Nicholas Madison introduces himself to Elena Langdon at the cemetery after her mother dies; he is absolutely charming, and Elena falls for him, as he is there to help her get over her mother’s death. Elena learns that Nicholas was married before and his wife ran her car off Mason’s Pier and drowned (we learn in the prologue it is a suicide); her body was never found. The Wife Before Me tells of what Elena is up against with Nicholas’ memories of his first wife, Amelia; Nicholas insists she is jealous of Amelia and he’s obviously never gotten over her death.

Anyone who has experienced themselves or has been privy to a relationship with a narcissist will experience déjà vu as they read this psychological thriller. Many of the scenarios will be predictable, and the jealousy and cruelty exhibited by Nicholas will hit home. Others who haven’t known anyone with these tendencies will be shocked that people can actually act that way towards someone they supposedly love. The result of Elliott’s excellent storytelling is a gripping thriller that is actually uncomfortable to read, but absolutely impossible to put down. The suspense is palpable, and it begins at the start of the novel and doesn’t quit until the very last page.

Elliott has skillfully developed her characters, and they are believable. Nicholas is so true to form, it is impossible to believe he isn’t a real person. Like all narcissists, everything Nicholas does works out to his advantage, even though his efforts are full of lies and deceit.

The Wife Before Me is an eye-opening thriller that is well-written and believable. It is definitely recommended reading for thriller aficionados who like something different.

Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

I found this book very dark and hard to read at times due to the subject matter but it still kept me hooked the whole way through and i would have no hesitation in recommending it.

Thank you very much to NetGalley Bookouture and Laura Elliot for the arc of The Wife Before Me my reviews is honest and unbiased.

This is a decent dark psychological thriller. It starts as a love story that becomes a tale of violent, domestic violence. I’ve given it 3 stars overall as it felt a little too predictable for my liking. That being said, the writing is good and it’s an easy book to get engrossed in.

Published by: Bookouture (22nd August 2018)



ISBN: 978-1786816153



Source: Netgalley



Rating: 3*



Synopsis:

One evening as the sun is setting, Amelia Madison’s car slides into the sea off Mason’s Pier. Her body is never found.

Two years later, Elena Langdon meets Nicholas Madison. She is grieving the loss of her mother, he is grieving for his wife. Together they can help each other.

Now Elena is living with Nicholas. But Elena doesn’t really know him. She doesn’t know what he is capable of.

And she doesn’t know what really happened to Amelia.

Until the day she discovers the torn page of a letter and the words she reads chill her to the bone.

Elena must find the person who wrote these letters if she is to save herself.



Review:

When I haven't enjoyed a book as much as averages review scores tend to suggest, I do something that's rather out of character for me, and read those other reviews prior to writing my own, in case I've completely missed the point, or fallen asleep at a crucial moment and awoken later having omitted to read some vital shred of the plot that ties the whole book together.



The Wife Before Me has some rave reviews, but I felt so disappointed with it. Some aspects of it I thought were well done, such as the domestic violence. As a survivor and also someone who has worked in DV, I found it to be realistic. However, I found it confusing at times and it was difficult to work out who was narrating. The ending was the biggest disappointment of all, it seemed so illogical. I read the last sentence and, I kid you not, actually said out loud "What?! Is that it?!" I found it contrived and it also felt rushed.



Thanks to Bookouture for the ARC via Netgalley. This is my unbiased opinion.

“The Wife Before Me” by Laura Elliot starts like a nice romantic story. It has a great cover that pulls readers right into the first line. However, sensitive readers should be cautioned that this is not such a nice little loving story. This book is a psychological thriller that contains both emotional and physical spousal abuse as well as elements of graphic violence that some readers may find disturbing.
Elena Langdon meets Nicholas Madison, and all is well. (They meet at a funeral, which itself is rather creepy and forecasts the much more creepy to come.) When she discovers a torn page from a letter, things take a turn to the dark side. Amelia finds out that she does not really know Nick, what he is capable of, or exactly what happened to Nick’s deceased wife.
The story is told primarily from the points of view of Elena, and Amelia, (Nick's first wife) and alternates between the present and the past. This establishes the pattern of abuse, and helps readers connect with the women; however, it is at times confusing. There are lots of minor characters and exacting details.
The book follows the pattern of other current novels focusing secrets, lies, and a deceitful husband. The pieces of the puzzle come together slowly, very slowly at times, and the narrative is filled with emotion and anxiety as well as secrets and a final twist.
I received a copy of “The Wife Before Me” from Laura Elliot, Bookouture, and NetGalley. I recommend this for readers who like psychological thrillers and can tolerate some violence and elements of abuse.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy.

This books starts as a romantic love story( which I am so not a fan of) but rapidly turns into a book of mental physical and emotional abuse.

There are many descriptions of the storyline so I don't feel the need to rehash it. I will say there are an awful lot of secondary characters which I found rather confusing at times. There were elements of the book I found tense but the supernatural part threw me off and I found it implausible.

With every Laura Elliot book I read I become even more of a fan...I love her writing style, her ability to make you feel like you know her characters personally....the good and that bad ones.
I loved this book. I was hooked from the start and literally kept reading ..... all day, until this rollercoaster ride was over. The ending....awesome...this book...awesome.
Can’t wait to see what stories she comes up with next!

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This book had me hooked right from the beginning, its about a married couple Elena and Nicholas. A real page turner.

This book delivers! There’s suspense, frustration, anticipation, drama, suspicion, surprise, and the list goes on!
A brief summary, without giving too much away, goes a little something like this... Our smart leading lady, Elena, meet Nicholas, who is initially charming, sweet, the perfect person. Nicholas has a past that includes a dead wife, and although it happened in the past, it seems as though Nicholas cannot put her, Amelia (dead wife) in the past. Eventually, Elena sees Nicholas for who he is after he has physically and emotionally abused her time after time; after putting some pieces together, she finds someone from Amelia’s past who Elena thinks can help her to prove who Nicholas really is after they are now separated and he has custody of their children. Yes, crazy things happen in this book which got the characters to this point, again, YOU need to read this book!
If you love strong, intelligent female characters and unexpected great endings, then I encourage you to read this book! You will not be disappointed! It’s so good that I can’t even touch the ending because I wouldn’t want to spoil it for anyone! Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture, and Laura Elliot for gift of this e-book in return for an honest review.

THE WIFE BEFORE ME is an amazing gripping novel that is definitely worth the read. I went back and read all of Elliot's novels. Read them all yourself you will not be sorry as they are all so completely different but equally great.

The Wife Before Me was a difficult read for me, not in the least because of the subject matter. Spousal abuse in many forms was a key aspect of the book, which makes it hard to say I enjoyed the book. My main difficulty came in the form of the multiple points of view, wife #1, wife#2, the friend, the only viewpoint not explored was the husband's. The pacing was slow, it took a long time for me to get used to the narrative technique, and though the characters were complex, they were not compelling to me. All that being said, I did appreciate the intensity of the suspense and the story picked up speed as more and more was revealed, however the ending was disappointing.

I'm torn by this book. On one hand, I really liked it. It had the trappings of a Lifetime Movie Network thriller: dead ex-wife, abusive husband, British accents. On the other hand, I really had trouble staying with the story once the multiple perspectives started. Adding in Nicholas's perspective, even for one measly chapter, was unnecessary. Using a ghost as a character was, again, unnecessary. I get that the author wanted to use the twist of "Is this Annie or is this Amelia?" but there was just too much shoved into the story at that point. Sometimes less is more! I was also thrown off by how Nicholas died. Was he crushed by a rock? Was he thrown from the cliff? I reread that page multiple times before finally just shrugging it off and going ahead with the story.

J’ai eu une théorie qui s’est avérée vraie mais elle ne s’est pas arrêtée là. Elle s’est doublée d’un twist qui m’a touchée et surprise. C’était fou.

Ensuite, la présence de Nicholas s’est fait de plus en plus oppressante au point que j’en devenais paranoïaque. J’avais l’impression que ses yeux et oreilles étaient partout, si bien que j’étais constamment sur le qui-vive. J’avais peur en permanence et dès que quelque chose de mauvais se produisait, pour moi, c’était forcément de la faute de Nicholas. C’était incroyable! L’action m’a véritablement tenue en haleine du début à la fin.

Bon, j’aurais voulu qu’Elena soit plus directive dans ses actes, plus réfléchie mais dans le même temps, je comprenais pourquoi elle était paralysée et j’admirais son tempérament combattif.

La dernière partie m’a énormément surprise car elle emprunte à un genre que je n’attendais pas du tout. Pour autant, j’ai adoré ce retournement car cela rend l’histoire encore plus forte et unique.

I was looking forward to reading this book, kept it until I could start it on my days off. I'm certainly glad I did! Google mystery/thrillers with WIFE in the title and you'll find many, too many to count. But this one should be read by all lovers of the genre. What do you do when you discover that you really do not know much about the man you love? What can you do when you begin to wonder if he's a murderer? More to the point, what will Elena do? Certainly not what I thought she would do! Laura Elliot has written a thriller that will be hard to follow.

The synopsis describes this book as “A totally breathtaking page-turner about the darker side of love and what really goes on behind closed doors” and it delivers what it promises.

Elena Langdon meets Nicholas Madison at her mother’s funeral. Elena finds emotional support in Nicholas and both soon get romantically involved and start living together. But what seems to be a match made in heaven soon turns into a nightmare. Nicholas’s dark past and the mysterious disappearance of his first wife; Amelia, comes back to haunt them. Will Elena able to uncover his past and find some much needed answers?

<i> The Wife Before Me </i> is a gripping page-turner. The book will have you gripped from the very first page till the final twist. The plot shifts track from a being a romantic story to a dark thriller at an extremely fast pace and you can feel the tension growing with every page. The characters, even some of the supporting ones, are well developed.

In Act I, set in the present, we look at Elena’s story and how her dream marriage turns into a nightmare. Nicholas slowly reveals his violent nature, inflicting violence on Elena even at the slightest disagreement. The acts of violence just keep on multiplying. (shades of <i> Sleeping With The Enemy </i> here) The abuse is not just physical but mental and emotional as well.

In Act II, we know more about Amelia’s story which is almost a repeat of Elena’s story. It’s like a vicious cycle of domestic abuse & torture and the violence keeps getting more disturbing each time. Both the women are unable to take a stand against it, even blaming themselves for the violence at times, which was more frustrating. Domestic Violence is a serious issue but the repeated description of violence becomes sickening, after a point.

The mystery is uncovered in Act 3 but you feel mentally exhausted by the time you reach it. The narration randomly shifts from 1st person perspective to the 3rd person at times, making it difficult to follow the story at times. The plot too loses pace towards the climax. Perhaps having read too many domestic thrillers, the final reveal felt predictable and the overall ending felt a bit underwhelming.

Overall though, the story was good and it addresses a very important issue. The writing was excellent and the writer weaves a nice engaging story. I would surely love to read more of the writer’s works. If you love domestic thrillers, you will enjoy reading this.

<b> Thanks Bookouture and Netgalley for the ARC. </b>

One evening as the sun is setting, Amelia Madison’s car slides into the sea off Mason’s Pier. Her body is never found.

Two years later, Elena Langdon meets Nicholas Madison. She is grieving the loss of her mother, he is grieving for his wife. Together they can help each other.

Now Elena is living with Nicholas. But Elena doesn’t really know him. She doesn’t know what he is capable of.

And she doesn’t know what really happened to Amelia.

Until the day she discovers the torn page of a letter and the words she reads chill her to the bone.

Elena must find the person who wrote these letters if she is to save herself.

All I wanted to do was keep yelling at the book, "Leave him" pack your bags and get out. Elena wants to know more about Amelia and why she did what she did. She is to afraid to tell her friends what is going on. She does confront Nicholas's parents but they don't believe her and don't want to hear it. Then something happens to put her in jail and can't see her children. What she goes through to prove everything that has happened to her makes you want to keep reading and not put the book down.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for a copy of Laura Elliot's wonderful book.

This book deserves more than 5 stars. It was wonderfully written, I cared about the characters and I wanted to keep reading to see what would happen to them.

One evening Amelia Madison and her car disappeared into the sea at Mason's Pier. Her car was found but Amelia's body was never located.

Fast forward two years and Elena Langdon meets Amelia's husband at the funeral for her mother. Deep in grief Elena leans on Nicolas. Elena has no idea who Nicolas is and what he is capable of. A handsome and compassionate man is what Elena believes him to be.

What is at first written almost like a romance novel takes on a chilling quality. Little does Elena know what horrors she will live at the hands of Nicolas. Nicholas makes sure that she is totally dependent on him, even to the point of losing all her money in bad investments so that she would not be able to leave him as she is penniless. The book has several shocking twists and turns and you don't know what will happen next.

Ms. Elliot has written a brilliant book about the lives of battered women and the bravery that it takes to move themselves out of harms way. Both Amelia and Elena suffered almost the identical fate. Nicholas' enabling parents don't see what a monster their son is. This is at times not an easy book to read because of the domestic violence but it has an important message to convey.

I love pretty much everything bookoutre puts out and this novel was no different. It is a fast paced, dark and thrilling domestic noir. Told from two different POV and two different times we learn from both Elena and Amelia that history has a way of repeating. A very satisfying read. Thank you for my ARC by Laura Elliot, netgalley and bookoutre.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* This is one of the books that get under your skin. I felt so invested in Elena's life and her struggle against her brutal husband. When Elena returns to Ireland from Australia to attend her mother's funeral, the last things she expected to do was fall in love. Yet she does. Somehow, through her grief, she falls for Nicholas' charms. He, too, is grieving, after a tragic accident that took his wife away from him. Living in a lovely Irish village, in a delightful country house, Elena and Nicholas seem to have the perfect relationship, the perfect existence. However, like in all good domestic thrillers, nothing is as it seems on the surface. Chock full of twists and turns, you won't be able to put this book down until the very end.

A frightening descent into the world of violence and abuse at the hands of the one who is supposed to love and protect you. I had guessed part of the story before the big twist but this book held me in its thrall. Page by page I was drawn in to the dual narratives of Amelia and Elena as their stories unfolded.
Parts of it seemed a bit distant, as if we just skated over the surface with no real depth to the characters and I did struggle towards the middle when, in my head, I was screaming ”Just get out. Get out now!” But it captivated me enough that I couldn’t stop reading.
A great book which I read in one day.