This was a fabulous read full of treachery and deceit.

The Scandal was incredibly well crafted, as well as being twisty and thrilling, I loved the writing style of Nicola Marsh and the plotline had a totally unique spin. The story was mesmerizing and so different to all of the other novels about domestic abuse and cheating partners. Each character had their own undisclosed secret which helped this completely enthralling story. The ending was remarkable and not what I had been expecting at all.

I can't wait to see what wonderful treat Nicola Marsh has in store for me, next!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Thank you to Bookouture and Net Galley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I liked this book. Just when I thought I had things figured out, the author threw in another twist. It is a quick read with lots of suspense. Recommend for all readers that like suspenseful books!

A good read about friendship, betrayal and secrets. A quick read with a few twists thrown in.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I would fully recommend this book as the plot was twisted and unexpected until the very last page! Great characters, story-line and ending!

Absolutely fantastic had me gripped!!! Loved it! Can't wait for more from.this author. Storyline was great, characters were easy to.connect with

Thank you for the advanced copy

This book was a page turner and a half. After every chapter I read I had to continue on because I just couldn't get enough of the characters and the mystery surrounding all of them. Without giving away to much this story is all about three women who come together in a book club. These three women all have large secrets that they are hiding not only from each other but also from their spouses. While I don't usually like changes in point of view in novels this one was done very well and it almost had to be done that way in order for the reader to really get all of the secrets that the author scattered like breadcrumbs through the story. I liked how each secret was brought out to the reader so you could really feel the tension and see how it was hidden from everyone, cheating, babies, and abuse nothing was off limits in this book and I really enjoyed it. This book kept me guessing right up until the very end and that doesn't happen to often. Great story, and a must read for lovers of all genres. You will not be disappointed. The only thing I have to recommend is that you clear your schedule because once you start this book you will not want to stop until you get to the very end. Great read this book will have you talking about it for ages to come. I'm very glad I got the chance to read this one, everyone should put this on their list and check it out.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for providing a free copy of The Scandal by Nicola Marsh in exchange for my honest review.

(Synopsis) Empty-nester, Marisa feels isolated and lonely after her twins leave the home and her massive mansion no longer holds any appeal. She desperately tries to find things to distract her from the secret she’s deeply buried within by scheduling mindless activities and “gardening” club meetings. Enter her great friends, Elly and Claire, who should be her respite from what she’s avoiding, but both of these women also have their own secrets they are concealing and grappling with while sipping coffee and talking about neighborhood gossip. Then one day, a pregnant young girl named Jodi arrives on Marisa’s doorstep asking for her aid. All of the lies come to the surface and life is never the same.

The novel’s quick pace and multiple perspectives allow readers to experience life within this community of secrets. All of the characters’ backgrounds are well-developed and unique. In this genre, it is easy to fall back on the same storylines to create suspense and mystery, but Marsh avoids those traps by creating characters that are familiar and realistic, but not stereotypical. The high point in this novel is Jodi’s plotline and journey to finding the father of her unborn son. Jodi is complex and likable, yet something is off about her pursuit. Readers will pull for her to find resolve with a one-night stand. The story moves along quickly and comes to a head with an unpredictable event half-way through the novel which makes the story feel much richer and intriguing. The twists and revelations are well-done and not easily dismissed as predictable.

Although the strengths of this novel heavily outweigh the weaknesses, I think the use of four different storylines made it feel a bit more like a soap opera and not a solid, thriller novel. All of the women have tremendously shocking secrets while their husbands demonstrate suspicious behavior. This can be exciting at times but often times overwhelming and overtly shocking. It makes for more of a jumbled mess of people’s sins to distract from the actual point of the novel.

Overall, I rate this novel ⅘ stars for the use of suspense and character development. I would recommend this novel to all of my domestic thriller friends.

This novel is set to be published on July 25, 2019.

Everyone has secrets but some can destroy lives. These three friends seem to have it all but each is hiding behind a happy facade. Elly knows that she is about to destroy someone's marriage and she justifies it by knowing that it happened to her and she knows that the town will turn against her as her whole new life is a lie. Claire can't believe that she won't be able to be a mom as she needed to be so she could make up for her affair years before. Her husband Dane has lied to her about his sperm problem and when she finds out it could destroy everything. There might be a chance to still be a mother as a young woman has turned up and their friend Marisa can help with the adoption. But Claire thinks that there is more to the story as the young woman is looking for the baby's father and she has been found dead and the suspect is close to home. Marisa doesn't know how much longer that she can pretend for she is so unhappy and is afraid of being alone. She can't wait for her husband Avery to go to the city so she is alone and she can just be herself. She is tired of all his ways but can she walk away that easily? She can't believe that the young woman has been killed and she knows that her husband had something to do with it as he wasn't home until the next morning but who will believe her? Can these three friends make it through this stressful time stronger or will the lies tear them apart?
A good read. We are always to quick judge by what we see and not we actually know. I was lucky enough to receive a copy via Netgalley & the publishing house in exchage for my honest review.

I am afraid to say, I Did not finish the book. It was just not one I could connect with anyone. I felt it was at halfway just a chore both the women and men were just nothing I wanted to try to figure out.

I was intrigued to read this book after seeing the high praise and rating on Goodreads. Thankfully I did not read any reviews because then my expectations would have been higher as would have been the disappointment.
I don't like giving long negative reviews so I will keep this short. I thought the story was very average, the characters and twists quite predictable.
The narrative of the three women wasn't engaging enough for me and extremely repetitive. The latter being a problem for me because I felt the women were not evolving. None of their stories struck a chord.
I would rather not mention the men in the book because each was worse than the other with no redeeming qualities. Even the one who seemed the best of the lot by the end was made to be volatile probably to taint him with suspicion as well. Like really?
The twist, in the end, was hardly a revelation to me. I had already figured it out quite early in the book.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a digital ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed the plot. Was very hard to put down.
I give this book 5**** just because i loved it
Cant wait for other books

This was an interesting mystery but kind of predictable. I enjoyed it but it didn’t blow me away. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

Marisa, Elly and Claire—3 best friends with seemingly perfect lives, but all of them are harboring some deep secrets.

Marisa has been married to Avery for 21-years. She escaped her terrible childhood only to be a trophy wife. She dedicated her life to raising her kids, but now that they’re in college, her life is lonelier by the day. So she has delved herself fully into being a social worker and helping others.

Claire, a local police detective, desperately wants to start a family with her husband Dale. She thinks a baby will absolve her of her previous sins and give their marriage a fresh start. But when she discovers her husband is infertile, she’s not sure their marriage can survive the years of secrets between them.

Elly moved to this small town after leaving her “perfect” life that turned out to be a lie. Now she has a secret lover that no one knows about, not even her best friends. And if they discover who she’s been sneaking around with, they won’t forgive her and she’ll have to start her life over yet again.

A young pregnant woman named Jodi arrives on Marisa’s doorstep unexpectedly and since Marisa has a thing for strays, she helps her. Jodi is there to find the father of her baby and her arrival sets in motions a series of crazy events...

The Scandal by Nicola Marsh is a stand-alone twisty women’s fiction meets mystery novel. I really enjoy dramas about various women who have secrets where there’s a central mystery driving the whole story. This book didn’t do anything wrong, but it didn’t do anything particularly new either. The twists were okay, if not a little predictable. 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Nicola Marsh for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Excellent book! I definitely didn't see the ending coming. There were characters to love, characters that you felt indifferent to and totally slimy characters. My favorite was Marisa, the mother figure. Trapped in a loveless married, so far away and pining from her twin girls in college. Thank goodness for her quirky group of friends to keep her busy and happy.

You HAVE to read this!

Thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

The Scandal by Nicola Marsh is a fast-paced tale of lies, deceit, marriage, friendship, and the devil you know. This one will keep you fully engaged as the puzzle pieces gradually slot into place.

When a pregnant young woman shows up in the Hamptons at the door of wealthy socialite Marisa, the identity of the woman is unknown, and the father of her unborn child is open to speculation. A small community will be turned on its head, testing long-held friendships, and threatening to destroy previously solid marriages.

This is a tale of intrigue that I raced through in a bid for answers. Recommended.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC.

This was a hard book to read. At first I thought it would be an easy going casual whodunnit but the issues the main characters face are stark and heartbreaking. Realistic. It's very easy to imagine and that's a great thng.

The main characters are doting housewife Ris, policewoman Claire, and beautiful yet fragile Elly. They're best friends who meet once a month for a gardening club which really means they drink and eat cheese aka my kind of club. What I liked about this book is the friendship these women had for one another, they had one another's backs no matter what. They all worked hard to help one another and other people and all of their jobs reflectled that. Even Elly with all of her problems and her second hobby.

There were problems I felt in the development however. Characters were told to us rather than shown. The plot was easy to read through an even with the twist at the end I wasn't the least bit surprised. All of the men in this book were honestly perverted or abusive. It made it very uncomfortable to get through at times. And if you asked me which one of them did it I would have a hard time differentiating between them since all of them seemed to be the same character.

These are characters who who would benefit well from therapy instead of self medicating with alcohol, sex, and mollycoddling. But it is that realness that also makes the book, it just didn't resonate that well with me.

Thank you very much to Netgalley and ARC, all opinions are my own. Please follow my blog for more reviews: https://aelilyreads.home.blog/

The Scandal introduces us to the privileged lifestyle of those lucky (read wealthy) enough to live in the Hamptons. Marisa (married to Avery who is an influential, CEO) is the consummate trophy wife, entertaining her husband’s clients and a lynchpin of the community charity events and perfect hostess. She is very much an organiser and dispenser of advice and support.
Marisa has two very good friends, Elly who is very glamourous who has several secrets, and Claire a detective who has discovered her husband is infertile, leaving her distraught.

Marisa – Ris is hosting her usual lunch for her friends when Claire reveals the problem of her inability to conceive. They are interrupted by Avery, Ris’s brother in law, a charming flirt, who is married to a neurotic wife purely for her wealth. The scene is set. Trouble in paradise is about to descend when Jody blows into town from New York, pregnant and looking to track down the father of her child who she believes is Avery. She crashes a dinner at Ris’s house and promptly collapses and, of course, Ris is there to help – not only Jody but also Claire – if things work out perfectly.

The plot is revealed in droplets of information, different perspectives designed to leave you questioning and guessing. I can’t say that I guessed the father of the child, but I did guess a fair bit of the plot. As for the ending? Cannot say I was delighted, it all felt a bit rushed. That said, definitely worth a read, even if the lives of Ris et al is a bit clichéd.

Thank you to the author, publishers and NetGalley for providing an ARC via my Kindle in return for an honest review.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Nicole Marsh is a great author. The Scandal is about just that. A young pregnant mom arrives in town, and the secrets begin. Everyone has a secret... some are deadly though. The secret child is the talk of the town. Whose child is it?!

What a page-turner.

In a town where everyone is striving to achieve perfection, Marisa seems to have the perfect life. Secrets are everywhere and when a young pregnant mother arrives, the secrets begin to unravel. As the story progresses it becomes apparent that everyone has a secret, but some secrets can be deadly. A gripping story that leaves the reader guessing.

The Scandal by Nicola Marsh
Thanks @netgalley @nicolamarshauthor and @bookouture for my ARC
Publication date 25th July 2019
‘A secret child will tear a small town apart’. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
Oh my goodness this book was fabulous. From reading the blurb, I thought ‘hmm this sounds quite good’ but that really would be a huge understatement. It was fabulous, just really bloody fabulous. I am huge Liane Moriarty fan and this book is quite similar in style and story. That is meant as a huge compliment. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
The first thing I loved about this book was the setting. I was completely transported to a beautiful town in the New York Hamptons, where sex, scandal, secrets and lies are embedded in every corner. Each character has their own undisclosed secret which made this book a pure all-consuming, completely engrossing story. The ending was incredible and not what I predicted at all. Amazing. Highly recommended. Five big stars 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 xxx