Talking about dropping a bombshell... I can only imagine it must have felt like a bolt form the blue for Stella. 

Shame on you, Rob for bringing up the matter of divorce like this and for believing you are the one to decide everything, for putting Stella with her back against the wall.

Good on Stella, though for fighting back. She is loving and caring, but does not get much in return except for her darling daughter. What is she hiding and who does she not want to find out the truth?

Shame on Rob for wanting to play both sides.

Shame on Lee for being so harsh, selfish. and feeling so high and mighty

And then there is Molly, the sister does not want to have anything to do with anyone. The big question is why?

Lots of questions arise and I had a great time seeing them being answered one by one. 

This is a story about broken relationships between different people and second chances for some of them. Unfortunately some were ruptured beyond repair. One way or the other karma deals with those who thought their behaviour was totally acceptable. Karma clearly protects the wronged ones and I can only applaud this. :) 5 stars

Thank you

I must firstly apologise for the amount of time it has taken me to provide a review of this book, my health was rather bad for quite some time, something that had me in hospital on numerous occasions and simply didnt leave me with the time I once had to do what I love most.

Unfortunately that does mean I have missed the archive date for many of these books, so It would feel unjust throwing any review together without being able to pay attention to each novel properly.

However, I am now back to reading as before and look forward to sharing my honest reviews as always going forward. I thank you f0r the patience and understanding throughout x

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Ahhhhh family dramas. Why did this one hit so close to home?
Our story revolves around Stella, excited for her 40th birthday lunch with her husband, Rob. The jerk shoes her a house and drops the bomb: he wants a divorce 🤯
Rob seems to think she will settle for only seeing their daughter on the weekends, with him getting custody during the week.
What’s going on here? What does he have over on his wife? 🤔
I thoroughly enjoyed this story, I read it in one sitting!

What a thrilling ride!!

Description
My husband is asking me to do the impossible. But if I don’t do what he wants, he will tell our daughter everything…

Stella follows her handsome husband Rob to the beautifully laid-out table in the restaurant he’s chosen specially for her fortieth birthday lunch. As the waiter pops the champagne, Rob proposes a toast and their crystal glasses clink together in celebration. Stella knows how they must look to anyone watching. Two people very much in love, with the perfect marriage and the perfect life.

But Rob is about to drop a bombshell on Stella. He wants a divorce.

If she doesn’t give him exactly what he wants – the house, the money and full custody of fourteen-year-old Georgie – he will tell their precious daughter the one secret Stella has worked so hard to protect her from.

Stella has a choice to make. To fight for her daughter, there is only one person she can turn to for help. Someone she hasn’t spoken to in over a decade. If she doesn’t, Rob will win. But to do it means facing up to her biggest regret, and risks losing Georgie forever, once she learns the truth…

An absolutely heart-breaking and gripping novel about the price of keeping a secret. Fans of Amanda Prowse, Kate Hewitt and Susan Lewis will be gripped by this emotional family drama from the very first page.

This is a brilliant book. Not to be missed.
This is the first Ali Mercer book I have read and certainly will not be the last.
I found it an emotional rollercoaster of a read and totally page turning.

A real page turner if you love family dramas and hidden secrets. Good characters some you love and some you hate but plenty of twists to keep you interested and a good twist at the end

A book of suspense and secrets in a failing marriage. The writing was smooth though the tension could be ramped up. The plot twists though predictable were fun to read. This was enjoyable.

In Ali Mercer's the Marriage Lie, this riveting domestic suspense novel will leave you at the edge of your seat and hold your breath. What do you do when someone holds something over you? It all started for Stella Castle's 40th birthday when her husband treated her to a special dinner and gifted her to a home for where she lived alone. It caught her off guard when her husband wanted a divorce from her. If she didn't do what he wanted, he would reveal a terrible secret about their daughter's birth. With no where to turn, she went to her mother for advice. But she later learned that Rob was having an affair with someone else and carried his child. Was this some part of his midlife crisis to ditch her in the ditch? To protect this terrible secret, she would have to reach out to her younger sister Molly, who have been estranged from her family for years. When her mother passed away, she reached out to her sister before she left the funeral service. It only made her more determined to reconnect to her and to break free from Rob's dominating hold on her. Then, when her stepfather passed away shortly after her mother's death, she connected to Molly again and didn't show up for the service. In the end, Stella learned the shocking truth about her daughter and promised to protect her to the end, when they've both told Georgie a partial truth to satisfy her daughter's curiosity, and made their bond stronger than ever and better than before.

Great plot that keeps you guessing throughout and lots to think about.
Overall, it was a great tale of family drama that has sacrifices, trauma, secrets, and devastation.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC

On Stella’s 40th birthday, her husband Rob takes her out for a nice meal, takes her to a new house he has purchased and then tells he wants a divorce and threatens to blackmail her if she doesn’t agree to it. As if that isn’t enough to deal with, she has to find a way to break it to her 15 year old daughter who is at school camp. Whilst pondering all this, her mother dies unexpectedly and old family secrets come bubbling to the surface. A really enjoyable read with some male characters who are easy to despise.

The Marriage Lie is a clever story. It is a family drama that rips the reader a part. The author has you hooked from the beginning of the book with a cruel plot twist and I couldn't stop reading it till I was finished.

A good, easy read. I got a bit frustrated with Stella at times as I thought she was far too nice to Rob, considering what he had done to her! I had worked out the Molly connection quite early but that didn't distract too much from my enjoyment of the story.

This is a family drama rather than a thriller which is my usual choice of book, All of the characters have secrets but I didnt really like any of them.(the characters, rather than the secrets, that is) An enjoyable read

This book totally exceeded my expectations. I thought the story sounded fascinating, and I love this author, but I didn’t expect this book to get inside my head so much, and to be so atmospheric and so difficult to put down.

The timeline goes back and forth between the past and the present, and it’s clear that there’s a pretty big family secret that’s been hidden for a long time.

I liked Stella, and instantly disliked Rob, and I couldn’t understand how she could be so compliant with everything that he wanted, but as I got to know her better I could see a strength in her, and began to understand all that she had been through.

This is a book to totally get immersed in, and I found myself totally captivated by it. A really enjoyable read, but also an all-consuming one, with family drama, secrets and twists and turns. I completely devoured it

Stella has everything in her life, a handsome and rich husband, a lovely daughter and a beautiful home. But it doesn't necessarily mean everything is going fine in her life. Her husband takes her out for dinner on her 40th birthday and gifts her a brand new home and has arranged everything that she needs in advance.

In short, he wants her to move out of his house and agree to the divorce. If she rejects or questions any of it he will reveal the secret she is hiding all these years to their daughter. Will Stella agree to his terms? What's the secret she is hiding from her daughter?

I thought this would be a good thriller but was very disappointed at the end. It started with an interesting and mysterious circumstance but it was just for a few chapters. As the story progressed I lost my interest and found it very hard not to DNF it.

It wasn't a thriller but rather it was just a family drama with a bit of mystery. And the secret when revealed did not surprise me even for a bit and there was no thrill whatsoever. The main character was very weak at the beginning but gradually she became confident and strong but it's hard to like her character in the story. If you like family dramas and women's fiction with only a bit of mystery then you can give this a read.

On her 40th birthday, Stella is shocked when her husband announces that he wants to separate. He drops her off at a new house but Stella refuses to accept that the marriage is over. There are secrets the couple have kept for 15 years and her husband now threatens to reveal them...
OK, so I am actually reviewing this on my own 40th birthday which is kind of weird: I can't imagine my day turning out in the same way! OMG the shock that Stella faces after lunch on her special day!
The Marriage Lie is a tense domestic thriller with a psychogical edge. It's about the disintegration of Stella and Rob's marriage in tandem with the revelations of the past they share and have concealed. From the start, there is an edginess to their interactions and it is clear that Rob has been controlling the relationship from the start.
Stella is confused and scared about the past, present and future. Added to this is the emotional dimension of wanting to protect their daughter, her stepdad's cancer, and the tangled relationship with her sister and mother. There are clues throughout the first half of the book as Rob makes thinly veiled threats. I think it was pretty obvious what the big twist would be and I also guessed another secret.
The first person narrative allows us to identify with Stella as her disbelief overwhelms her. There are chapters to show events in the past and how she has allowed Rob to control all aspects of her life. I wanted to shout at her to stand up to him but when she does respond in anger he threatens her with allegations of abuse to force her compliance. Rob is cruel and selfish and had me mad at him from the first page!
The Marriage Lie is a compelling and emotional read that will have you rooting for the lead character

The Marriage Lie has an interesting storyline. I was completely intrigued by the premise and found myself wondering what would cause a husband to ask for a divorce on their wife’s birthday.
Over the course of the novel, I found the answer to that question and so many more I didn’t even know to ask. There are twists and turns that for the most part the reader can anticipate. However, knowing many of the secrets didn’t take away from how the information was delivered. The Marriage Lie is well written. It came out the gate strong, waned a bit, and then picked back up for a satisfying conclusion.
The only issue I have is with the characters. For ninety-five percent of the story, I either couldn’t relate to them or honestly hated their behaviour. I could not understand how Stella ever married Rob, let alone stayed with him through all his mistreatment. I wanted more of Molly and Tony but that would have changed the story completely.
If you’re a fan of villains, this one’s for you.

The Marriage Lie from the beginning drags you into a beautiful story of asking questions of what could make a man buy a house for her birthday and coldly treat her so. It forces you to find the answer in the story plus the growth of character.
This was my first Ali Mercer read and it definitely won't be my last.

First book I read and finished in one setting in a long time!

The story started out interestingly enough with the couple celebrating her birthday. It was an interesting birthday to say the least, bizarre and foreboding. I felt like the mystery was going to be predictable but because it wasn’t , the story was engaging. The story reminds me of Lisa Jewell books.

Not sure how I feel about the plot since it felt like a lot of balls being juggled in the air and not really well connected. The fact that her husband had an affair felt unresolved and left unclear. Why would she want to be in a marriage that felt controlling? I am not sure I find the secret believable and realistic but when finished the story incomplete. I had a lot of questions to reflect upon in order for me to make sense of it all.

I'm disappointed to say that I am in the minority with those that rated this a 5 star book. And I wish I could even give it a 4 but I don't feel I would be honest if I did.
Originally I was drawn to this book by the well done cover and the enticing synopsis. It is a well written book and an easy read but with a slow start and not much excitement throughout. I wouldn't classify it as a thriller. It is more of a women's fiction with domestic/family drama and little bit of mystery thrown in. The twist wasn't really a twist and I wasn't surprised by it so no "thrill" for me.
Unfortunately, I was not able to connect with any of the characters. I did not really like any of them especially Stella, the main character. During the first part of the book I couldn't stand her and almost gave up on reading because of how weak she was. I hated Rob all the way through... what a jerk! and was really happy to see him get what he did in the end.
The story was told all from Stella's perspective with flashbacks to the past. I like that through the story Stella grew stronger and more confident. I especially liked that she "won" in the end.
If you like family dramas, women's fiction with a little bit of suspense then I recommend you check this book out for yourself. If you are looking for a thriller, you may be disappointed too.

Thank very much to Bookouture and NetGalley for giving the opportunity to read and review this book.