Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of The Other Mistress in exchange for my honest review

This psychological thriller was a wild ride and like the best rides you don't see the curves and twists coming. Adira has it all she is a talented and successful business woman, she is beautiful, has a lovely home and a husband she adores. Life is a dream until she suspects her sweet husband of having an affair. Adira is devastated to find out he is not just seeing one woman behind her back but two. You could feel the turmoil that Adira was going through and although my anxiety was through the roof I couldn't stop reading. Like the best stories you put yourself in the characters position and try to determine what you would do and how you would act. I was frustrated with Adira at times but you never know how you will respond to a situation until you are faced with it. Every time I think I had a handle on the story the author threw in a curve ball. I love a book that I keeps me guessing until the very end and this one did that.

This book is TRIIIIIIPPPPY!!! The chapters are addictively short making it really hard to put down. In the first third I was really intrigued, the middle third had me scratching my head wondering why it was plodding along that way and the ending blew my mind. Seriously, I did NOT see that coming! I think people who loved the twisty turns of The Wife Between Us and The Wives will probably enjoy this one. Well done Ms. Williams! Thank you Netgalley, Kensington Books and the author for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on June 27, 2023

Ms Shanora does it again! Although this was a slow start in the end it was good. It was just the right amount of suspense to keep you wanting more. I will def be doing a review on my other platforms.

This book was slow for me to get into - I found the first section about the wife worrying about her husband cheating a bit dry. However the second half was much better, I wasn't expecting the twists that occurred!

ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Adira has a great job and a handsome husband named Gabriel. But her world starts to crumble when she discovers her husband has not only one, but two mistresses. She does not want to leave Gabriel and wants to have a baby with him desperately. She becomes involved with one of the mistresses named Jocelyn, who decides to break it off with Gabriel and help Adira take down the other mistress named Julianna. Will they succeed or is Adrina just going to lose Gabriel forever?

THE OTHER MISTRESS was an engrossing read. I was really frustrated with Adira and didn't understand why she refused to leave her loser husband when he treated her badly. The author throws in some flashbacks to the time when Adrina was a child. These flashbacks keep the story very interesting and when you get to the BIG twist you will see why. I really did like this book and can't wait to read more books by Shanora Williams, I definitely recommend adding this one to your TBR list!

TW-Sexual Assault and Child Abuse

Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books, Dafina for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.reviews) in the near future.

The Other Mistress is a twisty thriller that follows a woman as she discovers her husband is cheating on her. She resorts to stalking and trying to get rid of the mistress. We follow along as Adira slowly unravels.

I loved the different POVs throughout the book. We had some flashbacks as well that helped to build the story and background. It was super fast paced and I flew through it. I just needed to know what was going to happen. The twists were unexpected and i liked them.

I will say that I’m not a huge fan of the ending. It felt like the “bad” guys won in the end, which i never like in books. Adira was also pretty unlikeable for the most part. She let her man walk all over her and her away with so much.

Thanks so much to netgalley, the author, and Kensington Books for the arc!

I absolutely love a Shanora Williams thriller! This book was so good and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole entire time!!! I could not read this book fast enough!!!!

As soon as I read the summary I had to read this one.
The thing is, it’s not what it appears. It appears Adira is married to Gabriel, who is cheating on her with two other women. It appears Adira teams up with mistress #1 to find out more and maybe dispose of mistress #2.
But appearances can be deceiving. I was deceived initially, but then a few things didn’t add up.
It’s an exciting read, and no matter what Gabriel is a dirtbag.

I have read a couple of books by this author, and I typically enjoy her writing style. I did enjoy the twist, as usual with her books, but I am not sure I enjoyed the time it took to get there. I had a hard time staying invested with this one. Williams has a way of writing characters that you love to hate. I will still continue to want to read her other titles, even though this one didn’t hit as high up for me as previous books have.

I almost feel the need to avoidn any book with “trigger warnings” I have two reasons for this.

The first is a book that is truly emotionally effective. That’s the point of literature. You want to avoid anything that may be offensive or triggerring? You are blocking these from people who truly need to experience this literature.

The second are people who want to pretend this doesn’t exist.

Sadly, I feel a lot of the latter in this. The former would be enough.

You are authors. Tell your story!

Wow, that was awesome. I will say, it was a bit slow at first, trying to figure out what all was going on. Then there are some little parts between chapters that are either a flashback, or happening adjacent to the story which takes a bit to figure out how they tie in.
Other than that, I really enjoyed the story! One mistresses, helping the wife, take her husband back from a second mistress, what could go wrong?! Adria's sole focus is on getting her cheating husband back, and there were a lot of times I wanted to shake her and tell her to leave him, she can do so much better. But nonetheless, she wants him and him only. She starts to spiral from how desperately she wants this other woman out of the picture, and that's when I started to question her sanity.
The twist I only saw coming about a chapter early (and these are short chapters), but how it all played out I wouldn't have been able to guess if you paid me!

Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

Thanks NetGalley for this arc. Shanora Williams has become one of my go to authors lately. I loved this thriller, which the girl can write. Thriller and romance.
So what do you do when you find out your husband is cheating on you?? You team up with the other mistress, that’s what!!
The book is face paced and has some of the best twists. Short chapters are also a favorite of mine.
I can’t wait till the next Shanora book is released.

GENERAL INFO

Year Pub: 6/27/23

Date read: 6/20/23

Format: Kindle

Source: e-ARC-I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Page Count: 320

Setting: FL

Genre: Mystery, Thriller, AA interests

Tropes: secret identity, love triangle

Standalone/Cliffhanger/Part of a Series: standalone

HEA/HFN ending: no

Epilogue Included: no

Character(s)POV Spoken: Adira, Jocelyn, Dina has chapters.

BOOK DESCRIPTION

Synopsis/Plot Summary: Adira finds out her husband Gabriel is cheating on her. She confronts the mistress Jocelyn, who is willing to help her get him back.

M/F-M/M-M/M/F-etc: M/F

Contains Cheating: yes

Contains Children: yes

Flashbacks: yes, Adira goes back to when she was 10 years old and living w/ her mother

Jealy/Possy/OTT H/h : yes Adira is super possessive of Gabriel

Amount of Sex In The Book: none, only mentioned

Overall Smex Rating: 1

CHARACTER DESCRIPTION

Heroine: Adira Smith-Cortez

Heroine Description: 31, self-made multi-millionaire owns lingerie company Lovely Silk. Has OCD, takes meds, meditates

Heroine Likability Rating: 4

Secondary characters:
Jocelyn- Gabriel's mistress, a club owner-Jessa's
Julianna- another mistress, a celebrity makeup artist
Dina-mother figure, travelling healer, does Reiki
Panda-Adira's little sister
Claudette-Adira's mother

H /h RELATIONSHIP INFO

OW/OM/Exes: Jocelyn and Julianna

Cheating Before/During/Outside H/h Relationship: yes

CONTENT WARNINGS/TRIGGERS
mental disorders, child abuse/sexual abuse, stalking, kidnapping

AUTHOR OVERVIEW
Shanora Williams
New or read before & any favorites: new author

PERSONAL OVERVIEW

Overall Rating: 5

Do You Recommend This Book: yes

Will You Re-read This Book: yes

Would You Read More Books by this Author: yes

COMMENTS/NOTES: It's unbelievable storytelling. It has twists and turns I didn't expect. I really sympathized with Adira's problems. I would love a book from Zee or more Jocelyn.

I loved how this was written. It was like listening to to a homegirl. I enjoyed the story within a story that gave snippets into what made the main character who she is.

It was such an intriguing story and hooked me from page one. But that twist. The twist! I wasn’t expecting that at all and it completely changed the story.

Well done!

This book. I don’t even know where do I begin.
It has been years. Literally, years since a book made me cry. And not on the inside. Not cry with laughter. But I just sat there and as I was reading it, I think I was at 96% or 97%, and those big, fat, hot tears were rolling down my cheeks. And turns out, I didn’t want anyone in my household to see me cry reading, as I didn’t want to tell and explain what exactly it was about the book that made me cry.
It has been forever since any book made me feel this crazy rollercoaster of all sorts of emotions. I mean, yes, I am all in for emotions only when I read, but this was different. There were alltheemotions. Allthepossiblemotions. A whirlwind of a rollercoaster of emotions.
Usually, as I read, I write down all sorts of notes. Like, “I’m at 55% and I really like this dog”. This book was no exception. In fact, I had filled five pages of such notes in my paper notebook. But once I reach that point in the book – the one that made me cry – I can just throw all my notes away. They are absolutely irrelevant. They really mean nothing, say nothing, and are nothing.
Also, I remember being at about 70% and thinking that I’m so glad I didn’t read the page with trigger warnings at the very beginning of the book because I’m sure those trigger warnings would have been like spoilers to me. But when I got to me crying part, well. Yeah. Now I’m one of those who say that those trigger warnings are there for a reason and those should be taken very seriously for those to whom it may apply.
It feels really difficult to rate this book. How do I rate it the same five stars I have rated so many other books I enjoyed? But yes, it definitely is a very. A very solid five-star read.
This book will take you on a journey – one you had no idea you even wanted to go on, but once you are there, you will be glad you did, even if the end of the journey will break your heart and all the travels through the pages will mess with your head.

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
The Other Mistress won me over with its compelling premise, but while I enjoyed the first half, I soon found myself feeling conflicted, especially with the way certain issues were handled here.
On the surface, I loved the way the story started: it’s fast-paced and messy, full of infidelity and backstabbing, and drama between three women involved with the same man, instead of holding the man responsible for his actions. All of the characters involved are deeply unlikable, and we absolutely need more of that from Black writers/featuring Black characters. It’s fast-paced and twisty, and I couldn’t stop turning pages for at least the first half, to figure out what would happen next.
But somewhere in the second half, things took a turn. It was foreshadowed in flashback chapters, but I didn’t expect the exact circumstances. Essentially, while Shanora Williams is transparent about the fact that rape and abuse play a role in the story, primarily in these flashback scenes, the impact of the trauma years later is what influences the “twist.” While it’s hard to discuss without too many spoilers, this plot twist adds further fuel to stigma against an already overly stigmatized mental illness, one of which is already heavily villainized thanks to certain notable true crime cases and horror films. The correlation between the trauma experienced and the illness itself makes some sense, but it does nothing to dispel stereotypes around the supposed violent nature of people living with this illness. However, I also am inclined to give Williams some grace, as she did at least handle the depiction of the trauma with sensitivity, and while I don’t like it here, she’s possibly merely following in the footsteps of the myriad white writers in thriller and horror who came before her in making this creative choice.
With that in mind, it’s hard to say who I’d recommend this to. With the caveat that it does deal with those heavy themes, I’d tentatively recommend it to anyone looking for a thriller with Black characters.
CWs: sexual assault, child sexual abuse, depiction of symptoms of a severe mental illness

Thank you for the ARC! Overall I thought this was a pretty good thriller. I liked the short chapters, the back and forth in time and the overall story. There are some TW: child abuse and molestation. The book gets really interesting quickly and I ended up finishing it quickly which I liked. A good thriller that will keep you engaged.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this ARC. This book started right off getting me hooked. Your husband is cheating on you, not with one but with two women, and one woman wants to team up with you to get rid of the other mistress? Wow. What a story and what a ride. It got more intense as the book went on and ended in a MAJOR twist! I now have to go see what other books this author has available.

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

How did he find the time? A well-written story of deceit, which tips a wife over the edge. A complicated story-well worth a read.

This was a quick and entertaining read. I really enjoyed the twist at the end. Some tough subject matter but was done well.