This roller coaster epic had me gripped with plot twist after another and pov of the main 3 characters. It started off a slow burner in order to get you to care about emma and then the action just kept coming. I did gueese the final twist and loved the final act. So skillfully written all the characters were developed and the pov style was emotive. This is worth the lengrh a highly recommended 5 star read. Thank you netgallery and publisher and author.

I love this authors book and this one was my favourite so far absolutely amazing. The writing style was excellent and wow the characters were so well written. It was such a twisty thriller which had me hooked from start to finish could not put it down as soon as I started. It was definitely one of those thrillers where you think you know how it’s going to end then bam another twist. I can’t wait to recommend this to everyone what amazing book by a very talented author. Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for my advanced copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ for this hotly anticipated ARC. Adele Parks is one of my favourite authors, and I read most of her back catalogue last year.

The first half of the book belongs to Emma who falls head over heels in love with 11 years younger Matthew. Emma is well-off and successful, Matthew is none of these things, but he is a charming widowed photographer who gives her all the attention she didn't realise she needed. With almost indecent haste he moves in with her, proposes and gets her to marry him in a small ceremony abroad. Emma's friends Gina and Heidi are suspicious, and then things go bump in the night inside Emma's beautiful eco-house that she can't explain but others including Matthew think she must have done herself. But she certainly didn't smash her plant pots and fling her books around in the middle of the night, so what's going on?

At this point I was literally screaming at her to install security cameras inside her house, not just outside as there clearly seems to be someone in her house moving things around! Such a clever business person and yet so clueless in her private life, Emma effectively demonstrates a person having the rug pulled from under her after getting obsessed with a man who isn't all he seems and who has a dead wife she can't compete with.

At the half-way mark the narrator suddenly changes and we get the POV of the person who is trying to destroy Emma's sanity. From then on the pace shifts up a gear, the tension racks up and the twists keep coming. There are some seriously messed up people in this world, but none of the characters is all black or white, we're all the products of our childhood. The story still stretches credulity at times and yet I have to admit I found this one more predictable than previous books. There is also a small inaccuracy about setting bail amounts (that's not a UK thing, you get granted bail or you don't, but it's nothing to do with money).

Still, this is a good, solid, well-written psychological thriller that I very much enjoyed reading, especially the second half. The atmospheric cover draws you in, and the ending certainly wasn't what I was expecting! It's a shame Gina and Heidi didn't get a bigger role though.

4.5 stars rounded up

When Emma meets Matthew she falls for him almost immediately.
His wife has recently passed away so she is hoping that she can give him comfort and help him have a new beginning.
When strange things start to happen in her home Emma is disturbed and afraid.
A clever physiological thriller that kept me entertained.
Thant you to NetGalley and HQ for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. Without giving too much away, the whole plot was utterly predictable, with some shocking twists thrown in there for shock value. Nothing new to me.

I love Adele Parks' writing and this latest book is no exception. It is a gripping read once the story takes hold (I found the first few chapters quite drawn out). There were lots of twists and turns so if you're after a psychological thriller book that'll keep you hooked then this is the one for you!

Emma has worked hard for her success. She’s a CEO with a beautiful, eco-friendly home, and plenty of money in the bank. At a conference, she meets a freelance photographer, Matthew, and he tells her that his wife, Becky, died recently after an accident at work.

Their friendship quickly progresses to romance, and then continues apace as Matthew moves in with Emma and proposes. He doesn’t want the wedding to be in the church of Emma’s childhood and persuades her to have a very small wedding overseas. Everything is moving very fast and Emma’s two best friends, Heidi and Gina, have doubts about Matthew but Emma believes in him.

Emma is thinking more and more about Matthew’s late wife, and then strange things start to happen; the heating coming on high, pots being smashed, etc. It can’t be Becky because she’s dead, so who is doing all this?

An absolutely gripping read with an unexpected but very clever ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and HQ Books for an advance reader copy in return for an honest review.

Another entertaining read from Adele Parks

Rating: 3.4.5

Adele Parks never fails to deliver an entertaining read and this latest offering, "First Wife's Shadow", is no exception. Emma is a successful career woman. She is a workaholic whose endeavours have taken her to the lofty position of CEO. In the process, she has also become very wealthy and has all the trappings of an affluent lifestyle. However, while her close friends have settled down, married and had families, Emma's career-driven lifestyle has also led to her pursuing the life of a single woman - but could that all be about to change when Matthew appears on the scene? And are his motives as honourable as they appear to be?

As ever, the writing style of Adele Parks is thoroughly engaging. The backdrop is appealing and the depiction of the various characters is as well-drawn as ever in this author's novels. Unusually for Adele Parks, I felt that the pacing was a little off the mark in the first half of the story, which struck me as being a little more drawn out than it needed to be. That said, once the gear shift takes place, normal service is resumed and you can look forward to the usual twists and turns that Adele Parks can be relied upon to serve up. Some of the developments you may well see coming, others are more likely to catch you unawares. It has to be said that even though the premise for this novel does stretch credulity a touch, and some of the developments are at the "slightly hard to swallow" end of the scale, Adele Parks does not cheat her readers. The clues are all there, providing you can pick up on them - so no rabbits being unfairly pulled from hats by the writer.

Overall, although this isn't my favourite read from Adele Parks, it is still highly entertaining and well worth spending a few hours with. There is also no doubt that I will be back for this author's next offering too.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for supplying an ARC in return for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book way more than expected!!! I couldn't put it down and essentially finished in one sitting. It was VERY twisty, I'll probably read it again because there were lots of details scattered around. I haven't been able to stop thinking of the ending!! wow

A really enjoyable book which I will certainly recommend to others.
Thanks for the opportunity to read & review it.

Adele Parks has done it again. This one is a little had to review without spoilers, but it is so well worth reading!

Emma is a highly successful, very wealthy older woman who falls in love with Matthew, a not particularly well off photographer who is over a decade younger than her. To make matters worse he is also a relatively recent widower who was deeply in love with his late wife, and Emma is finding it hard to compete with a dead women.

Her friend Heidi is convinced Matthew is hiding something. And when a whirlwind courtship is followed by a hasty marriage, cracks begin appearing in Emma's relationships with her friends. Which means that when cracks begin appearing in the facade of her ready marriage, Emma has no friends to turn to...

This is a very clever and hugely entertaining story that's hard to put down. Read it. Seriously, you won't be sorry you did!

Firstly a big thank you to hq gkt my early access in exchange for a review. . Adele is and always has been one of my favourite authors .
Each book leaves you exhilarated, thankful for books and wanting to tell everyone to buy it!!

This was a rollercoaster of a thriller , thinking you kind of know the direction it was going before a swerve to another direction you haven’t even considered!
Unpredictable, tense ,with a few no what are you doing moments ??!!! Absolutely had me hooked . A fantastic book

You always know you’re in for a treat so definitely get pre ordering as this is set to be a thriller of the summer .

Oh my goodness! What an absolutely fantastic book. It is completely stuffed with twists. Literally shocking and unpredictable. Brilliant characters. A book I couldn't put down. Will definitely be recommending this book.

This was one of those books I raced through in a matter of hours. Will I remember it in months to come? Possibly not. But was it enjoyable? Yeah it was

Wow! What a fantastic read that had me gripped from the first page.
It’s all about Emma who at first glance seems to have it all, the nice house, the good job…..
Then she meets Matthew a widower who seems far too good to be true.
The twists just kept on coming and the ending absolutely blew me away.
Another fantastic five star read from Adele Parks.
Thanks to Netgalley, Adele Parks and HQ for an advance copy in exchange for and honest and unbiased review.

Emma Westly is a very successful businesswoman, at 47 she's rich,lives in a dream home and appears to have everything. Everything that is apart from a partner,having made sacrifices in her personal life to focus on her career. At a conference she meets photographer ,widower Matthew Charlton, and is swept off her feet by the younger and very attractive man. Things move quickly,far too quickly in the eyes of Emma's 2 best friend who think Matthew is taking advantage and more interested in her wealth and freeloading.
A besotted Emma has one niggle,she begins to think that Matthew's dead wife was better than her and ,thinking of herself as a second choice, she becomes jealous and increasingly obsessive. With strange things happening and relations with Matthew and her best friends fraying Emma doesn't know who to trust as her life spirals out of control.

This is a pacey and convoluted thriller that keeps the reader guessing as much as Emma increasingly has to as the story unfolds. Are Emma's friends right and Matthew is a con man,or is he right and they're jealous trouble-makers..........or is she just totally losing touch with reality?

A clever and entertaining book,as we've come to expect from Adele Parks.

Emma Westly is a career woman. Professional, focused, motivated and extremely rich. Now 47 years old, Emma has accepted that she won’t have children or maybe even get married, but she enjoys her life and is in full control of herself. With two best friends she has all the companionship she needs, plus god children to plug to the hole for a family of her own. Flying high and living her best life, Emma is not interested in a relationship. That is until she meets Matthew Charlton. A freelance photographer working a conference where Emma is keynote speaker, Matthew certainly makes his mark, and to say Emma is smitten is a massive understatement.

Another must read from Adele Parks, she certainly knows how to ramp up the tension and leave her readers breathless!

Although it’s a thoughtful start, more a 4* read, the atmosphere just builds and builds, I really wanted to shake Emma, I was team Heidi all the way! The second half of the book really flies, fully 5*.

A gripping read, brilliantly executed, great ending.

4.5*

Thank you NetGalley and HQ.

For me this was a book of two halves, the first of which was told from the pov of Emma who has worked her way up in work and is now in a very comfortable financial position but has never had a serious relationship until, at the age of 47, she falls for recently widowed Matthew. I struggled with this section to be honest, it just didn’t feel quite right to me the way someone so recently bereaved would move on and how quickly Emma let him into her life, not to mention all the strange goings on that started to happen. However at the half way mark we heard the story from a different protagonist and this is when my attention really got grabbed as I loved this new voice and the whole different perspective they offered. This was the point things stared getting twisty and you didn’t quite know what to expect next, I figured small bits out but there were plenty of surprises along the way. This was definitely worth sticking with as the second half is five stars all the way.

The newest release by Adele Park’s is everything! This is such a fascinating thriller, you will want to put everything aside until you are finished reading. An excellent domestic thriller/police procedural.

I've been reading Adele Parks for nearly 20 years, so when I had the chance to read this one, I dropped everything and read it in a single day!

I was absolutely hooked - the characters were multi-faceted and the slow burn at the beginning gave a brilliant background, which gave the twists later in the book a lot more impact. The plot really held my interest, and I enjoyed the ending - everything was wrapped up nicely.

The only things stopping me from awarding this a full 5 stars is there are some inaccuracies (setting a bail amount is not a thing in the UK) and there was some casual fat-shaming which didn't sit right with me.