3.5

​The Other Mistress follows Adira whose husband Gabriel is cheating on her with two women. One of the women Jocelyn offers to help Adria get her husband back and get revenge on Juliana. ​Soom Adira and Joelyn become friends. Jocelyn convinces Adira to do some questionable things. All Adira wants is her husband back but she might have gone too far...

I really like this author a lot. I loved both The Perfect Ruin and The Wife Before. So I was really happy that she was releasing another thriller. However, this one was not as good as the other two. I just felt like the writing of this one was a step down from the other two. This book did not wow me. This is a good thriller and I would suggest it. But compared to her other books this was a let down. However, I will still read more by this author. Most of the thrillers she writes are really good. I hate that this was a let down for me. But that is okay.

Thank you Shanora Williams, Dafina Books, and NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

An interesting story full of twists, turns, fun characters and overall a book I would consider reading time and time again.

THE OTHER MISTRESS
BY: SHANORA WILLIAMS

I love psychological thrillers, thrillers, and occasionally horror if not sadistic or too graphic. I actually love many genres such as literary fiction with well developed characters and brilliant plot development. I read basically any category out there as long as I can learn something new. I am shocked at how many four and five star reviews this book has garnered. Here is where I will be brutally honest and say that the author, Shanora Williams deserves credit for placing a warning that child abuse, and sexual assault are involved as trigger warnings. However, this book should be categorized as graphic horror as the twists and final reveals are introduced to the reader.

I seriously can't in good faith recommend this as it deals with not only the trigger warnings, but much darker content. Perhaps I should have hid my review and listed the *other* aspects that take place that made me horrified at what I read. While the author means well she doesn't prepare the reader for the extremely disturbing creepiness that she depicts. While I occasionally enjoy a good scare, in a thriller or clever horror, nothing prepared me for the other shocking material that I feel that this truly crosses the line. I have to say that not much surprises me, except that my honest feedback is this deals with more insidious triggers that I wished I knew before requesting this. I finished it nevertheless.

I don't list the reasons because it would spoil it just know that it deals with factors that the author, nor Net Galley warn, and I didn't enjoy this or think it is in good taste to not give a stronger warning about. I consider my one star to reflect that I would have liked to have known that this was delving into the concepts that are not included such as only child abuse, and sexual assault.

This can be read quickly and it did hold my attention, but beware that it is very disturbing. If I had known what was in store I would never have chosen to read this.

In summary, if you have a high tolerance for reading about serious mental health disturbances cloaked in being a character who you think is twisted, then you by all means read this. I would have liked to have been more prepared for how subversive this novel truly represents. I do wish the author well even though I feel that both her and the synopsis should list the additional trigger warnings, but understand why it would lose it's allure by including the twists and turns and big reveal that has seduced the higher ratings. I have been granted this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thank you to everyone who made this available despite it not working for me.

Publication Date: June 27, 2023

#TheOtherMistress #ShanoraWilliams #KensingtonBooksDafina #NetGalley

AMAZING AMAZING AMAZING! 5⭐️! The plot twist in this book is JAW DROPPING. I’m usually really good at predicting what will happen but this one took the biggest turn ever I couldn’t believe it. I sit here still in shock and wanting so badly to have that experience to read it all over again for the first time. This might just be one of the best thrillers I’ve read in 2023. I highly recommend and can’t wait to read more by Shanora Williams.

That ending just about gave me whiplash! I loved it.

Adira is a successful and business-savvy housewife who realizes that her husband is cheating on her with another woman. Incensed, she sets out to find out more about her husband's paramour and strikes up an unlikely friendship (more like a frenemy dynamic) so that she can get him back. Things don't go exactly as planned though when the "other woman" seems to become more secretive and manipulative as time goes on... and seems to even be following Adira as she travels. Adira needs her help to get her husband back, but Jocelyn (the mistress) has more tricks up her sleeve than Adira could ever imagine. As complications are added to Adira's situation and her husband grows more and more distant, she is forced to face her past to find the answers she needs.

The first few chapters of this book had me wondering if things were going to be overly simplistic, but the twist near the end was unexpected, heart-wrenching, and totally worth it! Give the story time to develop, because it most certainly does. The Other Mistress is a solid psychological thriller, and almost every character is Black. Thrillers often feature a cast of only-white protagonists, so Shanora's commitment to creating diverse characters is commendable and long overdue within this genre.

Thank you to Netgalley, Shanora Williams, and the publishers at Dafina for sending me an e-arc of The Other Mistress! Anyone who enjoys domestic thrillers and surprise endings is in for a fun ride!

Oh wow what a rollercoaster ride this book taken me on , did I guess that ending on that book no no no. Such an epic ,exciting read one that will keep you up till finished. Lots of triggers thou please keep that in mind, such a tense psychological book. Hoping there will be a second book as I will be first to purchase.

This was a great thriller! I haven't read anything by this author but I love a domestic thriller and this was done so well. It was a page turner and even though I had some suspicions that were correct, I was still surprised and enjoyed the ride!

Oo y’all know with a title like this it’s going to be a thriller novel! Excellent writing and it honestly kept me guessing until the very end. Must read!!

This book was so-so for me. I’ll start by saying I appreciated the author’s note at the beginning with trigger warnings. I respect the care for readers over protecting any role the content may have on the ‘twist’ that is to come. I thought the twist here was well done for the most part as I didn’t see it coming until right before it was revealed. That being said, the majority of the book was frustrating. Adira came across too immature to be as successful of a businesswoman as we’re supposed to accept that she is. It makes sense later, but it’s hard when there’s so much book to get through before we find out her motivations. I liked that the chapters were short and made for a quick read, but the flow of the story felt a little choppy to me. Overall, this was not my favorite thriller I’ve ever read, but it was a quick enough read with a good twist that I still enjoyed it in the end.

WOW!
First I'll start off by saying I love that the author put in trigger warnings before the start of the book.
This book was so good I loved it all, at first I was a little confused trying to keep up with the Characters and the flash backs, but once things started all coming together it was amazing so many twists I never expect. The ending left me on such a cliffhanger I'm ready to read more !

This was great! Loved the characters and plot! Twists! Highly recommended.

Loved the author’s note at the end too. Classy and smart.

It is so often that I read a mystery book and can anticipate exactly what happens - but with "The Other Mistress" by Shanora Williams, I can confirm the twist was something that I NEVER could have expected!

Here's what I'll say first - I HATED the main character in the first half of the book. Essentially, here's the synopsis: Adira has been with her husband Gabriel for 7 years, and they have a seemingly perfect life. Adira started a loungewear/lingerie business that did extremely well, so they live in a big house and Adira provides all the funds for Gabriel to start his dream rugby team business. But she finds out that he's been cheating on her - with TWO women. She catches him countless times sneaking off to see these women, oftentimes not coming home at night, texting and calling them, calling her crazy when she mentions that she knows he's cheating, etc. And instead of being this boss girl, she pathetically begs him to love her, begs one of his mistresses to help her remove the other mistress from the equation. She's not the bad "b" that says, "Husband, you're cheating, GTFO."

But by the CHA-CHING twist at the end, my opinion of Adira totally changed. As I said earlier, this is a twist you won't be expecting, I can guarantee that. That's why I love mystery novels - the twist - and I especially love one that rewards you at the end. It was so easy to get wrapped up in this story, I think I read it in two days. There's such a palpable buildup of anxiousness in this book, and you hold on to every word. If you're a mystery lover, I highly recommend trying this out.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, I had to shelve this into my DNF pile around 45% through. The MC Adira is cast as this successful self made woman, however her needy obsession with her husband is a little pathetic and just didn’t compute for me. I understand there’s some major twists at the end, but I didn’t care enough to press through the last half.

Advanced copy provided by NetGalley.

Publication date - 27 June 2023.

2.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️ +

The Other Mistress by Shanora Williams

Adira is quite the character…….smart, successful, beautiful but a little short in the self confidence category. So short she allows her partner, Gabriel, to be involved with not one but two other women, because she doesn’t want to be alone. She goes so far to ingratiate herself with them to find out what they are like, they not knowing who SHE is but Adira knew them.
Her acceptance of their relationship as a threesome had me wanting to reach in to the book and shake her……until a few facts unraveled. A tortured childhood, a sister lost to the actions of a crazy mother, abuse by the mom’s boyfriend, all the usual links that result in an agonizing soul.
What you don’t realize is how multifaceted Adira is…….and that’s when the book takes off at lightning speed down a whole new path. Bear with the slow start where you think this woman just needs to move on….she does. It’s worth the unveiling at the end.

This book blew me away! My first by this author and I loved all the twists and turns. Highly recommend to any thriller lovers... prepare to be up all night finishing!

This one was iffy for me in the beginning but all came together spectacularly in the end. The story centers on Adira, who is living a pretty great life in Tampa running a successful company and married to a perfect man named Gabriel. Eventually she finds out that he is cheating on her with 2 different women and things start to spiral out of control. There are also chapters from Adira’s childhood that give the reader insight into her current state of mind.

The first half of the book dragged a bit as Adira very pathetically kept begging Gabriel to love her best while also following around this other girlfriend. I found myself skimming at some points. As the book continues, it becomes apparent that there is a lot more going on here than it looks like on the surface. The last part of the book contained a couple great twists and put much of the earlier things that happened into a different light.

The twist was great and I really enjoyed it, though I was left with some lingering questions about some of what happened previously that I felt weren’t really explained. I also could have some without the constant designer name dropping throughout the book; I’m just not interested in that and already understood that she had lots of money so didn’t need to keep hearing it.

Overall, the early part of the book felt like a bit of a slog but I really enjoyed the way it all came together and I love being surprised. I think those that enjoy psychological thrillers will like this one and encourage you to keep reading of you’re not into the first part of the book. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

𝙸𝚝 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚊 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚛𝚊, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜, 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚗'𝚝 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚜. 𝙸 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝, 𝚖𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚍. 𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚊𝚖𝚊𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎.

What the what??? It’s really hard to review this book because the reveal is so shocking that I had to stop and think back over the story. Parts that had confused me now made perfect sense. I’d have to say this book’s twists - I really didn’t see coming. I even thought about half way through that it was just another mistress domestic suspense….well, it’s anything but! Just read it, as I can’t say anything else!!!
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Wow. I could not have seen that ending coming from a mile a way! This was dark and it does warn you to check TW before you read so make sure you do that. But this will be an excellent Summer read!

The Other Mistress centres around Adira, who discovers her husband is cheating on her with not one, but two, women. Adira confronts one, who becomes her ally after offering her the perfect plan to split her husband and the other mistress up for good.

The blurb intrigued me from the start - who doesn't love a vengeful wife taking no prisoners? However, the book didn't follow the expected formula.

Described as a twisted tale of seduction, betrayal and obsession, I was expecting a little more grit. This is not to say that I didn't enjoy the ride or the story as it stands though, simply that it wasn't what the blurb had me envisioning. "What happens next might surprise you" feels more apt.

Positives: fast-paced, twisty, well-written, good reveals

Negatives: mental health inaccuracy, blurb set expectation unmatched by plot, grit lacking (but could be offset by a longer, slower plotline)

Would I read more from this author? Absolutely.