This was such a strange book. Adira finds out her husband is having not one but two affairs. And she's out for revenge. Which is great right? Not gonna lie I will root for the woman left behind for a newer model any day. The problem is, Adira is just so unlikeable I started to understand why he's running in the first place. She lets this overtake her to the detriment of her life and children. This is a great plot and would make for a fun thriller! Just make the wife a bit more likeable.

🌟 🌟🌟/5

I received an advanced copy for free and am leaving this review voluntarily. Thank you to NetGalley, Kensington, and Shanora Williams. ❤️

Infidelity, Deception, and Revenge

The Other Mistress is a psychological thriller that centers around Adira Smith-Cortez, a self-made multi-millionaire, who suspects her husband Gabriel of infidelity. Adira's suspicions lead her to discover that Gabriel is seeing not one, but two other women: Jocelyn, a club owner, and Julianna, a celebrity makeup artist. Adira decides to take matters into her own hands by befriending Julianna under a fake identity, intending to exploit the vulnerabilities of both women and cause Gabriel's relationships with them to unravel. The novel explores the complexities and dangers of this deceitful plan as Adira becomes entangled in a web of seduction, betrayal, and obsession.

The Other Mistress by Shanora Williams is an intriguing psychological thriller that explores the themes of infidelity, deception, and revenge. With its fast-paced narrative and unexpected twists, it is sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats. While it may not satisfy all readers, it offers a riveting experience for fans of domestic thrillers and psychological suspense.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for this book. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.


In this story we are following Adria, Julianna, Dina, Gabriel, and Jocelyn. Adria and Gabriel have been married for two years and Adria wants a baby. Adria finds out that Gabriel is cheating on her with Julianna who is younger than her and has been seeing her for the past two years. Adria paid for Gabriel’s job and helped fund Gabriel’s rugby team and apparently Julianna’s apartment and things like that. Then Adria finds out about Jocelyn who is the other mistress but turns out to be Adria’s other personality that appeared after her mother drowned her little sister Jessa after her mother’s boyfriend molested her. Adria and Jocelyn spy on Julianna and when their plan to try and break them up fails Adria and Jocelyn decide to kidnap her so that Adria can have Gabriel all to herself. So when Gabriel is unable to get in touch with either Julianna or Adria he calls Dina who took Adria in after she killed her mother and was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder. Gabriel tells Dina that he and Adria are not actually married and that he used her to get the things he wanted and to provide for Julianna. When Gabriel told Adria that he wanted to be with Julianna for real and stop the game they were playing she went off the deep end. Dina is able to save Julianna and snaps Adria out of her Jocelyn persona. Then Adria ends up at the hospital for sixty days and Julianna doesn’t press charges after signing an NDA and getting a lot of money from it. Then two years pass by and Julianna and Gabriel are getting married and another one of her personalities appears and that’s how the book ends.

3⭐
Genre ~ domestic fiction
Setting ~ Florida
Publication date ~ June 27, 2023
Publisher ~ Kensington
Est Page Count ~ 283 (74 chapters)
Audio length ~ 7 hours 42 minutes
Narrators ~ Ebony Mendez, Niecey Bethea
POV ~ dual 1st
Featuring ~ cheating, revenge, minimal steamage, childhood flashbacks

TW from the author ~ child abuse and sexual assault. There are moments of betrayal and moments where children are being let down by a parent/someone they trust in unimaginable ways.

Adira teams up with mistress #1, Jocelyn, to get revenge on cheater mccheater pants, Gabriel, who is involved with Julianna, mistress #2.

I do enjoy a good revenge plot, but I'm not too sure about some of the choices Adira makes honestly. She doesn't come across as very likable and someone you want to root for. Everything does all make sense by the end, which did take me by surprise, so yay for that.

As you can imagine from the trigger warnings, the flashbacks were pretty hard to read at times, so be ready for that.

Overall, it was fine, but slow moving at times.

This one took me a bit to get into in the beginning but all came together pretty spectacularly in the end. I loved how the POV bounced between present and the main characters past because the past chapters helped give a lot of insight into who she was and how she was feeling in the current state. The first half of the book dragged a bit as the characters dynamics formed, but once it became apparent that there was a lot more going on than it looks like on the surface, the book ramped up in tension and drama. The last part of the book contained a couple great twists and put much of the earlier things that happened into a different light. Overall, the early parts of the book felt like a bit slow but I really enjoyed the way it all came together at the end and I loved being surprised by the twist. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Other Mistress
By Shanora Williams
Review and Rating 3 ⭐️

The Other Mistress by Shanora Williams is one wild, twisty psychological thriller. Maybe just too much of one for me. There is a whole lot going on at times, and you never know what is going to happen next!
Adira, a self-made millionaire, has everything except for the devotion of her husband. He is cheating with not just one but two women. Adira will do anything do get him back and hatches a crazy plan to do just that.
Trigger warnings galore with this one. Child abuse, DID, assault, cheating. The narrator is completely unreliable at times and completely frustrating. Shanora Williams keeps the twists and turns coming until the climatic ending. If you like your thrillers wild and dark and don’t mind if they are a little far fetched, then this might be the book for you. Just not a favorite for me, but I’ll round it up from 2.5 to 3 ⭐️! I’ll give Shanora Williams another go for sure!
I want to thank NetGalley and Kensington Books for an eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Book Rating Key
⭐️ Not Recommended
⭐️⭐️ Readable Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Good Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Excellent Book
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Near Perfect Book
***Note*** I seldom give ⭐️or ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ ratings. If I feel a book is a ⭐️sometimes I just prefer to not finish reading it and not rate it. As for 5 ⭐️books, I think of those as books I would want to take with me to a deserted island 🏝️, and this means I read a whole lot of ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️star books. Happy Reading!

I was not a fan of this book. Now that does not mean the book was not good, it just wasn’t for me. I am a fan of her work, so I expected to love this like the other works. However, I did not like the way the mental health issues were handled. But please read this book, and judge for yourself.

*Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review*

Absolutely fabulous!!!

This book had a solid premise, but I felt the way mental illness was represented in this book was outdated and offensive. I couldn't get into or behind this one.


A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advance copy of The Other Mistress by Shanora Williams in exchange for my honest review and opinion. This was a fantastic psychological thriller that is a fast paced read with lots of jaw dropping twists and turns. The ending literally made me gasp as I was so not expecting this. Do yourself a favor and set aside some time to read this as it's amazing.

This book was messy & the author did not do enough research on DID.

Thank you Net Galley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I’m not sure how I feel about this one still. I liked it while I was reading it but I found it very forgettable. I did really like the characters and the story line.

The Other Mistress is a psychological fiction read that is twisty, especially the end. I love an unreliable narrator, so that was a benefit for me. However, I had difficulty relating to her thought process. This was one that didn’t leave a memorable impression for me.
Thank you NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Wow what a great story, kept me engaged throughout the whole book I couldn't put it down it was soooo good!

This book wasn't for me. I found the first half to be very slow. I was waiting for it to pick up speed but it never did. The story itself seemed far fetched.

"The Other Mistress" by Shanora Williams offers a mixed reading experience, leaving me content overall. The novel explores intricate relationships and secrets, engaging the audience with a well-crafted narrative. Some parts of the book prove to be intriguing, drawing the reader into the complexities of the storyline. However, there are moments where the pacing lags, and certain aspects of the plot feel like a drag. Despite these occasional drawbacks, the well-developed characters and the satisfying resolution contribute to my overall contentment. Shanora Williams demonstrates a talent for storytelling, creating a book that combines both gripping and less dynamic elements. "The Other Mistress" succeeds in providing a balanced reading experience, where the highs and lows ultimately leaves me satisfied with the journey.

I never read the author before, but this book made me an instant fan. I absolutely adored her writing style, it made me feel like I was right there with the characters. There were so many twists and turns, I was never sure what direction the plot was going in. The ending was absolutely perfect. I think this would make a great movie too.

This story unfortunately rubbed me the wrong way with the direction the story took. Everyone has a different threshold for these kind of things, but for me I didn't like what the main twist was doing and particularly the way the book ended.

This was honestly a little difficult to like at first considering how unrelatable Adira was. Thankfully, the jaw-dropping twists made up for the intial disappointments.
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for providing a digital copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Shanora has long been one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed this book as much as her first. I'd definitely recommend.