You have the life of your dreams but is it worth it if you're always waiting for your past to catch up with you? This book had so many twists that left my head reeling. The narrator was fantastic in the audiobook version and brought the story to life. Read it, or listen to it, you won't regret it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio copy in exchange for an honest review.

Natalie is a barista struggling to make ends meet and suspects her husband is cheating on her with a coworker, but her life changes one evening when she wins millions from the lottery. Given her concerns about her husbands fidelity she debates whether to tell him about the money. One evening her husband Hayden discovers the ticket and claims the prize diving head long into spending the winnings...new home new cars and a new coffee shop for Natalie. While on the surface their lives are now perfect but soon suspicions and secrets begin to pop up as the couple becomes a target of blackmail, but is it money or revenge that they are after.

The story is an easy read with pov from both Natalie and Hayden but the pace is slow and I found the characters to be annoying. They are a married couple who clearly do not communicate about anything and are highly suspicious of each other. I questioned 95% of the choices they make and the people in their lives are ungrateful and annoying. Natalie's secret long lost daughter magically shows up and is immediately the prime suspect for all of their troubles. The whole illegitimate daughter and baby daddy drama was so unnecessary and weird. I liked the concept of what happens to a couple and their lives when they are suddenly rich but this spiraled into too much backstory and fake drama. There are some twists but they can be spotted a mile off. I'm not sure what the wife's mistake was because she made TONS.

I had the audio version read by Imogen Church her timing and pace is good but character voices are a tad grating.

I listened to this one on audio and it was ok. I was a little confused in the beginning because there are a lot of different characters. I did enjoy the storyline and there were a lot of twists. There just was something that felt off and didn’t have me hooked from beginning to end. I haven’t read any other book from this author but I would like to try another one. Overall, this just wasn’t a thrilling ride and I wouldn’t recommend this one if you want a fast paced thriller.

"The Wife's Mistake" starts off with promise but ultimately fails to deliver on its potential, leaving readers feeling disconnected and frustrated. While the premise initially holds intrigue, the execution falls flat, resulting in a disjointed narrative that struggles to find its footing.

The story follows Natalie, a discontented barista who wins the lottery only to discover her husband's potential infidelity. As Natalie grapples with the aftermath of her newfound wealth and marital strife, the plot takes a series of contrived twists and turns that fail to engage or captivate the reader.

From the outset, the narrative suffers from a lack of cohesion and direction, with the pacing feeling sluggish and disjointed. The initial confusion and slow buildup make it difficult for readers to become invested in Natalie's journey, leading to a sense of detachment that persists throughout the novel.

Furthermore, the characters in "The Wife's Mistake" are disappointingly one-dimensional and uninspired. Natalie's internal struggles and conflicts fail to resonate, and her interactions with other characters lack depth and authenticity. As a result, it becomes challenging for readers to empathize or connect with any of the characters, ultimately hindering their ability to become fully immersed in the story.

As the plot progresses, the introduction of various subplots and storylines only serves to further convolute an already muddled narrative. Instead of providing depth or complexity, these additional elements detract from the overall coherence of the story, leaving readers feeling bewildered and disengaged.

While "The Wife's Mistake" does show some improvement towards the end, with a slight uptick in momentum and tension, it ultimately fails to redeem itself from its earlier missteps. The disjointed storytelling and lackluster characterization ultimately result in a disappointing reading experience that fails to leave a lasting impression.

In conclusion, "The Wife's Mistake" falls short of expectations, delivering a lackluster and uninspired narrative that struggles to find its footing. Despite moments of potential, the novel ultimately fails to engage or captivate readers, making it a regrettable miss for those seeking a compelling and immersive read.

This was immersive read for me and was saved by the amazing vocal stylings of Imogen Church. Church can redeem any book with her voice talent.

The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva. WHY are more people not talking about Lorna Dounaeva. This book was amazing. A true dream come true and nightmare all wrapped into one. The narrator was fantastic. This book had me guessing until the very last page. Loved this book so much!

The Wife's Mistake: A Domestic Suspense with a Twisted Payoff

While billed as a psychological thriller, "The Wife's Mistake" by Lorna Dounaeva leans more towards domestic suspense. Don't be fooled by the somewhat slow start, as you get further into the book, it unravels with shocking twists. The story centers on Natalie and Hayden, a seemingly ordinary couple harboring hidden secrets. When they win the lottery, their carefully constructed lives begin to crumble. The promise of a new life becomes a catalyst, exposing their past transgressions and igniting a web of suspicion.

I particularly enjoyed the "what if" scenario of a sudden lottery win. It served as a compelling hook, drawing me into Natalie and Hayden's world and making me contemplate how such a windfall could impact a seemingly stable relationship.

Dounaeva masterfully builds tension throughout the narrative. While the initial pacing might feel deliberate, it allows for deeper character development and a more impactful reveal later on. The true strength of the novel lies in its unpredictability. Just when you think you've figured things out, the rug is pulled out from under you, leaving you eager to discover the truth.

Adding to the experience, I loved the audiobook format. The narration, delivered with a captivating British accent, really enhanced the story. The narrator's voice perfectly captured the characters' emotions, adding another layer of depth to the suspense.

Overall, "The Wife's Mistake" is a captivating domestic suspense novel. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a slow-burn that explodes in a flurry of twists, and particularly enjoy audiobooks narrated with a British accent, this is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this audiobook!

this book was okay. not my favorite. took forever for the build up and felt like we were just chasing people around the whole time.

The Wife’s Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva is a thriller with lots of twists. Be prepared because the twists don’t stop until the very end.

Natalie and Hayden haven’t been married long, but Natalie thinks she’s seeing some unusual things that make her think he’s cheating on her. When she purchases a lottery ticket, and wins 12.5 million pounds, she is thrilled about the money, but worried about her husband’s activities. She starts making unusual purchases and spending money that they don’t have, and her husband questions the overdrafts from their bank account. What would you do with that amount of money? And would your family and friends treat you the same? But as the story unfolds, you discover everyone is hiding secrets. I still can’t decide which secrets were the worst, as everyone had different motives.

I didn’t like the slow pace in the beginning of the book and almost gave up reading, but around 35 percent it started getting better. They had cashed in the ticket and people’s true natures started to come to light, as well as secrets slowly surfacing. Natalie definitely irked me, when she was trying to wait to cash in the ticket, but was running up new credit cards and creating debts, leaving her husband concerned about things like rent.

I enjoyed the narrator. She makes the story entertaining and easy to listen to. I would definitely listen to more books read by her as her performance definitely made me hang in during the parts that drug.

After about sixty percent the book seemed to switch into high gear, kind of like the high performance cars Natalie and Hayden purchased. Once the twists started, I sat with my mouth open in surprise, before I was hit with an even bigger one. A few things were easy to figure out, maybe because I read so many thrillers, but there were definitely lots of interesting surprises to be had.

Fans of Freida McFadden and her twists would love “The Wife’s Mistake” as it keeps you hanging on until the very last word. Definitely recommend this twisty ride, just be prepared to brace for impact.

Interesting story about lottery winners Natalie and Hayden. The first part was about the ticket and each of their fears about the other (worried each other was cheating). Then it moves into how they spend the money and their life changes. It did have a lot of domestic drama and a little bit of a psychological thriller. I did like it overall, but not sure I agree with the title. She’s not the only one with mistakes…. But I can see how some of them tie back to a decision she made as a teenager. The premise is that decision was a “mistake” but I’m not sure I agree.

Overall, it was a pretty quick read and I would recommend it for people who like this genre. 3⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for an early reading of this audiobook.

This was a great mystery thriller! There were a few unexpected twists that I loved. I also loved the narrator. I thought she did an amazing job on the audiobook!

A great listen - this kept me engaged and entertain while gardening and cleaning. Good narration, a unique storyline that kept me guessing!

I enjoyed this but did feel it was a bit slow. I enjoyed the narration but I did find it quite hard to follow at times due to the amount of characters.

The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva
Narrated by Imogen Church

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

The hand-delivered note trembles between my fingers and my blood runs cold at the words staring back – you don’t deserve this life. Everything I’ve always dreamed of is finally within reach. How long do I have until my past catches up with me?

From inside our new perfect house, I watch the pool water ripple under the raindrops. Despite how calm it is outside, my heart pounds as I think about that terrible message and what it means for my marriage.

I never expected that one day I’d be sipping coffee in our handcrafted marble kitchen but, despite our good fortune, my husband is more distant than ever. With Hayden absent once again, I’m left to ask: what exactly is my husband hiding and is the note related?

I spend all night tossing and turning, with my heart racing in my chest. Looking out into the darkness, I swear I see movement beyond the garden hedges. I try to shake my fears away; I must be imagining things. That’s what Hayden would say.

I can’t ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach – what if the person outside isn’t looking for Hayden, and instead, they’re looking for me? I’m paralysed by fear. It’s only a matter of time until I’ll have to confront my past. Hayden may have secrets, but so do I – my husband has no idea what I did all those years ago.

I know what I need to do to protect my perfect new life, and those around me don’t know how far I’m willing to go…

My Opinion

From the title, I obviously knew there was a mistake and with all the twists it was difficult to work out what was the actual mistake. Be careful what you wish for - you will be after reading this. Both Natalie and Hayden have a lot of secrets, but will they pay the price? This was a great read that had me hooked - it definitely took me on a journey.

Rating 4/5

My head was totally spinning from all the twists throughout this psychological thriller from Lorna Dounaeva! I knew that winning millions of dollars would lead to even more secrets and deception, but never saw what was coming. Imogen Church’s narration was wonderfully suspenseful and made me want to listen even more. This was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were really compelling as well. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook.

Be prepared if all your wishes come true! In this book, the wife is not the only one who makes a mistake, but hers has the greatest consequences. Lorna Dounaeva has written a thrilling story with so many twists and turns that you can’t help but be surprised by where you end up. The saying goes that money enhances who you are as a person. If that is true, then the moral of this story is that you should investigate the characters of your family and friends before sharing your good fortune.

This is one of those books where a simple misunderstanding kind of snowballs but there are also all these other things going on that contribute to the problem. This is a hard one because I don't want to give too much away. There are times you want to scream at Natalie and I guess that was my frustration with this one. I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.


I honestly requested this book because of narrator Imogen Church and she did not disappoint she truly brought the emotions!

3 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

3.5 Stars!

I ALWAYS go out of my way when I see Imogen Church narrating. Her inflections are great and makes the story more captivating somehow.

The Wife's Mistake is full of unanticipated twists and turns as a young woman purchases a winning lottery ticket, and the chaos that inevitably follows. I wasn't crazy about the flow of this book at first but once it picked up I was invested in finding out what happened. Given all the different POVs, I had a hard time following along all the different characters and who was who although I did really enjoy the lack of information known by each POV.

Without giving away any spoilers, the ending did disappoint me quite a bit even though it was unexpected.

Thank you very much to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of this!

An enjoyable suspense read with twists that will shock! A slow burn to start but did pick up pace around mid book.
So many secrets, lies and betrayal but this is what keeps one glued to the pages right?! Action packed full of drama and I was here for it right up until that shocking ending!
A 12 million win can certainly change your life but money doesn't buy happiness as Natalie and Hayden soon find out!

I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining and drawls you in and then all the twists keeps you guessing on who's lies were going to be discovered first. The writing style kept my attention so that the book didn't drag out at all and then there were some extra little secrets twists thrown in. All and all it was a book that I would recommend to all my book friends.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

In my opinion, this was a bit of a slow burner for a thriller and sometimes a little repetitive. For the most part of the book, I felt like nothing much was happening until the twists started coming and the book picked up. I felt like the plot was a little "all over the place" and I didn't necessarily feel any thrill. I see potential in the story though, so if you like psychological thrillers and suspense, definitely give it a a try!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this early audiobook.