I found this story silly and did not enjoy reading it. This could actually happen to women caught up in affairs of the heart.
It was a sad story, and sorry but not for me.

Becky returns to Britain for the funeral of her best friend, Nicole, who has committed suicide. Although she kept in touch with Nicole through the years, she is surprised as she learns how much her friend had changed while married to Richard. Becky is welcomed into Richard’s home by him and his daughter, Olivia. He seems the perfect man and she is soon attracted to him. As she uncovers the truth about Nicole’s life, be prepared!

The unfolding of the story alternates between past and present and different points of view. Fast paced and engrossing, full of darkness and twists, fans of The Wife between Us, Unraveling Oliver, and others of this genre will surely enjoy this read. You’ll find yourself cheering for Becky and hoping that she is able to uncover the truth and seek some justice for her friend.

I am in the minority on this one--this book was just not for me. So cliche' and unbelievable and just plain unlikeable. The characters were ridiculous and the change of narrator was chunky and did not flow in my opinion. I would have been so grateful to have a read a more critical review on this book but everyone seems to have loved it and to me it was almost awful.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a chance to read.

I love Sheryl's books, she gets you involved from the very first page and her style of writing is excellent.

This is a fast paced psychological thriller with twists and turns round every corner and I cannot fault the skill of this author.

I can recommend this book to anyone who likes a good psychological thriller, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this fantastic book and I look forward to reading Sheryl's next masterpiece.

Really enjoyed this fast paced & full of twists & turns I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a good psychological thriller.

5* Cat & Mouse Stars

I really enjoyed this thrilling read. It is told from multiple voices, which I enjoyed because you got inside the minds of the characters and what they were thinking and plotting.

This is a book that will have readers turning the pages to find out what the next twist will be.

There were many twists and turns in this story. I was so invested in the lives of the woman married and associated with Richard. Quite early on in the story I had my suspicions about one of the twists, which will definitely shock those that have not figured it out.

The characters were very interesting, realistic and some of them very unlikeable. Your mind will work overtime trying to piece together the puzzle pieces.

You will be sucked into the charming and gentleman ways of Richard. Rebecca was a very strong willed woman who was not naive to the charming Richard. Olivia was such a master manipulator.

This was an excellent addictive read. I loved the writing, plot and pace of the story. The cover is also inviting.

Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC to read and review.

oh wow I just loved this fast paced and thrilling page turner!

Nicola and Rebecca have been best friends for years. They may not see each other often but are always there for each other. When Richard, Nicola's husband whom she met and married quickly phones her to tell her she's committed suicide Rebecca can't believe it. Although she knows Nicola has had a tormented past she doesn't believe she'd kill herself.

Rebecca gets to know Richard and his scheming daughter Olivia planning to get to the bottom of what drove Nicola to take her own life. She finds herself falling for Richard and believes he can't have done anything wrong but as she delves deeper she finds things that shock her to her core...

A brilliant, brilliant novel which I just loved.

Books about 'the second wife' seem to be a common occurrence lately but I was pleasantly surprised by Sheryl's book. To a point, the plot is predictable but we are aware of this right from the blurb and the twists that come are so juicy that this really doesn't matter. Pretty much all of the characters are heavily flawed (just how I like them!) and incredibly addictive. I enjoyed the chapters from Nicole and Rebecca's POV and then later Richard and Olivia. This book is a real page-turner and I was totally invested in the story, despite how dark and twisted it becomes. I thoroughly recommend The Second Wife and will definitely be hunting out more books by this author!

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Second Wife by Sheryl Browne. I had read her last two books and was anticipating this third book, it was very, very good. Fast-paced and a good plot, the ending was a bit unpredictable. Thank you Sheryl for another great psychological thriller.

I enjoyed this fast-paced thriller with a splash of romance. Although Browne's writing didn't necessarily knock my socks off, I think she did a great job of keeping up a quick enough pace that I couldn't help but keep reading. This is a good book for anyone who enjoys a psychological thriller.

Rebecca and Nicole are very close friends, separated only by distance as Rebecca lives in France. Nevertheless they communicate by text, phone calls and email regularly, trusting each other with their most intimate secrets, advising and supporting each other as loyal, true friends always do. The only fly in the ointment is that Richard has a teenage daughter and she has some acceptance problems, is prone to over dramatising and is allergic to Nicole’s dog. She is also devious and manipulative. She plays her part exceptionally well in public view, but when the darkness of the night seeps in, she’s a shocker.
When Nicole marries Richard after a whirlwind romance, Rebecca is unable to attend their marriage at the very last moment, but true to form, Nicole tells Rebecca all about her gorgeous, courteous, handsome new husband and tells her that she is ecstatically happy. However when Rebecca learns that Nicole has died by her own hand, she is dumbfounded. It can’t be true; it is so out of character. She attends the funeral and offers her support to Richard, determined to find out what went so drastically wrong. She is tenacious, driven and will go to any length at all to discover the truth, especially when she catches hold of the local gossip.
This is a cleverly plotted dark psychological thriller about greed, jealousy, suspicion and pure evil intent. As Rebecca gets closer and closer to Richard, she can easily see why Nicole fell for his gentlemanly behaviour, easy charm and considerable charisma. She feels the fizz of attraction and momentarily enjoys the thrill of the chase. But all the time she knows that she must discover why her friend died. There are loads of twists and turns along the way and there are also some really great characters, both good and bad. And boy, are the baddies bad! They are really horrid. The stories of Nicole and Rebecca are told parallel to each other and this makes for a stark comparison. I kept turning the pages eager to find out how it all ended. I was hooked by the complexity of the story, which I enjoyed.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel from publisher Bookouture through my membership of NetGalley. Thank you for my copy sent in return for an honest and unbiased review. It’s a good read and my review reflects this fact.

Wow, this is an amazing suspense filled psychological thriller. When Rebecca's long time friend, Nicole commits suicide shortly after her marriage, Rebecca wants answers. Rebecca becomes closer to Nicole's husband, Richard, while trying to figure out why her friend would have killed herself. She uncovers things that horrify her about Richards life that compel her to keep digging for answers. As the story continues, the twists and turns are so well written you don’t see them coming. The characters are interesting, the plot is riveting and there is a distressing undercurrent throughout that completely captivated me. I loved the way Nicole’s and Rebecca’s lives run alongside of each other and come together at the end. I received this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

A big thank you to Bookouture and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review The Second Wife. The beginning opens with a woman committing suicide by drowning and I recently read another thriller with the exact same start. But the two books continued very differently.

Nicole, the drownee, was best friends with Rebecca and told her everything through notes, texts and emails. When Nicole’s husband, Richard, pursues Rebecca soon after his wife’s death, she has a difficult time not giving in to his charms. Told in two different time frames by Nicole and Rebecca mostly, they both crescendo near the last quarter of the book. Browne spins a very good yarn, with rich details and keen motivation for her characters. I loved this book and raced to the end. Alas it was the last book I read this year. But it was an excellent one.

You, too, may be stunned by the drama and how it all plays out. This author is definitely one to watch.

A very dark and twisty tale!

Rebecca gets caught up in a dark situation when she tries to uncover what really happened to her friend Nicole and how she met her untimely demise.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion.

And she did it again! The last book I read this year couldn’t be any better!

Finished reading this book last night and I’m glad I had chance to process it over night. It’s so good it blew my mind.

Nicole, character you feel connected to really quickly, has learnt to rebuild her life, became stronger. She meets a guy she instantly falls for. Everything looks great until one day her body is pulled out from the river, she has commited a suicide.

Rebecca, Nicole’s best friend, comes for her funeral. It seems unbelievable her strong, happy friend, full of life is dead and that she took her own life. They haven’t seen each other for a while but stayed in touch, so it just doesn’t make sense. Getting to know her husband and his daughter Liv and finding out about their perfect life together could help to find out what actually made Nicole to escape in such a terrible way. How far do you go though? What if you go a bit too far?

I loved this book, the way it was written, the way Nicole’s and Rebecca’s story run alongside of each other and meet at the end. New details keep popping up and suspicion rises. Can you work it out? Can you even believe your own thoughts about it? I certainly couldn’t.

The third psychological thriller I read now by Sheryl Browne and they just keep getting better. It would be hard to top this one but if anyone can do it, it will be her. Sheryl Browne is up there at the top of with my favourite thriller writers and this novel isn’t even out yet and I already can’t wait for another one.

Something fishy is going on for sure, you can smell it right from the start! Everything seems normal but it isn’t. We have Nicole’s narration of the past and Rebecca’s narration of the present and they both seem to be building up for a collision! The past is just an year ago so it’s all very relevant and easy to keep the track of. The book is fast paced and enjoyable. It’s hard to put down because things are moving quickly and you want to find out as much as you can, as soon as you can. I finished this book in a day! There a number of twists and turns that keep you on your toes. The plot is enjoyable and the writing even more so.
My only complaint is about the constant use of the words ‘the misogynist’ to refer to Nicole’s ex, that was annoying. I mean the point that he was misogynistic has been made clear fairly early on so he could just be referred to as her ex.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for giving me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
#NetGalley, #TheSecondWife

Also shared on: https://romasharma.blogspot.com

Amazingly Brilliant!

I first read a Sheryl Browne book this summer, The Babysitter and it was fantastic so I tried her second book The Affair and I thought the first book was not a fluke this author is extremely talented! So, it was a no brainer that I would read her third thriller, The Second Wife.

The story of Nicole who had left a terribly abusive relationship and never thought she would date again only to meet Richard, the perfect gentleman, who she falls for quickly! After a brief relationship they marry and then she realizes that life may not be what she thought it would with Richard. His adult daughter Olivia is making life difficult for her at ever turn until she eventually kills herself.

Her best friend Rebecca attends the funeral and wants to find out more of what happened to her friend and befriends Richard.

The plot of this book is so creative that all I could think of as I read on is Sheryl Browne is a brilliantly creative writer. As the story continues the twists and turns and revelations you encounter are so well written you don’t see them coming and the ending was perfection!

A must read!

When Rebecca's friend, Nicole commits suicide shortly after a new marriage, Rebecca is compelled to find answers. While trying to come to reasons why her friend would have chosen to take her life, Rebecca becomes closer to Nicole's husband, It begins to feel like Rebecca is living her friend's life. Enjoying her beautiful house, loving husband, and sweet step-daughter. Everything seems perfect?
Highly recommended to anyone who enjoys psychological thrillers.

*I received an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

While I did enjoy this book, I had trouble in the beginning with the switching of narration. After a while it became easier. The story had unexpected events and the twists and turns kept you reading to the end.
This book shows that your best friend really does know you and what is not your true nature.

Unfortunately the plot moved too slow for me and by the time it picked up I had lost interest. Not my cup of tea but I'm a fussy reader!