I loved this author's Best Day Ever and really liked The Favorite Daughter so I was thrilled by the opportunity to read an ARC of The Next Wife which was released on May 1, 2021. John and his wife Kate started a business when they were newly married, a successful business that is now going public. Along the way, John and Kate divorced and he married Tish, his administrative assistant, a much younger and sexier woman who is not much older than his and Kate's daughter Ashlyn. The story is told in alternating chapters from the viewpoints of the four main characters, the chapters are short and it's easy to read. Talk about knives out! As much fun as this book was, there really wasn't much substance to it and I was pretty disappointed in the book as a whole. There was a great deal of repetition of facts, in fact the book seemed to go on forever, and none of the characters were likable. In spite of that and although I can't recommend this book, I'd definitely read another book by Kaira Rouda.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book.

A very quick easy read that was entertaining but not thrilling. I had hoped for more and expected more per so many good reviews I had read, but it was a bit simple for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ebook and this is my honest review.

I'm really stuck between a 3 and 4 star review... From page one, I was hooked. I was particularly drawn to writing style, the characters, their motives, and their pasts. My detective skills were put to the ultimate test. I enjoyed the twists and turns throughout, and was kept guessing until the very end. Speaking of the end, I was hoping for something wildly climatic and felt moderately disappointed when I closed the cover. The loose ends were tied up nicely, but the story never reached the 5 star thriller level i had been hoping for.

I found this book boring and predictable. I was reading an 80w evening soap opera. I can’t go back to that time. No characters were fleshed out or realistic and there was very little that wasn’t made crystal clear through the narration. I had to push myself through the first quarter to see what I knew was coming from page one. There were also two really obvious culprits. Then I spent the rest of the book waiting for everyone to stop being bitchy or to just get in a slap fight in the reflecting pool already. Not a thriller. Not even a little.

A twisting novel by Kaira Rouda. A marriage. A divorce and an other marriage. So we have a husband, en ex wife and the next wife. And I can not forget the doughter. John, Kate, Tish and Ashyln Nelson.

They all work together in a flourishing company founded by John and Kate. They grow a lot and there are new choices there will be make. All have sicrets all want they will win. All have great personalities.They are all so simillar that the end does not surprise me. But I enjoyed the reading anyway. I loved the suspance that was created in the story. I will try others book of this author.

Special thanks goes to Netgalley.com and publishers Thomas & Mercer for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗪𝗶𝗳𝗲 has some devious women as main characters. With alternating POVs between John, his ex-wife Kate, their daughter Ashlyn, and the “next” wife Tish, the reader gets a glimpse into the chaos from multiple angles.⁣
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There were situations I knew would happen and others I guess would but actually didn’t occur. Even though I was able to figure some of them out I still really enjoyed the story. ⁣
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Kaira Rouda does a wonderful job writing the characters and the shorter chapters makes it flow quickly. I found myself binging chapters because of the different POVs.⁣
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I will refrain from talking about the storyline because I do not want to give anything away. I think you should read it and find out!⁣

Well, this was fun and helped me a lot after the slump I got from finishing The Secret History. I liked how quick it was and how the chapters were not tiring and just the right amount to keep you interested.

One thing I have to say is that this was a cliché and for about 50% of it I was really excited to see what was going on. But, even though I couldn’t put it down, looking back the execution wasn’t the best. The characters were very exaggerated and cliché like, the background stories provided for them weren’t really a selling point and they were just made of appearances. The ex wife, the new young wife, the guy who had it all but decides to re marry and the angry 20 year old daughter.


From the beginning you can see what’s going on and who to trust, there’s no cloud over their actions and the reader catches easily on that. Their POVs, even though full of twists and turns, weren’t really filled with nothing new or the reader couldn’t guess. It was a plain old stereotypical story with stereotypical characters and there wasn’t anything that made them stand out or more 3D like. And at times they were so dumb and naive for what they were planing or their backgrounds, it made them all even harder to believe as real people. Overall I liked the book and I can’t deny it got me hooked, it’s easy to read, fast paced and not that predictable.

I enjoyed the ending and can see it being a fan favorite, but there were a lot of moments that hinted towards it and the author could have taken advantage of it by not making it a ending plot twist. It would have worked so well if it were developed through the middle of the book. I think this book is great for someone starting at the thriller genre or just into fast paced reads.

I really enjoyed this one. I love when a book references places I’m familiar with. If it mentions Kentucky, sign me up. Love how it was told from several different people’s POV. This is one I would recommend and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

My favorite Rouda book to date! A thriving company that’s just gone public with a checkered personnel problem. John and Kate started their company from scratch and worked hard to “make it”. Years later when a new assistant is hired for John, he considered her his “soul mate” and divorces Kate and marries Tish. Tish is only a few years older than John’s daughter, Ashlyn, but they all seem to work together as the company heads towards its IPO. Is Tish really in love with John or is she a gold digger? Is Kate really OK with it all, or is she just biding her time. All comes to the surface after John suddenly dies, or was it murder? A very fast moving story of betrayal and revenge full of twists galore!

This is exactly the kind of book I needed right now!
It is an easy breezy, fun, and entertaining read. Lately I had been reading a lot of serious and heavy books and this one here helped me sit back and give my brain a break for a little while, and I say that on a positive note. This book can easily be read in one sitting or two. It is indeed fast paced and will hold your attention throughout.

The story is about two women: The First wife, Kate who along with her ex husband John Nelson made the company EventCo from scratch, and the next wife, Tish who was John's executive assistant before he left Kate to marry her.
Tish is just a few years older than John's daughter with Kate, Ashley.

The two women fought for John's attention when he was alive, and when he turns up dead on his weekend romantic getaway with Tish, they now fight over the company.
Also there are rumours galore about Tish's background and John's suspicious death.
The "who killed John" angle works out quite well in the story.

The characters end up doing unrealistic things that earned them an eye roll or two from my end, but turns out that is why I enjoyed reading this so much!

The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda was one hell of a crazy bitch corporate world, domestic drama. It’s a little twisty and gives the reader a good helping of suspense. The characters in this story are totally despicable.

Kate Nelson, always dressed in business suits at the office has been traded in for the newer model by her husband, John. She had had the perfect family, a thriving business they built together and her daughter Ashlyn but her husband decided he had to have Trish his executive assistant, a women half his age and then he ended up marrying her.

John’s second wife Trish Nelson is obsessive, unhinged and so irritating, what a nightmare of a human.

The Nelsons all work together at EventCo but EventCo is about to go public. For the sake of appearances it’s decided that John can’t have both his ex-wife and current wife working for him there as it will scare off the shareholders and could be bad publicity. Tish is asked to leave the company.

Tish is suspicious that her husband wants to get back with Kate when John and Kate are sending sneaky texts to each other and having secret meetings. And just maybe John is considering to ask Kate for another chance.

Tish has a plan and whisks John off on a holiday to their other home in Telluride just after the company announcement .

The hostilities continue to heat up between the wives and are just beginning to get ever hotter.

I did enjoy this domestic psychological thriller story of revenge, rage and greed. A light, easy and entertaining fun read to devour!

Well, lots of marital drama in this book. A crazy new wife, a crazy ex-wife, and a sleezy man who doesn't know what he wants. Everyone feels betrayed in this book, even the daughter, Ashlyn, whose POV we see in Part 2. This one definitely held my interest because you just know there is an unreliable narrator in there somewhere - but who is it - or is it all of them?

I've read Kaira Rouda's other books and she definitely has a knack for creating characters that are extremely dislikeable. By the end, you don't really care about what happens to any of them, but you want to find out what exactly is going on... which makes for an intriguing, suspenseful psychological thriller.

A page-turner right from the very beginning. Believable characters. Lots of tension and lies, even I was frustrated with Tish. The ending was satisfying. Just overall perfection, again, from Kaira Rouda. I absolutely love this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kaira Rouda for this E-ARC in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

Kate is John's first wife, Tish is John's current wife. They all three work together. This leads to several problems. John is rethinking his marriage to Tish and misses Kate. When John suddenly dies from a heart attack there is still the matter of the company and John's will to deal with. The fist wife vs the second wife. Who will come out better?

This plot seems a little overdone and can be drawn out at times. However, this book took a turn. I had a feeling about the ending but it still surprised me! This was a quick read and kept my attention to the end.

I have read and enjoyed a couple of Rouda's other books but his one really fell flat for me. The characters were one-dimensional, and the situation was implausible. Definitely not her best work (although I did enjoy the manipulation of the 'smart house" - that was fun).

Book Review for The Next Wife
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Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc of The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda.

I was disappointed in this book. I am not a big thriller reader as I find them too suspenseful and anxiety inducing. This one, in contrast, was just boring. I didn't want to pick it up and only because it is just over 300 pages is why it got finished.

Tish is the next wife to John, CEO of EventCo. which he runs with his ex-wife Kate. Kate and John's daughter Ashlyn has been interning at the company making it one big dysfunctional family in the lead up to the IPO. The plot after this is predictable and boring. I didn't like any of the characters, none of them were particularly redeemable. Even the 'twist' at the end didn't shock me as I could see it coming. I have read that Rouda's other books are better so I will try one of those but this was just disappointing.

Y’all! This is the kind of crazy train wreck domestic psychological thriller I love! I binged on this book and loved every minute of it! I was engrossed in the story from chapter 1 and just could not get enough!
This is one of those thrillers where you think you know from pretty much the beginning where it’s heading but then the twist at the end shows you no girl! You were wrong!
Tish was one of THE most unlikeable characters ever! She was such a selfish, materialistic, self-serving, gold-digging, man-eater and all around dispicable woman that I just just seething at the whole time!
This was a binge worthy read, I flew through thirty chapters in the first sitting! Definitely a great storyline and so highly recommended!!

Special thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the advance copy of this book in exchange for my review!

Plan to stay up all night to finish the page-turner, “Next Wife” by Karia Rouda.

First wife and co-founder of EventCo., Kate, is stunned to discover her husband, John, is cheating on her with her apparent replacement, Tish. John is facing a mid-life crisis because of a medical condition so it was easy for him to fall for Tish’s charms. Meanwhile, Ashlyn, Kate and John’s daughter, cannot forgive her father for leaving her mother nor is she feeling kindly toward Tish who feigned a friendship with Ashlyn just so she could get to her dad. Yet, when EvenCo.’s IPO launch succeeds, Tish fears John may consider going back to Kate and Tish decides to resort to almost anything to keep that from happening.

The novel is told in the point of views of Kate, Tish, John and Ashlyn. Talk about unreliable narrators. While it’s hard to find any of these characters likable, it doesn’t stop you from wanting to know what happens next. Karia Rouda is quite skilled at building tension and suspension. Do not expect “Next Wife” to be anything substantial and I did find certain reveals to be somewhat predictable, but it’s a quick read and good example of a guilty pleasure. If you’re finally heading on a vacation after fifteen months of not being to travel, this would be a great novel to pass the time on the plane or while at the beach.

Three stars

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley and Karia Rouda for my advanced copy.

For much of the first half of this book I thought it was a very thinly written domestic thriller, I was wrong. As I continued I couldn’t help but agree it “isn’t easy being the next wife”.

Tish, a wrong side of the tracks woman, hauls herself up to nearly the top of the food chain in a tech company by any means possible. She’s prepared to lie, cheat, steal and even murder to get what she wants. What she doesn’t know is that the “first Mrs. Nelson” is plotting her revenge.

What a tangled web these two tie themselves up in. Involve the daughter, Ashlyn, and you’re not quite sure who’s the good or bad guy.

I especially liked the last chapter, from Tish’s viewpoint, where she gets a shock that tends to solidly her “confession”.

Thank you Net Galley for an enjoyable read.