I was a bit disappointed by The Mistress, I read other books by Valerie Keogh and really liked them because they had unpredictable plots, in this case there were no plot twists for me and I could easily foresee where the narration was going. It's as if this wasn't a true thriller. Moreover, I found some details weak, there's something off with the chronology in the plot (Susan is supposed to have basically raised her two sisters and supported them through university years, being 10 years older than her oldest sister and having married later but you can easily do the math and know that she should have started dating Mark when she was 21, so...). I loved how she portrayed the main characters tho, Valerie is great at creating sly, manipulative characters you'd want to punch in the face as if they were real.

This is the story of Hannah and Susan

Hannah chews up men and spits them out.

Susan is a devoted wife and mother, who is lost after her only son goes off to college.

Given the title , you can guess where this is going so I won't give any more details.

The characters are all quite unlikable. I had a hard time finding much sympathy for any of them. There were a few moments when each character got some. That made it hard for me to connect with any of them.

It was a good enough domestic story. Parts of the ending were satisfying and other parts surprising, but not in a good way. I didn't think it really fit with the rest of the book.

I have read other books by this author that I liked more and would read books by her again.

Thanks to netgalley and Boldwood Books for the arc.

Keogh can craft some truly contemptible characters and she has outdone herself with this one!
Hannah was so detestable I read extra fast to see what trickery and manipulation she would wreak next.
Susan lived for others and finally figured out she had no life.
Mark was very weak and gullible.
How can a book with such characters be so good? Keogh makes it all work but I have to admit I was waiting for Hannah to get what was coming to her. She does but who delivers it was a surprise.

I’ll start by saying that this was a gripping read, it held my attention and the whole way through it just felt like a wreck waiting to happen! I couldn’t even guess how it was going to end. However, the ending I found a bit strange. I sort of felt like the author herself didn’t know how it was going to end, so she pulled the mum back into it to wrap it all up. I didn’t love the ending. It felt rushed and random, not really properly linked to the story at all.

A fast paced psychological thriller with a killer ending!
This book is full of undesirable and flawed characters which only enhances the story .
The story includes greed , desire , murder , adultery and a whole lot of manipulation which makes for an interesting read .
I was hooked from the first page .
The story is about two women Hannah and Susan they lead very different lives , until one day Hannah makes herself front and centre in Susan’s life and not in a good way.
An enjoyable fast paced read !
Highly recommended.
Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books.

I've enjoyed other books by this author but this one wasn't a favorite for me It is about two women: Hannah, a femme fatale type who uses her beauty to get what she wants in life. The other is Susan a married women whose only son is going away to college and she can't bear to be away from him. Susan is married to Mark who doesn't seem to have much of a personality at all. The novel begins when Hannah is being beaten by her older rich husband Ivan. Ivan was in a rage because Hannah lied about taking birth control pills. After Hannah has been beaten into unconsciousness, Ivan suffers a stroke. When Hannah recovers she decides to leave Ivan who is in bad shape and requires around the clock care. She thinks back to a boyfriend she had when she was young, Mark and decides she must have him back. She finds out where he works and lives and shows up his office one day to seduce him.

Hannah never seemed like a real person to me. I wanted to feel for her since she grew up with an uncaring mother but she didn't talk or act in a way that was believable to me. Then there was sad sack Susan. Susan was very close to her son and was having a hard time with him going away to school. She had two much younger sisters but didn't relate well to them and had no friends, hobbies or work. She expected her son to not only call her daily but to give her minute by minute details on everything he did, eat, how he slept etc. Then at the end of the book she is angry and thinks to herself that her son is a 'little shit' for simply answering "I'm Fine" to some of her texts rather that calling for an hour long grilling. To me he seemed like a perfectly nice boy who was trying to find his way in school and life.

As Hannah and Mark begin an affair, Susan suspects something is wrong and is determined to confront her husband's mistress. The meeting between the two women didn't seem realistic at all and when the author tried to throw off the readers by having each woman thinking violent thoughts and a 'bad smell' in the house, it just fell flat. There was also a strange emphasis on little details that didn't add to the story like a whole paragraph on one of the women having trouble closing a door because of heavy rain. The ending was surprising but again just fell flat to me. Thank you to Boldwood Books and NetGalley for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review..

This book was a tough one to review. for the first 2/3 of the book I was along for the ride, following the plot and interested to see what was going to happen next. I was even going along with the story even though I found that none of the characters featured had any likeable or redeemable qualities.
In the last third of the book I felt like the story telling became fragmented and unfortunately some giant leaps were made to wrap up the book quickly as if the author didn't know exactly how to end things. I did finish it but probably wouldn't recommend it for most thriller readers.

This book was so accurate in its sad story about a cheating husband and a scorned wife!
When Susan’s husband Mark begins to act differently, she suspects he’s having an affair.
Indeed he is! He has rekindled the flame with a lover from his college days, Hannah.
Susan is desperate to find out who the woman is, and hires a private detective.
What follows is Susan’s journey of discovery, on her road to “writing her own narrative” .
This book is well written, and hits the mark on all the feelings of betrayal, that women have when a marriage falls apart!
There’s a satisfying twist at the end!!
Thank you to Net Galley and Boldwood books for the advanced copy! My review is unbiased and my true opinion of this book?

The Mistress This book starts out well but goes off the rails after Hannah finds her husband beaten on the floor of the garage.
The story alternates between Hannah and Susan. Very disappointed had potential but left me wondering why?

There is so much more to this than the expected affair.
Told from the two points of view of the mistress and the wife, it's an engaging quick read, that would be the perfect companion to a poolside sun lounger, or when I read it, from the shelter of the couch on a cold wet March day. Very well written you quickly get into both of their minds and despite their weaknesses find sympathy for them.
Strong women are trying to write their own narratives away from the weak men that dominate their lives.
An enjoyable read with an unexpected and brilliant twist at the end.

The Mistress
by Valerie Keogh
Pub Date: 25 Mar 2024

The Mistress is about two women, Hannah and Susan. Hannah is married to an older man and her marriage is far from perfect. After he discovers a secret she is hiding, their marriage is over. Susan finds a receipt in her husband Mark's pocket that suggests he's been unfaithful.

The book is well-paced, Susan and Hannah are supreme ladies with challenges and shortcomings but also women that are strong and independent in their ways. They were both easy to like.

A very fast read, I highly recommend it!

Many thanks to #NetGalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #TheMistress for providing me with an E-ARC of this 5 star book.

Hannah claims she knows men and always get what she wants, her next target is her college boyfriend, Mark. Mark is happily married to Susan with kids, but this won’t stop Hannah. Susan is onto her. The story goes between Hannah and Susan. It’s a bit predictable and slow going. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the chance to read and review this book. It was a good story with the most unlikable characters. I couldn't root for anyone, and all met the fate they deserved. It was well written, and the story flowed well. But the subject wasn't appealing and the idea of someone knowingly going after someone else's husband left me unsettled. Once the story was over and you understand the reasoning for everyone's actions things become a little clearer. I found it a quick read as I was anxious to find out how it would all come together. It didn't disappoint. Good book but not as good as other Valerie Keogh's books.

'Hannah Parker is a woman who always gets what she wants.' That made me sit up and take notice as it sounded like a book that might be pretty exciting and intense. The story was great, there were some twists and turns, it was exciting and I just couldn't get enough.

The characters where perfect for the story and with all the secrets and lies, the mystery and the drama. It makes for a book you can't put down. Wonderful writing and Hannah is a character that makes the story what it is. A gripping psychological thriller you must read and another great book by Valerie Keogh!

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

Another great read from Valerie Keogh and one of her best to date. The storyline is not as you would expect. Hannah thought money solved all issues but how wrong was she. Life takes her back to how things might have been resulting in an entertaining outcome. I raced through this book and cannot wait for her next release. Thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood for an ARC.

I loved this book called the mistress it’s exactly what the book is about. It’s not a straightforward story of a man having a mistress though. The book is from both Hannah the mistress and Susan the wife’s POV. Hannah had a complicated relationship with her her mother growing up after her father had left when she was 10. At university Hannah decided she would use men to get what she wanted and although she had a boyfriend Mark who loved her deeply that just wasn’t enough for her. Marrying an elderly rich man Hannah thought she’d be okay now, but she didn’t know how mean Ivan could be. He beat her badly and soon after had a stroke himself. Hannah decided to leave him and go back to her mother and see if she could pick up thing’s again with Mark. There are some unexpected twists in this story that you won’t see coming. Another great read from Valerie.

he Mistress
A BRAND NEW completely addictive, gripping psychological thriller from NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER Valerie Keogh for 2024
by Valerie Keogh
Thank you, NetGalley and Valerie Keogh for the opportunity to read and review this book.
This was a slow book,. BUT took time to evolve. I think it was ok, not great.

Thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review. This book officially publishes on 3/25!

The reading experience for me can be summed up as this: I didn’t get absorbed in the story. This can be considered a domestic thriller, told from 2 POVs. Throughout the novel, I found myself not relating or even liking a couple of the main characters, and even one of the main character’s backstory at the end didn’t get the sympathy that I believe the story was looking for. This book wasn’t as twisty as other thrillers I’ve read, but did provide one at the end that was surprising. Would recommend this one if you are a fan of the domestic thriller sub genre.

Thank you for this advance copy. I really enjoyed this book. It kept me up all night reading, I just could not stop!

2.5 stars

This was my first book by the author Valerie Keogh. I liked the premise but I just wasn't getting hooked on the story. I ending up skipping through the last 10%. I found it to be very repetitive and the characters did not draw me in at all.

However, I've heard some good things about other books by Valerie Keogh'. I will be happy to give those a shot!

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the ARC!