Marlena escapes her poverty stricken family at 15 and strikes out on her own, determined to turn her life around. She meets the enigmatic Michael Durst, who remakes her into the woman he wants by his side and as his wife. A twisted, darker My Fair Lady if you will.

Marlena is however the third Mrs Durst, what happened to the first two? She knew what she was getting into but did she realise Michael's capacity for possessiveness and his compulsive need for perfection? Which one of them will survive this relationship intact?

I read this book in one evening,The Third Mrs Durst was intriguing and I enjoyed every minute of it. I was also surprised to see, upon investigating the author, that this is not even her usual genre. It was a refreshing change to read a novel that followed a chronological timeline and one POV. An absorbing suspenseful thriller with some tricks up it's sleeve.

Many thanks to #Netgalley and #MidnightInk for the advanced copy of #TheThirdMrsDurst in exchange for my honest review.

Wow, thriller indeed! I was eager to read The Third Mrs. Durst hoping it was similar to The Last Mrs. Parrish. They started off with similar feel, but Mrs. Durst quickly became much, much darker. I could hardly put this book down once I started, and I'm eager to try other titles by Ann Aguirre.

Thank you to Midnight Ink and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I really like this book. It is well written, with an imaginative and bold storyline, and a twist of epic proportions that makes it well worth the read. And gives a little chuckle at the end. Just how bad was Michael Durst?

Some people just need killing.

Marlena Altizer Durst lives in her husband's shadow. He controls her every move—what she wears, the food she eats, and the friends she's allowed to make. If she disobeys, there are...consequences. And he has all the power.

To outsiders, it seems that she leads a fairy-tale life. But nobody ever wonders if Cinderella was happy after she married the prince. Marlena has traded freedom and safety for luxurious imprisonment, and most days, that seems like a bad bargain. Death may be the only exit she's allowed. Just like his first wife. And his second. Unless she flips the script.

I loved this book, great read, definitely recommend.

I recieved an e-book ARC of The Third Mrs Durst from Midnight Ink, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

The Third Mrs Durst is 50 Shades meets Wild Things with a little Pygmalion sprinkled on top. I throughly enjoyed the plot and the twists, and liked the characters, especially Joanna (all things aside, I absolutely adore her).

The story follows Marlena on her quest to meet, seduce, marry, and the destroy Mr Durst. Along the way makes some friends and allies, encounters some unplanned obstacles, and sacrifices nearly everything as she strives to bring him down.

If you enjoy intense stories that keep you guessing, with strong female characters, I would recommend this book to you.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2732934816
Also posted same review in Readfeed, Litsy (not word for word), and LibraryThing apps.

This one felt a little like The Last Mrs Parrish but better. I was hooked from the start and really enjoyed this. I'm really excited to see where the author goes next!

If you don’t mind looking over please
The third Mrs Durst takes 50 shades of grey to a whole new level of campiness without the erotic bits. Marlie is the small town backwoods girl who makes it as a famous model. Michael is the stereotypical arrogant wealthy dominating businessman who wants perfection and everything his way and no way else. This book is a very easy and quick read. Just sit back enjoy it’s guilty pleasure aspects and ignore the whole revenge plot as it seems completely inconceivable to ever work.

"Some people just need killing."

Marlena, a young girl from a nowhere town flees the shotgun shack, drug addicted mother and passel of half siblings to strike out on her own.

She hears of a way to be “discovered” by a talent agent and makes sure that she is in the right place at the right time. She is quickly signed on to modeling jobs and catches the eye of a very wealthy man who paves her way into a long term job in Berlin.

Soon, here benefactor takes a much more involved role in her life and her schooling, proposes marriage and launches her on the path to become his “perfect” wife.

Her husband, Michael Durst is a charlatan who creates a pedigree for Marlena so that he can rub his nouveau riche elbows with the old money barons and beat them at their own game. He is fake with everything to lose.
It soon becomes clear that Marlena has her own reasons for going along with his schemes but quickly comes to realize that she is in over her head.

The book was very fast paced and edgy. I did not find any of the characters to be particularly likeable and would have liked to have seen some more developed characters. Although it was necessary to keep the motivations in the shadow, I think it would have been more satisfying to know a little more of the backstory.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book really easy to get into.
I liked that we started off with Marlena as a young girl, and had a bit of back story on her. However, I almost feel like this would have worked better if her backstory/years as a struggling model was the main setting for her story, because as soon as she became Mrs. Durst, it went downhill quite quickly.
There was very little build up into the controlling husband figure, but a very slow burn from the beginning of the abuse to her escape.
I also think the Dee angle was a bit rushed/forced and there could have been a bit more alluded to that earlier on, especially as we get to know her in the back story.
The Jenny love interest angle was also a bit out of nowhere. There was nothing earlier on that hinted at any romantic love between them, if anything it seemed more sibling-esque, so the sudden turn to romance seemed a bit off.
Likewise with Vin, there didn't seem to be enough build up to finding a strong connection.
Overall, it was an engaging story, but reads more as though it is an earlier draft of a completed work rather than something that's been through editing and polishing.

Crazy book, but so good. It was absolutely disturbing, thrilling, and blood chilling. It was one that started in a way I wasn’t sure I would enjoy, but soon the suspense started and I couldn’t stop reading. It was absolutely heartbreaking at time, but with twists and turns galore, and so much chills it’s unputdownable! I highly recommend to those who love the chilling, thrilling, disturbing books, which make your head spin with all the twists!
I will be highly recommending in Chapter Chatter Pub and using in a challenge!

Wow! What a great book! So many wonderful twists and turns. I kept interested all the way to the end. Can't wait to read more of her books!

Fast-paced ~ Woman-driven

tl;dr: Bad men need to get what they deserve.

Mr. Durst might be a jerk but he's got the money to get three hot women in succession. The third Mrs. Durst knows just want to give him--death. I found this book familiar, a bit like that old movie Wild Things and a bit like a Romance novels. Mostly, I just didn't like Marlena. It made it hard for me to root for her. But, I can also see how someone would love this page-turner. If you are looking for a hard-@ssed chick who delivers retribution with some hot moments, and you aren't searching for interior development in the characters, this book is for you. I feel like this book would be ideal for readers of thrillers who yearn for strong female protagonists.

2.5

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Good potential plot, but wholly unbelievable.. Would have been better if the husband was not written as such a cliche. No real surprises here.

THE THIRD MRS. DURST is an original, tightly wound thriller that had me riveted up until the end.

Marlena is a model with an extremely rough background, who meets rich businessman Michael Durst. They marry after a whirlwind romance, but Marlena finds out that he is now going to control every aspect of her life and take away all of her freedom...and to make her the perfect wife. After all, it's his third marriage, and Marlena finds out the first two might not have ended the way Michael originally indicated. She's going to have to stay one step ahead of him and his head to survive the marriage and escape.

Ann Aguirre writes a captivating thriller that keeps building in suspense as everything unfolds. This held my attention and made it very hard to put down until maybe the last page or two, which I found a bit odd after everything that happened. Still a thrilling ride that I will recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ann Aguirre, and Midnight Ink for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received "The Third Mrs. Durst" by Ann Aguirre for free in exchange for an honest review. I was very excited upon learning this, as I have long been a fan of this author. One of my favorite book series ever was the Corine Solomon Series. (In fact, I think I may reread this again now!)

Okay-- so-- I knew this was a different type of book going into it. I liked the premise. It was dark and twisty and very reminiscent of "The Wife Between us." I could see what Ms. Aguirre was trying to do--it just didn't quite get there. The main character was not quite likable enough. The big reveal at the end wasn't that big of a reveal after all either-- too many hints were dropped. There wasn't enough back story about "Dee" either-- by the time the reveal came about, I couldn't recall ever having read about this Dee character-- which was surprising, as I read the book in less than 36 hours. The love interests-- Jenny and Vin were also not quite as built up as they should be for me to have any sort of feelings one way or another that they would work out. Many of the hints dropped like crumbs throughout the book were pretty obvious to me--to the point that I didn't feel that the main character was quite intelligent enough to come up with a plan to best her husband.

That's not to say that I didn't enjoy the book. I realize that this was a pre-publication read, so there will be some changes/improvements and edits done. (Hopefully with the formatting-- please! Sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking due to problems with new paragraphs and spacing.) Usually if I don't like a book, I don't finish it. I don't have the time or energy to do so. This book was good-- I could just see some changes that would have made it that much better. It was almost there-- but not quite. I know that Ms. Aguirre can do it. She has in the past. I look forward to reading more by her and will always consider her to be one of my favorites.

The Third Mrs. Durst is just as advertised, "Some people just need killing."

Marlena is first introduced as a young women looking for a way out of her impoverished life filled with a drug addicted mother in a small town with no room for social mobility. She quickly takes steps to change her circumstances and along the way Mr. Durst, a wealthy and shady businessman, is introduced.

Mr. Durst is an abusive monster in disguise looking to bridge the gap of the nouveau riche and old money with Marlena as his perfect pawn. Marlena has her own motivations for marriage, but quickly realizes she has less control than she previously anticipated.

If this story sounds too familiar, let me be clear, there are plenty of surprises along the way that keep the reader engaged. I consider this to be a thrilling and fast read that keeps the reader turning the pages until the end. It should be noted this book was difficult to read at times and the reader should be warned there are several explicit abuse scenes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I thought I had this book figured out but in reality I had NO IDEA. This book was super twisted and creepy and I LOVED it!! It gave me serious Gone Girl vibes and was pretty brutal, but in a good way!!

"Some people just need killing."

This book is a chilling cat and mouse game between two soulless individuals bent on the destruction of one another via marriage.

Marlena Altizer rises from humble, difficult beginnings, becomes a model and catches the eye of very wealthy and very controlling Michael Durst. It sounds like a modern day Cinderella story but as soon as Michael becomes her husband, the rules seem to change.

Each have secrets, private agendas and trust issues and thus begins the aforementioned cat and mouse game. Who will outwit the other? What are the rules? Is this a game to the death?

This is a fast, tight read that riveted me from page one and never let up until the end.

Thank you to Ann Aguirre, Midnight Ink and Netgalley for giving me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Story about a young girl from the wrong side of the track trying to get on in life by attracting a wealthy man. A tale of 2 halves where both the main characters target each other, but who will win out in the end? But as the title suggests, the main emphasis is on the feminine lead.

Not my usual type of book, but very readable. It is interesting to see how Mrs Durst progresses from an under r privileged beginning and at each stage of her development continues to improve herself, not just relying on her feminine wiles. Whilst not one of the prettiest girls she makes the most of what she had and also uses and develops her brain.

As both the main characters are using each other it would be easy to dislike them both. However the writing is such that you grow to have empathy for Mrs Durst and support her through to the end.

Some interesting supporting characters e.g the bodyguard & the sister which add value to the story.

No real surprises in the ending but some good twists and turns along the way.

Thank you to NetGalley and Midnight Ink for a copy of The Third Mrs. Durst by Ann Aguirre.
3* My rating is a soft three. Sadly, this story has been told so many times with not many new or interesting variations. Poor girl marries rich handsome man only to find out he isn’t what he seems. The author tries to change the typical narrative along the way but it came across as predictable and lacking much substance.
Marlena meets and marries Michael who promises her everything. The trouble with promises is there is always a hidden cost. After transforming Marlena into a cultured, educated and perfectly coiffed wife, things take a dark turn. Michael’s previous two wives have died. Will Marlena follow or can she change her destiny before time runs out?