Daniel Hurst is by far one of my favorite authors. Every book is thrilling, with shocking endings (my favorite!) The Bride to Be is exactly that!! I was hooked from page one and devoured it in less than 2 days.

The Bride to Be is like no other book I have read before. I love a unique premise.

Kate is due to marry Mark in a matter of weeks and has not yet found her wedding dress. While dress shopping she sees another couple picking out a dress and quickly becomes infatuated with them. Especially the groom to be.

The prologue gives a peek into the ending with someone being arrested. I was eager to see how the tale was going to go from the beginning to that ending.

Major stalking vibes throughout much of the book. The characters were well written with some big flaws. Some you will love to hate. I can't really say that I was rooting for anyone in particular, but did hope some of the relationships would end. No healthy relationships in the bunch.

I'm quickly becoming a Hurst fan and am excited to see what he comes up with next.

Thanks to netgalley and Inkubator Books for the arc.

Soon to be married Kate sees a couple in the bridal shop and is immediately taken with the beautiful Tess, so much so that she is now obsessing over the dress Tess picked out...and her fiancé Tristan!

The more Kate fantasizes about being with Tristan, the more she realizes her fiancé, Mark, is not the one for her. There's a twist you might see coming, but a couple more you won't. Should we root for Kate to end up with Tristan? That's the $6,000 question (you'll get the pun when you read the book ;-)

The story ended a little too quickly, I was hoping for a little more to tie it together. I also was thinking of the author's recent nuptials and hoping the story wasn't inspired by his own wedding preparations, lol!

Thanks to NetGalley, Inkubator and Booksprout for another great book from Daniel Hurst!

Thank you Inkubator Books and Netgalley. I love Hurst books so much. Well the most part I read were really incredible, twisty and unputtable. This one was no exception. So good

I was very intrigued by this book advertised on NetGalley which is due to be published in early May 2023. The Bride to Be by Daniel Hurst is a domestic thriller which follows Kate's upcoming wedding to Mark, her last minute wedding dress shopping and following this an infatuation with Tess and Tristan, another soon-to-be married couple. I would recommend reading content warnings for this book as it was heavy at points, with abuse involved, both physical and emotional.
It is a very quick read, with short, fast-paced chapters which keep the plot moving along at an intense pace. At 50% in, there is a twist that wasn't creative by any means but I personally didn't see it coming and I think this is when the book really picks up.
It is single POV, and being in Kate's head and viewing everything from her perspective, she was a very obsessive, and at times unhinged, main character. I think this book would have benefited from a dual POV perhaps with Tristan or even Tess. Overall the majority of the characters were pretty unlikeable and I felt a disconnect with them and their actions.
I enjoyed Hurst's writing style, although the ending felt a tad rushed, and the strange epilogue was the most disconcerting. I'm not sure why the author felt the need to add in a final unresolved twist to the story but perhaps this is because he attempted to tie in why there was such a big focus on the wedding dress itself.
This is a solid and enjoyable thriller that I'm glad to have had a chance to read and would be interested in reading more from this author in the future.
⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5

Thank you to NetGalley, Inkubator Books and Daniel Hurst for allowing me to read this advanced reader copy.

Review posted to Goodreads and will be shared to Amazon on publication date.

Could not put this book down!! If you've ever fantasised about "finding the perfect guy", this book is for you. 😂 Trigger warning, though: psychological and some domestic physical abuse. Nothing descriptively violent, however. Just states what happened.
I love the twists. There's a prologue which is a snapshot of the ending and I kept wondering how the story would lead to that. The writing style is fast-paced! No unnecessarily long and meandering descriptions. The epilogue delivers the final twist but it was slightly mild (jaw dropped but did not hit the floor).

Language is clean, no sex references, and no glaring profanity (I don't remember coming across any curse words at all!)
Many thanks to netgalley for this book in exchange for a review. Publication date: 7 may 2023

The Bride To Be is a psychological domestic thriller.

Kate is getting married in a few weeks. She has not found her dress yet. When she comes home her fiancée, Mark, nags her about being late and then about not finding a wedding dress. Lately Mark is becoming more like "the lady or the tiger." She never knows who she will meet when she comes home. As the wedding gets closer it seems to be getting much worse.

While at her next appointment she observes a happy couple. Jealous that they appear to have everything she wants, she becomes obsessed with the pair. Kate does the unthinkable and begins to find out more about the couple and starts to follow them. But she quickly learns they have problems also.

I really enjoy reading books by Daniel Hurst. He has an easy writing style that grabs the reader right from the start. This book was no different. It is a fast paced, twisted story that does not disappoint.

This was a first read for me by Daniel and I was on the edge of my seat for this one and couldn't flip the pages on my kindle fast enough. This was the kind of excellent psychological thriller that I devoured in well under 24 hours! And has me looking at more Daniel Hurst backlist titles to add to my TBR!! Highly Recommend!!


Thank you NetGalley and Inkubator Books for allowing me to read this ARC in advanced for my honest opinion.

This was a excellent read, I loved everything about it. It’s full of plenty twists and turns with plenty of suspense to keep you on the edge of your seat. The characters were great, the story itself was amazing and the style of writing was perfect. I have so many of this authors books on my to be read list and can’t wait to get started. I’ll be keeping my eye out for more in the future.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading psychological thrillers.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a honest review.

I can't lie - this book took me on a roller coaster of emotions. I'm still not sure whether or not that was a good thing, but here we are. The beginning of the book started off a bit slow for me - then started to really pick up - and then the epilogue left me more perplexed than anything. It made me sad to read about Kate being unwilling to leave her abusive relationship (which she acknowledges is abusive) simply because of her age and her lack of desire to start over and tell her family and friends. I thought it was interesting how quickly and completely Kate became obsessed with Tristan, to the point of buying a $6,000 dress simply because he told his fiancée he liked it. Another thing I had a hard time dealing with was the fact that Mark was killed on a public street - outside of a pub. No one saw anything happen, and/or Kate and Tristan leave the scene? I understand Tristan's hesitation to go to jail...but also, it was self-defense, and no one actually checked to make sure Mark was dead. Additionally, the fact that both her and Tristan were in abusive relationships seemed a bit too coincidental for me. I also have questions about how Mark got into Kate's house - and was able to push her down the stairs without anyone suspecting anything. Does no one have Ring doorbell cameras? And why did Chrissy want to know all the details about Mark's death if she wasn't going to do anything about it?

One last thing: I think that the fact that Kate and Tristan both come from abusive relationships, that Kate's best friend literally died because of her ex-fiancé that Tristan murdered, and we can obviously see that Kate has some obsessive tendencies - would it be a stretch to say that instead of wondering when you will get married to Tristan, you should consider therapy? Both of you?

As I said - a roller coaster of emotions.

Thank you to NetGalley and InkubatorBooks for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

TW: Cheating. If you're not a big fan of anything remotely resembling cheating (in this case, more of an emotional one) I don't think this will be a book for you (same as Verity wasn't the book for me. but that was way worse coz of the actual physical cheating that happened while Verity was in the other room. Ugh)

I can't get behind the reasoning of the protagonist's actions in this book. I think she's a crazy stalker, insecure and a relationship wrecker. Although it did turn out ok towards the end but still, the means didn't justify the end.

There are also some things here that I just didn't buy.

1. Mark's death in the pub during rush hour, in London. And the next chapter she talked about all the commuters, delivery men, ambulance etc. Like, it's a pub! In London! In a rush hour! After office hours! If it was the wee hours in the morning, that would have been more realistic and would make more sense.

"There's no way the police haven't been alerted to the body; it's right outside a busy pub where people are always coming and going." RIIIIIGGHHHTTT.

2. The dress hanging in a stand on her bedroom. When did it get there? Why was there no confrontation about when we knew Mark made a big deal about the cost of the dress.

3. "He's not better off with her." Here's this girl playing god again making decisions on other people's lives when she can't even make her own.

" It's at that point that I start spending less time thinking about my late partner and more time thinking about the man who might be the next one."

"It's because I want to be with him."

UGH.


4. The epilogue was a poor attempt at a "twist" in the end.

As always, Daniel Hurst sucked me in with the very first page and had glued to the pages until I finished it a few hours later. I'm not sure how I felt about the ending but I don't mean that in a negative way. It just left me feeling unsettled which is the outcome of a good psychological thriller imo!

Absolutely loved this domestic thriller!!! This was definitely a page-turned that I finished in a couple days.

Daniel Hurst has done it again by creating this amazing psychological thriller! I was thoroughly impressed with the plot twists and the fast paste of this novel! This is definitely a must read!!

3.5 stars rounded to 4!

I love Daniel Hurst books and was so excited to get this ARC is exchange for an honest review. As with all of Daniel’s books, this was a fast paced story that you could read in one sitting. I was gripped from page one.

This book centers around Kate, who is due to marry Mark in a month. The problem is Mark is psychologically abusive, and Kate wants out of her relationship. So much that when she sees what looks like the perfect couple at a wedding dress shop, Kate becomes obsessed with the guy, Tristan. Kate goes full stalker, and finds out Tristan has things in common with her.

I was hooked until the last page, but disappointed in the ending. It just wasn’t believable to me. I know this is fiction, but I just wish for a little more. Still an overall fun read though!

What if saying yes was only the first mistake?

Kate is due to marry Mark in just a few weeks time, but her controlling fiance is causing her to have second thoughts. During a wedding dress fitting she sees a loved up couple in the shop and wonders why her life isn't like theirs, she becomes a bit obsessed with them and decides to find out more but, what she discovers reveals they're not the well matched couple they appear to be and, will the secrets they are keeping stop the two weddings going ahead?

You know when you pick up a book by this author that you're in for a treat! Hurst is a prolific writer that covers some delicate topics in his work and this latest thriller is no different, this time delving into controlling relationships. It's a fast paced read that had me hooked from the start, with short chapters, a unique plot and well crafted characters. I took an instant dislike to Mark and was praying that Kate would see the light and leave this toxic man, but it's easy to say when you've never been in this situation and it didn't stop me shouting at her countless times throughout. As with previous books by this author there are plenty of twists along the way which add to this dark tale and kept me swiping the pages on my kindle, desperate to know how it would end, and what an unexpected ending it was, I certainly didn't see that coming. This is my third read by Hurst, which I inhaled in a matter of hours, and I know there's much more to come from him.

I'd like to thank Inkubator Books and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads now and Amazon on publication day.

I enjoyed this book despite the subject matter which I don’t like but know that sadly it exists. I felt that some parts were a little unbelievable but then it is fiction. There were twists that I didn’t see coming which I particularly liked. I am looking forward to reading another of this author’s books.

Wow. The shocks here just kept on coming. There isn't a lot I can say about the plot without giving away spoilers so suffice to say it is a fantastic read which I did in one sitting. Read this book, you won't regret it.

Kate is marrying Mark and she still hasn’t found the perfect wedding dress, that is until she lays eyes on Tess, another bride to be. Tess is beautiful. The dress is beautiful. And the man who is standing beside her smiling his approval is taken. But Kate wants what they have. Kate wants him, and she’ll turn into a stalker if that’s what it takes to have the life she’s always dreamed of.

I’ve enjoyed a lot of Daniel Hurst’s books, but not this one. I disliked Kate from the start. She was supposed to be a woman in her late 30s, yet came across as an immature teenager who made stupid choices.

Mark is emotionally abusive and controlling and instead of Kate finding ways to prevent her wedding day going ahead or to form a plan to leave Mark, Kate lusts after another woman’s man instead (a man she hasn’t even spoken to). Kate fantasises about being with him. She lies. Stalks. Deceives. And she made me want to SCREAM out loud.

The plot was flat and dull. Nothing happened. There were no twists, no surprises, and no suspense. It wasn’t a page turner, and at the end I was left feeling deflated, like I’d wasted the last five hours of my day reading it.

This isn’t the quality of thriller that I’ve come to enjoy from this author, which is disappointing.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkubator Books for providing me with an ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Kate is getting married in a few weeks and should be an exciting time in Kate’s life, however, it’s the opposite. Mark, her husband to be, isn’t always nice to her and Kate is starting to question whether he is the one for her. While out dress shopping, Kate comes across a happy couple and she is drawn to the husband… which then turns into an obsession….

There is not a lot of action for the majority of this book, HOWEVER, Hurst had me clinging to every single page still! Not a lot of authors can do that. I was so invested in this story and had no idea how it would end or what was going to happen next.

I am new Hurst fan and I can’t wait to read more of his books.

Thank you to Netgalley and Inkubator Books for this free ARC!

I have never read anything by Daniel Hurst! This book!! I was pulled in by reading the first chapter! It was a great book and a few twists that I did not expect! Great book and definitely need to read more from this author!