Based on other feedback/reviews, I'm going to be in the minority based on rating. I just couldn't get into the story. It could stem from the fact I have read similar books recently and just am oversaturated on the genre. The ending did have a nice little twist that I wasn't expecting. Regardless of my opinion, I would still encourage other readers to check this book out if they enjoy domestic thrillers.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Next Wife’ by Liz Lawler in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Tess is swept off her feet by handsome and highly respected surgeon Daniel Myers and they marry within months of meeting. Tess meets her neighbour, an elderly lady called Martha King, who says she must ask her husband about his first wife and find out what happened to her. When Daniel takes away her phone and bank card and chooses what she should wear Tess wonders whether she’s made a mistake getting married so quickly. Is this going to be a case of marry in haste and repent at leisure?

‘The Next Wife’ is a gripping and well-written thriller with an intriguing plot and perfectly-described characters. Tess is a theatre nurse and obviously intelligent so I wanted to shake her and shout at her to get out of that house before it’s too late. Daniel is an opinionated, forceful, dominating and generally unpleasant man with psychopathic tendencies, so why didn’t Tess put her foot down and stand up for herself? The story is chilling, the emotional and physical abuse described without being over-sensationalised, but I thought the ending strange, complicated and slightly rushed, although it took me by surprise as it was completely unexpected. Nevertheless, this is an exciting book to read and one I can recommend.

This was an amazing thriller that kept me on my toes the whole time. The author’s depiction of the characters was spot on and the plot had me breathless! A great read!

The Next Wife by Liz Lawler
Publication date - 3rd November 2020.

Fantastic book from the get go! Really gripping, an interesting story, really enjoyed how the different timelines were shown and how they came together at the end.
I read this in two sittings, I had to put the book down at times due to being frustrated at how nasty one of the characters was (always a sign of a well written book).

Would highly recommend this book!

Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A good and interesting read!

I would recommend this to everyone who loves a good story with captivating characters! Definitely a good read!

A good read with plenty of suspense and a few good twists. I felt though that it was similar to other books that I have read.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

When I started this book I thought it was going to be like all the others; woman falls in love with handsome, rich man... they get married he changes, she escapes, end of book, but I was wrong! There were so many unexpected twists and turns that I was kept engaged and wondering what would happen next the whole time. If you are ready to have your mind blown, I recommend picking up this book!

I always like to start by giving trigger warnings, if you are not comfortable with domestic abuse please be aware going into this book.
“You married him... but do you really know him”.
The next wife by Liz Lawler, where do I start. Liz (I hope it’s okay to refer to you as that) I will say this, your story was beyond brilliant. I couldn’t put it down!

A psychological thriller that took me on a ride, I was so attached to our main character Tess, I had to know what happened! We follow a new married couple who left London and moved to Bath to start their marriage, a marriage that would change things forever. We watch as a marriage turn into a domestic abuse case, and then turn into even more.

I honestly thought I was figuring out stuff, but was in for a lot of other pieces.

An amazing story, I highly suggest this book! Thank Liz Lawler, Bookouture, and Netgalley for this read.

A five out of five, I can’t wait to see what other stories we might see from this amazing author. Look for this story on November 3rd. Definitely a must read!

Whilst this is a well written novel that I did enjoy on the whole, it was somewhat predicatable, using typical tropes that many psychological thrillers employ at the moment. That said, it has lots going for it, and I read it fairly quickly. I also like the front cover.

Loved this one. When Tess falls in love with a handsome doctor and quickly marries him, she believes she is destined for a life of happiness but that doesn't last long. What changed her husband into the monster he has become. She needs to find a way to survive her marriage, save her career and escape her controlling husband. She knows she has to stay just long enough to find the proof she needs but when she does it raises more questions than the answers it gives. Who was the woman that lived in the house before her and is that who her husband is trying to cling onto? Great plot, lots of twists and really well written. One of those books that I didn't want to end. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to preview this great book

There are many books out there about the innocent wife fearing for her life and the perfect husband, who turns out to be a manipulative jerk. This book had a few good twists but it was predictable as hell for me. SMH. Loved the cover. Just an ok read for me.

Thanks to Netgalley, Liz Lawler and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 11/3/20

I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is the first book that I’ve read by this author but it won’t be the last. Normally good thriller books for me are ones that throw out loads of twists I didn’t see coming, this one doesn’t have that necessarily but it does have a story that completely draws you into the characters world. My heart was absolutely breaking for Tess and even the side characters were compelling for me. I finished this within a day, couldn’t put it down!

Eurrrghhhh
Daniel, he is vile
A psychopath, cruel, nasty, evil and makes his wife of a few weeks, Tess’s life unbearable
Of course though, to everyone looking in Daniel is wonderful, a surgeon no less, respected, adored from afar and loved, he fools many and all
As Tess’s abuse sexual, physical and mental gets worse she feels more and more alone...but someone has noticed and as she tries to take her own life she realises someone is on her side
I wont beat about the bush Daniel is a monster and the things he does to Tess are appalling, I hated him and have to say for quite a lot of the time was dumbfounded as to why she didn’t just pack her bags and get herself as far away as possible from him as soon as she could, but then it’s a book and if she had it would have been ‘the end’ so I had to get over that, but really he is the devil in disguise
As the book progresses you find out why and the book takes a totally different turn to how you were led to think, its a good ‘change of story’ and it does make more sense, more than that I wont say
Superbly horrendous and believable characterisations and a hospital and Dr/Nurse setting ( with lots of info given on operations, theatres and the like ) made this anything but the run of the mill psychological thriller that I thought it would be when picked it
The ending maybe pushes the boundaries of believability but all told a great read

8/10
4.5 Stars

What a rollercoaster of a book! Fans of BA Paris’s ‘Behind Closed Doors’ will love this.

From the moment I picked this book up I really struggled to put it down, almost reading the whole thing in one sitting.

Liz Lawler’s style of writing is pacey and her short chapters are thrilling and leave you on a cliff hanger which begs you to read another.

Throughout the majority of this book you’re constantly questioning... questioning sanity, choices, reality, intentions. Which makes for a very interesting read because you’re never truly sure if you should blindly follow what you’re being told.

I found Tess’s actions questionable and extremely frustrating at times. For such an intelligent and once independent woman she never properly stood up for herself and immediately shrank into weakness. I’m baffled as to why she continued to stay put when she had so many opportunities to just leave. I know she had no money and she believed she had no friends but did SHE honestly believe that no one would help? That no one would believe her or at least care enough to care?

The ending for me was a bit to complicated and drawn out. I think it could’ve been just as effective if it was a lot simpler.

But regardless of all of the above I thoroughly enjoyed it and I’m very keen to read more by Liz Lawler as this book was so entertaining and gripping to read.

Thank you to NetGalley for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’m afraid the evil husband, multiple wives premise should be retired. There have been some good stories to come from it, some bad ones & some that shouldn’t even try. This book was written well but I felt like I was reading the same book again with different characters & slight variations. Should this writer come up with more original content I think she’d do it justice.

I should never have married him. I ignored the warnings. It’s what you do when you’re in love. Ignore what you don’t want to see.

This thriller will take you on such a wild ride. It will have you up all night not wanting to stop.
This was just fabulous writing all the way around. I enjoyed Tess's part in the book.

Absolutely chilling domestic thriller. This covers all stages of abuse and keeps you gripping on for dear life. The twist at the end is mind blowing and I highly recommend it for those who aren’t afraid of the dark....

A happy new bride moves into a old Edwardian house purchased by her dashing new Dr husband. Is it odd that that’s fully furnished and she’s forbidden from changing anything? Yes. And is a sign of things to come. Abuse on many levels, so well written you genuinely feel fear for the protagonist. Add a confused old lady who whispers about former wives and a mysterious post card writer and you have the perfect recipe for a thrilling, can’t put it down till you’ve finished read. The ending does feel slightly confusing, how all the characters fit together feeling slightly rushed, but still a great read.

This book covers virtually every kind of abuse going. A hard hitting book. Expertly written with a brilliant twist.
Tess marries the man of her dream. A brilliant surgeon. However, it’s not long till he whisks her away to Bath from London. Suddenly everything she thought he found appealing about her, he wants to change. Here is the start of the abuse. He removes her bank cards and phone. Now he wants to dress her. She has to follow his rules. Then suddenly she is at risk of loosing her career at his hands.
I was screaming at her to get out. Personally my bags would have been packed within days.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the arc in return for an honest review

Tess marry` s Daniel after a world wind romance to the perfect husband or so she thinks.
He`s a trusted heart surgeon who moves Tess to Bath away from all her friends, to a large house in a time warp .though Daniel refuses to change anything and gets Tess a book on etiquette, he then changes from Jekyll and Hyde playing mind games with Tess.
Tess goes from a confident likeable character to a spineless wimp of a woman after a couple of months who is desperate to leave her husband, then an old lady knocks on her door and tells her to ask her husband what happened to his first wife.
The end twists till you don`t understand what is happening and where it fits in, and you end up thinking what the hell just happened and why is Tess like that!
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.