NOTE: This review contains spoilers for The Wife Between Us and The Last Mrs. Parrish.

I’m going to do something I rarely do when writing reviews—I’m going to post spoilers. But, in order to truly express how I feel, I need to. So, be patient with me and understand that this is absolutely necessary.

I was super into the first half. Any book description that says “assume nothing” immediately grabs my attention. I’m here for the suspense—always.

Then I got to the second half. The big plot twist was coming. And I truly didn’t predict it. Hats off to Hendricks and Pekkanen. I seriously had to go back and read some of the pages over again to make sure it was real.

But the second half of the book—are you kidding me? I’ve already read this plot before. It’s called The Last Mrs. Parrish. I was actually really upset by the similarities. A very wealthy, handsome husband that seems perfect and a dream come true. An abused wife who wants out of the marriage. A mistress that the wife is hoping the husband will leave her for in order to be free of him. Is everyone really out of ideas?!

Anyway. End rant.

That’s really my only grievance with The Wife Between Us. I still thought it was entertaining, the writing was great and I couldn’t put it down.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a debut psychological thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. There are so many schemes with twists and turns that you will not see them all coming.  This book is spellbinding and completely captivating. These two authors have worked very well together to come up with a story that draws you in almost instantly and keeps you that way until the end.  Nothing is as it seems in this book, don't assume that you know anyone! 

Thank you to St Martin's Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Assume absolutely nothing! Halfway through the book I had to reflect and piece it all together. Then I had to finish it and then what I thought I had figured out was completely twisted! You really won’t get the title until the end and there are so many plot twist but not as many as The Last Mrs. Parrish. But close! This is so good and a page turner, you will not want to put it down. 

Thank you Bookish First and St. Martins Press for the copy. 

You won’t waste your time with this book and it’s already opted for a movie. Go buy this book!

Remember assume nothing and read between the lies!

I read *a lot* of twisty thrillers in 2018, and The Wife Between Us was one of my absolute favorites. Told from two points of view, the contrast between the excited bride-to-be and the bitter ex-wife who is determined to stop the wedding, the narrative pulled me in right from the beginning. And you know I hate spoilers, so really that’s all I’m going to say about this book.

Pick it up, and you won’t be able to put it down.

Mea culpa time:  I received an ARC of this book in September of 2017 (had to search my emails to figure out when this was!).  I had the best of intentions but kept not getting to it.

Fast forward more than one year, and the book has gotten a ton of [well-deserved] attention.  And....  It's available as audiobook.  Which seems to be the only way to come close to a 100% guarantee I will complete a book anymore.  I requested it from the library e-collection, waited, downloaded, listened.  Got almost immediately hooked.  Kicked myself for not jumping on this one right away.  Back in September of 2017!

Vanessa Thompson, recently divorced, wishes to prevent her ex-husband, Richard, from marrying his new fiancee.  
Why is she intent on stopping him?

Well....  This book has plenty of twists.  The kind that make you want to re-read early sections after a new piece of information blows your mind.  I don't want to spoil the fun by being more specific than that.  I'll just note that the book is divided into three parts.  You go into part two after your mind has gone boom.  Part three also occurs after an interesting shift, though not as brain-kicking as the first.

This is a quick, fun, gratifying read for fans of this genre (mystery/thriller)

The audio includes a recorded conversation between the two co-authors.

I really enjoyed most of this book, but there were also parts that I wasn't so fond of.  I definitely will read more books by these authors.

I got this as a book of the month when it first came out and received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review, but despite all the rave reviews and hype, I didn’t get around to reading it until this week. This was an excellent read. The twists kept me guessing right up until the very last page. While some had negative reviews saying that the twists were quite predictable if you regularly read domestic thrillers, I like to let the book guide me and lead my thoughts instead of spending all my time make assumptions about what will happen. I knew I would be shocked by the path that the story took and I definitely was. Great quick read. Four stars.

I’ve had this book on my TBR folder on my Kindle for a while!! I honestly thought I’d already read it. What a great surprise while clearing out some space on my Kindle when I found this and a couple other doozies I haven’t yet read. (This will be a very exciting reading week!)
Anyway, I know this book has been out for a while but this is one of those you’ll probably want to read twice. There are quite a few curveballs in this one!
Overall, I truly enjoyed this book and couldn’t put it down trying to get to the ending! I loved the plot and the main character or principal narrator was very human for me. I really don’t want to give anything away so I’m not sure how much I can say here. 
This would definitely be great for a book group read because there’s just so much in it to discuss and perhaps think on a bit. 
So yes, plot and main character fantastic, human and flawed. She’s in a desperate situation and sought desperate measures. It was easy to see myself in her. But not all the characters were like that. At least not to me. In particular the husband. I feel like I just didn’t know him enough. Maybe that was on purpose? Maybe the authors will write “The Husband Between Us.”
There are a couple things I definitely didn’t like or need, like one of the last curveballs. I didn’t think it necessary and it only left more loose ends. 
And there were things I needed more of like Maureen, the sister. What really is her story? Why is she so protective? Is there a hint of incestual lust? We do get an explanation but it didn’t quite fit for me. 
I know it sounds like I didn’t like the story but I loved it. I think it’s the kind of story that will play out well on a TV or movie screen. It’s dramatic with a great build up. Perhaps Hollywood can clear it up. 

*After writing my review, I googled and it seems that a movie is indeed in the making! Can’t wait!! 

#TheWifeBetweenUs #GreerHendricks #SarahPekkanen #StMartinsPress #HollywoodFilmComing

In The Wife Between Us,  we meet a young woman  who is about to marry the man of her dreams. We also meet an older divorced woman who is living with the aftermath of her divorce. I have read these type of stories before and wrongly assumed it was going to be a predictable read. Having said that,  I kept reading because there was a suspenseful tension throughout the book and I really enjoyed the writing style. This book was anything but predictable and is full of twists and turns. I really enjoyed the story and the characters were vivid and rich. Overall, a very entertaining read.

I am kind of conflicted as to how I feel about this book. I read it quickly and was wrapped up in the story throughout. Still, I felt a little cheated and confused with the first twist. It took me awhile to completely piece together what the authors had done. To me, it didn't seem like a plot twist so much as a gimmick.
I enjoyed the rest of the book, but it just didn't seem to deliver all that it could have. I perhaps a little more editing could have improved the plot. It was choppy in places and focused on too many details about things that really didn't matter to the story.
I would still recommend trying this title to people who are fans of psychological thrillers. They may have a completely different viewpoint. Overall it's not a bad book, and it will give you something to think about.

This just seemed too far-fetched. I guess I just wanted more about relationships and less on mystery.

The Wife Between Us, is never an accepted place, except in certain polygamous circles, I'm guessing. Nonetheless, this tome gained a lot of traction due to the twisters at every new pivot point. When you've read a few hundred books, you can become a little jaded, so I thought I knew where this story was going only to be blindsided. So yes, jolly good authors, you caught me coasting. After the first character twist (manipulative, yes, but I'm not complaining) I swore to pay better attention and that is where you can see some chinks in the armor. Once the ball gets rolling after the first act, the story introduces another point of view (or is it?) the writing feels disjointed. It feels like the authors are trying to hard to fill in the backstory and ensure we are rooting for the right person. The whodunit element worked better when the reader is left to make their own (wrong?) conclusions. The ramp up to the third act is filled with enough emotion and tension to keep you engaged, but the resolution feels to pat to be truly satisfying. The ending comes swiftly and does little to answer the why especially as it applies to Richard, but perhaps that's the point. The authors keep you on the edge for so long you don't know what to believe by the end. I wish it had ended there, instead, we get an epilogue that gums up the works with too many coincidences to be believable. The other big reveal felt tacked on and lacked seamless exposition. Plus what the heck was going on with <spoiler> Richard and Maureen - that was weird right? The authors put a lot of work into making us think Vanessa was unhinged, was she or wasn't she? Finally,  the whole Emma thing was unneeded and dare I say lame.</spoiler> Plot twists and suspense 5 stars, too many concluding coincidences brings it down to a 3. Decent read, but disappointing ending.

I honestly hated this book. I made it half way through, right. the catch. The beginning was such a drag I was skimming it right from the beginning. I couldn't even bring myself to finish it.

Dang those twists at the end!  Got me again.  I really enjoyed this book.  It was actually written by 2 authors so that really kept the story fresh and exciting.  I've been reading a lot of "
psychological thrillers" lately. This one stood out.

This is my first time reading this author, but this book was interesting. The layout of the story was unique. I was constantly surprised at the turns this book made. Kept my interest and I will look for more books by Greer Hendricks.

Quick review for a progressive read. "The Wife Between Us" is a interesting thriller, though admittedly there were certain turns of the story I expected for hitting the ground running after I reached certain points in the book. I wasn't sure what to expect when I picked up the book, other than the surface story of two women who were connected by the same husband. Between the two, Vanessa is the older, former wife of Richard who appears distraught for not only losing her former wealth and lifestyle, but also the man who left her for another woman. The other is Emma, the young woman who is the "other" woman in the relationship and engaged to Richard. Yet, the threads that tie these two women together are much thicker than one might think going into it. I just wasn't expecting how deep the motivations of the two women featured in this story ran. 

I think the less you know about this book going into it, the better. It's hard for me to write a review to reflect upon the different layers and pieces that come together eventually in the book for characterization and motivation for Emma and Vanessa, but I thought it was well done for the effort of weaving the twists and identities the way it did. So to tap dance around the obvious spoilers, I'll say this - unreliable narrator is a very prominent feature here. It exists through multiple characters, multiple scenarios, and I can only think of perhaps one character in the mix here who doesn't have an ulterior motive or axe to grind (though it may take a while to see how it plays out). I kind of wish that the book hadn't left so much of the development of one character's identity to shoehorn into the end, but at least it makes sense as to how the two women are connected beyond Richard and how they manage to pull the strings of their respective relationships. Where you think one character's using the other, it's just as well that they're being played and circumstances just so happen to fall where the chips may.

The main manipulative relationship wasn't surprising to me, though. Very early on, though it was teased throughout the story, I knew how it would pan out and was just waiting for the other shoe to drop. Some parts were harrowing, others dragged out a little too long for explanation than I wanted. I did appreciate getting to know the sentiments of the characters and their respective struggles, yet there were certain pieces of the story I felt were rushed a bit too quickly once the reveal came.

Overall, I think "The Wife Between Us" will appeal to fans of the genre, and even those who are looking for a suspense/thriller that throws a few curveballs and presents a decent character story. It stumbles a bit in terms of the reveals, but ends up being a thriller that fulfills what it set out to do; for that, I liked the journey. Those who want an even more immersive experience should check into the audio version as read by Julia Whelan, she does a fantastic job for the emotional delivery of each character.

Overall score: 4/5 stars. 

Note: I received this as an ARC from NetGalley from the publisher.

Nellie is a young preschool teacher that is just trying to make ends meet in NYC when she happens upon her Prince Charming and is immediately swept off her feet and begins to plan her wedding to him and life with him. But strange appearances by another woman and mysterious phone calls have her on edge. Does she really know her future husband that well? And why can’t her friends and family just be happy for her? 

While I definitely guessed a couple of the “twists” early on in the book, I really enjoyed this one a lot and it definitely kept my interest up so I didn’t want to put it down. The authors did a great job of weaving an intricate story and will keep you guessing until the very end. One thing I didn’t like was that at the end, it felt like they were just trying to throw additional twists just to keep you guessing. To me the last couple of twists felt unnecessary to the plot because everything was wrapped up and I would have been happy without the last two or three chapters. So really and truly I feel like it’s a 3.5 stars but because it kept my interest for so long, I’m rounding up to 4 stars.

Holy cats. If you like the real twisty ones, read this immediately. Don't get too comfortable. I even purchased the audible version so I didn't have to stop reading while I drove around doing errands.

It's almost depressing, how good it is, because I know I'll never be able to get to this level of thriller with my own WIP.

When you first meet Vanessa, it seems plain as day that she is a disgruntled ex-wife, who will do whatever it takes to prevent her replacement to be, Nellie,  from marrying her former husband, Richard.  Richard is a polished, handsome and controlling hedge fund manager in NYC.  Now Vanessa has been tossed aside, where she once had a Mercedes, she now lives with her aged aunt and works at Saks while Nellie, a beautiful, young nursery school teacher has been planning a future with Richard.

As Vanessa begins to stalk Nellie and get to her a bit, Nellie begins to rethink her relationship and whether marriage over her fun single life in Manhattan is what she really wants, and so the plot thickens.

As I listened to this, addictive, yet sometimes confusing, psych thriller, it took a while but soon became clear that in this story, nothing is as it seems. We never know who is telling the truth and who might be a little whacked.  It's a story that has plenty of twists and I never had it figured out until I listened to the epilogue twice.  Fun read for sure. 

4.5/5 stars  -http://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2018/09/the-wife-between-us-greer-hendricks-and.html

Even though I only give this book three stars, I really enjoyed it and the story really absorbed me into it. Why I only give it three stars is the first half was very slow going but none the less a page turner. The conclusion of the story wrapped up a little too conveniently in my honest opinion. It could have easily ended with the resolution with the husband but it went on after that and it wasn’t really necessary.