Another brilliant read from Valerie Keogh! A well paced book which meant I finished it far before I was mentally ready to. Hannah and Susan end up wanting the same man, meaning everything is to play for. Hannah is ruthless and plans a rekindling of a previous relationship with Mark with meticulous detail; she is determined to get what she wants. Mark's wife Susan proves to be more of a problem than Hannah anticipated and does not give up without a fight. A great story of the cunningness, planning and determination of two intelligent women who will do everything in their power to get the result they want.

I thought this book was really good. I was hooked from the very beginning. I like the way it was written, it went back and forth between two points of view. I like when I can k ow what more than one character is thinking. The ending though… made me mad!

Valerie Keogh has tackled women’s fears about their husband having a mistress complete with twists and turns. Hannah, the wife of an abuser, decides to set her sights on a former boyfriend from long ago, Mark. Susan, Mark’s wife, begins to sense her husband is slipping away day by day. The story flips from both women’s points of view.
I did not find any of the main characters likable, although I could relate to Susan’s empty nest syndrome, and felt sympathy for Hannah’s childhood losses. Hannah’s mother was truly evil, which served as the catalyst for Hannah’s personal issues as an adult. I found some of the twists and turns predictable but they kept me engaged. I kept expecting her son to play a pivotal role but in hind sight so glad that was not the case. Mark was just a weak man, easily manipulated by Hannah. I was a bit disappointed by the ending.
All in all an engaging read.
My thanks to Valerie Keogh, Boldwood Books, Inc., and NetGalley for providing me with an arc of this read, to be published on March 25th.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book.
This was a fast paced read told in the viewpoint of Susan the wife and Hannah the mistress. I really enjoyed this one, only the second book I've read by this author but not my last! Highly recommended ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to @netgalley and @boldwoodbooks for my free advanced readers copy written by the wonderful Valerie Keogh! I seem to really enjoy all of her books so I was very excited to read this and it did NOT disappoint!

The Mistress is about a 40 year old woman that is beautiful, alluring and always seems to get her way. She is married to a much older wealthy man that violently attacks her after discovering that she has been taking birth control pills. After being badly beaten, she starts to reminisce over her college boyfriend that she dearly loved but dumped after realizing she couldn't handle such a deep romance. Regretting her decision, she decides to leave her husband and get her now married man back.

I could not put this engaging and thrilling book down! I flew through the pages and read it in one night! LOVED it! Fans of Freida McFadden and Sally Hepworth will really enjoy this book!

@currentlyreading__
Book 18 of 2024

Thank you to @NetGalley, @valeriekeogh2 and the publishers @theboldwoodclub for the advanced copy of ‘The Mistress’ which is out today. I do love a psychological thriller and after reading one of Valerie’s books last year I knew to expect this one to be very good indeed. I wasn’t disappointed as it was just what I wanted - twists and turns and a story to keep me gripped.

The book has alternate narratives from Susan (the wife) and Hannah (the mistress, ex-girlfriend to Mark a couple of decades previous). Susan is oblivious to her husband’s infidelity at first as their only child has moved away to university. She is devastated by his move but Mark has other ideas when he reconnects with the seductive Hannah. This awakens something in Mark but is Hannah really after what they once had or is there an ulterior motive?

I know that I need to read all of Valerie’s other books as she is a great storyteller - it certainly kept me engrossed. If, like me, you’re a thriller fan, this is one to put on your TBR. I have a cast already decided for the TV adaptation!


#bookstagram #bibliophile #bookworm #book #booknerd #bookstagrammer #kindle #valeriekeogh #themistress #boldwoodbooks #netgalley #theboldwoodbookclub

I’ve not read a book before by this author and thought I’d give it a try. I didn’t get gripped by the story but was still interested in reading it. There were elements in there that kept my interest and I felt I wanted to find out more. I would have preferred some kind of twists in it to grip me to the book. It was a good storyline but not enough fast pace for me.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

No spoilers here, but wow, that ending was completely unexpected!

This is the story of two women; Susan, who feels unmoored because her only son has left to go to university a long way from home and suspects her husband is having an affair. Then there is Hannah, a manipulative woman who is used to getting her own way.
I was gripped from the very first page of this book. It was a page-turner with some nice twists and turns to the narrative along the way. The author is a great storyteller and really knows how to keep the readers interest. She has created an utterly believable scenario and has written an engaging and compelling story.

Releasing in the UK today, this is an excellent and exciting book which I highly recommend.

I read this one. It started off with a bang, and I like that, then it calmed down a little too much. Then the ending was not anything that I ever could have imagined while reading the book. It felt kind of like a let down. Definitely unpredictable, but not in a good way. The last 25% of the book hooked me back in, and then the last couple of pages it was a bust. It had so much potential too.

After being beat up by her wealthy older husband, Hannah is determined to move on to teh life she deserves. When she stumbles across a photograph of her old boyfriend, Mark, she realizes that missed out on the life she could have had with him. He always treated her well and made her happy. Hannah made a mistake and let Mark go, some 20 years ago. Now, Mark is married with a family. But that won't stop Hannah from getting what she wants....

Valerie Keogh did an excellent job from straying from the typical cheating spouse/mistress subgenre. The Mistress offers a fresh perspective, allowing the reader to feel genuinely surprised at the twists and turns. The book moved at a really fast pace. The suspense kept building and I was unable to put it down!

I was surprised by the ending but I didn't necessarily love it. Although wrapped up a subplot but was slightly out of left field and dissatisfying. I wish we got a bit more! Either way, The Mistress is still a great thriller.

Thank you Boldwood Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Valerie Keogh has quickly become a “must-read” author for me! Her newest thriller, The Mistress, was a fabulous five star read for me.

Told in alternating perspectives, we learn about Hannah and Susan. Hannah seems to choose love that is convenient…until it isn’t. Susan, meanwhile, is married to her university sweetheart Mark and they have a son together.

Hannah’s husband has left her bruised and broken so she moves back home and sets her sights on the future. Upon finding a picture of a long-ago boyfriend Mark, she decides to look him up and see what he’s up to.

Susan feels her world changing as she and Mark have become empty nesters. She begins to have suspicions that Mark has found interest in someone else. As Susan finds out the truth, she’ll show just how far she’ll go to show her husband’s mistress that she messed with the wrong wife.

Thrilling and engaging read that will keep you flipping page after page!

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood publishing for the eArc of The Mistress by the amazing Valerie Keogh. This book was so much fun to read. The characters were so real to me that I felt like I was watching a thriller movie. I read this in one sitting and was literally holding my breath until the last page. Hannah has gone through a lot in her life and is dealing with an unkind and violent husband when she comes upon an old photo of her and her ex boyfriend Mark. We go along for the ride as she stalks him and his wife Susan. She gets to know everything about them. She sets the stage and with gentle manipulation she catches him in her web. What transpires from here had be grasping my kindle. The book alternates between Hannah and Susan. This book took turns I wasn’t prepared for and shocked me. I think this would make an amazing movie! I loved it!!

Great book with lots of twists! This book pulls you in quickly. I wasn’t sure who to love or hate in this book!

I really liked the sound of this book and it hooked me right from the start. It kept my attention the whole way through and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The only reason I’m not giving this book 5 stars is a really didn’t enjoy the ending. Although it was surprising and unexpected it left me quite flat and disappointed.

Another gritty thriller about a woman who wakes up from a beating from her husband to reassess her life and wonder if her college sweetheart was the one that got away and if so then who cares if he’s married now she will get him back. I struggled to like the characters in this book but it made for a great read with a good twist at the end.

4th book I’ve read by Keogh. Good, solid book. One woman sees her past lover as her now future. Another woman sees her life in limbo as her family dynamic has changed. Easy to follow. Short chapters. Very entertaining book. Would definitely recommend to others.

I went into this, and enjoyed the story of Hannah, and the problems with her older husband Ivan. Then it changed to Susan and her son going off to uni, and her pining after him, and she was so pathetic and whiny she was properly winding me up!
I persevered and am glad I did. The story alternates between these 2 women. Hannah is stunningly beautiful, and always gets what she wants. She doesn't care how. She's married to Ivan who turned out to be a nasty bully. After a particularly viscious incident she finds a photo of Mark, the last man who'd treated her kindly, and she'd pushed away due to abandonment issues.
Susan is the plain doormat housewife, after her father left she was the eldest so helped her mother bring up her 2 younger sisters and see them get all the opportunities she never had.
The women are both trying to keep hold of Mark (lucky guy, not sure he deserved it!)
The story arc for both women was great, but for Susan in particular. The ending was both shocking and somewhat pleasing. Didn't see it coming that's for a sure. A tense and engrossing read, exploring familiar relationships, love be it a partner, or family and lost hope. Brilliant.

My first read of this author's and not my last!
This thriller was fast paced. The two female characters Susan and Hannah, were strong women. They had their own flaws, don't we all? However the story was compelling and tge characters likeable.
An excellent exciting read that you won't put down.
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Boldwood books for giving me a free copy to enjoy

I've read a lot of this author's books and I enjoy her writing style, but I had a real problem with Hannah in this story. She was so horrible, I didn't care what happened to her. I was waiting for Susan to put her big girl pants on and do something amazing, but things just seemed to fizzle out. And the ending was quite random and didn't quite make sense. It wasn't for me, but loads of other people have loved it, so I think it's probably a personal thing.

The Mistress by Valerie Keogh is a fast paced popcorn thriller that held my interest throughout. Both the plot and the characters are well crafted. Told in alternating PoVs of Susan, the wife and Hannah, the mistress, the book is twisty and suspenseful with a bit of drama and bears Valerie's signature writing style.

The ending was not what I expected and I sort of wished it had ended differently. Nonetheless, it is a perfect book for those looking for a quick and exciting read.

Thank you @netgalley @valeriekeogh2 and @boldwoodbooks for an advanced digital copy to read and review. The book comes out on 3/25.