The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva. WHY are more people not talking about Lorna Dounaeva. This book was amazing. A true dream come true and nightmare all wrapped into one. The narrator was fantastic. This book had me guessing until the very last page. Loved this book so much!

The Wife's Mistake: A Domestic Suspense with a Twisted Payoff

While billed as a psychological thriller, "The Wife's Mistake" by Lorna Dounaeva leans more towards domestic suspense. Don't be fooled by the somewhat slow start, as you get further into the book, it unravels with shocking twists. The story centers on Natalie and Hayden, a seemingly ordinary couple harboring hidden secrets. When they win the lottery, their carefully constructed lives begin to crumble. The promise of a new life becomes a catalyst, exposing their past transgressions and igniting a web of suspicion.

I particularly enjoyed the "what if" scenario of a sudden lottery win. It served as a compelling hook, drawing me into Natalie and Hayden's world and making me contemplate how such a windfall could impact a seemingly stable relationship.

Dounaeva masterfully builds tension throughout the narrative. While the initial pacing might feel deliberate, it allows for deeper character development and a more impactful reveal later on. The true strength of the novel lies in its unpredictability. Just when you think you've figured things out, the rug is pulled out from under you, leaving you eager to discover the truth.

Adding to the experience, I loved the audiobook format. The narration, delivered with a captivating British accent, really enhanced the story. The narrator's voice perfectly captured the characters' emotions, adding another layer of depth to the suspense.

Overall, "The Wife's Mistake" is a captivating domestic suspense novel. If you enjoy character-driven stories with a slow-burn that explodes in a flurry of twists, and particularly enjoy audiobooks narrated with a British accent, this is for you!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with this audiobook!

this book was okay. not my favorite. took forever for the build up and felt like we were just chasing people around the whole time.

The Wife’s Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva is a thriller with lots of twists. Be prepared because the twists don’t stop until the very end.

Natalie and Hayden haven’t been married long, but Natalie thinks she’s seeing some unusual things that make her think he’s cheating on her. When she purchases a lottery ticket, and wins 12.5 million pounds, she is thrilled about the money, but worried about her husband’s activities. She starts making unusual purchases and spending money that they don’t have, and her husband questions the overdrafts from their bank account. What would you do with that amount of money? And would your family and friends treat you the same? But as the story unfolds, you discover everyone is hiding secrets. I still can’t decide which secrets were the worst, as everyone had different motives.

I didn’t like the slow pace in the beginning of the book and almost gave up reading, but around 35 percent it started getting better. They had cashed in the ticket and people’s true natures started to come to light, as well as secrets slowly surfacing. Natalie definitely irked me, when she was trying to wait to cash in the ticket, but was running up new credit cards and creating debts, leaving her husband concerned about things like rent.

I enjoyed the narrator. She makes the story entertaining and easy to listen to. I would definitely listen to more books read by her as her performance definitely made me hang in during the parts that drug.

After about sixty percent the book seemed to switch into high gear, kind of like the high performance cars Natalie and Hayden purchased. Once the twists started, I sat with my mouth open in surprise, before I was hit with an even bigger one. A few things were easy to figure out, maybe because I read so many thrillers, but there were definitely lots of interesting surprises to be had.

Fans of Freida McFadden and her twists would love “The Wife’s Mistake” as it keeps you hanging on until the very last word. Definitely recommend this twisty ride, just be prepared to brace for impact.

Interesting story about lottery winners Natalie and Hayden. The first part was about the ticket and each of their fears about the other (worried each other was cheating). Then it moves into how they spend the money and their life changes. It did have a lot of domestic drama and a little bit of a psychological thriller. I did like it overall, but not sure I agree with the title. She’s not the only one with mistakes…. But I can see how some of them tie back to a decision she made as a teenager. The premise is that decision was a “mistake” but I’m not sure I agree.

Overall, it was a pretty quick read and I would recommend it for people who like this genre. 3⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for an early reading of this audiobook.

This was a great mystery thriller! There were a few unexpected twists that I loved. I also loved the narrator. I thought she did an amazing job on the audiobook!

A great listen - this kept me engaged and entertain while gardening and cleaning. Good narration, a unique storyline that kept me guessing!

I enjoyed this but did feel it was a bit slow. I enjoyed the narration but I did find it quite hard to follow at times due to the amount of characters.

The Wife's Mistake by Lorna Dounaeva
Narrated by Imogen Church

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

The hand-delivered note trembles between my fingers and my blood runs cold at the words staring back – you don’t deserve this life. Everything I’ve always dreamed of is finally within reach. How long do I have until my past catches up with me?

From inside our new perfect house, I watch the pool water ripple under the raindrops. Despite how calm it is outside, my heart pounds as I think about that terrible message and what it means for my marriage.

I never expected that one day I’d be sipping coffee in our handcrafted marble kitchen but, despite our good fortune, my husband is more distant than ever. With Hayden absent once again, I’m left to ask: what exactly is my husband hiding and is the note related?

I spend all night tossing and turning, with my heart racing in my chest. Looking out into the darkness, I swear I see movement beyond the garden hedges. I try to shake my fears away; I must be imagining things. That’s what Hayden would say.

I can’t ignore the feeling in the pit of my stomach – what if the person outside isn’t looking for Hayden, and instead, they’re looking for me? I’m paralysed by fear. It’s only a matter of time until I’ll have to confront my past. Hayden may have secrets, but so do I – my husband has no idea what I did all those years ago.

I know what I need to do to protect my perfect new life, and those around me don’t know how far I’m willing to go…

My Opinion

From the title, I obviously knew there was a mistake and with all the twists it was difficult to work out what was the actual mistake. Be careful what you wish for - you will be after reading this. Both Natalie and Hayden have a lot of secrets, but will they pay the price? This was a great read that had me hooked - it definitely took me on a journey.

Rating 4/5

My head was totally spinning from all the twists throughout this psychological thriller from Lorna Dounaeva! I knew that winning millions of dollars would lead to even more secrets and deception, but never saw what was coming. Imogen Church’s narration was wonderfully suspenseful and made me want to listen even more. This was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. The characters were really compelling as well. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook.

Be prepared if all your wishes come true! In this book, the wife is not the only one who makes a mistake, but hers has the greatest consequences. Lorna Dounaeva has written a thrilling story with so many twists and turns that you can’t help but be surprised by where you end up. The saying goes that money enhances who you are as a person. If that is true, then the moral of this story is that you should investigate the characters of your family and friends before sharing your good fortune.

This is one of those books where a simple misunderstanding kind of snowballs but there are also all these other things going on that contribute to the problem. This is a hard one because I don't want to give too much away. There are times you want to scream at Natalie and I guess that was my frustration with this one. I still enjoyed it and would recommend it.


I honestly requested this book because of narrator Imogen Church and she did not disappoint she truly brought the emotions!

3 stars

I received this audiobook from the publisher Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for a fair and honest review.

3.5 Stars!

I ALWAYS go out of my way when I see Imogen Church narrating. Her inflections are great and makes the story more captivating somehow.

The Wife's Mistake is full of unanticipated twists and turns as a young woman purchases a winning lottery ticket, and the chaos that inevitably follows. I wasn't crazy about the flow of this book at first but once it picked up I was invested in finding out what happened. Given all the different POVs, I had a hard time following along all the different characters and who was who although I did really enjoy the lack of information known by each POV.

Without giving away any spoilers, the ending did disappoint me quite a bit even though it was unexpected.

Thank you very much to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the ARC of this!

An enjoyable suspense read with twists that will shock! A slow burn to start but did pick up pace around mid book.
So many secrets, lies and betrayal but this is what keeps one glued to the pages right?! Action packed full of drama and I was here for it right up until that shocking ending!
A 12 million win can certainly change your life but money doesn't buy happiness as Natalie and Hayden soon find out!

I really enjoyed this book. It was very entertaining and drawls you in and then all the twists keeps you guessing on who's lies were going to be discovered first. The writing style kept my attention so that the book didn't drag out at all and then there were some extra little secrets twists thrown in. All and all it was a book that I would recommend to all my book friends.

ARC audiobook provided in exchange for an honest review.

In my opinion, this was a bit of a slow burner for a thriller and sometimes a little repetitive. For the most part of the book, I felt like nothing much was happening until the twists started coming and the book picked up. I felt like the plot was a little "all over the place" and I didn't necessarily feel any thrill. I see potential in the story though, so if you like psychological thrillers and suspense, definitely give it a a try!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this early audiobook.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an advanced copy for this audiobook.

This was a decent thriller that would keep you on your toes. The narration was top notch as well.

Natalie and Hayden are newlyweds with a ton of secrets. When Natalie wins the lottery, she hides it from Hayden because she thinks he is hiding something, possibly an affair. Hayden finds the ticket one day while Natalie is working.

Natalie's past that she wants to keep hidden, will be uncovered.

Deceptions, twists, this book did not disappoint.

Winning the lottery just shows the world publicly what type of person you’ve always been. And this book takes a look at two people who couldn’t tell right from wrong if it whacked them in the face…and has them win the lottery. You can imagine what comes next. Excess, debauchery, lying, affairs, believing everyone is a good person, and making bad decisions. One on top of the next.

I really enjoyed it! I hated the characters, hated how dumb all of these people were, hated the secrets—but all in the best (most entertaining) way. I couldn’t wait to see what these morons were going to mess up next.

To be fair, I don’t think this reads like a psychological thriller. More domestic suspense than anything. Some tense parts, and the book moved quickly—but the suspense was a very slow burn to the end. I also wasn’t entirely surprised by any of the twists, though one shocked me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for providing with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Hayden and Natalie are newlyweds and are living paycheque to paycheque. Natalie currently works as a Barista at a local Coffee Shop and had dreams of owning her own Coffee Shop one day. So one morning when she checks the lottery numbers she is shocked to see that they have matched all the numbers and are winners of 12 million pounds. At the same time she happens to come across a text on Hayden's phone that makes her wonder if her husband is being faithful or not. She decides to keep the winnings a secret until she can find out what is going on with Hayden. She hides the ticket and low and behold Hayden finds it one day while Natalie is at work, he is ecstatic and they contact the lottery company to confirm if they actually won. This phone call will forever change their lives going forward and will unearth all the secrets of Natalie's past that she had wanted to keep hidden forever......Enjoy!!!

"The Wife's Mistake" is a must-listen for fans of psychological thrillers who enjoy stories filled with unexpected twists and turns. Dounaeva's storytelling, coupled with Church's narration, delivers a captivating experience that will keep listeners guessing until the final revelation. Dounaeva weaves a tale of suspense, secrets, and psychological tension, keeping readers hooked from start to finish. Imogen Church's narration enhances the atmospheric and chilling elements of the story, creating a compelling audiobook that will leave listeners eager to discover the truth behind the mysterious note and the hidden secrets that threaten to surface.