Esther is a divorce lawyer and runs things by the book. Whatever her clients want, they usually get it. When Peter, a multimillionaire ends up dead, they wonder who did it and why. This book was slow in spots and then picked up but then slowed down again. I'm giving it 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honet review. To be published May 2024.

The Divorce Lawyer by Ellie Monaco

Esther is the best at what she does. She’s a cutthroat divorce lawyer that gives the narcissist and controlling men what they deserve. Shes always stood up for the weaker side and done everything she can to support other women, that is until Peter. Peter is a morally corrupt billionaire who monopolized most of the tech industry. When he approaches Esther he is sure that Esther will represent him. What could make a morally sound woman aid the enemy? He knows her secret.

As the story unfolds we learn a lot about Esther and her years of experience as a lawyer. She’s good. She’s determined. She’s not going to stop until the case goes her way. But is her way always the right way? Soon Peter is murdered and secrets begin to unfold. Esther is now being stalked and harassed. She’s doing all she can to hold it together. Her secrets mustn’t come out or the ones she loves will get hurt.

In this twisty thriller you’re put to the test to determine what is truly the correct moral code. Are your morals always on the straight and narrow or are they predetermined by your past? I enjoyed reading The Divorce Lawyer and learning all of Esther’s secrets. The novel was entertaining and thought out. Some parts were over detailed and felt long winded.

I really wanted to like this as the premise soundes right up my street but I felt it just dragged on to start with and nothing really happened gor the 1st half of the book. Once it finally gets going then I did enjoy the twists and turns but tye characters were pretty unlikeable and it was all a bit predictable. The writing was decent enough but I just had a hard time getting as invested as I normally would

The Divorce Lawyer promises a gripping tale of moral conflict and suspense but, unfortunately, falls a bit flat. Ester is an attorney whose internal struggle between conscience and self-preservation feels somewhat forced and contrived. I understand the thought behind the plot but was a bit confused by it all. Mystery is not my preferred genre, but I wanted to step outside of my comfort zone with this one. The story kept my attention, especially in the beginning, but it veered off in another direction.

The book relies heavily on clichés and plot twists, making it difficult to invest in the characters or their predicaments. Overall, it was an okay read, and maybe mystery fans will enjoy this one better.

This is a hard review. I am still trying to decide whether I liked this book or not. This started out dragging and super slow but picked up about 40% in. The twists were great, everything in between not so much. . I definitely did not like any character in the book, but I’ve read books before with characters like these and still enjoyed the book.

I’m giving this 3 stars because I think other people will really like the book and it’s just me. Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this cooy.

Good read but somewhat predictable. I don’t know if I’ll read any more by this author but I’m glad i got the chance to try.

It took me some time to get into the book, and I couldn’t relate or like any of the characters but once the twists started coming this thriller became easy to read and enjoyable. I sadly didn’t enjoy the end, something was missing for me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC copy.

#TheDivorceLawyer #NetGalley

Esther Khan is a well respected divorce lawyer, representing women who are battling for custody of their children and usually winning. Except this time her client is Peter Tamboni, a billionaire tech giant who loves to destroy anyone who comes in his way. He has something on Esther and uses her to destroy his soon to be ex-wife, Bianca. And he's not done with Esther yet - until the unthinkable happens. In the meantime, one of Peter's nemeses, Avery, soon tries to befriend Esther and starts to almost stalk her. And Esther feels that she has nowhere to hide and no one to confide in except for her sister, Dot. Meanwhile people are turning up dead and all trails lead to Esther. I loved the premise of this book but just could not warm up to Esther the lead protagonist. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the ARC of this book, due to be published on May 10, 2024.

The plot for this book was very good. Plenty of twists. Keeps you reading till you find out what happens.

Name of Book: The Divorce Lawyer
Author: Ellie Monago
Genre: Domestic Psychological/Thriller
Publisher: Bookouture
Pub Date: May 10, 2024
My Rating: 3.3 Stars
Pages: 333
Esther Kahn is a divorce lawyer and known to be ruthless. She can be ‘over the top extreme’ but typically get her clients everything they want.
She works for women who are divorcing their nasty husbands.
However, in this case her client is Bianca Tramboni’s husband Peter – as he knows her secrets and is threatening to tell all. Peter is a megalomaniacal billionaire who runs a counterintelligence surveillance company called ‘Nimbus’ Peter is fifty-one, homely, short, bald and an all-around jerk. When Peter is shot by a single shot to the back of his head; we wonder who is stalking Esther.

The first part of this story got my attention. However, I soon found I wasn’t crazy about Esther and the cast of characters (or should I say Peter’s ex-wives who were okay).
I just didn’t have empathy for anyone.
However, as I got to know Esther I did soften my opinion

The ended was a surprise

This is my second [author: Ellie Monago] I read [book: The Custody Battle’. I had a similar reaction to the characters. My comments were ~
I do get that divorce does bring out the worst in people; certainly not easy.
I also said it wasn’t an enjoyable read but after thinking about it, I rounded up my 3 Stars to 4.
In this story after thinking about it I am okay with my 3.3 Stars.

Thank NetGalley and Bookouture for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for May 10, 2024.

Sometimes, when you are a lawyer, you can vision yourself as a kind of modern super heroine. You have a certain goal and you will try your utter best to achieve that for as many clients as possible. You have a principle you see almost a a mantra and you are convinced you do the right thing.

This is what Esther is trying to do and she is proud of what she does and in a way has every right to feel that way.

Suddenly someone has something on you and they force you to accept a case you would never have done, because it goes against every thing you stand for. What can you do? There is no way you cannot not accept.

She wants to finalize the case as soon as possible, never wanting to see that despicable client ever again, but that's where things go pear shaped...

For me this was a bit slowed paced, but I did like the evolution Esther went through. Her intentions to protect were admirable, but the methods she used not so. I loved the way she used her experience to try and help to who needed it. 4 stars

Thank you

I had previously read The Custody Battle by Ellie Monago, so I was excited to read another book by the Ellie..

I liked the plot of this book, along with the blackmail concept that kept the story moving quickly. There were twists and suspense, but at times I found the story hard to follow and couldn’t connect to the characters.

Esther a divorce lawyer has made it her goal in life to fight for women who aren’t being treated properly in their marriages. We find out why Esther has taken this path in life as she begins to defend a husband against his wife, not something she is typically used to doing. The story turns into a dark tale of blackmail and stalking for Esther as things begin to unravel with Peter.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF.
Esther Khan is a successful family lawyer, she often represents women whose husbands are abusive ensuring they have custody of their children. Until Peter Tamboni, a client who is usually who she’s working against. But she had no choice in working for the tech billionaire.

Esther has a tragic backstory which colours her choices as an adult. She seems cold, unable to have relationships, paranoid and hiding a secret. She isn’t someone I warmed to. This book really wasn’t for me, half way through and it still didn’t seem to be going anywhere, it wasn’t the thriller that I’d thought it was. The main character is unlikable, her friends-with-benefits guy is so opposite to her this relationship seems implausible. On holiday with him, which was creepy and I genuinely thought the story was about to begin, it then switches back to her being in the office. I really tried to persevere, I was losing interest after this (about 30% in) but at 53%, with still no idea what the plot was or what the point of the book is, I gave up. I’ve not read the author before, so maybe I was unlucky.

Whew- this one was a tough book to get through. It started off very slow and eventually it started to get interesting. There are twists and yes it is a psychological thriller but huge loss with the character depth. There was something missing and I didn’t feel connected to any of the characters.

The good….the blackmail portion of the story
The bad…. The characters and it’s a bit far-fetched

Thank you to NetGalley for an opportunity to read and review this book.

Mgdreads says give it a try. You may like it more than I did.

Finished this book while traveling! Thank you NetGalley for the pre-release ARC to read and review. This novel's pub date is May 10, 2024.

When I requested this book I assumed it was written by an attorney (family law), as it is the second divorce-centric book the author has put out, but no, Ellie Monago is a pen name for the author whose bio says she is a therapist. Maybe she specializes in divorce cases and that's driving her book plots?! Maybe she is married to a family law attorney? Either way, this is clearly the niche genre she has chosen and legal thrillers are a lucrative writing niche, but it didn't have the legal thriller vibe we've come to expect from certain prominent writers.

The book focuses on a 50-something single attorney, Esther, and her sister, Dot (kind of old fashioned names), Dot's children, and an awful custody/divorce case Esther took on for billionaire tech magnet, Peter. Peter has dirt on Esther, so despite her being a fighter for women and women's rights, she buries Peter's ex, essentially taking her child away from her, and Esther feels awful about it. There is another major plot angle involving a protege of Peter's named Avery, who spun out a new technology called Sleight, that allows people to anonymously message others and have the messages read out loud via their cellphones even if the recipient doesn't have the app, just their phone number!? This seemed like a gross invasion of privacy and one that a person would block, but that didn't happen in the book, don't know why. And we are not given insight into why Avery created this invasive technology when she is kind of portrayed as a victim.... It was confusing as a reader and I never honestly solved the mystery of Avery and her purpose in the book except to further the story of Peter's awfulness aka #metoo.

This book is pretty dark and depressing. It removes all personal and professional agency that you would expect a powerful successful attorney like Esther to have. The book puts forward no methods through the law or otherwise to handle Peter's awfulness, which so bad it is almost a caricature of #metoo stories, especially when you add Avery's stories to the mix. I struggled to understand if Avery was a good person or a bad person, and really hoped as a reader that the women would figure out a way to band together to fight the man!

There was an attempt to show Esther have a come-to-Jesus moment with a mediator she worked with who gave her feedback on her practices and the effect on children, but it kind of came from out of left field, and felt manufactured to me. The final twist just seemed a bit bizarre and I didn't feel bought into the characters enough to care. It was depressing. There was a lot of tech talk incorporated into the plot that also didn't feel authentic or valid coming from this author (3D printers, apps).

Unfortunately, this is a 2-star for me. I'm wondering what the author would do with a psychological thriller that doesn't live in the tech sector or divorce.

The Divorce Lawyer by E. Monago, published by Bookouture is a full length, stand alone.
The blurb is top notch, so I thought why not give it a try, so sorry to say I'm a bit disappointed. The book isn't what the blurb promises, far from it.
Esther Kahn is ariuthless divorce lawyer who gets for her female clients what they want. But this time everything is reverse. The cards have changed and she has to work for the husband instead the wife.
I was torn about the story, torn about the characters and torn about the storyline in general. The book has some lengths I'd rather have skipped. All in all an ok read.

I felt engrossed in this book immediately and I was kept entertained by the twists, definitely recommended.

Esther has a real moral problem; she has to represent a client who she knows is manipulative and a liar. The story revolves around how she assists Peter, a relatively wealthy and powerful man, in kidnapping the little boy from his mother, whom the lawyer-narrator perceives as the principal decision-maker.

Nevertheless, Peter gets terrible news from Esther’s past and threatens to make her tell her secret. Her tension grows in proportion to her blame as she follows his words and effectively supports the ruination of an innocent man’s life. You will appreciate her awful situation and her guilt for the mistake.

The pace is pretty fast, gliding from the courtroom chapters to the parts describing Peter and Esther’s reflections on her job, family, and what she has abandoned to save herself. The characters are complex and not always likable.

This suspenseful character-driven novel looks set to become a controversial morality discussion among readers that will challenge them to the trade-off, abuse of power, legality, moral ethics, and to what length one would go in the age of impossible choices where the career and family welfare are at stake. The story is disturbing and makes you think, and it is a perfect novel for legal thriller lovers. Highly recommended!

Thank you to Jess Readett, Bookouture for the invitation, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review it.

This was an easy read with characters I disliked and couldn't get behind at all.After a slow start, it picked up with twists and turns, but the ending was lacking something for me.
Overall not the best Ive read from this author, The Custody Battle is still my favourite.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Esther is a divorce lawyer who represents women that are being mistreated by their husbands. When a billionaire comes to her and wants representation in his divorce, she has no choice but to agree, as this man is blackmailing her.

This book is a nail biter with some clever plot twists. It’s easy to read in a day because you won’t want to put it down. Parts of it are a bit far-fetched, but perhaps that’s part of the draw.

Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture for the eARC.