I wasn't a huge fan of this. It was slower than it could have been, and there were some holes in the plotting. The herbalism angle was a bit odd. It felt thrown in, and there's a highly unbelievable scene where the police appear to base some of their suspicions on the cultural/mythological significance of which plants are growing in the garden(!).

Excellent suspense novel! I was drawn in right from the beginning and found it incredibly difficult to put down. The intrigue is built upon by flashback chapters set in 1996, the narrator of which is unknown and the connection to the main story is slowly and cleverly revealed with each flashback.
I found some of the police procedures & interviews to be a little unbelievable but for plot development I guess necessary.
The book is perfect for fans of suspense/psychology novels.
Thanks to the publisher & Netgalley for the opportunity to read this great novel.

This book had me very intrigued from the very beginning and then about half way through I really started to struggle to pick It up! It became super receptive but overall a good mystery! I am giving is 3.5 stars!!

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC!

I enjoyed reading this book, it is well plotted, with strong characters, and an intriguing scenario for the reader to dive straight into.
Amy’s fiancé Matt has disappeared without trace, just two weeks before her longed- for romantic wedding day. But all is not as it seems, and Matt is not the man Amy thinks he is. The plot twists and turns until the reader does not trust anyone to be who they say they are - Amy’s friends, her therapist, her daughter, the police officers, and the elusive Fiona, who turns out to be Matt’s ‘other woman’ even before they are married.
The intertwining story, narrator unknown, dating back to 1996, is even more mysterious, and intriguing in how it will eventually relate to the present day and Amy’s life now.
The different POVs work very well, and give the reader a much fuller picture of Amy and her background.
A few red herrings along the way are enough to throw the reader off the scent - for a while. Clever plotting and an unexpected ending make for an excellent read, maintaining interest right to the end.
I would recommend this book, and will look for more of this author’s work.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my advance copy of this title.

This was so much more than just a missing person/partner book. This was everything I look for in a book. The cover is so catching. And the ending was INSANE. I didn’t see it coming, so many twists and turns. The surprises and secrets just kept coming out. Great work, I can’t wait to read more of your work.

I loved this! It grabbed my attention as soon as i started reading it and i was hooked until the end. So many secrets unfolding all the way through and when I thought I had it all worked out there was another twist. I'm not usually a fan of thrillers but this may well have changed my mind. I absolutely connected with Amy's story from the start and at one point almost shouted out "no, not Amy!" as it all turned horribly wrong for her. There were storylines from other characters in the book which added depth whereas in some stories it can just be annoying or confusing, however it really worked well here.

Thoroughly recommend this book, I've been raving about to to all my friends and family...unusual for me and I'll be sure to watch out for more from Debbie!

Thank you to NetGalley and Avon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review

Amy and Matt are getting married in two weeks, until he disappears. She discovers he is not who she thinks he is and everyone finds out that she is not who they think she is either. It turns out he has another woman and she is not who she pretends to be either. The past comes rushing back in the house where it all happened before. I liked this author's writing style, however thought that this book just had too much going on and it just ended up feeling crammed to me. Thanks for the ARC, Net Galley.

Amy reports her partner Matt missing, and she can’t understand why as they have the perfect relationship. They’re getting married in just a few weeks! But another woman also reports him missing... matching his description, she claims that Matt is her partner too, and she knows all about Amy. Where is Matt and what’s really going on?

I was so hooked by this book. I don’t know if it’s because I haven’t read a thriller for a while, but I absolutely loved it.

The characters in the book are introduced really clearly, so they each stick in your mind while you read. They all had a key part in his disappearance, or Amy’s discoveries. Her daughter Jess was a great character in particular (very smart and loveable).

Each revelation in the police case was revealed with great timing. I felt just as invested in the case as Amy was. There were so many twists along the way, only one of which I suspected! I was convinced I knew what the ending was going to be, but I was completely wrong🤦🏼‍♀️

Definitely recommend this book, I sped through it to get to the ending!

A great read with a good plot that keeps you guessing. A wedding that didn’t happen and the story told from the perspective of the fiancée, lover and daughter. Could be predictable at time but even so a good read which made me want to read on

I had heard so many good things about this novel I was delighted to gain access to a copy via NetGalley. For me it lived up to the hype and was a real page turner until the final 10% of the book, in which the perpetrator turned out to be the most obvious person for the most obvious of reasons.

I’m just not sure why the author didn’t pick pretty much any of the other characters to be responsible. I’ve heard so many crime writers speaking about how they wrote one bad guy in the first draft, realised it was too obvious and switched. I have no idea why Howells did not do the same.

In terms of pace, I read up to the 90% mark in 2 evenings then took the rest of the time on the last 10. It was, if I’m honest, a bit of a let down.

That said, the book still warrants 4 stars, because it is so well written. The two main narrators, Amy and Jess, are fantastic creations - a mother and daughter whose love for each other is undoubted. Fiona Rose, the other narrator, is a character I loved to hate, and the others were really believable, especially DC Page (as she must be - surely no-one is a WPC any more? Wikipedia says it was used until 1999 though is still used “by individuals” - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women_in_law_enforcement_in_the_United_Kingdom ).

I absolutely *loved* the herbalism references throughout, and the link between the house’s current and previous owner, through their knowledge of plants is just brilliant. I also appreciated the portrayal of a woman who has been so badly gaslit that she is delusional. Really, really great writing.

All in all, I would recommend The Vow to friends, and hope that, like me, they dismiss their early “It must be X” thought as too obvious, so they can keep enjoying the novel - as I did till it did, indeed, turn out to be X. I guess in crime novels as in poetry the writer does sometimes go for “first thought, best thought” after all.

I really enjoyed this book. Character development was good. The plot was very interesting. Not a lot of typos.

Absolutely loved this book. I was teary eyed a few times while reading. I was surprised to learn this was a true story.
I recommend this book. I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher through Net Galley. I was not required to write a positive review. All of the opinions expressed are my own.

"The Vow", by Debbie Howells, is a suspenseful mystery full of unexpected twists and turns. Amy is planning her dream wedding to Matt. The wedding is expected to take place in just a few weeks when suddenly Matt goes missing. Throughout the novel, we discover that Matt has a second life and the relationship has been based on lies. I feel like this plot line has been used a lot lately, but the book was still enjoyable to read.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Everything was perfect... and then her fiancé disappeared...

I read The Vow in one sitting, a testament to the fact it gripped me from the start and pulled me right in.

The tale of a seemingly perfect relationship between Amy and Matt, until he mysteriously disappears 2 weeks before their wedding. A few days later, another woman comes forward with information that shatters everything Amy thought she knew.

Told from the POV of Amy, Fiona (the other woman), and Jess, Amy’s plucky teenage daughter - as well as an unnamed narrator reflecting on past events - the story slowly reveals the cracks in Matt and Amy’s relationship, making her begin to question everything she thought she knew about him.

As details of the present and the past begin to overlap, there were a few moments where I felt that perhaps the coincidence was too great, but this resolved in the end so is well worth persevering. As a ‘witchy’ type myself I was also fascinated with Amy’s sideline in herbalism and alchemy and would have loved to have seen some more of that.

This novel is not without its faults, some parts seeming to be a bit too much of a stretch, but overall it is a very enjoyable read.

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books for the ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I quite liked this book. Certainly I wanted to keep reading it. It was a book that was easy to pick up and put down And in the main I liked the characters

I thought the book was a little predictable but only right at the very end and it didn’t detract from the story. Actually I thought right up to the end that Kath had something to do with it or maybe Rik!

Overall an enjoyable read

The Vow tells the story of Amy, whose fiance Matt disappears shortly before their wedding. When she reports him missing, she learns about Fiona who is also reporting Matt as her missing partner.

As soon as I read the blurb of this book I knew I would love it and boy, it didn't disappoint.

The story is told from the point of view of Amy and Fiona, who both claim to be Matt's partner as well as Jess, Amy's daughter. Who can you trust in The Vow? Certainly not Matt, that's for sure.

But Amy may or may not be completely innocent as she keeps her own secret from the past. Will Jess find out?

I really did feel for all the women involved, especially Amy's daughter Jess. In the end everything comes together and the ending is somewhat satisfying but I can't help feel like Jess is paying for Amy's mistakes.

What a rollers coaster this was, you won't regret this.



Disclosure: I'd like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

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First off, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I will say, I’ve never heard of this author before, but when I read the description of this book I was hooked. Who doesn’t like a good mystery? Amy and Matt, about to get married and suddenly Matt disappears, the life Amy had planned suddenly ripped apart. The story quickly unfolds, from fear and worry, to grief and pain. We learn about the past and how secrets play a huge role in the ending of this book. At first it moved a little slow, but it didn’t last for long as quickly it started to pick up and the lies started to unravel. The lengths people go to lie, to keep secrets and get revenge makes for a great mystery!

This was a riveting read, building and building with more and more secrets and lies. Told from the point of view of Amy, Fiona, and Amy’s daughter Jess, it’s hard to know who is lying.

As more information comes to light, we jump back to 1996 when the tragic death of teenager Kimberley, followed by the suicide of her boyfriend Charlie, is revealed. Are they connected and if so how?

The plot is very clever, though about two-thirds of the way through I guessed one particular connection, but I couldn’t be sure so it didn’t spoil it for me at all. My main gripe is with the police questioning. I thought they were very hard on Amy and some things I questioned as to whether they would really say or do that. Also I don’t believe in coincidences and surely they must have realised certain things were linked. It took Jess to discover a lot of information that the police failed to find. In this day and age it should have been easy or maybe they just just didn’t look hard enough.

The idea of having two female protagonists (three if you count Jess who really is the stand-out hero) made this different from other psychological thrillers I have read in recent years (and I have read a LOT). Certainly an exciting and entertaining novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts with an exciting encounter with a mystery woman and the main character and then a brief phone call with her fiancé that begins the twisted storyline. That gut-wrenching feeling when you can't find someone or they don't reply to your messages or phone calls is evident when Amy wakes up the next morning, so I felt this book had promise and would be a good read.

However, I had a hard time connecting to any characters in the book. There was enough suspense and twists to hold my interest for the most part, but I didn't feel that invested in the outcome or what would happen to the characters as I kept reading. I did like the main character's college-age daughter and her sleuthing abilities.

The characters and their past made it difficult to believe the plot of the story, however. It felt contrived and a little too out there. The book's beginning was promising, but then the middle felt weighed down, and by the time I got to the end, I just wanted it to be done. This just wasn't my type of book, unfortunately.

#TakeTheVow #NetGalley

Everything was perfect. Until her fiance disappeared
Amy and Matt are set to the the knot in just 2 short weeks! They are writing their vows. Life is amazing!
Matt calls Amy says he will be home late, he is meeting with a client. But Matt never returns home.
The story is told from 3 POVs Amy Fiona and Jess.

I enjoyed this book. It started off great. But as I kept reading it ended up getting a predictable.
Debbie did have some great twists added to this book which I really did enjoy!

Thank You NetGalley And Debbie Howells for this ARC!