Thanks to NetGalley & the publisher for an ARC in retuern for an unbiased review.
First book by this particular author that I've read and won't be the last.
Actually read it in its entirety over the course of four hours or so whilst on a sun lounger on a Greek beach.
Easy read, with interesting characters and just when you think you've got it all figured out up pops another twist to change the narrative.
A solid four stars.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

A twisted love story in a beautiful setting that leaves you questioning right to the end.

ARC Provided by Quercus Books

JP Delaney is one of my favourite authors so I was very excited to get into this new book.

I couldn’t put it down. Something felt off the entire time and I just needed to keep reading to find out what was really going on. A dark summer read.

Finn finds out his father has just passed away, and he is inheriting his family home in Mallorca. On the trip he meets his fathers new wife, Ruensa, and her daughter Roze. Ruensa tells Finn about the plans they had together and the future they were trying to build. But the nature of his fathers death is somewhat suspicious. What is the truth of his fathers death and who can you trust?

It had all the elements that made Call Me By Your Name so vivid, the descriptions of the landscape, the power of the sun and the heat, but everything has a grey cloud hanging over it because something is not quite right.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quercus Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Upon his father’s death, Finn returns to his childhood home in Mallorca to settle the estate on behalf of himself and his sister. He expects to find that his father’s third wife is a gold digger that will try to fight him for the property. Instead he finds her to be welcoming and he is intrigued by her adult daughter Roze. Meanwhile the police have questions about his father’s death.

3.5 stars.

I didn’t love it and I didn’t hate it. The setting of Mallorca was great. I am a sucker for a good setting. I found the story to be a bit slow. There was a definite shift near the end where some of the things you thought you knew weren’t accurate. The ending was kind of loose and open to interpretation. I prefer a more concrete ending. It wasn’t my favorite from this author.

I'm a big fan of JP Delaney books but this one just didn't hit the same. It felt drawn out. Then the conclusion felt rushed.

As always, Delaney kept me guessing the whole way through with twist after twist! Keeping me wondering who is good, who is evil, who can be believed and who can be trusted…opinions of each of these constantly changing! The main character made me feel so many emotions as the book progressed but I can’t say too much! Really enjoyable read that I couldn’t put down and finished in one day!

This was a slow burner which I was sure I wouldn’t like but WOW by the end I was loving it could not put it down. There was many twists and turns which I really couldn’t have guessed.

Finn goes to the island of Mallorca to settle the estate of his estranged father. Finn and his sister Jess do not seem to be sad about the death of their father but instead are eager to sell their inheritance and move on. But when he gets there he finds his fathers new wife and step daughter are living in the house with nowhere else to go what can Finn do?

This was a great unique thriller which I will definitely be recommending.

The New Wife by J P Delaney
Publisher: Quercus
Publication Date: 20/7/23

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

NO SPOILERS

A slow burner leading to a twisty and dark conclusion I enjoyed this entertaining thriller. Set in beautiful Mallorca, which added a different layer of complexity with the vagaries of Spanish law, this kept me guessing until the end. I wasn’t sure who it was rooting for but I guess that’s the point.

Thanks to the author, publisher and netgalley for providing me with this advance digital copy in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Loved this! Such a clever book. Twists I’d never have seen coming. But I’d expect nothing else from this ge it’s writer! 5/5 easily.

I have really enjoyed all the authors previous books but unfortunately this was below average for me,,I found Finn irritating and the storyline slow especially at the beginning and it just didn’t do it for me but I look forward to the authors next book

Thoroughly enjoyed this new book by J P Delaney,set in Mallorca, Fin arrives to claim the Finca his late Father has left him and his sister only to find that his Father's new wife and her daughter have transformed the property and though they say they will leave is that true ? So many twists and turns who can be trusted ?who is telling the truth ?The setting is very atmospheric I almost felt I was there .I did not expect the ending it was not what I expected .A very enjoyable read .Thanj you to NetGalley for my ARC.

Although, I found this story a little slow to get going, it got more thrilling with twists and turns throughout and I couldn’t put it down towards the end, eager to find out what would happen. Although different from this author’s other novels, the slower build up was probably needed to get a sense of the relationships within the story, before the story became more dramatic. The setting for the story really added to sense of danger and intrigue, with some accurate and beautiful descriptions of Spain. This author has a way of pulling you into the story and the writing style makes you feel like you are there. I enjoyed the ending and felt it fitted the story well.

Thank you you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for the ARC for an honest review. All thoughts are my own.

JP Delaney has to be one of my favourite thriller writers and I loved how this book was a little different to his usual books. I was engrossed right from page one. I loved the little seeds of doubt that he supplies the entire way through his writing, and he writes characters absolutely flawlessly.

I really enjoyed watching this unfold and I genuinely loved how it did. I must admit I was expecting something a little different to what we got and that only made me love it more! I love an unreliable narrator and I think that was done exceptionally in this book. I didn't get the intense hatred you usually get towards characters in a thriller, but I think that was great because it gave you more chance to actually focus on the characters and the story unfolding. I had suspicion present throughout - but no rage.

I LOVED the twist. It was so clever (AS ALWAYS), and it really kept me on the edge of my seat. The only reason it's not a 5 star read for me is because at some points it felt a little long/overexplained. But I'd still continue to auto read/buy and recommend JP Delaney!

I enjoyed this book and I loved how it used different topics that we can hear about on the news like immigrants and the view of some people towards them or we don't hear that much about like trafficking. I liked the plot twist, that I didn't see coming. But it feels like an artist that enjoys alcohol and has an open marriage is something I feel tired of seeing or all of them are like that? I don't think so, anyway this is my third book this that has an amazing artist with an open marriage and some traumatised or partially traumatised kids around. Even though, I feel like other books by JP Delaney were better, this one is good too.

I recently read My Darling Daughter by this author which I really enjoyed so I had high hopes for The New Wife but sadly it didn’t quite do it for me.

The story was slow to get going and when it did, I realised I didn’t like Finn at all which was an issue - I’m not sure that he was meant to be particularly likeable but I found him really aggravating and actually made a note while reading that says ‘51% in and Finn more annoying than ever’… I just thought he was entitled and lecherous and I could NOT look past the fact that he developed an obsession with technically his step-sister 🫠 gross.

I don’t think I could possibly categorise this as a thriller. While there were definitely mysteries and secrets floating between the characters, pretty much nothing actively thrilling or twisty happened in my opinion - there is one scene that maybe got my pulse racing slightly higher than normal but that was it.

I have a few more of this author’s books on my shelves which I am keen to read in the near future, I just don’t think this particular book was for me.

Thanks to Quercus & Netgalley for an E-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately this just didn't do it for me.
I didn't really enjoy the characters, nor the premise behind the story. There was, however, a great twist that I didn't see coming, and for a chapter or two I was once again intrigued about what was going to happen next.
I did enjoy the way the story closed out, in the sense that we are left to make up our own mind on where the truth lay.

Thanks NetGalley and Quercus Books for a Review Copy

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read "The New Wife" which I thoroughly enjoyed. It tackles a number of subjects such as prostitution, trafficking, drunkenness, drugs, death and the effects of each and the ongoing problems they cause to family life. A story well told with sympathy for the main characters.

Jess and Finn's father has died at his home in Mallorca; but to them he was a distant and uncaring man, so no loss. They are more excited about inheriting his near-derelict finca, as it was to come to them and not to his new, third wife. So Finn goes over to set things in train and meets the widow and her daughter Roze.

From there the story twists, as he falls in love with Roze and wants to stay and fulfill their ecotourism dream. However, the woman are Albanian and Roze has no legal status to stay; the finca has been restored using Ruensa's money and the police are questioning whether his father's death was a natural one.

The result is a twisty tale as the reader unravels who is telling the truth and who has other agendas and how the past shapes and haunts us. Thank you to NetGalley and Quercus Books for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very much looking forward to a good psychological thriller, unfortunately I was very disappointed. After a long drawn out and rather boring story I was expecting an interesting twist at the end but once again I was disappointed with a chaotic and rather absurd ending.

Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for this ARC

First of all, thank you to NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this in return for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I not like this book at all.

The first half was exasperating. Finn just made idiotic decision after idiotic decision - in that way that left me really annoyed. None of his actions (or reactions) made any sense. Now, if I had stopped reading at that point, I would have given the book a two or three out of five. Simply because, while readable, the main character was frustratingly stupid and he wasn't written in the way some books about idiots are where the idiot is endearing or entertaining or his idiocy makes sense in the context of who he is and it adds to the plot. Think here of' Sam Dermody from Ozark.

But then the second half happened and... the whole thing went downhill at an incredible fast pace!

There's nothing I liked about this second half. A solid zero or one out of five.

Yet I finished the book because I don't like not finishing books I am asked to review. And some of the books by this author I've liked in a the past so I held a tiny amount of hope that this could be saved by an incredible ending.

Well, it wasn't.

After the the big reveal happened (which felt ridiculously contrived and made no sense in the context of the first half of the book) the whole story... imploded.

If I was the JP's editor I'd say:

JP, work on the first half and completely rewrite the second half. Re-think the entire plot. This makes no sense JP, don't do it! Pause for a second. Take whatever time you need! Let's make this work - because it can. You just have to basically re-write it. It's a big ask.I know, this isn't what you want to hear. But if we're going to make this work, you have to re-write it. I believe in you, JP! I wouldn't say it to anyone else but I believe you can do this. You have what it takes! Just give it another go. Take a break in between now and when you go back in, if you must. Just re-do this. Do it for you. Do it for me. Do it for your readers who believe in you!