3 stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️

After losing her husband, Derrick, in what appears to be a random street crime, Emma has built a new life with Tom, the perfect man. Living in a big house in CT and running a successful business, Emma finally feels safe. Unfortunately for Emma, a homicide detective shows up with questions about Derrick’s unsolved murder; they are taking another look at the case. Emma is worried– what do the police know? And what will they find out?

There are a lot of subplots and twists in this one to throw you off track and make everyone look suspicious, which was an aspect of this book that I liked. I thought the ending fell flat… the reveal surrounding Derrick’s murder is just meh.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

I thought this was a good read. While Emma did not love her1st husband Derrick, she didn’t appear to want him dead. 27 months later, having been released as a suspect, she is happily married to her second husband, Tom, when the case is revisited. What I found interesting were the subtle nuances by Tom that got me very concerned about him. How long had he known her? Did he stalk her? Could he have killed Derrick? I t had enough twists and turns keep me engaged and guessing until the very end.

Oh my. This was a bit of a disappointment. I’m a huge fan of Kate White but this was a rare miss for me and I’ll explain why in a moment. BUT FIRST-

Emma gets a late knock on the door with the worst news imaginable for a wife(or is it?). Derrick was shot in an alley while away at a work conference. I mean, it sucks, but also he was a jerk and she was kind of relieved to move on but that doesn’t mean she wanted him dead!

We then jump to 27 months later. Emma is happily remarried and enjoying a prosperous career as a trend forecaster.

Her new husband Tom is also very successful. They have his stepdaughter from another marriage staying with them(yes, you read that right, wtf) and they’re making it work.

Trouble in paradise comes when she gets another dreaded knock on the door while entertaining a new friend. It’s the cops ..again, they’re looking at Derrick’s case with a fresh set of eyes. She has it on good authority to think they received a tip of some sort.

Things get messier from there. People are starting to think she knew Tom before Derrick died and they planned it together. Such rubbish! With so many prying eyes on her, it’s hard to keep up her fairytale life. Emma made a mistake by marrying Derrick. She’s not going to let anything interfere with the life she worked so hard for with Tom.

This has a really interesting premise but it was so watered down with dialogue that it ruined it for me. There would be whole pages of introductions, “welcome to my home” and what the charcuterie spread was(okay I made that last part up).

The bottom line is it rambled on and on. They talked to the cops, talked about talking to the cops, talked to a lawyer about talking to the cops, referred to another lawyer. It ended up being more of a long-winded legal drama than a domestic drama/thriller or mystery.m

I hate that this didn’t work out but her others are really good.

This book grabbed my attention from the beginning and there are a lot of twists and surprises. Emma Hawke's first husband, Derrick, was murdered while he was away on business, but the place where he was murdered was a place he should not have been. The investigation ends up going cold. Emma meets her dream man, Tom Halliday, shortly after the murder and they eventually get married. One day, a detective shows up and announces the investigation surrounding Derrick's murder has been re-opened. This raises a lot of questions and makes Emma question how and why she really met Tom. There are a number of sub-plots going on which casts suspicion to just about everyone and I felt there were a number of loose ends that were not tied up at the end. Overall, I did like the book but I was disappointed with the ending.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Paperbacks for the ARC of this book.

The plot for The Second Husband has promise, and promise in its writing from the talented and established Ms White, but overall the plot and characters fall flat, and ends what I found to be an odd and disappointing wrap-up. Overall, too many characters were used (distraction? But not in a good throw-you-off-the-scent-way) and not enough time enriching the storyline or the suspense. All that being said, Ms White <I>is</I> so talented as to keep me coming back to finish the book, so while it's a "not really for me" book, I'm sure plenty will love it and I'll look forward to her next one. :)

My thanks to Harper Perennial and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

In The Second Husband by Kate White just when you think the pieces are coming together and you've figured it out, a quick twist changes everything.

This book kept me guessing and changing my mind about people the whole way.

What a ride. When the case regarding the murder of Emma’s first husband, Derrick, is reopened, everyone is a suspect. That includes Emma. As she tried to concentrate on her own business, problems in her husband’s, Tom, business begin to arise. On top of that, a new detective has reopened the case of Derrick’s death and finds ways to make just about everyone Emma knows feel anxious and appear guilty. The more the detective presses, the more cracks begin to surface in Emma’s current marriage.

Very suspenseful and masterfully written. There are tenacles everywhere are all theories seem plausible. It takes an excellent writer to create all the different storylines to make each seem to be correct and to keep them all in the air until the very end. Bravo!


I received an ARC from Harper Perennial & Paperbacks through NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion or rating of this book. I am voluntarily submitting this review and am under no obligation to do so.

4.25 stars
The Second Husband, by Kate White, is a gripping, psychological thriller with intelligent, cool-headed, likeable characters and an intriguing, twisty plot. I was fully invested in the story throughout the entirety of the novel and kept flipping pages to unravel the mystery and reveal the truth behind the many questions.

Unfortunately, the conclusion disappointed me. I kept thinking there would surely be a shocking surprise, or final reveal at the story’s end, but it sadly fell flat. The story also leaves a couple of major plot points unanswered, and character questions left unresolved, which is a bit frustrating.

Despite these concerns, The Second Husband is still a compulsively readable story about Emma Hawke, a woman happily married to her second husband, running a successful business and trying to put her past behind her. When a detective shows up at her door wanting to reopen the case of her first husband’s murder, Emma realizes things are no longer as settled as she’d hoped and she finds herself worrying about becoming a suspect once again. More disturbing events unfurl, one after the other, and Emma discovers that the first time she met her second husband, was not actually the first time they met. What could it mean? Who can she trust? And when will this kaleidoscope of undesirable events come to an end?

I enjoy all of Kate White’s books and this was no exception. It was well-written and immensely interesting. It definitely would have been a five star read and new favorite had the plot holes been filled and the ending been a bit more believable and less bland. Nevertheless, I’d still recommend it for an enjoyable reading experience.

Do we know the ones we love truly? Emma has secrets she has kept from her new husband about her old husband. But her old husband may be keeping some secrets from her.

This book had me quite hooked in the beginning! The ending fell extremely flat for me though. I felt like the book was leading up to a good ending, and left me with nothing.

Overall it was a decent read.

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐔𝐒𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐚 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠; 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 (𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 - 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲?), 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟.

Emma, a successful trend forecaster is happily married, two years after her first husband was murdered. The murder was never solved, and now the case has been reopened. The suspects are looming…close and closer.

Although Emma is a savvy professional, she finds herself adrift in a sea of uncertainty. When everyone is a suspect, who can she trust - when she can hardly trust her own instinct….

Kate White is truly a master mystery writer, and it’s always a pleasure to read her work. Of course we’re treated to fabulous clothes, homes, art, cuisine, and jewelry (David Yurman!), which is always a delight - especially in the midst of tightly wound tension!

I love that she gives her brilliant forecaster protagonist the flaw of self doubt - she is human! I felt compassion for Emma throughout every twist and turn of this wild ride.

If you’re looking for a great summer beach read - this is it.

Thank you NetGalley, Kate White, and Harper Perennial and Paperbacks, for the opportunity to read this superbly crafted twisty mystery in exchange for my honest and wholly independent opinion.

Always love Kate White and this was no exception! Enjoyed trying to figure this one out as the story unraveled. Definitely a surprise ending! Keep them coming.

I’m a huge fan of Kate White and fly through her books—this was no different but I was tad bit let down by the ending as I felt like it was more predictable than her previous novels.
The Second Husband follows Emma whose first marriage ended in tragedy when Derrick is murdered. Emma is putting the pieces of her life back together and enjoying life with her new husband, Tom, when a detective arrives to let Emma know she’s reopening the unsolved case of Derricks’ murder.
Like all of Kate White’s books, you’ll stay up to finish, flying through the twists and turns that always make her books a pre order for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy of The Second Husband.

I enjoyed this book. It had many twists and turns and kept me wondering what would happen next. I wish the ending was different, but it also made it interesting ending it that way!
#TheSecondHusband #NetGalley

Thank you to Harper Paperbacks and Net Galley for the advanced reader’s copy of The Second Husband.

I love stories told, as this one was, in dual timelines. Even though I didn’t care for the wife very much as she was overly naive, I did, however, enjoy the small twists and the wonderment of who was actually trustworthy. If you’re a fan of Liane Moriarty, give this book a try because, in my opinion, it was more of a mystery than a thriller like Liane’s. These are great for those new to the thriller genre. I’d love to know what you think.

#HarperPaperbacks #bibliophile #TheSecondHusband #ARC #AdvancedReadersCopy #NetGalley #Bookish #booklover #ReadThis #ReadingTime #BooksToRead #Thriller #Mystery

Tom and Emma are the perfect couple with the perfect life. In a few short days, everything will unravel as the past comes back to haunt them.

This is my first book by Kate White, so I can't compare it to her previous work. The story was a twisty, turning tale that left you wondering what was actually going on, which was good. I really was into the book in the beginning but then there was a point in the book where I started to get irritated with Emma, I just couldn't relate to the way she was ready to throw the man she was madly in love with for two years under the bus. At one point she wondered if she could continue the marriage because he had lied to her, really? Anyway, the mystery was intriguing and there certainly was a lot of stuff going on, but I hated the ending, I like things tied up better than that. Admittedly, you can figure it out, but I like more certainty. I give it 3-3/4 stars

Thank you to the Publisher and NetGalley for giving me this ARC to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is the first book I've read by author Kate White and it certainly won't be my last! White has written a book that not only kept me on my toes throughout but brought major twists and turns that my head was spinning! I look forward to reading many more of her books in the near future.

I have never read from this author before and boy was I missing out! This books was so well written and just plan good. Stunning!

Love the first book she wrote so gave this one a try and I really, really enjoyed this book! It was captivating and it hooked me from the very first chapter! Definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC!

This was a pretty solid mystery, I felt like the end was rushed a bit—the parts with the stepdaughter seemed a stretch and her ex-BIL was sort of flat. But I liked the overarching concept that we don’t really know anyone, even the people we are closest to.