I really enjoyed this, the combination of author and narrator really works. Yes it is a popcorn thriller but it works for me and sometimes you just need that. I loved the ending, I was just entranced throughout the whole listen and pushed other things aside to listen. as I just needed to know what happened.

Lizzy is recently engaged, homeless, and pregnant. Her husband does some sort of shady contracting work and is owed a lot of money, supposedly, but in the meantime, they have been asked to leave their friend's apartment and are forced to stay with Lizzy's insane mom. And insane she is. Manipulative, narcissistic, absolutely batshit crazy lady.

Lizzy is keeping two secrets that she repeats constantly throughout the book (this got annoying, yes). 1) she found her mother's corsage by her sister's dead fiancé right before their wedding, and thinks her mom may have killed him. In a moment of insanity (perhaps it's hereditary) she grabbed the corsage so the police never knew it was there. Therefore she thinks if she tells the police about it now, she will spend the rest of her life in jail. 2) She is afraid to tell her fiance, Owen, the truth about her mother (not the murder suspicion, but how horrible her childhood was) because she thinks he won't want to marry her after knowing everything.

Basically, Lizzy straight sucks. Throughout the whole book, she keeps saying she needs to get away from her mom but she let's her mom plan her wedding. Her dad is also extremely psycho, and is in fact voluntarily living in a mental institute.

Throughout the book I struggled to understand what Lizzy saw in Owen, and why Lizzy had no backbone. The book did surprise me with a couple twists at the end. The killer reveal in the end was not at all what I expected and it was a little lame.

The narration is good, and the book moves pretty quickly. I appreciate the ARC!

Another one where the premise was really good, but I felt like the story just kept jumping all over the place. AND....I figured it out! That in itself was a surprise, as I really NEVER figure it out.

All in all, a good story...if a bit too long...

Lizzie and Shelley are sisters. They had always been very close, but then last year, at Shelley's wedding, her husband to be turns up dead! And, Lizzie has been hiding a secret from that day. Not only that, but right after the wedding, she ran away...from her sister, mother and father...and the family literally fell apart.

BUT, the good news is, she met a wonderful man...

He convinces her to bring him home to meet her parents. She hesitantly agrees, as it is the LAST place she wants to be. She does not like her mother, and she definitely does not TRUST her. And the sad news about her Dad, well, that just has her heartbroken...

She does get together with Shelley though, and they begin to mend their broken relationship.

But, everything starts to fall apart...
And when Mommy dearest decides to suggest a wedding date, and then tries to get them married ASAP...Well, Lizzie is literally scared to death!!

3 ⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which releases on 3/26/24.

#MotherOfTheBride by #SamanthaHayes and narrated nicely by #TamsinKennard.
Feel free to like, follow and friend me on: Goodreads,
IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr or
My Facebook Book Club: Book Reviews With Elaine.

Thanks so much for reading!📚⭐️

This book was well written and there were some good twists and turns throughout the book.

For those who read a LOT of mysteries and thrillers, I think at least half of the "mystery" can be picked up on relatively early on in the book. However, with who Lizzy's parents are, and what happened to her sister's fiance, there is a decent plot throughout the book.

For someone who reads a lot, I don't think this gave me the suspense I long for, but for people who are looking for a nice British mystery with an interesting plot, this one is for you.

This audiobook was made available to me by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Tamsin Kannard was the perfect narrator for this story. Even though this novel uses a single pov character, the narrator still uses different infections to highlight different characters: the mom, the fiancé, the sister, etc. It adds depth and texture to the story. This narrator has a kind of soft voice that serves to make the creepy elements of the story sinister. It's subtly done and had a great impact on the overall story.

This is a domestic thriller featuring toxic family drama, my favorite flavor! Lizzie has returned to the UK from teaching abroad with her new fiancé, Owen. Lizzie was teaching abroad in an effort to pay off her financial liability from her previous romantic entanglement when she met Owen about 6 months before the story began. A surprise pregnancy prompted a return to the UK and engagement. Back in the UK, Owen is awaiting payment for his work abroad while the couple is staying at Lizzie's friend, Peter's, flat. Lizzie's mum invites them for the weekend so she can meet Owen. Soon Mum is pushing a rushed wedding on Lizzie & Owen. Lizzie wants away from her toxic mom and to avoid a situation like her sister, Shelly. Shelly is a large animal vet recovering from her own wedding nightmare, at which her fiancé, Rafe, was found dead of a probable heart attack the morning of. Only Lizzie isn't sure Rafe died of natural causes.

Lizzie's mom has shades of narcissistic parent syndrome and reminded me of several Reddit posts on the narc parents subreddit thread. Lizzie seems like the 'black sheep' and her sister Shelly is a classic 'golden child' but there's much more to the story than what appears on the surface.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read/listen to and review this novel. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

Lizzie is about to get married and her mother wants to take control of every aspect of it. Her fiance and her are staying with her controlling mom as they wait for him to get paid for a job and if living with your mom isn't bad enough Lizzie believes her mom killed her sister's fiance the year before.

This one had a few side stories that you had to keep track of as they came back. The twists are a little predictable and you should be able to guess what the final shocking twist will be.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️


✨ Lizzy and Owen is bound to get married but struggling financially. As the blurb already stated that her mother was always in charge or ‘obsessed’ with the wedding happening. On the middle of the story you can predict what will happen next or even the ending.

✨ the story is mild thriller. Quite long with no substance ( I’m so sorry) . I almost dnf the story as it was quite repetitive of the sentence.
However , family drama on this book was great. Full of secret.

‼️ suicide


✨ Thankyou netgalley for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review.


❤️shaye.reads

Here comes the bride.....

And here comes the "Mother of the Bride", too!

A pregnant bride-to-be is planning her wedding.

But the bride is worried.

WHY?

Last year, the bride's sister's fiancé was murdered on the couple's wedding day and her mother’s corsage was found next to his body.

Will this happen again?

Although I was intrigued by this book's compelling premise, I had an issue with the book's pacing.

The first half of the book was very, very S-L-O-W with repetitive text.

Fortunately, the pace picked up and I enjoyed the book's twisty ending.

I listened to the audiobook read by Tamsin Kennard who did a superb job with the narration.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for the book #MotherOfTheBride by #SamanthaHayes. Betrayal, murder, secrets, lies and revenge all surround Lizzy and Owen as their wedding day approaches. The mother of the bride is a cruel person and may be responsible for Lizzie’s sisters husbands death a year ago. Will this be a repeat? Is lizzy in danger? I loved this book and especially the twist ending I didn’t see coming.

This was such a twisty ride. A few things are easy to figure out which makes the shocking ending take you by storm. You can't even guess the ending. Definitely impressed with this author.

Just WOW.
This is a very twisted and fast paced book. I could not stop turning the pages. Just when I thought I knew what was going to happen next, it twisted again and again.
Puts a whole new twist on the "evil mother-in-law", really gave me Mommy Dearest vibes.
Very well written story. My only complaint is it felt a little long towards the end.


The narration of this story was very enjoyable. The expression of emotions was very well done. I did not get bored with this one as I sometimes do. Well done.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version.
I was really excited about this one first off the cover sucked me in and the synopsis sounded very interesting.
I think the concept was good BUT the story that we got was very well frustrating. I just found myself saying DUH the whole time. The main character was completely dense and her fiance after being almost poisoned and given a mystery pill for a headache. The mother making all the kids sick from her daughters school when she was younger. I just found it frustrating how dumb everyone was. This seemed like a lifetime movie plot or even a Hallmark mystery plot. It was just okay. It could have been so much better.

This book kept me on my toes. The ending is so unexpected. Lizzy is going to marry Owen. Will her wedding end up like her sisters with a dead groom? Is her controlling mother to blame?

We meet Lizzie and Owen, a newly engaged couple, who return to Lizzie's mother's house after living in Dubai.
Lizzie is reluctant due to her difficult relationship with her mother, and wants out of her house as soon as possible.
It seems like everything is going alright, aside from her mother trying to push their wedding on them, until they are informed the police are opening back up the case regarding Lizzie's almost brother in law's death.
Lizzie's mind starts to work overtime and she wants to get to the bottom of everything quickly, did her mum really kill Rafe?

Great narration which kept me hooked throughout. A fab domestic thriller set in England, perfect wee holiday read! I called the twist early on, but was thrown in the last couple minutes of the book! That was one I didn't expect.

My first Samantha Hayes book and not my last.

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

3.5⭐️ rounded. Mother of the Bride had me guessing until the very end! We follow Lizzie and Owen who are newly engaged after a whirlwind romance. Everything is great except for Lizzie’s overbearing mother, Sylvia. She’s a loose cannon and unfortunately a type of character than many know all too well!

Lizzie and Owen find themselves staying with Sylvia when they are in a pinch and we learn that this family does not have the best track record with weddings. Will history repeat itself? Someone is lying but we have to go through some hard lessons to find out who…and why!

This audiobook was narrated by Tamsin Kennard who did an amazing job conveying all characters! I love a narrator that can switch between male and female characters with believability and ease.

Thank you so much to Netgalley, Samantha Hayes, and Bookouture Audio for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review. I can’t wait for everyone else to read this on March 26th!

This domestic thriller grabbed me from the description and I knew I had to read it. The twists ended up being very predictable and there were parts of the book that ended up being repetitive, but overall it was an entertaining read that I was able to fly through.

Mother of the Bride is a great fast-paced domestic thriller. Two sister, Shelley and Lizzie, have one of the most narcissistic mothers. She constantly needs to be in control of everything, especially when it comes to wedding planning. Last year Shelleys fiancé was found dead on the day of the wedding. Was it an accident? Lizzie seems to think not, and now her mother is control of planning her wedding as well.
Just when you think you have this story figured out, think again!

This thriller found me sitting on the edge of my seat as I listened, and the narrator does a fantastic job of keeping you engaged and portraying the emotions of the characters.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and the author (Samantha Hayes) for this advance audio in return for my honest review.

Pub Date: 26 March 2024

Thank you to @Netgalley and @bookouture for my free copy of this book!

A great, super fast read that takes you for a thrilling and mysterious ride! Fans of Emily Shiner and Freida McFadden will really enjoy this thriller!

Newly engaged couple, Lizzie and Owen return home, to her mother's house, after living in Dubai. Lizzie's mother is meddlesome, a little insane and maybe even murderous. Last year, her sister's husband-to-be was found dead on the morning of his wedding as well as her mother's corsage.

Is her mother a murderer? Sure, her mother had been a drama queen that threw tantrums to get her own way, plus she was fired from her job under mysterious circumstance, but that doesn't mean she's a murderer....or does it? Determined to find out once and for all what her mother is all about. Lizzie investigates her mother's past and is astonished in what she discovers!

Not everyone is who they seem and many secrets are revealed as Lizzie comes to see the whole truth as it's revealed on her own wedding day.

1.00!

Now, from where do I start?

This has me hating the genre of thrillers because I have never read such a dense, watered down thriller ever. There has not been a single thriller as of yet which has been bad for me, I have enjoyed most of them and have even rated them more than a four, who knew this would be the first one starred thriller I read because I sure as hell did not, after that captivating synopsis.

The writing bugged me the most, it often felt like the author had no sense of direction and was running through circles and the repetition was too much. The plot was not well plotted tbh because I saw the twist and turns coming before we even got to the foreshadowing part. Not well thought. Not well written. Not well executed.

The characters were so insufferable. Our main female character accuses the mother of being a murderer without having any concrete proof and by just going along with the vibes AND while accusing her, doesn't shy away from letting her mom pay for all her wedding expenses and for the accommodations and the living. The male main character was like a female main character from a Rina Kent book. He had no backbone and was naive as fuck and the twist that everyone probably saw coming felt so out of place.

This audiobook was of 9 hours and tbh the narrator did a well job but the book itself was so boring that the first half I knew I would have dnf'd this book if I wasn't listening to it whilst studying. OMG there was even a part where I slept through and when I woke up inly 3 hours were left lmaoo but I had to go back (felt guilty) there honestly came a point where I turned my reading speed up to 3x (keep in mind, I listen to audiobooks at the speed of 1.75-2) so yeah not a great read at all and definitely broke my streak....I need good thriller books now *sighs*

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
I really liked this book! Another one that was hard to put down. So many surprises along the way and I really didn’t expect any of them either!
Well written to keep you guessing who to trust and who not to trust. Good job by the narrator.