When Steven Ashton introduces his grown daughters to his new girlfriend they aren't as pleased as he thought they would be especially since he is still married to their mother. His daughters believe she is after his money because of her age. When Steven divorces his wife, who has dementia, and announces his marriage to Heather secrets start to come to the surface but are they true?
Talk about a dysfunctional family and this story has it covered. I didn't really find the characters likeable and I didn't really like the ending although others may find it a twist.

I love Sally Hepworth's books, and this one did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the story line, and the twists and turns at the end were something I didn't see coming and made you think well after you were done. At times in the middle it seemed to drag on for a bit, but the ending was super satisfying. Good reminders on mental health and the ways we can judge and create stories, looking for ways to validate them.

Summery 

Stephen meets Heather while still being married to his wife that has dementia. Stephen has two daughters Rachel and Tully. When Stephen announced he and Heather are engaged the daughters are very unsure of what Heather is after with their dad being as Heather is younger than them. When they question him how he will do that while still being married to their mom. He just brushes it off saying ill divorce her.  Tully and Rachel start to wonder and start digging into their past after Rachel stumbles upon something in her mom's belongings. As everything unfolds more questions come up and the girls need answers. 


This is my first read for Sally Hepworth. I absolutely love that the main character is named after a winner of her Instagram competition. The first page had me pretty hooked then it just slowed way down for me, it took me till about chapter 10 to actually get into it fully, once I did, I didn't want to put it down. There are quite a few twists and turns and you don't know what's going to happen in the end very unpredictable. I am so happy with the ending. It could have just ended so differently. I don't want to spoil any of it. This is more of my style that I enjoy reading a little suspense quite a bit of family drama. Definitely recommend reading it. Thank you Net galley for giving me the chance to read and review this book.

Stephen is getting married again. One problem, he's still married. His wife suffers from dementia and she's in a home. Simply enough he'll just divorce her. Heather, the soon to be wife, is as young as Stephen's grown adult children. One look at her and they think she's in for the money. Heather has her own reasons for wanting to marry Stephen that she isn't revealing. The girls are determined to find the secrets of their family, only problem is mom can't really help with that, but she does have her ramblings here and there that may help with clues. How far will they go to figure it all out and what will be left when they do.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Even at the end of it, it still left me with some questions. If you are looking for a thriller that keeps your mind wondering what is going on and not many clear answers to your questions, this is it. Who was lying and who wasn't IDK either.
Thanks Net Galley for letting me read this one in exchange for a review!

This is such a twisty exploration of the human psyche. Are bad people completely bad, and do good people have a little bad in them? What is fact, and what is simply the way we see things? I loved every minute of it! So many wonderful characters flawed because of their past experiences. And the ending--oh, my!!

I enjoyed the timeline, starting in the present then going backwards and weaving bits and pieces of the present in until the end. While this is only my second Sally Hepworth book, I feel like this is classic Hepworth. If you enjoyed The Good Sister, you will love The Younger Wife! Thank you to St. Martin's Publishing Group for the digital ARC.

Sally Hepworth is a MASTER of DOMESTIC SUSPENSE/FAMILY DYNAMICS!

In the opening scene we find ourselves at a wedding, which is being described by an unnamed narrator, who confesses that she is a woman of a certain age, watching the man who still takes her breath away, marry a woman young enough to be his daughter.

Our narrator is shocked to also see Pamela in attendance. Married to Stephen Aston for 34 years, Pamela was divorced By Stephen, when she got dementia and was moved to a care facility, allowing him to marry again.

What a guy!

She is even more shocked when Pamela makes her way to the alter during the ceremony picking up a candlestick when she reaches the groom. .There is a scream, a thud, and someone ends up covered in blood.
But, who?

REWIND to one year earlier…when Stephen’s daughters, Tully and Rachel, are meeting their Dad’s new girlfriend, Heather, at a luncheon, for the first time.

From this point on, the story will unfold from the alternating perspectives of these three young women-yes, the “bride to be” gets her say, as well as Stephen’s two daughters.

Is it love??

Each woman has their secrets-some from the past and others in the present, and we get to hear them all, in this FAST PACED, UNPUTDOWNABLE drama, until the past catches up to the present, and we are back at the scene of the crime/wedding.

The last 7% is where this book gets controversial. I read it with several friends and we were divided on what MESSAGE we think the last chapters sent. No spoilers here-but how YOU interpret it-will determine how you feel about the ending. If you view it one way-you might be angry-if you view it the other way-as I did-you will be thinking-how CLEVER!

It was fun to discuss!! In fact, I just decided to round up!

4.5 ⭐️

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for my early gifted copy! It was my pleasure to offer a candid review!
AVAILABLE April 5, 2022.

Thank you NetGalley!
I really liked this book! It had me gripped from the beginning. There were several side plots that were interesting and tied in well to the main plot. It was exciting but also there was a lot of character building and relationship development. It was very dramatic and covered so many issues (maybe too many) but it was good and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

5⭐️ Read! Sally Hepworth is one of my favorite authors. I could not have been more excited to get the chance to read the ARC of The Younger Wife! It did not disappoint! The author’s character development is outstanding. She always does such a wonderful job of making the characters relatable and I always feel like I know somebody like that or I see some of myself in that character. I found myself getting attached to them! Next - on to the plot. An older man has plans to re-marry before he’s even divorced, as his current wife has dementia and is in assisted living?!? Talk about a twist! But it’s just beginning there. I don’t want to spoil anything - you’ll have to read it to find out! The ending was very fulfilling, but I also did have a couple lingering questions - in a good way. Thanks NetGalley & Sally Hepworth for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC!

I was really nervous about this one when I started it because from the first chapter there were women hating other women for absolutely no reason. If that had continued any farther into the book, this would have been a quick DNF.

However - this quickly turned into an extremely gripping and fast paced domestic thriller. I loved that the action and mystery started right away. This is definitely not a slow burn.

I highly recommend this one!!

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC!

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Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. This is another solid book written by Sally Hepworth. I've also read The Good Sister and The Mother-in-Law by the same author and this did not disappoint. There's great character development and it was hard to put down! I'll read more by Hepworth in the future.

I am a huge Sally Hepworth fan. Her books are always enjoyable, and easy to get sucked into.

With that being said, The Younger Wife let me down a bit. Don't get me wrong, there was definitely the twist we all know to expect from Ms. Hepworth, but I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. What I love most about her writing style is that "last page" slap in the face that makes your jaw drop. This book didn't have that.

All in all, I read it very quickly and definitely enjoyed it. The Younger Wife just isn't quite my favorite Hepworth novel.

Two years ago, I gave The Mother-in-Law a 5-star rating. Will this one be as good?🤞
Answer: not as good, but still a really interesting and captivating read that I recommend!

Oh, how I like Hepworth's writing and the characters she creates! Her writing flows so easily and I particularly loved reading about Tully and Rachel, the two sisters with unique personnalities. As in The Mother-in-Law, it's a slow-burn and the plot is mainly about the dynamics between every character and the secrets they have for each other. In The Younger Wife, I feel like the mystery was less significant, so don't read this book thinking it will be suspenseful. Yes, there is a mystery, but it's clearly a family drama (a very good one!).

About the ending... The readers' opinions are mixed and I totally understand. I'm in the ''a-bit-disappointed team''. I'm not frustrated, but I was hoping for something different. All in all, this book confirms that I love this author and I'm sure going to read The Good Sister before the end of the year!📚

Many thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC!

Publication date 05 Apr 2022

Heather is getting married to Stephen, a well to do doctor. Pam is Stephen's ex wife, or she will be when they get divorced! Tully and Rachael are Stephen's grown daughters who see Heather as a gold digger, just wanting to marry their father for his status and money.
But then Pam says something that gives the daughters a new insight to their father and already Heather has discovered something she does not like about Stephen.
I thank the author, publisher and Netgalley for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This book will truly leave you guessing, it was definitely a surprise to me how much I liked it. If you are looking for a book that will make your thoughts twist back and forth with the different characters than this book is for you.

Thank you, NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book.

There was a lot to love about this book. Let’s just start with the fact that one of the main characters is named for the winner of Sally Hepworth’s Instagram competition to have a book character named after herself. Heather Wisher … how fun for you!

The book was somewhat general fiction and a bit of mystery. The characters: Stephen Aston is a doctor married to Pam, who has dementia. Stephen and Pam have two grown daughters, Tully, and Rachel. The daughters meet up with good old Dad at a restaurant and he has a lovely young woman in tow – and she (Heather) is about their same age. And he announces they are getting married. But what about Mom? Sure, she is in a care facility, but you are still married….

Now I know what you might be thinking, and I thought the same thing – little gold digger! Keep your hands off our father! However, as the story unfolds, and we learn more and more about the three young women, their mother, and a mysterious woman we learn about in bits and pieces along the way. We start to be able to identify with all of them as they become vulnerable and get to know what makes each tick.

In this book you will read about domestic violence, rape, excessive alcohol use, gas lighting, kleptomania, food addiction, abortion, the complexity of the relationship between sisters, and hear a whole lot of Dad jokes. It pulls you in quickly and the pages turned quickly.

The time is present day (several COVID references) and the place is Australia. This always leads to looking up words or phrases such as “op shops” which is what we call a thrift store or 2nd hand shop. What are Golden Goose trainers? They actually sell them in the US but I have never heard of them. Love the way a nosey neighbor is referred to as a “stickybeak”. And Panadol! What is this mysterious drug and what does it do to you? Oh…it’s basically just Tylenol. Ha.

I don’t want to include any spoilers so all I will add is that it was fun to read about the inspiration for the situation with the water bottle in the Acknowledgements section.

One of my favorite scenes was with Rachel and Darcy where Rachel is confessing about “something” and Darcy offers a completely different point of view. So lovely.

I did not want the book to end!

I couldn’t put this story down. It starts off where you meet young Heather who is marrying the much older Stephen. You also hear the story told from Stephen’s two daughters, and his wife. Each character is dealing with their own set of complex issues, that add value to the overall story. As the wedding approaches and Heather begins to have more accidents and injuries she can’t help but think Stephen might be the one hurting her. But who should she reach out to for help, one of his own daughters? His now ex wife Pam? She realizes she is utterly alone, and begins to think she is going crazy because Stephen is a doctor and would never hurt her. The story is told leading up to the wedding, where everything comes to a head. I do wish that what came after the wedding offered a bit more promising evidence and answers, I felt like things were loosely tied up. The epilogue came as a surprise, as it literally left me with more questions than I had before I read it. Overall, a great thriller with lots of elements of surprise. Sally Hepworth’s books truly never disappoint!

📚Book Review📚

Genre: Domestic Thriller
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Release Date: April 5, 2022


Where are my Sally Hepworth fans at?? 🙋🏽‍♀️❤️🙌🏼

I first fell in love with Hepworth’s writing in 2019 when I read The Mother-in-Law. That book kept me on the edge of my seat and all of the twists and the final turn gave me whiplash!! 🤪 This year I read The Good Sister and it was also twisty and unforgettable. So if you have read those (and even if you haven’t) mark your calendars for April 2022 for Hepworth’s newest one that will have you feeling like you are on a rollercoaster with all her tricky and twisty reveals. If you are someone who loves character driven novels, family drama, and books where the characters have way more issues than you do and you inevitably end up feeling better about yourself, this is the book for you!! 🤪🙌🏼👏

The book centers around two sisters, Rachel and Tully, their father and his incredible new and young fiancé, and their mom who is suffering from severe dementia. Rachel is a baker that hasn’t dated in forever. Tully is a mom of two boys who has a shameful secret and a husband who just made the worst investment. Their father, a heart surgeon, just divorced their mother who lives in a care facility so he can marry a women, Heather, who is his daughters age. 😳 The book is told in alternating perspectives and with each new chapter there are little reveals about our characters. Some are subtle and others are big ‘ol bombs that feels make your brain start spinning out of control trying to guess what is going to happen next. The book starts with someone collapsing at a wedding and throughout the book you are given little nuggets to help you try to figure out who it is and why in the world they are unconscious.

If you like books with short chapters and quick page turners I highly recommend this one for you in the new year! Enjoy!

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s press for this digital ARC copy.

Thank you NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the advance copy of The Younger Wife, to read and review.

I tried very hard to stay with The Younger Wife with all the character's dysfunction and layers of secrets; it was like peeling back an onion of hard subject matter (domestic violence, dementia, food addictions etc). But in the end I did not finish reading the book. I look forward to reading other books by Sally Hepworth, as she was highly recommended.

Look for this one in April, 2022!!!

Natalie (Tully) and Rachel’s mum has dementia. Their dad is remarrying a younger woman right in front of her. All hell breaks loose. And that’s just the first chapter. Talk about a page turner!!!

The entire family - Rachel, Tully, Stephen (their dad), Heather (the younger wife), Pamela (their mom) - has secrets. As these secrets slowly begin to see the light of day the world around this family begins to close in on them, and then collapse. The clever twists and turns make this book worth the read and definitely one to look forward to!!

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC! I devoured this book so quickly. Told from the perspective of sisters, Rachel and Tully, as well as their dad's fiancé, Heather, The Younger Wife is a character driven psychological thriller that will have you thinking, "I need to discuss this book with someone else... stat." Fans of The Last Mrs. Parrish and Tell Me Lies will enjoy this book. I am picky when it comes to this genre, but I would recommend this book!

TW: SA, abuse