I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was promised a “totally gripping psychological suspense thriller”. This wasn’t it.

From the beginning the writing reminded me of a Danielle Steel book. The writing is very simple and lacked any depth. Everything was so repetitive. The characters are unlikable and there are sometimes when Emma does not act like any 5 year old I’ve ever met.

This could have been cut by at least 100 pages. It just dragged on. And it was easy to figure out what happened even if we didn’t get Maria’s side of the story until almost the end.

This book is not a psychological suspense thriller.

Unfortunately this book was definitely not a psychological thriller. I would agree a family drama and a mystery but the psychological and/or thriller was not present for this reader. Also there was marked repetition in the description of the stepdaughter. If I had a nickel for every time the author wrote small daughter or young stepdaughter, well I'd have a lot of nickels. 
Not a badly written book, could have used some more character development beyond she said, he said and drinking way too much coffee.  I probably wouldn't read more by this author but she did make me look up and want a salad sandwich.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall, I felt kinda meh about this book. Not necessarily bad, but not particularly memorable either. Giving it 2.5/5 Stars.

I really enjoyed this book. The tension built up slowly and questions about Maria's past were gradually answered, while the reader is left trying to guess what exactly happened 22 years ago and if Maria really is a saint or sinner. The story is told by two characters alternately, a technique I really like, as we get to see the action from opposite viewpoints and can understand and feel sympathy for both. The little twist, hinting that things are not quite over yet, was the perfect ending.

I really enjoyed this well-written psychological thriller by a new author to me.

The book starts with the ‘apparent’ abduction of Emma, whilst under the care of her stepmother, before back tracking some months to fill in the back story about events that led up to this and what appears to Emma’s sister to be a too perfect stepmother.

The stepmother, Maria, was originally doing free make up for Emma and Lily’s mother when she was dying of cancer, before developing a relationship and marrying the father. This all seems too fast for Lily, and whilst Emma and her father seem happy Lily has major suspicions and thinks she is too good to be true. As a result Lily starts to turn into an amateur detective to find out more.

This book had me hooked from the beginning as we learnt more about the situation and the unreleased past for Maria. It kept me wanting to read on and in.. It was quite a slow and steady build up back to the abduction, but in many ways that worked for me and gave it greater depth. This all built up to a great ending of the book. This is a new author for me but I will certainly be reading more of her books. I am happy to be able to recommend this engaging book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing a copy of this book for me, for an an open and honest review.

the blurb of this book really had me hooked, and i was super excited when i was approved for it! for me personally, though, it didn't hit the mark. i didn't vibe at all with the writing style, i thought it was too repetitive for my taste. the language wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me. the story itself is rather interesting, i just think it was slightly too much of the "repetitive ooh something is going to happen that has to do with an event in the past" before actually getting into the mystery/thriller aspect of the story.

while it wasn't my favourite read ever, i didn't feel like DNF'ing it while reading, which is always a plus (obviously, haha). it wasn't bad, it just wasn't for me i think

Lily has always had a simple dream: to be happy like her parents were. Content in their sweet suburban home, nothing in like had phased her mother and father, not even when they had a surprise second child, Emma, nearly twenty years after Lily. But their love was cut tragically short, when Lily's mother died of cancer when Emma was just five. Lily was shocked when her father announces he's going to remarry, less than a year after his wife's death. His new wife, Maria, can do no wrong and quickly bonds with Emma. But then Emma goes missing.

This is a gripping psychological thriller that's filled with suspense. The characters are well developed and believable. They were all so convincing that i didn't quite know who to believe. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I needed to know Maria's backstory. The pace is steady. The story is told from Lily and Maria's points of view. This is a most enjoyable read that held my attention throughout.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #Bookouture and the author #KarenKing for my ARC of #ThePerfectStepmother in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an early copy of The Perfect Stepmother, this one was a WINNER!!!! Excellent plot and characters, I was right there with them every chapter. Awesome ending, you felt so much for the heroine. Thanks again Karen King for an amazing book to read on a rainy day.

Lily is concerned when her dad marries Maria soon after her mum dies of cancer,Lily is sure Maria is hiding something from her past and she can't be the caring angel everyone makes her out to be with her giving free pamper treatments to cancer patients,and with her baby sister Emma living with them Lily is worried about her too.And when Maria starts to get letters saying they know about her past she is convinced her whole new life is set to crumble,I think this is only Karen King's 2nd book in this genre and in my opinion this a great psychological thriller and she should stick to this genre in future.It had me gripped from the first page and the plot didn't let up until the last page.A sure fire 5 star winner for me.

Twisty and turny. I loved the last half of this book. It moved at a good pace and I felt connected with the characters. The second half alone made this a great read. The first half was a little slow and drawn out and if I was to be nit picky the word “pleased” was overused. But the storyline was solid and the characters were very well done. The ending was phenomenal.

Loved this book! The characters were well developed and the story line was so well thought out. 10/10 would recommend

Lilly's father marries quickly after losing his wife to cancer and this book covers the relationship between him and his new wife Maria who has done something her past that she is not proud of. Lilly's sister Emma bonds much more strongly with Maria and Lilly's life becomes very difficult for her. I thought this was going to be a thriller but I found the story quite repetitive in parts and I was just not drawn in to the story. I really wanted to like this book much more than I did, it just didn't really work for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be in the thriller state of mind that's why i picked this book and though it wasn't thrilling but something lifetime movies would show it was still an amazing read. I didn't particularly enjoy this book but i didn't hate it either but maybe it would be appreciated by someone else. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone looking to start in the thriller genre

This was a little slow at first but did speed up towards the end.
I found lily to be such a brat she annoyed me for most of the book.
Mara has a secret - only lily seems hell bent on finding out!!
Enjoyable - more of a family drama than anything else.

Not really a psychological thriller, in my opinion, more of a family drama dealing with secrets from the past. I enjoyed it but I would not say it was a not to be missed book. I think it's one of those books that are forgotten fairly quickly but it was an entertaining read. It all starts with Lily who finds out that her recently widowed father plans to remarry with a woman he knows very little. Lily is suspicious as this woman, Maria doesn't seem to have a past. But she is nice and does lots of charity work and nothing appears to be wrong. Lily's younger sister Emma likes Maria and Lily decides she has to try to accept her stepmother. But then Emma disappears and things get complicated. There were also very few twists, it was obvious there were secrets in Maria's past so when they were revealed it wasn't a big surprise.

Didn't know who was lying or telling the truth, page after page there was twist and turns, and kept me asking though out the book what happened to the younger sister , did their new stepmom have something to do with it or was she took by a stranger

Not a bad story about regret and trying to redeem yourself for mistakes made when you were younger.
Lily and her younger sister are still dealing with the loss of their mother/wife from cancer a year ago when a Lily finds out that their dad is now dating the woman who came in to help their mom in her last months. Lily isn’t happy about how fast the relationship is progressing and how overprotective the woman is about her younger sister Emma. Then one day Emma goes missing and it’s a race to find her, but all eyes are looking at Maria after Lily uncovered Maria’s past, even though Maria claims she was innocent then as well as now. Can they put the pieces together in time to find Emma? Is there more to Maria’s story?
I think in all fairness m it could have been a but shorter and not lost anything, and most of the characters weren’t any that I got invested in. I saw the one major twist before it happened. It was worth reading but not something that I’d rush to recommend.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

This book had the ability to divide me.

Lily and her much younger sister Emma are coping after the death of their mother. When their father Gareth, moves on very quickly to a new relationship with their mother’s beautician Maria, Emma accepts it but Lily starts to behave like a spoiled brat.

Lily really divided me, in a way she comes to accept and support the new relationship, and her new stepmother’s ways of doing things, and in another she acts like a brat. Who is she to dictate or give advice to her father on how he can date and how fast he should take the relationship?

But is Lily onto something. There is nothing online about this woman, she has no family, few friends and rarely talks about her life. And when Emma goes missing (which is a long time coming in the book), could she be right about her suspicions.

This is what divided me about this novel. Emma disappearance was very rushed almost slotted in at the end of the book. I wanted the tension to rack up and to really fear for Emma, and never really believed she was in any danger.

I did sit on a rainy Sunday afternoon reading this book in one go which made it a good read for me. Not outstanding, but it was a good old fashioned page turner if that is what you are looking for then this will tick those boxes.

This book was a page turner from beginning to end. Very captivating with amazing character development. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Perfect Stepmother by Karen King Intriguing family drama filled with lies, deceit and mistrust. With many twists and turns, the story leads to a satisfying ending.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview the book.