A dark, twisty, fast-paced read, with an unreliable narrator - who doesn't love one of those?

I hooked, I just had to keep reading to find out what really happened. Every time I thought I'd sussed it out, I was proved wrong.

Practically perfect - I just missed out on 5⭐ because I thought it was a bit too far from reality towards the end.

I'll definitely be keeping my eyes peeled for Howell's next release.

A huge thanks to Avon & NetGalley for gifting me a copy in return for an open & honest review.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

A really good start and had me gripped. I also liked the fact that it was based in Steyning as I know the village. It took me a while but I did work out the twist before it was revealed but it didn’t spoil the story as I often do this. It lost a little along the way for me and I found myself losing concentration but overall not a bad read just not anything that stood out. Thank you to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for letting me read and review this book.

🎃BOOK REVIEW🎃⭐️⭐️⭐️
#thevow by #debbiehowells @avon_books @netgalley

I found this book a struggle if I’m being honest. The first thing was that I didn’t gel with the main character Amy; I didn’t find her likeable or feel sympathetic to her story and this grated on me throughout the book.

I also found the storyline was very dragged out with so much dancing around the subject when what you really needed was movement in the plot, clues and discoveries.

I think after reading the end, there was a decent story here and although not unique, it kept me guessing till the end and the author did a pretty good job of keeping you wondering and moving suspicions around. Just somewhere somehow it didn’t flow and work together.

I had no passion to pick the book back up again when I’d put it down. I think if perhaps if a police aspect had been added making the plot a bit more exciting perhaps this would have made the difference. It just felt a bit flat.

Saying this, it was easy to read, a thriller with a complete story and satisfactory ending and for some that will be enough but I like a little more!

➡️for synopsis

Although a little behind as this book has been published, thank you to #netgalley #avonbooks and author #debbiehowells for allowing me to read this one early!

-Emily

I had high hopes for this thriller/crime novel. It started off seeming good but, halfway through I found my concentration waining, it was predictable and I found the characters very lame. I started to get very irritated with them and I didn’t like the way the book kept jumping from one character to another. It’s a shame as I get a lot of pleasure out of reading but, this one didn’t do it for me.
My thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review.

This book gripped me from the start, I thought it was really well written and the characters were likable. Just kept you guessing throughout.

Thank you NetGalley for my complimentary copy in return for my honest review.

Amy's fiance Matt is missing two weeks before their wedding. After reporting him missing, she finds out he has a mistress, Fiona, who also reported him missing. Both women have secrets they aren't telling the cops but what actually happened to Matt?

I was drawn to the book initially by the fabulous cover and the blurb made it look like an interesting read. It was very suspenseful and the characters were well written and there was a connection to the past that I kept guessing at and was wrong several times.

Although there some scenes that I think sounded unconvincing and far-fetched, this is still an enjoyable read for me.

The stunning cover caught my eye first, and then the synopsis intrigued me. What we got was a fairly entertaining thriller with many secrets, twists and turns.

Ultimately though I was a little disappointed. There was a lot going on plot wise, which I think led to a lot of inconsistencies (to the point that some things were left unresolved) and unrealistic and contrived plot points.

Jess (the protagonist's daughter) was a great character but unfortunately didn't have enough page time for me.

This is a very readable suspense novel.

Matt goes missing leaving his soon to be bride Amy wondering what has gone on and who is the other woman who has also reported him missing.

While you think the story will go along one path, there's an added layer to it and it gets interesting.

Two weeks before Amy and Matt’s wedding, Matt phones to tell Amy that he will be late coming home as he has to wine and dine a client but when he gets home, he needs to talk to her about something. But Matt doesn’t come home, not that night or the next, leaving Amy no choice but to report him missing.

At the same time, a woman named Fiona also reports Matt missing, informing police that he was going to leave Amy for her and it is revealed that Matt was living a double life.

The story slowly unfurls in the voice of Amy, Fiona, Jess (Amy’s daughter) and an unnamed voice from the past.

Amy’s past and present lead us through the story, with glimpses of her past relationships and friendships
Somehow as Amy fell quickly head over heels for Matt, she failed to notice that her daughter was less so, she failed to register how quickly all of her time was consumed in her relationship with matt and that her rose-colored glasses kept her from seeing things that were right in front of her face.

I loved the cover art; it was what first attracted me to the book.

The main character, Amy, was hard to like. The overall plot was slow and at times, repetitive and the portions involving the police were less than believable.

I don't normally read thrillers but thought I would give this one a go for a change of genre. It certainly kept my interest and the pages turning as there is a lot of suspense.

What a great story, it had me hooked right from the first few pages. Fantastic ending, could not have predicted that.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance review copy of The Vow

Amy, a herbalist living near Brighton is two weeks away from her wedding day when she gets stopped by a stranger on the street. She tells her that her life is in danger. Thinking the woman is simply a mad old lady, she ignores the message and goes home to finalise her seating plan with her fiancé, something they've been looking forward to for weeks.

She then receives a call from her finance Matt saying that he's having to work late. This isn't abnormal as his job often involves entertaining clients, but when he signs off the call with the phrase 'take care', her instincts start to feel that something isn't quite right.

That night, Matt never returns home and concerned, Amy reports him missing to the police. Things then take a sudden turn when another lady reports her lover missing - a lover with the same name and same description. When the reality dawns on her that the man she was due to marry has been living a double life, she is determined to find out what has happened to Matt so she can understand the truth once and for all.

This book held a lot of promise for me. I loved the concept, the storyline and this felt like quite a unique thriller, nothing like others I have read before. The book is told between the viewpoints of Amy (fiancé) and Fiona (lover) as well as Amy's daughter Jess and the different dialogue helps build up a tension and back story.

However, there is a lot of repetition in this book - with the same information being repeated multiple times as Amy speaks with someone else, and as a result I found myself skimming a bit. Some bits just aren't believable either and I found the ending a little lacklustre, with some parts that I felt would be more crucial to the plot being simply glossed over or dismissed.

Sadly it didn't blow me away as a result, but a good read none the less.

This one definitely kept me guessing until the very end! Such a great read!! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Imagine planning for your wedding and two weeks before it happens your fiance disappears without trace. Imagine someone you have never met stops you in the street to.say you are in danger.. Imagine everything is being twisted to point the finger at you. A psychological thriller with a twist in the end that nearly hits the mark but for me the storyline was drawn out a little too much which resulted in a loss of impact at the end where everything became rushed. A good story though and well worth a read.

Couldn’t put this down from the minute I started it it was that good.
Excellent plot and story line which certainly held my attention the whole way through and I tried to turn detective whilst reading.
Absolutely brilliant book I highly recommend.

The book synopsis really drew me in and the book lived up to my expectations. Kept me guessing throughout and I highly enjoyed unraveling the mystery. Cant wait to read more by this author!

Absolutely ripped through this well-plotted and intriguing novel! The pages turned themselves and I am so grateful to Avon and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this. Will be looking forward to reading more by this author and have recommended highly to friends.

This is a very fast paced psychological thriller and once you start it's almost impossible to stop listening! I didn't know what or who to believe and it tied me up in knots as it has so many twists and turns, with a great ending.

The narration by Sarah Durham, Julia Bird, Julie Maisey and Joseph Balderrama was great, and the cover of this book is gorgeous!

This book kept me guessing from the start. The twists and turns came thick and fast and there were several ways the book could have gone. I enjoyed the book because it was a break from the usual formulaic psychological thriller. Recommended.

This was a very quick read, mainly due to fact I struggled to put it down! Amy, a herbalist who lives near Brighton, is looking forward to her dream wedding. She never imagined she’d be lucky enough to get a second chance at love, but here she is living with the man she loves. Her daughter Jess has just gone to university so it’s just the two of them. Upstairs hangs the pink dress she chose alongside a soft grey one for her daughter. One morning as she delivers an order, Amy is stopped by an old lady in the street who tells her to be careful because her fiancé isn't what he seems. Slightly shaken Jess rakes a call from Matt, he seems distracted and tells her he’ll be late home because he’s out with a client. He says ‘take care, babe’ - something he never says. Jess is unsettled, but tries on carry as normal, but when Matt doesn’t return that night she goes to bed fully expecting Matt to be next to her as she wakes. However, his side of the bed is empty. This is just the start of a nightmare scenario for Amy and her daughter Jess - where is Matt, who is he and do the secrets of the past always come back to haunt us?

This is an engaging thriller from Debbie Howells. I love the way she builds the kind, gentle character of Amy, to the point where we believe in her, When the narrator changes we have to re-evaluate everything we know. Is Amy telling us the truth or is she deluded and dangerous? I really wasn’t sure till the very end. I think her job as a herbalist also helps to make her trustworthy because when someone is a healer we imagine them as empathic, kind and gentle not capable of murder. The other woman has a credible role too, she works as a solicitor so the police might lean towards believing her version of events. I loved the opposing chapters, especially when we start to encounter the third, unnamed narrator. We have no idea which woman is speaking about the events of 1996, or could it be a third party. Howells drops enough red herrings to distract us - the WPC’s strangely selective answering machine, Amy’s friend who claims to have been propositioned by Matt at a partner or even one of the other women that have become Matt’s victims over the years. The subject of coercive control has been utilised a lot in fiction of late and here it is only part of the story, but explained well nevertheless, The discussion of gaslighting was accurate and explains why we have a fairytale narrative about Matt from Amy whereas her daughter and her friends have seen a slightly different picture. The scene where he has convinced the normally vegan Amy to eat meat was particularly chilling. The ending, when it came, was slightly too sudden as often happens with kindle books because if you don’t keep the word count displayed you don’t have any idea where you are in the book. On the whole a very enjoyable and readable thriller that can easily be devoured in a weekend.