Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for letting me read and review this book!

It’s been a minute since I’ve read a thriller book and let me say this book did not disappoint at all. Thrillers are my all time favorite genre but I’ve been trying out other genres to widen my horizon. This book has made me miss reading thriller books.

I seriously could not put this book down. I was on the edge of my seat the WHOLE time. Now as someone who has been in an abusive relationship, I related to alot of the narcissistic behavior from the partner. It brought back a lot of bad memories but this book also shows you that there can be a light at the end of the dark tunnel that you think you’ll never get out of.

I genuinely loved this book and I can not wait to get an actual copy for my book collection.

2.5 stars

I love Samantha Hayes's books but this one did not work out for me.

I'll give her that, she managed to portray an utterly despicable person from page 1 to the very last.

But that was the double edge sword for me. It was so horrible that I fail to understand how no one would see through his act of a nice guy.
Leah is a character I had a hard time to like or sympathize. She feels weak and not very bright and quite naive.

The ending was a bit too much with one particular aspect that was "the cherry on top".

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing to read this book!

I've read most of Samantha Hayes' previous books and loved them all, so I went into this one with high expectations. I was utterly disappointed, as this was bad! I'm afraid I will not hold back with this review as this book was just terrible.
We meet Leah, who has escaped an abusive husband and has finally found a haven in her new home with her kids and a budding romance with Gabe. The book starts quite well as you get to know the character; she appears calm, serene and has her life in order. She is excited to meet her new neighbours when they arrive and hopes they can become friends. However, this turns nasty quite quickly, and her life unravels straightaway.
She suddenly becomes a screaming, irrational woman that has no support, and no one will listen to her. I was frustrated with the actions of the other characters around her; Gabe all but abandons her, her mum keeps singing her ex's praises, and even her best friend isn't that helpful. She is suddenly all alone dealing with her tormentor. I was happy at the end that we got an explanation as to why Gabe and her mum acted the way they did, but this was all that was good about the book. As for her lawyer, if mine ignored me like that, I'd dump her and find a new one. The situations she needed help with required immediate action and not just a lackadaisical phone call here and there.
There was just so much wrong with it, and there were a couple of times I wanted to throw my kindle across the room in exasperation with Leah's actions and thoughts. For example, she claims that she is petrified of Craig, yet she opens her door willingly for him one evening when he is obviously inebriated and allows him into the house. She just screeches at everyone who will listen instead of centring herself and getting her point across; she just made herself look like the crazy person Craig portrayed her to be.
Now that ending. I know the author was trying to give us a red herring by telling us what was going on in Leah's head, but those thoughts just didn't match up with her final action. She was obviously trying to descale the situation with Craig and telling him what he wanted to hear, but she was lying to us, the reader. This was all done for us to feel confused. However, I knew she was acting, and therefore her inner monologue made no sense whatsoever. It was poorly executed. The author should just not have included her inner thoughts, especially as they can't have been true.
The body we are introduced to in the prologue was a bit of a shocker, but the reasons for his death were clumsy, and I just rolled my eyes when I read the conclusion. In fact, I kept forgetting the prologue even existed throughout the book as we'd been introduced to a character and her problems back then that didn't really play that big a part in the story. I didn't need to know about her marital problems as she was inconsequential to the story. Leah's attempt to bond with her over similar issues also felt forced. Not every woman is in an unhappy marriage, so for Leah to assume she was just made no sense.
For me, this story dragged, and I only stuck with it as I've been so impressed with this author's work in the past, and I thought something amazing was going to be pulled out of the bag at the eleventh hour. I wish I'd given up at the 20% mark when I considered doing so, as it wasn't worth persevering with. The characters were all unlikeable; it was hard to care about any of the story as it was just so unrealistic (don't even get me started on who bought which house first, that isn't really explained, just accepted when it's revealed and once again made no sense). So, overall a very unsatisfying read and has left me wondering whether to read anything by this author again in the future? Was this just a blip?

This was an all right read. It starts out with way too much back story and monologue. Nothing interesting happened until nearly the halfway mark which was disappointing and frustrating. But once things finally start the story tumbles and rumbles with excitement and suspense. The ending was great.

Cotton Pickin' Bun Buns! 😳😯🤯

Heavens almighty! This was one fast paced page turner of lies, deception, whodunnit, mystery and suspense to be had! The endless ride of heart-stopping and mind crazy revelations were eye candy. This book provoked such anxiety in me and not to mention the absolute dislike I had for Leah's ex-husband. I wanted to bop him in the face with a cactus. And I loved how Hayes provoked that from me.

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Leah has finally moved into a nice little home with her two kids that's all their own, back to her parents home town. After a controlling, verbally taunting marriage with her ex-husband, Craig, and a long, difficult drawn out divorce, she finally feels free. When new neighbours move in next door, she becomes acquainted with Gillian and finds out she has a boyfriend who travels for work. On the night they all get together, she's smacked with the facing of "Rex" who is Gillian's boyfriend... and Leah's ex, Craig. As they live side-by-side, Leah realizes she'll never be free of him as he continues to gaslight her, taunting deliberate actions, taking over the kids, & causing her to be paranoid and crazy. Until weeks later everything comes to a head and someone ends up dead.

That ending was satisfying and surprising, but I had hoped for a bit more I think so it fell a touch short. It was crazy, it was good, the writing and how I felt emotions so strongly, shows what Hayes can always do. This was a constant ride of suspense and worry and I gobbled it up like my mom's home made bread pudding.

Thank you to NetGalley & Bookouture for this ARC!
Release Date: June 28, 2022

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 3.5 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

I'm sure this is a good read and enjoyable if you actually finished it. But sadly I hated it. Not the book itself, more the actual plot. Every page I turned just made me more & more angry and I couldn't read anymore. Half way through I had to give up.
Leah had a turbulent and violently controlled marriage to Craig and once they went their separate ways eventually, Craig was pretty much out of her and their childrens lives. But then he moves in next door and everything changes.
What angered me so much was the way Leah let him walk all over her, she never stood up to him and I know she has dark memories of them together, but she's just so pathetic. They have joint custody and he has them to stay every other weekend, but Craig just decides that they are living with him and she does NOTHING, yes she's upset & angry, but she still does nothing. He starts making major life changes for them and she again does nothing.
He told lies to all their friends, women Leah had been friends with for many years and they all believed it. She sat there and took it. Eventually she mumbled something and left but she should have ripped into them, she should have made them feel ashamed.

She does jump into action at a point & does something, but by this point I really disliked her. I hate characters in books that are portrayed as weak and pathetic, who can't stand up to anyone and Leah really is the worst.
Craig really is a hateful, horrible excuse for a human and I just hated reading about him and his girlfriend Gillian was just not nice and she had no right to do some of the things she did.

I'm sure this book would have been great if I didn't have such a hatred for weak characters, especially women and I'm sure that nearer the end Leah probably grows a spine too. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in return for an honest review.

What would you do if your ex-husband became your next door neighbor? An ex-husband you escaped and thought you were safely away from. Well that is what happens to Leah. She has moved to a new home and she is ready to fix it up. She is excited to start her new life with her children, and thinks she is safe. Until she sees her ex-husband, Craig, strolling into the house next door. Craig is a first class jerk who is terrifying and abusive. His evil plots of gaslighting, and scaring her are on his agenda. Will Leah be able to be freed from this jerk?

What I enjoyed:
- The pacing was well done! The second half of the book flew by for me.
- The emotions, tension, everything! I am pretty sure I held my breath through reading this book
- The twists!! They really shocked me and kept me on my toes

Overall, this was a fun and engaging thriller/mystery! I enjoyed the story and writing style of the author. This book is perfect for any thriller fan! 4 stars out of 5. Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Leah divorces her cheating husband, Craig and she moves into a small house which is sort of attached to a big grand house. The small house served as a "wash house" to the big house years ago. Leah and her two children, Zoey 14 and Henry 7 are settling in their new home when neighbors move in next door into the grand part of the house. Leah meets Gillian who has a partner she calls "Rexie." It turns out "Rexie" is really Leah's ex-husband Craig.

I found this book an extremely slow starter and I really did not start liking it until the 50% mark. The story is very convoluted and confusing and I found myself going back several times to try to figure things out. I am still confused about the ending and none of the characters were likeable. For me, this was just an okay book.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Plot:
Leah is ecstatic about moving into a new home with her children. She has finally escaped her abusive ex-husband, Craig. Leah notices the moving vans next door and is excited to meet her new neighbors.
Lo and Behold - guess who? The abusive ex-husband has moved in next door with his partner!

Craig is a true psychopath and begins to make Leah's life miserable. No one, including the police, will believe Leah when she complains about Craig's dastardly deeds. He is a master manipulator and even turns their friends against her.

One day Leah finds a burning body next door. Whose body is it? And why has Craig suddenly disappeared?

My thoughts:
The story was engaging and kept me interested throughout. It read more like a mystery than a thriller, at first. Craig was very easy to hate and had no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Leah seemed a little naive and some of her choices seemed a little questionable. I liked that it took a while to find out the identity of the burning body.
The book definitely picks up midway and the thriller parts kicks in.
There were some surprising twists and the ending? I was not sure what to make of that.

This was a three-star read for me! I would read other books by Samantha Hayes.

I loved Samantha Hayes' previous book 'Single Mother' and so I kind of had an expectation in mind while getting into this, but as expected, the author did not disappoint.
Loved the twists, loved the tension and the characters too.
The author is quickly becoming one of my go-to's in the genre.

I flew through this is a day! I loved the beginning but its a but of a spoiler that you know exactly what's coming since its the whole title of the book..... itd have had a lot more impact for the reader if you didn't realise the mysterious husband next door was the ex. And the main character seemed to fall in mud a lot more than seemed average lol. I enjoyed it, it doesn't all tie up and some parts are a little far fetched. I mean how many women can one man actually sleep with at once but never mind. There are certainly twists and turns and even if you've ever just had that neighbour from he'll then you'll sympathise at how frustrating it can be, even if he wasn't your mental ex aswell. I really enjoyed it

The Ex-Husbands tell the story of Leah, who's building her life fafter a terrible divorce. She moves to a new house with her children to move on with life -and then her controlling ex-husband moves to the house next door!

I love Samantha Hayes, there's something so special about her writing and this book didn't disappoint!

Por Leah, she can't seem to catch a break. The first part of the book is terrific (in a good way) because Leah doesn't know who's moving in to the house next door but we do!!! To see her go through all that, wonder about next door neighbour's Gillian's husband... and then... when we finally see that it is indeed THE EX-HUSBAND and you think the mystery is over... onto the second part of the book which is even more horrifying!!!

This was such a rollescoaster of emotions, so over the top (in a GOOD way), sooooo unbelieveable!!! A solid read.

goodreads.com/booksireadandliked
Disclosure: I would like to thank the publisher and author for my advanced review copy of the book. This is my honest review

I really enjoyed this from the start. Imagine the horror to find that your post divorce home you have made with your children, for that new start, is now the worst place you could imagine living as your Ex-Husband has moved in next door. Leah has been trapped in an abusive marriage for years and finally breaks free. Just as she’s starting to settle into her new home, he ex-husband moves in next door with his new girlfriend. What follows is more abuse against Leah, threats and lies being told about her, seemingly upturning her whole life. To say any more may give too many spoilers but let’s just say that people do get what they deserve. This is a brilliant book that will keep you guessing until the end.

Full disclosure: this book was not an easy read for me. I put it down several times, only to come back a few days later to give it another go.
I'm thankful that I finally just gave in and finished reading it.

Author Samantha Hayes builds this story in such a way that readers of suspense/psychological fiction can easily see it going several different ways. I caught myself thinking "Oh, I know how this is going to go down..." several times and would put the book down. Something would always pull me back to it though.

Leah thought she had finally escaped her abusive marriage and was starting a new little life for her and her two kids. That is, until her ex-husband and his new lady move in next door. Suddenly Leah's perfect little life is turned upside down and everything she thought she knew is challenged. Is she going crazy? Is her ex still pulling the strings? Will anyone believe her? Should the readers believe her?

This will take you on quite a ride and leave you questioning just what the heck is going on and who the heck is telling the truth.

I loved this book although I thought the beginning was slightly slow and over descriptive it quickly had me at the edge of my seat and I just wanted to keep reading to find out what would happen next! I thought the characters were well developed as though I were right there in the book with them! The twists were unexpected and great I highly recommend this book!!!!!

WOW!! If you are looking for a gripping psychological thriller then boy, is this the book for you!!

The Ex Husband is a fast past and completely hooking thriller. As soon as I picked this book up, I could not put it down.

From the moment main character Leah found out her Ex had moved in to the house next door her life was turned upside down. It was an incredible rollercoaster of a read, where I often found myself wondering if Leah was imagining things.

With the main plot built around domestic violence and emotional abuse it instantly made me feel connected to Leah. She was such a vibrant and relatable character and her Ex husband Craig was portrayed as evil and vindictive, still having his hold over her even after the divorce.

The author, Samantha Hayes definitely knows how to keep her readers gripped in this story… laying down the groundwork in the first half of the book, connecting the readers to the characters before ramping it up a notch in the second half of the book with enough twists to leave you with whiplash.

I would like to thank the publisher Bookouture and NetGalley for my copy of this ebook in exchange for my honest review.

I was fortunate enough to get an advance copy of the Ex Husband by Samantha Hayes from Netgallery. This book was a tale of many twists and turns. I read it within a few days. It kept me on the edge of my seat. This book had me feeling the emotions of the main character, Leah. This book had divorce, starting over, new love, betrayal, domestic abuse, etc! I highly recommend this book. I gave it 5 stars!!
I can't wait to read another from this author!

This was a good read for me , and i finished it in one sitting . Leah moves into her dream house after leaving her husband , theirs is a pretty acrimonious split so Leah is absolutely horrified when her ex husband and his new partner move in next door , he immediately tries to undermine Leah and make her look bad in front of their children and she is distraught when the kids start spending more and more time next door , although I was frustrated with Leah playing right into his hands by making some pretty stupid decisions I was rooting for her to get to the bottom of everything that was happening . Good read with a satisfying ending

This was an amazing and quick read, I was glued to the pages and had to stop myself from skipping to the end because I was just so anxious to find out how this ended! I really felt for the main character, Leah, and wanted to throw my phone at the wall a few times out of anger for what was happening to her, but the ending was worth it!

The Prologue in this feisty psychological thriller is dark and full of angst. DI Carla Nelson has been sent to investigate a contained bonfire in a local garden. As she and DS Flynn Marshall start their investigation they can clearly see the macabre spectacle of a dead contorted body in the fire. It is burnt to a cinder but looks like the body of a man, shrunken by the heat from the fire and blackened by the acrid smoke. They discuss a recent phone call from the next door neighbour Gillian, who had reported that her partner is missing from their home. Perhaps it is him. It did seem to be a likely coincidence. But the investigation continues, led by the two detectives
On the bright side though, Leah and her two children 14-year-old Zoe and 7 year-old Henry, have recently moved into a small rundown house in need of some tender loving care. She is busy painting the walls and generally refurbishing the property bit by bit. But never mind all the hard work she is doing, she is ecstatic. At long last her divorce from her manipulative and abusive husband Craig Forbes has come through and this is such good news because she is now rid of him forever and is free to build a new life. Leah has an odd job man called Jimmy to help her with the heavy work and has met a canal dweller called Gabe, who offers to help her redesign her garden so that she can grow her own food and keep hens for their eggs. She has also made a new friend, her neighbour Gillian, who had moved into the adjoining house. Leah is looking forward to meeting Gillian’s partner Rexie at a party Gillian has organised for the four of them. Yes, her life is definitely on the up, she likes Gabe a lot and has invited him to the party.
Gabe and Leah walk to Gillian and Rexie’s beautiful and spacious house. Gillian has been working hard and the buffet meal looks spectacular. Her partner is late home but nothing has prepared her for the shock and terror she feels when eventually Rexie walks into the room. ‘Rexie’ is her ex-husband Craig. He has run her down. He looks speculatively at Leah who turns white and immediately excuses herself and runs off home. She feels physically sick. He has found her and she knows this means trouble with a capital T. She literally does not know what to do. Nothing good will come of being a next door neighbour to Craig. So the story continues with obnoxious Craig making Leah’s life feel like a scary and devastating nightmare.
I thought that the first part of the book was very slow going, but from when Craig and Leah met as next-door neighbours the pace quickened enormously. Not many authors envisage their villain as well and astutely as Samantha Hayes. Craig couldn’t have been cast as more horrible and aggressive. He was totally amoral and monstrous. I didn’t really care for most of the other characters either. I thought that Leah made bad choices and her mother was interfering and really foul. Gabe was my favourite because at least he had a good head on his shoulders, but he wasn’t perfect. The storyboard was full of twists and turns, shocks and wrongdoings. The storytelling was vivid, tense, mysterious and suspensive. It is not one of my favourite from this author.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. It’s a 3.5* review from me.