I devoured this book! I love a twisty thriller. This book is not to be missed. I was on the edge of my seat and could not stop reading The Mistress. Keogh never disappoints. I recommend this one.
Many thanks to the authorand NetGalley for a complimentary copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

This book starts out with Hannah being abused by her 70 year old husband. Kind of old for an abusive hubby but we’ll roll with it. It had me hooked from page one buuuuut it slowly declined from here. Hannah had made her way sleeping with men for gifts and money. She comes across a photo of her and her ex Mark and decides she’s going to track him down. He said he’d always love her, right?!
Susan is now married to Mark and has a son named Andrew (Drew) who is going off to college. She is a helicopter mother who can’t bare the thought of him not being around. It became quite annoying to the point that I had to DNF. I feel like if the story wouldn’t have been side tracked by Susan’s constant need to miss her son, it could have stayed more on task.
Thank you to NetGalley & Boldwood for the chance to read this for a honest review.

The Mistress delves into the intricate web of psychological manipulation woven by its protagonist, Hannah Parker. With a relentless determination, Hannah embarks on a perilous journey, targeting married men and orchestrating the dissolution of their families. However, when her deceit is uncovered by her latest husband, Hannah redirects her focus towards Mark Shepherd, a former flame now leading a contented life with his family.

As the plot unfolds, Hannah's calculated maneuvers and relentless pursuit of Mark thrust both him and his loved ones into a perilous game of psychological cat and mouse. With tension escalating and secrets unraveling, the novel explores the depths of obsession, deception, and the devastating consequences of crossing moral boundaries.

This is a first for me by the author and one I enjoyed and I would read more of their work. The book cover is eye-catching and appealing and would spark my interest if in a bookshop. Thank you to the author, publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Valerie Keogh's latest fast-paced thriller, *The Mistress* is a rollercoaster of a story. With unexpected twists and a gripping ending, Keogh keeps readers hooked from the getgo.
The tension between desire, deception, and consequences drives the narrative, making it a fantastic read!

The story follows Hannah Parker, a woman who is determined to get what she wants, no matter the cost. Hannah is a complex and intriguing character who is not afraid to go after what she desires. Her determination and cunning nature make her both fascinating and slightly terrifying. As she sets her sights on rekindling a romance with an old flame, the reader is taken on a rollercoaster of emotions as Hannah manipulates and schemes to get what she wants.

Keogh's writing is sharp and engaging, drawing the reader into Hannah's world. *The Mistress* is thought-provoking and an entertaining read that will leave you questioning just how far you would go to get what you desire.

Overall, *The Mistress* is a must-read! Keogh's storytelling is masterful, and prepare yourself for a wild ride with this one!

One day you meet the one, but you let him go because at that moment you don't realise what you have and your focus is on something entirely different. 

You decide to follow that path, but the life you thought you were going to get because you thought you were the clever one, suddenly blows up in your face. Or that how it seems at that moment in time. 

It's pretty clear life is not predictable and the next day, it can smile at you again. You have to have patience and what better to do whilst waiting than trying to take back what you threw away all those years ago. 

Do you still have what it takes to manipulate the world around you? And will 'getting what you deserve' mean what you had envisioned...?

An enjoyable book where the saying 'the flesh is weak' is written all over in capital letters. 4,5 stars

Thank you

Another brilliant read from Valerie Keogh! A well paced book which meant I finished it far before I was mentally ready to. Hannah and Susan end up wanting the same man, meaning everything is to play for. Hannah is ruthless and plans a rekindling of a previous relationship with Mark with meticulous detail; she is determined to get what she wants. Mark's wife Susan proves to be more of a problem than Hannah anticipated and does not give up without a fight. A great story of the cunningness, planning and determination of two intelligent women who will do everything in their power to get the result they want.

I thought this book was really good. I was hooked from the very beginning. I like the way it was written, it went back and forth between two points of view. I like when I can k ow what more than one character is thinking. The ending though… made me mad!

Valerie Keogh has tackled women’s fears about their husband having a mistress complete with twists and turns. Hannah, the wife of an abuser, decides to set her sights on a former boyfriend from long ago, Mark. Susan, Mark’s wife, begins to sense her husband is slipping away day by day. The story flips from both women’s points of view.
I did not find any of the main characters likable, although I could relate to Susan’s empty nest syndrome, and felt sympathy for Hannah’s childhood losses. Hannah’s mother was truly evil, which served as the catalyst for Hannah’s personal issues as an adult. I found some of the twists and turns predictable but they kept me engaged. I kept expecting her son to play a pivotal role but in hind sight so glad that was not the case. Mark was just a weak man, easily manipulated by Hannah. I was a bit disappointed by the ending.
All in all an engaging read.
My thanks to Valerie Keogh, Boldwood Books, Inc., and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this read, to be published on March 25th.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.
This was a fast paced read told in the viewpoint of Susan the wife and Hannah the mistress. I really enjoyed this one, only the second book I've read by this author but not my last! Highly recommended ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to @netgalley and @boldwoodbooks for my free advanced readers copy written by the wonderful Valerie Keogh! I seem to really enjoy all of her books so I was very excited to read this and it did NOT disappoint!

The Mistress is about a 40 year old woman that is beautiful, alluring and always seems to get her way. She is married to a much older wealthy man that violently attacks her after discovering that she has been taking birth control pills. After being badly beaten, she starts to reminisce over her college boyfriend that she dearly loved but dumped after realizing she couldn't handle such a deep romance. Regretting her decision, she decides to leave her husband and get her now married man back.

I could not put this engaging and thrilling book down! I flew through the pages and read it in one night! LOVED it! Fans of Freida McFadden and Sally Hepworth will really enjoy this book!

@currentlyreading__
Book 18 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley, @valeriekeogh2 and the publishers @theboldwoodclub for the advanced copy of ‘The Mistress’ which is out today. I do love a psychological thriller and after reading one of Valerie’s books last year I knew to expect this one to be very good indeed. I wasn’t disappointed as it was just what I wanted - twists and turns and a story to keep me gripped.

The book has alternate narratives from Susan (the wife) and Hannah (the mistress, ex-girlfriend to Mark a couple of decades previous). Susan is oblivious to her husband’s infidelity at first as their only child has moved away to university. She is devastated by his move but Mark has other ideas when he reconnects with the seductive Hannah. This awakens something in Mark but is Hannah really after what they once had or is there an ulterior motive?

I know that I need to read all of Valerie’s other books as she is a great storyteller - it certainly kept me engrossed. If, like me, you’re a thriller fan, this is one to put on your TBR. I have a cast already decided for the TV adaptation!


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #valeriekeogh #themistress #boldwoodbooks #netgalley #theboldwoodbookclub

I’ve not read a book before by this author and thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t get gripped by the story but was still interested in reading it. There were elements in there that kept my interest and I felt I wanted to find out more. I would have preferred some kind of twists in it to grip me to the book. It was a good storyline but not enough fast pace for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

No spoilers here, but wow, that ending was completely unexpected!

This is the story of two women; Susan, who feels unmoored because her only son has left to go to university a long way from home and suspects her husband is having an affair. Then there is Hannah, a manipulative woman who is used to getting her own way.
I was gripped from the very first page of this book. It was a page-turner with some nice twists and turns to the narrative along the way. The author is a great storyteller and really knows how to keep the readers interest. She has created an utterly believable scenario and has written an engaging and compelling story.

Releasing in the UK today, this is an excellent and exciting book which I highly recommend.

I read this one. It started off with a bang, and I like that, then it calmed down a little too much. Then the ending was not anything that I ever could have imagined while reading the book. It felt kind of like a let down. Definitely unpredictable, but not in a good way. The last 25% of the book hooked me back in, and then the last couple of pages it was a bust. It had so much potential too.

After being beat up by her wealthy older husband, Hannah is determined to move on to teh life she deserves. When she stumbles across a photograph of her old boyfriend, Mark, she realizes that missed out on the life she could have had with him. He always treated her well and made her happy. Hannah made a mistake and let Mark go, some 20 years ago. Now, Mark is married with a family. But that won't stop Hannah from getting what she wants....

Valerie Keogh did an excellent job from straying from the typical cheating spouse/mistress subgenre. The Mistress offers a fresh perspective, allowing the reader to feel genuinely surprised at the twists and turns. The book moved at a really fast pace. The suspense kept building and I was unable to put it down!

I was surprised by the ending but I didn't necessarily love it. Although wrapped up a subplot but was slightly out of left field and dissatisfying. I wish we got a bit more! Either way, The Mistress is still a great thriller.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Valerie Keogh has quickly become a “must-read” author for me! Her newest thriller, The Mistress, was a fabulous five star read for me.

Told in alternating perspectives, we learn about Hannah and Susan. Hannah seems to choose love that is convenient…until it isn’t. Susan, meanwhile, is married to her university sweetheart Mark and they have a son together.

Hannah’s husband has left her bruised and broken so she moves back home and sets her sights on the future. Upon finding a picture of a long-ago boyfriend Mark, she decides to look him up and see what he’s up to.

Susan feels her world changing as she and Mark have become empty nesters. She begins to have suspicions that Mark has found interest in someone else. As Susan finds out the truth, she’ll show just how far she’ll go to show her husband’s mistress that she messed with the wrong wife.

Thrilling and engaging read that will keep you flipping page after page!

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood publishing for the eArc of The Mistress by the amazing Valerie Keogh. This book was so much fun to read. The characters were so real to me that I felt like I was watching a thriller movie. I read this in one sitting and was literally holding my breath until the last page. Hannah has gone through a lot in her life and is dealing with an unkind and violent husband when she comes upon an old photo of her and her ex boyfriend Mark. We go along for the ride as she stalks him and his wife Susan. She gets to know everything about them. She sets the stage and with gentle manipulation she catches him in her web. What transpires from here had be grasping my kindle. The book alternates between Hannah and Susan. This book took turns I wasn’t prepared for and shocked me. I think this would make an amazing movie! I loved it!!

Great book with lots of twists! This book pulls you in quickly. I wasn’t sure who to love or hate in this book!

I really liked the sound of this book and it hooked me right from the start. It kept my attention the whole way through and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is a really didn’t enjoy the ending. Although it was surprising and unexpected it left me quite flat and disappointed.

Another gritty thriller about a woman who wakes up from a beating from her husband to reassess her life and wonder if her college sweetheart was the one that got away and if so then who cares if he’s married now she will get him back. I struggled to like the characters in this book but it made for a great read with a good twist at the end.