I heard so many good things about this book and I was so excited to read it! What a good quick read ! A page turner

This story started out a bit wobbly and predictable but shaped up to be a pretty good story with a decent twist.

What a great airplane read as I made my way to Sydney. The writing itself is a bit surface, but the plot is involving and the pages fly by. I really enjoyed it, and happy to push it as a definite beach read--the end twist is fantastic indeed--and hits you in the face.

Emily meets a Adam in a pub, and they fall head-over-heels in love. Things aren’t so easy with Adam’s mother, tough. Mother love can be deadly.

Emily finally finds the man she wants to spend the rest of her life with. Unfortunately, her future mother in law is less than ideal. She is passive-aggressive and manipulative. She does everything within her power to keep Emily from being happy and from feeling like a part of the Banks family. Or is Emily just being hypersensitive, possibly misreading signals? Can she learn to deal with her mother in law so that she can find happiness with Adam?

This novel just did not work for me. I didn't have the ending completely figured out but that was only because the storytelling wasn’t leading me in any kind of direction. It felt chaotic and contrived. Every choice and decision was convenient to the very end. I didn’t care for any of the major characters. None of them had any redeeming qualities. Emily was practically beat to death with red flags throughout the story but insisted on ignoring them as she plugged along, complaining all the while, questioning if she could every happy and at peace in life and in love.
This novel was labeled as a thriller and I was genuinely confused as to why for probably the first 75% of the book. I would recommend a hard pass on this one.

This book took a turn that I was never expecting and left me thinking about it days later. Sandie Jones did an amazing job of guiding readers in one direction when the exact opposite was taking place. I can't wait to recommend this book to my book club. Wow!!

Wow, all I can say is wow! What a compelling and suspenseful story! I was on the edge of my seating waiting for what would happen next. I felt for Emily and what she had to endure. Throughout the story, I hated Pammie for the way she treated her future daughter in law, Emily. I was waiting and waiting for her behavior to be revealed to her son Adam and then, TWIST! I never saw the ending coming! What a great read. I would highly recommend.

See my review on goodreads.com

Imagine cheerily jaunting along to your house and finding another couple moving their household goods in while yours are completely missing. This is the predicament that Fiona Lawson finds herself upon returning early from a weekend away. Told in vignettes via podcasts called The Victim, Fiona regurgitates what has happened before and since finding out about this transaction. The alternate chapters are narrated by her husband, Bram, elucidated in a word document. Bram and Fiona had split due to his marital infidelity but had been sharing living in their home at different time frames to co- parent their two young children. However, as the story unfurls, events cascade that threaten their fragile alignment even more. At first, I was very intrigued with the style but by 30% I felt it was monotonous and longed for something more to happen. As if the author could hear my thoughts, things picked up steam with lots of twists and turns and a shocking ending. A mystery that is more a character study, it deserves a vigorous round of applause...

I love this book. The writing is amaxing, the story is gripping and it's a page turner. I give it 4.5 stars and a strong recommendation.

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones is the type of story that early on you get the entire general idea of what will happen but still fun to sit back and wait for the fireworks and enjoy the show along the way. Even though I had an inkling of where the story was headed I still read it and did enjoy it.

This was a good story. Alot of great characters & detail. However, It was like a lot of the books that are currently out. I would still recommend this book to other who would enjoy this story.

Very good. Kept me guessing. Didn’t expect the end. I would definitely read more from this author.

First of all, this book is super frustrating! And it’s supposed to be. Did you ever watch "Anger Management?" This book was like that. It will give you serious are you kidding me???? anxiety! It will keep you flipping pages and throwing it across the room in frustration! Ha! But in the end, I just didn’t get it. I wasn’t a big fan of the ending and I wasn’t a fan of the main relationship of the book. Emily and Adam – I just didn’t get it. She was going through all this stuff with the mother and I’m like for what??? Just cut and run girl! There are other fish in the sea!

Emily loves Adam. (Again why? Because he’s gorgeous? Seriously girl, it's not worth it.) But his mother Pammie has it out for her. She is like Marie in “Everybody Loves Raymond” except for a million times worse, tearing Emily down any way she can. Lies, manipulation, deceit… But in the end who will win?

To be fair, I had super high expectations going in because all the reviews I read before built this book up super high, so it could be that that’s why I was slightly disappointed? Even though my favorite books are mysteries and thrillers – and I like ‘em dark and twisty :-P – I am a sentimentalist at heart and I want a love story. Like it can be a super sadistic and twisted obsessive love story - Hello! I LOVE <u>Gone Girl</u> and also loved the new J.P. Delaney: <u>Believe Me</u>. But I <i>get</i> those on some weird level - Love will make you do some crazy stupid stuff ya’ll. But the “love” story was central to this book and it didn’t make sense to me.

It was still a quick, suspensful read and the writing style was very readable. I liked the book as I read it but I was just so frustrated by the points mentioned above I couldn’t move past it.

Entertainment Value: 3.5
Characters: 3
Voice: 3-4
Plot: 3
Overall: 3 stars

<i>Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!</i>
See my reviews @ mamaneedsabook.blogspot.com

I really enjoyed this book. It stars out with our main character Emily meeting and falling in love with Adam. The two are just about as in love with each other as can be. And things are going great for them, until things change. Suddenly because she can't be on her own any more Adam's mother Pammie, moves in with the new couple and starts to rock the boat. Pammie can't stand Emily from the very beginning however she hides it from everyone except Emily. This leaves the tension between Emily and Adam at a high point. I found the tension between Emily and Pamela very interesting especially how Adam was blinded to the whole thing. I don't understand how that would be possible but that's part of what makes this a good book. What I liked was how even though Emily didn't get along with her Mother in Law she tried but she didn't cave to anything important she was a strong woman battling with another strong woman. Will the two women be able to fix things between them, and if not who will Adam side with? I really enjoyed this book and it was crazy to see all of the tension between the main characters. I couldn't imagine being put in that situation with the mother in law from hell. Very nice thriller. The whole time I was yelling at Adam and growing less and less fond of him. I just didn't understand how he couldn't stand up for his wife in anything. They were a married couple, a united
front so to speak but he caved and let his mother in where she didn't belong. I would be furious. I also liked how our main character Emily didn't take any of this lying down she picked her battles both with the monster in law as well as with her husband. She knew what she deserved and hell she was going to get it. This thriller was very different and not as much in your face as I'm used to but there was so many subtle and simple moves that it was amazing just the same. My favourite part had to be the ending it was such a shock that I never in a million years would have seen coming and it just made everything make sense. Great read with lots of deception you never knew what to expect. The best part about this book is even after you find out what happened I feel that it was written in a way that you could read it again and again and still enjoy it just as much if not more than the first time.

Wow! I cannot recommend this debut psychological thriller enough. I’ve been reading so many thrillers lately, but this one was a great reminder of why I love them. Could not put this down and sorry I finished the story so quick. I’m excited to read more from Sandie Jones! Put this on your To Read List for sure!

A really interesting book. Emily meets Adam at a bar and soon they're a couple. When he takes her to meet his mother: Pammie she shows her a family photo album with a picture of a girl known as Rebecca with a cryptic caption.

Pammie does not like Emily and makes no pretense about it but of course Adam doesn't see this because she only shows her true colors to Emily.


At Adam's 30th birthday party his mother faints. She constantly comes between them causing distance in their relationship.


Emily finds herself attracted to Adam's brother James and Pammie tells her at one point that she set it up.


At their last dinner before the wedding Pammie breaks down and tells them she has stage 3 breast cancer, which Emily doesn't believe and later finds out isn't true when she takes her to a chemo appointment and then observes Pammie immediately leaving the hospital. When Emily confronts Pammie she at first tells Emily she mixed up her appointment but Emily tells her she doesn't believe her and knows she doesn't have cancer because she checked with the chemo department and they have no record of her being a patient.

Emily becomes pregnant so there is no wedding-its postponed because of Pammie's "cancer".

Adam is caught cheating on Emily at his brother's Her sister in law tells her what a grat person Pammie has been to her which shocks Emily.

One day when Pammie is supposedly at a chemo appointment Emily discovers an inhaler hidden in a secret compartment in a dresser.


Rebecca died of an asthma attack and she didn't haver her inhaler with her which was something her parents couldn't understand as she always had it with her.. Pammie is with her when she dies. so Emily assumes that Pammie hid the inhaler because she found Emma a threat, thought she'd take Adam away form her, he would care more for her than for his mother.

At the baby's christening Emily sees Pammie and she isn't looking well (she has lung cancer).

It turns out that Adam withheld Rebecca's inhaler and Pammie watched him and didn't do anything to stop him and she hid the inhaler to protect him.

He has a terrible temper and Pammie goes to Emily's aid when Adam is beating her and tells her that she's orry for all that she did to her, that she was trying to warn her off, to get her to leave Adam before he could seriously harm her as he did Rebeccs.

Pammie wishes she had done it sooner while she still had time. Adam is arrested.

At first I thought the other woman was Adam's lost love Rebecca and shw would always come between hi and Emily.

It turns out the other woman was Pammie his mother.

A very interesting and sometimes twisted story.

The Other Woman is a fast paced, suspenseful read. Set aside enough time to devour it in one sitting because nothing will make you want to put it down!
When I think of "the other woman" I usually think of another woman vying for the affection of your spouse/lover. It could be a younger and prettier version of yourself. That would make anyone jealous. What if it's your significant other's mother? In this particular book Adam's mother is doing everything in her power to tear Emily and Adam's relationship to shreds. Just ignore her, right? Emily could do just that but that's much harder than you might think!
So many twists and turns. Just when you congratulate yourself for figuring everything out, you will be slapped in the face by one revelation after another. Don't consider yourself brilliant just yet...you will be guessing until the very end!
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am eagerly waiting to read another book by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You Should Read This If:
-You’ve gotten bad vibes from your mother-in-law and need to commensurate (and/or feel significantly better by comparison).
-You’re into domestic noir/psychological thrillers, because this novel stands pretty solidly next to the peers of its genre.
-You like British-y things. Like dry wit and the word "mum."

Emily is a 20-something young professional when she falls in love with Adam. Only problem is: Adam’s got a mom. Turns out, Adam’s mom would prefer to keep her son all to herself -- and she’ll stop at nothing to make that happen.

This was such a nailbiter. I loved the authentic characterization of Emily -- I found her to be super relatable. She was just being fun and young and British when she got caught up in something toxic and twisted.

And twisted this book is. There’s a slow-building subtly that leaves the reader feeling confused as to who they should believe. Could a boyfriend’s mom really be this manipulative or is Emily just straight up losing it?

Sandie Jones is a strong writer. The narrative moves along at a nice clip, but Jones is sure to make time to include some witty banter between Emily and her pals. Overall, this was a strong and unique addition to a genre that has been churning out very formulaic books for this past 5+ years; Jones adds something creative to the collection.

Rating: 7.5/10, because I'll probably forget the details of this quickly, but I’ll remember the horrifying feeling of a mother-in-law showing up uninvited at her future in-law’s bachelorette party -- and how good Jones was at making that feel eerie, not vapid.

I really liked this one, but I knew something was amiss with Adam’s family, and didn’t need to be hit over the head with all the clues. I think the author tried a bit too hard to throw red herrings in the mix. Jones is a good enough writer that she shouldn’t feel she must keep the readers’ attention at all times. I would have loved to hear more of the backstories of the major characters. But, all-in-all, I do recommend this book highly!

4.5 stars

Holy Crap!!! What did I just read!?! I DID not see that ending coming - not at all!!!

Emily has finally met the perfect man. Adam is caring, attentive, and loving. After a heart-breaking betrayal and breakup and after a few years of dates that led nowhere, Emily has finally found the one. The only downside - he seems to be unnaturally close to his Mother, Pammie.

His super closeness to his mother might be easy to overlook if Pammie was not quite so despicable and hell bent on ruining their relationship. It appears as if Pammie wants Emily gone from her son's life and is willing to lie, scheme, and manipulate to get what she wants. Adam is oblivious to his mother's antics. He defends his Mother and often blames Emily for the rift and distance between the two women.

Holy Hell! Talk about a book with a shocking ending. As I stated, I did not see that one coming. I was SHOCKED and loved every second of it. I am so happy there were no spoilers out there. I love when a book can leave me sitting there with my mouth hanging open. That is exactly what this book did!

The characters in this book are fantastic, some you will love to hate and there are some you will love. I love when an Author can pull of characters that readers love to hate. I think that is a gift and, in this book, made the book even more enjoyable. Talking about enjoyable, I enjoyed this book from beginning to end but that ending.... Read and find out! Other reviewers are recommending going into this book blind with only the brief synopsis to light your way. I agree with this whole heartedly. The less you know the better!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press-Minotaur books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.