Description sounded good but the book didnt live up to it . Sorry this one wasnt for me
Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC

I wanted to like this book more, and I enjoyed the writing, but, sadly it felt quite disjointed and I found I didn't really care enough about any of the characters to wonder what happened to them. I also found the mythology trope quite clunky.
Thank you to netgalley and Bloomsbury for an advance copy of this book
2.5 rounded up to 3

Thank you NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the opportunity read this eARC

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This story follows Annie and Mark who have a whirlwind romance, on their wedding day a stranger comes to their wedding who dredges up secrets from the past


I really enjoyed this book, it felt quite unique. At first I was confused because there is a lot of chopping and changing between timelines however this became easier over time. I loved how this told the story from Annie and the stranger’s point of views and so the twists and turns at the end were not really on my radar at all
I would highly recommend if you want to read something a bit dark and twisted

Annie fell in love with Mark from the first moment she saw him on her train commute to work. He looks sad and she wants to make him happy so engineer's a meeting. She finds that his wife disappeared two years ago and has never been found and Mark hasn't got closure yet.
Told by various characters we begin to understand the story of Mark and Hope, his first wife., about their problems and how their marriage problems started. We learn that Annie, the new wife, has tragedy in her life as well. When a stranger turns up at the wedding, he sets wheels turning to solve the mystery of where Hope went.
I found the idea a good one, but it was a little clunky, as if the cogs didn't quite fit. We never heard the story through Mark's eyes so had to guess his feelings about both marriages.

I’m not entirely sure I loved this book. Annie appears to have it all, house, career, but after a chance meeting on a train, realises that she doesn’t have love.

We learn of Annie’s sister Karen and of their relationship with their mother. The books takes us back to the early life of Annie & K, well before their father dies then through her courtship with Mark and to their wedding and beyond.

Although the book was interesting and had a few interesting turns, it left plenty of unanswered questions. I felt that although there were some revelations I was left wanting to find out what happened.

I would have given this a 3.5 stars but rounded up to 4

This book was a DNF for me,I did enjoy some parts at the beginning but it all seemed slower than a slow burner of a read and I didn’t like any of the characters which never helps,apologies

1.5 stars rounded up - this wasn't for me.

Positives - an easy read and I think if you like slightly dark domestic tales, you may find this entertaining..

Unfortunately, I wasn't invested and I felt like I was reading another rehash of the same typical domestic suspense tropes - nothing seemed original and it wasn't executed in a fun or exciting way. The plot was predictable, with a few big holes that had me rolling my eyes.

I found reading from the female main character's perspective boring - this involved occasional superficial musings on womanhood and random tidbits of greek mythology, all very on the nose.
There is very little suspense - the timeline skips about and there is some animal cruelty used as a plot device. I strongly disliked this aspect - whilst it wasn't a large part of the story, I found it distatesful and a cheap trick to bolster the weak suspense.

I wouldn't recommend this.

Annie marries Mark after a whirlwind romance. As she stands at the alter she spots a stranger in the crowd and soon learns everything is not as perfect as it seems.

The story is told in different point of views and has interesting elements, such as the mythological sections, although overall I found it all a bit disjointed. The characters were not likeable at all and I found it hard to connect to them as well as the story, as it felt quite slow paced throughout most of the book. There was an air of mystery running throughout and some twists and turns which helped to keep it a bit more engaging. This was definitely not a bad book but not one I was wowed by. 2.5 stars raised to 3. Thanks to NetGalley for this copy in return for an honest review.

It is really quite hard to enjoy a book where none of the characters are particularly nice or even relatable. I found the characters in this book all a little too one dimensional to really enjoy it.

The action sort of starts in the middle and apart from one or two forays into the past it stays there. I felt like I was forever grasping for something that turned out not to be there. The story revolves around Annie and Mark. Annie falls in love with Mark at first sight but it isn't until later that they become a couple.

We then wander about in their past loves and lives for a bit before the conclusion which, for me, was somewhat silly. Also, quite oddly for me, I was paying attention at the start so there were no surprises later down the line.

A decent story with forgettable characters. I did like the bits of Greek myth which were parachuted into the narrative to make a point.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advance review copy.

I am afraid this novel was not my cup of tea at all. Very slow burner. Disjointed style of writing. Unlikeable characters.. Took me all my time to read it to the end. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to review it.

From the premise, I really wanted to enjoy this book however it took me quite a while to get into this novel as I found the plot was initially fairly slow. Neither of the characters were particularly likeable and the twist was predictable but I was still compelled to keep reading. Thank you to NetGalley, Bloomsbury Publishing and the author for the chance to review.

On the day Annie marries Mark all seems wonderful until a strange man shows up in the church and later at the wedding reception. So far, you would expect it to be a story about a secret in the bride’s past. No such thing! This story goes a whole other way, when we slowly learn about how Annie met Mark and why she was so insistent to marry him, although his first wife only disappeared not two years ago.
We read this story from different POV’s but I would have liked Mark to be one of them. There is virtually no information about why Mark behaves as he does while we later learn why Annie is busy trying to make this marriage a big success. Neither of them were very likable or even trustworthy. The stranger turns out to be Cameron, an old friend of Marks’ father, who’s still not given up at finding Marks first wife. So, you may think, now we know where the story is going… but it isn’t. Not exactly.
Anyway, it was a nice enough read and it had the kind of ending I liked.

Thanks to Bloomsbury and Netgalley for this review copy.

This is a DNF I just couldnt get onboard with main characters so I gave up at 30% I will not be reviewing publicly as unfinished book

A new author for me and although I wasn’t expecting the story I got I did enjoy it. The multi POV and timelines were interesting but not all the characters were likeable. There were twists and turns and I didn’t see the final twist. Recommended.

A gripping read I couldn’t put down about Annie who falls in love with mark, and then at her wedding a stranger turns up and she isn’t sure of his intensions…..told in the past and present from different views, very easy good read!

Enjoyable book about Annie and Mark who get married but for Annie it is happily ever after. This is confusing at times going back and forward and I found it hard to keep up with the complex characters.
When Annie goes missing her father in law hires a former police officer to investigate especially as Mark's first wife disappeared and has not been found which made this book worth reading as it gets you thinking you know what has happened then the story twists and makes you rethink what has happened.
Overall a good murder mystery with many twists and turns that keep you interested.
Thanks to Net Galley and Bloomsbury Publishing for giving me an advance copy.

This was a very bouncing backwards adn forwards book, there were some good twists and turns but it did get a bit confusing at times, it may have been because it was an advanced copy and not quite finished, overall quite a good read.

A fabulously written gripping story that was a pleasure to read. I would absolutely recommend this book, it was brilliant

The Stranger at the wedding is an enjoyable book. It is fairly fast paced and there are a few twists and turns. I particularly enjoyed reading the letter inserts. Sometimes the time line was slightly confusing as you werent sure where you were in the story but this did soon become apparent. I was left a little confused at the ending as to how things were found out as it came to an abrupt conclusion but I enjoyed it none the less.

Thank you to Netgalley for an unbiased review for a free copy of the book.

Thriller is not typically a genre I'm used to reading, but this is definitely the book that I would recommend for anyone wanting a foot in.
The beginning was a little slow, but once the plot starts to pick up, I got hooked!
The book felt a bit like watching a movie, I loved the writing style and that twist!! Totally recommend everyone to pick it up.