Reading this tense psychological thriller was like being drawn inexorably into a spider's web ,getting more entangled with every struggle! So brilliantly crafted, the tension never let a up, right to the end. The abusive husband you think you've escaped suddenly turns out to be your new next door neighbour. You think it can't get worse but each day sees him up the gaslighting til you think you are going crazy, losing your home, your children,your friends and maybe even your freedom if not your life.

I just finished the Ex-Husband and here is my review

Leah breathes a sigh of relief as she works around her little home that is all hers and her kids. She is even excited when she sees the moving van pull up and gets new neighbors,
At a housewarming next door she finally meets Gillians partner…. It’s Leah’s abusive ex Craig.
A panic inside her bubbles to the surface as she comes face to face with the man who abused her and cheated on her for years.
He tells everyone that she moved in next to him and paints the picture of a woman on the verge of a psychotic snap.
Not knowing fact from fiction anymore, Leah sets about to try and claim her life back but a fire in her backyard with a dead body in, will leave her even more confused and in more danger than she ever knew.
This…. BOOK…. WAS….. BRILLIANT!! I found all the twists and the overlapping plots so entertaining I had to read it to the very end.
Being a woman with an ex like Craig, I felt serious kinship with Leah. It’s so hard to fight against elaborate lies that a man can weave when he has flying monkeys to do his bidding. I loved that Leah’s actions always left you wondering just how much of it all is truth or fiction! It drove me to sit and ignore my life for 4 hours. I had to know!!
I liked that each chapter left me a little more anxious to know. The author is very gifted with their storytelling! I loved the setting, all the characters were well established and I didn’t feel anything was missing. Gabe was the only character I kind of felt was a little lacking but honestly it didn’t take anything from the book.
If thrillers are in your wheelhouse you MUST pick up a copy of this book! 5 stars!
Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for my honest review

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for an early copy of The ExHusband. The main character was too naive for my liking. The plot got increasingly ridiculous. Not one of the better books I’ve read, I’m sorry.

A new book from one of my favourite authors has got to be good, and WOW was this one good ! Great story with lots of twists and an ending tying it all up nicely. This is a book I highly recommend.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this brilliant ARC

The Ex Husband - Samantha Hayes

This is a decent light thriller (albeit one without too much thrill) read and overall one I enjoyed.

While this book was a little predictable in parts aswell as parts of the plot I found a bit far fetched, it was still a fast paced, grippy read full of lies and deception and I flew through it from the very first chapter.

While it would never be classed as a literary masterpiece, these light easy mild thriller type reads are a guilty pleasure of mine for sure.

The writing is easy, with short quick chapters that suck you in and make you want to keep on reading.

Overall, an enjoyable read.

Thanks a mil to Netgalley, bookouture and the Author Samantha Hayes for an advanced e book copy in exchange for an honest review.

3🌟

I'm not going to lie I really struggle with this one. Having experienced an ex parter issue in the past this really resonated with ne.
Very powerful.

A well written novel of domestic drama. Clever and incisive writing and intricate character work. A must read for fans of domestic drama and psychological thrillers.

The book begins with the police attending a garden where a body is found in a bonfire and it goes on to tell the story of what happens leading up to that discovery and after too.

Wow, this was fantastic, but also so sad too. Delving into the life of a woman who has been abused both mentally and physically by her narcissistic ex-husband, and just when she is rebuilding her life after getting away, he is back to torment her.
I could not stop reading this book, it captured me thoroughly. This is very insightful and thought-provoking in that you really cannot tell what goes on behind closed doors, and the way a partner can twist things to make out you are in the wrong.

It was written so well and the ending shocked me, absolutely brilliant read!

I’m already a huge fan of this author, so was excited to get my hands on an arc. And this novel is exactly what I expected. Mounting tension, three dimensional characters and an absolute page turner. Get reading.

An excellent storyline with interesting characters. I am not too sure of the peripheral characters like Gabe and the mum as there was something missing for me - not quite believable. It made me uncomfortable at times as I could relate to some of the psychological bullying and manipulative behaviour. I was a little disappointed by the ending as it seemed a little rushed but it did bring everything together.
I would recommend this book and would like to thank Bookouture and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to give my unbiased opinion.

Samantha Hayes is one of my top 5 authors! I couldn’t wait to read her newest book, The Ex-Husband. The premise was great - Leah and her children are stunned when her ex husband, and their father, but the house next door to them. What follows is a twisty rollercoaster! I love a good domestic thriller and this one definitely hit the spot. Highly recommend grabbing this one for your Kindle to bring to the beach this summer!

🚤💅🏻🔥The Ex-Husband🔥💅🏻🚤
By Samantha Hayes (via #netgalley)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Omg so much yes! I went through such a range of emotions that I feel like I need a stiff drink to recuperate. Lol ok maybe not that bad, but at times it made me SO angry that I wanted to jump Into my kindle just to strangle a character. but I mean that in the best way possible lol.

What would you do if you were finally starting over…finally divorced from your controlling ex-husband, have a house of your own, and can finally feel free…only to have him move in next door with his new wife. And not only next door, but you share a wall with them? Enter Leah and her ex-husband Craig…life as neighbors is not at all what Leah was counting on.

Thank you #netgalley for an ARC of The Ex-Husband!

#netgalley #netgalleyreview #bookstagram #books #read #readmore

Leah is newly divorced from her controlling, cheating husband. It’s time to be free, as she and her two children move into a new home. It’s a tiny house, but it’s all hers, and she has a lovely vegetable garden that Leah plans to till. Everything seems wonderful for Leah, as she begins her new life as a single mom.
Until…. A new neighbor moves into the house next door. Someone who will terrorize her, and force her nearly into insanity! Her dreams of escaping a violent ex husband are shattered.

This psychological suspense book is easy to read, keeps the reader engaged and has both villainous and likeable characters.
I gave it 4 1/2 stars for good plot line, easy reading, but a bit predictable.

Thank you NetGalley for the preview reading!

I quite enjoyed this book , not the best I’ve read from this author but worth a read. The story was the typical abusive relationship with a slightly different take on it . There was a bit of a twist at the end and plenty of tension throughout to see what the outcome of the story would be . Worth a read , just lacks something for me .

Leah and her kids had just moved into a new neighborhood, a new house, a new beginning as she'd just divorced her abusive ex-husband Craig. Little did she know that the cunning Craig would come again into her life, as the neighbour of the adjoining house making her life a living hell.

I have had major expectations for the book as I really liked the plot and have enjoyed the author's books. I struggled so much to keep the chapters going as nothing in the book were impressive enough - not the plot, not the characters and there were no twists and nothing seemed believable either. I kept hoping for something good to come and convince me that I'd really wasted my time on this, but sadly there were one.

All opinions mine. I thank Bookouture as ever for my complementary copy.

Leah moves in to a new house and finally feels she is getting back to herself after a messy divorce until one day her ex moves in next door.

I felt the storyline started of a bit slow but then gradually built up tension when Leah’s ex Craig moved in next door. From Leah’s initial reaction you can sense the fear building inside of her. Slowly Leah starts to look like the crazy ex but is that the case. Craig with his big house and charming manner seems to be able to manipulate his way out of anything, I took an instant dislike to him as you can imagine. Samantha Hayes really writes the dynamics of their relationship well, showing and demonstrating how words can be twisted.

Although I didn’t really warm to Leah all that much. I really did a sympathise with her situation but there were parts I was screaming inside at her reactions to certain situations. However, I think it was due to having been in a similar situation where your ex presents narcissistic behaviour but you are not able to see it clearly until you leave.

It did feel slightly repetitive in some areas but the twist and turns kept you on your toes and although I predicted the ending I was still left shocked it actually happened.

The Ex-Husband is a good, quick read thriller. It has all the components of an abusive ex-husband who is unhinged. It starts out with a dead body in the back yard and then goes back to the series of event that led up to it.
I read this book pretty quickly but ultimately found it a little predictable. There are a lot of twists and turns but nothing I found all that shocking. It kind of reminded me of a good Lifetime movie.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for my advanced copy.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review. I give it a 4.5.

Leah’s worse nightmare has come to life when she realizes her ex-husband is her new neighbor. She was ready to put it all behind her and start fresh.

This book had a lot of twists that I was not expecting!

The plot includes an abusive ex, murder, infidelity, and surprisingly a fresh start.

I would definitely recommend this book!

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

“𝘒𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘦𝘥.”

— 𝖲𝖺𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗍𝗁𝖺 𝖧𝖺𝗒𝖾𝗌 (𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘅-𝗛𝘂𝘀𝗯𝗮𝗻𝗱)

What would you do if your worst nightmare moved in next door?
 
After divorcing her ex-husband, Leah and her two children moved into a very modest house, hoping to start afresh. Her plans were shattered, however, when her ex-husband, Craig, and his new girlfriend, Gillian moved in next door. Leah realizes she'll never be free of his malignant narcissism as she keeps getting subjected to his heinous gaslighting. Things got even worse when a body was discovered in her backyard, murdered and set on fire.

Gaslighting, infidelity, marital abuse, and spying are among the topics covered in this book. I wish I had prepared myself before reading this one because it brought up memories from the past that I didn't want to revisit. It's the worst feeling to have your neighbor intrude on your property and try to gaslight you, then have an old acquaintance follow you around and invade your privacy. Who, in their right mind, would find that enticing? This book makes me want to dive right into the plot and punch the antagonist in the face. His demeanor is atrocious. Unfortunately, domestic violence of this nature very much exists. Anyhow, this was my first Samantha Hayes novel, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I put this book down several times over the week because I'm still in the throes of a reading slump. But after restarting it today, I eventually finished it, and from 3.5 I bumped it to 4 stars as it turned out to be an excellent read. If you enjoy a fascinating plot, you'll love this page-turning psychological thriller.
 
Samantha Hayes' The Ex-Husband will be released on June 28, 2022.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author Samantha Hayes and Bookouture for providing an ARC of The Ex-Husband in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely flew through this book in a day - to be fair, I am on holiday, but I couldn't put it down!

It has everything you want from a good thriller. Twists, turns and frustrations aplenty!

There is a couple of things that didn't quite work for me, otherwise this would have been a 5* read. These two things were revealed near the end of the book and I just found them unnecessary as if they were just put in for the sake of it. Only my opinion, but the book would have been better without.