Sorry, this was a major "hard no" for me, which was frustrating, based on the hype it's been getting. I found the tale to be pointlessly meandering & the characters not very relatable or likable. Could not finish this, sadly but may try again later, maybe I was having an off day?

Just finished reading The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne and would like to thank both the author and Bookouture for the pleasure. The talent of this author amazed me. Richards character is both hateful and endearing all at once. Part of me wanted him to reform. I loved the authors style of writing and how she leaves the reader guessing for quite some time. I really enjoyed this book and can't wait for her next.

I cought on to a part of the plot twist pretty fast, but still was enticed to read on and see how it will unfold.
The story is about a woman, who seems like she lost her marbles and went off the deep end and killed herself. She found a man of her dreams after divorcing a man from hell. In her perfect looking new life, why would she kill herself, when everything she could want she had? Her best friend could not believe that such a beautiful soul would be capable of suicide, so she comes to meet her friend's new family. As she stays longer, she finds it hard to believe anything would couse her friends surmise.
The story unfolded beautifully, and the ending wasn't what I expected, as usually after reaching the climax everything is rounded up real quick. It was not the case with this book. It actually had an extended finish. However, some parts were a bit unrealistic, as no investigation in a suicide? Why? How?
It's a good thriller, fast read, and an interesting ending

hank you to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the ARC

This was the first book that I have read by Sheryl Browne and I loved it. A well written psychological thriller with many twists and turns. Interesting characters, some you will like and others you will be wishing Karma will strike them down.

Rebecca has returned from France to the UK to attend her best friend Nicole's funeral. She was told that her friend took her own life, which she does not believe. Nicole's first husband was a very abusive man. Then she meets Richard, who at first seems charming and perfect. He is the exact opposite of her first husband.

Things start going wrong on Nicole and Richard's wedding day, mostly due to Richard's daughter Olivia. Things continue to get worse from there, which Nicole tells Rebecca about in many emails and letters.

Shortly after Nicole's funeral Richard invites Rebecca, her son Sam along with his girlfriend Laura to visit and stay at his home for a few weeks. At first Rebecca finds Richard charming and she can see why Nicole fell for him so fast. However, she wonders if this is the real Richard or an act, since she still does not believe Nicole took her own life. Eventually Rebecca moves in with Richard to try to uncover the truth. Will the truth be found? Let the twists and turns begin, I couldn't put this book down. I look forward to reading more by Sheryl Browne.

Yes I guessed the twist but overall I enjoyed this book. Good range of characters both likeable and unlikeable. Although you could see the direction the book was heading I enjoyed the journey to get there!

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Second Wife’ by Sheryl Browne in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Rebecca is attending Nicole’s funeral, her best friend from their time at university, and meets Nicole’s grieving husband Richard Gray and his daughter Olivia. During her marriage, Nicole has written to Rebecca and shared her thoughts, but from the latest correspondence Rebecca is increasingly worried about her friend and the situation she’s become involved in. She‘s shocked when she hears Nicole has committed suicide as it’s completely out of character, and when Richard invites her to stay at their house she accepts hoping to discover what happened. But the longer she stays the more she feels that things aren’t quite right and decides to find out what really happened.

‘The Second Wife’ is a gripping psychological thriller that’s been cleverly written by weaving in the viewpoints of Nicole, Rebecca, Richard and Olivia. The plot is tense and becomes increasingly chilling as more is learnt about the characters. There are unexpected twists and turns and a surprising conclusion, but it’s the twist on the final page that surprised me and I had to read it twice to confirm that my eyes weren’t deceiving me. A very enjoyable novel!

I loved this book, it totally had me hooked straight away. The characters were well written and believable. I liked how the story gradually unravelled with the chapters being from different points of view. A great read with twists along the way.

This was one heck of a ride, a cracker of a thriller where the mind was twisted, and all known theories were turned. The book was a maze where I thought I knew what was going to happen till the author Sheryl Browne pulled the rug from my feet... Plop on my arse, I still continued reading!!

This is my favorite Sheryl Browne book, hands down. Hats off to the author for going deep into herself, and instead of just skating on the outskirts of a thriller, she churned out a story where the evil tentacles, which preyed on the innocent and the wounded, came biting so hard that it shook the foundations of my expectations.

Oh brilliant author, the story surpassed all I thought I knew, and all my guesses withered to dust. The story went thus, Nicole and Richard met and married in a whirlwind, and Nicole died. Shocked best friend Rebecca came to pay her respects, got to meet Richard and his daughter Olivia, and decided to get to the truth about Nicole's suicide.

The way the main character Rebecca was written, I loved her. She was one cool dudette (if there is no such word, then I gave coined it, it is totally mine) I loved the way she tackled everything head-on. Told in multiple POVs, the book was a quicksand pulling me deeper into it with each gasping breath.

Evil begets evil. Darkness can be fought only when you can jump into the murky depths and shine the light, yet fight dirty... One has to read this book to understand this line. Awesome writing by Sheryl Browne.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is the story about Rebecca and Nicole, good friends until Nicole supposedly dies. 5 star read

The Second Wife was more than just a psychological thriller and you'll get what I mean when you finish reading it. The book, as per other psychological thriller book, also used a plot twist to enhance the plot. It kind of work because I kept guessing until more than half the book (quite sad to see the twist being described casually as I wished it would be more dramatic).
I am quite amazed with Rebecca as she struggled to find out about the truth and kept herself floating, lest she comes out dead just like her best friend Nicole. I think the book left me satisfied with the ending.
However, I am not fond of the multiple POVs. It was overused and should be limited to 2 or 3.

writing: 3/5
plot: 4/5
characterisation: 3/5
my mood reading this: 2/5

overall: 3/5

<i>(I received a digital ARC via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.)</i>

An interesting read but didn’t totally blow me away. It was thrilling in some parts but some parts were predictable. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy in exchange for review.

The Second Wife

A captivating psychological suspense-filled story of marriage, betrayal and friendship.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

SUMMARY
Rebecca is shocked to be attending her best friend’s funeral. It’s unbelievable that her red-haired free-spirited artist friend, Nicole could have committed suicide. But things started to go wrong for Nicole as soon as she married the charismatic Richard Gray, a year ago. Nicole drowned in a river close to their home, even though Richard attempted to save Nicole from the frigid water. Now he can’t even speak about what happened. Meeting at the funeral for the first time, Rebecca feels a instantaneous connection to Nicole’s husband. She agrees to to come back and visit Richard and his 19 year old daughter, Olivia after things settle down. As Rebecca gets closer to Richard things go too far and she begins to slip into Nicole’s old life, staying in her home, and sleeping in her bed. But can there be a future for them? What would Nicole want her to do?

REVIEW
THE SECOND WIFE is cleverly interwoven story of friendship, marriage and betrayal. Character development was so fabulous, you can’t help but fall in love with Richard just like Nicole did. I especially loved Rebecca’s character, and just can’t believe she would become involved with her best friend husband, although Richard could be pretty irresistible when he wanted to be. Even the modern white-toned house Richard and Nicole lived in had a personality all of it’s own, and it was a perfect setting for the story.

I loved how Nicole’s emails and letters to Rebecca were used to convey her thoughts about Richard and her marriage. So Rebecca wasn’t totally unfamiliar with Richard when she met him at the funeral. Nicole had share some of their deepest secrets in these letters. The story is nicely told in alternating chapters of Nicole’s past and Rebecca’s present. SHERYL BROWNE’s writing was good and she has given us a nice, quick, and enjoyable read. Thanks to Netgalley, Sheryl Browne and Bookouture for an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Publisher Bookouture
Published January 29, 2019
Review www.bluestockingreviews.com

Rebecca and Nicole swore to be best friends forever. But three years after they last met up, Rebecca receives a phone call from Nicole's husband, telling her that Nicole is dead. Nicole had committed suicide and her husband Richard had pulled her out the river close to their family home. Rebecca meets Richard and his daughter Olivia for the first time at Nicole's funeral. Rebecca does not believe that her friend committed suicide and sets out to find out the truth, at whatever cost, behind Nicole's death.

This book contains everything you expect from Sheryl Browne plus a little more. There's twists, drama, intrigue and a plot that will both capture your attention, but shock you at the same time. There are characters that you will love and there are characters that you will hate even more. The storyline will shock you in parts, but unfortunately this happens, probably more than we will ever know., in real life. The story is told by various points of view and timelines. This is a well written and page turning book that grips you after the first few chapters and does not let you go. I do recommend this book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Sheryl Browne for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book more. While I understand that this book was personal to the author (read "A Letter from Sheryl" at the conclusion) , I feel the point was missed. Rather than showing that getting out of an abusive relationship makes one stronger, it illustrated that it doesn't mean one won't be trapped in a different kind of horror.

The story idea was intriguing, with lots of twists and turns. Some of the plot changes prevented the book from becoming a mundane "been there, read that" story of wife meets ideal husband, things go bad novel. None of the characters were really who they appeared to be.

There were multiple narrators, but their descriptions of the other characters flipped so often my head was spinning. Nicole was strong. No, she was weak. Rebecca was manipulative. No, she was in love. I know Nicole referred to her as Rebecca, but the constant chapter headings and narrator references to her as Rebecca when all through the book she was called her Becky was somehow annoying to me..

It also felt at times like the book wanted to be a steamy romance novel. Luckily the ending picked up some real steam as it came to an unexpected conclusion.

Slow start, but it picks up. Interesting characters and some different twists. Interesting viewpoint of the main character trying to provide support and love, without knowing the whole truth. Makes for a nice ethical dilemma!

WOW! I knew some of the twists that were going to happen...like the relationship between the two main characters. What I did NOT see coming was the ending. FINALLY a good revenge book. I loved it. It was an easy read and quite enjoyable. I could have done with a bit more details of the other women, but other then that,,,a GREAT Thriller!

This is the story of close friends Nicole and Rebecca. Nicole’s last relationship was an abusive one, but when she meets Richard, he’s just so perfect that when he asks she agrees to marry him. One day, Rebecca receives a phone call from Nicole’s husband, Richard who tells her that Nicole is dead, a tragic suicide. Rebecca can’t believe that Nicole would ever kill herself, but when reads the last few letters that her friend has sent her, she begins to wonder if she really knew her at all. As she gets closer to Richard, Rebecca vows to discover the truth about Nicole’s death.

My second book by this author, despite her having written many more than two! The first book I read, The Babysitter, was a dark, twisted psychological thriller, and I’m pleased to say this one follows it perfectly with the same kind of intense suspense that this writer is obviously so good at! The story is told from different characters points of view with individual chapters devoted to them. It also swaps from Rebecca in the present day to Nicole’s life, sometime earlier when she first meets Richard right up to her death.

Nicole is fresh out of an abusive relationship and because of this she obviously needs time to trust another man. When she meets Richard, he just seems to win her trust immediately with his caring and loving demeanour, not to mention his devilishly handsome good looks! Whilst I liked Richard, surely no man can be that perfect and that automatically pricked up my ‘uh-oh, there’s something not right here’ detector! Nicole was a lovely character and if you didn’t feel for her at the beginning, as her story continues, you’ll certainly come to feel for her by the end. On the other hand, Rebecca was a character that I couldn’t make my mind up with! One minute, I liked her and felt her grief was as sincere as it should be just having lost her best friend, the next minute she’s getting, both physically and emotionally, closer to Richard, her best friend’s husband. At first I couldn’t work out if she was just the worst best friend ever, but as their stories moved on I began to understand her reasoning!

The one character which I passionately disliked was Olivia, Richard’s daughter. She was so venomous in how she treated Nicole, my protectiveness for a fragile Nicole was raised to such a point that I wanted to knock Olivia into next week, with Richard following closely behind for letting her behave in that way! The story though was one dark and twisted tale of lies, betrayal and friendship. It had me going through a range of different emotions as each page turned – shock, disgust, sadness to name but a few. Whilst I guessed how some parts of the storyline would turn out, others crept up on me unnoticed until the big reveal. It was a gripping page-turner with so much suspense and tension it left me wanting more. Would definitely recommend!

When I first started this, I was afraid it wasn't going to be my cup of tea despite the enticing description. Mostly, that was because each chapter is told from the perspective of a different character - a popular technique, of course, but not a favorite of mine. And because the chapters are exceptionally short, I expected the journey to be a choppy one.

But wait, there's more!

And guess what: It's all good. The plot twists held my attention every page of the way; and yes, those frequent switchbacks actually made me eager to move along as well (let's just say that while I'm disappointed that "my" NFL team didn't make the playoffs for this year's Super Bowl, it did free up more time for me to plow through the last half of this book without stopping).

Here's the scoop: Rebecca and Nicole are longtime best friends; when Nicole dies - her death ruled a suicide - Rebecca of course comes to the funeral. But she's got an even more important agenda; bolstered by messages over the past year or so from Nicole, she's convinced that she did not kill herself. Rebecca is aware, for instance, that Nicole's on-the-surface perfect second husband, Richard, has a grown daughter, Olivia, who lives with them and is at best snarky toward Nicole. As for Richard, well, let's just say blood is thicker than water. So on the pretense of looking for a new home in the U.K., Rebecca decides that the best way to see what's available - and ferret out the truth about Nicole - is to accept the handsome and charming Richard's offer to stay with him and Olivia (if you suspect something else might come of that, you'd be right - no big surprise there, for goodness sake).

In all honesty, I wasn't able to work up sympathy or empathy for a single character; I'm totally unable to identify with females who refuse to get up and run when it's clear they're being emotionally or physically abused in any way). Rather, my interest was in riding the whole thing out: What really happened to (and by) whom, and who, if anyone, "won" out. And boy, what a ride it was.

So if you're looking for an easy-to-read book of head games, don't hesitate to give this one a try. Meanwhile, thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for providing me with an advance copy to read and review.

Absolutely loved this book! Couldn't put it down until it was finished. Will definitely be recommending to customers at my work!

This book is a dark, tense thriller that has an ending you weren't expecting. I read a lot of thrillers and really enjoyed this story, especially the lead female characters. A great read!