I was excited when I first read the synopsis and couldn’t wait to get my hands on what was sure to be a terrific read. However, I was quickly bored and failed to feel any real connection to the characters. I felt the child molestation and affair aspects were pretty predictable but it just took so long for the author to reveal them. Overall, the book was just okay and fairly forgettable and the ending was totally unrealistic. Whatever character growth you perceived over the course of the book was thrown out the window as neither parent seemed to learn their lessons.

Unfortunately, this is the kind of book that wont take you long to read and will take you even less time to forget. It's not actually badly written but there was nothing surprising in this book for me.

You get pretty much the gist from the blurb ... and I hate it when book blurbs do this as much as I do with film trailers. When they tell you everything that's going to happen anyway, it's quite hard to surprise your reader. I kept hoping for a plot twist to arrive and one never did.

I did find it slightly far fetched that a defense attorney, someone who has based their whole life and career on their belief in the criminal justice system, would decide to take matters into their own hands. But I was prepared to suspend my disbelief in the hope that their would be hidden depths revealed.

Sadly, no. Nat is suspicious that her husband is having an affair. He's secretive with his phone and strangely absent a lot. Ah, this must be a clever ruse and something else will be going on. Oh no, it really is that cliché.

If you don't read many murder mystery/thriller books, you may find this entertaining, but I would hazard a guess that if you do, there will be nothing new in here for you.

Thanks to the Publisher and Netgalley for the advanced copy in return for an honest review.

For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt is a genre of book I love to read. The story is unpredictable and original. Natalie and Will, on a first date, over dinner and wine, casually discuss the possibility of getting away with murder. After marrying, they establish their law careers and have a son, Charlie. While a student in grade school, Charlie is seriously harmed by someone entrusted with his well-being and Natalie decides to take the law in her own hands, rather than let a broken legal system drag her child through the horrors of a trial. She thereby involves Will in her actions. The tension and stress that entails passes on to the reader. Not much more can be said without revealing the plot. This is a thriller that will surprise you all the way to the end, even the very last page. If you enjoy suspense that keeps you guessing, this is the book for you. Thank you to Mira and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

his book was definitely entertaining, but I still ended up with some mixed feelings…

My review contains unhidden spoilers..

Natalie and Will are married with an 11-year-old son named Charlie. In the beginning, their marriage was good, but as time went on everything seemed to fall apart with Will losing all interest in Nat. Their schedules are sort of crazy and everything seems controlled. Nat drops Charlie off at school one day and spots the police and questions why they’re at the school. It turns out that the principle (Robert) is being charged with a horrible crime against one of Charlie’s fellow schoolmates. All the parents are shocked, but Nat doesn’t even know yet that her son might be involved too. Being a defense attorney, Nat decides to take matters into her own hands with plans involving a murder.

The book covers difficult subjects, and I thought I might have to quit reading when I saw the direction it was taking, but because there’s more going on with the characters–an interesting subplot–I had to discover their outcome. On the subject of characters though–I really didn’t like Will. Here’s a man who gets bored with his wife (Nat), and decides to look for something more exciting. He doesn’t do a very good job covering it up either, in fact, he’s downright horrible at it, but luckily Nat doesn’t even seem to care. He becomes so hateful and angry toward her, and I wasn’t feeling any love in the relationship whatsoever. Of course Nat is preoccupied dealing with the cover-up and doesn’t have time to investigate what’s happening in her marriage. This whole ordeal just ended up annoying me though, and I began to wonder how anything could keep this couple together, regardless of the fact that they have a child. Nat seems forgiving, while Will becomes somewhat of a basket case who’s made poor decisions, and even at the end of the book it still isn’t clear whether he’s learned his lesson after he states how important his family is to him.

Robert’s sick and twisted behavior makes him easily hateable and luckily the author spared the details. After the plot to kill Robert, Nat wants to cover up every track, but some of her reckless choices just made no sense, especially coming from someone who knows the law like Nat does. It was parts like this that made her character a little confusing and less convincing as a vigilante. Just my opinion though.

I enjoyed the writing and appreciated that the author also included Will’s point of view at times, however, the ending of the book felt a little too quick and I can’t say I was satisfied with it. I feel like there was something thrown in the ending that was meant to be a twist, but it didn’t feel twisty and really felt unresolved to me. Maybe there’s another book coming? I know it seems that I’m being overcritical, and with all of that said, the book was STILL totally gripping and full of suspense. It was fast-paced, thrilling at times, and I was definitely entertained regardless of the annoyances. There were things I didn’t like about the weak characters and their behaviors, but I still wanted to finish the book and had a lot of feelings afterward. I’m definitely looking forward to reading more by this author.

If you like thrillers and suspense novels, definitely give this book a try.

3.5 stars

Thank you Mira Books (aka Harper Collins) for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I rate this book a 3 out of 5 Stars.

Not even going to lie, I stand with Natalie, and I fully support what she wanted. No spoilers here guys, but if you’ve read the book, you will understand what I mean. I liked that Natalie wasn’t Betty Homemaker, and that she had this cunning, hard edged, intense, side to her. She was more strong that her male counterpart, and put everything aside for her son. I loved it.

Wasn’t a fan of Will, he came across as an arrogant wuss. HAHA! But I also understand he was written that way on purpose. I had been in a reading slump, so this was such a great book to pull me out of it. I also want to add, that I do NOT like books based on this sort of thing, unless it is done discreetly, and with tact. I’d rather read implications, than details. So HUGE kudos to Hunt for succeeding in that!

I found the writing to be smooth, not to over the top dramatic, and very evenly paced. I loved the thrill ride I was taken on with this book. Hunt, did a great job with the twists, and turns, and the plot twists. It wasn’t too light, and it wasn’t too dark. It was a great thriller, and one that I couldn’t put down.

An intense twisty thriller! I love a good thriller that has a twist or turn in the book with each chapter ending that makes your want to keep reading and reading. The main characters Natalie and William already have a distant marriage and they are shaken to the core with a rumor that spreads through the small town. They are even more broken to realize this terrible event has had a direct effect on their son. To what lengths will they go to protect their son, protect their marriage and protect themselves? I really enjoyed this thriller and having my dedicated reading time at night made me want to stay up late to get through just a few more pages to see what happens in the end!

When Will & Natalie find out a family secret their strained marriage is put to the test – but can they pull off the perfect murder together?

I’m not really sure how I feel about For Better and Worse. On one hand it’s a very interesting premise and one which I think is quite unique - I liked the pacing of the plot and it was a very easy read. I also liked how the narration changed about halfway through the book from wife to husband, which I much prefer to the format of changing perspective each chapter. This gave you time to really get into the characters mindset and get to know them a little better before seeing the story from a different perspective.

On the other hand I didn’t actually like the two main characters – Natalie and Will and found them quite hard to relate to. They both made some very silly mistakes which I got frustrated at and this seemed to be more for the sake of the plot than to make it realistic. Everything felt a little too convenient at times and (no spoilers!) the ‘resolution’ to the plot was very hard to believe. The actual ending I quite enjoyed though and it was an interesting twist to the story. Although it was easy to read in the moment I found it a little forgettable after I had finished it – it didn’t inspire me to rave about it to others.

Overall For Better and Worse is a bit of a mixed bag – good concept and an easy read but let down by poor characterisation and convenient plot devices. Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin – Mira for a copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great read! Really enjoyed this book and it wasn't a storyline I had read before so it held my interest. I highly recommend it if you like suspense drama featuring families.

EXCERPT: I set my wine glass down on the granite counter. I suddenly remembered back to when we were remodeling the kitchen, and I had spent hours, days even, worrying about the countertops. Granite? Quartz? Butcher block? And what color - grey, white, the cool black swirly one Will had rejected immediately, but I thought would make a stylish choice? I had thought that if we had the perfect kitchen, it would create the backdrop for our perfect family life - eating meals together at the island, teaching Charlie how to make meatballs, rolling out pastry dough for summer peach pies. Looking back, it all seemed so naive. Who the hell cared what your countertops looked like when there were children out in the world right this minute being hurt? When my child had been hurt?

ABOUT THIS BOOK: On their first date back in law school, Natalie and Will Clarke bonded over drinks, dinner and whether they could get away with murder. Now married, they’ll put the latter to the test when an unchecked danger in their community places their son in jeopardy. Working as a criminal defense attorney, Nat refuses to rely on the broken legal system to keep her family safe. She knows that if you want justice…you have to get it yourself.

Shocked to discover Nat’s taken matters into her own hands, Will has no choice but to dirty his, also. His family is in way too deep to back down now. He’s just not sure he recognizes the woman he married. Nat’s always been fiercely protective, but never this ruthless or calculating. With the police poking holes in their airtight plan, what will be the first to fall apart: their scandalous secret—or their marriage?

MY THOUGHTS: I am still reeling from reading this! I went into this read blind. Having just now read the blurb, I am glad that I did because I got the full impact of the writing without the giveaways spoiling the plot for me.

I read Margot Hunt's previous book, Best Friends Forever, and loved it, so reading For Better and Worse was a no-brainer. It is very different, but every bit as good. Hunt has a knack for being able to perfectly portray relationships - those between friends, husband and wife, lovers, workmates, acquaintances - of making them very real to the reader. And then there is the great moral dilemma, actions and consequences, the fear of being caught. I read with my heart in my throat.

This is not a murder-mystery. We know whodunit. The big question is, are they going to get away with it? Because despite her background, Nat makes some very basic mistakes. I was yelling at her in my mind, 'What do you think you're doing? You should know better!'

And that ending!!!!!

I devoured this book, hoovered it up. I sincerely hope that the author is already hard at work writing her next book. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next!

💖💖💖💖💖

THE AUTHOR: Margot Hunt is the pseudonym of a bestselling writer of twelve previous novels. Her work has been praised by Publisher’s Weekly, Booklist and Kirkus Reviews. BEST FRIENDS FOREVER is her first psychological thriller. Her new book, FOR BETTER AND WORSE, will be released in December 2018.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Harlequin Mira via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com for an explanation of my rating system. This review and others are also published on my blog sandysbookaday.wordpress.com https://sandysbookaday.wordpress.com/...

Wow! This book blew my mind! There are a handful of books this year that I was completely blown away with and this is one of them. The plot, the writing style, the suspense of seeing if they get caught, checked all of my boxes for a perfect thriller.

This book was not on my radar to read until my fellow Traveling Sisters organized a group read. I am so glad I joined in with this one because I would have missed out on one of my top 10 books for the year. To say I loved it is an understatement. Okay so you get that I loved it!

Natalie and Will have been married for 17 years and know everything about each other, or do they? Is there a side to each other they don't know? While at Tulane in law school, they had joked they knew their way around the law so well they could commit a murder and get away with it. Wait, could they really get away with it? Why would they want to kill someone? I think it will all become really clear once you start reading. A parent's worst nightmare begins to unravel right in their own home. I think we can all relate to their desperation and rage but the actions they took were shocking. I literally gasped in shock as they set their plan into motion. Just as shocking was that one of them found it quite easy, almost in a sociopath type of way.

This book had me thinking about it every second I set it down. I flew through it in less than 24 hours. I had to know how it ended. Wow, what an ending it was. This was my first book by Margot Hunt and it will not be my last! I have a copy of Best Friends Forever on my kindle and you can bet I can't wait to read that!

Lies have short legs….

In the case of Natalie and Will Clarke, this happens to be a big detriment…a lesson to be learned the hard way.

Suburbia…life is good for Nat and Will. They have gone through Law school together, invested into their careers, moved into a quiet neighborhood with a good school system and began their family. Sure, their love life is not as exciting anymore as it used to be, but between carpooling, work, sports and life…marriage care and romance has moved a little on to the back burner. Understandable and nothing to worry about though. With a strong foundation, their marriage has not even begun to face the unthinkable. A test to come, in the worst of ways.

It all begins with a regular morning dropping off kids at school, except today there are lots of police officers parked around the premises and the community gossip cogs are running ramped. It turns out, the superintendent of the school was just put on leave of absence for alleged pedophile activities. As the hours pass and the gossip mill keeps on turning, everyone in town finds out who the kid was that has come forward with claim.

Nat and her son are having a beautiful time at the park having some ice cream, as she approaches the subject of what has happened in school. To her horror, her son begins to cry uncontrollably and it turns out that he was taken advantage of as well.

As any mama-bear, Nat is shocked, hurt, outraged and sick about it. The worst part is, the superintendent was a good acquaintance of the family…and Nat sees red. She secretly devises a plan on what to do about it while relying on all her experience as a defense lawyer to go about it. A quality or fault that intrigues, perplexes and disgusts her husband, as he gets involved involuntarily on a situation gone wrong!

Which one of the two ends up being the most cold blooded liar of the two? And are they smart enough to cover their tracks and get away with what they did?

What would you do?

***

Told for the first part of the novel in the voice of Nat and the second half from Will’s point of view, this novel is a wild ride. And I stinkin’ loved it.

Why so? Well…all of it seemed very contemporary and casual. You are on this girlfriend trip with Nat through her life and it is easy to understand all the nuances and efficiency of a working mother. All of it reads very plausible and there are funny moments as well as cringe worthy ones. And then there is “that scene” I about died right there and could hardly breathe and read on…a mishap in her act of revenge (as if holding my breath through it all could help in any case, haha).

I don’t read as many thrillers as some others, so I understand that there might be better ones out there. Perspectives are different depending on your walk of life or experience, so the molestation of a child is definitely something that touches me. As well as the devastation for parents and the ability to sit and twiddle thumbs while a life has to be restored to normal with the possibility that a pedophile gets away with it.

Fictionalized, of course, I thought this to be a great thriller to keep me on the edge with convoluted lies that come to light in the midst of it, that I am not touching on to spoil this review.

This is a page-turner for sure! :)

I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange of an honest review. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

More of my reviews can be found here:
https://scarlettreadzandrunz.com/


Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of For Better and Worse by Margot Hunt.

Natalie and Will are a regular couple with a sweet and quiet son living out their lives in suburbia. But when a trusted friend turns out to be anything but, things turn quickly for the worse. Natalie, a defense attorney, knows just how hard the system can be, especially on victims, and she's not willing to put her family through that. Taking matters into her own hands, Will is then forced to join to protect her. Just how far will a family go to evade the law and seek justice.

On a personal level, I get really uncomfortable with vigilantism. I totally understand it, and I whole heartedly believe that the justice system is broken and doesn't always do justice. But I also think that we need a system in place to avoid chaos and unlawful behavior. However, I can understand on a deep level how tempting it would be to act in the way that this couple did.

The writing was compelling, it was a story that had me hooked every step of the way.

On their first date, Natalie and Will, being both law students, talk about how they can commit the perfect murder — and get away with it. Over a decade later, what originated as casual chatter soon becomes a real-life situation in a bid to protect their 11-year-old son. Will they, with/despite their knowledge of the law, get away with it?

This was a real page-turner that I finished in a day because it was so intriguing and I kept wanting to know what would happen next. Are they going to get away with it? Surely they can't? But they might? Should I be rooting for them? Who's gonna screw up?

***********************************

Me: Ah, fast-paced and cuts to the chase. Just my cup of tea.

Me: Wait, is that a typo?

Me: Omg there are a lot of typos.

Me: Oh shit.

Me: Great, another thriller with excessive drinking and cheating.

Me: More typos.

Me: I hate cheaters zzzz.

Me: Is that another typo?

Me: How is it that the writer didn't notice these glaring mistakes?

Me: Everything's falling apart!

Me: Lol you know what, screw the typos. This book is a rollercoaster of emotions and I'm enjoying it. And ultimately, it's about how a book makes you feel isn't it? 4 stars it is (for now!)

Me: Woah, woah, woah, damn, that's a good one. But very far-fetched. Still, props for originality.

Me: That epilogue is soooo redundant UGH 3 stars!

***********************************

The high number of typos, spelling mistakes and grammatical errors really bug me. Then/than, you're/your, wrong character name used, no line breaks to differentiate character dialogue, everything's all over the place. I know it's ARC in e-book format, and I shouldn't be expecting perfection but it's no excuse, especially when I've read error-free ARCs before. Why would you even show such shoddy, mediocre work to the public?

With proper editing, this can be a great book with a unique and intriguing premise, engaging storytelling and interesting characters. Kinda far-fetched but that's why I read fiction — to escape reality.

Holy Murder Batman!! Ok, so this story is really a 3.5 star rating for me and I've rounded up.
"Some people just need killing " --> I couldn't have said it better myself and this story is exactly why that is true. I gave this book a 3.5 rating because it's a good story, but there is no murder mystery here or thriller. It's pretty straight forward. Having said that, it is a good story and the characters are all likeable and relatable. The author does a good job with character development. The scary part for me was how real this story could be. This literally could have been ripped from the headlines. And this is why I rounded up to 4 stars. I felt this was an extremely believable story. As a mother I could see myself being Natalie. This book will make you question how far would you go to protect your family. If you need to know my answer, see the previous statement and then read the book.
This book is good, it's intriguing and eerily feels like this could be your life if the wind blew the wrong way. While I don't feel like this was a mystery/thriller type book, I did enjoy the author's writing and will check out her other books.
My thanks to Margot Hunt, Harlequin and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This one makes you wonder. What would you do? Intense, fast paced, and great writing. Hunt has a knack for creating characters you don't like but are completely engrossing.

Content warnings include discussions surrounding addiction, suicide, child pornography, grooming and sexual abuse.

I’m sure that practically every parent who learns their child has been molested engages in some fairly imaginative revenge fantasies. For Natalie and Will, whose first date included a discussion about how they could commit the perfect murder together, fantasy has become reality. Are they smart enough to get away with it?

My answer, from the planning through to the execution and beyond, was a resounding “Hell, no!” Between them this couple made so many obvious mistakes I felt it was inevitable they’d be caught. While some of their failures were mentioned there were others that seemed obvious to me but were never brought up.

If the characters had no background in anything vaguely related to crime then I could have easily overlooked some of their missteps and chalked them up to their emotional state after learning of their child’s molestation but they both went to law school and one of them works as a criminal defense attorney! I kept wanting to tell them to binge watch some ‘Criminal Minds’, ‘Rizzoli & Isles’ or any of the ‘CSI’ or ‘Law and Order’ franchises. There are so many to choose from and a few episodes of any one of them would have helped prevent some of the face palm moments of this book.

I had expected that a book with such emotionally charged subject matter would be a difficult read but I actually didn’t feel much while reading. I didn’t find anything to like about either of the main characters. If I had connected to them at all I think this would have helped me care if their crime was discovered or not. It turned out that when I started writing my review immediately after finishing the last page I had to double check what their names were. I don’t remember the last time that happened.

Whoever wrote the blurb gave away too much of the story so I wound up spending the first half of the book waiting for something to happen that I didn’t already know. I found most of the sequence of events predictable and one part I didn’t predict simply annoyed me. I definitely liked the premise of this book and had high hopes for it. Unfortunately it didn’t work for me.

Don’t just take my word for it though. There are plenty of 5 star reviews so I’d encourage you to check out some of those before deciding if this is the book for you or not.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin - MIRA for the opportunity to read this book.

I loved the quick pace of this thriller, it gave me Liane Moriarty vibes - probably because of the suburban setting. I tore through this one, a very easy read! I felt the plot was believable and the characters made sense. This book took me 3.5 hours to read. 4 stars.

For Better and Worse is great book. This book makes you really think “What would I do if this happened to me. This is my first book by the author and I really did enjoy it.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Full review to come.
I deeply apologize, but life is a handful lately and I'm using all my free time to read, not review. I hope everybody understands.

This review is made possible by Netgalley and MIRA providing an ARC.
I would have liked the book better if had only been from Natalie's point of view and be just as surprised as she was when she learned things about her husband. I don't think that his point of view offered anything substantial to the narrative that could not have been accomplished if just from her side of the story. I did enjoy the story and how it progressed, although it did take a quarter of the way through to get to what she planned and that is when the plot gained speed and the reader is unable to put down the book and figure out if the perfect murder was accomplished. I would read more from Margot Hunt and will be looking for more books from her.