Part atmospheric thriller, part family drama, “The Marriage” by K.L. Slater is a fast-paced novel full of twists that kept me engrossed from beginning to end.

Ten years ago, two best friends got into a fight outside a nightclub that led to tragic consequences. With one deadly punch from Tom, Jesse was killed and two families torn apart. Shockingly, after Tom’s decade-long prison sentence, Jesse’s mom Bridget has married her son’s killer!

This was my first K.L. Slater book, and I thoroughly enjoyed this twisty and original premise, especially in a genre where storylines are feeling a little stale these days. Told from multiple viewpoints, it’s clear that each character has their own agenda and secrets. Do Bridget and Tom truly love each other, or are there more sinister motives at play? And what really happened all those years ago that led to the deadly altercation? Just when I thought I had it figured out, there was another twist!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing me an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was the first book I've read by this author and I have to say I really enjoyed it. It definitely kept me guessing. Every guess I had was wrong and the outcome wasn't a guess I even had. Love books like that! Solid read and mystery.

Definitely recommend.

Thank you #netgalley and #bookouture for the eARC.

I absolutely LOVED this intriguing twisty tale. It had me guessing everything throughout as a lot of the chapters end with you asking more questions! Totally captivated me and I will be recommending this to others.

Thankyou to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author, KL Slater, for the opportunity to read an advanced readers copy of The Marriage in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion. .
Such a roller-coaster plot. I was hooked. Each time I thought I had worked out where the author was taking me, another twist got thrown in.
Well worth a read.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this Arc.
Well K.L. Slater has done it again!
An absolutely captivating and brilliant book.
Tom and Jesse have been best friends since childhood. But on one fateful night out following an argument Tom inadvertently kills Jesse. Why??
Tom and Jesse's mothers are also best friends. Up until that night!!!
Read on you definitely won't be disappointed!! And that ending......wow!!

Such a great book. This author always puts out books that you can't seem to put down.
So much drama going on.. got to love it!
Another one that you get right into the characters.

Thanks to the author, tge publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book.

I read this book completely because of its scandalous blurb!

........Ten years ago he killed my son.
Today I married him.

My friends and family can't understand it. My neighbours whisper in the street whenever I walk past. How can I love a man like Tom?

They don't know me at all........

That premise is just so twisted (or as one of the characters calls it - obsene) that I had to know how the story was gonna play out.

The weather has been so nice this weekend and this was a great book to take outside, have a cocktail with, and get lost in the crazy. 3.5⭐

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy.
Available May 20th.

In April 2019 Bridget, 48, marries 28 year old To. In HMP Nottingham. Tom has served ten years for the manslaughter of Bridget’s son Jesse. Say what?? Yes, it’s true, they keep their marriage secret until Toms release and then you can imagine the fireworks.

I like KL Slater’s books because they always take you on an interesting and twisty journey. The premise of this one is really good and gives huge scope for examining the ensuing family dynamics and testing relationships especially after a tragedy. This premise arises out of the Restorative Justice programme for examining fault and blame in the hope of acceptance and making amends where applicable. The characters are good and there’s a balanced mix of likeable and others definitely not so much. Bridget really intrigues me as her background is a tough one, there’s definitely steel going through her core but long before she marries Tom she has made something good out of Jesse’s death. She seems to have deep love for Tom although you do find yourself questioning the truth of it and not totally trusting it. The impact and shock of Tom’s conviction and imprisonment on his parents is very well done as is their reaction to the marriage. There’s a lot going on in the novel, there are elements of control, a multitude of secrets and lies and the deeper you go the more unsettling it gets and you waver in your thoughts on characters, witnessing illusions, delusions and knowing that scales need to fall from eyes. There are plenty of twists, some are surprising and it’s probably best to just suspend disbelief and go with the flow for an enjoyable read. I really do like the ultimate end as there’s some sort of justice there and also the black humour of it!

There are one or two issues with the timelines jumping about a lot which is somewhat confusing at times and there are a lot of different points of view which leads to some repetition. However, when seen as a whole these are small points as the positives greatly outweigh the negatives.

Overall, another entertaining domestic noir with plenty of thoughtful elements especially with how individuals cope when tragedy strikes and coping when a family member goes to prison.

With thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

The Marriage: K.L. Slater
Thank you to @netgalley and @bookouture for a early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ten years ago, Bridget’s son was killed, and now she is marrying the man who killed him.

Changing perspectives and timelines tell us the story of Tom and Jesse, best friends since their moms met in a playgroup. Then one night, when they were out as 18 year olds, a fight led to a tragic ending. After 10 years in jail for killing his best friend, Tom is about to be released and a few months before that happens, he marries Jesse’s mom.

We learn how Bridget and Jill met and how their friendship grew as the boys’ did. We see the night Jesse died, but things may be more than seem.

Tom’s mom Jill is excited for her son to return and makes plans to get him started off on the right foot. Then Tom and Bridget break the news of their marriage. Jill is devastated and furious. Bridget could be Tom’s mom. How could she truly claim to love the man who killed her son, when she also was a constant presence as a mother figure as he grew up? Is she plotting revenge against Tom?

In a novel where everyone is more than what they seem, I couldn’t tell who had the most secrets, and who was plotting against who. With plenty of twists and turns, the ending was truly a surprise.

Is true forgiveness possible after someone takes away your loved one? Can a tragic accident really be just that? And are happy families truly happy or are there skeltons in the closet?
⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

#bookstagram #bookstagrammer #cincinnatibookstagram #netgalley #bookreview #booklover #readersofinstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #booknerd #books #reading #themarriage

Thriller? No. Drama? Yes! This book is a wild one. How could a mother ever consider marrying her sons killer? This book took a page right out of a lifetime movie but added a bit of spice.

This was a very good read. The author is an amazing storyteller. The characters are relatable and the story is easy to get engrossed in.

The Marriage starts off very strong. Bridgets son Jesse was murdered by his best friend Tom, and this all accumulates in her actually marrying Tom.

Wild????


The story picks up with Tom's release from prison, where he has to break the news off his marriage to his overprotective and controlling mother Jill.

The story itself was very well written and tense, but I would not classify this as a thriller.

Jesse and Tom were best friends until one night Tom killed Jesse with one punch. Ten years on and Tom is about to be released from prison, 6 months prior to being released, Tom married Bridget - Jesse’s mum!

Tom’s mum, Jill has grieved for her son since he was sent down and is so excited to be having him back home with her. Tom’s dad, Robert sadly has no interest in his son.

Jill and Bridget were best friends until Jesse died.
Now Tom is out and there are secrets all waiting to be told.

Wow, what a story! An interesting concept that had me ploughing through the book. Sleep is overrated- isn’t it!
As with all of this authors books, the twists are amazing! The characters are fantastic, you can’t help but feel for them all.
An emotionally charged story that you don’t want to miss.

My thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for my copy of this book in exchange for my review.

Absolutely love K.L. Slater, and unsurprising loved this book! I really think K.L. Slater is an underrated author. I have read all of her books and liked each and everyone of them.... The Marriage had twists and turns I didn't see coming. I kept wanting to know what happened next so I literally read the book in a few hours! I would definitely recommend!

Thank you to the publisher & NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review!

This was fine. I wanted more drama, mystery, and intrigue but it felt a bit plodding to me. This story could have been told using about 100 less pages.

Kindly received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

10 years ago, Tom killed Bridget's son Jesse. And now she has married him... Tom's parents Jill and Robert are shocked to discover the news upon Tom's release from prison, especially as Bridget and Jill used to be best friends and treated each other's sons like their own. As tension escalates, it soon becomes apparent that this is going to be the least of everyone's problems... secrets from the past threaten to resurface with shocking consequences...

Another brilliant book by K L Slater, with a tense and exciting plot, interesting characters, and some shocking twists and turns. I liked how some chapters looked back at events from the past and also how we hear from different characters in the different chapters. I also loved the shocking ending! Can't wait for K L Slater's next book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of the book in return for my honest feedback.

What a twisty delight ‘The Marriage’ was to read! KL Slater certainly knows how to hook a reader. I mean, who wouldn’t want to know more about the woman who married her son’s killer? Could she be that forgiving or does she have an agenda? Those were the first questions that ran through my head.

I found myself easily getting into the minds of the main characters, especially Bridget’s and Jill’s, and I struggled to work out who was behind all the tension and bad things that were happening. My suspicions fell on all of them at some point but the revelations were those of the OMG variety.

The Nottinghamshire setting was just perfect and I had no trouble at all visualising Jill’s and Bridget’s houses, the streets and the charity shop.

I felt the tense family moments which kept me racing through the pages like mad to find out what was happening. Time flew while reading this book and I literally couldn’t put it down. It was a fantastically fast and tense psychological thriller and it is definitely a must read for fans of this genre!

Basically, two best friends end up in an altercation outside a nightclub, and one of the boys, a trained boxer, punches the other boy in the head, which turns out to be a fatal blow. The boy who threw the punch gets sentenced for ten years. During those ten years, he becomes close to the mother of his victim and they end up getting married. Much of the book details how the two families are dealing with it, how the press deal with it and how the two newlyweds deal with it themselves. There are far more things to uncover in this book than meets the eye. I stayed up almost all night reading this book - absolute page turner. The characters were believable; the story was dramatic yet also believable. I will definitely be reading more by this author.

This was just as i expected it would be , a twisty fast paced dramatic read . I've loved all of K L Slaters books and this was no exception .
No one can quite believe it when Bridget marries Tom the man who killed her son 10 years ago , especially Tom's parents . It's complicated by the relationship Bridget has with her sons girlfriend who was pregnant at the time of his death . Neither Coral nor Ellis want to be around Tom and it makes for a tense time . As per usual we know that there is more to the story , are Bridget's motives purely love or something more sinister , and what part will Tom's parents play and is Tom as repentant as we are lead to believe . Great twist that I had guessed . Very good and i would recommend

This book started out really strong. I loved the premise and the beginning was really good since the story picked up right away. I feel like somewhere along the middle the book lost its pacing because I kept waiting for something to happen but it never did. I definitely don't think this is a psychological thriller, which is probably why I was a little disappointed while reading because apart from that, it wasn't a bad story. I was definitely entertained throughout the entire book, the characters were easy to like and it was a quick read.
However I think not everyone who had a POV really needed one, and some chapters were honestly really unnecessary. The ending was predictable and also not exactly suspenseful, everything was suddenly solved very conveniently and therefore felt rushed.

Kim is probably one of the most accomplished authors I have had the pleasure of coming across. Every single one of her books has a been a tight and twisty plot, yet each plot is different with some endearing and not so endearing characters! She writes in a lively and engaging manner, and this novel was no exception. Even though I guessed the twists, that didn’t deter from my enjoyment and I can’t wait for what she comes up with next!