Claire Wescott has put her past behind her and is living the life she always dreamed of, married to a man she loves, working towards a literary career and planning to start a family. The only problem in her perfect life is living in the shadow of her husband’s “starter wife”, a woman he still loves but may have killed. When strange things begin to happen to Claire, she starts to investigate her husband, determined to find out if the man she loves is guilty or if the rumors are wrong.

Initially, this book read like so many other suspense books but an unexpected twist turned everything I thought I knew upside down. Nina Laurin’s story of domestic bliss is a great read and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys good story telling.

I have picked up a lot more suspense books over the last year and I think they might be one of the hardest genres to write even if it doesn’t seem like that at first glance. The author has to create mystery and suspense without confusing the reader. The Starter Wife was on the confusing side of the equation. It was hard to follow in but if you stick with it the story will start to come together. It kept me engaged to the end of the book but the story about Claire was slightly annoying and fell a little flat for me, Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Whoa! What a tailspin! This book was quite engrossing and a page-turner. I found myself thinking I had the entire book figured out, then something else would change and I was back to wondering. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to read this new release; I enjoyed every moment of Claire and Byron’s tale. I look forward to reading many more from this author in the future.

The Starter Wife is a dark twisted thriller. This one will keep you flipping the pages until you finish it. I can't wait to read more from this author.

The premise is one you may be familiar with; a younger, attractive, insecure second wife, a charismatic older university professor whose popular with his young female students and a first wife who committed suicide, disappeared but was never found. Then the second wife starts looking into what happened to the first wife...
The story that follows however is full of mystery, suspense and unexpected plot twists. The story is complex and deceptive. The ending so dark and twisted.

People are never quite what they seem.

So I feel like I should start with a disclaimer that I read this book while recovering from oral surgery and on some very drowsy inducing meds. That being said I felt this book was very hard to follow. There were pieces that drew me in and made me want to learn more, but overall I just couldn’t get into it.

Wow—this was quite the page turner! I was on the edge of my seat as I sped through this book, anxious to find out what happened next. There were definitely some shocking and unexpected twists!

. The starter wife is about Byron a college professor and Claire his 20 something wife. There is suspension that Byron killed his first wife Colleen. Her body has never been found. Edge of your seat suspense.

The concept of a younger second wife living in the shadow of the first wife is not a new one. However, Nina Laurin's The Starter Wife felt completely fresh and utterly thrilling. While Claire fits the description of "unreliable female narrator" extremely well, her character was complex, intriguing and so obsessive that I couldn't stop reading about her. I couldn't put this book down because it had hooked its claws into me and I had to know what was going to happen next. And that twist? I didn't see it coming! The twist was incredibly well-crafted and totally unexpected. Laurin's writing is impeccable: each of the little details provided foreshadowing of what was to come. After I finished reading it, I went back and reread some portions more slowly. Laurin provides the reader all the clues but they are clever and subtle, which is why the twist is so shocking.

I really enjoyed this one! Smart, thrilling and very well-written, I have to check out Laurin's other books now!

Well, that was a sick, twisted,and terrific rollercoaster of a book. Obsession and delusion make this a dark, dark gripping story that stays in your stomach when you turn the last page.

An exciting and entertaining book I couldn't put down. I loved everything: the style of writing, the character, and the plot.
I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to.

What a fun ride! It's rare for me that I am so involved in a book that I think about reading it while I should be doing other things... like on my drive home, "I can't wait to get to my book!" or when I wake up, "I can't wait to read while sipping my coffee!" This story was a well-crafted page turner that kept me fully intrigued to the very end! It resolved well enough at the end, while still leaving me with a few unanswered questions that allow for my own interpretations. The story of Claire Westcott, a desperate young woman so deeply in love with her previously widowed husband... what lengths does she go to in order to keep him by her side? 4.5 stars for sheer enjoyment of the tale. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this tale!

A thrilling read- one that will certainly make you second guess everything! While the ending left me feeling a bit frazzled, the overall story and everything within it is phenomenal. I know this one is going to be a hit this summer and fall!

OK this one got me. Read this in one straight go and WOW was I surprised by the twist!! A great read with a lot of surprises.

That didn't play out as I thought it would.

I love a good thriller and The Starter Wife does not disappoint. In fact, it delivers a bigger punch than I expected. What starts as marital bliss ends up as... well, I don't want to give it away.

Claire Westcott has it all; the beautiful house, a writing career, and a doting husband. But something seems to be a bit off. Nothing too obvious, but little by little you begin to realize that there's more to the picture than first meets the eye. This is the set-up for many a successful thriller, but what sets this one apart is its duplicitous nature. As readers, we depend on red flags to help us discern what is going on that the narrator fails to tell us outright. Nina Laurin is a magician with red flags, and I had to pick my jaw up off the floor and wonder how did she do that?

The novel is told from two points of view. The main voice belongs to Claire Westcott, who is always striving to live up to her husband's high standards. The other more sinister italicized voice belongs to an unnamed person who seems to know the whole story—a story involving a mysterious suicide. The alternating perspectives make for a heck of a read, and has you questioning everything you think is fact.

As far as characters go, I can safely say that I didn't like any of them. Claire Westcott, her literature professor husband Byron, even Colleen May, the deceased first wife—everyone seems to bring out the worst in each other. Laurin explores the limits of jealousy, obsession, and deceit in a way that seems like reasonable behavior. Byron Westcott may not be fully healed from the loss of his first wife, Colleen, and Claire maybe unfairly held to impossible standards by her husband. Does that mean the sneaking around and attempts to catch each other in a lie is warranted behavior? Sometimes, sacrifices are made for the good of a relationship. The question in The Starter Wife is how far is too far?

The Starter Wife is not a book you can put down and be done with. As I sat digesting the story, unresolved details would suddenly slip into place. It is satisfying to read something so deceptive as The Starter Wife and I recommend it to anyone who thinks they can't be fooled.

Absolutely loved this domestic thriller! Excellent character development, exciting dialogue and fascinating plot. What more can you ask for?
Highly recommended.

I received this book "The Starter Wife" from NetGalley and all opinions expressed are my own. I liked the book. I found it confusing at times - what is really going on? I didn't find anything original in the story though. It was a quick read. I didn't care for the end but overall I liked it.

I was given an advanced copy to read in exchange for an honest review.

I found this book always had me thinking. I struggled with knowing who was being followed by whom.

While the end of the book tried to clarify things, I found myself scratching my head feeling the need to reread the book. I felt I must have missed something.

The characters were believable and the plot was interesting. I just struggled to have all the pieces tied together.

The Starter Wife is a book that keeps the reader on edge trying to figure out exactly what is going on. When I started this book I had so many questions that needed to be answered and found myself so irritated with Claire and her naïveté so much so I realized I was talking out loud one day while reading it and a co-worker ask good book ? Lol. I would say that any book that gets under ones skin is a good book but that is not always the case. But luckily it is for me with this one.

Claire Wescott is a fairly new wife who has found herself in a situation no married woman wants to be in, her and her significantly older husband Byron are not spending the time together that they used to. He is leaving the house in the mornings without saying goodbye and it has been a while since they have had sex. Claire believes his dead ex-wife plays a huge role in his disinterest, believing he has not really gotten over her.

The Starter Wife has you questioning Claire’s decision making skills to marry a man she seems to be clueless about and her agreement upon moving into the house he and his dead wife shared. You even begin to question your own sanity and wonder why you haven’t figured out much about the book. This is a well written book (although I would’ve preferred a better ending) that keeps you questioning what exactly is going on and which character should you really be siding with?