I expected more twists and turns from this book. I have been in an "average book" slump for quite some time now and this one would be on this list too. It was okay. It kept my attention but isn't once I am jumping to recommend it to others.

The storyline kept my interest but I felt the ending fell flat. I feel like in a "thriller" or "psychological thriller" it is absolutely okay not to have a happy ending. The purpose of this genre is to make you say "what just happened?" when you close the book and this one just did not.

Thank you, NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this twisty story of a scorned woman's mid-life crisis and her sleazy husband. The lengths a person will go to in order to protect their family. The gaslighting. The revenge. Great characters. It all adds up to a story well worth reading.

Evelyn is a housewife who has it all together or so it seems, apart from the sleeping pills she takes her life seems fine that is until her husband phones her to come and pick him on an old road, when Evelyn gets there it soon becomes clear that something has happened and her husband is not alone, there is a beautiful woman with him.

We follow Evelyn in the past and present as we watch Evelyn do what she can to cope and seek revenge.

I did enjoy this book although the affair narrative isn't one I like. There was a lot of talk about art in here which I'm generally not interested in and found myself skimming over. I liked the book overall but didn't find myself hooked or surprised at where the story went.

This is a terrific read by Victoria Dahl (pen name is Victoria Helen Stone). The suspense is non-stop and I found myself caught up in the dark twists and turns as Evelyn ponders her revenge. What shall she do about a cheating husband? The consequences of disclosure are formidable. If she goes public, it will destroy his reputation and harm her family.. But how can she stay silent? Fascinating plot and layered characters make this a winner.

3.5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for this free readers edition. In exchange I am providing an honest review.

Evelyn Tester lives a pretty vanilla life. She and her husband have one son and she spends her days taking care of the house, working at the high school part time, and keeping busy - so busy that she doesn't have time to think about what is missing from her life. She's awakened one night, very late, by her husband demanding she come rescue him from a roadside accident. But all is not as it seems when she arrives and his story, and attitude, falls short of being honest and believable. One night changes everything and puts Evelyn on a path of waking up to her vanilla life and making some long overdue changes. But change is scary, can Evelyn follow through on it and if she does what will be the repercussions?

Oh I hated Evelyn's husband. What an ass. What a pompous, narcissistic ass. I wanted to physically hurt him. Stone wrote an interesting and engaging story about a middle aged woman finally coming into herself.

The perfect cathartic read for any woman who's been gritting their teeth through 2018. Sociopathic Slumber Parties are the new pink.

I could not tear myself away from Victoria Helen Stone's Evelyn, After. Evelyn is a forty-one-year-old wife and the mother of a son just months from high school graduation. Her life is fine. She is heavily involved with the PTO and works part-time in the school office. She lives in a beautiful home and is married to a successful psychiatrist. So she has to take a sleeping pill every night. Lots of people do that. It doesn't mean she is unhappy with her life. At least not until she discovers how wrong her life has gone. Late one night, Evelyn's phone rings, startling her from her prescription-induced slumber. It's her husband, frantic for her help to pull his BMW out of a ditch. When she arrives, he isn't alone, and the other passenger is a very attractive patient of his. This could ruin her husband's career and destroy their family. How will Evelyn know how to come to terms with her knew world? Will she overcome, or will she take everyone down with her?

This book echoes many concerns of the average wife and mother. Are we appreciated? Does what we do matter? Below are just a few lines that ring that bell so clearly.

No wonder her husband had wanted someone else. She'd been such a wife. A dull, boring mother of his child.

Her work was cleaning and washing and planning and ticking boxes for people who only noticed that work when you failed to do it.

The reality was that she'd had to lure them close to her with scraps of food.

She needed someone to see her.

Who made her life easier while she was busy being easy for everyone else?
No one. There'd been no need. She'd never asked.

Aside from being a fascinating commentary on the life of a modern housewife, this book was also a riveting mystery. What really happened out on that dark, rural road late that night? Where had Evelyn's husband really been and with whom? Evelyn is a great character. My feelings for her ranged from pity to pride to disappointment and around and around. I love a character with enough depth to not evoke just one emotion from me as the reader. I really liked this book and I think you will, too. Can we talk about it when you finish?

I loved this book !!! A twist on the usual extra marital affair ! I couldn't put it down. The characters were very unique and complicated. If you are looking for a book that will quickly grab your attention and keep your attention through out, this is it ! a must read !

I was really disappointed in the marketing of this book. I expected a suspense filled thriller. I've gotten more of a thrill from a going too fast over a hill. In the beginning when Evelyn realizes her husband has been cheating on her, she decides that she will get her revenge on her cheating husband and the other woman by telling or seducing the other husband. Even this was a letdown. There were more times that I skimmed and jumped around in the book to see if it would pick up. Once a book gets me to that point, I know it will be a 1-2 star book. I really wish this book could have lived up to the hype of summary.

Sorry but not for me, struggled to enjoy it and did not like any of the characters

I am not sure what it is about this book, but I just couldn’t get in to it or care about it. I think maybe I just disliked all the characters? Honestly, because I couldn’t get in to this book, I went about a month without reading anything and when I decided I wanted to read again I didn’t grab this one. this was a did not finish for me, so I suppose you can take my review with a grain of salt. The premise of it sounded great, maybe I just wasn’t in the mood? I refuse to force a book on myself.

**I received a copy of Evelyn, After from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are of my own.**

I was a little disturbed by the chronology of the story. It was at times hard to keep up about where I was in the story.

I struggled with this one because I wanted to like it more, but didn't really end up feeling for Evelyn.

Kindle Unlimited. Recommended by one of my absolute favorite authors, Suzanne Brockmann, I was somewhat surprised that this story wasn't exactly as expected and more of a romantic suspense trope.
Evelyn is a bit of a Stepford wife, the wife of a psychiatrist and she has devoted her entire life to her husband and son, the perfect family. When her husband is in an autho accident with another woman, it is an explosion of reality. When Evelyn discovers that her perfect world isn't at all as perfect as she believes she is compelled to try to learn the truth and to understand. The story alternates between before and after. She can't come to terms with, what she perceives has been done to her and is compelled to 'get even'.
Well written but not really my preferred storyline.

Not what I was expecting for a book labeled as a "thriller."

Evelyn Tester, volunteer organizer for all things to do with raising money at her son's school, a doctor's wife, former artist, and mother. She lost her identity 20 years ago after marrying her husband, supporting him becoming a psychiatrist, giving birth and raising their son, and running every fund raiser at his school. When a late night phone call not only disturbs her sleep, it changes her life overnight. Finding her husband, Gary, out with another woman at 11pm on the side of the road stuck in a ditch after hitting a deer, she begins to question everything. He placates her, explaining that his patients' car had problems and he was driving her home. Yet why not call a tow truck? Or the police because it was an accident?

The following morning while watching the news on tv, Evelyn gets her answers. Her husband didn't hit a deer, he hit, and killed a 17 year old girl. Putting the pieces together, Evelyn decides she really wants to know the truth. When she confronts him, she tells him that if he doesn't tell her everything, she will call the police and give them the much needed information that they are looking for. Yet when Gary tells her that Juliette was driving and because she drank too much, they couldn't call the police, she feels worse. Gary is protecting Juliette and her family.

Knowing what she now knows, she wishes she didn't. She becomes obsessed with her Gary's lover, Juliette. Stalking her on Facebook, doing drive-byes at the elementary school that she teaches, and eventually seeking out her husband to see what he is like, are ways for Evelyn to deal with what she knows.

After finding out that Noah, Juliette's husband, owns an art gallery she pays him a visit to scope him out. What she doesn't expect is to meet a nice, friendly, good looking man who loves art just as much as she does. They get to know each other, and eventually become lovers, which turns Evelyn into a new person. People, including her husband, used to walk all over her and took advantage of her kindness. The new Evelyn opens her mouth and speaks up.

Noah and Evelyn meet daily, text, and talk on the phone, even go out to dinner together. When he confides in her that his wife can't have sex with him because of a childhood trauma, Evelyn wants to tell him the truth so badly. She's falling in love with him. After a weekend away in California together, Noah's conscience takes over and he ends things between them. Devastated, Evelyn wants him to know the truth so they can be together, but she gets blindsided big time. She thinks once he knows everything, her deceit will pay off.

Noah doesn't believe her and throws her out of the gallery. So she confronts Juliette at her school; only to be told the real truth; one that changes her life dramatically.

A definite must read.

Every single human will find a part of their self in this story. A nice mystery that kept me entertained to the end. Great combination of suspense, passion it had interesting twists & turns! Mystery, really enjoyed the book. Really enjoyed the first book by this author Victoria Helen Stone.

Received an ARC for honest review from NetGalley, Thank you.

I did not finish this book, having been halfway through when I decided I couldn't finish. This was not a psychological thriller as billed. I found nothing thrilling, and the storyline was so slow-moving. Evelyn is a washout as a character. I found her marriage and her husband to be intolerably vapid, as well as her reaction to the accident. There was no reason to continue reading, waiting for an event special enough for Evelyn to shave her armpits.

Evelyn is every other woman who has had a cheating husband but she allows her emotions to get the better of her. After she discovers in a very public way her husbands affair , Evelyn is distraught to have to end 20 years of marriage and devotion to her family dissolves and makes a mockery of her life. Beyond angry, . and humiliated she becomes obsessed with his affair story and soon becomes unraveled. . This is a strong story with a stalker element and a thriller edge. I found it interesting and believable.

I really enjoyed the journey through this book, unravelling the clues along with the heroine. :)

Evelyn, After by Victoria Helen Stone is the story of one woman’s journey after she discovers that her husband is cheating and may have been involved in a terrible accident. Evelyn Tester is a 41 year old wife and mother whose whole world has been torn apart. Her husband, Dr. Gary Tester, a psychiatrist, has been sleeping with a patient. Evelyn does the unthinkable, she looks up the woman which leads her to her husband, Noah. Evelyn finds herself befriending Noah without telling him who she really is. The news breaks about a young girl’s death and Evelyn begins to suspect her husband’s involvement. She carries secrets that could blow everyone’s lives apart. Will she tell the police about her suspicions? Will Noah ever find out who she is?
Evelyn, After is told in alternating timeline with events before and after a certain incident. The incident isn’t clear until the end of the book. However, the reader sees two Evelyns. The before Evelyn who is reeling from her discovery of her husband’s infidelity and the after Evelyn who decides enough’s enough and she to go down a dangerous path. I found the story to be a typical story of a woman who discovers her husband is cheating and she seeks out all information about the woman and her life and discovers the person she was before she became someone’s wife and mother. Despite the typical storyline, I enjoyed Evelyn, After. The story did have a few twists and turns to keep me intrigued and turning page after page. I recommend Evelyn, After.

Evelyn, After
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