The Ex Wives
By Jenna Kernan


How far would you go to protect your child?

Elena is widowed with her young daughter Phoebe. She has no family except her dead husbands parents. Until she meets handsome and rich Jackson. He sweeps her away and takes care of her & Phoebe. Slowly he starts taking over every aspect of her life. Gives her a new phone, new cloths, a new car, everything he needs to track her every move. She takes Phoebe out for pizza one day and buys him a small gift and he throws it breaking the cute coffee mug she wanted to surprise him with. From them it only gets worse. She can’t do anything without him knowing. She soon learns that his 2 ex-wife’s daughter have gone missing. Where are these two girls? Is Phoebe next?

I enjoyed listening to this story but it did take me a little to get into it. I am not sure is it was the story itself, the narrator or if I was distracted.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy in turn for my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the audiobook ARC!

The Ex-Wives sounded like an interesting plot, and a little different angle than other thrillers that I've read in the past, but the execution was disappointing. I found the characters to all be very unlikeable, the dual timeline to be clunky, confusing, and hard to follow, and the manner of inserting the current COVID pandemic into the plot and the timeline to be downright awful. There are some really great books coming out right now that are able to seamlessly weave the COVID pandemic into the fabric of the plot (see Elizabeth Strout's excellent Lucy By the Sea, for one), but this is not one of them. Just really disappointing overall.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to listen to this audio book in return for an honest review.

Synopsis

Two ex-wives. Two missing girls. Will yours be next?

Pulling a batch of my husband’s favourite golden oatmeal cookies from the oven, I smile to hear my daughter Phoebe playing in the treehouse outside. I was once so close to losing everything, but since I married handsome Jackson, I have a perfect life. Jackson might tell me what to wear, but he just likes to buy me nice things. He says I don’t need a job, and why would I want one? I can spend all day taking care of Phoebe and running errands in the fancy car Jackson gave me—he knows everywhere I go, and I love how much he wants to keep me safe.

But my whole world shatters when I find out Jackson is a liar.

He never mentioned he was married before—twice.

I love him so much. But how can I trust him now? Desperate for answers, I search our pristine house top to bottom. I thought Jackson was caring: but is it a way to control me?

When I track down his ex-wives, I see fear in their eyes. Both these women had little girls just like me. And when they left Jackson, their daughters went missing.

Devastated I’ve put Phoebe in danger, I have no choice but to find the truth about those poor girls. To protect Phoebe, I must pretend to still be the perfect wife, even though fear floods through me at Jackson’s touch.

But how far will I have to go? And what will happen to me and my sweet child if my husband finds out?

I really struggled with this title. The narration is good. The plot is good. The storyline is well formed. The characters equally well formed. It has many many trigger warnings. It should have been a thriller it should have left me shocked, yet I plodded through feeling like I had read it all so many times before. There was something quite hollow in it, and it just missed the mark for me I’m afraid.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this ARC! Some of my favorite thrillers are the domestic ones so I thought this book would be right up my alley. The story started off very interesting, but as I learned more about the choices the MC made I became frustrated. This book is similar to Behind Closed Doors, but left me not liking the MC. She did redeem herself near the end, but the choices made me feel it was unrealistic.

I believe the narrator did a great job on this one and I enjoyed Jenna's writing. This is the first book I have read by her, but I would be open to reading more. She is a great storyteller, but this story was not for me.

The Ex-Wives by Jenna Kernan keep me guessing the entire time. Elena thinks she got the perfect catch for her daughter and herself when she marries her husband Jackson. Little does she know that he was married twice before and is NOT the perfect husband he pretends to be.
I started off with being angry with Elena for allowing herself to be married to such a monster, but Ekena came into her own by the end of the book. I listened to this in my car. I may have taken the long way home a few times to continue listening. The narrator had a pleasant voice. Many thanks to the author, Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#TheExWives #NetGalley

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Ex Wives' by Jenna Kernan.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Jenna Kernan, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous.

Publication date 10th October 2022.

This is the third book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'The Hunted Girls' and 'The Adoption' which I would also recommend.

I was originally drawn to this book by its colourful and interesting eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. I am a fan of Jenna and if this is half as good as 'The Hunted Girls' and 'The Adoption' it is guaranteed to be a page turner. It also stated in the synopsis that this book is 'An absolutely addictive psychological thriller that will have you racing through the pages late into the night! Fans of The Perfect Marriage, The Wife Between Us and The Woman in the Window won’t be able to put this down'. I am a huge fan of 'The Wife Between Us' so am looking forward to see if it lives up to this. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 35 chapters. The chapters are medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Florida, USA 🇺🇸.

This book is written in third person perspective with the main protagonist being Elana Jackson. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.

'The Ex Wives' discusses some topics that may upset some readers or may not be suitable for others. I like to point this out ahead of time in my reviews so you can judge if this book is for you or not. In this book Jenna discusses domestic abuse/violence.

Wow!! What a non stop action packed psychological page turner!! Fantastically written with vivid descriptions that really put you in the storyline. The synopsis, title and civet worked perfectly with the plot.

The plot itself is unique and intriguing and filled with heart in your mouth in the edge of your seat moments. Several times I realised I was holding my breath and biting my nails. This book has everything you could want in a psychological thriller novel!! It was filled with love, mystery, deceipt, secrets, tension, suspense and several messed up people!! I was completely absorbed from page one until the explosive ending. I cannot wait to read more books by this fantastic author. Just when I thought I had worked one thing out I was absolutely mind blown by another shocking reveal!! It is getting harder and harder to shock me when it comes to thrillers but this book absolutely messed with my head!!! The worrying thing is that the plot is scarily realistic and the psychological abuse that Elana suffers many women suffer similar worldwide. Domestic abuse is a hard subject to write about but Jenna has done an absolutely fantastic job!! Although hard to read at times I just could not put it down!! If one person who is being abused reads this recognises the signs of abuse gets the help they need it then Jenna has potentially saved a life! If you or someone you know is going through anything mentioned in this book please get help ASAP before it is too late. Jenna has included helplines at the end of this book. I have been a victim of domestic abuse myself and would like to thank you Jenna for covering this important topic, showing readers red flags to keep an eye for and for including charaties and numbers survivors can use to get help. I absolutely love, love, loved the ending (and relieved about something specific, I won't go into details though as not to spoil it for future readers but I'm sure if you've read in you'll know what I mean) and would love to see this turned into a movie!!

The characters were all very different with their own unique personalities. They were all strong and well developed characters along with being very believable. I was completely invested in Elana and my heart completely went out to her for all she went through. I loved seeing her character develop throughout the book and was extremely proud of her at the end. As a mum myself what she went through is a mothers worse nightmare and she is an amazing mum who does everything she can to put her child first. I could not stand Jackson who made me sick to my stomach. There was also several other characters who had serious issues doing what they did/didn't do. However I won't say more than that as I don't want to spoil it for future readers. Regardless of whether I loved or hated the characters they all worked perfectly together to create an unputdownable psychological thriller.

This is only the third book that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but for the second time I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Stephanie Cannon who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Amalia did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Jenna but also to listening to more books narrated by Stephanie!

Continue to read until the end of the book for an excerpt from Jenna's 'The Adoption'. Another absolutely addictive psychological thriller that will have you hook, line and sinker!!


Congratulations Jenna on yet another fantastic page turner!!! An explosive psychological thriller that will have you chewing your nails and screaming and shouting at the pages!! Here's to your next success 🥂. This is exactly why I love your books and cannot wait until each and every one you bring out!!

Clear your schedules as you won't be able to put this book down even at 2am!!

Overall a heart stopping, page turning must read psychological thriller that will suck you in from start to finish.

Genres covered in this book include Psychological Fiction, Mystery, Suspense, Domestic Thriller, and Psychological Thriller amongst others.


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Angela Marsons, Carol Wyer, M. J Arlidge, 'The Woman in the Window' , 'Gone Girl', 'The Wife Between Us', 'The Perfect Marriage', 'The Woman in the Window', PJ Tracy and anyone looking for a book guaranteed to shock you!!


350 pages.

This book is just £1.99 or free on kindle unlimited (at time of review) to purchase on kindle or £9.99 in paperback via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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3.5/5 stars

Thank you Bookouture Audio for the gifted advanced listening copy!

"Yes, Jackson."

Alana thought marrying Jackson would be her and her daughter, Phoebe's, ticket to a better, more stable life. Unfortunately, she couldn't have been more wrong. Jackson is controlling, particular and demanding. Furthermore, his last two ex-wives' daughters are missing, with Jackson as the only connection between these cases. As Alana tries to uncover evidence and keep her and her daughter safe, she finds herself inching closer and closer to the dangerous man that is her husband.

The story of Jackson's control was soooo difficult to listen to at times. My frustration was building throughout the entire book, as I know this is the reality of so many people's lives and relationships. I really empathized with Alana's situation and the efforts she was going through to figure out how to get out of it. I found this book a bit redundant at times, which is why it isn't a higher rating. However, a big positive was the unpredictability of the ending! I could never have guessed where we ended up.

The Ex-Wives was one of those books that drew me in, had me rooting for the main character. The audio book kept me listening and I finished this one in a day. It really is unputdownable. Well done writing. Great narrator who voiced each character uniquely enough I had no problems keeping track of the story. Great book!

Thank you to net gallery for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was an incredibly tense read that I really enjoyed.
As soon as I started reading it, it was screaming 'Behind Closed Doors' by BA Paris vibes. So tense, creepy, and seriously unnerving throughout.
The main character did frustrate me a lot, the red flags and subsequent decision making skills were interesting lol. But we do see this a lot in thrillers 'if that was me I'd have picked up on it', but would we really? So I decided to not be too harsh with that bit. It just adds to the tension even more!
The ending blew my socks off! Woah, I need a lie down...

This was a really good book. It had a ton of suspense and tension and the narrator did a really good job. I liked the main character and really felt for her and her situation. I also didn't see the twist coming at all, normally I have some kind of idea but this one seemed out of nowhere and yet made a ton of sense. I also thought the author did a great job wrapping up the book. I look forward to reading more books from this author.

Featuring ~ single 3rd person POV, dual timeline ~ now and then, young widow, manipulation, missing children

What would you do if your soon to be husband's ex wife tells you he can't be trusted and not to marry him? Well, you chose love and marry him of course.

Elena is widowed with a daughter, Phoebe, when she meets Jackson. He seems perfect until a few months into their marriage when she starts to see a darker side to him.

Jackson is the Mayor and another powerful, successful man that feels like he can manipulate people. He has people in his pocket that can make someone's life hell if you get on his bad side and don't follow his orders.

There were some times I wanted to knock some sense into Elana and tell her to get the heck outta dodge. I felt so bad for Phoebe's grandparents and how they were never allowed to see her.

Overall, a solid domestic thriller. I think the dual timeline was a good choice that gave us some edge of the seat moments.

Narrated by Stephanie Cannon for 11 hours, easy to follow at 2x. Overall she did a fine job, but I could have went for more emotion at times, especially when she was in the sea and her life was on the line.

I was fortunate enough to receive a kindle copy and the audiobook to review. I switched back and forth between them and either way was perfectly fine.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this advanced listener’s copy in exchange for my honest review.

The very first book I was approved for on NetGalley and my first ever post on Bookstagram was Jenna Kernan’s The Hunted Girls, which I loved!! So, when I saw her new book on NetGalley, I HAD to request it!
I loved listening to this on audio! The narrator, Stephanie Cannon was awesome!!
Kernan once again brought out so many suspenseful twists and was taken on a fast-paced wild ride! The audiobook went really fast and I loved a great narrator..so I HIGHLY suggest listening to this one!

I was sure I was going to give this book a 3 but a couple big twists at the end boosted my rating. I genuinely didn’t see it coming! Although I hated the premise of this book, it wasn’t crazy enough to not be realistic. In fact, I could put myself in her shoes and see how she ended up in this situation.


🌀Synopsis
Elana married her dream guy, Jackson, and can now provide a good life for her child after her first husband passed away.

Life changes almost immediately after they get married. Jackson’s ex wife showed up to tell Elana to run and she should have listened. Jackson is controlling and the FBI shows up to tell Elana that two of his previous daughters are now missing. Will her daughter be next?

The FBI offers Elana a spot in the witness protection program if she can find evidence that Jackson took the girls. She starts digging, putting both herself and her daughter at risk.

It all comes down to a battle. Jackson, who thinks he is much smarter than Elana. Elana, who is weaker but driven by the fear of something happening to her daughter.

I have been married over 32 years but for some reason my genre of choice seems to be domestic thrillers with less than perfect marriages. The Ex-Wives was one of those books that drew me in, had me rooting for the main character, Elana, and the entire time I was on the sidelines getting so mad that ALL the red flags were flying, and Elana took forever to even acknowledge them.

The audio book kept me listening and I finished this one in a day. It really is unputdownable.

And, despite listening obsessively to this genre, I DID NOT SEE THE END COMING at all. Well done writing. Great narrator who voiced each character uniquely enough I had no problems keeping track of the story.

This was a gripping psychological thriller, fast paced with many twists and turns, dark secrets and surprises. The well developed characters were realistic and real. I was completely invested in the story with all the craziness and manipulation. Also a great ending i would definitely recommend.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the ARC!

This may be just me, but even without the synopsis, this man is a walking red flag so red it might as well be the book cover. Still, though, this was captivating to read. I support women’s rights and women’s wrongs, especially when dealing with the audacity of men.

And Jackson deserves every single hell storm coming his way.

Elana was an interesting protagonist. You’ll want to be screaming at her to just leave, especially in the Before timeline when her relationship with Jackson was still new. I was internally hitting my head against the wall at some of her choices but I also get why she would make them. Although, I'm still going to give her crap for not getting out sooner when she knew early on that things were sus. It was frustrating, which made reading the Present timeline much more compelling. Maybe something else I'm going to nitpick is that Jackson supposedly had all this power and influence, but I think more of that could've been explored. We could've ostracized Elana more so she could feel more helpless, vulnerable, and dependent, that all eyes are really on her.

Wow! I loved this a lot. I liked the Amish/Mennonite rep in this book it was interesting and I loved how awesome this books was. Narration was great, I just loved this book all around :)

Out today! There are so many trigger issues in this book, if you are a sensitive reader who often finds typical trigger buttons offend you, don't read this.

What does work well in this book is the "then" and "now" chapters. It makes for an easy way to follow the story. The narrator is very good. It is quite suspenseful, even when you know what's going on. It's almost uncomfortable to hear though because you just know this can't all end well. The characters aren't likeable, so I never really felt too invested in this.

It was just an okay read, but so many triggers. I would be afraid to recommend it without knowing what issues might upset someone when they encounter them in a story.

Thanks to #Netgalley and Bookouture Audio for this ARC.

Ah man this book is stressful! I seriously wanted to shake the MC Elana so many times in this book!

I’m always so torn on how I feel when a book makes me feel so unbelievably trapped. It’s kind of fun since I feel fully invested in the character, but on the other hand, the situations are so unlikely that it infuriates me. Maybe that’s the whole point?

I love a dual timeline, but there were a few times when it didn’t make sense.

Thanks NetGalley and publisher for the digital copy in exchange for my honest review!

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⭐️