I wanted to love this so much more than I actually did. I've read a lot of thrillers over the years so maybe that's why I thought the twist wasn't super unpredictable. However, I enjoyed the writing. It was easy to fly through and I would definitely pick up another of this authors books. Plot wise, I just wasn't for me.

This is a suspenseful story that I loved from the first word. This is a well written story that brings twists and turns to a new level. I loved being pulled into the story by the characters from the beginning. I found this book to be engaging and hard to put down. It is full of action and things you won't see coming. The characters are relateable and gave life to the story. This is a story about one tragic night and the lies that everyone is telling about this night. There is much going on in this story but the author did a great job of details as to keep things from getting confusing. I really loved this book and how it was easy and entertaining to read. I highly recommend this book.

The book started off slow but wow, it definitely got interesting! I recommend this book if you like thrillers with twist endings. I seriously did not see it coming! "The Trapped Wife" alternates between three points of view. All the characters provide little pieces of the final conclusion.

The Trapped Wife by Samantha Hayes is a twisty domestic thriller that kept me on my toes until the final page.

GP Jen is devastated to learn that her husband Jeremy has been killed while on a work trip. Soon after discovering that she is pregnant, a new patient presents in her office, and Jen cannot shake the uneasy feeling that the two have met somewhere before.

This is a muti-layered story that weaves together the past and the present in a compelling and satisfying way, and it will have your head spinning as you race to connect the dots. It is another wonderful offering from the clever mind of Ms Hayes, and I cannot wait for whatever comes next. 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for an ARC.

Jennifer, a 40-something GP in a small community is trying to piece her life back together after her husbands' accidental death and simultaneously having to deal with the consequences of a sultry night of adultery. Or wasn't it? In a second storyline, we follow two young boys, outcasts who find some relieve of their hopeless and loveless lives in an unusual friendship. From the start you'll know that the two stories will intertwine and it is the readers' guess how. It is thanks to this part of the story that I got through the first third of the book, as Jennifer came across as a very helpless damsel in distress who could just have slammed the door in the face of the stranger who tried to get into her life. Instead, she just did every stupid thing a woman can do and I silently screamed "you stupid woman" a few times.

But I'm glad I pushed through, because when everything starts to properly unravel, that is when it finally starts to make sense and that you get into a "wait wait what?"- whirlwind and when you realize you get wrong-footed every few pages. This is when I started to skip some chores just to keep reading, as I wanted to readjust every piece of the puzzle after each new development. I'll warn you: keep some take-away menus at the ready, as you will want to keep reading instead of thinking about dinner. Even after having read the final chapter, I'll start to see connections that weren't obvious whilst reading, which is always a good indicator.

Absolutely gripping and intriguing, but I only gave it 4 stars -3,5 rounded up, as there are some loose ends (what with Rhonda? Or the official paperwork?).

A sincere thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars for keeping me reading well into the night! I thought it was a pretty predictable story, but, nope, that one final twist I just didn't see coming. Thanks to netgalley for the ARC, and to the author for the late night 😁

have always loved Samanthas books and this one has to be one of her best ones by far. Fast paced and full of twists with a jaw dropping conclusion.....brilliant.

Told in past and present. In the past Evan and Mac, 2 school children with not many friends form a strong friendship and a club called the killing club, sharing a passion for killing insects. However one day, this escalates into the abduction and killing of a 3 year old child.

In the present, GP Jen is slowly returning to work following the death of her husband Jeremy in a skiing accident. She is absolutly convjnced that he was having am affair with a co worker prior to his death. Further complicating her grief is a surprise pregnancy. She also is trying hard to support her teenage son Kieran who is also struggling.
A new patient at Jens surgery suddenly becomes over familiar, visiting her home, bringing gifts and eventually moving in as his accommodation has fallen through. Somewhere in Jens memory, she is sure she recognises this man but her memory struggles to ace him. Slowly it starts to remember, making her face some awful truths and secrets from the past. An ending which will absolutly make you go wow.

Highly recommend this book.

The Trapped Wife by Samantha Hayes is an unexpected gem of 2021 I think! The plot twists were unpredictable in a domestic thriller style book, which is just... *chef's kiss*. It takes a lot for me to be surprised but Samantha Hayes did it! I haven't heard of her before and I say this regrettably, but I will be adding the rest of her books to my reading pile shortly. This is definitely a book to go into without knowing much, so my review is vague but I promise- you'll be on the edge of your seat at 2 am like I was when I originally started at around 11 pm saying "i'll just read a few chapters..." and finishing in one sitting. The drama, suspense, and sometimes downright *uncomfy* feelings I had was such a rewarding experience. 10/10 recommend!

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

2/5 for me.
Unfortunately this book didn’t do much for me. I’m huge into thrillers and felt this was very much lacking. It’s missing an edge of thrill.
The book seems slow to begin as if you keep getting deeper in you’ll understand and enjoy more. However, I did not.
I would love to read more from this author in hopes to enjoy another read more.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review - And what a book!!!
Jen, a doctor finds texts on her husbands phone leading her to believe he is cheating on her. And then - - he is presumed dead.
Before this happens she had gone to a medical convention, deciding to have a great time... but why can't she remember what happened? why does she have flashes of being tied up? sex? waking up in a room she doesn't remember? And - - why does she feel like someone is following her?
To add to her confusion she acquires a new patient who seems so familiar?
And as life begins to tumble Jen must sort through to deal with the aftermath of it all. And then a startling ending!!

Wow what an ending, I certainly didn't see that coming. Jen is a GP, married with a teenage son. When her husband keeps receiving messages she accused him of having an affair. A night away with work colleagues changes the course of her life for ever. She can't remember what happened on that night away but she really needs to as she is now pregnant.
She soon wishes that she had never met that man as her life is turned upside down when he turns up out of the blue. Things will never be the same again.
I absolutely loved this book. The ending was totally unexpected. I look forward to reading more from this author.

My family gathers round the large oak table in our beautifully renovated home. I've put on a dress and lit candles, and there's a wonderful aroma coming from the dinner you've so lovingly prepared. I feel your hand squeeze mine as you top up my glass and ask about my day as a doctor in our small town. It's the perfect domestic scene, except for one tiny fact: I think my husband is dead, and you're just another patient of mine.

What an intriguing book this is to read. The plotline has been cleverly crafted, multi-layered and well written. It's full of twists and flashbacks to the past. I did work out a few of the twists but the ending was a surprise. Even though the story did start off quite slow, I could not put this book down and I was gripped from the first few pages. But it's not long before it picks up it's pace. I was not sure how the dual timeline of then and now were going to gel together, but they did, seamlessly.

I would like to thank #NetGalley, #Bookouture and the author #SamanthaHayes for my ARC in exchange for an honest review,

Gah, where do I start with this review? I didn't care for the characters or lack of growth or connection. I found myself not on anyone's side or anyone's corner, it felt flat to read without rooting for a champion so to speak.

I was quite confused for a bit on why the main character would simply roll over and allow someone to take up residence in their home and put their child at risk. I still felt the answer to that was meh, this truly gave away the twist here.

It was pretty fast paced and if you aren't paying enough attention a few things may surprise you.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy to review.

Where do I start? First off if you haven’t read any books by Samantha Hayes, where have you been?! As soon as I saw the cover for this I knew I HAD to read it. Every book I seem to read of Sam’s I can’t think another can top it, but The Trapped Wife has to be right up there at the top for my much loved books, you know when you wish you could forget what you have read and re read it? This is one of those books! I thought whilst reading about half way through id worked out the ending, then plot twist and nope not what I thought.. then 3/4 of the way through I thought right I’ve definitely worked it out… nope, the plot twist at the end was just jaw dropping and I honestly didn’t see it coming. As I said at the beginning of this review, where have you been if you haven’t read any of Sam’s books, this one I honestly couldn’t recommend enough, a well deserved 5 stars for sure.

Six weeks ago, she lost her husband as he left for a skiing trip he was destined to never return from. Now, everything has fallen apart. He was never going to finish that bloody book he was always writing, they were never going to have couples night with their best friends again, their son would never get to see him again.

But tonight, everything is perfect. Or at least, it looks perfect. She's just got home from work at the local GP surgery, the table is set, dinner is cooking, and her son is talking to him happily in the other room. But he isn't her husband. She doesn't know why he's here, why he won't go away, and just how he managed to get so much leverage over her, she's going to figure it out but for now she'll play along. Because there's one thing she knows - everyone lies, even her.

"I don't believe in fate, just science."
The Trapped Wife was not what I expected. Following the story of Dr Jennifer Miller, her late husband Jeremy and a strange intruder in her life who she met one night months ago but now is holding things over her head to keep her close. Immediately, I was intruiged by this woman who'd lost everything and was trying to hold together some semblance of normality for her teenage son. I empathized with her from the moment we met - but I ranged from adoring her, hating her, being utterly infuriated with her and falling in love with her all over again.

Written from multiple point of views but still easy to follow, we see Jennifers life unfold and get a glimpse into the past of a troubled young boy who we slowly get to know and wait for his place in the puzzle to be revealed.

This Domestic-Noir thriller was slow-paced but always had something happening - and knowing that Samantha Hayes is a master of deception kept me firmly on the edge of my seat as the suspense bubbled over. She almost lets the reader guess some of the twists coming, lulling them into a false sense of security before unleashing one shocking, bloody revelation after another.



RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you Samantha Hayes, Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback!

A thriller with enough twists and turns to make your head spin. I thought it was okay, a bit slower than what I would have liked. You really need to pay attention to the same details which I think the author did a great job in doing. It was like little crumbs along the way that really made you think!

Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Trapped Wife by Samantha Hayes is an explosive, powerhouse mystery that will blow the rest of this year's domestic thrillers out of the water! After reading this synopsis, I went into this thinking that this would be a typical run-of-the-mill thriller about a lonely wife and a domineering man. I was so wrong. In fact, I recommend that you skip the synopsis and go into this book blind, because it gives away more than it has to. The bare-bones plot is this: Jen is a doctor whose husband died in a ski trip recently, leaving her and her 16 year-old son Kieran to fend for themselves. One day, she gets a male patient named Scott, but when she sees him, she starts getting flashbacks and feelings of unease. Has she met Scott before? And what does he want from her?

Here's a gripping excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 1, which is from Jen's perspective:

"I stare at the pregnancy test strip, waiting for the results. My cheeks still smart from the dank February air outside, even though it's warm in my office. Too warm, I think, making a mental note to ask Peggy to turn the heating down. I glance at my watch. Fifteen minutes until clinic starts - my first day back at work since... since the accident six weeks ago. Since I lost Jeremy, my husband. And only three minutes to find out what the rest of my life holds.
My hands are shaking, so I close my eyes and take a few deep breaths. It does little to ease the ache in my heart, the fear flowing through my veins. I miss him so much."

Overall, I cannot say enough good things about The Trapped Wife, which I am giving 5 brilliant stars! The author isn't a "big name" like B. A. Paris or Ruth Ware, but I think that this book can take its place right up there with the bestsellers in domestic thrillers. It was that good. The author is a master in laying out clues and tiny details, red herrings, and other hallmarks of the mystery genre. I felt like I was reading an actual mystery and not just a domestic thriller. I had some things about the ending figured out, but other things, I had absolutely no idea were coming.

I took a break in the middle of the book to go to sleep, and I literally could not stop thinking about possible theories and explanations of what was happening in the book. After a restless night, I got back up and finished the second half of the book quickly. The climax and ending are amazing, and everything that was built up in the first half of the book came together perfectly at the end. I am telling you that this is not a book that you want to miss out on! If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, you won't regret checking out this book when it comes out in September!

Apologies but a DNF at 40% for me, not liking the story or any of the characters and found it unbelievable how the main character reacted to certain things,apologies again

Samantha Hayes has another hit on her hands! I have had the pleasure of reading a few of her previous books and I have enjoyed them all. I was excited to read this one and it didn't disappoint. I read this book in one day because each chapter left me wanting more and more. That's the sign of a good thriller to me!

The beginning of this book was a bit slow but my interest was piqued so I had to keep reading. The book has multiple pov's between Jen, her friend, and a young boy from the past. Multiple pov's can be confusing but it wasn't while reading this. Each character has their own distinct voice and their own motives. I never understood Jen and I couldn't understand the decisions she kept making. I wanted to scream at the end of every chapter she narrated because I was beyond frustrated with her. But by the end, it all came together. That's not to say I wasn't shocked by the end of this book! The last 40% of this book was so good! I couldn't believe all the twist Samantha kept throwing in this book. There was quite a few and I didn't say many of them coming. The narration from the past has such a insane reveal that I'm still not over it. I had to read that chapter a few times, just to wrap my mind around it.

The cover is right when it says "whatever you think you know...you're wrong." Enjoy the ride that is this novel. You're in for a thrilling and twist filled book! This is easily a 4 star read for me.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for providing an advanced reader's copy of this book in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I really need to give so much praise to the author for her newest psychological thriller novel. It is so so bloody good. I read it in a couple of days and was fully invested from the prologue chapter. While on holiday, I kept picking it up to read a sneaky chapter whenever I could!

It had everything I love about this genre, the slow build, the twists throughout with drip fed information and those last few chapters that tie it all together and of course the ultimate chapter that cements it as a top read of the year!

An absolutely brilliant premise with a great ending! I am absolutely floored!

How do you write a review for such a fantastic book and do it justice? I’m not sure I can, so just go pre-order and read it for yourself.

A massive five stars from me!