In my view this was a middle of the road book, seen most of it done before, but I did stick with it. Cant say much more really... it was just alright?
I did like the writing style though so will read debbie howells again for sure

The Vow
by Debbie Howells
Avon Books UK
Avon
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 29 Oct 2020 | Archive Date Not set

Thanks to Net
Galley and Avon books for the ARC of this book. It was well written and kept my attention from the first page on.
I will recommend it to our patrons.

First the good stuff: lots of plot, twists and turns, multiple viewpoints. I enjoyed the first half for what it was, a thriller cum domestic noir, easily accessible. But then, to be honest, I found I didn’t care about any of the characters and, crucially, I didn’t believe in their motivations. There were too many secrets, too many fat fetched events, many people changing their name to disguise, to the reader, who they were. I finished the novel, and on the whole I think I enjoyed it more than not. Others, I’m sure, would love it more.

3+

Amy is making plans to marry Matt, writing vows, working with her wedding planner and so on. Then a number of strange events occurred and Matt disappears. What follows takes us back to Amy’s teenage years in this story of guilt, obsession, deception, betrayal and revenge. It is told in alternating perspectives by Amy, her daughter Jess, Fiona a lawyer and is interspersed with events from 1996.

I really enjoyed the first part of this as is really twisty and has some intriguing revelations. Jess’s point of view is especially illuminating as it reveals much about Matt and I like those sections. Amy is hard to figure out as she seems to have contradictory sides to her nature but that adds to the interest. Amy is a herbalist and this is interesting and the symbolism of the herbs and flowers is fascinating and is to prove to be an important element in the novel. So I would rate the first 50-60% at 4 stars.

However, unfortunately from that point on I feel the story starts to unravel and I had a few eyes to the skies moments. The plot became too incredible and there’s so much repetition especially with events from 1996 which are repeated about three times with little variation. The police questioning of characters did not feel realistic at all. WPC Page’s tone in questioning is frequently ‘sharp’ and there’s a definite overuse of that word. Jess conducts a lot of investigation into Matt and its thanks to her that much is discovered which feels unrealistic as I’m sure police forces are more than capable of conducting research into a persons past and don’t require pointers from Jess! So, with great regret as I like Debbie Howells books it’s an overall three star.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books for the ARC. The cover is amazing!

I could not get into this book as much as I wanted to. The story line kept a good pace but the characters were not relate-able to me. This story starts about 2 weeks out from the wedding and continues through it. Had a good ending and I think a lot of people will enjoy.

Amy found her perfect man, Matt, whom she would be marrying in two weeks. Her business was doing well. Everything was perfect.
A mysterious encounter with an old lady who warns Amy that everything is not as it seems, marks the start of events that turns Amy’s world upside down. When her fiancé fails to return home after a work meeting Amy is convinced something sinister has happened to him. However, after reporting his disappearance to the police, Amy finds out that another woman has also reported her boyfriend’s disappearance.
The police are convinced that both disappearances are the same person, Matt. But how could it be? Matt and Amy had the perfect relationship, or did they?
The events that follow takes the reader on a cryptic journey which keeps you guessing throughout the book. Debbie Howell, a bestselling author, keeps the reader engaged in the storyline with use of characters with variegated personalities, enabling the reader to picture the characters and events, and virtually live in the pages of the story.
I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a really fun ride! It centers on Amy, who thinks she has found the perfect man in Matt, but 2 weeks before their wedding, he disappears. Creepy things start happening around the same time, including a complete stranger stopping Amy on the street and telling her that she is in danger. The reader starts finding out more about the situation, Matt, and their relationship, which causes more questions than answers. I love a story with an unreliable narrator, and this book gives you not one, but two! There are also flashbacks to 1996 weaved throughout the book, leaving the reader to guess the significance of those events (and the players involved) as it relates to the current situation.

Amy was a little naive, but kind of sweet in her unwavering support of Matt. Though I was sometimes frustrated with her (and in a couple cases, EXTREMELY frustrated with her), she was still likeable and I felt empathetic to her. I really liked her daughter, Jess, and thought she was a great character. The author also did a great job of introducing Fiona and toying with the reader around which character is being truthful.

I did figure out the twist in the story long before the characters did, but it was satisfying to be proven right and didn't really deflect from my enjoyment of the story. I also thought the police were a little slow on the uptake to some of the things that happened, where it should have been much quicker and easier to track down the info they were seeking.

All and all, this was a fun and twisty read and I finished it in less than a day. I'd definitely recommend this book to those who like mysteries and domestic suspense. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Vow is a book about engaged Amy and Matt. Two weeks before their wedding, Matt mysteriously disappears. Along with the worry of where Matt could be, Amy begins to undercover secrets about her fiancé, and a double life he was leading. As she digs deeper, so do the police.The twists and turns lead to a surprising conclusion.
This is the first book I have read from this author, and while I enjoyed to story there was parts of the book that dragged on and felt unnecessary. I liked how new secrets were revealed up until the end.

I received an advanced of this book from Netgalley and Avon books in exchange for my honest review.

New author for me and while I was excited to read the book I couldn't get into it. In fact I only read about 25% before moving on to a different author. I may try this again at a future date.

If I'm honest, I found this book a bit of a slog to get through. The writing style was far too dry for my taste and it was very slow to get started. I was tempted to DNF at around 30% but decided to persevere in case it improved. To be fair, the second half was more interesting to read than the first, but for anyone who regularly reads thrillers you can see the ending coming a mile off.

I appreciate that this is an advance copy and errors will be ironed out but the amount of typos and incomplete sentences made it quite hard to read, and there were plot inconsistencies such as the blood type of a character changing from A postive to B positive. Also, characters 'frowned' a total of 101 times in a relatively short book, their poor facial muscles.

I probably wouldn't recommend this but it wasn't awful. 2.5 stars rounded up.

The book starts of sweet and innocent. The couple is planning their wedding, and then the groom just disappears. Amy, the wife to be, is frantic and starts looking for him. Soon she discovers a lot of secrets that she didn't see coming, and discovers that her husband is not the man she thought him to be, in all respects.
Highly recommended, gripping from beginning to end! Recommended.

Amy is two weeks away from her wedding when her fiancé, Matthew, goes missing. She reports his disappearance to the police only to find out a woman named Fiona has also reported him missing and claims that Matthew was supposed to be leaving Amy to be with her instead.⁣
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I loved this book because it was suspenseful from the start to the end. It’s told from Amy and Fiona’s alternating POVs. There is also an underlying backstory from years ago and we as readers could not be sure how it ties to the present until the end. I had my guesses, but the ending was surprising nonetheless. I thought the story was crafted creatively and the author knew how to build suspense. I also found the different POVs interesting and it was difficult to decide who was more reliable. With that said, I do feel the police investigation could have been a little more sophisticated and professional - that’s the only reason I took one star off.
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Great book that was hard to put down! Well written with a unique and enjoyable plot. Would definitely recommend this book.

This is the first book I've read of this author and I can honestly say....It was great. Very compelling thriller that kept me on the edge of seat. I would highly recommend this book. Thank you Netgalley and publisher for allowing me to enjoy the advanced reading copy.

This book started off with a groom that had done a runner 2 weeks before the wedding, Amy his fiancée reports book missing... But so does his lover.

Then it takes a real twisty turn to Something that happened in Amy's teenage life.

I had worked out the connection but enjoyed seeing it unfold.

Also, loved Amy's daughter, Jess, that girl has gumption!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

Thank you for the arc of this book. As soon as I read the synopsis, I knew that this would be a book that I loved.....and I did.
This was one of those books that I found that I couldn’t put down and would read for hours.
The story is told from different viewpoints of 3 characters - Amy, Fiona and Jess (Amy’s daughter) and also a character from the past which occasionally pops up in the story.

Amy is due to get married in 2 weeks to Matt her fiancé, life seems pretty good for Amy, until she is mysteriously stopped in the street and told she is in danger, that very same evening Matt doesn’t come home and Amy after deliberating for a night calls in the police, she is very worried.
As it happens another woman Fiona has also called in a missing man, matching Matt’s description, who Fiona says was about to leave his fiancé that night but has left her home and vanished!

Something is amiss, Fiona refuses to believe that Matt could have another woman but evidence (photos) show what Matt really has done, he has been leading a double life. You really do at this point in the story feel sorry for Amy.
As the story continues, something isn’t right, it seems Amy is being framed and it appears that Amy and Fiona may actually have been friends in a previous life. Jess, Amy’s daughter refuses to believe her mother’s guilt and having seen first hand how Matt is with her mother, she is on a mission to prove her innocence.

Fantastic read - great thriller that keeps you guessing until the very end!

Matt and Amy are soon to be wed, the date is set, all the arrangements made, and then, poof! the groom disappears!

Amy is frantic, the wedding is coming up and her fiance is nowhere to be found. On a street she's warned by a stranger that she's in danger and that Matt is not who he says he is. As the story continues, the police begin to investigate and it seems as if Matt has led a secret life unbeknownst to Amy. The story is told from three opinions, Amy, Fiona and (Amy's college aged daughter).

The opera did a fantastic job with character development and a wonderful plot. There was no true Black or White in this book, all the major players had both good and bad sides to them. I highly recommend this book for lovers of psychological thrillers. I stayed up late reading it just because I couldn't put it down.

I would like to thank Debbie Howells, Avon Books UK and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book and exchange for a fair and honest review.

I got to 75% of this book and have finally called it quits. It is very dry, slow paced and unbelievably dull. None of the characters are likeable and Amy has bored me to tears. I don't know if she had anything to do with her older sister's death or not as I won't be finishing this book, but that one secret is what kept me reading for so long. Her issue with Matt was not the reason I persisted in reading this travesty. This is a DNF and I will not give it another try. The author's writing style is too bland for my taste. This was not one of those intriguing psychological thrillers that plays with the reader's mind... No, it was far from it.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and girlie books therefore am extremely pleased and grateful to them for opening up my mind to something totally different.

I enjoyed this very much. 4 stars 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This was a perfectly OK read, but I never really found myself immersed in it. I thought the plot was rather predictable and the characters dull and unlikeable, particularly Amy, who was a bit pathetic and self-obsessed.

That said, I did read it to the end as I wanted to know the ins and outs of what happened.

It was an average, run-of-the-mill psychological thriller - not bad, but not in any way memorable.