I received an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

*The Second Marriage* by Jess Ryder is an exceptional psychological thriller that grips you from the start and keeps you on the edge of your seat until the very end. The character development is top-notch, with each character deeply fleshed out, allowing the reader to truly feel their emotions—whether it's their joy, pain, or fear. Ryder does an outstanding job of making you empathize with the characters, even as their flaws and secrets are revealed.

The fast-paced nature of the plot makes for an exhilarating read, as the story delves into the complexities of lies, betrayal, and memory loss. The constant twists and turns keep you guessing, and the suspense builds steadily, leading to a truly satisfying conclusion. The way Ryder explores the psychological effects of past events on the present is both compelling and thought-provoking, making *The Second Marriage* a must-read for fans of gripping thrillers.

In English there is a saying 'a leopard cannot change his spots' and that is true of course. In Dutch we say 'een vos verliest zijn haren, maar zijn streken niet' which literally mean 'a fox loses his hair, but not his tricks' and in my opinion that is exactly how I would describe Edward. 

He is charming, good looking, wealthy and has the perfect sob story to lure innocent flies into his web. 

Every dark cloud has a silver lining, but it works in the opposite way too. I often seems like the pink clouds have a black lining and more than one person has been on the receiving end of this in Edward's world.

I immediately took Noah into my heart. It was very hard not to do this and I would have loved to take him into my arms and give him a big hug.

The story reminded me a bit of Cinderella who had to deal with a wicked stepmother and stepsisters. Here Noah had to deal with the same kind of stepsisters, but he could really  count on his stepmother. 

Lies and deceit are central in this intriguing story I enjoyed thoroughly. No matter how hard you try, one way or another, the truth will win. 5 stars

Thank you

This is my second Jess Ryder book. It certainly won’t be my last. I’ve had my day with mysteries, finding them predictable and cliché. But Ryder spins a tale of intrigue and building suspense that I couldn’t figure out. I had a vague idea who might be involved, but the circumstances, the discovery, and the outcome were not what I expected.

Our protagonist is Lily. Homeschooling a young and somewhat troubled boy, she finds herself caught in a whirlwind of romance, and soon married to his father. Despite Lily being swept up in the fairytale, there are red flags from the beginning about the type of man Edward is. He manipulates Lily frequently into feeling guilt for wanting to see her best friend, and it doesn’t take long to doubt his trustworthiness.

I admit, I was prepared to be frustrated by Lily. Initially, I thought she’d be naïve and too trusting, ignoring the signals and stumbling through the ever-increasing warning signs without paying them attention. Thankfully, I was wrong. She is likeable and determined, adamant her new stepson needs to come before anything – or anyone – else.

The Second Wife as a title gives us a clue as to where this mystery will lead: who was the first wife; and what happened to her? The tale that unravels here is more complicated, with far more players involved than a missing spouse. We have bitter daughters; estranged grandparents; and family and friends who are conspicuous by their absence.

It’s cliché to say there are twists and turns along the way. But it’s true. It seemed every time Lily started to uncover one secret, or accept a somewhat plausible excuse, another layer revealed itself. As the mystery built up, I didn’t want to stop reading. I didn’t realise how invested I was until ‘one more chapter’ turned into ‘and another’.

Not only did the mystery keep me guessing, but the building of suspense and danger also heightened as the book progressed. Additional narrators are introduced to fill in some of the backstory. But rather than acting as exposition, it made you appreciate the danger both Lily and her stepson, Noah, find themselves in.

The pacing worked well. Both the clues and next steps of the mystery were spaced at just the right intervals. The second narration was introduced at the right time to increase the suspense: too often, an additional protagonist only serves to slow everything down. Not the case here.

If it isn’t obvious, I thoroughly enjoyed The Second Wife. I like Ryder’s writing: her characterisations; her descriptions; her clever build of tension. You become emotionally invested in the book before you realise it.

Is it the best mystery out there? Nope. But is it an entertaining, suspense-filled story that you can happily pass several hours indulging in? Certainly. If you’re a mystery fan, especially domestic mysteries, then I highly recommend The Second Wife by Jess Ryder.

When something seems too good to be true....it probably is. She's met the man of her dreams, a widower with a young son, and he swept her off her feet. Now they are married, the questions she never thought of before the weeding are starting to stack up into a nightmare. Jess Ryder's thriller is an engrossing story as we watch the bride become an investigator in her own marriage troubles.

My heart was very sore for Noah the entire time reading this and yet irritated with Lily for easily falling for such a trap. Granted I’m grateful she was a bit dull because otherwise Noah would still be suffering and he got a happy ending,

Another brilliant read from the author. She is fast becoming one of my go to authors but I cannot start her books in the evening or I just know I will be up half the night to finish it. And that's exactly what happened here! A gripping plot that compels you to keep reading.

'The Second Marriage' is a superb psychological thriller by Jess Ryder. With a storyline that drops the reader into the fast-paced plot from the beginning, this is both engaging and addictive. Plenty of deceit and secrets are evident early in the plot, without giving away the conclusion, which makes me annoyed with myself for not reading this sooner.

When Lily marries Edward, she also becomes stepmother to Noah, a young boy who appears to be struggling to cope with the death of his mother several years before. She also inherits two older adult stepdaughters who are not overly welcoming for their reasons. From the outset, there are a lot of red flags about Edward's behaviour and the details of his previous marriage. Still, things come to light after Lily's best friend does some digging and finds out some very alarming facts about Edward's past...and that's all I am saying!

As a reader, I was curious and intrigued about how this would end, and although I did guess the conclusion three-quarters of the way through, it did not spoil my enjoyment, resulting in another 24-hour read for me.

If you like to delve deep into family dynamics and carry out your private investigation into a 'who-dun-it', this is an absolute must-read for you! Jess Ryder has fast become one of my favourite authors, and I am already looking forward to reading more books of hers soon.

THE SECOND MARRIAGE
Jess Ryder

A quick wedding to a widow with a troubled son who swears his mom is still alive-what else could go wrong for Lily?

I just finished reading this fun and fast paced domestic suspense novel that came out last year.

THE SECOND MARRIAGE by Jess Ryder was released in November 2021. This my first time with this author-but I doubt it’ll be my last.

The author did a fantastic job leaving chapters on cliffhangers and with loose ends that needed tying up. They felt like little golden nuggets sprinkled throughout and inspired quick page-turning.

The suspense was higher in the beginning than towards the end as things were wrapping up but there was still plenty of ends to tie up and I thought the author did so nicely.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy!

⭐️⭐️⭐️

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙞𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙗𝙮 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙍𝙮𝙙𝙚𝙧

This was a thoroughly engrossing thriller that drew me in straight away and kept me engaged throughout. The chapters alternate between the perspective of Fran (Edward’s second fiancé) and Lily (his second wife) in the past and present.

I loved Lily’s kind, confrontational, fierce character and thought she coped well in such a crazy situation. Noah was troubled but so brave and the character development was great — I loved the bond that formed between Noah and Lily, and Lily and Marsha’s strong friendship.

I did guess one or two of the twists but this didn’t take away from my overall enjoyment as this was fast paced and interesting throughout and kept me up until 2am last night as I just had to find out what happened. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a mysterious domestic suspense with engaging characters.

𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆ (3/5)

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐫 + 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐞𝐀𝐑𝐂!

The plot definitely catches the attention and it was very interesting to find out more about the characters. Once you get to a certain chapter, you can't stop reading until the end. Some details at the end I didn't like so much, but overall everything ok.

I absolutely loved this book. I'm really into thrillers and this one totally had me. At first I couldn't remember what this was about. Thr beginning was weird to me but then I looked up the synopsis and I continued reading. I definitely do not regret it. It was such a good read. This guy was such a trip and I never knew what was going to happen. I throughly enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.

This is a domestic thriller , with plenty of tension and suspense. I was suprised at every step of the book . It held my attention the whole way through. Highly recommend.

A great domestic thriller, this had me running in circles as Lily tried to make sense of the family she had married into. A rollercoaster ride, the plot twists made the book so worth it with new truths coming in every few pages. The family dynamics kept me quite into the story, with the characters evoking emotions from me. A great read.

Lily accepts a marriage proposal from Edwards even though she’s only known him a few months. She was his son’s personal tutor so of course she started dating him and got married!! She obviously didn’t see the red flags. This book was a roller coaster ride! There were some great twists and turns. This was a good, fast paced thriller. I’m looking forward to reading more by Jess Ryder.
I want to thank the author, Bookouture and Netgalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

After a whirlwind romance Lily marries Edward. Her best friend warned her against this but Lily was swept off her feet. They had met when Lily was employed by Edward to home school his young son Noah. He also has two grown up daughters who dislike Lily from the start and the girls and Noah have never got over the tragic death of their mother. Not long not after their marriage Lily is shocked when Noah tells her that he knows his mother isn’t dead. When Lily confronts Edward he says Noah was only two years old at the time and doesn’t really remember anything from that time. As Edward becomes more controlling Lily begins to question why he is so overprotective of Noah, wrapping him in cotton wool and preventing him from enjoying outside activities. Lily decides she must find out what really happened to Edward’s first wife and ends up putting herself in danger. This was a great psychological thriller, with plenty of tension and twists and turns which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

This was my first book from the author Jess Ryder.
The blurb was definitely what I want from a thriller so I thought I'd give it a go.
In the beginning, the storyline was easy to follow and intriguing, but once the storyline unfolds it all became a bit dull for me and I must admit that I skipped through a lot of it.
It was ok, and i would give this author another chance in future.

Eh, it took me forever to finish this book. I think it was good at the beginning, but I lost interest towards the end. Why would she marry a man she didn’t really know? I think Lily was a foolish character and her husband a troubled one. I felt bad for the stepson Noah, and I didn’t like how Lily tried to be an detective with him. Again, she was foolish. The ending was anticlimactic to be honest. I believe if you like an predictable mystery story, you might enjoy this one.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for my ARC. My review is my own opinion.

Despite having known Edward for a short time, Lily is excited to be his new wife. Even though his two grown daughters aren't as thrilled as her, she adores his little boy Noah. Things take a surprising turn when Noah lets her know that everyone is lying to him about the death of his real mother. He believes she is alive and with Edward shutting down her inquiries and questions, Lily takes it upon herself to find out the truth. She soon finds herself in danger and doesn't know who to trust anymore.

I thought this was a good read that pulls you into the story to see who is lying and who is telling the truth. I like that Lily is a strong and determined character, willing to risk her life to find out the truth. Looking forward to reading more from this author.

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book.

A fantastic, suspense filled thriller which kept me guessing right until the very end. Would highly recommend!