Wow! This book! Packed with twists that I didn't see coming. So thrilling and suspenseful. Loved, loved, loved. Very highly recommend.

This book is told by 2 POV's . The ex wife (Carla) and Natalie ( current wife). We hear about the past and the present. Imagine being trapped with your husbands ex wife. No thanks ! I really enjoyed this one and I hope you do too.

This is a thrilling ride of a book!
The premise of the new wife, and the ex-wife, together at Christmas, during a blizzard, is intriguing enough, but add in murder? What a terrific book!
It was fast reading, and full of action. The book was divided into two parts, each told by the wives point of view. Very interesting!
The ending is a bit of a cliffhanger, so I’m hoping a sequel is coming soon!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book. My opinions are unbiased.
4 stars

Wow this book was definitely full of twists & turns!!! I read it in one sitting as I couldn't put it down!! Great read!!!

This was a bit of a slow burn but ended up being really twisty. It centers on Natalie, who is spending her first Christmas with her husband Domenic and his parents, who have not yet warmed to her. Lo and behold, when they arrive, she is informed that Domenic's ex-wife Carla will also be spending the holidays with them due to weather keeping her from getting home. Natalie already feels like she has work to do to get the family to like her, and the fact that they fawn over Carla makes things much worse.

The first part of the book drags a bit, and Natalie is kind of annoying in how she handles the dynamics with Domenic's family. I felt like that part went on a bit long, with repeated examples of how Natalie can't get things quite right. Then things get really interesting when Natalie starts to uncover things that don't make sense and we find that there is much more to the family dynamic than we realized. The last half of the book s fast=paced and twisty, and the author does a great job at taking incidents that the reader initially took at face value and adding a sinister spin. I also liked Natalie better as the book went on and it was clear she had more of a backbone than it originally seemed. The end of the book was OK but I didn't think it was necessary after the rest of the story, and one of the characters in particular acted what I felt was out of character compared to what I had read so far.

All in all, this was an engaging read that ended up going a different way than I originally anticipated. I'd recommend it to those who like mysteries and psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Ex-Wife is a fast paced thriller that makes you not want an ex-wife in your life! Lol This has me hooked from the first page and I could not put it down.

An enjoyable read in psychological fiction from Maria Frankland.

The plot is pretty dark and twisty! Natalie is spending his first Christmas with husband, Dominic and his (somewhat stuffy) parents. In the midst of a heavy snowfall, the reception Natalie receives from her in-laws is frosty (to say the least!). The same can’t be said for the reception they give to Dominic’s ex-wife, Carla, who (unbeknownst to Natalie) has been invited for Christmas too!!

Once she has recovered from the shock, Natalie quickly discovers that there are some seriously dark agendas at play in this family!

As the plot plays out we discover all sorts of motives and more than a little blood is spilt!!

If you like your festive reading to be a little in the dark side, I absolutely recommend you pick this one up!

My thanks to NetGalley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an advance copy.

October 27, 2024
My first book from this author, and I really enjoyed it.
There's a large amount of domestic thrillers lately, all these poor wives or exes!
This book was a fun, fast read that I'm sure Frankland's fans will lap up.
The pacing is strong, my attention was held throughout and I didn't know who Natalie could trust!
The characters were all brilliant, and they really added to the suspense and the tension Natalie was under.
I'd love to read more from this author!

I was immediately submerged in this book. I always am with a Maria Frankland book. This book is well written, and the author gives details bit by bit. I was so suspicious of Carla. But then the story unfolded in a different way. I was literally gobsmacked by that ending - which in reality is not an ending but a cliff hanger!! Definitely recommend!

I received an arc copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. Natalie and Dominic are spending their first Christmas together as husband and wife with his family. Natalie is trying to get her in-laws to like her and Dominic's ex-wife shows up at the door to spend Christmas with them because of a bad snow storm. The book was pretty predictable and did drag in spots but overall an okay read.

This was my first book by this author and won’t be my last This was a fast paced psychological thriller that had me gripped from the start in a tense edge of the seat read that I devoured in one sitting.

I will definitely look out for more by this author.

Yet another brilliant book from this author. A Christmas family get together should be a happy time for everyone involved. It is thier first xmas as a married couple and whilst she wasn't as excited by the prospect of spending it with Dominic's parents she made the best of it. She wasn't too happy when it looked like Carla his ex wife was also staying there for xmas but she had no choice.. It is not too bad at first but then things start to change.
A great book from finish to the end.

Wow what a fast paced read this was.

I lost track of time reading and nearly missed my stop.

Superb read

Thanks for the opportunity to review

This is a great Christmas thriller. Natalie is spending the holidays with her in-laws and her husband’s ex wife in the middle of a snowstorm. What could possibly go wrong? Everything. This book was predictable but I enjoyed it anyways. It’s the perfect read for the holidays and it’ll make you appreciate your in laws (hopefully!)

Name :- His Ex Wife
Author :- Maria Frankland
Genre :- Psychological Thriller
Plot :- His Ex-Wife by Maria Frankland is a taut domestic thriller that turns holiday family tension into a nail-biting battle for survival. The story centers on a woman navigating an increasingly tense Christmas visit with her husband, Dominic, in his family’s home. Already struggling to feel accepted by Dominic’s parents, she faces a nightmare scenario when his ex-wife, Carla, unexpectedly arrives due to a snowstorm. What follows is an intense psychological standoff as secrets surface and old grudges turn deadly.
Likes:
1 Atmospheric Tension: Frankland crafts an isolating, claustrophobic setting as the snowstorm traps everyone together, heightening the sense of confinement and fueling the tension between the characters.
2 Complex Protagonist: The narrator is a gritty, resilient character with a past she’s fought hard to overcome. Her inner strength is slowly revealed, making her a compelling protagonist as she faces the increasing hostility from both Carla and her in-laws.
Overall :- His Ex-Wife is an atmospheric thriller with an intriguing twist on family holidays gone wrong. With a strong, resilient protagonist and an ominous, isolated setting, Frankland creates an absorbing tale of survival and deception. For readers who enjoy stories of domestic suspense with psychological depth, this novel promises an intense, chilling read that will keep them guessing who to trust until the final page.
My rating :- 5/5

The Ex-Wife is a fast paced thriller that makes you not want an ex-wife in your life! Lol This has me hooked from the first page and I could not put it down. Just when I thought I had the ending figured out, she threw a great twist thrown in among many other twists throughout the whole book. I loved it! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy.

Another fantastic Maria Frankland read, never ever disappoints, drags you in from the start and spits you out the other end completely spent, a great twisty turny storyline, loved it

It was a nice read and had a few good plot twists but it felt very repetitive. It’s a quick thriller that you can easily get sucked into!

You think your in-laws are bad? Meet the Elmers.

Natalie's well aware her new husband Dominic's parents aren't happy about their marriage. His mother Ann-Marie and father Roger make their displeasure clear from the minute they arrive at their home to stay through the Christmas holidays. In their eyes, she isn't good enough for their son. They're a wealthy family who live on a large estate. Natalie simply owns a nail salon with no family to speak of but her brother. Then, of course, there's the fact that she was in the news a few years before she met Dominic for something horrible that she did. She knows they dislike her because of that more than anything else. Yet, Natalie smiles through their cold treatment of her and responds with compliments and warmth. She's determined to win them over.

But his parents aren't going to make it easy on her in any way, shape, or form. As she and Dominic settle into their room, Ann-Marie announces she's invited Dominic's first wife Carla to spend the holiday with them. His parents love Carla and still consider her part of the family. From the second she arrives, they treat her like royalty while treating Natalie like gum on the bottom of their shoes. It's clear to Natalie that Carla wants Dominic back. When Natalie catches the exes whispering to each other more than once, she wonders if Dominic doesn't want that too. However, when she realizes the entire family is whispering behind her back, she's convinced there's a plot to get rid of her as Dominic's wife so he and Carla can be together again. Someone in the family wants her dead, but who... and why? Natalie has no intention of going down without a fight. She's killed before. If she has to, she will again.

A fast moving, anxiety-inducing story with more twists than a corkscrew, "His Ex-Wife" by Maria Frankland is a beaut of a tale that's so gripping you can't read it fast enough. Prepare for your heart to get stuck in your throat (so to speak) and to skip over sentences and paragraphs as you read. Not because you're bored, mind you. But because you need to know what happens next -- and you can't wait one line longer. While you pick up the pace reading, the book picks up its pace too. It's so taut with suspense you forget to breathe in places. The characters are so vivid and multi-dimensional that you see and hear them in your mind. It's easy to picture Roger as the late Edward Herrmann and Ann-Marie as Christine Baranski.

Told from Natalie's first-person perspective for over half of the book, you'll swear as you read that "His Ex-Wife" is one of the greatest books you've read this year. The blurb of this book... The description given in this review... Neither do it justice because the storyline is only part of what makes it so amazing. It's the urgency and atmosphere that Natalie creates as the narrator. But then, it happens. Carla takes over as the narrator, and it feels like the book is slamming on its brakes. Gone is the quickening pace (although it's still moving along at a good clip). Also gone is the growing tension and suspense that came with Natalie's point of view. Carla's a different character, so of course her 'voice' and point-of-view are going to be different. While Carla's perspective is gripping and necessary to the telling of the story, it's snot as taut with tension and suspense as Natalie's. However, it's brilliant writing by author Maria Frankland that makes them stand out as such unique individuals.

"His Ex-Wife" is one for your TBR list. At just over 300 pages, you'll devour it in a few sittings if you don't read it all at once. It has everything psych thriller fans love: mystery, secrets, deceitful characters, and some creepy vibes (from Ann-Marie and Roger) to boot. Set in a snowstorm, it's nearly guaranteed to give you the chills.

What a twisted tale of holiday drama!
As I read the story I became more immersed in the murk and kept asking myself who has what dirt on whom?
If you think your holidays are ripe with drama, they probably can’t hold a candle to the Elmers Yuletide yanks and thrusts.
I can’t say I felt sorry for what happened to any of the characters but one thought she got away Scott free with her clever ploy however she forgot that there are eyes and cameras everywhere!!