A great who-dun-it thriller! Payne manages to keep you guess on the mystery murderer the whole book. Filled with quite a few twists, some you see coming and others you don’t at all. The book is suspenseful throughout and the way the story is told has you pinning the murder on different people each chapter. I enjoyed the use of dual POVs and the hops between timelines. It tells the story in a way that you gives you useful information at the right time and adds to the mystery. Finally, a new thriller that surprises you but doesn’t leave you thinking this is totally unbelievable!

With a title like this one you know it is going to be a wild ride! I thought the writing in this novel was amazing and the author did a great job at explaining everything throughout the story. I loved the suspense and thrill and think that this will definitely be a popular novel!

the word to describe this book is for sure “intriguing”. no matter the level of interest I had in the story, low or high I was intrigued by the entire story. the writing was peculiar and the dual timeline gave a certain pace to the narration. I didn’t root for any of the characters and none of them were really likeable. I guessed the killer 20% into the story so if you are a thriller girly this book might not satisfy you. but I do think that if you are not really into the genre it might take you a while to discover who done it. there were a few turning points and plot twists but nothing to get exciting about honestly

Book review 📖

📜Never Trust The Husband
✍️Jessica Payne
📠Bookouture
📚Mystery/Thriller, Fiction
🗓️Pub date: March 5, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @bookouture for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Also thank you to @jessicapayne.writer for penning a masterpiece 🤩

✨Madeline watches through the shadows of a darkened street as Benjamin and Gwyn start their new life together. The thing is, Madeline used to be standing where Gwen was, married to Benjamin. Until she was murdered by them—or so they think.

✨Only now Madeline is Rebecca. And now Rebecca is going to make them pay for what they’ve done.

✨It was so easy to fall in love with Benji and Madeline’s love story (in the beginning) with the dueling timelines. However, I’d have to stop and remind myself of what was to come. He’s a smooth talker, that one!

✨ I loved loved loved this book! Interesting narrative, and not one I’m sure I’ve seen before. This story hooked me from page one and it was one of my favorite psych thrillers I’ve ever read! Keep writing!!!

✨QOTD: Does true love always end in a happily ever after?

#netgalley #nevertrustthehusband #jessicapayne #bookouture #thrillerfiction #springreleases #mysteryfiction #watchoutforthisone #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading #readthisbook #trueloveschmoolove #psychthriller #bestbooks #qotd #doestruelovereallyexist

Thank you Netgalley & Bookouture for an eARC of Never Trust the Husband by Jessica Payne! I love Payne's books, so always find myself pushing them to the top of my never ending TBR when I get access to them.

What's it about?
Madeleine's body disappears - presumed dead - shortly after her wedding to Benjamin. Not long after, he's newly engaged to her best friend, Gwyn.

Yikes, this is messy. I love a good story about revenge, and you spend the majority of the book trying to figure out the narrator's relation to Madeleine and why she is so invested in justice for her. I found this one twisty and bingey, but I did see the big "a-ha" twist about halfway through.

Was completely gripped in this one. The book is told in two timelines and they are both equally gripping!

Couldn't put this down until the last page. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this e-arc in exchange of my unbiased review.

It was very predictable but I should think this may only put off seasoned thriller readers.

I really enjoyed the unlikable characters and the narration gripped me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC copy of this one, which is out 3/5!

Keep an eye out for this one! It was very twisty, but unfortunately I was able to guess all of the twists. The pace was pretty steady for the most part - there were a couple places where it started to get a little repetitive, but overall this was an enjoyable read.

I disliked most of the characters, minus the MC. There was one other that I enjoyed as well, but by the end of the book he was on the crap list also lol

I think overall the writing for this was done well enough, but the twists needed to be covered up just a tad better.
I would certainly try another book by this author in the future.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookoutre for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of Never Trust the Husband by Jessica Payne due to be published March 5, 2024.
Madeline, her husband, Benji, and her “friends” are on a hiking trip when Madeline disappears. Did she leave on her own? Did she fall off the cliff or was she pushed?
Now her best friend, Gwyn is married to Benji, and Madeline will make sure someone pays for all of their deceit.
This is the first book I have read from Jessica Payne, but it certainly won’t be the last. The action was nonstop from the first page.
I thought I had figured out who the evil people were, but nope, I was wrong.
This is one of those “unputdownable” thrillers that you will definitely want to read as soon as you can get a copy.
Can’t wait to read another Jessica Payne book!
.#netgalley #jessicapayne #bookoutre #nevertrustthehusband

I have no words to describe how much I enjoyed this book and everything it made me feel. It was love at first sight, and I strongly advise you to read this book if you like stories full of suspense and addictive to the point where you don't even want to go to sleep to finish the book.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the e-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

“You didn’t get your happily ever after, and neither will they…”

I devoured this psychological thriller!! Who is Rebecca? Who killed Maddy? Is Benji the perfect husband? Does Gwyn have it out for Maddy?
Never Trust the Husband is filled with jealousy, betrayal, secrets, and revenge. The pacing is perfect and the twists just kept coming!! The ending…🤯🤯🤯 You will just have to read to find out!

4.5 stars / 5 stars

Love, marriage, friendship, betrayal, jealousy, Never Trust the Husband has all of it and more. Following Rebecca as she seeks to avenge the murder of Madeline, while simultaneously trying to figure out her connection to all of the characters was a wild ride. I did have one twist pegged, but it still made my jaw drop at the reveal. From that point on, I couldn’t put the book down as I followed the twisty ride. There was even a little teary eyed moment toward the end when I was wishing things could have been different…this one gets two thumbs up from me.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

Confession: I went rogue at my book club when I didn’t finish the assigned book because I couldn’t put down this twisty turny read! I was pulled in from chapter one. I truly enjoyed the alternating short chapters as they helped me feel close to both timelines, and the momentum never slowed! It left me guessing until the very end (and what an ending—no spoilers.)

This book had me hooked from the first chapter when newly married Maddy is pushed off a cliff while camping with her closest friends and new husband. The narrator has changed her appearance with surgery, contacts, hairstyle and even altered her voice and 3 years later is getting close to Maddy’s best friend and her husband who are now engaged. Mandy had a huge trust fund and was envied by many for having “it all” so who wanted her dead and who is the narrator? I had such a hard time putting this down and foresee more Jessica Payne books in my future!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC! #NeverTrustTheHusband. #NetGalley

What kind of best friend gets engaged to your husband after your death?! meet Gywnn, best friend of Madeleine, who was pushed from a cliff on her honeymoon. She is now engaged to Benjamin, Madeleine’s husband of just a few days.

Tell me that doesn’t make you want to hear more?, I love Jessica Payne books and always jump at the chance to read them. Once again we have a wild and crazy story that ai read in an evening. Plenty of shocks, plot twists and omg moments let me tell you that. A must read if you love a good thriller.

Thanks so much to Bookouture and Thriller Book Promotions for my advanced copy of this book to read. Publishes on March 5th.

Okay let’s talk about the obvious… THAT title!! 👏👏 I mean come on thriller lovers… we know it is ALWAYS the husband! 🤷‍♀️ OMG this book got me steaming 😠…mad!! What kind of BFF 👯‍♀️ gets engaged to your husband… when you die?!!! 😠🤬🤯 UGH Gwen.. how could you??

Thankfully our girl Rebecca is bound and determined to make these two pay! I mean it was obvious that Gwen was super jealous of Madeline…🤷‍♀️…but enough to kill her? 🤔… Benji… oh Benji boy.. what about him? I had soo many questions… 😂😳… The perfect hubby?? I think not! 😬… Or was he?? I totally binged this book as I HAD to know!! I LOVE a good bit of revenge..😉.. well in my books of course..😂🙄

Once again @jessicapayne.writer delivered a fast paced, twisted thriller that ended with…. A total WTF 😳🤯moment!! YES!! 👏👏👏 That ending!! 😍🤯

❤️❤️❤️ I absolutely love all of @jessicapayne.writer ‘s books!

This was a great book. I had so much fun in trying to figure out who was responsible for Madeline's murder and who was scheming against who and why.

This was, for me, a different version of the saying 'keep your friends close and your enemies closer'. Here it was more the case of keeping you did not trust closer so you had a lot of opportunities to keep an eye on them without them finding out.

The more the story evolves, the more I started to see who was lying and who the people were you could trust. But sometimes you are shocked to find out that some of them are real good actors and you should have been less gullible. 

Is there still time to turn the tables or will you regret your decision to confide in them for ever? 

A wonderful story where I started to see on which road the author was taking me, but she managed to surprise me with a perfect twist. 5 stars

Thank you

Jessica Payne knows how to write a gripping thriller filled with fantastic twists, with the best twist coming at the very end of the book! Didn't see it coming at all!

Madeline, who thought she would never want to get married, reluctantly falls in love Benjamin, and after a whirlwind romance, they do get married. On her honeymoon, she is pushed from a cliff and is presumed dead, although her body was never found. It doesn't take long after Madeline is out of the picture before Benjamin starts dating Madeline's best friend, Gwyn who was always jealous of Madeline. The couple have Madeline declared deceased after only three years and they move forward with wedding plans.

The story moves along at a fast pace. It is told in alternating voices from the past and the present. First there is Madeline, who describes the development of her relationship with Benjamin up until the day she was pushed over the cliff. Then there is Rebecca, who knew Madeline and Benjamin, and strongly suspects that Gwyn and Benjamin had something to do with Madeline's death. Rebecca has gone to great lengths to change her appearance in order to insert herself back into Gwyn's life. She is trying to prove that she and Benjamin are guilty of murdering Madeline and she is out for revenge.

I enjoyed Jessica Payne's style of writing. The story never lagged and I devoured the book, always wanting to know what would happen next. The end was very exciting. I'm looking forward to reading Ms. Payne's other books. This was my first and I'm happy that I have more to read!

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advance readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much Net Galley for the ARC in exchange for my honest, unbiased review:

Three years ago, millionaire Maddy goes missing two days after her wedding. Elena turned Rebecca considers the people who could have murdered her sister and plans how to kill them in revenge. The plot follows the current trend of going back and forth between now and then.

"Characters don't necessarily show you who they really are. Their depicted the way the author wants you to see them." It's written in such a way for the reader not to like the characters who were supposed to be Maddy's closest friends.

As the title states, NEVER TRUTH THE HUSBAND. Immediately, Benjamin, as well as Maddy's best friend who is now engaged to him, both come across as too guilty. But they almost need to be ruled out immediately because its just too obvious so no it can't be either or both of them.

Coincidentally, one of my close friend's sons' names are Benjamin and Aaron.

I enjoyed the last 25% of the book the most.

I rate this book a 3.5. As an avid reader, the plot felt similar to so many other books I've read. I had some trouble believing this couple would go backpack camping for their honeymoon and include their friends.

DO NOT READ FURTHER IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE SPOILERS:
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I did suspect the ex as soon as she was introduced but I never suspected that Elena could be Benjamin's ex. I was also very suspicious of Kip. Elena seemed like she could be an unreliable narrator with issues.

I loved the writing style, 1st person pov. I tried guessing who the villain might be but I got none right !! That was a twisty read !! And I so love how it ended for that character.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for access to this arc in exchange for my honest review.