Overall I enjoyed the book. I loved the narrators, the story progressed at a good speed, and with good character development. Then I went back and forth on whether I liked certain characters. Tully more so because she seemed spoiled and a bit whining but sometimes you need that character that irritates you. Stephen was a hard character to crack because he leaves their wife who has Alzheimer's, who is still alive and goes and marries someone else...Where did in sickness and health and death do us part go? The only thing that I really didn't care for was the ending. Everything else up to the last few chapters was fantastic. It felt rushed and unresolved at the end, which was very frustrated. It may have been left that way for the reader to interpret the ending, but I am not that reader. I want to know the truth. The description of the book just didn't seem accurate with where the story actually went early on.

THE HUSBAND
A heart surgeon at the top of his field, Stephen Aston is getting married again. But first he must divorce his current wife, even though she can no longer speak for herself.

THE DAUGHTERS
Tully and Rachel Aston look upon their father’s fiancée, Heather, as nothing but an interloper. Heather is younger than both of them. Clearly, she’s after their father’s money.

THE FORMER WIFE
With their mother in a precarious position, Tully and Rachel are determined to get to the truth about their family’s secrets, the new wife closing in, and who their father really is.

THE YOUNGER WIFE
Heather has secrets of her own. Will getting to the truth unleash the most dangerous impulses in all of them?

After reading my first Sally Hepworth novel, The Mother-In-Law, I have eagerly awaited each and every book from her. I was thrilled to get to read and listen to The Younger Wife. The narrator was wonderful, as has the narration been on each of the three novels I have listened to. 5 stars on narration!

Overall, I gave The Younger Wife one less star than The Mother-In-Law and The Good Sister because both of those literally blew me away in one way or another and I couldn't stop talking about them to friends. The Younger Wife was really good, but I just didn't love it nearly as much as either of the other two, but I still really enjoyed it.

It feels weird to be defending a 4 star review, but because the book is still such a good family drama/thriller, I feel I need to explain why it isn't as good as Ms. Hepworth's previous two in my opinion.

1. There were no characters I really loved in it. All three of the main women in the book were well-written, Rachel was the only one of them I cared much about. This was slightly disappointing because writing characters I adored was the author's strong suit in the last two novels she published.

2. Regardless of the outcome of the story, I struggled to even open my mind to the possibility of loving the coupe getting married. I mean, an older man marrying a younger woman is not something I COULDN'T get behind, but the fact that he literally divorces his wife who has dimentia so that he CAN marry Heather made me really disgusted with both of them, though Ms.Hepworth does her best to make it more palatable.

3. There is a lot of women questioning their own sanity in the book. Granted, I am sure we all do question our own sanity sometimes, but when you read about the three women and their issues, its frustrating as a reader to see that theme feature so heavily. I do better with that when there is only one character in a book that is doing that, but with all the lead females doing that and one secondary character, at some point, it just feels like too much. Too depressing.

4. That brings me to the humor. In both the last two books, there were quirky characters that brought some levity to the heaviness of the story. In this one, none of the characters were funny and there was little lightness to balance all the shade.

So while all that sounds and feels overly critical, I would still recommend this one as a great book in Sally Hepworth's catalog. They can't all be 5-stars. I also wanted to add, I have seen lots of reviews slamming the whole book over the ending. I was dreading the ending the whole time I read the book because of those reviews. Frankly, I am baffled as to why that ending bugged some people so much. To me, it was a very satisfying ending.

I’d like to start off by saying, that if I had gone into this book blindly having never read anything by Hepworth, I believe I would have liked this book more than I did. Be that as it may, I have read several of her books and I cannot help but to compare this book to its predecessors. This build up in The Younger wife was so intense, but the climax wasn’t there. While reading her previous works, I audibly gasped when the mystery was solved and the ending was revealed. I found this ending to be lackluster and stale.

That being said, I truly believe if I wasn’t such a huge Hepworth fan with a predisposition to expect the greatness I have grown accustomed to from Hepworth, I would have loved this book.

Regardless, this will not knock her from my “auto-buy” list. I will still rush out on publication day to grab this book and the next and the next. Solid 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4 on Goodreads and Netgalley!

Thank you to Netgally and St Martins Press for both the audiobook and ebook versions of this ARC so that I could review it immersive reading style! My absolute favorite way to read!

The storyline was interesting and kept my attention, however I disliked ALL of the characters. They were childish, whiny and annoying. Maybe that was done intentionally, but they made it hard for me to enjoy the book.

More a family drama than psychological thriller, the story begins with someone dying at a wedding. The book continues with the months leading up to the wedding. Everyone has a secret, the father, who is marrying a woman much younger. The two sisters, who are upset that their father is marrying someone younger than they are. The new wife and the former wife, both searching for the family and husband secrets. Although the ending was not a surprise to me, I did not think that it ruined the story.

Thank you netgalley for my advanced reader copy.

Sally Hepworth remains as the queen of dysfunctional family dynamic writing! While I do think this one was a little inappropriately marketed as a thriller, there were definitely some mysterious aspects and elements that really kept us guessing throughout the unfolding of the story. I enjoyed the short chapters and frequently shifting POVs, and this one was well done on audio which also helped keep me engaged through the slower parts. I would go into this one expecting more of a domestic mystery rather than thriller and just enjoy the ride through these developing characters! Thank you to Sally Hepworth and Macmillan Audio for providing me with an audiobook ARC for review!

Is the danger in your home or are you inventing the danger and that is the problem? This is a question that each woman in this book must confront.

Welcome to the lives of the Astor Family. Stephen Astor is about to marry a woman almost three decades younger then himself. Heather is assumed to be a gold digger and will not offer anything of much substance.

There are Stephen’s two daughters, Rachel and Tully. Each is coming to terms with this major change in their beloved father’s life. Rachel lives a quiet life and does not have relationships with men. Tully, is married to Sonny and they have two young boys. Tully has always had anxiety and has a hard time handling change. The sisters at the start are not very close. Their Mother Pam has Alzheimer’s disease. Stephen has decided to divorce Pam so that he can marry Heather. It’s a lot to take in and accept.

I really loved this book. Sally Hepworth is a master at telling family drama. The best part of the book to me is Heather, Rachel, and Tully each has issues and problems, but it does not devolve into a sad destruction of each other. Each woman is afraid of what is occurring in her life and uncertain of how to confront that reality. The strength to me is that the women grow stronger, smarter, and more caring towards each other. I loved that Heather is not perfect, has many secrets, yet really cares about Rachel and Tully. She is also kind toward Pam. She shines through as a real person that wants a family, but knows she must work to become part of this one. Rachel and Tully also start revealing their secrets. We get to know them, warts and all. They start to lean on each other more. They begin to accept Rachel as she really is.

So, someone can try to damage you and hurt you, but if you have support, you can survive this. I loved this message. The one thing I want to make clear though is I do not think this is a mystery or a thriller. It is well written fiction about the lives of complex women. If you like an intriguing novel about women with twists and turns that show things are not as they seem, I highly recommend this book. It certainly worked for me.

The 🎧 Audiobook, I really think was terrific. I liked all four narrators and thought this enhanced the book. It was easy to listen to and follow. It works very well listened to alone or as I did, with the Audio Narration and having the e-book. I really liked this combination.

Thank you NetGalley, Sally Hepworth, and Macmillan Audio for an ARC of this book. As always, I really appreciate this.

Typically I am a fan of open-ended books and The Younger Wife was just that. Throughout the book the suspense was palpable and the story well-developed. I got a little confused between the sisters though, and maybe that was on purpose. Definitely not a feminist book! All of the women seemed to take a back seat to men, namely Stephen. The ending was in some ways disappointing and seemed less thought out. I had to re-read the ending several times and I'm still not sure why the author ended it this way. I wanted to love this book. As it is, I only liked it.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Younger Wife by Dally Hepworth. A special thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of this book. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book all thoughts and opinions are my own.
A dramatic story about a family and all its secrets. When Stephen announces to his daughters Tully and Rachel that he’s getting married to a younger woman, Heather everyone is in shock. He is still married to their mother Pam. Pam has been moved to a care center due to the dementia she suffers from. Each one of the girls has their own issues. When things start happening and not adding up around Stephan’s history Rachel starts asking hard questions both from her father and herself. She finds that he was married before Pam and had never told his daughters or his soon to be wife.
After meeting with his ex wife and being told that he’s a dangerous man, Rachel starts to question big aspects of their family history. Had he abused her mother and damaged her brain? Was he abusing Heather and making her think she was crazy and imagining thing? The ending is shocking and not at all what I expected. It makes you as the reader question the things that you learned as facts through out the book. It was definitely an interesting read. This book comes out Tuesday, March 5th 2022.

The younger wife is a gripping tale of family drama and secrets. This book follows Stephen Aston, an heart surgeon at the top of his career, his two daughters Rachel and Tully, and his new fiancé Heather. The problem? Stephen is still married. The other problem? Stephens wife Pam has advanced dementia.
When Stephen and his fiancé Heather announce their engagement over lunch, the very FIRST time the girls meet her, they are understandably shocked!
As this story unfolds so does Stephen, he's secrets, and who he really is.

This story is well written with relatable characters who we really get to know throughout the book. This was my first Sally Hepworth book, and I really enjoyed it. Throughout the book the reader is left questioning a lot about what's really going on, and if what we think is happening is actually happening! This book is written in 3 POV- Rachel, Tully and Heather which made it interesting but I think it would have added a creepy later if we were to also have seen it through Stephens eyes. I was left questioning a lot about him, his actions and motives. I mean a lot of times sociopaths don't need motives BUT I wanted it!

This was a solid book for me, the only thing that I really felt took away from the story was the epilogue. It didn't really go anywhere.

Overall I liked it and I will definitely pick up more books by this author! If you like family drama and juicy secrets, this is the one you will want to pick up!

Reading Between the Wines book review #23/135 for 2022:
Rating: 3 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Younger Wife
Author: Sally Hepworth
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Women's Fiction
RELEASES on April 5, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: I love Sally Hepworth’s books. This time last year, I was writing a review on The Good Sister which was in my top 5 books of 2021. The Younger Wife fell a little bit short for me at the end. I loved every part of it right up to the end. I think it would have been a 4 star for me. I loved the short chapters and multiple POV’s. It read more like a family drama/mystery than a thriller. Even with my dislike of the ending I think the rest of the book kept my interest and had me wanting to read past my bedtime. I cannot wait for the next Hepworth release.

Cheers and thank you to @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for an advanced copy of @TheYoungerWife.

#TheYoungerWife #SallyHepworth #StMartinsPress #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #WomensFiction

Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the marriage of Stephen Aston and his fiancé Heather...who just so happens to be younger than both of his daughters. Oh and did I mention his wife is also among those in attendance?

This book starts off with a bang, or rather a thud, and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout.

Stephen Aston is a successful doctor with a seemingly perfect life. A loving wife, two daughters, both successful in their own right, two grandsons, and a recently remodeled luxurious home. When his wife begins to show signs of dementia, possible cracks in their perfect marriage begin to seep out. Everyone's secrets are bubbling to the surface and each of them are questioning if the family members they've known and loved their whole lives are even they same people. Slowly but surely truths will be unearthed & by the time it's all said and done nobody will be left unscathed.

The story is told from the point of view of Stephen's two daughters, Rachel and Tully, as well as his fiancé Heather. There are also tidbits from a mysterious wedding guest. I really enjoyed the mix of characters. I was fortunate to have both an ARC as well as audiobook. Surprisingly, each of them had a different ending. I am still reeling and not sure which ending I preferred. Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an advanced audiobook in exchange for my honest review. 4 suspense filled stars.

Many thanks to @netgalley and #ProvenancePress for this audiobook read.
This was not really what I was expecting.... and I cant really explain what i was expecting but Ill try. I was expecting more info on schizophrenia from the couple's experience with it. What we get here is a dynamic couple - a deaf woman and a hearing man who meet by chance and fall in love. They decide to build their house in the wilderness of #BowenIsland. Thats when things start to get bad. As anyone who is doing a construction remodel on a shoe-string budget knows, you try to find someone who will do the job as economically as possible. Derrick and Pearl trust a local man who's working on his own house, to also do work on their own. By the time they realize that cheaper isnt always better (or any good at all) they are stuck with so many projects to redo that they truly struggle. As if this isnt enough to bring any couple to quarrel, Pearl gets really paranoid. She gets upset about having to delay their marriage, then having to delay having children, and somehow thru a series of misunderstandings starts to believe that Derrick is trying to kill her. She makes claims of psychological abuse. She leaves him. There is never any proof of the diagnosis of schizophrenia other than second hand stories from her family that oh so conveniently come to Derrick after Pearl leaves him. Im not saying he's lying, I just wish there was a pov from Pearl. I cant imagine being a deaf woman and fearing my husband. I have a lot of sympathy for people with paranoia and delusional thinking. I am just wondering if schizophrenia is really what Pearl had? How could she go for so long not exhibiting symptoms? I mean we all know paranoia ppl in our lives who believe things that arent true. Are they schizophrenic too?
I suppose if you like hearing what homesteading on Bowen Island, Canada is like OR if you like hearing a man talk about his crazy wife (not for me) then have at it. It's narrated well and i enjoyed listening. It just didnt quite sit well with me. It disturbed me on a lot of levels. Have you read it? Dm me or leave comments below!

The Younger wife who refers to Heather the bride to be of Stephen. There is a catch, Stephen is still married to Pam who in a memory care center. Stephen has two daughters, Tully
and Rachel. The novel begins at the wedding of Stephen and Heather then switches between timelines to develop characters and the storyline. Unfortunately, it didn’t keep my attention, many parts were very unrealistic. There were definitely parts of the novel I liked, but as I whole is was just okay. The narrators as well weren’t my favorite, but I am American so you can take that into account.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

The Younger Wife was not what I expected. The description doesn’t really do it justice. This is a story of family and trust. The younger wife in this tale, Heather, is not a horrible person stealing an old man. She is a young woman who trusts. The daughters are not just mistrusting brats, angry at the young woman stealing their fathers. They are complex women working through their own issues and trying to accept what is happening to them.

When Steven’s wife’s dementia has progressed to the point of requiring constant care, he falls in love with his decorator. His daughters Rachel and Tally try to come to terms with their father divorcing their mother while she wastes away in a home.

But this book was about trust and abuse. But it is also about relationships. Is there anything behind the stories and memories or are they false? Is anyone being gaslit? Or are most of the women here just crazy? Finished this one in one afternoon just to find out.

This is my favorite book by Sally Hepworth so far. It is a real page-turner and will keep you unsure/ guessing until the very end. Note: the "ending" is a bit of a clifhanger/doesn't tie up into a nice bow. Some readers will scratch their heads, others may throw their book across the room, and others (I'm in this group) will think it is very appropriate given the entire theme of the novel, but feels like a slap in the face to women and survivors.

My other two 'complaints': [1] I would prefer authors stop using gaslighting for story and plot [2] this novel introduces myriad of very serious topics (rape, eating disorders, kleptomania, domestic violence, alcoholism/substance abuse) and glosses over all of them, which left me feeling gross; as if these details were gratuitous. There needed to be more depth, coverage, and emotion there.

I'll add that I normally struggle with Australian accents as narration but enjoyed everyone here.

Normally I wouldn't rate a book I didn't finish but goddamn this book is so irresponsible. Normally Sally Hepworth does a great job at handling difficult topics but this book feels like a second draft before she figured out how to handle each of her character's difficult lives. I think part of the problem is that she gave each character a life altering problem instead of one or two like she normally does and she clearly wasn't prepared to juggle it or her editor didn't push back enough. Between Rachel's childhood sexual assault, Heather's drinking, and Stephen's abusive tendencies I can't responsibly recommend this book to anyone. Not because the subjects exist in the book, talking about them is important, but because of how they're handled or the lack there of.

This was my first book to read by Sally Hepworth, but now I can't wait to read more! Hepworth weaves an intricate psychological, murder mystery from 2 sisters and their soon to be young stepmother's point of views. The novel kicks off with a sudden death at a wedding (little details given at first) then jumps back to when the sisters first met their young, soon to be stepmother with their father. Although all three of the women are extremely different from each other, they all share one thing in common, each bears a dark secret from their pasts that slowly come into light as the wedding approaches.

I found this to be a pretty enjoyable listen, but it didn't blow my mind or anything and overall, felt pretty predictable. I almost felt like the end was tacked on just for a "twist" because the whole thing was predictable. But Hepworth didn't want to fully accept that ending for her book, so she made it ambiguous instead. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I do want to say that this book could be really triggering for anyone who has experienced domestic violence or anyone who has dealt with gaslighting or not being believed.

In some ways it feels like this book is a big step back for women. Every women in The Younger Wife has some sort of issue, whether it's kleptomania, binge eating due to ptsd, alcoholism, etc. And the ending made me cringe some.

I think the narrators were great and I did really enjoy listening to the book. The characters and story drew me in enough... I just didn't like the overall message of the book.

This book will grab your attention from the very beginning. As the story unfolds it doesn’t disappoint.

Thank you to NetGalley and publishers for an ALC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited about this one because I have been seeing it hyped up by other reviewers. Unfortunately, it fell short for me. I love a good thriller/mystery, but I really didn’t feel like I had to think at all about what was going to happen in this book. I knew from about 30-40% of the way through how it would end. I also felt like many heavy subjects were glossed over and Hepsworth would have done justice to the characters by choosing one or two heavy subjects and really delving into them. The characters were underdeveloped and left me wanting more, especially because their individual stories held so much promise. I also disliked that women were portrayed in a way that made it seem you are crazy, hysterical, or overreacting in situations of domestic abuse. I’ve given this book 3 stars because I enjoyed the multiple perspectives, writing style, and concept of the book…I just don’t think the execution did it justice.