3.5 stars rounded up to 4

When Lucy and Paul met they fell deeply in love. They got married and Lucy thought she had everything she wanted. But then she finds a photo from Paul's past life and reads the text messages Paul's desperately trying to hide. Now Lucy realises she doesn't really know her husband.

It's true, we don't really know someone until we marry them and this story only proves this. Lucy has had bad relationships with men in the past. So when she meets Paul in a bar one night, she is swept off her feet and the pair are quickly married. But Paul started acting strange. He made her think she was loosing the plot. He was controlling and angry most of the time. The story is told from Lucy's perspective. The tension builds with every turn of the page. This is a gripping, dark and twisted insight into emotional abuse. The ending leaves a few unanswered questions and we are left to assume what had happened. The pace is decent in this really good debut novel.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Hera Books and the author Elena Wilkes for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! What a ride!
When Lucy first meets Paul she is swept up with him and is able to become someone she has always wanted to be. She falls deeply into love, and everything seems perfect, until it isn’t. Lucy finds a picture of Paul’s and things start to unravel as she realizes that she may not know as much about her new husband as she should.
I loved this book and rushed to finish it.
Highly recommended!
* I received an advanced reader’s copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review

Thank you to the author, Hera Books and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved the premise, but found the book itself slow, torturous and very predictable. Books where a normally sensible woman turns into a doormat upon meeting "the right man" don't do it for me. Plus the focus on the constant gaslighting being done by the heroine's husband was quite oppressive. There were elements of the story that seemed to have been dropped in for effect (e.g. Simon Gould), but were never followed up on and resolved. A bit of ambiguity on minor details is fine, but there were too many loose ends for my liking. The ending struck me as very rushed and confused. All in all a passable read, if you enjoy this genre, but not a great one.

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

I loved the first three quarters of this book. The characters were really well developed and Paul's controlling nature was written perfectly. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to see how things were going to turn out.

Unfortunately I didn't like the last couple of chapters. Things started to get very confusing and I'm still not entirely sure what happened in the end, but I do know there are loose ends aplenty.

I still really enjoyed this and would recommend it but I wish there had been some closure.

This was a very intense psychological thriller. It had many twists and turns and kept me guessing. I wish the ending had been a little less mysterious and had more closure. My reason for not giving it a higher rating was the beginning. This book took me so long to get into, very slow paced at first. It did pick up mid way through and then it was hard to put down.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Hmmmm

I loved the premise and the writing is quite good but this was slow. This has been my problem of late and I know I’m more impatient due to 2020, but give me something!

There were twists, some of them predictable. The characters, especially Lucy, made some questionable choices (aka-dumb). I don’t love a story where a seemingly sensible woman becomes a nonsensical dishrag when she finds that “special man”.

So blah, blah, blah... all this stuff happens and then that ending. What was that?!? I know sometimes an author will leave things ambiguous to end a story (maybe to create a series) but this was too fuzzy. I want some closure, some minor details left out is fine, but still.

Really, I think many readers will enjoy this. I read a lot of mystery/thrillers so I saw where this was headed (ending still up in the air). Entertaining and definitely wanted to see how it ended.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and Hera Books for a copy in exchange for a review.

A sincere thank you to the publisher, author and Netgalley for providing me with an ebook copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This is not my usual genre, I’m more into romance stories and literary fiction however I wanted to take the opportunity to read something from outside my norm. And I am glad I did!! Thank you for  opening up my mind to something totally different.

This was quite an intense read. Very psychological with a ton of mind-games. In fact, I remember shouting at a few of the characters, I couldn't believe the manipulation I was reading. Then calmed myself down thinking, it's only a book, it's not real. But to have that impact on me because I was so engrossed is a real positive thing.

I would describe this book as twisty and intense. I had a love/hate vibegoing on with some of the characters and it's quite thought-provoking. The story starts off slowly and I was unsure at first what direction it was heading in, but then about half way through I was totally hooked. I found the chapters to be very long, so I was often stopping and starting halfway through them.

Overall a great book and a recommended read.

I found this book really intriguing. I wasn’t sure if I would like it but I literally couldn’t put it down. I don’t want to give anything away as I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. I was not sure who was good or bad throughout the book. I kept flipping back and forth. It’s a great book. A couple things I didn’t like... Simon Gould’s character just didn’t fit right for whatever reason. Like why did he pick Lucy to taunt. Lucy’s back story was kind of vague. And I thought that her friend Emma would have been more supportive of Lucy not of Paul. And the ending was confusing. I had to reread it a couple of times. So because of these few things I am going to rate the book 3.8 out of 5. Definitely worth reading!

This was an interesting psychological thriller which focused heavily on manipulation and gaslighting. I found it to be an easy read, and I quite enjoyed it.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

#TheManIMarried #NetGalley #ElenaWilkes
Lucy has a great (but difficult) job and meets a great (but not overly handsome) man and falls in love. Things soon start to go wrong but does the blame lie with Lucy, who carries around demons from her career and a failed relationship in the past or Paul, her psychologist boyfriend who is perfectly placed to manipulate her and carries around demons of his own. I was sucked straight into the story and genuinely couldn’t put it down. A fascinating thriller, well written, fast paced and truly terrifying - does this stuff really happen ?. Can people manipulate or be manipulated like this ?. I was heading for a 5 star review ... until that ending - what an anti - climax !! . I literally reread the last few pages a couple of times to see if I had missed something but I still don’t get it. Such a shame; I feel like I’ve only read three quarters of a story - I’ll have to hope a sequel is on the horizon !!

I had to read this really quickly as wanted to get to the resolution of the story. It was a genuine thriller in that it offered a plot with twists, turns and suspense. I felt the building of the characters was a little bit light as did not find myself as invested in their fate as I perhaps should have been. I think I need to read it twice to make sure I didn’t miss anything in my first rush through...

The Man I Married is a solid psychological thriller by Elena Wilkes that will have readers on the edge of their seats.

Lucy and Paul seem like a normal couple. Their meeting was unique and they fall in love under unusual circumstances. Lucy feels lucky - she meets a man in a bar and they have a real, instant connection. Paul is a doctor in a line of work that aligns with hers. She shouldn't be bothered that she sometimes mishears what he says or that she misremembers things from her past and his. He's perfect for her.

From the outside looking in, readers will quickly realize that Paul and Lucy and their marriage aren't perfect. Not even close. But while not perfect, is it dangerous? Is there danger surrounding these two? Why is a strange woman watching them?

While this book was riveting there were some answers that remained after the last page. Some ideas and plot lines that weren't connected. Nonetheless, the book is a really good read that will keep you up at night!

Netgalley

I received a copy of this book to review for my my honest opinion from NetGalley

The Man I Married was an Ok read that had great potential. Lucy is a parole officer who goes to prisons in interviews men who are up for parole.She interviews a man who is released a known sex trafficker over in London. That case kind of set her up for a breakdown. During the process she meets a man named Paul who kind of sweep her off her feet and after A brief couple months of dating he proposes and she says yes. I never quite understood where the parolee comes in. He is brought up several times in the beginning of the book but does not show up again after the first half. I think he was there as a person that drives her a little bit towards her breaking point and helps her husband use that against her. Her husband is a psychologist who also works in the prison with parolees and he ends up making Lucy thinks she is losing her mind she gets hospitalized several times and he makes her believe whatever he wants. Certain stories he tells her he ends up saying he never said or never did. Come to find out he had a wife and children that he ended up killing because she try’s to leave. The deceased wife’s sister shows up and tries to warn Lucy that the man she married is not the man that she thinks he is. With Moira’s help she tries to leave the husband, the end of the book is still unclear of what actually happened.

Pooh this was a good book!
Such a twisty plot, an absolute page turner. It was predictable, but in a good way, I still thoroughly enjoyed reading it and I don't feel this spoiled it for me at all.

I couldn’t connect to the first half of this book. This was an ok read. I couldnt get into it at first and then honestly just skimmed. I didn’t really connect with the characters and theme of this book. It got mixed reviews but I thought the story line on the synopsis would lure me in. Still a good read!

Lucy is a parole officer, she knows all about the tricks, the snide comments, and hooded stares used to try to make her feel uncomfortable, intimidated or confused. She also knows how to use her own position to counteract most of them but that's work, where she has the influence to help or hinder a prison release; it couldn't happen in her own life, could it?

Paul is a confident, fun, attentive man, she loves him and amazingly he loves her but what's that saying? Marry in haste ...? So what can you do when all the things you know are red flag warnings tell you something is very wrong and almost unbelievable? Who can you turn to when you no longer trust anything or anyone? Lucy is aware her is life moving too quickly but she has no idea how to apply the brakes.

This is a well written, fast moving story and for the most part I enjoyed it. Lucy and Paul were believable and their behaviour became clearer as the story progressed as it should in this type of situation. The denouement however, wasn't as satisfying as I thought it would be and I was left feeling a little disappointed but I expect that is more to do with me than the ending itself.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers in exchange for an unbiased review and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good psychological thriller or books by this author.

ucy had recently been in a relationship with Dan – she thought he was “the one”. Yet, it turned out badly. Dan was already in a relationship with his WIFE. This did a number on Lucy’s self-esteem. After all, her friend, Emma, had lots of dates. the greatest guys, yet Emma seemed OK with this.



When out/drinks with Emma, Lucy meets Paul. They have dinner and overnight connect with each other. He was nice, not really handsome, but he had not relationships, children. He really seemed like someone Lucy could be happy with.



But Paul had secrets – and those secrets weren’t so nice...



This read hooked me right in! A very well-written novel that will satisfy any reader of thrillers, mystery and suspense. There is always something happening in this book – no lag time here!



Many Thanks to Hera Books and NetGalley for a great read!

Lucy is a probation officer and her profession allows her to interact with various kinds of prisoners. Lucy has some problems with one of them though - a young sex offender called Simon Gould, and he's on a trial for an early release although Lucy doesn't support his release. Simon has a way of playing mind games with her and as much as Lucy doesn't want to admit, in truth he terrifies her.

Lucy's best friend, Emma, knew all about the dynamics working as a probation officer. After all, she and Lucy met six months before at some Personal Development for Probation Staff conference and they've clicked from there. On one occasion when Lucy and Emma are drinking at a bar, they meet a psychologist named Paul Webb. Sparks fly between Lucy and Paul and soon they are in a relationship. Things are going on well until their whirlwind romance culminates in marriage, which surprised Lucy herself. Suddenly, Paul is like a changed man. No longer the sweet and understanding man, he becomes secretive and worst of all, wants to control Lucy's life.

It is also at this time that Lucy finds herself being harassed by Simon's phone calls, or someone leaving a stalk of rose at the front of their house. But when Lucy reported these to her superior, it becomes clear to them that Lucy is too stressed for the job, and that Simon has never left the facility. Back at home, Lucy continues to live in fear under Paul's control until she finds stacks of old photographs of a young woman in Paul's drawer and began to question about his past.

Intense-wise, this book checks the box and I was intrigued by the dynamic between Lucy and Paul. The author has done a good job in portraying their characteristics as well as their credibility, for my choice kept switching back and forth between these two characters (is Lucy sane, or does Paul has something to hide?)

While the startup of this convoluted psychological thriller turns out strong and well, I felt the ending was a bit rushed and there are some loose ends which aren't fully explained. For example, what happened to Simon Gould since he was a terror to Lucy? And perhaps it's me, but I didn't fully grasp the meaning of the last few pages although I think it might be the author's intention of putting it that way. Overall, it was a decent read and the intrigue had kept most of my interest.

(3.5 stars)

3.75 stars rounded up to 4
This book is very hard to rate for me. So I’m just going to break down this review what I liked and what I disliked.
What I liked:
-The pace of the book-things moved fast, sometimes confusingly so but not once does the pace slow down.
-I literally couldn’t put it down, the plot is so engaging, dark, and twisted that you have to keep reading.
-The gas lighting that Paul does is just unimaginable and you can see that Lucy is seeing the flags but not fast enough
-I liked how Lucy tried to find ways out and plan and re plan.
-The whole plot is twisty and creepy at times. The twists are not something you see coming. Which gives me a perfect segue to
What I didn’t like:
-some bits are confusing, how does Lucy end up from one place to the other isn’t clear and kind of muddles the readers brain. While this does help you feel some panic/confusion that Lucy feels it does make it hard to keep track of what’s going on, some connecting bits need to be added to the plot just so the reader follows.
-yet another book with smart women making dumb choices- seriously I understand love, fear of loneliness etc but come on, she’s a high performing officer who deals with sleazy people and she doesn’t smell Paul a mile away? She still falls for his BS? Enough to sell her house and cut off her friends?
-parts of this book made me wonder if Lucy is a super unreliable narrator and if she is the one who’s messed up in the head and parts made me see clearly that Paul is manipulative! I would have liked it better if Lucy was a clear victim with no room for doubts
-Simon’s plot needed better handling, it played a huge part in the plot but wasn’t handled very well int he second half of the book.
-the usage of quite a few British slang(?) words, unnecessary IMHO, examples Brolly (which means umbrella), Bril (assuming it means brilliant) etc.

So what makes me round this up to a 4? The fact that the book left me confused yet wanting more, the fact that the ending leaves so much for the reader to assume and that it messes with my head enough that honestly I don’t think I can say that I know who to believe in this book. It is powerful writing, and a brill (hope I’m using that right!) debut novel. So for all it’s messiness and more I would suggest reading it.