Rebecca’s best friend Nicole tragically dies but she is not convinced that it was as straightforward as an accident or suicide. Was her seemingly perfect husband Richard to blame in some way?
Rebecca fights her emotions to become Richard’s lover and the line between her investigation into Nicole’s death and her own love life become blurred. Richard has a daughter Olivia but is she quite what she seems?
We, as readers, get to see various different viewpoints through the bok including Nicole through flashbacks to the past. We make discoveries along with Nicole and Rebecca as they find that their ideal man is actually not so perfect. The parallels between the past and the present are a really clever device for allowing the plot to unfurl.
There is a big plot twist just over two thirds of the way through the book and although I had anticipated it, it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the book, instead making me feel a bond with the author.
I absolutely loved this book for the most part but I did not like the ending and found it a bit of a letdown compared with how brilliant the rest of the book was. I felt that the actions of Rebecca in the final chapters did not quite follow what we had learned of her character throughout the rest of the book.
The characters in the book are captivating as we get to see inside their heads and understand their experiences. The plot is quite fast paced and it is definitely a page turner.
This is the second of Sheryl’s books I have read and I look forward to her next one!

A great thriller that at no time is what you expected it to be. The central theme is you never know what someone's life is like from the outside. A friend's suicide leads the central character to question everything she knew of her friend's life until she finds herself living that life. Truly a different kind of thriller.

Rebecca is shaken to the core to learn that her dear friend Nicole has taken her own life......and is determined to find out the real reason why. Having received numerous cryptic messages about her new husband and his demanding and brutal daughter, Nicole's truth can only be known through carefully hidden letters and artwork that she left with a local art dealer, in the hopes that her trail of breadcrumbs would lead Rebecca to what really happened to her. Rebecca boldly plays the "mouse" and is successful in snaring Nicole's widower in her trap. Like Nicole, she too finds out the gritty details behind the father/daughter's story and vows in her friend's name to bring their ongoing sham to an end, by any means necessary. Unexpected, heartrending, and triumphant!

Really enjoyed this, quite a page turner although the beginning was slightly better than the rest
Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

A far fetched but totally indulgent gripping book about a dead wife....her husband and her friend.....totally readable and you won’t be able to put it down!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookcouture for the advanced review copy for this title. The story started so promising. A woman dies. Her best friend goes to her funeral with the intention of finding out the truth about what happened. Friend got too close to the dead woman's husband and slowly the friend finds herself living her late friend's life. A little twist here and there made this story entertaining.

A very smartly structured mystery thriller centering around two friends. There were so many unysual twists and turns that left you open-mouthed!. It was an enthralling novel

Do you ever come across a book that is absolutely mind boggling, leaving you scraping what’s left of your jaw, up off the floor because the entire time you read it, you were in awe, and on the edge of your seat? Yea, well I was just like that with this book here. The Second Wive is a cosmic explosion of twists, turns, and unexpected elements as you fly through this book. I read it a month or so ago, via NetGalley, and oh my word. There are no words to describe how this book made me feel.

Every minute of Rebecca’s life changing experiences became my own. Every pounding heart beat, mine. Every questionable thought, mine. Every. Thing. Mine. Watching what she went through as she stepped into her deceased friend’s life as the second wife…..well, sometimes, I had to stop reading because it became that intense for me. Watching her uncover the truth, watching her fears form….it was utterly chilling at times.

With Rebecca’s and Richard’s characters, you have the perfect blend of good and evil. But, the question is this: are they really good, evil and who they say they are? Browne did a fantastic job of waiting til the very end to let her readers know just what they wanted answered. These characters take your heart and squeeze…..squeeze so hard, your heart feels like it might burst and then, at the end of this white-knuckle thriller, you can finally breathe again. Your heart starts beating again, your breath starts to even out, your mind starts to think about all you just endured to reach the end.

If you looking for a book full of laughs and romance, don’t buy this book. You won’t like it if that’s what you are expecting. If you are looking for a book that will make you drool because your jaw is opened like a codfish the entire time, then buy this book. If you are looking for a page-turner, edge-of-seat, white-knuckle, heart pounding to bursting experience, then absolutely, without a doubt, 100% buy this book. You will not be disappointed and you will be giving it 5 star praises as I did. Fantastically down, Browne. Fantastically done.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley, Bookouture and was under no obligation to post a review, positive or negative.*

Thanks to netgalley for the opportunity to have read this entertaining read. I haven't read any novels by Sheryl Browne before, so I was going in blind. The book was a well solid read, and had me hooked from the beginning.
Recommended.

The Second Wife is another winner by Sheryl Browne. The story is well plotted ad fast moving, the characters engaging and the twits and turns surprising. I'd definitely recommend this author to fans of clever thrillers!

I kept reading so I would know how it all came together but the whole plot itself was a lot of head shaking and what kind of weird book is this? I'm glad the main character was smart and likable but man the whole thing was deranged, and honestly the answers given were a bit vague. I wouldn't recommend.

The Second Wife is a fabulous book which deals with psychological manipulation like a boss! I loved reading the subtle nuances and nudges that were meted out to Nicole pushing her down a certain path. Nicole already had an abusive relationship and this was just unfortunate. The only luck she had was in her friendship with Rebecca. I wish we all could have friends like her.

The author, Sheryl Browne, has dealt adeptly with portraying characters and showcasing hidden agendas rather well. There are mysteries that when answered had me gaping in shock. When you think this is going to go one way, it doesn't. You are constantly kept on your toes. It was an unputdownable read! All the convoluted brain games and deception were thrilling to read.

What an amazing thriller! Absolutely loved it; every roller coaster moment of it. This book was full of surprises, and there was no boring moment. I highly recommend it.

Full of bitterness, rivalry, jealousy, betrayal and deceit, making this a compulsive and addictive read. Thoroughly recommended.

Recommended the only reason l did not give it 5* is that l felt the ending a little rushed but well worth a read

I have to say I was pretty sucked into this book from the beginning and really wanted to enjoy it. But once I got through the first couple of chapters, I could kind of predict where this book would be headed and it kind of made me lose hope in our main characters. You meet Nicole, the "first wife" in this story -an artist who was once outgoing and vivacious, turned self conscious and broken down from an abusive previous marriage. She unbelievably falls for Richard, a super suave, wealthy sweet talker who basically asks her to marry him after hooking up one night. She agrees even though red flag after red flag are practically hitting her in the face. The chapters jump back and forth from different perspectives between Nicole, her best friend Rebecca who pops on the scene to try to figure out what really happened when Nicole winds up dead from an apparent suicide.
Rebecca begins to fall into this awkward affair with Richard, hence the "second wife" while she's digging for answers to her friend's death and it all seems quite weird. I felt the book was a bit on the unbelievable side with a lot of emphasis on misogyny and sex.

THE SECOND WIFE by Sheryl Browne is a psychological thriller that will keep you intrigued from beginning until end. This is a story of friendship, trust, love, and betrayal.

Rebecca and Nicole swore to be best friends forever. They were always there for one another, and would be best friends for life. They were like sisters. But they were both living in different countries, and hadn’t seen each other in a few years. Rebecca was divorced and living in France, while Nicole was living with her husband, Richard and his daughter, Olivia in the UK. Rebecca and Nicole stayed in contact by email.

But three years after they last met up, Rebecca receives a phone call from Nicole’s devoted husband, Richard. Nicole is dead, a tragic suicide. Drowned in a river close to her family home, Richard was the one who pulled her body from the water. Now he can’t even speak about what happened.

Rebecca is devastated and can’t believe her best friend, an artist, full of life and a promising future would take her own life. Why?

At Nicole’s funeral, Rebecca meets Richard for the first time and his grown-up daughter Olivia. But something doesn’t seem right to Rebecca and she had to know just what happened to her best friend Nicole, so slowly but surely, she sets in motion the plans for the truth to emerge, revealing the flawed characters and their alternate motives.

As Rebecca gets closer and closer to Richard, things go too far and she begins to slip into Nicole’s old life – staying in her home, sleeping in her bed… But if she’s going to become the wife Nicole never was, can she keep herself safe?

The chapters alternate between characters, (Nicole and Rebecca) as well as Richard and Olivia through different time frames.

The characters are well flushed out, and you will either love them or hate them. This is a well written emotional novel, with a surprise ending that I did not see coming. The second Wife is a true gem, that will appeal to a wide audience. Highly recommend!

Many thanks to the author, Bookouture via Netgalley for my digital copy.

Dark, twisted, creepy,gripping and excellent story. I think this is Sheryl Browne's best book yet. Highly recommended

This book was really slow to get going and I admit I struggled with it and almost gave up. Worth sticking out as although not one of the best I've read this year it did keep my interest enough to see it through.

This book was kind of slow to start but once I got into it, it was impossible to put down. I stayed up all night reading!