Lucy is a probation officer and today is meeting with Simon, who is a wily sex offender soon to be released from prison. He had bought and sold little children but now he swears he has changed.

Lucy laters meets up with her friend, Emma, in a pub. She is also a probation officer and saying how she wants to move to New Zealand with her boyfriend. After Emma leaves the pub, Lucy stays awhile longer waiting for a rainstorm to stop. She accidentally bumps into a man, causing him to spill his drink. She buys him another to replace it and they start to chat. He is Paul Webb, a prison psychologist. He is familiar with Simon agreeing that he is a scary person. After several drinks, they leave together and have sex in a remote area. Spending time with Paul has become wonderful for Lucy and she finds herself falling for him.

When Lucy gets a phone call from Simon, she is shocked that he managed to get her phone number. Therefore, she switches her phone to another one. At the same time, a young child has gone missing and Lucy fears that Simon has taken her.

After a short time together, Paul insists that they get married. Lucy is hesitant but relents. They seem to be happy but Paul acts strangely at times which confuses Lucy. Thus begins a crazy and scary time together.

This story was dark, but compelling. The reader doesn’t know who to believe - Lucy or Paul. As the tension builds, we realize who the crazy one is and it’s really scary.
I enjoyed it and realize how terrifying it must be to married to a controlling spouse.

This type of thriller was popular at the time it was published: the unreliable female narrator being gaslit by her abusive spouse, so the reader can't tell what's real and who's telling the truth. Three years later the crazy wife plot is a bit tired.

The writing is good and the story is certainly creepy and suspenseful, but I didn't like any of the characters and the plot fell a bit short for me. I couldn't find myself able to root for Lucy--she seemed smart and capable at the beginning of the book, but even once she realizes the situation she's in she does nothing to help herself.

I thought the reader knew something about Paul that Lucy didn't but the reveal stopped short of what was being hinted and there was no other twist in its place. The most interesting subplot was never wrapped up.

This was a perfectly serviceable thriller and I'm not mad I read it, but I wanted a little more from it.

I was surprised to find that the audiobook production was just okay. The narrator was good, but there was some very obvious background noise like the mic moving that could have been edited out or re-recorded and stitched in.

First of all, the publisher’s description doesn’t really convey the actual gist of this twisty novel. There were so many red flags I noticed before they got married about Paul’s Jekyll and Hyde personality switching with the flick of an invisible switch, I lost count. It definitely wasn’t all daisies and sunshine until the moment Lucy found the photographs. Even after she finds photos and starts to unravel all the lies, she is still with him! She even goes so far to sneak out in the middle of the night to leave him, wrecks the car, ends up in the hospital and then returns home with him! Sorry, I just can’t abide a protagonist that is intelligent, but behaves so stupidly and cluelessly.

Secondly, this story moved too slowly in the buildup. Nearly two-thirds of the novel is this mundane back and forth between Paul and Lucy. His cruel, hurtful verbal attacks, her walking on eggshells, over and over. Get on with it already! By the time things started to get interesting and it appeared that Lucy had finally grown a backbone, the story is over and I’m sitting here wondering what happened. Did she get away? Did she dream the whole thing? Is she really in the psych ward or did she escape? I was so let down by the end. I was honestly expecting Lucy to open up a can of whoop-ass on Paul, but I can’t be sure who the real villain is here.

So, what did I like? I liked that the author creates a world where not everything is as it seems. Smart people can and are misled all the time. This story demonstrates so vividly what it is like to be gaslighted by someone you love and trust. This story is a good reminder that we all carry baggage from previous relationships and when the red flags start flying, it’s time to cut and run. I enjoyed the audio performance of Colleen Prendergast. The fear in Lucy’s voice and the cold and hurtful remarks from Paul were superbly played.

My Final Verdict: Overall, I am left scratching my head in bewilderment about this book. Fans of thrillers and suspense will enjoy the edge of your seat anticipation, but readers who need closure and connection to the characters may want to give this one a pass.

Lucy and Paul meet and it appears that they get married right away. Lucy thought she had all that she needed at any point ever, however, she’s off-base. Paul doesn’t appear to be the similar man she wedded a brief time back. He’s lied about a large number of things about his past. Also, he is not a man of his words. Also, he blames Lucy for saying or accomplishing something that she realizes she didn’t. He’s concealing text messages from somebody. Furthermore, that somebody is by all accounts is following Lucy. So, there’s confusion between fiction and truth.

The book is very elegantly composed, very frightening, and the tension was excellent. A portion of the things that occur in the book is excessively manipulative and terrible such that it’s undeniably challenging to see Lucy keep defending them through the vast majority of the book. I realize that this occasionally occurs in actuality, however, how it was composed in the book got exceptionally difficult for me. Lucy was going crazy amid truth and fiction, and this was difficult to read as I felt so sorry for her. There are additionally several extremely fascinating subplots, however, one of them gets dropped completely before the finish of the book, which I didn’t comprehend. The part about Paul’s past sweetheart is extremely intriguing.

The book was very elegantly composed and had awesome potential, but I experienced some difficulty understanding the principal characters now and again, maybe due to the wide range of various subplots going on with the book. The author has an exceptionally thrilling, quick-moving, and page-turner style. I will read from this author again. I also recommend this book to readers who like reading domestic thrillers.

The Man I Married is 9 Hours, 49 Minutes long and narrated by Colleen Prendergast and is the authors debut novel. After reading Keep My Secrets I couldn’t resist reading this or should I say listening to this. I wasn’t disappointed and soon found myself totally addicted to this story. With an OMG start I was dying to know more.

In this story we meet Lucy who is swept of her feet in a swirl wind romance with Paul and they get married rather fast. Then things take a turn and everything becomes unsettled when she finds a photograph. She soon learns that her husband is hiding something and she doesn’t really know him at all.

You more I listened to the more I wanted to know. You can feel the tension and suspense throughout the story making me feel uncomfortable and giving me anxiety over Lucy. There is a scene where I was on tender hooks for her safety and the fear of her getting caught sneaking about!

I am not normally a fan of domestic noir but this story has won me over. I flipping loved it. The narrators has done a brilliant job of bringing this story and Lucy to life.

If you’re looking for a thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat and trying to work out what Paul is hiding, then is this the book for you. This is one really good read.

A psychological thriller with lots of twists. The first half of the book is a slow pace but this does pick up in the second half. The ending leaves a few unanswered questions with the reader being left to use their own imagination as to what had happened.

This book was quite Ok as a psychological thriller. I was not bored while listening to this audiobook. Lucy married a guy she barely knew few days, this was all along looked like a problem and was meant to end as a disaster.

What I really enjoyed was the British accent of the person who made the audiobook (haha really like that accent). Regarding book, I admired the strong will of Lucy, but her naivete really annoyed me, even pissed me off in some places. Why the hell Lucy didn't tell that bastard Paul from the first time he snapped at her with that irritating voice, that she is flirting or chasing man that he should go to hell? As well when Moira told her what happened, she didn't believe her. Can love be really this blind or do you have to be stupid to not see this.
Why would a woman let man talk to her this way? A woman who is a probation officer and is herself quite good at psychology?
And the ending, not sure how exactly should I understand it. Is she dead or crazy, making up the scenes around her?

All in all the story was good, atmosphere is book was as it should be in the psychological thriller, surprises although predictable are there. For the thriller lover can be considered a decent novel.

Wow, ok this was an interesting, suspenseful thriller. Kept me turning pages as I needed to know what happened!

Everything is perfect after Lucy and Paul's wedding until Lucy uncovers some old photographs. Then she spots the text messages she's not meant to see. What is Paul hiding? And why? And now that Lucy knows his secret, is her life in danger? ⁣
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I was hooked from the start of this audio and ended up ignoring my family (dinner? what dinner? 😂) just to get to the end. With lots of twists, I highly recommend this one to my fellow thriller fans.

Thank you Saga egmont media, Elena Wilkes, and Netgalley for this audio version of this book in exchange for an honest review. It moved quickly and the narration was good. I found Lucy to be likable and annoying at times. I did not like the ending as it left a lot of things open and I was confused as to what happened with Lucy. 🌟🌟🌟1/2 from me rounded up to four for goodreads.

A thrilling novel that will have you hooked as you listen along. I love domestic thrillers and this one fit the bill nicely.

A book that I recommend you read/listen to.

A compelling read, Many possible endings. About compulsion, about how a man can keep a woman a prisoner of love. I was on the edge of my seat all the way through. But after all the listening I was left feeling bereft because I did not understand the ending. Very well read and a book that kept you wanting to know what he will do next. Shame about the end. Thank you for letting me listen to this audiobook.

This audiobook is quite good. I liked the story of how if someone tells you often enough you end up believing everything you hear. The ending was a bit random and I couldn't work out if it was all mostly psychosis. Good narration.

I was unable to give feedback on this title as it disappeared off my netgalley app due to an error so it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t give feedback.

Audio version of this book 📚- I was pleasantly surprised by this book , the first book I’ve read by this author and would definitely read another one . The storyline highlighted the horrendous psychological abuse women and men can endure at the hands of their partners and how easy for people to be manipulated. Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy the narrator, I found her to be a little robotic which was very off putting but due to the good storyline I kept on listening

An enjoyable psychological thriller that kept me gripped throughout.

The narrator really brought this story to life and easy to listen to.

I’ve read a lot of thrillers and this one kind of fell flat for me. Lucy discovers her husbands secrets and starts to question herself. The story is entertaining but very easy to see the twists unfold. Predictable for sure. Not a bad read but not great either.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC for my honest review

I really don’t want to meet Lucy, I’ll become just as unhinged as her!
She ridiculously got on my nerves.

Why did she stay married to Peter, why? Especially when she found that photo, why! When she gathered what is was he was hiding, why?!

On some plane in this book I was liking it, on another she annoyed the hell out of me.

You know what I mean right?

It’s dark….don’t go in there….
It’s dangerous, stay away.

But they don’t! Off they pop creeping in where I’d not need to be told twice, I’d be gone in a heartbeat.

Peter. The manipulator.

I don’t need to like the characters to like a book.
But I do need to understand why Lucy stayed with Peter.

At the end of the day I hear you say “why did you give it 4* then Sue?”

Because the plot was good although frustratingly obvious. The author writes well.

There were plenty of tropes in this thriller I liked, there were a few things I wasn’t expecting.
So for that, it went from a 3* to a 4*. However, that couple still got on me nerves!

It’s worth reading, even just to ping me your thoughts!

This book is advertised as a must for " The girl on the train" and I was so pleased to get a free audio copy to read via Netgalley in return for a honest review
Sorry but this book is not a patch on " The girl on the train"

After a slow start this book and the plot seemed full of promise but then it got confusing
I was listening to this book on audio and I had to keep going back and listening to chapters to get back on track
When Lucy met Paul the character was slimy and controlling and Lucy just very quickly went along with it and married him even though she had doubts about him

Not sure where Simon the paedophile fit into the story. Emma , Lucy's best friend had doubts about Paul but then turned on Lucy believing Paul over her "best friend "

The story progressed and had promise of a good ending but then the plot failed miserably the ending I listened to 3 times to try and understand it but I'm sorry I got the gist of what the ending was trying to tell but it was really poorly executed by the author and looking at the reviews on Amazon I am not alone with this view

If I had purchased this book on Audio I not have finished it and I would have returned it

A well written story with characters you can thoroughly get behind or dislike with a passion!
A story with more twists , turns , ups and downs than a rollercoaster!!! An easy fast paced tale therefore Would be an ideal staycation read