Jason and his new wife, Fiona, live by strict rules—rules she must follow as both a wife and a mother to his daughters. But the rules are stifling, not just for her but for the children too.

Told from two POVs and across two timelines, the story slows down in the middle. While one twist caught me off guard, much of it required suspending a lot of disbelief. If you enjoy dark thrillers, this one might be for you.

I would like to thank Bookouture & NetGalley for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and fair review

The Marriage Rules is a gripping and unsettling thriller that had me hooked from the very first page. Fiona and Jason Fisher seemingly have an idyllic family, but beneath the veneer of domestic life lies a web of strict rules, hidden fears, and buried secrets. As Fiona begins to question the life that Jason has built around them, the tension soon mounts.

Samantha Hayes does a fantastic job of keeping you enthralled throughout with twists and turns that come out of nowhere. The ending also left me reeling! If you love psychological thrillers packed with suspense and intrigue, this one is a must-read!

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy of this book

Thank you to netgalley & publishers for this book
Excellently written book by Samantha Hayes. It kept me up all night reading, I could not put it down. I thought the marriage rules of Jason & Fiona were going in one direction when they blew my mind & went in a complete other direction. Plenty of twists &turns, I totally recommend this book.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This one crazy book it's so bad it's good, loads of twists and turns with an outrageous plot it's pure indulgent escapism trash perfect for holiday reading at times I had no idea where is was going it was bonkers but a good read it held my interest and kept me guessing it was tasking in anyway wasn't deep in anyway just a piece of trashy thrills at its very worst but very great at the same time

WOW! I finished this book a few hours ago and I still am left with my jaw on the floor.
Jason and Fiona (Doctor - Now Professor and Nurse) Fall in Love while working together. They get married the day after Jason's wife Erika is killed by a drunk driver. They begin raising Jason's two little girls and they must all live under Jason's Marriage Rules.

Well, that is what we the reader are made to think is happening. From the beginning Jason appears a pompous jerk who is controlling and conniving. When people end up murdered and missing things all begin to fall into place.

Samantha Hayes you are brilliant. The way you crafted this story with a million and one twists and turns. At about 41% when it all starts to fall into place and begins to unravel page by page. Which seems early for the plot to thicken and the twists to happen. At the end of the book the reader is left with their jaw on the floor and the twists and turns don't stop until the last page.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture, and Samantha Hayes for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this book, with my honest review below.

The Marriage Rules is certainly a thriller you won’t be able to guess the ending for, and just a little insane (literally). Jason is the controlling husband who has set up rules that are both mind boggling and constructive for his family, which includes new wife Fiona. Fiona seems to find comfort in these rules as they act as a thin barrier between her and her recollections of her past. There’s a lot of mystery around why the rules exist, how Jason came to have his family go along with them, and just what Fiona is hiding. But rather than going in the direction I thought (which included Jason in a massive amount of pain for the rules), a huge leap from the reader is needed with suspension of disbelief. I don’t know if I quite liked that plot turn but I will say this is well written and tense. If you’re a thriller fan who wants your imagination fully indulged, this is for you.

This was a true definition of page turner . Clever and fast paced and kept me guessing until the end . I love her books and this was no exception.

A gripping, unusual dark storyline which kept me reading all the way and all the characters were well described.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC which I can recommend.

Fiona Fisher marries Jason, who is a doctor, after his wife dies. His two daughters live with them.
There are rules that the whole family have to abide by, daily confession time, no lying, not leaving the house without a valid reason. They have to keep themselves safe.
Then, their neighbour disappears, and things fall apart.

I found this to be a very dark novel, and wondered about the complete control Jason had on his family, and why.
Fiona is clearly unstable, and Jason medicates her, but it doesn't help.

Twisty and suspenseful, twists throughout, but the twist at the end will make your jaw drop.

I enjoyed the way the plot unfolded. And wondered about the strange and some times unbelievable behaviour of the two main characters. The children added mystery to this plot and Tilly particularly seemed believable. The twist at the end was chilling and I didn’t see it coming. I will recommend this when it is published

Fiona, a former nurse, recently married Jason, a charming doctor. Fiona loves being a mother to Jason's two daughters. Everything is great, so long as they stick to the rules. Break them, and there will be consequences.

WHAT A TWISTED READ - absolutely loved this one and was surprised how things turned out! I left my synopsis of this book intentionally vague as it is best to go into this one blind. Be warned - this book is impossible to put down! This is a must read for any thriller fan. It is a refreshingly new storyline (which is hard to do in thrillers) and oh so twisted. The ending was so shocking - I definitely did not see it coming! Give me all the books my Samantha Hayes! A super creative, suspenseful, and wild read!

Whaaat. Do you ever read something and go.... what just happened. It's thrown me all of kilter. Everything I thought wasn't so. So good.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of The Marriage Rules. This was definitely a”What did I just read” book!!!!! Wow!!!! You will Not figure out this plot, Total Surprise. I definitely wondered why Fiona stayed with Jason in Part One and the Twist at the end of that was WHOA!!! Part Two was a bit boring but then there’s no preparation for what just happened in Part Three. I couldn’t read fast enough. I cried at the very end. FANTASTIC BOOK!!!!!!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutire for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Jason and Fiona are newly married after the death of his wife. They have moved away from the town where he was a doctor and she was a nurse and are living in the country with his two daughters. They live by a very extreme set of rules that they live by which could be considered abusive by same people.

Well I definitely did not figure out what was going on here and it most mostly an entertaining journey to get to the bottom of it. There were some jaw dropping reveals. My only issue is that when I read something so surprising I wonder if everything I read leading up to it really makes sense with the reveal. It probably did and I didn’t go back to check but that concern always gives me pause. Either way, it was an entertaining book and this author has had many of those which is why I keep reading her novels.

Very gripping. Lots of things that I didn’t see coming. Right to the end. Hard to put down. Thanks @netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.will keep looking out for this author.

Wow! The plot twist is insaneeee and kind of disturbing. I absolutely loved it!! One of the best books I've read in a while. Highly recommend.

"𝑾𝒆'𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒋𝒖𝒔𝒕 𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔, 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘...𝒑𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔. 𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒈𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒚𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒏𝒕. 𝑳𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒊𝒎𝒂𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏. 𝑵𝒐 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑 𝒖𝒔...𝒂𝒔 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆𝒔."

Structure, order, and rules are needed in society, and I'm sure they're also needed in successful marriages. However, the list of marriage rules that the prologue opens with had me shaking my head in disbelief. Who would agree to such things?

Jason and his new wife Fiona created the rules, and they live by them. Newly married after the death of Jason's wife, Fiona not only has to serve as wife, she also has to serve as mother to Jason's two daughters. The rules are harsh, stifling, and puzzling, especially after realizing the children are involved in following some of them as well.

I was completely taken off guard by the direction the story went, and while you must suspend quite a bit of disbelief, if you like dark, twisted thrillers, this one will definitely do it for you. Thank you to Bookouture for the early copy. This title will publish April 9, 2025.

There was one shock factor, but the rest of the book was very predictable and I had to really force myself to finish the book.

This is a dark and twisted thriller which will have you gasping from start to finish.

The Marriage Rules are clearly defined things by which Jason and his new wife Fiona live by. Recently married and now living with his two daughters after the death of their mother, their rules seem intolerable to me. Indeed to any sane person, especially towards two vulnerable children. As we move into the story the background of both protagonists has the reader going back and forth as to who has done or said what to whom and watching the lives play out and descend into the final chapters is dark and thrilling.

Hateful situation at the start which becomes more understandable as the book progresses and the reader can see beneath the surface of the family and their history.

Good read for those who enjoy a dark, domestic thriller.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a ride! It kept me guessing and included unexpected twists. I was asking myself 'What is going on here?' throughout!
It was definitely dark but overall kept my attention.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.