If you were to read only good thrillers this year, this is one of them. 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥 is an addictive, mind-blowing and entertaining thriller that threw me off completely. Never mind losing sleep, you'll spend days thinking about this even after you've finished reading it.

In 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, Madeline Hughes (Maddy) was killed. Shoved from her back down a steep cliff during her honeymoon. Question was, did her husband Benjamin do it? Or was it her best friend Gwyn who was envious of Madeline? Not long after Maddy died, Benjamin and Gwyn were engaged to be married. This made both of them even more suspicious. Who was Maddy's real killer? Is it as what the saying always says: 𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥?

Written in dual POVs, (Rebecca's and Maddy's) we are taken to before and after the murder of Madeline Hughes. Rebecca's POV reflects the events post murder while Maddy's tells us her story before her death. We know that Rebecca is out to avenge Maddy. The dual POVs and timelines work well for me and aren't confusing. I had a great time switching back and off between the timelines.

Although I had my suspect of who Rebecca is, I still had lots of fun with the plot twist. I definitely could not guess who Maddy's killer was and this added to all the fun in reading this.

The fast paced plot and short chapters make reading a breeze. I love Payne's writing style. Even though this is the first book I've read written by Payne, it absolutely won't be my last.
𝓜𝔂 𝓻𝓪𝓽𝓲𝓷𝓰: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Thank you NetGalley @netgalley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I had a fun time. Sometimes that's all you need in a book. Great twists and turns. No one is innocent in the end.

What a twisted story! When a woman is pushed off a cliff on her honeymoon who is to blame? Rebecca has changed her identity in order to discover the truth and exact revenge.

This was a fantastic book with lots of twists! I definitely recommend reading it!!

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read Never trust the husband by Jessica Payne. This was my 2nd title by the author and I totally enjoyed it (especially the ending)! The book is filled with suspense, and twists, and told in two timelines, narrated by two voices. Definitely recommend this book for those who love twisty thrillers!

Never Trust the Husband by Jessica Payne was excellent. I read some other reviews and people raved about it- they aren’t wrong. I love a good revenge story and this had everything to make a perfect suspense story. Twists and turns and surprises throughout the book kept me turning pages and reading as fast as I could.

Synopsis:

Every night I watch Benjamin and Gwyn in their gorgeous, glass-fronted Seattle home. Your ex-husband. Your best friend. Newly engaged, they’re busy dreaming of their future.

The official story is that you disappeared, but I know the truth. They killed you.

I know Benjamin’s new business is in trouble, that he desperately needs your money. I saw the way Gwyn looked at him at your wedding reception, finding any excuse to be close, to laugh too loudly at his jokes. After all, she always wanted your perfect life.

But don’t worry, Madeline. I won’t let it end like this. I can see everything from my place in the shadows between the trees. With their house lit up, they are on display. I’ll bide my time and worm my way into their home, their lives. They will never know the truth about who I am.

Out now!

Thank you for approving me again to read one of your books! I enjoyed this one a lot. This was so thrilling and thought provoking and gave me a little bit of anxiety. The twists were so good and unpredictable!! Definitely a good read! Did not disappoint ☺️

Thank you Netgalley, Jessica Payne, and Bookouture for the ebook! This was a great and thrilling read that I just couldn't believe the ending of!!! Wow! Honestly you won't guess the twist!

Another smasher from the talented Jessica Payne, wholly deserved 5 stars!

Madeline Hughes has never wanted for anything, with her large trust fund left to her by her late mother and her wealthy father she has always had exactly what she desired. She also has never found a man she wanted to spend a second date with, let alone one she would want to marry and spend the rest of her life with until out celebrating her 28th birthday she meets Benjamin North. Their romance moves quickly and within months they are engaged to be married and planning their wedding. Maddy has never felt for a man like he does with Benjamin. Doubts surface for Maddy though during the planning and she worries that Benji (her nickname for him) might be cheating on her however he constantly has crystal clear answers for all her questions, and she reassures herself her feelings are nothing but paranoia, and she is determined not to lose this man she loves so much. Their wedding takes place but the beach honeymoon they had planned has to be cancelled due to a storm. One of the wedding guests brings up an alternative idea, to go backpacking on a beautiful nature trail, Maddy isn’t keen however she sees how excited Benji is to go and so she agrees. However, on the first night of their trip Maddy goes missing, her camera is also missing and therefore it is presumed that she fell over the cliff whilst trying to take photos of the view but despite a huge search no body is found. Fast forward 4 years and not only has Benjamin had Maddy declared “dead in absentia” he has also moved on and gotten engaged to Maddy’s best friend Gwyn. Rebecca Johnson, a travel nurse, then arrives in Seattle; she is determined that Maddy did not fall and in fact was pushed to her death, but she just has to find proof of it. She gets close to Gwyn and Benjamin as she suspects one or both of them are to blame for Maddy’s death especially given how fast they have both moved on. But is Rebecca putting herself in danger getting close to two people she thinks may be murderers? And who are hiding the biggest secrets, Benjamin, Gwyn or Rebecca herself?!

Another brilliant read from Jessica Payne, I absolutely loved this one. I was already hooked by the first chapter, especially when I read the line “it wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t cheap, but I did what I had to in order to become someone new”! So intriguing! I had a lot of fun trying to guess who exactly Rebecca was and although I did guess right reasonably early on, I still wasn’t 100% sure so still gasped when it was revealed, despite my suspicion’s. Some people might say the story line is a little far fetched but as far as I am concerned, I read fiction to escape reality, so I am fine with things being a little fanciful. I have to admit that in the beginning I really didn’t like Maddy, I felt she came across like a bit of a spoilt brat but the more I got to know her the more I realised my initial impression of her was wrong and I did end up liking her.

Ultimately a lovely tangled web of deceit and lies and I loved it. Jessica Payne never disappoints, and I really recommend this one for anyone who enjoys the psychological thriller genre, you won’t be disappointed.

Thank you to NetGalley, Jessica Payne and Bookouture for my advanced reading copy. Out now.

5 ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰ ✰

❣A special thank you to @bookouture for early access to this amazing book! I loved it and think everyone else will too!

I’ve read some really great thrillers back to back lately, and I’ve found some new-to-me authors, like Jessica Payne, that are now auto-buy authors.

Who is Rebecca?? That is the question I kept asking myself as I read 📖 as fast as I could. This book was a slow burn but also a well done thriller.

Told in dual timelines, the first being when Madeline first met “Benji” 4 years ago, and the second being present day, but from Rebecca’s POV.

Who is Rebecca, dang it?!

As it turned out, I correctly predicted who Rebecca turns out to be, but that didn’t take away from the book’s enjoyment.

The author did do a fine job of keeping me guessing, and an even better job of telling a good story.

This is a book you will want to add to your tbr if you haven’t already. A story of revenge, betrayal, and suspense! I was fully invested and once the book really got going, I found it hard to put it down.

Ahhhh...I devour everything by Jessica Payne, so it was no surprise that I loved this book!

Payne managed to write a totally different take on the you-killed-me-now-I'm-getting revenge trope. I was so invested in finding out who killed Maddie and why. I was right beside Rebecca on her runs through Benjie's neighborhood and holding my breath on the cliff. I really had a hard time figuring out who was the baddie and wavered between the husband and the girlfriend so many times.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this twisty, turny thriller!

I read the description to Never Trust the Husband and was immediately intrigued and the book did not disappoint. It was full of twists and turns that I did not see coming and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

This book was really predictable I figured out that Rebecca was Maddie about 12% into the book and once “Rebecca” reunited with her sister I suspected her as the one who tried to kill her.

The twist of Benji and her sister dating was one I did not see.

Overall the book was an easy entertaining read.

I live in seattle so I found myself trying to visualize the places she was describing in a more literal sense which was fun.

This book is excellent! It flows so well, keeps the reader engaged, and has several giant twists!
The author weaves the story by alternating chapters on various characters, before and now.
Maddy and Benji are newlyweds, but on their honeymoon, a tragic death occurs! Maddy is pushed off a cliff to her death!From that point on, the book details their story and relationship, their friends and family.
WHO killed Maddy? Was it the husband? Was it the jealous best friend?

Kudos to author Jessica Payne for a wild ride thriller!
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book and give my honest review.
4 stars

Payne is one of my go-to thriller authors and I've devoured every one of her publications to date, they're so good.

Never Trust the Husband is a highly addictive thriller, it's twisty, full of suspense and you won't want to put it down, I didn't!

It's narrated from the voices of Madeline, in the before and from Rebecca, in the after.

The characters throughout are brilliant with their deceit and lies tantamount to an admission of guilt.

I absolutely loved the book, it was a twenty four hour binge for me. Which leads me to the question, would I recommend this book...hell yes...you wait till you get to that twist, you'll love it!

NEVER TRUST THE HUSBAND
Jᴇssɪᴄᴀ Pᴀʏɴᴇ
Mᴀʀᴄʜ 5, 2024


Tʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛs:
Look, if Jessica Payne writes it… I’m gonna read it. And she DID. NOT. DISAPPOINT. yet again. In Jessica’s signature style there are twists on twists and red herrings evvvverywhere. And that’s why we love her.
This is told in two POVs, Madeline in the past in the time leading up to her disappearance/declared death off a cliff on her honeymoon and Rebecca in current time seeking to avenge said death. There’s jealousy, betrayal, revenge, stalking, lies… all the fun stuff.

If you loved Robyn Harding’s Drowning Woman, Gillian McAllister’s Wrong Place, Wrong Time, or Tarryn Fisher’s The Wives - you’ll love this one.

4.5

Thank you @bookouture and @jessicapayne.writer for including me on this tour and for the early review copy.
These thoughts are my own.

Madeline died three years ago after being pushed from a cliff while on her group honeymoon. Now someone who has created a new persona in Rebecca has come to avenge her death. Who killed Mandy? Was it Benjamin, her new husband”. Gwen, her jealous best friend or someone else entirely? Jessica Payne does a nice job of weaving this story through two POVS and two timelines. It kept me engaged from start to finish. It would be a great beach read this summer. I thank NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC.

BOOKWORMS REVIEW:
I thought before I even read this,wouldn't it be cool if *inserted my theory* is what happened here...and it did! Well delighted with myself I was,as this seldom happens. A great read about Madeline who's pushed and killed whilst on a trip,but was it by her husband Benjamin or bestie Gwyn? They both had their reasons..and have since hooked up. Guilty much?! Enter Rebecca..who knew Madeline and knows exactly what went down. She just has to prove that one or both of them are guilty.
Thank you to Jessica Payne, Bookouture and NetGalley for an arc to read and review.

This was another great book by Jessica Payne! Madeline and Benji were in love, and they got married. But on their impromptu honeymoon with their friends, Madeline is pushed over the edge of a cliff, never to be found. Benji and her best friend, Gwyn, get together and 3 years later, they are engaged. Enter Rebecca, a girl who is determined to find Madeline’s killer, and she’s got her sights set on Benji and Gwyn. Rebecca starts following them, and then she befriends Gwyn. Who is Madeline’s killer?

Payne knocks it out of the park with this book, yet again! She keeps you turning the pages, with bated breath, on the edge of your seat throughout the entire book. This book is told from two prospectives – Madeline and Rebecca. We learn from Madeline’s POV how her and Benji get together, all the way up to her hiking honeymoon. Rebecca is told in the now. We follow along on her journey into finding out who killed Madeline.

There’s a few mysteries happening in this book and I was able to figure out both of them before they were revealed, but that did not take away from my enjoyment of the book at all. One of the mysteries I second guessed myself, but I turned out to be right. The second one I figured out but didn’t know the story behind it. That’s all I can say about that because I don’t want to give anything away.

I highly recommend this book (and any other book by this author as I have read them all!)

Never Trust the Husband was a fantastically crafted thriller, weaving in a past timeline and current timeline. From the title, until the end of the story, it keeps you questioning the characters and their motives. I especially loved the use of the second person, which gives the story an added edge. As with her other stories, Jessica Payne has crafted another propulsive story that'll make it hard to put down.

I really loved the main character, and was intrigued by her moral ambiguity. She was a character I was more than happy to follow, and I liked her for all her unlikable traits.

I highly recommend this thriller.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read and review this advanced reader's copy.

Note: I also listened to the audiobook, which was enjoyable. I did listen at 2.15x speed, which is faster than my normal speed, due to the way the narrator read.

As soon as I read the blurb for this book I just knew it was a must read for me. As soon as I had finished reading the prologue I was hooked. A brilliant thriller with short and snappy chapters and I found myself constantly saying just one more chapter. Packed full of secrets and lies and with characters you won’t know who is or isn’t trustworthy. If you like a good suspense thriller then this is the book for you.