The Wife’s Mistake is told in alternating timelines, as well as perspectives. As someone who was listening to the book, I found this hard to follow at times if I wasn’t 100% engaged in the book. That said, I did like the narrator! She was expressive and easy to understand, even at an increased speed.

The story follows wife, Natalie, and husband, Hayden. Natalie wins the lottery, but is hesitant to tell Hayden because she thinks he’s cheating on her. However, Hayden finds out anyway and they cash the money. The money that they now have causes a whole lot of trouble for them. Relationships are put at stake, secrets are undug, and eventually the truth unravels itself. We all wish that we could have more money, but this book explores some of the trouble that mass amounts of money can bring.

Even though the title suggests that Natalie is the only one with problems, I did enjoy that the story had secrets on BOTH ends. It made it that much more engaging to try to figure out what was going on.

Overall, a pleasant listen. I don’t know that I would have liked this book as much if I had read it, so I’m glad I received this as an audiobook. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free ARC in exchange for an honest review!!

Thank you Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for ALC of the book.

Natalie wins a lottery but doesn’t want to tell her husband yet because she suspects that he is cheating on her. One lie after another snowballs into a disaster you can’t avert your eyes from. And it is all narrated by magnificent Imogen Church which brilliantly changes intonations and guides me to believe in each character.

The original description was a little bit misleading as it took a while for that big house plot to happen. Most of the book I wasn’t sure where it is all heading and if everything is just coincidences or if I shouldn’t be trusting anyone.

Thank you for the Arc, netGalley,


"The Wife's Mistake" is a riveting thriller that skillfully weaves together elements of suspense, secrets, and unexpected twists. As the protagonist grapples with the chilling note that threatens to unravel her newfound happiness, readers are drawn into a tense and gripping narrative that keeps them guessing until the very end. With echoes of authors like Sally Hepworth, Lisa Jewell, and Liane Moriarty, this novel delivers an electrifying blend of domestic drama and psychological suspense that will leave readers on the edge of their seats from start to finish.

📚 2024 #15: “The Wife’s Mistake” by Lorna Dounaeva

📕 This book is slow unraveling of the secrets held by married couple Natalie and Hayden. Natalie has always had a feeling that she would win the lottery, but is shocked to learn one day that it has actually happened. Just before revealing the news to her husband, she sees suspicious texts on his phone and begins to wonder if he's cheating on her. She needs to find out the truth about him and their relationship, while also keeping long-held secrets from her past hidden.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3/5: The beginning was quite slow with many characters introduced immediately. A few parts were quite far-fetched and some twists were haphazardly explained right at the end. There was great tension building in parts and questionable characters making it hard to know who to trust, but some characters were just bizarre and unbelievable. The title is strange to me -- is the wife's mistake what she did as a teenager? What about all the ways the husband screwed up, costing them over £1M?? There was promise here, but it fell a bit flat for me.

🤓 You should read this if you enjoyed "On a Quiet Street" by Seraphina Nova Glass or "The Drowning Woman" by Robyn Harding.

🥰 Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

BOOK REVIEW: The Wife's Mistake by @lorna_dounaeva

Thanks for the ARC, NetGalley and Bookouture - my first one, and what a book to read!

The Wife's Mistake is a story about what happens when a couple receives a large win on the Lotto and what shadows creep out from their past as a result!

I was able to digest this book as an audiobook and thoroughly enjoyed it! Many twists and turns play out throughout the story, making it well and truly the psychological thriller it is listed as. The speed of the book was slower at the beginning, to introduce characters and the foundation of the story, before the last 60% flowed consistently, making it difficult to put down.

Looking forward to picking up more from Lorna in the future!

Ohhhh the things that will happen when money is involved. This was a chaotic rollercoaster, and I was hooked from the beginning!!

I throughly enjoyed the narration of this book! I will listen to more from this author and narrator.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

This book had me STRESSED! It is insane to me how much people's lives can be impacted with one thing. This was a quick spiral, and I was here for the drama. I loved the ebbs and flows of this one with all of the different characters being pretty unlikeable. I really enjoyed this one and I thought the narration was great.

The Wife’s Mistake
What a twisty psychological thriller.. I’m a big fan of the narrator.
This is a story full of twists and surprises as Natalie’s secrets and all those around her are brought to light.
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Nothing really happens

This is about a British woman who wins the lottery. She knows it will change her and her husband's lives and, after all of the horror stories she has read, she hopes it is only for the better.

First she thinks her husband is having an affair. She is unwilling to claim the winnings until she dresses in a costume to see if he is cheating at a seminar he attended. When she decides he is not, she is still worried about letting him or anyone else know about the winning. But he finds the ticket and they go on to claim the money. They move to a big glass house, he buys several expensive cars, and she opens her own coffee shop.

I kept waiting for the story to start. There are several small issues, but nothing really caught my attention. Eventually it ended with I guess was supposed to be a bang, but I thought of as a whimper.

It is not bad, but just uneventful.

🎧Audio Book Review🎧

The Wife's Mistake
Lorna Dounaeva

🌟🌟🌟🌟

This book looked and sounded like the sort of book I always go for - a great psychological thriller which will intrigue me and keep me guessing and which I may or may not be able to work out what happens before the ending!

This book was, however, an absolute total chaotic rollercoaster!

I listened to this with my son in chunks, so it was a little more disjointed than my usual reads - but quite honestly, we spent a lot of the second half of the book looking at each other, either shocked, confused or laughing!

We didn't find this very "psychological thriller" but more like a bizarre farce?
I say this in the loosest of terms and not meaning it to sound bad - we were hugely entertained! But I feel that this isn't really the vibe the author was getting at!

There were so, so many characters, side stories and things going on with everyone, that the start of the book was pretty confusing.
I wasn't sure who was the main focus for quite a few chapters.
Then we got into it and realised that we were mainly following Natalie and Hayden and the events surrounding their lives (present and past) and the events that follow Natalie's recent lottery win.

There was a lot of miscommunication and the characters - although somewhat relatable - became more and more unreal the more we read.

There were so many things going wrong for both Natalie and Hayden that the storyline became unbelievable - but rather than getting frustrated with this, we started to have fun with it - hence the hilarity that followed - poor Hayden didn't even garner any sympathy at all from us, by the exciting final scenes! 😂

I'm pretty sure that this was not the response the author was hoping for - but honestly, we were hooked!
After the very abrupt ending, my son laughed and told me to give it 5* - he loved it's randomness - but I just couldn't bring myself to put it alongside some of my favourite 5* reads.

I am, however, completely intrigued to see how this compares to other books by this author, so will be reading at least one more Dounaeva novel.

If anyone has any recommendations, I'd love to take a look!




💕Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my ARC copy - this is my honest review 💕

This was a good book. I listened to the audio. It kept me interested, and the storyline was good. It’s amazing how money can affect people! There were several twists in the story, and I like how it all came together in the end.

This book is listed as a psychological thriller but I would definitely put it more in the domestic suspense category as I feel like nothing overly thrilling happens until the end of the book.

I feel like a lot of issues could easily have been resolved with one simple conversation and communication, which irks me!

This book had a good storyline! This is a mystery /thriller book which I did have fun listening to. I was engaged the whole book. Based off of the description I expected it to be a bit more about the wife, but it seemed to be more about the wife and her husband's secrets. It was a very nice and easy book. It was a bit predictable but there were definitely lots of parts in the book where I was trying to figure it out for myself! The ending I will say I was NOT expecting. Over all I think I really did enjoy this book. These are all my own opinions, thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC!

Natalie and Hayden are a young couple living paycheck to paycheck.
He works in the hotel business. She works in a coffee shop.
She has always had dreams of opening up her own coffee shop, one day.
They live in a small apartment and are seemingly happy.

Natalie plays the lottery at times…and each of the numbers has meaning to her. So one day, when they announce the numbers, she knows them all!
She’s ecstatic! She calls her sister.
When her husband gets home and she tries to tell him, he runs to the bathroom. As he does, his phone chirps a text…from another woman!

This is all in the very beginning of the book.
And let me tell you, it totally diverges from here!
So many little stories going on and coming out…slowly.
So many little heartaches and heartbreaks and thoughts of going back and doing things over… if only you could!

This one brings you on a wild ride…and each and every time you think you might have figured out another piece… well, in my case…nope…wrong!
Very slow in the beginning, but by the end you’ll be taking some deep breaths and trying not to yell (or scream at them!)

Did not see these twists and turns coming!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of the audiobook which will be released on 2/19/24.

#TheWifesMistake by #LornaDounaeva and narrated nicely (with a British Accent) by #ImogenChurch.

Feel free to like, follow and friend me on: Goodreads,
IG @ #BookReviews_with_emsr or
My Facebook Book Club @ Book Reviews With Elaine.

Thanks so much for reading!📚⭐️📖

I received an ARC of the audiobook for The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva. I found it to be exciting, mysterious, and a fun ride. As I was listening I would periodically text my husband to say "THIS BOOK!" which I don't find myself doing very often. I have not read any of this author's books before, but I will definitely be checking out more.
The Wife's Mistake follows a married couple who have won the lottery. They quickly find out that being rich may not be all it's cracked up to be. But, how far do things go? This book is full of twists and turns that may surprise even the most seasoned reader.
Having listened to the audiobook I will also point out that Imogen Church was an excellent choice for the narration of this book. I did question one of the choices for a voice as one of the female characters kept sounding like the voice she put on for male characters. Other than that, I thought her inflections and vocal choices were very well played.
All in all, I feel like this was a great experience for my first ARC. I'm excited to request more.

What a ride!

I much back and forth and what?! No! Omgs throughout this book! I had to do a full day odd driving and this was the book I selected to listen to during the drive— it held my attention, kept me interested, and made those parking lot slow downs not feel as stressful as it meant more time to listen.

Narration was good. Plot was good. Drama was juicy. Characters were developed.

Definitely want to see what else Lorna Dounaeva has out there to satisfy the thirst for drama!

The audiobook book kept me on my toes the whole time.. Natalie and Hayden both seem to have secrets, they win the lottery and they all come spilling out !
I loved the storyline, I went into this book without reading the synopsis ( I do that most of the time) The lottery win in this book made it more interesting !

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to review this audiobook.

ARC REVIEW

Who doesn’t dream of winning the lottery. I mostly enjoyed this book. It had some twists and turns. I was not a fan of the audio narration. I may have liked it more if I had read this one myself. Also this is not a thriller but still a good mystery.

I hate myself for not starting the book immediately! It does get repetitive but it still keeps you interested and maybe a little mad towards the fmc. I just wanted to yell at her for the first 25%! It does make you think about does money change people and how well do you really know someone ?

I listened to the audiobook and Imogen Church’s narration was lovely as always. There were some interesting twists in the book but I found the characters to be difficult to like and it felt like too much going on. It was a decent book but I don’t think it will be memorable for me. I would definitely try another book by the author though.