📖Book Review📖

I’m a sucker for a well-written domestic thriller, murder mystery, or psychological thriller. This book dabbles in all of these areas and I was hooked.

Callie had always wanted a family of her own. When she fell in love with James, she got exactly that…a wonderful husband, a beautiful home, and two handsome sons. Except not everything was as it seemed. Dillon and Luke despised her and did everything they could to make her miserable. James worked long hours and didn’t witness any of the boys’ negative behavior towards Callie. Despite being treated so poorly, Callie tries her best to win them over. The problem is that everything she thinks will help only makes it so much worse. She spirals out of control and is eventually arrested for murder. This is her chance to tell her whole truth but all of her secrets could become exposed.

I liked not knowing who was murdered even though we know Callie had been arrested. As the story unfolded, I thought I knew who it had been but kept changing my mind as I tore through the pages. This story kept building on itself and I could not finish it quickly enough!

Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟/5

Thanks to #netgalley #kathryncroft and #canelo for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you NetGalley, the publisher and Kathryn Croft. This was a book that I read before. I was about 20% into the book and I was wondering why it was so familiar. It was out before as "The Stranger Within". This was before the days that I would record my reading on Goodreads...Haha! It was a good read. It was very twisted when I read it before and I know it is the same now.

The name change was a good idea.

The Lying Wife
by Kathryn Croft

I’d like to thank Canelo and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Lying Wife’ written by Kathryn Croft in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.
I have read this book under the other title" ‘The Stranger Within’ . I felt as though maybe someone had to take someone's book and plagiarized it I enjoyed it then, and now. A unique read. She was arrested for murder but rolled right along with full confusion with the detective thinking her a lot crazy. Who was the fallen person?

Callie seems to have everything she’s ever wanted. She is married to James, who is older than her, so when they marry, Callie becomes part of his family and also becomes the stepmother to his two school aged boys.
After a series of events, Callie is gripped with paranoia and makes a decision that could jeopardize everything. Will Callie be able to live with the choices she’s made?

The plot was very good, but I thought some of the characters lacked substance. The story hardly touched on either of the boys unless they were behaving poorly or mistreating Callie. Maybe because Callie was immediately the villain. I didn’t care for her, and while I did like the plot, a lot of the story made me want to scream out, roll my eyes. Then Callie became the girl who runs towards the danger instead of away from it, like a bad horror movie. Callie became annoying and foolish.
The ending was predictable as everything in the plot screamed what the end result would be.
However, I did enjoy the book and read it quickly. I would read another book from Kathryn Croft.

It's hard to feel bad for a woman that you know is lying from the beginning. This was a very good domestic-psychological thriller. From the very beginning, you know something bad has happened since Callie is at the police station being interviewed by detectives investigating a murder.

Then we go back 3 months, as Callie is still trying to navigate her new life with James and his two boys - Luke and Dillion. The boys hate Callie. James's wife, the boys' mother Lauren, died a few years ago, and James recently married Callie, who is significantly younger than him. Callie just wants to make everyone happy, and she really wants everyone to love her more. She starts the relationship off with some lies that quickly snowball into more and more lies. She then starts to suspect that James is having an affair and does something that will quickly spiral out of control.

Callie was a very frustrating character. When you start to feel sorry for her, she does one more thing that makes you dislike her even more. I definitely didn't expect the ending, so I loved the twist at the end. I love it when I never see it coming!

The book starts with the wife, Callie, being interviewed by the police in the present. It changes from present to a few months in the past as the story unfolds.

This book will keep you guessing. Callie’s stepsons hate her and this is a constant battle. Callie tells the story and what a story it is. Her life is filled with secrets and distrust. I was intrigued by the cover and the plot. It is a thrilling book.

Started and finished in one sitting and this was a good book which held my interest and I wanted to keep on reading to the conclusion.

Callie has married James after his wife and mother of his teenage children has died. The boys start and continue a hate campaign against her and she struggles to try and stay sane and happy. Unbeknownst to James, Callie has suffered a stillborn child in a previous relationship and her father is very unwell and living with mental illness; she chooses not to share these facts with her new family.

Callie finds unexpected friendship from her stepsons friend and foolishly falls into a relationship with him which quickly escalates. When stepson Dillon runs away they all fear the worst but in the end things are so much worse than expected and someone does not survive to tell the truth.

A good and pacy thriller which I enjoyed. I did wonder that Callie left her dad so uncared for and made such unwise choices but the story and her character were well written. The end was unexpected and certainly not at all what I was anticipating.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was full of twists and turns and literally had me guessing until the end. Highly recommend. A wife and husband that have both not had luck in love. And then they find each other. Could anything be more perfect? Yet not everyone in the family is as welcoming as the husband. And the wife is having to work a little harder to make herself feel at home. And that’s just the beginning… I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thankyou Netgalley for providing me a free copy of this book in exchange of a honest review .

I have been contemplating on this since few days and I agreed to the fact that I could relate to it as I have seen many dramas with the same theme:p
I am describing it because I even cried when it was shown .The pain kids go through is immeasurable.

Talking about the book I partially liked the story and found some things pretty vague at times
Callie is a badass with her own problems ,wanting her stepkids to like her .James doesn't seem to be supporting her in all this making the kids even hate her more .

I loved the concept of the book but in my humble opinion I believe it could have been executed in a bit better manner .

Final rating -3.25
concept -4
Storyline-3 .75
Characters - 3.25

Callie never expected to be sitting in the cold harsh light of the police station, being charged with murder. Her life has never been easy, and she always kind of knew things would always go wrong for her, but she didn’t see this coming.



When she met James, she became a wife, a stepmother. She became the person she’d always wanted to be, but it keeps falling apart and the harder she tries to hold on, the more it splinters in her hands.



But here, with the detectives staring at her, she has to decide exactly who she’s going to be in this moment. Can she reveal everything she’s seen and done, tell her unspoken truths even if it means everyone she loves will definitely turn their backs on her? Or will her lies be her undoing?



“I am a wife. A mother. A friend. But now I am also a murderer.”



As I've come to expect from Kathryn Croft, The Lying Wife is a riveting, compelling tale of the horrors that can happen to just about anybody. We go back in time with Cassie to find the string of events and catastrophises that led to the moment we meet her, as we slowly learn more about her past, about the worries that she's carried with her that might be seeping into her present - it definitely started a little slow and choppy but that slow-burn soon exploded into utter chaos.



Callie, and everything round her was murky and grey - the lines between villain and victim blurring beyond recognition. The characterisation was impeccably frustrating - I didn't know who to trust or what to believe.



A compulsive tale of obsession that is so unbelievable dramatic that I almost believed it was real life.

So, at first, I really felt bad for Callie. The poor woman married a widow with two kids who hated her and went out of their way to show it, behind their father's back of course. And that made me want to scream at her husband. I mean, put your foot down, man. Come on! Ugh! But then Call he does something so stupid and reckless and did I mention stupid that I could have hit her with her own book! Get a grip, woman. Or at least a freaking brain cell. I skipped through the last twenty or thirty percent of the book because it was frustrating and repetitive but the ending . . . it blew me away and I never ever saw it coming. I had a lot of ideas of what might be going on but, man . . . BOOM!

Callie is a twenty-eight year old mature student, recently married to an older father of two teenage boys. As she struggles to form relationships with her step-sons, still grieving their mother and resentful of a new woman in the house, Callie also begins to suspect that her husband is having an affair with a colleague, Callie is a sympathetic character at the start, although she does make some seriously questionable decisions. Croft reminds us of an 'illness' that afflicts Callie's father - one she is fearful may be hereditary - but the details remain vague until near the end of the story, and perhaps earlier more specific mention of this might make Callie's behaviour more understandable to the reader. Overall this is a good read, well-paced and with interesting (and, at times, uncomfortable) themes, and I look forward to reading more of Croft's work.

The Lying Wife by Kathryn Croft

Rating 4 stars

Book Description:
Be careful what you wish for…
Callie has known sadness, and sometimes doubted she would ever have the life she wanted. When she meets James, also no stranger to grief, it seems as though her luck has changed. She becomes his wife, and in the process a stepmother to his two sons. Callie has finally got what she always imagined for herself.
But things don’t go to plan for Callie. She tries to get things right, but at every turn she makes mistakes. If she can only show her new family just how much she cares, perhaps everything will be okay. Yet the harder she tries, the more she fails. A split-second decision leads to her spiralling out of control, and there is no way back for Callie.
When the police arrest her for murder, the dark tale of Callie’s shocking fall from grace slowly unfolds. But how much is Callie willing to reveal about the choices she made? If those she cares for the most learn the truth, they will hate her. Will her secrets be her undoing? Or will she tell the truth, no matter the cost?
A compelling psychological thriller with an unforgettable ending from #1 bestseller Kathryn Croft. Perfect for readers who love Sheryl Browne, Alison James and Claire McGowan.
*** Previously published under the title The Stranger Within. ***

Review:
The Lying Wive is the story of Callie’s marriage to a widow & father, James. Callie wants nothing more than to be a good mom to James’s sons, Dillon & Luke. Dillon & Luke don’t want a replacement mom, especially in Callie. Callie & the boys butt heads and everyone is miserable. A series of overthinking & misinterpretation of events leads to horrible mistakes that will change James, Callie, Dillon, Luke, and everyone else in their circle.

I really like the story - It jumps from present day, back into the past as Callie tells her story; to the police.. How did everything go so wrong? Author, Kathryn Croft, addresses in a skillful way, how a family deals with the grief of losing a wive, mom, and friend in a tragic death; and trying to learn to love a new piece to the family. Mental health and worries of becoming a burden to a partner tend to lead Callie to make mistakes at every turn.

While the story did start a little slow, the overload of information created an unforgettable story that kept me wanting more.

I would honestly love to read the continuation of The Lying Wife & explore the next chapter for all of the characters.

Thank you Kathryn Croft, Canelo Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read The Lying Wife in exchange for my honest review.

Let me start by saying that I binged this book and just could not put it down. It took me a bit to adapt to the author’s writing since I picked this up immediately after finishing my previous read, but once I adapted, I could not put this book down.

The thought of marrying someone you love and their kids absolutely despising you and tormenting your entire life is frightening but Callie fought tooth and nail until the very last second - a martyr of sorts.

I didn’t love the plot point of Rhys (although I loved the spelling of that name!!!), but the more the story unfolded, the more it began to make sense. I thought I had this figured out so many times but I was wrong every time.

While I did feel that some time was spent going in circles and repeating a lot of information, it wasn’t too much to the point where it took away from my enjoyment in reading. However, I do feel there was plenty of things that could have been taken out without affecting the overall plot.

Ultimately, this book was steady paced, always left you with questions you desperately needed answers to, and was extremely well written. I’m looking forward to reading more of this author’s work in the future.

I have always enjoyed Kathryn Croft's books and up until near the end I was thinking that maybe this was my least favorite but then oh boy the huge twist that I really did not expect and which took this to a new level, wonderfully so.

Callie has endured her fair share of sadness and issues in her life, then she meets James and it seems like the tides may be turning. James has also had his challenges but they marry hoping that both their lives will be so much better. James has two young sons and Callie is hoping that now with a new husband and two stepchildren life will be bliss. But the best laid plans do not always give us all of our dreams as we would hope for. The boys express their dislike of Callie in many ways and life becomes a nightmare. We then find out there has been a murder and Callie has been questioned in relation to this. From here on the story starts to get very interesting and the plot and the pace move on a a much faster rate.

If you have not read any of Kathryn's books I would highly recommend you do. I really enjoyed this book and will eagerly await the next. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book! The plot was entertaining, as much as possible a thriller can be of course. I really enjoyed the writing, it was a pretty easy read. Will definitely read more from the author!

This book was intriguing, but at times the characters could be frustrating and hard to read about. If you're looking for a fun, twisty thriller, this may be for you! If you're looking for that next elevated thriller that's going to take readers by storm, maybe find something else! This book was the epitome of "just good."

Thanks netgalley for letting me read this rather sad and emotional story.
Callie took on two stepsons when she married James the boys made life unbearable for her as she had replaced their mother who had died’
The boys hated her and whatever she did was not right,
This led to Callie taking up a relationship which was going to lead to a disaster.

All in all I give this book 3.5-4 stars but it might be not for the reasons most readers would think of.

The first half is really good and even though I am not a big fan of choppy, short sentences, it was not too annoying and created quite suspense so I could not put it down. The heroine was very likeable and relatable in the first half.

In the second half the heroine becomes an antiheroine, completely despicable and unrelatable and I started hating the book and only read to the end to see what happened to the oldest son and foolishly hoping that somehow... somehow the heroine might get redeemed. I do not mind an antiheroine as the main character but they need to be written that even with all their flaws, a reader can still somehow relate to, be partial and care about their ending. Complete despicability is just not the way to write the book. There was a reference to the heroine having a bipolar disorder so I tried to be compassionate and hoped that the character is unreliable and some things might have never happened as we are told. Sadly her mental illness is never addressed later on or there is no closure on the matter.

The ending was completely ridiculous and off the charts. There is no way anyone would have a wine glass thrown in their face and would not call police or be okay with it. There is no way anyone would ruin their life over an almost stranger especially who must have been psychotic and in need of help, not being put under the carpet as it never happened. Without going into the details, their relationship or her "love" was completely forced and unbelievable. Unless you are a biological mother and thus conditioned by an unconditional love that makes one completely blind sometimes, no one would ever make such a stupid decision and sacrifice their life. It seemed to me that the author got this "genius" ending idea before starting the book or somewhere in the middle and wrote the whole book to fit the ending despite how bad the ending was and how much the editor and everyone else tried to talked her out of it. I know the feeling when an artist gets obsessed over a very bad idea and cannot just drop it. And the reason I say so is that the ending is very abrupt because once delivered, as if the writer no longer knew what to do with it.

The reason why I gave an extra star to this book is that on Kindle this book similarly to other books of the same author was priced under $5.00 and you know what.... to me this book is exactly "you get what you paid for". So I might buy other books just because the author has potential and the price is worth of spending.

For this book thanks to Netgalley I got a free copy in exchange of the honest review.

The Lying Wife by Kathryn Croft starts out with an arrest, for murder, but we don’t know who the victim is.

Callie finally has everything she dreamed of, a loving husband, and the stepmother to two sons. Callie knows what it is like to feel sadness, make mistakes, and keep secrets, and the decisions she’s made prove that. Unfortunately, the life she’s always dreamed of doesn’t work out as planned. Her new husband, James, is a widow trying to make things right for his family. His son’s, Dillon and Luke, aren’t as welcoming to Callie as she would have hoped, and the harder she tries, the more she feels the isolation from her new family. But Callie isn’t so innocent in the treatment she receives. She makes many, many poor decisions. Her secrets she keeps are not small, but can alter her life if the truth comes out. The boys, also not so innocent, are definitely at fault as well. They are really trying to get Callie out of their house and way from their dad, but without good reason. As Callie continues to spiral out of control, both in her new family, without the support of her friends, and the poor decisions she continues to make, at what point will she finally break and to what extent.

The beginning of the book started off a little slow. As Callie was trying to make the boys Ike her, she seemed to create more drama. You can’t help but feel sorry for her, but you also want to shake her because of the poor decisions she makes. About halfway through, she makes flat out stupid decisions, which makes her rather not likable. At the same time, the story itself gets more interesting, and as situations are occurring, you really wonder who exactly was the murder victim? It could have been many different characters, all with good reasons, as far as Callie is concerned, but the author does do a great job of keeping you guessing. Even when you think you know what happened, the twist at the end will leave you with a jaw dropping finish.

I would like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and Kathryn Croft for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I would give this book 3.5 to 4 stars, the ending definitely bumped up my opinion of the story.