This novel focuses on an ex-wife that is obsessed with “her replacement,” meaning her husband’s new fiance. Initially, it appears that we are dealing with an unwell ex-wife, Vanessa, that is obsessed with her ex-husband, Richard, and his new, younger fiance named Nellie. Vanessa is painted in a very negative light, whereas, Nellie seems like a ray of sunshine. Slowly, through several “plot twists” and revelations, these characters are seen in a different light, as well as, there is the introduction of a completely different character. I’m not sure how to lay out the plot without spoilers, but this novel is basically about a man moving on with someone new and younger, and the previous wife left behind and how her world crumbles.

Honestly, this book dragged on for me. I can typically knock out a book this size in 2-3 hours. However, I read some of it on Tuesday and then spent a good deal of yesterday trudging through this one. To say that this novel includes an unreliable narrator would be the understatement of the year, but I don’t think it added to the quality of the novel. At times, I felt that Hendricks and Pekkanen’s writing was exquisite, but there were also several times where I was just completely sick of the ongoing, uncomfortable, and unnecessary details.

As promised in the blurb for The Wife Between Us, there are several twists and turns, one of which I did not see coming at all. But for me, these twists and turns confused me to death. I’ve never spent so much time going back to re-read earlier portions of a novel in attempts to figure out what the hell is going on. I continued onward, determined to see this through and figure out everything, but the ending was as disappointing as the rest of the novel. The best way to summarize this one is that it took way too much time and effort to figure things out and when things did begin to make sense, I just didn’t really care.

*Thanks to NetGalley for providing this book in exchange for my honest review!

I enjoyed this thriller that begins with a jealous ex-wife wanting to stop her ex-husband from remarrying. The story is told from the points of view of Vanessa, the ex-wife and the beautiful young fiancé, Nelly.

This is a tough book to review without giving away any spoilers. We know from the beginning that it’s a tale of obsession but there are so many twists and turns that what we think is true changes drastically more than once. We know that Vanessa wants to stop this wedding at all cost. She is desperate to keep Richard from marrying her ‘replacement’ (since the two women are much alike yet Nelly is a younger version of what Vanessa once was.)

But Vanessa’s reasons for wanting this marriage stopped go beyond jealousy and betrayal, and the truth is stranger and more shocking than we could possibly have predicted because in Vanessa and Richard's marriage, it's more about what we think we see than the real truth. It is only through Vanessa's flashbacks that we suddenly come to see that we've been wearing a blindfold.

Though I found Vanessa’s desperation and obsession to be a bit tedious at the beginning of the story, I was drawn into the mystery of trying to figure out what was really going after the first (of several) twists. We think we know everything when we come to the final chapter, the truth about Richard, Vanessa and Nelly. But we don't. This book is well worth reading for the surprising twists alone.

I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and the author for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
The official description of this book is meant to be mysterious and intriguing. Instead, it helped me figure out "the big twist" when I was about 2% of the way into the story.

From Goodreads.com:


"When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.
Assume nothing."


So I spent the majority of the book nodding to myself as the evidence mounted up that I was, in fact, correct. True, there were a few more twists toward the end, but I was absolutely correct when I guessed what the big secret was.

You would think that this would ruin the book for me, but it didn't. I actually really enjoyed reading it, perhaps partly because I wanted to vindicate my surmise, but also because it was just plain good.

Honestly, I don't know how anyone would NOT figure this out after reading the description, so I think the publisher should have gone with something else. But judging from the reviews I've seen, an awful lot of people didn't figure it out and were thoroughly shocked.

I found myself telling everyone I knew about this book. I gave multiple recommendations to women who had read The Girl on the Train and/or Gone Girl and liked them. Because that's the genre this falls into. I call it The Girl Who genre. You know what I'm talking about. And it's a genre I like a lot, so it was a relief that this book was so good, despite its transparent plot.

Rating out of 5 stars: 4

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

4.5 stars

The first major plot twist comes just over 100 pages into The Wife Between Us, and at that point I wanted to turn back to the beginning of the book and start over to see which clues I had missed the first time through. I didn’t—though I’ll probably read the book again and will definitely pay more attention to the hints next time. There are at least two more big reveals, and while neither of them brought the shock factor of that first one, co-authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen have done an incredible job of plotting out a complicated jigsaw puzzle of a thriller.

The Wife Between Us is inevitably compared to Gone Girl, and the two books do share certain traits, such as their unreliable narrators, focus on the dynamics of complicated marriages, and elaborate psychological schemes(/scams). But I found Nellie and Vanessa in The Wife Between Us far more sympathetic characters than Amy of Gone Girl, and for that reason I was more invested in seeing the book through to the end. Hendricks and Pekkanen very carefully unravel the story of Nellie, Vanessa, and Richard, the man who unites them, and while there were many points at which I wasn’t sure where the plot was going, I was more than satisfied with where it ended up.

The only misstep, in my opinion, comes at the end, in the book’s epilogue; the small reveal inserted there felt gratuitous, as the authors go one step too far in fitting together the characters’ back stories and the connections among them. That aside, The Wife Between Us is a great thriller that should be on the to-be-read list of any fan of the genre.

When you read this book, you will make many assumptions.
You will assume you are reading about a jealous wife and her obsession with her replacement.
You will assume you are reading about a woman about to enter a new marriage with the man she loves.
You will assume the first wife was a disaster and that the husband was well rid of her.
You will assume you know the motives, the history, the anatomy of the relationships.

That is all of what I thought. You meet the husband, his sister and who you think he is marrying. About 3/4 of the way in I had an idea who was playing the pranks and there is 1 character in the book that I didn't like and didn't trust. I could not put this down.

A book about an ex wife, her ex and his new fiancee. Nothing is as it seems and the ending of the boo,k throws you for a loop. Great read. I received this from NetGalley at my request.

So twisty and turn-y. The twist in the middle almost turned me off the book because I had no clue what was happening but I stuck with it and it came together quickly and quickly sucked me back in. Great, inventive writing. I wasn't sure how a book written by two authors would work, but I thought the writing was seamless. I've already recommended this to several people!

Sometime before Christmas of last year, I was contacted about coming on board the Blog Tour for The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. While I really wanted to join the blog tour - and really meant to - other blog posts, events, and well, life itself just got in the way.  Nonetheless, because it was such an awesome book, I definitely wanted to post my review as I promised I would.

There are so many plot twists and turns in this story, my head was spinning.  There were even times that I went back and re-read sections of the story just to be sure I read what I thought I read!

There's the ex-wife, Vanessa Thompson, who is obsessively jealous of the "new and improved model" - Richard's girlfriend, Nellie - who mirrors the woman Vanessa used to be.  Vanessa is forced to move in with her Aunt Charlotte and take a job at Saks.  When she inadvertently finds out that Richard plans to remarry, Vanessa begins to spiral out of control.  Her drinking doesn't help either. 

Nellie seems like a naïve young girl who is completely enamored with her fiancé, Richard but in truth, dark secrets of her past are lurking as well.  Because this is a thriller, I can't say much more without making this review a spoiler, so suffice it to say that when the publisher's description of this book says "ASSUME NOTHING", it is totally accurate!

The truth is, the authors kept me guessing pretty much from start to finish. The story is well written and fast-paced. Any psychological thriller fans don’t want to miss this one! This story was definitely a great collaboration from Ms. Hendricks and Ms. Pekkanen, who are an exciting new writing duo in the thriller arena! I seriously can't wait for their next release either!! The Wife Between Us is a twisted and thrilling novel touching on the subjects of relationships, marriage, and friendship.

First of all, I had to read this book after seeing it so many places and that everyone enjoyed it..The cover was pretty cool and I liked the name of the title..I was approved to read it and was hooked just a few pages in..great writing and flow. I enjoyed the plot and the characters .this is a novel of suspense about the completixty of marriage and truths and lies...This book definatly had me guessing and things were not as they seem.there are so many twists in it ..this book is most definatly going to be a best seller of 2018 and I cannot wait to get a hardcopy of this one to add to my bookshelve You will not be didappointed . I hope there are books by the author because I am ready to dive into more

4.5 stars The Wife Between us by Greer Hendrick: Sarah Pekkanen is just WOW! This is a fast-paced, intense psychological thriller jammed packed with twists. This is one of those books that on a rainy day you want to curl up and get engrossed in a great book. How would you feel and what would you do if your husband left you for a younger woman? Let's be honest does this scenario ever end well? Sit back and enjoy how this plays out between Vanessa & Richard. Just remember if you think you've figured it out you haven't assumed nothing!

I enjoyed this. It kept me interested and surprised me along the way. I will definitely be looking out for this duo in the future. Well done.

I couldn't cook dinner, answer the phone, or anything, I was so lost in the reading of the book. It grabbed my attention and let me tell you, I don't even know how to review this without giving anything away. I will say that it's a must-read! You will not regret it!

Are you paying close attention, dear reader? If you're reading this book... you better.

Filled with twists upon twists. It's Twistception. If you manage to guess each and every one before they happen, I'd have to bow down to you. I'm usually pretty adept at that particular guessing game, as I devour a lot of thrillers. I didn't see any of them coming. At one point I was backtracking to see if there were clues I missed.

This is a story about the women who have loved Richard. Charming, rich, and attentive, he seems to be a catch. When Vanessa met her future husband, she was enthralled. They seemed to be destined for a happily ever after, but their time was cut short. Forced from their giant house and cushy lifestyle, she now lives with her aunt, works a job in retail helping the rich women she used to count as friends, and drinks too much. She comes across as increasingly unstable. What went wrong?

Nellie is the young pre-school teacher engaged to marry Richard. Though some of her friends seem to think he's too good to be true, she's too in love to pay them much mind. She's never met such a caring man, one who only wants to make her life easier. Richard wants her to stop working, wants to take care of her... wants them to marry and then focus on having the children he desperately wants and has been denied in the past. But what is she really in for?

In this mind-boggling story, no one is safe and nothing is what you think. How many twists can one book hold? Personally, I could have done with one or two less. It started to feel like a bit too much. However, if the authors intended to write one of the most buzzed about and hard to put down books of 2018, they accomplished it. I feel it's success is guaranteed.

St. Martin's Press kindly mailed me an advanced copy of this book. I was in no way obligated to write a review, and chose to do so honestly and without bias.

I could not put down The Wife Between Us. I think I read it in 3-4 days and definitely neglected other things I should have been working on! Right away you get the sense that something isn't right with the narrators and I kept guessing what I thought was going to happen...and then before I knew it another crazy twist happened and I was left guessing again and again. I definitely wasn't predicting what happened - and that is rare for me! I have read books similar to this but The Wife Between Us is definitely on a whole 'nother level. I definitely recommend it if you're looking for a book that will keep you guessing til the end. You may think you know what's going to happen but you definitely don't!

What a fantastic read by Greer Hendricks: Sarah Pekkanen authors of The Wife Between us.
A gripping Ppsycological thriller that will keep you guessing! You don't know who to believe and who is really the one who has gone off the deep end. A lot of twist and turns and a great plot!
One of my favorites so far this year.
Thank you NetGalley for sending me The wife between us and to the authors who I will now follow.

The Wife Between Us bu Greer Hendricks is a story with multiple twists, it shows how controlling a partner can get in a marriage, manipulate the other person's thoughts, make that person weak and think whatever is going on is because of that one person only.
While reading this, it sounds like there's a jealous wife who is trying to do all possible acts to stop her ex-husband from getting a replacement for her - she doesn't like it that she is being replaced, she doesn't like the one who has to suffer and all along the husband gets a better life!

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC - this was a pulse racing thriller!
Oh that twist!

Pick up this book today and read with no assumptions and don't even try to guess!

Twisty book, really kept me reading. I was frustrated by Vanessa at times so I did get involved with her character. Only 3.5 stars because there were pieces in her story that either didn't fit or were not needed since the book never really tied it up. And the book is long - I thought I would be finishing it in an hour and looked to see that I was only halfway finished. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes suspense novels.

Wow. There were lots of interesting twists to this book. That could be somewhat of a challenge as I found myself at times having to reread a section to make sure I had the facts straight. Regardless, I didn’t want to put this one down!

This is very intense psychological thriller that makes a huge impact. It had me wondering if it was real or not.
I kept re-reading over and over to let it sink in. It has you questioning what you think you know and where nothing is as it seems.

My thanks to Netgalley, St. Martin’s Press and the authors Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen for an advanced ebook in exchange for an honest review.

A jealous first wife. Drinking to excess, fired from her job, she lashes out to those who are only trying to help her. The ex-husband, who is just trying to move on. The new fiancee, marrying the man of her dreams. The prologue reveals the first wife hiding in the shadows, stalking the fiancee. The blurb tells you to assume nothing and even though you know this, try as you might, you will still make assumptions. But that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you the plot. I will screw it up - I just know it. Even if I try my hardest, something might slip and I don’t want to ruin it for anyone. Just do yourself a favour, pick this one up and enjoy.

This was brilliant! I loved every second of this novel. I enjoyed the ride immensely, trying to figure out what was going to happen. It had a “couldn’t put it down” quality and was filled with twists and turns. So smart and so well done. The ending was so exciting and didn’t disappoint. I was invested in the characters and cared about what was happening. I tried to be cynical and say, okay, no one Is what they seem, you know there are”big twists”, just figure out whatever they are setting up and it will be the opposite. I mean, I’m not stupid, I read books, there are no new ideas. But, I have to say, it was fresh and I loved it.

So enjoyable, so much fun. A psychological thriller with enough substance that puts it a head above the rest. Come on - read it already so we can talk about it!