A woman with a shocking secret is assumed to be dead. Her two…yes two…husbands are both suspected.

This book kept my attention from the first page until the last. I have read Adele Parks books before and this one did not disappoint. A gripping, twisty thriller that I did not want to put down!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the chance to read and review this book!!! Highly recommend to anyone who loves a thriller!!!

This book was fine, I just couldn’t get into it

~This was given by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

I definitely do not appreciate that the description leaves out that this storyline is set in COVID lockdown. As for me, I desire not to read about lockdown because who wants to revisit that time? Not I. A warning would’ve been nice, so I wouldn’t have picked this one up in the first place. But, since no warning or hint of that was provided beforehand, I read it and will provide my thoughts.

Kylie goes missing and her two husbands (who didn’t know about each other) are the prime suspects. Staci has just moved home to stay with her father while she’s dealing with some health problems. Kylie’s sons end up in the same town as Staci, searching for their mom. How are they all connected?

There are many POVs we read from in third person, I prefer first person narrative to allow easier differentiation. It was almost a clinical sort of feel to be reading from so many different people and to feel so detached from all of them. The book was also very wordy, we definitely could’ve done without 50-75 pages and gotten the same or better result.

Overall I would urge whoever is in charge of writing book descriptions to disclose when it’s set in a time period that could be off putting for a lot of people. I wouldn’t discourage anyone from reading this if it was on your TBR, but if it’s not on your radar, I wouldn’t add it there.

Thank you to the publisher for the gifted ARC.

I enjoyed this book, though it was a little long. It’s a sequel but you don’t need to read the first one to get into this one. In fact I forgot I had read the first one at all, but when I went back and read my review, pieces came back to me. The book centers on Kylie, who turns out to have been married to 2 different men at the same time, then goes missing and is presumed dead. The book takes you through the search for her as well as the tie to another family in the same area.

I’ve seen other reviews that said that all of these characters were unlikable, and I actually didn’t feel that way. I thought most were just flawed humans who made some good decisions and some bad decisions, but all with at least some relatability. A lot was made of Kylie’s bigamy; I am sure the word “bigamist” had to have been used 100 times- we get it, already! I enjoyed getting into these characters’ heads and better understanding why they did what they did. The mystery was good and there was strong action in the last quarter or so of the book. I really liked how the ending turned out- it’s what I was hoping would happen.

Overall, this was an enjoyable read that maybe could benefit from a little more editing. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

2.5 stars rounded to 3. At the time I requested an ARC, I was unaware it was a sequel. I prefer to read a series in order so it was frustrating to find out in the author’s spoiler alert at the END of the novel. Also Goodreads does not list this book or the previous one as a series. That said, it worked as a standalone to a point. I loved the premise, but unfortunately it just didn’t hold my full attention. At times I found myself losing interest for it was quite lengthy and could have wrapped up much quicker than it did.

This may sound petty, but I am not fond of books that are based around Covid. A time of despair we all want to forget.

This book includes: Suspicion, jealousy, betrayal, deception, grief, fear, untold secrets, murder, as well as characters with sociopathic tendencies & self delusion. These are all great ingredients for a psychological suspense / thriller. I just don’t think it was executed as well as it could have been. Maybe it’s because I didn’t read the prequel “Woman Last Seen” which I will pick up at some point in time to see how it all started.
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Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing & Adele Parks for the opportunity to read an ARC in return for an honest review.

Favorite Line: “Love is just a shiver away from hate.”

I like this one a lot and don’t think you have to read the first book to enjoy this one . I feel it is a good stand alone . It was well plotted and kept you guessing to the end
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

This is a loosely connected sequel to Woman Last Seen. I don't think you have to read that first to understand and enjoy this book. In fact, while I have read WLS, I didn't make the connection until the end! But if you are going to read both, read that one first! Needless to say, in this one, we know near the start who has murdered the bigamist wife. But the world doesn't know and instead is blaming one of the husbands. At the same time, a man is helping his daughter recover from cancer. I will admit that a lot of the story was predictable. I don't think there was any way around it. But instead of trying to confuse the reader, the story lets the reader in to what is happening so that we can follow the characters as everything is revealed to them. Sometimes I like this approach and sometimes I don't. This time I did!

Thank you to #NetGalley, Adele Parks and Harlequin Trade Publications for the opportunity to read an advance copy of Two Dead Wives, to be published 26 December 2023. This story was told through multiple points of view and was actually the second in a series, which would have been easier to understand had I known it was a sequel. 3/5 Stars for this slow burn storyline that boasted two women who were in fact one woman who married two different men at the same time. I found it to be interesting, but slightly disconnected, no doubt for having not read the first book. #NetGalley #HarlequinTradePublications #TwoDeadWives #AdeleParks

First of all, I would like to thank Harlequin Trade Publishing and the author, Adele Parks for the opportunity to read this book ahead of time. I especially liked the enthusiasm the publisher demonstrated when offering approval for me to read this ARC.

And on to the review!

I have to admit that this book was not my favorite by Adele for multiple reasons-- and many of them aren't her fault, just my personal tastes and preferences (or errors due to it being an unpolished draft).

For example, I never hold it against the publisher or author for errors related to the text, as that is par for the course with ARCs, yet... this copy was filled with so many errors, that had the story been water in a bucket, the story would have poured out of the bucket that was simply riddled with holes. In this case, the formatting was so off that it literally interfered with my reading of the novel and constantly pulled me out of the story by the aggravation of not understanding what was even being said the majority of the time due to misspelled words, incomplete words, gaping mouths of page, or paragraphs broken by the author name and page number that should have lined the bottom (or sometimes top) corner of the pages. I am not counting this as the reason I gave the novel 3 stars, but I thought it was noteworthy to mention for future ARCs (as there are already a multitude of obstacles that keep us from reading and formatting shouldn't be one of them).

Interestingly, I didn't realize that this novel was a part two of a previous work of hers-- that in and of itself is a testament of the author's ability to write a sequel as if it were it's own standalone. For that I applaud her. She did a great job with the slow burn mystery and intrigue of certain plot twists. On the other hand, I was really put off by the entire novel taking place during the pandemic. I have actually avoided all books that mention this as I never want to revisit that time in our history again. I only kept reading because I had made an agreement to do so by requesting the ARC (otherwise it would have been a no-go for me, personally).

For some reason, I could not enjoy this one and my interest repeatedly waned. Whereas I can read a novel in a day (if time permits) or a week at most (if it does not), in this case it took me three weeks. I believe it could have been a myriad of factors, such as pacing-- the chapters felt L-O-N-G. The majority of characters were unlikable-- even the protagonist. I just could not feel sympathy for her, nor cheer for her. And I loathed the pages and pages and pages and pages of internal monologue of basically every character. Maybe this was a stylistic choice, but even so, that is something that I personally do not like as it makes me lose interest pretty quickly. Another qualm I had was whenever a character (like the protagonist or villain) were easily able to be self-aware enough to point out their internal flaws-- this is a big show don't tell discrepancy that annoyed me as a reader. The author didn't trust that I could figure this out on my own, so she had to have the character (who shouldn't know, themselves) spell it out for me (and yet, if only the formatting would have been able to spell actual words, LOL).

Overall, I give the author credit for creating an intricate story with lots of subplots and for it to be able to stand on its own two feet. In the end, I felt as if the story (and even the subplots) were a bit convoluted, unbelievable (for example: to be kidnapped twice), long-winded, and would have been more enjoyable if not set during the pandemic (oh and if the villain weren't such a caricature of a real person, too. That would have made it more likeable and believable). Perhaps.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for allowing me to read this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, I have to admit that I didn't read the prequel book, "Woman Last Seen," and I actually didn't have any idea of its existence until I finished this. The plotline is quite attention-grabbing! The building pressure, the final revelations, and the climax are well-structured. The honest character development made me root for some of them. This can be read as a stand-alone but it’s better to have read the first book.

Two Dead Wives is a psychological thriller that started out a little slow at the beginning and then about half way through turns into a fast paced thriller that was hard to put down. This book is the sequel to Both of You so it does help if you are familiar with that book..
This is filled with twists and turns that you won't see coming.

Kylie Gillingham disappeared and was presumed dead. The suspects? Her two husbands. Meanwhile, Stacie Jones was recovering from a life-saving surgery in the care of her devoted Father. These two families have a sinister connection that could change everything.

Two Dead Wives was the sequel to Last Women Seen but can be read as a standalone (which is what I did). This book was dark, twisty, fast-paced and utterly unputdownable! There were so many unreliable characters that I didn’t know who to believe and was suspicious of everyone. There was a major twist that left me positively gobsmacked and I loved every minute of it! While there’s no denying that this book was a thriller through and through, it also managed to tug at my heartstrings at the same time. I can’t wait to check out more books from this author!

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC!

A copy of this review will be posted on my Instagram account (whats.amy.reading) during the week of November 27th.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy.

I enjoyed this more than I originally thought. I look forward to reading more from this author.

First: this book is a standalone sequel. I didn't know this until the epilogue. In my opinion, it works fine this way. While I did feel I missed something, it was never glaringly obvious or bothersome. But now that I know, I can't wait to read the first and find out how Kylie got into two marriages to begin with!

There's a lot of mess in this book. Since none of it has to do with me, I'm all for the messy drama. Some things were a bit obvious to figure out. We learn the killer right away. We learn some truths about Kylie and Stacie right away. Or enough to put things together.

What I like is the author was still able to surprise me. While I had suspected certain things, I could never have out it all together the way it came to be. It was fun and kept me turning the pages!

This novel has an interesting premise: a woman disappears and is presumed dead, and is found to be a bigamist when her two husbands come forward. How did this come to pass, what is the relationship between her two families, two lives, and can the police really figure this puzzle out? I don't want to give away any spoilers here, and there are several interesting plot twists, some of which are handled deftly by the author, some that are clumsy. Early on in the book we find out who killed the bigamist, and when I came to that part of the story, I thought, ok, we are done here. But then Parks continues her tale of conflict, loves lost and gained, and the contrast between the two families that are grieving their mutual loss. For mystery and thriller fans, this book is well worth your time and you should press on until the end to find out how things are resolved. Yes, there are alternating chapters of different narrators, which normally I don't care much for but Parks makes this work to her credit.

I really enjoyed Two Dead Wives.

First of all - the killer outs themselves about half-way through but Adele provides so many red herrings and mind-boggling antics that you're not even sure - though it was written in black and white- that you believe it,

The pacing of this good! Thrilling, quick when it needed to be, slow when trying to lead the reader down a path that could lead to a solution, and then speeding back up to carry us along.

I really thought the multi-character POV and intertwining stories were well done (although I do admit that I am a reader who enjoys multi POV regularly.)

I had no clue this one was a sequel when I requested it, but good news! 1. It read really well as a standalone & 2. It has me willing to go back and read the first just to see how Kylie-Kai-Leigh actually pulled off her lifestyle.

Full disclosure, I didn’t realize this was a sequel until I was like 15% into the story. Which might explain why it took me a while to connect to the characters. It felt like an odd beginning but eventually I could see why. Despite that, I think it was pretty easy to follow along. I didn’t feel like I was playing catch up.

My biggest gripe though was overuse of the words bigamy and bigamist. I get that she was duplicitous and leading two lives. But I think I could have done with less beating it over the head.

But anyway, once the story got underway, and I had a feel for all the different narrators, I got more into it. I guessed all the twists but I wanted to see if I was right. And I found myself being invested in the characters, especially the boys.

I also liked that the killer is pretty sloppy. At the end, all the questions they ask themselves and the doubt in their plan and realizing they’re not going to get away with it and what they sunk themselves into.. it felt very authentic. I liked the lack of cunning. Not only bc obviously I don’t want them to succeed but bc it’s believable and also it ramps up tension in an unexpected way.

I really enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick read.


Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I really enjoyed this book. I wish I would have know it was a sequel, but it was fine as a stand-alone.
Great twists and suspense. This was my first book by the author, but I will be looking for more!

A great thriller! Started out a bit slow but once it got going it was a fast paced thriller that I could not put down. I do encourage you to read Woman Last Seen first but it is not requied. I loved the action and drama of this one so much!