A woman who has it all- perfect child, life, and husband, with a successful career to boot- has her world turned upside down when she sees a suspicious text on her husband's phone.

I thought this book was going to be a thriller, but I spent most of it wondering where the action was. All I really saw was an anxious, paranoid new mother. I feel like for the amount of stress she puts herself under, it almost would have been worth it do directly confront him instead of what she does. I do think the writing style was good. I feel this was more of a character study than a thriller, so while the lack of thrills was a letdown, the fleshed out and detailed writing helped. Overall, not the most exciting read but still an enjoyable one.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ He Said He Would Be Late was unfortunately not the book for me. I believe the primary reason for my lower rating was my expectation going in - this book is billed as a thriller, but it didn’t really read like one to me. Instead it was more of a domestic fiction, diving into the mind of a wife and new mother struggling with (likely) postpartum depression who is convinced her husband is cheating on her.

Plot aside, the writing in this book is pretty good and it’s an interesting deep dive into our main character, Liz’s, mind. I thought the characterization of some of the side characters was also pretty well done and I really liked Viv, the supposed mistress, and the nanny, Kyle.

The first half or so of the story was okay. I liked meeting the characters and watching as Liz started gathering clues to determine whether or not her seemingly perfect* husband was having an affair. However towards the middle, it started getting…a little boring to be honest. And Liz started to get more and more annoying the further she went. I kept reading in the hopes that *something* would happen, or perhaps we’d have a really good twisty ending that would redeem the slow build up.

Unfortunately, the ending just did not do it for me and brought my rating from a solid three down to a two and a half. While there were a couple twists, I was able to see them coming pretty easily and they weren’t quite the redemption I was hoping for.

All in all, with better set expectations, I might have enjoyed this one a bit better, and those who like domestic fiction should give this a go! Also if nothing else, I still love the cover and the narrator for the audiobook was great!

New mother, Liz, is struggling mentally and emotionally - the stress of a being a first-time mother is wearing on her, but what is bothering her even more is that she is certain her picture-perfect husband is cheating. As Liz spirals out of control trying to find proof of the affair, she gets caught between deciphering if she is actually going crazy or just being made to feel crazy.

HE SAID HE WOULD BE LATE is a story of marraige, deception, secrets, and motherhood.

I will say, this story was not what I though it would be, but it was still gripping. It was labeled as a psychological thriller, but was definitely more a domestic drama. Being in the mind of Liz was quite thrilling, but there was never that "scary" or "tense" feeling. I do highly recommend this one on audiobook especially because Kelli Tager did such a good job narrating it.

The main thing I did not enjoy how so much of this book could have just been fixed had the husband and wife had any form of communication or a sit down convo. So much of the story really is just Liz trying to find proof of the affair and that alone is a little dry to hear about for ten hours on audio.

What I did enjoy, was how like Liz, the reader feels torn about whether or not her husband is guilty of the affair of if Liz is just dealing with extreme amounts of stress and insecurity. I was eager all the way to the end to learn the truth but this was quite the slow-burn.

I think this one is worth the listen or read, but go in without the expectation of psychological suspense!

This was an ok book. It didn’t really meet my expectations. When Liz accidentally seems a flirty text on her husband’s phone is it what she thinks? Could her perfect life with her perfect husband and their beautiful little girl be a lie? Is her husband hiding an affair? She must do whatever it takes to find out the truth. And that she does. Thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

Thank you so much for my ALC to
@macmillan.audio @netgalley @henryholtbooks

Elizabeth Bennett has the perfect family with her husband, Arno Bennett, and their daughter, Emma Bennett. She has the perfect everything, as a matter of fact, but she begins to have strong feelings that her husband is cheating on her. She ensues on the most thrilling of pursuits to find out if he is cheating or not. What lengths will a wife go through to prove this?

The story was slow paced for me, but the narration was amazing, which made me want to keep on listening more and more. I absolutely loved the narrator and how she made the character of Elizabeth come to live in my mind.

Dnf at 45%. I tried with this book, but it was so dull. I got to the 45% mark and nothing has really happened yet. Liz thinks her husband is cheating on her and rather than straight out asking him, she becomes paranoid and obsessive about it. I read some reviews that say she ends up stalking the woman she thinks he’s cheating with and yeah, I truly don’t care. Once you have a woman who physically changes her appearance for a man, I’m out.

*I received an advanced listening copy of this book through Netgalley. All opinions are genuine.

"Liz Bennett knows that she is one of the lucky ones. Wealthy and charming, Arno is a supportive husband to Liz and a doting father to their daughter, Emma. A rising banker at a top firm in the Boston area, he is the picture of perfection, rounding off their idyllic New England life. But when Liz sees a text on Arno's phone with a kissy-face emoji, her anxiety kicks into overdrive and she begins to worry that her luck has run out.

Plagued by persistent skepticism and countless sleepless nights, Liz decides she must uncover the truth about her husband—as any wife would. So she takes a deep breath and dives down the rabbit hole. As Liz peels back layers of deceit and tracks down every lead, a frenzy begins to take over her life. Could Arno really be unfaithful? Or is Liz's imagination getting the best of her? When everyone around her is convinced she's become unhinged, she must prove, if only to herself, that a woman's intuition expands beyond a single cryptic text."

I could not listen fast enough. The build up and twists suck you right in. One sitting read.

This was a quick and fun listen. It’s almost entirely character-driven and it’s not really a twisty thriller, more so just domestic suspense. Is Emma’s husband cheating? Is she just paranoid? Is motherhood just making her feel lonely, isolated, and unloved or is there more to it?

The concept of this novel isn’t new but I’m always curious to see how an author tackles it. Justine Sullivan did a great job of keeping me guessing til the end. I really was uncertain on if Emma’s erratic behavior was self-inflicted or because her husband Arno was doing something he shouldn’t be. She keeps you guessing until close to the end, is not the very end.

Emma did drive me crazy at some times, especially when it seemed like she was putting her suspicions before her daughter, but I think the author showcased that when you’re deep in the trenches of uncertainty, you can really start doing things that you’ll be embarrassed of later on in life.

The author also did a good job of addressing the way motherhood isn’t something that is filled with joy for some women. Even for those that love their children deeply, sometimes it can lead to lonely roads.

All in all, I enjoyed this! The narrator, Kelli Tager, did a fantastic job and kept me immersed in the story. I finished it all in one day because the performance was a perfect pair with writing. Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen and review.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This book was labeled as a psychological debut in the mysteries & thrillers section. I have to be honest, this was not a mystery or a thriller. I listened to the book as an audiobook. The narrator was great. However, I normally can get through an audiobook in a few days but this took me quite a bit longer. There was just not a lot of substance to the story and it was almost 11 hours long. Ultimately the main character saw a text on her husbands phone and she thinks he’s cheating on her. She spirals out of control to the extent of following him on a business trip. The ending was probably the most mysterious because we never did truly learn what was in the jewelry box. Anyway, if you’re looking for a rather basic story about a wife and mom that thinks her husband is cheating, this book would be it. I do give credit to the author for the writing as it was very detailed and well written.

I appreciate the author and NetGalley for letting me listen to this in exchange for an honest review.

He Said He Would Be Late is a psychological thriller digging deep into an obsessed wife's mind. I was not a hug fan of the Pride and Prejudice references (overdone) but it was an entertaining twisted read.

This is NOT a thriller. I listened to 10 hours of a woman acting paranoid and crazy to find out if her husband was cheating on her. I get more action from my local "Are We Dating The Same Guy" Facebook group. Literally nothing happened in this book. There were no crazy plot twists, no excitement, just Liz getting big black caterpillar eyebrows, chopping all her hair off, and spying on her husband's co-worker because she thanked him for his help on a project and added a kiss face emoji.

Now let me say, this book was very well written. I won't count out this author based on this book. It wasn't a horrible book. It just wasn't my type of book and is 100% mislabeled as a thriller. Some people may enjoy reading about a woman's crazy antics to catch her husband cheating. Also, the narrator was fabulous.

Thank you to NetGalley and MacMillan Audio for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thought this would be more twisty and interesting…it wasn’t. I’m not sure if this should be considered a domestic thriller or just general fiction? Seemed like it went on too long with nothing actually happening.

wow. This was a wild ride following Liz who isn't sure if her husband is cheating or not. Her post partum mind runs wild and are the signs she sees real or not? I couldnt put this book down! i love the writing style and gasped a few times. I will read more by Sullivan.

I enjoyed the narration of this book. But the story went nowhere for too long. I found myself cringing at the actions of Liz. It had potential but fell short of anything "twisty."

A woman has just seen a text in her husband's phone from a co worker. The text is thanking him for saving her at their job
Immediately the wife begins to think that Arno, her husband is cheating.
She tries to catch him in a lie. He works late and so he must surely be tumbling in bed with his co worker, right?!
The Wife makes every single situation more than it should be
She keeps hurting herself by over extending, trying to prove her husband still loves her and is not cheating

He Said He would Be Late was listed as a domestic thriller, however, I would place it under a more general fiction heading. The story centers around Liz, a writer and her husband Arno. It is a story of marriage, motherhood and distrust.

Liz finds a text message on her husband’s cell phone from a co-worker that has some what she feels is a suggestive kiss emoji and becomes convinced that Arno is having an affair. Question…do y’all look through your husband’s phones? It has never occurred to me to check mine’s phone. I trust him and he has never given me a reason not to, nor does he look through mine.

Right from the start I was not a fan of Liz, she seemed like a major whiner. I don’t think she had real wanted her baby, or if she did she now regretted having her because she was stuck at home taking care of her and felt unfulfilled. Arno hired her a Nanny to help look after their daughter to free Liz up so she could work on her second novel, her first one having sold fairly well. So she was given the opportunity to work and not have to watch the baby all day. I found her irrational in her thoughts and actions when it came to Arno also and they led her to a somewhat downward spiral to find the truth on if he was actually cheating.

The writing was good, but I felt a bit bored, or frustrated, I can’t decide which, trying to keep up with the different ways she would try to catch Arno cheating. It does however give you great insight into just how far and fast her obsession was going. Even though I was bored with parts of the book because of the previous reason, Liz’s actions were both crafty and cringey enough to keep me reading, I had to know what she was going to get up to next, so in that aspect I enjoyed the book as a whole. The ending …well it does have a last minute twist that did not really thrill me, but I can see others really liking it.

All in all I enjoyed He Said He Would Be Late. I did listen to the book on audio and really enjoyed the narration. The narrator kept the tempo up well and helped move it along.
THANK YOU MACMILLAN AUDIO AND NETGALLEY FOR THE EARLY LISTEN.

HE SAID IT WOULD BE LATE WILL BE PUBLISHED MARCH 14, 2023

I was drawn in by the book title and blurb and I stayed around to see if Liz's suspicions were true.;

I know other reviewers have mentioned it but I have to express my opinion that this is probably more of a women's fiction than a thriller. Even though there is a mystery at play about whether or not Arno is having an affair, it isn't enough to throw it into thriller territory. I never felt that Liz was in any type of actual danger in her exploits.

The story begins with Liz living what appears to be a happy life with her perfect family - - husband Arno and daughter Emma. She's an author who had a successful first novel but can't seem to get a second one flowing since she found out she was pregnant. You get the sense that she is struggling with parenting and her husband works a lot. As in he works late hours almost all the time which leaves her alone with Emma a great deal of the time. The author never spells it out, but you get a feeling that Liz is suffering from some post partum depression and is struggling to find her way back to who she was before motherhood changed her life. Even so, she believes she's lucky to have the life she does. At least until the morning she sees a text on Arno's phone from one of his attractive co-workers thanking him for "helping her" and sending along kissy face emojis. Liz isn't sure what to think but suddenly finds herself doubting all the late nights Arno has been working and questions his honesty. Could he be having an affair?

The remainder of the story is about Liz trying to figure out if Arno is cheating. She goes to some extremes to stalk him in the attempt to either catch him in the act or put her doubts to rest. Even though I found myself frustrated at times by the ongoing doubts when I thought Liz should have just confronted Arno and gotten it over with, I also couldn't stop reading. It was like the train wreck you can't look away from. I absolutely had to see how this book resolved itself. So, I read on and will admit that even though not a lot happens, when something does, it's definitely worthwhile. I can't say that I liked the ending. I actually found it frustrating because I felt it was too open. ended, but I can also understand why the author handled it this way.

AUDIOBOOK REVIEW: The audiobook was a notch better because I think it enabled me to feel more of what Liz was experiencing than just reading it. The narrator could emote more verbally and help the listener experience her feelings and frustrations. 4 stars

Thank you to NetGalley for early copies of both the ebook and audiobook. I chose to read and listen to both of them and write a review. The opinions contained within are my own.

This was just an ok read for me. Maybe if I had read the actual book it may have been more interesting to me? I am not sure. It was intriguing and I was curious to know what would happen next, but for me it just fell a little bit flat from what I was expecting.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Henry Holt and Macmillan Audio for gifting me a digital and audio ARC of the debut novel by Justine Sullivan, and beautifully narrated by Kelli Tager - 4 stars!

Liz is a new mother to Emma, married to handsome and successful Arno, and trying to work on her second novel. When she inadvertently sees a somewhat flirty text from her husband's coworker, she begins to question Arno's faithfulness, which leads her to behave in all kinds of questionable ways. Is it all in her mind or is Arno cheating on her?

First of all, the narration on this one was fabulous and really kept me intrigued. While it's being promoted as a psychological thriller, it's more of a character-driven domestic drama. Putting aside more the more serious issue of postpartum depression, this is just a well-written story of a woman desperate to keep her life intact. There are lots of humorous moments to keep you reading. Liz makes some bad decisions, but most can relate to a thought-worm that gets trapped in your brain and you twist reality to fit. Anxious to read more from this author!