The Wife’s Mistake was such a fun story! It was nothing like what I expected. It was about three different books in one. I listened to the audiobook version and it was narrated by Imogen Church. I would listen to anything by Imogen and I often select audiobooks specifically because she’s the narrator. She’s an incredibly talented performer. The first third of the story highlights Natalie’s reaction to buying a winning lottery ticket. The second third of the book details the couples lifestyle and relationship changes after winning millions. The last third of the book is where the big twists come out to play! I was truly surprised with a couple of them. I love when I do not see the big reveal coming! Author Lorna Dounaeva is now on my must read list.

- This book gave me whiplash with the amount of different plot lines. I think there was ATLEAST 4 that I can remember. They definitely didn’t get tied back into each other like I thought they were going to or maybe they did and just not very nearly. There was lots of extra characters in this book that just confused me throughout the whole thing. Also unless the summary on Goodreads is wrong it didn’t match up with what actually happened in the book. The twist in the last couple pages did surprise me though!

We all talk about what we would do if we won the lottery, I mean REALLY won it, to the tune of £12 million.

Natalie doesn't entirely trust her husband and so she tries to hide the ticket from him, but then he finds it and knows she kept it secret from him. It turns out that's not the only secret she's keeping and someone else knows!

Unfortunately, this didn't quite hit the mark for me; the pace was slow and very little happened until almost halfway through the book and the characters were bland and unlikeable.

I listened to the audiobook and that did somewhat salvage it as Imogen Church's narration was brilliant and added some much-needed tension.

3 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Lorna Dounaeva and Bookouture, for an ARC in return for an honest review.

I read the book and listened to the audiobook as well. It’s about Natalie and her husband . Natalie has a winning lottery ticket and only tells her sister because she suspects her husband is cheating. Her sister knows all her secrets and just may not have her best interest at heart.. This book shows the dark side of family. Jealousy, bitterness and resentment and its result. I found the audiobook to be excellent. The narrator really brings the story to life.

This was actually a good book. The storyline was solid and interesting. The only downside to me was that the book was a bit too long, making it drag a little in parts in the middle. I loved there twists towards the end, really made the book come together! The narration was also well done.

Natalie and Hayden are a married couple, seemingly happy. When Natalie wins the lotto she is excited to tell Hayden until she sees messages on his phone that cause her to question who they are from and allows doubt to seep in.
This is a story of secrets, doubt and betrayal. So many things could have been avoided if the main protagonists had just communicated with each other rather than making assumptions.
At times a frustrating read with good tension and twists in the last few chapters.
3.5 stars
Thank you to Bookouture and NetGalley for the arc.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

Imogen Church did a wonderful job narrating this book! All of her characters were expertly brought to life and it really helped hold my attention to the story! This book shows just how far you can fall from grace after winning the lottery. We’ve all heard the horror stories but this takes it to the next level! I thoroughly enjoyed all the twists and turns and how I never know what was waiting around the next corner. If you like psychological thrillers and suspense, check this book out!

This was a good read. The narrator did a wonderful job with the voices of the characters. It was easy to follow along. The twists were shocking and placed well within the plot.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher!

This book was GREAT!!! I was sooo wrong! lol I kept guessing the wrong character. This is a great mystery/thriller. The plot twist was great and the characters were all awesome. Even Daisy! lol

Imogen Church is my comfort narrator. I buy books she narrates just to save them for a bad day, so naturally I needed to give this a listen. She did a fantastic job, as always. I was not sure about the story though.

Natalie is a brat. She makes poor choices. She lets other people influence her completely.
She suspects her husband is cheating so she follows him on a work trip in a disguise. How funny is that!? She also wins the lottery and then doesn't turn in the ticket because she isn't sure she wants to share with her husband. She has some serious beef with her husbands ex wife/girlfriend Daisy. Poor Daisy.
I just didn't care for Natalie or Hayden.
He is clearly being a turd but Natalie can't just ask him why he is hanging with this woman at work. I would stop talking to a friend if she was doing that.

Natalie's life is at a crossroads. She suspects her husband is stepping out on her with a coworker. She is beginning to question whether she trusts him. The situation gets more interesting when Natalie wins the lottery. Initially, she is unsure if she should share the news with hey husband, Hayden. When the choice is taken out of her hands, the couple find themselves on a journey into a new life, and with that comes new expectations from all parts of their lives. How do you navigate this enormous change in lifestyle, and how does it effect your relationships outside of your marriage? A serious of bad events seem to follow the couple but is it bad luck? Is it all connected? What. can they do to get peace?

The Wife's Mistake was a great thriller read. The twists and turns seemed to keep coming. The beginning was a tad slow but once we got past that hump, the story was fast paced. It gave the feeling of a Frieda McFadden book. There were times where I found myself liking then almost immediately hating characters. It was so captivating.

I would definitely recommend The Wife's Mistake to fellow thriller readers!

This book was so slow I got so confused on who everyone was and couldn't keep anyone straight. It's not a bad story line, and had a lot of potential to end great, but it just fell flat for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5 ⭐️
Wow, am I at a theme park? Because that was an intense roller coaster ride!

🫖 Stuck in the rat race, married couple Natalie and Hayden find themselves with a life-changing opportunity. But misunderstandings and assumptions leave their insecurities and suspicions running high with paranoia. With every move being watched, who can be trusted?

Thrust into a new lifestyle, true colors of friends and family start to come out, begging the question of whether or not our choices are worth the consequences.

🕵🏻‍♀️ EVERYONE IS SUS! The level of paranoia and fear of confrontation permeates throughout this book. It was frustrating at times, but helped build the story. And seriously, everyone truly IS sus. Watch your back.

🎢 It started off a little slow and a bit hokey, but brace yourself because the ride really builds with an intensity that makes you trust no one and nothing until you have answers.

↩️ Just when you think you have it figured out, some major twists and turns send you for a loop. This has more curves than a mountain road switchback!

🔮 I was NOT able to solve the mysteries, and was on nail-biting edge until all was revealed.

🎧 If you like a soothing British accent and a good mystery, I highly recommend giving the audiobook a listen. I listened on 2x and found it a good pace. But I don’t recommend multi-tasking, or you will miss a lot of details.

And for goodness sakes, lock your doors people! I mean seriously…how many times can one house get broken into??

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and Lorna Dounaeva for access to this ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for allowing me to listen to this audiobook arc early.
The first half of this book really dragged on for me.To be honest I almost stopped listening to it.It did however pickup slightly enough for me to want to finish it.I did not expect the ending twist.

Thank you NetGalley & Bookouture Audio for the early access to this audiobook.

This story stressed me out so bad but in a really good way. It had me trying to figure out who did what and who was who. When I thought I had the who I was completely wrong. I honestly did not see that ending coming either. I thought it would be like they both got away with it and would come clean with each other. I can’t tell you how many times I was hands in the air angry with the two main characters for not communicating things with each other. But that’s the beauty of how it all unfolded and how the story was meant to go. I enjoyed this listen very much. The ending was a bit rushed in my opinion and not entirely sure why it ended with the sisters. Great read though. Bravo!

Twisty psychological thriller. It started too slow for me, but I’m glad I continued listening till the end. It picked up with intriguing twists. Good audiobook narration.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the ALC.

You cannot know how much it pains me to give 2 star to a Netgalley arc, but, in exchange for the opportunity to listen early, they request honest reviews, so, here goes:

The Wife's Mistake had great potential - an average couple with dreams win the lottery. What could go wrong? Well, everything. Everything could go wrong. From suspicions of cheating even before the wife, Natalie, shares the ticket news with husband, Hayden, to bad financial choices, friends who drink waayyyyy more than they should, wasting money, blackmail, lies......name a bad decision and Lorna Dounaeva included it in the plot.

My biggest problem was 100% not caring about these characters. I just didn't. The foolish choices, games playing, lying.....all from undeveloped people with too much thrown in was hard to follow on audio. More than once when something exciting was disclosed (!), I had to pause to think about who that character was in the story. Perhaps on paper or e-reader this would have been less of a problem, but on audio, it distracted from the flow of the story.

Now, for me, one of the harder parts of my low rating is simply because narrator Imogen Church (who I love), was too over the top in every voice. Seriously, grated and gave me a headache. I'm American, so ask me about our accents and I can say a thing or two and know if it sounds fake. But UK accents, and regional dialects, confound me and I couldn't tell if she was spot on accurate or giving a comical performance. Plus, her choice of voices honestly led me to hate some of these people even more than the writing.

So, if nothing else, you can believe that despite receiving the book gratis, I gave an honest opinion.

Natalie and Hayden are an average couple.
Natalie has a bad day and buys a lottery ticket and it’s a winner.
Natalie, of course, is excited and wants to tell her husband. As she is waiting for him to get out of the shower she notices a text on his phone from another woman.
She doesn’t confront him just yet as she wants to be sure.
In the meantime, they take the money and are living the life. However, strange things are happening. Is there another woman and might Natalie’s past catch up with her?
This is a slow burn. And quite an overly long audiobook in my opinion. A lot of aspects didn’t make sense and were infuriating me! However, Imogen Church was wonderful. She definitely helped elevate this story she was telling.
This just wasn’t my cup of tea- i think fans of more popcorn domestic thrillers would enjoy this more. This book shows the dark side of family- mixed with Jealousy, bitterness and resentment.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review of this book.

4.5 rounded up. Very slow burn, the pace building gradually to a frenzied third act! It worked really well for this story, letting me get to know the characters before their lives fall apart.

Premise - a working class British couple wins the lottery, but the seeming stroke of good fortune opens the door to demons from their past.

I love that the slow beginning lets us see that the winning didn’t destroy these people - they were already very flawed, as was their relationship, and the money magnified that.

📚 Series or Standalone: standalone
📚 Genre: thriller
📚 Target Age Group: adult
📚 Cliffhanger: no

✨ Will I Reread: maybe
✨ Recommended For: fans of Frieda McFadden who enjoy slow burn domestic thrillers

💕 Characters: 4/5
💕 Writing: 5/5
💕 Plot: 4/5
💕 Pacing: 4/5
💕 Unputdownability: 5/5
💕 Enjoyment: 5/5
💕 Book Cover: 5/5

Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC audiobook. Unfortunately, this did not work for me. The beginning (and middle, really) dragged. The characters and their choices were infuriating. Why are you holding onto a 12 million pound winning lottery ticket in order to spy on your husband because he might be cheating on you? Why do you keep buying things you can’t afford when the ticket is still in a jar? Cash in the damn ticket and confront your husband. This shouldn’t take 30-40% of the book. This did not get better to me even after the ticket was cashed and they move into their new home, get new cars, etc. Things started to feel “weird” but nothing was thrilling, and the twists at the end couldn’t make it up for me. As far as the audiobook production, Imogen Church was wonderful. Her voice acting definitely helped elevate this story, although sometimes the volume felt unbalanced (sometimes too loud suddenly during dialogue).