Wow! Well, first of all, this was a thrill from the moment I started reading it until the very end. I did guess one twist, but there were sooo many! Really enjoyed this one! I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

The Wife Before was absolutely outstanding. A thrilling page turner full of mystery, suspense and jaw dropping twists that had me holding my breath or biting my nails until the very last page.

Roland and Samira were very complex characters and I found them both intriguing for different reasons. I found Samira a little immature and naive, especially when it came to her finances. Roland was every bit the grieved and brooding widow with an air of mystery surrounding him and his past.

I loved how they met and were instantly drawn to each other. Samira has no idea who Roland is and he uses that to his advantage. I think it was refreshing for Roland to find a woman interested in him and not his fame or the rumours about his first wife.

Samira and Roland fall fast and hard for each other and things are going great until Samira discovers a bunch of diaries that leave her questioning her decisions and her safety. Samira is determined to find out the truth and makes it her mission to find out exactly what happened to the wife before once and for all.

I loved the diary entries the way they added to the suspense and the mystery was thrilling, so many secrets between those pages. I couldn't stop reading.

All I can say is WOW! and that ending was unexpected and utterly brilliant. 👏

3.5 stars
From the very beginning Roland Graham is portrayed as a guilty man, following the death of his first wife, Melanie. So, is this a story about how he got away with murder? Or is it about how bad this man is in selecting his wives?
I had to wonder.

Personally, for most of the book, I didn't care for wife one, or wife two, Samira Wilder. I wasn't sure if either woman actually cared for Roland, or if they were just using him for his money. If he is guilty, then he likely deserves that fate. If not, it's a whole other story.

Melanie and her wild past are detailed in journals which Samira eventually finds, and the more I learned about her, the less I liked her. As for Samira, despite her brother's warnings, she marries Roland knowing full well that he may have been responsible for Melanie's death. But I think her bleak financial situation made her see Roland as a savior and that is just sad.

What is strange was once she commits herself to Roland, she then proceeds to spend her whole marriage trying to find the truth about what happened to Melanie. I never warmed up to Samira due to her lack of ambition, and her obsession with Melanie nearly ruined everything. While her curiosity in finding the truth does some good in the long run, it was a little too late to win me over as a fan. But we do get a closure to the past.

Overall, while this story lacks any character connections (which is often the case in thrillers), the direction of this story was a bit unexpected, especially with several twists near the end that I didn't figure out.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book! This is a quick read-- classic story of a woman down of her luck who meets a rich guy who will take care of her.

She discovers journals from his deceased wife and starts to worry about who she can trust.

I really enjoyed the journals but the writing throughout the book was choppy. Definitely a great plot though.

The Wife Before follows Samira who marries golf pro Roland. Everything seems to be going great in their marriage until Samira finds out that Roland's first wife was killed. Many people believe that Roland killed his wife. Samira wants to believe that her husband is innocent but also can't believe him until she finds out the truth. Samira find's journals from Roland's ex wife that make her not know whose side to believe. She starts to fear for her life and starts to question if marrying Roland was a good idea. 

I loved The Perfect Ruin so I was so excited to see that Shanora Williams released another book. And this book was just as good as The Perfect Ruin and even had some cameo characters from that book in this one. I loved how twisty this one was and how I couldn't guess what was going to happen. I loved all of the twists and turns this book took. And how you thought you could trust certain characters but you really couldn't. I have loved every Shanora Williams book that I have read and I need to read more by her ASAP.If you are in the mood for a good twisty thriller I highly suggest this one.

WHAT. JUST. HAPPENED!?? I thought I was shook after finishing The Perfect Ruin (and I was) but OMG Shanora came for our necks with The Wife before. I honestly don't even know how to review this, the twists and turns, the INSANE storyline, I promise you it will keep you on your toes! Everything that I thought was happening, was in fact NOT, Characters that I trusted, I shouldn't have and my anxiety was at an all time high and accompanied with a racing heart!

The Wife Before is a top read this year. Intense, engrossing, suspenseful and exhilarating....get ready for a thrilling ride!

Shanora Williams clearly has shown her fab thriller writing chops once more with The Wife Before. A story that had me guessing throughout, I was as gobsmacked as much as our featured heroine Samira was when all was revealed. I had my doubts about her seemingly devoted husband, Roland, and I was hopeful he turned out to be the better man and not the one the press liked to disparage. His former wife, Melanie, and her tragic car crash haunt Samira as she settles into the mansion Roland shared with her. And as the story unfolds, things Samira finds out through Melanie's journals were enough to make my own arm hairs stand on end!

There are plenty of subtle and not-so-subtle twists and turns as Samira plays detective, wanting to believe Roland with all of her heart. But with the likes of Dylan, her brother Kell and her bestie Shelia giving her pause more than once, I honestly didn't know if she'd get her happily ever after once the dust settled. Williams kept me on my toes throughout and when those last few pages were read, I literally gasped at how it all turned out.

A book that will undoubtedly keep you riveted, I like this other side to Shanora Williams and I do hope she offers up more in this genre. In the meantime, I happily give The Wife Before a big 4 stars!

THE WIFE BEFORE is the definition of unputdownable! I always know from reading the first page of a book whether or not I am going to be sucked in. I literally get a buzzing in my stomach, and I felt all that and more with this book! This author is SO talented and I love her writing style!

Samira Wilder is living in Miami down on her luck when she meets wealthy, pro golfer Roland Graham who sweeps her off her feet. They marry quickly and relocate to his secluded mansion in Colorado. Roland’s late wife, Melanie died in a tragic accident. Samira stumbles upon Melanie’s journals and as she begins reading them, she begins to question everything around her including her safety. What follows is an intense story as Samira is determined to unravel what really happened to Melanie.

I made the mistake of starting this on a Sunday evening. I wanted to stay up all night and finish it. I could not turn the pages fast enough! I loved the short chapters, the pacing, Melanie’s journal entries, all the twists, the ending, everything! THE WIFE BEFORE is the perfect bingeable domestic thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Books for my e-ARC.

Shanora Williams has written some of my favorite romance novels so it comes as no surprise that she's now one of my favorite authors of thrillers! WOW! This one had me riveted from beginning to end! I read it in one sitting! It's pretty clear that she can write any genre and slay it!

If you’re anything like me when you read the synopsis for this you probably thought it sounded familiar. You would be wrong though and I was too, the author took a basic idea and put her own unique spin on it. I love thinking I have everything figured out in a book only to have the author knock me on my ass with a series of twists and turns and that’s exactly what happened here. This was super fast paced with short chapters that just beg you to keep reading and that’s exactly what I did. I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next with these messy lives and I was hooked, there was definitely some juicy material here making this an ideal summer thriller. Definitely recommended as a weekend binge read, this was really addictive!

I just finished reading The Wife Before at breakneck speed as I had to know what happened!! My heart is still pounding at the ending!!! Well done, Shanora Williams!!! I absolutely loved this book and know it will be on the bestseller list when it comes out! Do yourself a favor and preorder it now!!

The book centers around Samira Wilder, a young woman looking for a job she can stick with and who is a bit down on her luck. Her brother, Kell, tells her that he can't keep giving her money each month to help with her bills because his fiancé is pregnant. That makes things get real very quickly for Samira who owes her roommate for the electric bill already. Her roommate's boyfriend lets her know about an event that evening where she can make a quick $300 waitressing for a party that a rich couple is throwing to raise money for a charity. Samira takes the job and isn't at all happy to be carrying trays of drinks to people. Then she hits a wet spot, slips, drops the entire tray of champagne flutes, and meets the most perfect man in the process. The man is Roland Graham, a professional golfer, but Samira has no idea he's well known and famous.....or shall we say infamous?

Samira and Roland begin seeing each other and the paparazzi follows them a lot of the places they go. Samira is now on the front pages of magazines and papers with Roland. Samira can't believe how happy she is and finally feels like she has met the man of her dreams. Samira's roommate has told her she needs her to look for another place as she and her boyfriend want to try living together. Samira has no idea what she will do with no job, no money from her brother, and now no place to live. She has time to look around, doesn't have to be immediate. When Kell calls Samira after seeing her photo in the papers, he tells her that she needs to google Roland Graham and his wife who died a couple of years earlier. He also tells her she needs to stop seeing him and get far away from him as quickly as possible. Samira doesn't understand as Roland is so sweet and she loves him.

After Samira googles Roland and his first wife she finds out that many people think that Roland killed her, but there simply wasn't enough evidence to prove it. Roland's first wife died when her car went over a cliff into the water below. Samira gets freaked out and stops replying to Roland's texts and calls. After a week or so, Roland waits for her outside of her apartment. He knows why she has stopped replying and talks to her about it. Samira believes everything he says and they keep seeing each other. Samira doesn't tell her brother or her roommate that she is still seeing Roland. Roland asks Samira to move in with him when he finds out about her roommate's request and she decides to do it. After they've been dating for 5 months, he proposes to Samira, and she accepts.

Roland wants to marry Samira in Colorado at the mansion where he and his first wife lived. He just wants it to be them and a couple of people in Roland's family at the wedding. Samira never tells Kell or her roommate that she's getting married or that she's moving to Colorado. She has lived in Miami her entire life and everyone she knows and loves lives there. I know what you're thinking.....the suspense just builds from here! Samira loves the mansion in Colorado and is very happy there. She even has her own she-shed that used to belong to Melanie, Roland's first wife. Roland has put all of Melanie's belongings in the shed and Samira volunteers to go through it, organize it, and donate it to charity. While cleaning out the shed and bookcase, Samira comes across 6 black books with no writing on them, except numbers. They are Melanie's journals! Samira knows she shouldn't read them, but can't stop herself. She becomes convinced if she reads them all that she will find out if she is living with a killer or the sweet man she thinks she married. It is a fun ride to the end! Buckle up and set time aside because you won't be able to put this book down! Be sure to pick this one up on June 28, 2022.

I give this book my highest recommendation of 5 stars. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for my advanced copy.

Hooked from the first line? Check.
Unputdownable? Check
Unexpected twists and turns? Check.
Fantastic.

Having read The Perfect Ruin last year, even though it’s a bit of departure from my normal genre, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. So when I saw The Wife Before coming out and it was in the same vein of that, I had to jump on and grab it. When I read it was a sexier modern take on Rebecca, I was all in.

Samira hasn’t had it easy and seems to be floating through life wherever it takes her until she meets Roland. He’s everything she could be looking for a- handsome, wealthy, stable and he even gets her. She packs up her life, has a whirlwind marriage and moves to his secluded mansion in Colorado.

Upon moving in she finds the journals of his late wife, Melanie who was said to have died in a tragic accident, But did she? The more she gets to know her new husband and the more that she reads, fear overtakes her. Is Samira even safe? She must find out but maybe not everything is what it seems.

This keeps you guessing even when you are sure that you have figured it out. The twists keep on coming and will leave you with your mouth dropped open.

I am a sucker for a domestic thriller and Shanora Williams delivered!
The unreliable narrator?
The twists?
The deceiving?
The secrets?
H*ll to the Yes!!

Right off the bat we are introduced to the book's narrator, Samira. She appears to be a girl that has been taken care of most of her life. When her brother Kell lets her now that things are changing in his life and he can't help with money, Samira has to figure out her situation and quick. She ends up working as a server at a party (this is where we have a little bit of a crossover to Williams' previous thriller, A Perfect Ruin) and meets Roland, a professional golfer. These two live different lives and Samira assumes this was a 'one and done' meeting. But Roland tracks her down and they begin dating. An instant connection that turns into her moving in with him and shortly after, even marrying him. But there's more to Roland's story and questions about his previous wife's death. Did Roland have anything to do with her death? Why did he marry Samira so quickly and what will happen to Samira when she moves from everything she has known all her life??

Oh man, the twists Shanora Williams gave us in this one were thrilling and exciting and kept me turning the pages to see what was going to happen next. Having Samira find Melanie's (the previous wife of Roland) journals was at the core of all the unpredictability. Of course I was curious why no one found those journals previous to Samira moving in to Roland's place, but I still couldn't help but be drawn in to HER story. She had quite the story to tell of her time with Roland and it was filled with twists that I didn't see coming.

The Wife Before may be completely told from Samira's POV, but don't forget about Melanie's journal entries. They will give you clues to everything that is going to build up about her death, her relationship with her husband and family. I did have to suspend my belief a few times, tiny details that seemed highly unlikely but I couldn't help but also be addicted to the story within the story and of Samira doing her own detective work.
If you enjoy domestic psychological thrillers that are fast paced and include diverse main characters, check out Ms William's latest release. Her tale of family, lies and all the twists from a wife that had hidden the truth will surely captivate you and hold you hostage until you figure out the truth.

Was ecstatic to receive a ARC. Shanora is a master of flow. I live for nail biter thrillers and this one delivered.

"How was I supposed to be better than the wife before? "

Her skillfull unique spin on keeping you guessing, flipping it on you, only spikes your curiosity, and hooks you to every word. You won’t want to skip this one. Hold on for Shanora’s thrilling ride of Perfection!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
"The Wife Before" by Shanora Williams totally took me by surprise.
It was an addictive, page turning suspenseful thriller with a great ending that I never saw coming.
I would definitely read another book by this author.

Wow! This was a thriller for sure! What a ride! I could not put this book down it was so good! Thank you so much for a chance to read this!

Hannah Jarrett
My Books
Browse ▾
Community ▾
Hannah Jarrett rated a book really liked it
1 minute ago
The Wife Before by Shanora Williams
The Wife Before
by Shanora Williams (Goodreads Author)
Read
Read in May 2022
When Samira finds journals belonging to her husband's previous wife, who he is suspected of killing, she digs deep into a world of secrets she was never meant to know.

The Wife Before pulled me in from the beginning. The changing POV between Samira and Melanie's journals kept me engaged. I constantly wondered what was true and what wasn't. Was Melanie writing about actual events? Was Samira losing her mind? Did Roland kill Melanie? If not, who did? Would the killer get Samira?

I've never read Rebecca, but after reading this retelling, I'd like to.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this arc!

This book was so engaging! The twists are so unexpected it’s impossible to put the book down.

The characters were well written.
Have me Colleen Hoovers ‘Verity’ vibes!!

I can’t wait to read more from this author, so so good!!!

'The Wife Before' is my second read from author, Shanora Williams. The first book I read, 'The Perfect Ruin,' made me a fan of hers, so I was very excited to dip into yet another of her thrillers. As a black woman, it is wonderful to read novels that have representation of persons of color, so learning that the main characters in the book were black further heightened my interest. Narrated in a first-person voice by the female protagonist, Samira, 'The Wife Before' weaves a tale of mystery and intrigue from almost the beginning. A self-proclaimed flighty woman, she has a history of leaving jobs and shirking her responsibilities, due to some leftover scars from her childhood. Usually taken care of by those around her (her brother and roommate), she finds herself cut off from these avenues and is soon forced to work as a waitress at a fancy event for the rich. However, this turns out to be the best thing for her- for she meets the man of her dreams, wealthy pro golfer, Roland Graham. Bedazzled by their chemistry, the relationship moves fast, and soon Samira finds herself married to the famous athlete. But Roland has a dark past...his first wife passed away in a gruesome accident, and a lot of people think he had a hand in that death. Now embroiled in a twisted love triangle with a dead woman, Samira has to figure out if her new husband is a murderer.

Now, I must admit- the plot of this book is slightly improbable. That being said, I enjoyed it anyway! It was a little insane, with characters doing some crazy things outside the realm of reality, but that actually made this so much more of a fun read. I love when an author weaves a tale that can transport me outside of my world, and Williams definitely hits the mark with this one. It took me a while to start this (adulting sucks, am-I-right?), but once I did, I found it extremely difficult to put down.

This was not my favorite novel because of the writing style; I found the chapters to be a bit too choppy and it made the book carry on for longer than it needed to. This is just my personal preference though, and it did not take away from the overall storyline. I also would have liked to get more of Samira's background development, as we saw very little of that beyond the first few chapters There was more focus on Roland and his family, and though this was important for the plot, I think I would have connected a bit more with Samira if I understood her better.

With all of the above in mind, I give 'The Wife Before' a rating of 4 out of 5 stars. While I did really like the book's zany characters, the layout of it was not really to my usual inclinations, as I like more precise chapter configurations. I recommend this to those who like solving mysteries- I would categorize this as more of a mystery than a thriller. This is more suitable for persons eighteen and older due to sexually explicit scenes and sensitive topics. Trigger warnings include: domestic violence, scenes of statutory rape, infidelity, and drug addiction. There were no grammatical or spelling errors to hinder a smooth reading experience. In the end, this is definitely a novel worth picking up, and I continue to look forward to future works from Shanora Williams!

*A great many thanks to NetGalley, Shanora Williams and Kensington Books for this ARC. It is important to note that I was under no commitment to provide a positive review, and all opinions are undoubtedly my own.*