My Perfect Wife involves a rich family and the people who work for them. Mr. Huxley seems from the outside to be this perfect handsome husband that would be anyone's top choice. His wife seems to be a bit deranged. She thinks her Husband is basically out to get her and having affairs with every woman he comes in contact with on a daily basis. As it turns out, things aren't as they seem. As you get further into the plot, more revelations come about. Although it was an interesting read, I felt that the story was very disjointed with too many side stories that seemed mostly pointless to the plot. It did keep you guessing but only because most things didn't seem to make much sense. I only gave this title a 3 star rating because of this. It was definitely interesting but I wouldn't recommend it as a first choice read.

My first time delving into the work of this author and I couldn't be happier....
This novel has everything you want when you sit down to read a psychological thriller...
It is dark, pretty intense and deeply chilling....
It ticks all the boxes doesn't it....
We meet the main character Elizabeth in this one and she seems to have it all. She is married to Lucas and they have two lovely children, the nice house and the money....
So what are the Huxley's hiding?
Something isn't adding up between these two...
I loved how this story is told through the eyes of Elizabeth and Heather the daughter of the Huxley's gardener who is on the outside of this marriage observing and looking in..
The lies in this story, the twists and turns will just keep you riveted....
I couldn't figure it out at all if I'm honest, it had me engrossed.
I didn't want to believe any of them in this story......
Her characters are solid if somewhat unstable..
Not hugely likeable either...
Well worth taking the time for this one....
I think you will enjoy it.

I struggled to get into this thriller but around half way I was hooked,,;

I was guessing until the end!! The webs and lies spun by a manipulative person is brilliantly portrayed throughout the book. If you’re looking for a light twisty thriller then this is definitely the book for you.

When you’re in a relationship with a manipulative person you question every thing and that is exactly what the characters in this book do!! Lucas is the classic narcissist, Elizabeth his wife loves him very much but questions his love for her. Heather is also under his spell and has never forgotten the times they shared even though he choose to marry someone else!

Will the woman realise who he truly is ? Or will his charm and his questionably love win them over.?

A brilliant insightful read which explores how we can perceive circumstances in entirely different ways. Definitely a book to stick with as the ending ties up all the loose pieces in a breathtaking way.

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for my chance to read this thought provoking book .

4stars

Lucas Huxley got it all. He is handsome wealthy and has the perfect wife.
When Heather's father offered her a temporary job to help him with the gardening at the Huxleys' she couldn't refuse because first, she needed the money and second because she still feels guilty about what she did as a teenager with Lucas.
But nothing is what it seems. Literally nothing.
I would say it's more of a family drama, with a psychological twist.
Ok, the beginning was really a slow burner but not in a bad way, it got a lot of romantic passages, and I had to recheck the synopsis to be sure it's a thriller. I've read at the end that the author couldn't help falling in love with Lucas, it's a guilt reliever because I did too.
It sort of gave me of a 1995's romantic movie (Sabrina) vibes: Heather the gardeners' daughter's coming back home to be near her teenage first crush.
The novel is well written and the characters are well developed, but I guess what bothered me the most was the ending, I personally couldn't figure out the culprit until the last chapter. I've finished it last night and I still woke to wonder what really happened and had to reread the last chapter 🤷.
Would I recommend it? Yes definitely I really enjoyed it.
Thank you Netgalley and bookuture for the opportunity to read this arc and give an honest opinion

The Perfect Wife, from the description had me very interested but I have to say it wasn’t my favorite read. I found myself skipping through pages to just find out how it ends.

The story hopped all over the place and I could never really get into it. The description is great but the book was not at all what I expected and a bit of a letdown.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy for my review.

This book started very slowly and was only an OK read. Not as good as the previous books from this author.

Mostly an easy read. I found parts of this book hard to read. I thought that it was a bit predictable and too long in places as well. Overall though, it is a good thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I am a fan of this author, this book took me a while to get into. A slow read for me, not terrible by any means, but not this author's best work in my opinion.

I read Clare's previous two books and I enjoyed them, so I had high hopes for 'My Perfect Wife', which is her third book. Whilst I did enjoy the book, it isn't my favourite of her books for reasons which I will explain in a bit.
I have to be honest and say that I didn't feel a connection with any of the main characters as every one of them irritated me in some way. In each case, it was a combination of their personalities, their behaviour and the way they spoke to people. In fact I ended up not really caring about what happened to them.
It took me a while to get into this book for one reason and another but mainly because I was very tired and in pain when I started to read and not intended as a criticism of the author. I was only able to read this book in bursts rather than in one long continuous reading binge because things like life got in the way. Once I started reading, I immersed myself in the story and I had to know how the story concluded. I had my own suspicions as to what was going to happen and so I had to keep reading to see if my suspicions were correct or not. In some aspects I was on the right track but in others I was on the wrong path entirely.
'My Perfect Wife' is well written, although as I mention above it isn't my favourite of Clare's books to date. She has written a tight plot and the characters are multi layered but as I mention above, the characters didn't endear themselves to me and I wasn't really that bothered as to what happened to them.
In short, I did enjoy reading 'My Perfect Wife' but it wasn't my favourite of her books to date. I will definitely read more of Clare's work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a deserved 3* out of 5*.

I accidentally found this author last year and I am so glad I did. So when My Perfect Wife by Clare Boyd came out I had to request and read it. WoW what a brilliant book this was. I loved it!
It's a A domestic thriller and I was hooked within the first few pages and I could not put it down. It was a great page turner throughout. The Perfect Wife is written from both Heather and Elizabeth's perspective, whilst alternating between both for each chapter. But, who is telling the truth?

Elizabeth is married to Lucas and tries her hardest to be a perfect wife to Lucas, she tries to keep their home clean and tidy and to be a great mother to their two children, everything is perfect!

Lucas seduced Heather Shaw was she was a young girl, she then finds herself working for him, her father is working alongside lucas. Lucas is a landscape/caretaker on his estate. He needs everything in his social life, his marriage, children, wife and all around him to be perfect in everyway. But Things change quickly for everyone involved. Lucas is desperate for a big business deal to go through and to continue leading the perfect life he presents to the world.

The only problem. It's all based on lies. Slowly things around him. start to fall apart...............will the truth come out?

We Lucas loose everything around him and his perfect family?

Does Heather still love Lucas after all these years?

I highly recommend this book.............It is full of twists and turns that will have you hooked especially as I wanted to find out if Lucas can hold everything together in his perfect little world!!!!

Thank you NetGalley, Clare Boyd and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an review; all opinions are my own.

Review on Goodreads, Amazon UK and FB page,

Great book with an interesting plot and enjoyable storyline. Highly recommend, must read! Looking forward to more from this author.

I had a hard time connecting with the characters in Boyd’s domestic thriller. The protagonist, Heather, is a recently laid off swim instructor who has returned home to her parent’s to help support their gardening business. Her parents work at the house next door which is owned by Elizabeth and Lucas Huxley. Lucas is an extremely wealthy businessman and Elizabeth stays at home to run the household. We get the story from Elizabeth’s point of view as well as Heather’s.

We soon find out that Heather was having a physical relationship with Lucas when she was fifteen one summer. As soon as they see each other again, those feelings reignite. Lucas and Elizabeth are not as perfect as they seem on the outside, as they are having marital problems and Elizabeth has recently had mental health issues. The story turns into a mess of the reader trying to decipher who is manipulating who with Heather sliding back into old habits with Lucas. It was a slow burner with a couple of small twists. 3 stars for me because I found Heather and Elizabeth’s logic to be askew in multiple instances and I just like to believe that they wouldn’t be that naive.

I really enjoyed this book! It was a little slow to start but it it picked up and I couldn't put it down! The story was addicting once I got into it!

I received this ARC from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

I got a free advance reader’s copy in exchange for my honest review. Thanks NetGalley and Bookouture!

Many times the less fortunate look at the lives of the wealthy with envy. I remember the saying “not all that glitters is gold.” My Perfect Wife by Clare Boyd is a perfect embodiment of that saying.

Elizabeth is married to Lucas Huxley and leads a seemingly charmed life. They have a beautiful house with an even more beautiful garden cared for by horticulturist couple, Gordon and Sally. Sally has been called away unexpectedly to care for her ailing sister. Her replacement while gone is their daughter, Heather. Heather and Lucas have a history. Elizabeth is responsible for planning a party to woo a potential investor for Lucas’ company. A lot rides on that investment. If Elizabeth does well, Lucas would not send their daughter, Isla, to boarding school because it will mean her mental health has improved. While Heather is jealous of the life Elizabeth leads, I soon realized the relationship was not as perfect as it seemed to be.

The story was written from two perspectives, Elizabeth and Heather. I found Elizabeth’s own was more fascinating than Heather’s. This may have been because she was actually involved in the events which took part in the household. Heather was basically an outsider looking in.

I found Lucas to be so charming. He had a way of twisting everything to look like he was the hero in every situation, something which must have been extremely frustrating for Elizabeth. No matter what, Heather believed he was perfect and could do no wrong.

I felt the most pity for Agata, the children’s au pair, and her boyfriend, Poitr, the handyman of the house at the end, particularly Agata. They dealt with a lot in a strange country.

This book was full of twists. I found myself doubting what I thought was true many times during the book. Most times, just as I settled on what I thought was happening, a piece of evidence appeared which made me doubt myself. I rather enjoyed this book and my only complaint is I would have loved to get a little more information about what happened to the characters after the story ended.

Suitable audience: This is a book which should be read by adults who like domestic thrillers. This is not suitable for young readers because there is mention of sexual violence.

Recurrent themes: Gaslighting. Narcissism. Mental illness. Financial abuse. Physical abuse.

Violence: An attempted suicide is mentioned. Physical abuse happens in some places throughout the book.
Sexual Content: Sexual violence is mentioned within this book
Profanity:
Religious Themes: None
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Alcohol is drank a lot by some of the characters. Weed as well as prescription medicine is used as well.

I really enjoyed this domestic thriller that had me guessing right up until the end. When I thought I had the plot figured out there would be a twist and I needed to rethink the outcome. Although it got off to a slow start and was slow a few times throughout, I still found this a thrilling and easy read.

While this was an easy read I felt it a bit predictable and long winded in places. The characters were likeable and the storyline very similar to a lot of books currently on the market. The plot line felt like it could have been a bit more twisty but overall an easy read and enjoyable

Elizabeth and Lucas Huxley have everything what she wants a perfect house, a caring husband and two adorable children. From outside its a perfect family what everyone desires rich, humble, happy and with some great support staff. But all is not what it seems. Elizabeth might be on the verge of losing everything. She might me not that stable but her only chance to prove herself is to organise this party and save herself and her family.

Heather is struggling with her job and maybe she is not that much in love with her boy friend. But with nowhere to go and being almost broke she has to return to her parents home and help his father in Huxley's garden. But Heather has a crush on Lucas Huxley.

Will Heather be the catalyst in destroying Elizabeth family? Or Heather will just do her work and maybe try to control her feelings?

Review-

Being a psychological thriller it definitely plays a trick or two with your mind and confuse you about the intentions and actions of the characters. But not that much. Like pretty much you know who is the culprit and who is the victim.

Elizabeth character is the star of the book. Her confusion, her doubts, her victimization and then finding reality amidst her own self doubt is really impressive. You feel like you are on a roller coaster ride when you read Elizabeth POV.

Heather was not that much impressive for me and maybe I was slightly bit irritated with her actions and emotions. Though her character has depth and she could provide a range of emotions but that just didn't convey properly.

The writing was really good and it kept me hooked till the end. But I guess the execution of the plot was not done so smoothly. The end was too rushed like it just finished in the blink of an eye. And i kept wondering what just happen.

I really like the book but in the sense of psychology thriller it just didn't satisfy my thirst. In some parts I am really impressed and with some I am really disappointed too. But still if you really want to try psychology thriller you can give this book a try.

This just didn’t work for me. It was so boring that I needed to check the GR synopsis and some reviews to decide if I'll keep reading or not. I found myself constantly starting a new one. I continued to just over 20% and I’m still not hooked. I had to give this up, so sorry.

Really disappointing since synopsis sounded great.

I don't know how I feel about this book. On the one hand, it was an easy read with interesting characters. On the other hand I found it kind of predictable and the ending was super convoluted and confusing. Was anybody in this book a good person? I have no idea. Three stars.

I absolutely love this book! I love all the characters and the chapters were set up in different POVs which I like. I enjoy Clare Boyd's writing style and can't wait to read her others books. It was hard to put down and kept you invested throughout. Overall, I will give this book 4.5 stars and recommend this for fans of domestic thrillers.