I loved Jenna Kernan’s Nadine Finch books and I have to say her standalones are just as good. Having just the right balance between character development and plot this book pitches you straight into a marriage that is absolutely terrifying.

After the death of her first husband, Jackson rescued Elana and her daughter Phoebe from poverty. At first he seemed charming but he is wealthy, influential as mayor and demands complete control. There is also the fact he has two ex wives with missing children and the Mennonite community to factor in.

With the FBI needing her to get evidence of his involvement in the missing children and her own daughters safety to consider Elena is going to need her wits about her.

My hackles went up as soon as I was introduced to Jackson. This man gives off more red flags than a socialist state convention. Elena immediately elicited empathy with the predicament of her situation. As a mother your child’s safety is always paramount, even if it means your own is at risk. The Mennonite community I found fascinating, closely resembling the Amish with the modesty clothing and lack of technology, making things a lot more difficult for Elena to leave.

Nail bitingly good this had me on the edge of my seat more than once. A nerve jangling, suspense filled thriller with a top shelf bad guy.

WOW! What a great book! The perfect man does exist! Until the FBI is in your driveway!

I have never read anything by Jenna Kernan before, but I LOVE this genre, and her book was great. A few spots were predictable, but I was so surprised by many things in this book! Five stars and highly recommended!

Imagine being a widow with a young daughter. You loved your husband so much and are lonely. Then, you meet the perfect man! He is attentive and loving. And he's concerned about your safety. You've met his family - and you met someone you didn't expect to meet, but that was okay.

But then little things start to happen. Is he being a bit too controlling? Then you find out the worst thing before your wedding. But you don't believe it is true because he loves you. That's why he does the things he does.

But when you know the truth that he has two ex-wives and both of their children are missing, you will do anything to protect Phoebe. Anything.

Thank you to NetGalley for this fabulous book!

Oh my goodness I’ve just finished this book and wow what a superb read it was. The Ex-Wives is a psychological/ domestic thriller that was filled with so much tension. Literally my heart was in my mouth at times as I was reading. It’s been a while since I read a book filled with so much suspense. The whole time reading this book I felt a chill running through me every time a certain character made an appearance. Ok there were times when I wanted to scream at the book and tell Elana to grab her child and get out of there. But who knows how anyone would react in a real life situation like that. A really great read that had my on the edge of my seat until the final sentence. 4⭐️

Well, you can certainly tell that Elana hasn't read many domestic thrillers. If she had, she would have recognized that her white knight in shining armor whose family pretty much runs a small town is probably not everything he presents himself to be. But by the time she realizes it, she is stuck. I was incredibly annoyed by how often she used love to explain away red flags. As a reader of a lot of domestic thrillers, everything felt very predictable.

The description of The Ex-Wives had me intrigued. Elana is living the perfect life since marrying Jackson. He just wants to look after her and keep her safe. He buys her clothes, tells her she doesn't need to work and buys her a fancy car so he knows where she is at all times. He just omitted to mention his two ex-wives. When she tracks down the ex-wives they both have a story to tell which strikes fear into Elana's perfect life.
It completely grabbed me and had so many twists and turns it kept me guessing all the way through and I did not see that ending coming at all! I highly recommend it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A great thriller, full of suspense and twists and especially turns. A recommended read.

Not much I need to say about this book other than just....... Read It!!!!
I'm a harsh critic and very rarely give a 5 star review but I cannot find fault here at all.
It's a perfect edge of your seat page turner that will have you losing sleep as you'll want to read "just one more chapter".
A perfect thriller from #JennaKernan who has just gone to the top of my list of favourite authors.
#NetGalley #TheEx-Wives

A gripping tale of what happens when you realise you don’t really know the person you married and about the strength of maternal love and how far a mother will go to protect her child. Really enjoyed this one. 5 stars!

After Elana’s husband died in a tragic accident it left her alone with small daughter Phoebe and a continually mounting number of bills. Then she meets Jackson Belauru. Wealthy beyond her wildest dreams, after a whirlwind courtship she becomes his wife. It’s a dream come true. Marriage to a wonderful man who loves her and with a secure future for herself and for Phoebe. But she soon discovers it comes with a price. Because soon Jackson reveals his true nature. He is not only a nasty controlling individual, he seems to delight in psychological abuse. Jackson has been married twice before, to women with a child from a previous relationship, and after the divorce both children disappeared. They have neer been found. Fearful of what is in store for Phoebe, Elana plans her escape, but things don’t quite go to plan.

This is an excellent thriller. It delves into some dark topics and puts Elana through many unpleasant and impossible situations. Jackson is an absolute monster, a man who, along with his two brothers, was abused by his own father. Will she manage to escape and make a new life for herself and Phoebe far away from Jackson’s control? Well you’ll need to read it to find out. Having done just that, I can highly recommend it.. It’s compulsive page turner and gets a big four stars from me.

My thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Jenna Kernan for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had me hooked from the first page! I read the book in two days and couldn’t stop until I was finished! One of my favorite thrillers I have read this year! I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Oh SNAP!!! Jenna Kernan’s latest twisted Domestic Thriller NEEDS to be made into a Netflix series!!! So often I wonder how authors especially in this genre come up with their inspiration to create these stories. This is one of them where I would love to pick her brain!! I absolutely loved it and couldn’t get enough! You must go out and pick up this book. It is incredibly addicting, fast paced, oh so twisted, intense, action and drama packed.

Jenna once again reminds me why I am so thankful for being single and having no contact with my ex!! Oh Jackson was a sick, twisted, dark, controlling, and a purely evil man. So many times he pissed me off to the max and found myself yelling at my Kindle!

Oh ex’s are ex’s for a reason and if someone warns you about your soon to be husband you should RUN!!

Jenna incorporated a very interesting storyline focused around the Meninites. This aspect of the story was very educational.

This book had a little bit of everything for everyone!

A slow build to the end.

The book starts out quite slow, and it takes a while to go anywhere. Having said that, once things start moving, you will find yourself unable to put the book down. The ending is explosive and worth the dragging parts of the story.

My review is voluntary and all comments and opinions expressed are
my own.

This book was amazing ! I loved the whole marriage is forever vibe. I could not put this down . Definitely a 5 star for me. If you are into thrillers and mystery this is a must read

This is a really fun thriller!
Elana is a widow with a young girl to raise. When she meets and marries Jackson, she thinks she’s finally catching a break. But she quickly realizes that her husband is not the amazing catch that she thought she landed.

This one has lots of fun twists, and will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very end.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my complimentary review copy.

There are many things to like about "The Ex-Wives." I primarily read thrillers and don't think I've seen Mennonite or Mennonite-adjacent characters. I thought many characters were unique and weren't your typical thriller characters. The book started to feel too long about 75 percent into it, and one character's actions/dialogue didn't make sense to me. Thanks for the advance review copy.

My heart stopped a few times while reading this domestic thriller. THE EX WIVES by Jenna Kernan tell the story of a fairy tale gone wrong. What do you do when the man you married turns out to be a monster? Read THE EX WIVES to find out what one desperate mother will do to save her daughter.

Tight, tense and suspenseful all the way through! Covering a difficult subject with many moving parts, we are treated to what terror feels like. Very good read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

The Ex Wives is a tense domestic thriller. It absolutely gripped me and I read it less than 24 hours. No mean feat given how crazy my week was last week.

The main character, Elena, left me pleading for her to run after so many red flags kept rearing their head. I knew that when she was trying to escape only part way through, it wouldn't be that easy and I was rooting for her to get herself and her daughter out of such a situation. I had an absolute hatred for the husband, knowing sadly a lot of his actions were something that type of awful person would do. The power and manipulation he had over Elena, his family and the whole town in general had me fuming.

Due to the sensitive topics throughout, please check trigger warnings before adding to your TBR

Loved this book. Got me gripped from the start and such a great crime mystery with lots of twists and turns and at the end of each chapter I just want to read on, could not leave this book down. So well written and such a great story and very well told and the story just unfolds page after page with a great end. Would really highly recommend this book as a fantastic read.

The Ex-Wives by Jenna Kernan is a tale of two halves of a psych thriller.
Let me try to explain.
Elana is an interesting character. It’s obvious she is desperate by nature, which causes her to make some bad decisions. But she really has no idea how bad her choices are.
Until one day, she does. And she makes a decision to extricate herself from a dangerous situation. What follows for the first half of the book is a cat-and-mouse game of Elana trying to leave and her husband foiling every plan.
Does he do so knowingly, or is it coincidence and he’s just that controlling? You’ll have to decide for yourself.
The second half of the book ramps up the tension and the pace. The reader feels Elana’s urgency as the danger she is facing becomes more constant. At more than a few places, it appears that Elana will never escape.
I don’t want to give anything away (I say that a lot, I know), but the author does create a satisfying narrative that will keep the reader turning the pages, especially in the second half of the book.
I am not bothered by most things – I can remove myself from a fictional book and read “from a distance.” However, it should be mentioned that this psych thriller is heavy on the psych. And that comes in the form of extreme psychological abuse. There are also themes of spousal and child abuse.
Fair warning.
Ultimately, The Ex-Wives is a story about resilience and finding strength in the face of looming danger when the people you love most are threatened. Jenna Kernan has crafted a discomfiting tale.