.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheMarriageBetrayal #NetGalley

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A fast paced thriller with great twists that kept me turning the pages! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advanced reading copy.

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Lots of twists and turns in this one. You may think your friends have the perfect marriage but really its full of secrets. It started off with a bang and had you guessing. I love it when you dont know whats going on until the end. Highly recommend.

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I enjoyed reading The Marriage Betrayal. The plot of the book had me hooked. Despite this, I would have been more invested in the novel had I known more about the background of Faye and Jake’s relationship before jumping straight into the holiday where Dylan goes missing.

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Ms Boland is now one of my favourite authors. This was such a brilliant, twisty story that kept me guessing and turning the pages. Fans of this type of psychological drama will love it! I'm looking forward to reading any new books from this author and catching up on any I've missed. Loved it!

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This book was very well written. Nice and easy to read and flowed well. Had me on the edge of my seat. Wondering which way it was going to go. Great mystery can’t beat it.

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What I love most amount Shalini Boland’s novels is her ability to make the smallest of situations, incredibly intense. Not that I’m saying that ‘The Marriage Betrayal’ was centred around something small, because it wasn’t. What I am saying is that Boland is the type of author who, if she were in sales, would be the type to sell ice to an eskimo. It’s an incredible talent, that’s for sure.

So yeah, the suspense behind the storyline did not falter one iota. It was very difficult to read at times, what with the focus being on a disappearing child and as a parent myself, things like that make my nerves stand to attention. That said, the event was delivered realistically to the point it took my breath away. Everything was just so vivid as though I could step into the book and find myself face to face with the characters.

I thought the psychological nature of the book was twisted yet wowza! It certainly had me hooked as I was so eager to find out the truth.

A dark, sinister and highly addictive read from the queen of suspense herself. Loved it? You bet!

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I love a good mystery, but they sadly seem to be in short supply lately. Fortunately, that all changed with the marriage betrayal, which was completely engaging from start to finish!

I've somehow never read anything by Boland before, but I've been reliably informed that this is something I should change, and reading this has shown me how right they are. The twists are truly shocking, the characters are fantastically well fleshed out and the mystery element of it has a truly satisfying, if wrapped up a little quickly.

I would recommend it to anyone who's a fan of a good thriller, and can't wait to have a look through her backlist!

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As always another fantastic book from Shalani Boland, with this author you can always guarantee a page turner with a surprising twist and this book is no different.

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Looks can be deceiving...

This psychological thriller surprised me! It's not often that I don't have the whole plot sussed out after the first couple of chapters. I can usually anticipate the twists especially when warned that one is imminent (e.g. With the tagline on the cover "brilliant twist"). Shalini, you got me this time!

What it's about: Faye Townsend plans a seaside trip to Swanage for the family as a birthday surprise for her husband, Jake. Her brother-and sister-in-law, Tom and Lainy are also along. Included are the children, Faye's 7-year-old son Dylan and Tom and Lainy's girls, Annabel and Poppy. The location has been selected specifically because Jake and Lainy grew up in Swanage and Faye thinks they will enjoy a return. The first hint that this vacation isn't going to be so great is when they arrive at the run down Gothic Victorian that's meant to be their lodgings. Still, they initially try to make the best of it with outings to the beach and an art gallery. It becomes obvious that neither Jake nor Lainy are enjoying their homecoming and they decide to leave early. Jake wants to take Dylan on one last activity, dolphin watching, and they intend to take off back to London after. Well, Jake and Dylan never come home. The police are alerted, searching begins, and Faye and her in-laws are frantic with worry. What in the world has happened to them and where are they? NO SPOILERS

Why you should read it: it's great domestic drama with a true surprise. You will have to wade through a lot of angst because emotions are high and that's my least favorite prose to read, but other than that, it was fast forward movement of the narrative and quite entertaining as I jumped to one conclusion after another. I did appreciate the character development and the shift in time perspective in the voices of Faye and Lainy. It's a fun, quick read that I devoured in a couple of hours.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-book ARC to read and review.

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Boland does it again and again and again! Like all Boland’s books this one was completely engaging from page one until the very last page. I truly think that she has the psychological thrilling writing down to a T, as she knows how much suspense, shocks, twists, and chills to add, with enough thrills and disturbing themes to keep the reader engaged and enjoying! Must read for both thriller and Boland fans! Does not disappoint!
Will recommend in the pub!

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The Marriage Betrayal started from the start had me hooked! When Faye, her husband Jake and son Dylan together with Lainey (Jake’s sister), husband and their two daughters go on holiday it is meant to be a surprise stay in Jake and Lainey’s old home town by the sea. The atmosphere of the housing rental, the not so successful time they have there and then the sudden disappearance of Jake and Dylan had me turning pages. What happened! A subsequent break in left me wondering how all this was connected. The conclusion was a bit quick I would have liked to see the story drawn out more, but I was fooled and did not see that coming. The flashbacks were a great touch. The whole story will leave you guessing! And for that, well done! Special thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for another fine mystery of psychological suspense from Shalini Boland!

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I enjoy books with dual time lines and this one was no exception.

A deep and dark psychological thriller with so many twists and turns you won’t see the ending until you reached it!

This was my first book by this author but it won’t be my last.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my copy of this book.

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Twisted, dark and incredibly compelling The Marriage Betrayal is one of the best thrillers I got my hands on so far this year. Did you say 8th psychological thriller? This book is Shalini Boland's 8th psychological thriller and oh boy! it seems like I've missed so much in life. I've only read The Secret Mother & The Girl from the Sea, and it looks like I have some catching up to do. The Marriage Betrayal is an excellent suspense/thriller book and I found this book to be unputdownable.

Faye Townsend has the perfect birthday planned for her husband Jake in beautiful Swanage. As Faye, Jake, their son Dylan and Jake's sister and her family make their way to the holiday home, Faye's been worrying that Jake was not the happiest returning to his childhood town of Swanage. After a lousy couple of days, they decide to head back to London, but not before Jake and Dylan are sent packing for some father-son time. As evening draws close and Jake is not reachable, Faye knows something is amiss. As the hours' tick by, Dylan’s red baseball cap is found on the beach and Faye finds herself being questioned by the police. They want to know everything about the man she married - is Faye ready to face her husband’s dark past? Or will she have to confront her own secrets first?

In thrillers, twists are what I crave for and this book has so many shocking and brilliant twists that I completely enjoyed! You'll never see them coming. The plot is amazing and so are the characters. In almost every chapter there is a new and dark twist. The end was incredible!! I loved the setting in the coastal town of Swanage. It each of Shalini's books there is a new town to explore and I always look forward to that. I can't wait for the next and till then I hope to catch up with Ms. Boland's other thrillers.

Thank You NetGalley, Bookouture and Shalini Boland for an arc!

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This is a thoroughly engrossing book. It grips you straight away with its prologue, which gives you just a hint of something, then it’s gone.

The whole plot is woven like this, and it makes for compulsive reading. There’s a chapter of present day, then interspersed are chapters about the past, and what happened in Swanage all those years ago, and also little chapters from someone else’s perspective. We don’t know who is person is, but they seem to be involved in Dylan and Jake’s disappearance.

I genuinely didn’t see the big plot twist coming, then there’s a few more surprises along the way.

This is a book to devour, you won’t want to be disturbed while reading it. Addictive stuff. Fabulous.

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What a fantastic read! Another exceptional book from Shalini Boland. I couldn’t put it down, it had me totally hooked. Two families go off on an surprise holiday for Jake’s birthday. Faye, his wife, arranges it and with them was their young son Dylan, they were accompanied by Lainey, Jake’s sister, her husband Tom and their two children. Faye chose Swanage as their destination as Jake and Lainey had grown up there so she thought it would bring back good memories. How wrong could she be? Jake and Lainey didn’t really want to be there and decided they would all go home early. Before leaving Jake and Dylan went for a early morning walk on the cliffs to watch dolphins but they never returned. The police are called and they start investigating Jake’s past and unearth some shocking secrets that Jake and Lainey have been hiding. This was a brilliantly well written book with so many unexpected twists and turns and an ending that will leave you gasping. Another winner from Shalini, don’t miss reading it.
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

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The blurb clearly stated that this is a psychological thriller. So I can't really claim to be surprised and yet the intensity and the darkness of the story gripped me held me all the ay till the end which is so unexpected I am still struggling to make sense of it. Psychological is definitely the right word. Faye has planned a perfect summer get away for her family in the sea side town where her husband and his sister grew up in. As the two families drove into town and settled into the Air BNB that she has booked things are definitely not smooth. Nothing seems to be working to plan, not the weather, not the town and not the rental house and then with factitious kids it definitely does not appear to be the beautiful vacation she's planned.
They decide to cur their holiday short and go back home early. Her husband takes her six year old son for a promised outing while the rest of the family packs up the cars and gets ready to leave expect they don't come back. What happened? It seems that they are now stuck in the rental. As the police look for clues old hidden stories of the another death on the cliffs surface which involved Faye's husband and sister-in-law.
The search for the husband and the son will keep you on the edge of your seat as you follow the twists and turns of the story but the grand finale will blow your mind. For me the jury is out regarding how I really felt about the book but I can say that it's intense...….

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Make Sure This Is On Your Reading List For 2019 Or You Will Have Missed Out On A Really Different Domestic Thriller!I

Two sets of family and in-laws are taking a birthday surprise vacation for Faye's husband Jake along with his sister Lainy and her husband Tom and all their children. Faye and Tom planned the trip in the beachtown where Jake and Lainy grew up. Unbeknownst to Faye and Tom, the town holds many secrets and memories that both families are not prepared to handle, and Jake becomes moody and distant on their arrival and Faye appears very nervous and uncomfortable about the strange reactions of her husband and sister-in-law. This is just the background information that sets the foundation of many twists and turns along with a feeling that a dark storm is brewing and waiting to let loose with a torrential downfall. Shalini Boland really knows how to grab your attention from the first page and holds on tight up to the final ending.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book for the creepy tension, the mysterious location of the story and also the feeling that there is something very wrong with all the relationships yet you are unsure if you are on the right track. The writing is so very good and will make your jaw drop, when reach that final ending!

I want to thank the publisher Bookouture and Netgalley for the opportunity to read "The Marriage Betrayal".

I highly recommend this gripping story and have given 4 Very Dark ✴✴✴✴ Stars!!

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A trip to his childhood town with his family is supposed to be a birthday treat for Jake but from the start things do not go well. His wife Faye is upset that her plan for a happy holiday has gone awry and agrees they can abandon it all and head back home once Jake and their son Dylan have been dolphin watching.
But Jake and Dylan don’t return from their trip and Faye is frantic…
Wow, what a book!
The fear of not knowing where your child is, the worry of whether your husband is hurt (even dead) or has left you, the frustration of feeling such despair and being unable to abate it. These emotions are so strong and so easy to imagine which makes a powerful connection with the reader.
There are enormous twists and turns in the book which I won’t reveal. The writing is tense and fast paced. The characters are easy to empathise with and the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Faye’s husband and child is an excellent plotline that maintains your interest from start to finish.
Interpersed with the drama of a missing family, there are chapters in The Marriage Betrayal dedicated to the childhood of Jake and his sister Lainy which leave the reader guessing abut their connection with present day events.
Not content with the shocking ending for Faye, author Shalini Boland has one last jaw dropping moment in the epilogue…
I really loved this book!

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Another great book by Shalini Boland. There were so many twists and turns that it was impossible to guess how it would all work out. Highly recommended

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