Really enjoyed this - well written and gripping. Didn’t quite keep me guessing until the end, but was a great book for a quick, immersive read.

WOW WOW WOW.... right now my head has stopped spinning from all the about twists and turns I can tell you all, you must read this book, if you love a book that grips you and envelops you into the storyline and will have your jaw dropping, you're in for a real treat, word to the wise, clear some room in your diary, you will not want to put this down!!!

Loved it, many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

WOW! Loved! This book sucked me in from the beginning all the way to the very end. I wish the end didn't go by so quickly with so many twists and turns. I like how the author builds on the story through each of the main characters perspective. At first I was not a fan of jumping back and forth to present year and last year, but as the story you progressed,you understood why the author chose this process.

Amazing plot!

Thank you #netgalley I can't wait to go read more of Sheryl Browne books!

I received a free e-copy of The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne from NetGalley for my honest review.

A cleverly written psychological thriller with fantastic characters and lots of twists.

Rebecca and Nicole are very good friends. Although Rebecca lives in France, they communicate all the time. Just like most friends, they confide in one another with everything including their secrets.

Nicole ends up getting married to a man named Richard who has a teenage daughter. Rebecca wasn't able to attend the wedding but as friends do they spoke in detail over the phone about the amazing wedding and her amazing new husband.

Rebecca soon gets word that Nicole has taken her own life. She is in shock and just can't believe the news. Rebecca goes to the funeral and tries to help Richard but also wants to find out what went wrong that caused Nicole to take her own life. She soon discovers why Nicole fell for Richard as she finds herself attracted to his charms as well. Who is responsible? Is Nicole falling for Richard? Is Richard really as perfect as he seems or is there something more to him? So much jealousy and so many lies.

Thank you so much for this ARC!

I was obsessed with this book! Really enjoyed reading the point of views from different characters and different points in time. Very fast paced and will grab your attention immediately.

Cannot wait to read more from this author.

This mystery is a twisty novel in which the reader tries to untangle the apparent suicide of a woman named Nicole who was recently married to Richard. Nicole was coming off of an abusive first marriage when she met Richard who was tall, handsome and almost too good to be true. In fact, one of the opening chapters is actually Nicole's funeral where the reader meets her good friend Rebecca who is trying to unravel the "why" behind Nicole's suicide. After meeting Richard and his daughter and the funeral, Rebecca is slowly drawn into the web of their lives and begins her own affair with Richard. This is a quirky mystery that will keep you on your toes!

This was an excellent read, kept up the suspense right to the end. There were times when i got a bit frustrated with Nicole and wanted her to wake up and do something about the abuse she was continually receiving, but I know that victims of mental and physical abuse often feel that they deserve it and rarely rebel against their persecutor. I found Rachel a very believable character as is Richard's daughter. You do wonder how the twist remained hidden for so long but deep down you knew that Rachel would eventually seek revenge for Nicole's death. This book was well written, , the pace was brilliant and the story-line original. I highly recommend

Here's a story of true love. The kind you thought you missed out on because your first choice was a huge fail. Nicole and Richard found each other after their other relationships failed. But after tragedy strikes, Nicole's best friend comes to Nicole's funeral to find out what exactly led to her friend's demise. She also comes to meet the husband Nicole had raved (and complained) about in so many of the letters she'd received.
If you have any experience reading the modern thrillers you'll know it from the beginning. You'll feel, see and smell what's going to happen. But then it doesn't. And it doesn't. And it doesn't. Then you start second guessing what could be going on.... and then it blindsides you and you are delighted. The author seems to enjoy giving you all the pieces you need to finally put it all together into a wonderfully paced novel.
I'm grateful to have received this advance copy from Netgalley/Bookouture. With many relationships under examination it helped that there were no periphery characters. Each one played an important role to the development of the story so that there were no fluff story lines. That was especially important since this played out from multiple points of view and spanned one or more years. My one frustration was in the letters/texts the two friends exchanged. Knowing how dire she felt her circumstances were becoming it's hard to believe Nicole didn't just pick up the phone and call her friend. Or that Rebecca didn't immediately call to check on Nicole. Yes, we are all busy but come on!!
This is the first book I have read from Sheryl Browne and will certainly be adding more from her to my TBR list.

Thoroughly good book full of twists and turns. I have enjoyed this authors other books and this one certainly didn’t disappoint. It kept me hooked from start to finish and I read it in a couple of sittings. Would definitely recommend this book

Thanks Netgalley, Bookouture, Sheryl Browne for an ARC of the novel.

I loved the author's debut novel and was eager to read her next book, and I wasn't disappointed.
This is a creepy psychological thriller with plenty of twists and turns as well as unreliable characters with hidden secrets.
All make the ingredients for an exciting and gripping read, although I was expecting more from the ending but this is just me, and this didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.

I would recommend this novel to all fans of psychological thrillers, and can't wait to read sheryl's next offering.

I loved this book.... especially the ending. I kept reading late into the night. Told from several perspectives and two different timeliness, when everything thing came together I just smiled - the ending was perfect!

I received this book as an ARC, and while the premise is interesting, it’s the latest in a string of similar novels. Unfortunately, the unreliable narrator/plot twist/plot twist again isn’t as well done in this story. Nicole, frankly, and her needy persona, doesn’t warrant enough respect from the reader to anchor the whole plot the way she does. Rebecca, I had to eye roll at, bc in the quest for justice for her best friend, she somehow ends up with her friend’s widowed husband? Hmm...

Still, the plot was competent enough, but the last third and the rushed resolution of Nicole’s mysterious suicide...again, it just wasn’t engaging nor satisfying. All in all, there are similar novels that do it better.

Two best friends, one recently dead and the other trying to understand how this woman could possibly have committed suicide. Rebecca meets her friend, Nicole's husband Richard at the funeral and is immediately taken in by his charm, his grief, and his incredibly handsome looks. When she meets his daughter, Olivia and hears about the newlyweds and their life together, she begins to question things as she has correspondence from Nicole that seems to contradict what Richard and Olivia tell of their relationship. But as Richard worms his way into Rebecca's heart, she must weigh what she feels and what she suspects. The book gets darker as the novel goes on with some unexpected twists you won't see coming! If you are a fan of psychological thrillers, deceit, and abuse (you don't have to like the qualities to like the book), this is a good one!

The Second Wife, WOW Sheryl Browne has done it again, this is a fantastic psychological thriller that had twists in it I had not given a thought to!
Rebecca and Nicole are best friends although they haven’t managed to see each other for three years they have still kept in contact through letters and messages. Rebecca receives bad news from Nicole’s husband that she has died in what is thought to be a suicide death, Rebecca knows her best friend and is fairly sure that she would not have wanted to end her life at that particular moment and decides to try and get to the bottom of it. Richard, Nicole’s husband is very accommodating and this enables Rebecca to dig deep.
This was a book I completely loved and the twists took my breath away as they were not on my radar and a breath of fresh air to thriller reads in general. The characters are a mixture of nice, not so nice and downright evil. Love, lies, manipulation and betrayal rub very strong through this edge of your seat thriller.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

5/5 stars for The Second Wife! This thriller had me staying up way past my bed time to find out what would happen next. Very few books feel “real” enough to give me a pit in my stomach and this one did - in the best way possible :)

If you love a good thriller - buy this book now!!

Many thanks to the publisher and netgalley, who provided a free ecopy in exchange for my honest review.

When Rebecca heard that her closest friend, Nicole had committed suicide, she is shaken. She doesn't know what to believe. Her strong friend who had just married the love of her life, after having left an abusive marriage, could have felt desperate enough to commit suicide, is something Rebecca finds difficult to stomach.

She goes to the funeral and meets Richard, Nicole's devoted and distraught widower. Before she knows it, her own life is taking a course, she had never expected.

An interesting page turner, however I felt there were some rather unbelievable plot twists, without giving away any spoilers which made it a bit unbelievable for me. I tend to enjoy dark books which feel completely plausible.

Still a good read, which I'm sure a lot of you will enjoy.

This book was one of the best I have read in a while - lots of twists. I did have to read the end a few times to be sure I understood, great characters and plot. Highly recommend!

The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne was a great read. I didn't see the twist coming at all. It's is story of love , trust, friendship and betrayal. Characters that you hope that karma will come back to bite them and others that you feel sorry for. It is a fast read, told from various points of views and times. Everything you would expect from a psychological thriller.

Rebecca has returned to the UK for her best friend Nicole's funeral. She is adamant that Nicole did not kill herself as she has been told. She meets Richard, Nicole's second husband after leaving the first after an abusive relationship. Richard is charming and perfect, but Rebecca knows better from letters that she has received from Nicole. She finds herself moving in with Richard and his daughter Olivia with plans to find out the truth.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for my advanced copy of this book to read. All opinions are my own and are in no way biased.

This is my first book by Sheryl Brown and it had me hooked from the first page. This novel will have you questioning who is the bad guy/girl and who can be trusted. Nicole is a damaged but yet strong woman. Her first marriage was to an emotionally and physically abusive man. It took years to make herself whole and strong again. Enter a new man in her life Richard. He makes her feel so beautiful and desirable and wanted. She is convinced he is perfect until after they marry and his daughter seems determined to make Nicole's life hell. Nicole's story ends tragically. Enter her best friend Rebecca who is determined to find out the truth concerning her friends death. Immersing herself into Nicole's previous life to find out the truth and get vengeance for Nicole. But is she immersing herself too much? Could she be falling under her best friends widowed husband's spell? Will Rebecca be the tragic second wife or will vengeance be served? I finished this book in a day and a half. I will highly recommend this thrilling novel to everyone. Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture in exchange for my honest review.

I had fairly mixed feelings about Sheryl Browne’s previous novels, The Babysitter and The Affair. They were enjoyable enough reads but felt like pretty generic domestic thrillers. Both seemed to have overwhelmingly rave reviews though, so I was clearly in a minority.

Despite another unoriginal title (please, authors, think of some more original titles!), I thought The Second Wife was quite a lot better. It was definitely a page turner, and while it’s obvious from the start things are not right, the extent of that takes time to fully emerge. When it does, it defies credibility rather a lot, but is still a good read.

The basic plot: Rebecca’s oldest, dearest friend Nicole, bearing the emotional scars of an abusive marriage, has married again - sensitive, caring Richard couldn’t be more different to her ex. Of course, Richard isn’t as perfect as he seems, and Rebecca is horrified when not so long after Nicole is found dead by her own hand.

Determined to find out what really happened to her friend, Rebecca is drawn into the lives of Richard and his daughter Olivia.

The story is told mainly from the points of view of Rebecca in the present and Nicole in the recent past, though there are also sections from other viewpoints. At times, especially nearer the end, I did feel confused as to whose section I was in.

It’s well written and, as I said, quite a page turner as you rush to find out what’s really going on - for most of the book I found it a definite step up from the previous ones, although towards the end it did lose momentum for me (not because nothing’s happening, plenty is happening, but I just felt less engaged) and the very end didn’t really work for me. I’m not sure what to make of it to be honest.

Overall an enjoyable read.