This is now where near as thrilling as the novel I thought I was requesting. It started off quite pedestrian and slowly dragged on. It just did not feel realistic or believable.

The Wife’s Mistake has a slow start but when the plot stars to unravel it piques up speed. It’s a twisty read, full of suspense and so many turns it made it impossible to stop reading. There’re so many secrets coming to light and the mistrust in relationships.

Both our main characters – Natalie and Hayden - have secrets of their own that the other has no knowledge of. But then Natalie wins a lottery ticket and wonder what she’ll do and if she’s willing to share the news with Hayden. I was shocked to say the least with the way the book ended. I didn’t saw it coming and it was so good.

Overall, I felt like the book captured well enough how people tend to hide their true selves because they’re afraid of how others will react to it. Also, it portrait perfectly how people can change when money is involved in the equation. I really enjoyed this book and did not see the end coming.

Thank you, Bookouture & NetGalley, for approving me to read this arc and write this review.

3.5 ⭐️

This book definitely kept me guessing since the beginning. I never really had a solid idea who the real “suspect” was as there was many reasons why it could have been any of them. I enjoyed the story line and the characters were well thought out. In the end I was shocked by the reveal of the bad guy, definitely didn’t see that one coming. I do wish there was a bit more of an “ending” for a few of the characters as I felt there wasn’t a lot of closure for some. My first book by Lorna Dounaeva and I look forward to reading other books of theirs.

Overall, it was a fine story. I thought the pace was quite slow throughout the novel, and very few important things actually happened. A reveal in the middle of the story annoyed me, so my enjoyment went down a bit, but it went back up towards the end. More things happened and the plot quickened. As for the characters, I did not connect with them and they kept making things that irritated me a little. But I did like the fact that the story does not have the kind of annoying happy ending that I think does not belong in the genre. Truly, the last few chapters were definitely the best part of this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

A book read for my own pleasure as opposed to within my capacity as primary school teacher. I loved the many twists and turns which made for a compelling read. I would highly recommend! 👍

This book the premise sounded amazing and got me so intrigued!!!! Natalie has just found she won the lottery when her and her husband weren't in the best financial situation. Her husband comes home from work and heads into the shower when his phone gets a notification. When Natalie has a look its a woman who seems to be eluding that he may be cheating on her.

I felt that this was very misleading. This was not what the entire book was about and I did not feel like this book was much of a thriller. To be honest the first 80% of the book was pretty bland for me. It did not pick up until the 80% mark and then things started happening left right and centre. I did not like where the book ended up and wish there was more to the book. Again this did not feel very thrilling and it was a slow burn and not in a good way.

Unfortunately this is not one I would recommend to others and I felt as though it dragged on too much as well.

This book failed to engage me whatsoever, the writing was poor and the situations in the book were stupid and you can only suspend so much disbelief

Overall, this was an interesting story. It was a slow burn for about the first two-thirds of the book, but then it started to really pick up. The last part of the book was definitely more interesting, and had some good twists and turns. It wasn't the most gripping book I've ever read, but I did enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

I had a hard time getting into the writing style of this book. The flow was disjointed and sophomoric. The story line itself was good. A woman wins the lotto but before she tells her husband, she wants to see if he is cheating on her or not. But so much of this book was ridiculous. I questioned so many of the choices the characters made, along with some of the writing.

My first issue was when a car engine was smoking and then it miraculously starts. I understand the author is showing us that the car was old and beat down, but this isn't feasible.

Instead of confronting her husband with her questions, she dresses up in her friend's maternity clothes and an old gray wig and spies on her husband while he is at a work conference. Really? That's just ridiculous.

Then, when it comes out that they've won the lotto, Hayden can't pick between two colors of a Ferrari so he buys two different ones while his wife gets an Audi.

The relationships between all the characters were also pretty unbelievable. The sisters' relationship seemed great until the end. It just wasn't believable.

I did appreciate the ending of the story and I was pleased with what happened (no spoilers).

I devoured this book The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva. It was the first book I read by this author and I'll be sure to read more titles. It was a slow burn but it was a satisfying ending. Natalie is a unhappy barista working for a not very nice boss. One day she buys a lottery ticket on the way home from work and wins! She was all set to tell her husband Hayden but begins to suspect him of infidelity. The rest of the book is about uncovering secrets and how money doesn't always buy happiness.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the advance reading copy of this title. Publishing date is February 19, 2024.

From the blurb I thought I'd really love this one however it was very much a slow starter and even then I never really felt any sort of thrill from the book and I found myself bored at times. The premises was intriguing but the execution just lacked some excitement and drama.

This was a page turner that starts out slow but picked up pace so you just have to stay with it and you will be glad you did. Looking forward to more from this author.

I rarely DNF books, especially ARCs but the first few chapters gave me so much anxiety and then, the reason for my anxiety happens at 25%. I was annoyed and frustrated so much at this point (as well as hating all the characters) that I had to choose my mental sanity over finishing this book. My apologies to the author and publisher, I'm sure it probably ends up being great, but it wasn't for me.
Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

The book was slow at first. But it got better midway through it. Wonder if Natalie is going to tell Hayden about heather. Or if Hayden is going to tell her and his one night stand

Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!

Hayden and Natalie were in a rut, a married couple struggling to make ends meat and each keeping their own secrets. When Natalie buys a lotto ticket she had no idea what would soon come her way. She won! But at the same time she was notified of her husband being seen with another woman! What to do! So her thinking was to hide the ticket to further investigate as she would not want to share the money with a cheater! Things quickly progress when the ticket is found by her husband and they ultimately went public with their winnings. That is when their lives went into a tail spin, so many twists that I did not see coming. I finished reading in less than a day!

OH my word! This was one wild ride, twisted from the beginning and kept me guessing. I loved this book so dang much!

This book made me cringe in the best way! I felt like I spent the first half of the book with my stomach constantly flipping with anticipation and anxiety over the lottery ticket. I kept putting myself in position of the characters wondering what I would do.

I read a lot some reviews that felt like the first half of the book was slow and took awhile to get going. I actually felt the opposite! I loved the first half of the book. Once the previous pregnancy was revealed, I think that took the turn for me where I wanted to get off of the ship. It added one more element that I was unsure about at first. I think the author did a great job making you think you knew what was going to happen and then switched it.

This was my treadmill read. Needless to say, I was walking extra miles to keep reading to get to the end of the book and it did not disappoint. I loved all of the twists and turns and their group of "friends." I will definitely be looking forward to more books by Lorna Dounaeva in the future, and will also be recommending this to my friends who love a good thriller!

3.5 ⭐

*ARC REVIEW*

I found this book really dragged on ... It took so long for anything to actually happen, I think I made it to 43% on my Kindle and nothing exciting had happened. I didn't really like any of the characters, and the ending was meh.

I feel like it had potential to be a good story, but it just didn't hit the mark for me.

The one thing I can say and why my review made it to 3.5 stars, I was not expecting the bad guy to be the person it was. The book definitely didn't keep you guessing until the end!

Thank you to Net Galley and Bookouture for this advanced copy of The Wife’s Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva to be published February 19, 2024.
Natalie and Hayden live the life they could only have dreamed of when they first married – living in the “glass house” with expensive cars and everything they ever wanted.
It seems, though, that Natalie is keeping a big secret from her past from her husband. And, of course, Hayden has his own secrets from Natalie.
Only a few people know what those secrets are – what are they willing to do to make sure their friends don’t find out?
This book was a true thriller – I couldn’t wait to find out what the secrets that Natalie and Hayden had and how everyone else would discover them.
It was a fast read and the ending was a bit of a shock. What good thriller doesn’t have a shocking ending?
I highly recommend putting this on your TBR list – you will not be disappointed!
#netgalley #thewifesmistake #lornadounaeva #bookouture

Had I not received an ARC, this would have ended up as a DNF for me.

To begin, the main characters, Natalie and Hayden, were sorely underdeveloped. Natalie was also highly unlikeable from the beginning. There is also a modge podge of other minor characters, and the majority of them are also severely underdeveloped.

The plot of this novel is all over the place. It seems as if Dounaeva wanted to put all of her ideas for psychological thriller novels into one piece, with the hopes of it giving the reader the absolute psychological thriller ride of their life. However, instead, every story line feels fleeting and almost like a fever dream.

Sadly, the description of the book does not live up to what is delivered in the writing.

*Advanced Readers Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley*