Heartbreak and loneliness often make us do things we normally would not. Sometimes we end up with people we barely even know just to find some way to get over the pain.

The Man She Married is about a woman who did just that. Alice has been dumped by her fiance just before her wedding. Feeling inadequate and lonely, she meets Dominic who seems to be the answer to her prayers for a good man. After a brief romance, he proposes and shortly after they’re married with him moving into her home. Three years later, she has just found out she’s pregnant and is excited to tell him the good news. However, she opens the door to find policemen with the news that Dominic has been killed in a car accident. Her world is torn apart. What makes it worse, however, is when she goes to identify the body and Dominic’s estranged brother appears insisting that isn’t his brother in the morgue. Alice is now determined to find out who is really the father of her baby.

The first thing I noticed when I read this book was how completely oblivious Alice was to the obvious holes in Dominic’s story. I understand she was hurting over her previous relationship but wow! It was completely unbelievable how dense she was.

I did like how the book jumped between the two times, then and now. It gave me an insight into exactly how Dominic was able to work the situation to suit him. For that same reason, I liked when I was able to read the book from his perspective. It answered a lot of questions I had throughout the book.

The pace throughout the story was good. I found myself interested from beginning to end and finished it quite quickly. I enjoyed this book immensely.

Violence: Some graphic scenes of murder and violence
Sexual Content: Some sexual violence which may be a trigger
Profanity: Many uses of the f-word as well as other obscenities
Religious Themes: None
Alcohol/Drugs/Smoking: Some social drinking

Wow!!! This book has me hooked. Fantastic!! Alice meets and has a whirlwind of a romance with Dominic. Is he really who he seems? Well the answer is no. What a book. Was a great read I loved it. Some parts difficult to read (rape) but apart from that was a fantastic read. Would absolutely recommend this book and definitely read more from Alison James. Thanks to netgalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

A solid fast paced and engrossing psychological mystery thriller.

Alice runs a successful business until she meets Dominic and was instantly swept away. Although there were certain unsettling things about Dominic, yet Alice chose to ignore them, love is blind I guess.
Later on Alice becomes pregnant and texts Dominic the happy news, only to be informed by the police that he has died in a car accident. Although she identifies his body, yet her brother-in-law insists this is not his brother, so who exactly did she marry?

From there on Alice starts a journey to make sense of what is happening with her life and the secrets about her husband, a journey that is full of explosive secrets and edge of your seat twists and turns.
The story alternates between past and present and we get to read both Alice and Dominic's perspectives.

Thanks Netgalley, the publisher, and author for an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

Another 5 star read from Alison James. This was one of those books where you plan to read a couple of chapters and then realise it's 4am and you're so far into the story there's no point in stopping now. I love that this author realises that you don't need convoluted plots and 50 peripheral characters to keep the reader interested. She lets the quality of her writing speak for itself.

A very interesting book that kept me turning the pages. The way the husband slowly controls her and bluffs his way through is well portrayed. The private investigation could have been brought forward before the past story of the husband, as the third part in the present format becomes just a repetition for the reader.

The Man She Married is a gripping thriller about a husband that is lying. It has all the standard elements for a domestic thriller and is somewhat predictable but I couldn’t put it down, definitely not boring!! Alice is frustratingly stupid at times and you’ll constantly say “girl, really?!”

I can’t wait to read more from this author. What an entertaining read!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance review copy.

Alice is apparently happily married to Dominic, and shortly after finding out she is pregnant, she also finds out Dominic has died. The story goes between "then," when Alice ignores a lot of glaring red flags as she falls quickly in love with Dom, and "now," presumably the events of the death, although I gave up before I got that far. I just did not like this book and didn't want to keep reading about all the things Alice kept ignoring. Obviously Dom was up to something. Two stars but I didn't finish it.

How well do you know your husband? In Alice’s case, not so much. This fast paced thriller will keep you up past your bed time. It’s guaranteed to keep your interest piqued until the end. A definite 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2 star rating from me! Thank you to Bookouture, Alison James, and Netgalley for this amazing read in exchange for an honest review!

Now this was right up my street! What an absolute amazing read. A fantastic psychological thriller

You will want to zoom through just to get the answers you need but at the same time you'll want to savour every paragraph let alone chapter!

A totally captivating story that will have you trying to second guess everything.

Written in two parts, the first part is written from the POV of Alice and the second part from the POV of Ben but written in three timeframes of before Alice met Ben, during their relationship and then after.

This is a truly gripping, intense, exceptionally good novel with a really strong plot, full of suspense, intrigue and twists and turns. An unputdownable read in every single way.

I honestly have zero negatives for this book.

I can't recommend this highly enough, one of my favourite reads this year.

Huge thank you to netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Sick and twisted yet you would never see the red flags if you are smitten. Brutal crimes, around the world and back to being a new life. It’s sick and twisted yet so thrilling you can’t put this book down!

This is such an amazing book! I just adored it.  

On the one hand, I wished I could read faster, because I wanted to get to the bottom of this story. On the other hand, I forced myself to read slower because I did not want the story to end.

In the beginning, the author gives Alice the chance to tell her side. In part 2 Dominic answers a lot of questions I had and filled the gaps. We also jump between 'now' and 'then' in order to complete the whole.

I was captivated from the start and I can only admire the author's talent for writing this incredible good work of art.

It's clear that love is blind. Even though you are almost convinced that someone is not truthful, you still find excuses for their behavior. Is it stupid? Yes, of course, but I think we might have all done it even if it's only once and only for a small thing. You might also regret it afterwards, but by then it's too late. 5 stars

Thank you, Alison James and Bookouture

If it is too good to be true, it most probably is....
Alice meets the perfect man. Except from the beginning there is small niggles in their relationship that she keeps on excusing. Until one day she starts investigating all the stories her husband tells her. And with the investigation she starts discovering that he is not the man she though he was.... A very well written book, gripping from beginning to end, and I loved to see how his secrets started coming out, one by one....
Highly recommended.

This was an interesting book and definitely held my interest all the way to the end.
The Man She Married is the first I've read from this author and I was pleasantly surprised. A psychological thriller that was filled with twists and turns and actually kept me guessing.
It's well paced and held my interest throughout. The story is told from the perspectives of Alice and her husband., past and present which I enjoyed and was very well written. Definitely recommended for fans of this genre.

I’d like to thank Bookouture and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Man She Married’ by Alison James in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

Alice runs her own catering business, has an expensive London home and her husband Dom who she married after being swept her off her feet. When Alice discovers she’s pregnant she sends Dom a text message with the good news, but within hours the police knock on her door to tell her that Dom’s been involved in a road traffic accident and is dead. Alice identifies the body and is in no doubt that it’s Dom, but when his brother Simon turns up he says the dead man is definitely not his brother. If Simon’s telling the truth, who is the man that Alice was married to?

‘The Man She Married’ is an exceptionally good novel that’s been written in three parts, the first when Alice meets Dom, the second from Dom’s viewpoint, and the third when Alice tries to make sense of what’s happened. It’s an enthralling story with a strong plot, full of intrigue, suspense, twists and turns, and heart-stopping moments that kept me glued to my Kindle. Once started I couldn’t put it down and was so engrossed I had to keep reading till I reached the final page. I have absolutely no hesitation at all in giving it a well-deserved 5 stars and can wholeheartedly recommend it.

I have read previous books by the author so I had a good feeling about this. This book was a twisty tale which gripped and unnerved in equal measure. It was really well written and held my interest throughout even though at times I wanted to give the main lead a good shake!

Oh wow! This book was a shocker!! I completely loved it!! The plot line was completely unexpected, I couldn’t put it down

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

Fantastic thriller with all the aspects that I love!

I love how it flipped between then & now, with perspectives from both Alice & her husband.

One thing I found infuriating about this book was Alice continuously overlooking her husband’s dodgy behaviour and all the red flags! But obviously I understand it makes a more compelling and thrilling story.

This book had fabulous deception & twists. It was fast paced which is what I personally love in a thriller and it kept me hooked.

Mini Review Posted on my Bookstragram: https://www.instagram.com/treat.your.shelf/
Full Review Posted on my Blog: https://treatyourshelf.home.blog/

Alison James is a master at crafting compelling cliffhangers. The Man She Married is split into three sections, and the ending of each of the first two left me shocked. The first segment is narrated by sweet, trusting Alice as she is swept up into a whirlwind romance. It’s obvious that the relationship is unhealthy, to say the least, but Alice doesn’t have much of a support system in her life, and she embraces Dominic’s readiness to become her husband. Although she has a successful career running her own catering company, Alice is blinded by her apparent good fortune at finding a man as wonderful as her new husband.

Part two of the book is told by Dominic. His perspective of his courtship with Alice, and the backstory that led him to her, are both vastly different from the ‘Alice’ chapters. The layers of deception and deviance that sum up his life are shocking.

I enjoyed the way that James used Dominic’s section to go back and fill in the questions Alice posed through her thoughts and dialogue. It was done very neatly and cleverly, and tied the two perspectives together completely.

The third part of the story was slower than the other two, and dragged on a little longer than seemed strictly necessary. It became more of a detective plot at that point, as Alice tries to uncover the truth about Dominic, much of which the reader already knows. The setup felt like it may have been aiming to ensure that Alice had some semblance of a happy ending despite her (extremely) unfortunate circumstances, which I didn’t have a problem with. This was a very unique, twisted, and enthralling thriller that I highly recommend.

I get excited when I see another book from Alison James comes out so, I jumped at the chance to read this. All her books are gripping psychological thrillers, and this is no exception.
Alice Palmer has a beautiful home and owns a catering company. The only downside of her life is when her fiancé walked out on her which left her devasted.
Then she meets Dominic Gill, after a three-month world wind romance, she marries him. But, from the wedding things doesn’t seem to add up. No one from Dominic’s family turn up and the work colleagues are not close friends and hardly know him. He starts to go away on long business trips which at first Alice becomes suspicious and she thinks he is having an affair but when there is an accident and Dominic ends up dead. Things start to unravel, and her husband’s life suddenly becomes clear with the help of a private detective.
This is another gripping thriller from this author. I couldn’t put this down. It also got me thinking how well we know someone and how much trust we put in others. Just one thing annoyed me a bit of the character Alice. How gullible she was? How can you live with a person if you do not trust them and then want a child with them? I was a bit miffed. But I what did like is that the author wrote the story both POV’s. So, you got a better picture of the story. Very clever by the author. I Highly recommend.

This book was a wild and fun ride. It centers around Alice, who meets and quickly marries what seems to her like the perfect man, Dominic. The first part of the book is told from Alice's point of view and starts to hint at some things that don't make sense- Dominic spending late nights out, finding excuses for her not to meet his family, etc. Then you move into the 2nd part of the book which is told from HIS point of view, and things get really twisty. As the reader, you know something is going on but I had no idea the depth of it until I got to those chapters. The last 3rd of the book ties everything together, back again in Alice's POV.

This book had a ton of twists and was a unique story overall. Even though there was a lot happening, I couldn't find any point where a loose end wasn't tied off, which is really impressive in a story that had so much going on. My one minor nit was that Alice seemed almost unbelievably naive for someone of her age and life experience- she took what Dominic told her at face value and didn't really do much research into what might be happening. Even when she finally enlists the help of a private investigator, he tells her he's too busy and offers her another contact, but she says no and just waits and waits for him to finally come back to help her.

Overall, this was fun, though, and I didn't want to put it down. I'd strongly recommend this book to readers of the psychological thriller genre, and look forward to reading other books by Alison James.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.