Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Kaira Rouda, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Nick Landrum and Laurence Bouvard. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4.5 stars!

Cecelia and Paul are in Paris celebrating their first wedding anniversary. But they both have secrets, and suddenly Paul isn't sure why Cecelia is acting so differently.

I think the synopsis of this book gives too much away, so go into this one as blind as possible, And for even more enjoyment, be sure to read Best Day Ever, still one of my top favorite books ever, and the first book in this series (I'm just hoping there will be more!). Because Paul is back, richer than ever, married to a younger woman who is giving him a run for his money. This is a twisty thriller and just a fun cat-and-mouse book, made better by the audio narration. Perfect escape read for the summer!

This audiobook turned out to be an unexpectedly delightful experience, even though I hadn’t listened to the first one that featured the male character. My buddy reader, Marie, and I jumped into it without realizing what we might have missed, but it worked out perfectly—in fact, it added a layer of mystery to the story.

The plot centers on a couple celebrating their first anniversary in Paris, and right from the beginning, it’s clear their relationship is far from perfect. What I found most fascinating was how they both wanted to get rid of each other, yet did so with a level of class that made their twisted dynamic strangely compelling. The narrator’s delivery really brought out the sophistication and tension in their interactions, making the experience even more engaging.

As the story unfolded, I became captivated by the way their pasts were gradually revealed. The secrets and hidden motives added depth to the characters, and each twist kept me hooked. The narrator skillfully captured the suspense and drama, making every moment more intense and thrilling.

In the end, this audiobook was a real treat. The combination of a gripping plot, dark humor, and excellent narration made it a memorable listen. Even without the context of the first book, I thoroughly enjoyed it and was completely drawn into the story.

Good plot, great ending

I loved listening to this book. As others have noted, you have a creepy guy who inherited a ton of money from a much older woman (who he was with to get the money) and then married a young woman. The new bride came with some surprises of her own, one that would not pass any inheritance laws of any court, but she still was a whole lot more sympathetic character than he was. The ending with their idyllic one year anniversary in Paris was. very good, if a little improbable. But that is half the fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this book

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Writing: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Narrator(s): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Tropes, etc: Secret Identity, Morally Grey FMC, Inheritance Dispute
POV: Multiple, 1st Person
Cliffhanger?: No

The Praise: The Second Mrs. Strom was twisty and interesting. With a morally grey female protagonist, it keeps you teetering back and forth about her actions and whether or not they’re justified.
I listened to the audiobook and the narrators were fantastic. Nick Landrum perfectly conveyed Paul’s arrogance and Laurence Bouvard made sure Cecelia’s voice had an actual personality behind it.

The Critique: None!

Final Thoughts: I really enjoyed this. Between the intriguing plot and the talented narrators, this book was so much fun to listen to.

This was my first by this author, not knowing that this was a sequel to her previous book, I went in completely blind! This is a standalone sequel, so you can easily read this one without having read the first one. The narrator did a great job with alternating between both characters, I didn't have any trouble figuring out where we were in the book.

The storyline felt a little dramatic initially, perhaps a little out of touch with reality. As the book and the storyline progressed, I understood that was the premise of the book and really did enjoy the dramatic flair between husband and wife. I couldn't figure out whose side I was on!

Highly recommend!

thank you netgalley for this arc, all opinions are my own

Thank you Netgalley and Bookoutore for the audiobook to listen and review. The narration was spot on! I'm a fan of Rouda's thrillers so I had to request this one as soon as I saw it! Talk about so unlovable unreliable characters. Not really sure who was worse Paul or Cecilia. We meet them on their 1 year wedding anniversary in Paris. Both have a surprise for the other one and neither one of them is expecting it! Told in flashbacks we find out how they met and let's say it's not a match made in heaven.

The Second Mrs. Strom is a twisty multi POV story full of secrets, lies, and greed. It will keep you curious throughout the read, and the unlikeable narrators are interesting.

I listened to the audiobook version of this story which was performed by two narrators. The narrators did a good job. I listened at 1.75x speed (my normal audiobook listening speed is 1.75-2x speed).

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this advanced audiobook copy.

How can you not love (to hate!) Paul Strom?! I love that the narcissist himself has returned and is richer and more smug than ever! But has he met his match with his new young bride?

Told in a similar fashion to the best day ever, we walk through one what should be enchanting day through the streets of Paris with the beautiful Mr. and Mrs. Strom. It's a full year into their marriage and several years after the first Mrs. Strom exited the picture. Mr. Strom has "upgraded" and after conning a ridiculous wealthy socialite to leaving her estate to him, he's ready to re-flame the fires with his stunning new wife.

The flashbacks and diary entries kept me guessing and were really well done. There were some twists I wasn't expecting and I loved how everything unfolded and came together. No one and nothing is what it seemed! Except Paul of course!!

I listened to The Second Mrs. Strom on audio and it was well executed. I didn't particularly love the female narrator but she did work pretty well for Mrs. Strom. I listened to The Best Day Ever on audio as well and I think it was a different narrator for Paul but it didn't take anything away and I enjoyed them both.

I'm glad I read the first book in this series but I still would have thoroughly enjoyed it had I not. The plot was enough it's own here that the prior story wasn't entirely relevant and the necessary details were provided without rehashing the whole plot.

This was a fun one and I'm excited to read more by Rouda. Thank you to Bookouture and Kaira Rouda for the copy.

I seem to be in the minority, but I really didn’t love this book. I received an ARC audiobook from NetGalley and listened at 2x pace. That usually speaks to how easy the narrators are to understand, so I did appreciate that. I also appreciated the fact that there were two narrators, one for Paul and one for Cecilia. The whole book takes place over pretty much a single day (minus some flashbacks) and I found myself getting bored with it. Neither main character was very likable either.

I really enjoyed this one! I have loved all of Rouda's books that I've read so far but Best Day Ever has been my favorite, so I was super excited to read about Paul again (even though he is awful)! I'm happy to say that The Second Mrs. Strom did not disappoint and now I want to go back and do a re-read of Best Day Ever. 4 stars!

HOLY CRAP!! What did I just read???

As I’m reading through the reviews on Goodreads, I see that Paul, the MMC, was featured in a previous book that many have read. I don’t think I read that one, but, nonetheless, I didn’t like Paul…at all!
He’s a good looking, recently wealthy, narcissist, whose last love interest (much older) left him a bundle when she died…

At her funeral, he meets/picks up Cecilia, the MFC. WAIT…WHAT??!!??
Yes, you read that correctly. He’s an ass!
She’s at least 20 years his junior, blonde, pretty, and what he believes to be a ‘moldable’ character!

Well, sometimes things are not quite what they appear…and the book that follows will knock your socks off!

Wow! I’m not sure I’ve ever disliked one of the main characters so much!!

But once we start learning about Cecilia, well, I didn’t really care for her either!

So now it’s like, well, who do you hate the least? Who are you rooting for? And guess what? I still haven’t made up my mind on that end!

This is an Uber wealthy couple…neither of them having worked for a dime of it. BUT, he wants to control every penny that she spends! And he does not want to let her buy anything without his approval. And she’s not a fan of that.
This is just one example of what’s going on in the book.

If you like narcissistic characters…people who lie, cheat, steal and possibly kill… Well then, this might be right up your alley!

Mouth hanging open…multiple times!
I did kind of get a feel for what was going to happen in the long run…and although partially correct in one way…totally blown away in another!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook which is due to be released in a couple of days on 8/16/24!

#TheSecondMrsStromm by #KairaRouda and narrated nicely by #NickLandrum and #LaurenceBouvard.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

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Paul Storm is one of those characters that you just love to hate! The perfect narcissist villain.

I listened to the audio book in one day because I absolutely had to know what was going to happen next.

I loved the multiple points of view and gripping storyline.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio, and Kaira Rouda for the audio copy of The Second Mrs. Strom.

I was very intrigued to read this one as I’ve enjoyed another book by Kaira Rouda and this was a rather enjoyable read. It kept me interested the whole time and wondering how it would go.

Thank you Netgalley for this advanced audio edition of The Second Mrs Strom by Kaira Rouda.

I just realized in reading other reviews that this is the same Paul that is in Rouda's best day ever, and this guy is a GOOF. Not in a light hearted 'haha' way, but he is a sociopathic idiot that is not near as smart as he thinks he is.

He just married Cecelia, and these two are playing a blind game of cat and mouse. Who is the cat, who is the mouse, and what have either of them done to deserve each other?

Oh this book is silly. So much scheming, such clueless players, an absolute trainwreck that I can't help but watch. And here's the thing, if Rouda does another one of these stories...I'd read it too.

1/5

If this hadn't been an arc, I don't think I would've finished it. There wasn't one thing I liked about this book.

The female narrator's voice was way too light and cheerful for the character she was playing and it irritated me the whole time.

The storyline has been done time and time before but there wasn't anything standout that made this any different or special.

One other weird thing is how often they mentioned the word reservations. It was driving me bonkers. Constantly mentioning that they had to rush because they had a dinner reservation was weird.

There was a twist at about the 77% mark but I was just irritated and there wasn't anything in this book redeeming my opinion.

Overall, not a page turner, not entertaining.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

Loved. What a wonderful, fast-paced thriller. I was very excited to see Paul was coming back; although I despise him, his antics keep me intrigued! Rouda has a wonderful way of keeping you involved, you just keep going to see what's next!
I look forward to continuing to read Rouda!

This one was FULL of secrets! And Paul is still the worst!

Go into this book blind like I did because after reading the description, it gives away so much! This one is from different POV's and has a dual timeline.

The secrets that are revealed are all so shocking to me. This goes with another one of her books which I read and didn't even realize they were connected. You do not need to read the first to read this one.

The Second Mrs Strom is a sequel to the book Best Day Ever. I did not read that book and had no problems understanding this story, so this will work just fine as a standalone.

This was your typical psychological thriller that has you going back and forth in your head about who you can trust and what’s really going on. Paul has just received a massive inheritance and quickly meets and falls in love with Cecelia. They say it's love at first sight and they marry. They both seem to have ulterior motives in this marriage. Who can you trust?

This book delivered on the psychological aspect but failed to deliver on the thriller. This definitely had me guessing and not knowing what was going to happen but it just lacked anything exciting that would make your heart start pounding.

I listened the the audiobook and both Nick Landrum and Laurence Boulevard did an amazing job with the narration. Their narration is really what made this book for me.

Ooooh! Welcome back Mr Strom. I loved this. I listened to the audio and the narrators were great, especially Cecelia, who comes across as breathy and ever-so-sweet. Well, well, well, Paul may just have met his match.

The second Mrs Strom is a wicked, devilish, sinful delight - and I really can't wait to see what happens next. Kaira Rouda does psycho with aplomb, you sort of wish you were a fly on the wall in Paris on more than one occasion, and not for the Olympics! Don't worry if you haven't read the predecessor to this - Best day Ever - it's not crucial (but do yourself a favour and read it).

To say too much is to give it away, but all my favourites are here, murder, vengeance, food, a massive inheritance, hindsight, the dodgy mistress who thinks she has it all, and my absolute best, that pretty little plant by the name of hemlock, who in my opinion should really feature in books more often.

Say no more!!! Read or listen to it, it's a damn fine way to pass the time.

I thought this book was a bit all over the place. It was hard to get a grip on some of the characters feelings as he seemed to go from loving to hating her constantly. It was entirely too predictable, both the main plot and the sister. Unfortunately I didn’t enjoy this one.