Holy crap what a book.. started off a little slow but MORE than made up for it. It was a real rollercoaster. Palmers second book is as great as their first book, Saving Meghan. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

4.5/5

This supercharged thriller begins with a fishing boat, adrift and covered in blood. The sole inhabitant of the boat is a lone dog whose gaze is fixed on the shoreline.

Meet Nina today. Two years ago, her husband Glenn Garrity, went mysteriously missing. He had gone fishing as he was prone to do, and someone came across his boat adrift, with a large amount of blood on board. The family dog, Daisy is on board too and she is unharmed. But there is absolutely no sign of Glenn. The police notify Nina and begin a search for Glenn or most likely his drowned body. Just after the police leave, Nina receives a text with pictures from an unknown source. The picture is of Glenn kissing a waitress named Teresa. All at once she learns her husband is missing and may be cheating on her. But there’s more. She discovers Glenn has drained all their bank accounts, leaving Nina virtually penniless. So, what’s up? Did her husband leave on his own to start a new life with Teresa? Did he drown? Is he the victim of foul play? Bottom line, Glenn’s body has not been found.
Nina, confused and devastated, decides to do what she feels best for her family and move on with her life and the lives of her son and daughter. Lonely and vulnerable, Nina becomes involved with a social studies teacher from the local middle school named, Simon Fitch. Unfortunately, he is a teacher at her daughter, Maggie’s, middle school. Middle school is rough enough without the scandal of your mother moving in with the teacher.

But it’s ok, Nina considers herself a widow. Simon is a widower, and is still grieving the suicide of his second wife and the early death to cancer of his first wife. Simon seems to have found his dream girl in Nina. Nina feels she has met the man she needs. His charm and affections are tender and irrestible. They buy a home and move in together. Now add the children to the “blissful” mix. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been. Glenn was a good man and a good provider, but work and fishing usually took precedent over family. Maggie a bit younger than Connor, is furious that her mother has betrayed the family by bringing a strange man into the home. She doesn’t like him nor does she trust him and she feels certain that her father will return home one day. It’s just too soon to move another man into their home even if he is all that.
Even Nina’s close friends seem to feel the same way and wonder if Simon is supremely devoted, or dangerously possessive. Maggie creates great drama in this new family dynamic and wonders why won’t her mother listen to or believe her over this stranger who seems to pick on her? At least she doesn’t have to have him as her teacher this year.

On the other hand Nina can’t believe how lucky she is since Simon is close to perfect. He’s loving, (to Nina), attentive, respected, handsome and seems and does have a lot of money, more than one might expect from a teacher’s salary. How is that?

The narrative alternates between Nina, Maggie, and another character who is unknown.

As lie after lie begins to unfold, you will not be able to read fast enough to find out what the heck is really going on here.

I’m thinking mini-series to be made from, The New Husband and speculating who will be our stars.

Thank you a Netgally for providing me the opportunity to read and review this book that is surely to be a big hit in 2020

I seem to be inadvertently reading books about domestic violence and this one adds to my list. The book starts out slowly, alternating chapters somewhat between Maggie, a 12-year old daughter and Nina the mom. I liked how the reader slowly discovers the truth about Simon mirroring the sometimes slow inveigling way abusers take over their victims lives. I have to admit I did not see the reveal before it came. My only criticism was I felt the character of Connor could have been better developed.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance copy to review.

Do you ever read a book where you just want to shake the main character and tell her to pay attention? Kinda like yelling at the horror movie victims to get out of the house? This book kept me on edge like that. I wanted Nina to come to her senses and really learn about the new man in her life. And the previous man.
I think my favorite character was the youngest one, Maggie was mature beyond her years and, in my mind, was the hero of the story. She looked at life in a very practical way, at least as well as a middle schooler can. I'd love to read another book about her!

Wow, D.J. Palmer has crafted a masterpiece, an utterly chilling novel that will leave you with goosebumps.

Nina, a mother of two, moves in her with boyfriend Simon less than two years after her husband Glen disappears. Nina isn’t sure whether Glen is dead or alive. Nina is trying to move on from the past, and Simon seems like the perfect boyfriend. Her daughter Maggie seems to feel differently. Secrets, lies, betrayals entwine this spine-tingling thriller leaving you to question how well do you really know someone.

The New Husband is the perfect psychological thriller. The epilogue was particularly spectacular. I would recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller.

WOW!!! OMG!!!This was a true roller coaster of a ride of psychological suspense. My heart was pounding as I was reading this book. It was truly a fantastic but disturbing book, couldn't put it down once I started it. The minute I started to read this book I was in, hook line and sinker as they say. What a twisted story that I am still recovering from but if you love psychological thrillers with twists and turns than this book is for you. If you read the blurb, then you know the basic story about Nina Garrity whose husband went missing, appeared to have a affair and his body was never recovered. In comes Simon, a schoolteacher who waits three months to swoop Nina off her feet. But Nina has two children, Maggie and Conner and Maggie sees something in Simon that doesn't sit quite right with her. She doesn't trust Simon and Nina, so wounded by her husband's disappearance and all the things she thought she knew about him, was easily taken in by Simon's attention. But as we read on in the book which is a slow burn in the beginning but we all are not in favor of Simon. Maggie, her daughter's first instinct was spot on. The first big reveal is about almost 50% into the book. The twists and turns keep on coming till the brilliant end. I do not want to continue with my review because I do not want to give away any spoilers. I want to thank net galley for this ARC I received for an honest review. I would give this book ten stars if I could. (

Once you pick this book up, you will be unable to put it down until you reach the unbelievable ending. There are so many twists that you won't see coming, including a doozy halfway through the book that will leave you reeling. I was shocked, and stayed up for hours to finish!

I like a good mystery, but I found this book utterly predictable and trite. There were too many incidents of inexplicable violence and I really disliked all the characters. By the end of the book, I really didn't care about any of them.

I am always willing to suspend disbelief, but this book asked me to do much more than that. I was very disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley.

I found this book to be enjoyable, that being said rather predictable and somewhat unbelievable. To me it read more like a young author novel. Do you being a man hidden in an small soundproof room for an undetermined amount of time? I’m not sure about that. I found the character somewhat flat and not quite believable. That being said I did finish the book and I would give it a two star rating. Thank you for my advance copy.

This book was so good! The author has created a story that you can't put down. An intense thrill ride from start to finish with characters you cheer on and others you end up loathing. So many plot twists were involved, which kept me reading an entire day and night! I highly recommend this book to lovers of suspense and mystery.

I would like to thank the author/publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

This book was received as an ARC from St. Martin's Press in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own.

I have read Saving Meghan mostly primarily the main character shares the same first name as myself but I fell in love with the back story so I was expecting The New Husband to have the same aspects, and boy not only did it have them, it had a lot more pieces to the puzzle that just made the book more breathtaking. Nina after her husband's death, she found out that her husband was dealing with a double life and there was another woman in his life. Then Nina meets Simon who is her dream man and her family is very receptive of him except for her daughter who thinks he shares a dark past. Before Nina, starts over and marries Simon, she must be sure about falling into this relationship and that Simon is the man he is and is hiding nothing. Such a compelling and thrilling novel to read that had me glued to the book until the very end.

We will consider adding this title to our Mystery collection at our library. That is why we give this book 5 stars.

Though is a slow pace book for my liking, I really enjoyed it. The characters are complicated and relatable. The story is fantastic and the twists memorable.

I must say the first have of the book was a little ho hum. Nina’s husband disappears while fishing and she does not know if he has run away or is dead. There are things she discovers about him that makes her suspicious. She meets Simon who seems to be wonderful and just the type of man she likes.
The story goes back and forth between Nina and her daughter Maggie who is not sure about Simon. The second half of the book has a lot of action and scary parts. I am glad that Maggie has friends to help her after she is alienated from her group.
The story does stretch the imagination. The writing was good and like I books that show different points of views. I am rounding up the book because the second half kept me reading. Thank you, Net Galley, for an advanced copy for an honest review.

When Nina's husband disappears while he was fishing, she and her two children are distraught. Then she discovers some information about his life that makes his disappearance even more difficult. But thankfully, she and her children now have Simon, a teacher at the school, to fill the void in their lives. He is loving, kind, and supportive.

Maggie. Nina's daughter continually has complaints about Simon, but are they? Or merely a teenager's angst? As the story unfolds, more is revealed about the missing husband and Simon, and the connection is frightening.

This was a unique plot, well developed, taut with tension. Many twists and turns to keep me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't stop reading until I knew what happened. I was up till late at night to finish this book.

What an utterly twisted book and I say this in the best way possible. The secrets and lies of ALL the characters has you questioning everything that you know. Nina lost her husband to a fishing accident but there are so many unanswered questions. Some she thinks she wants to know but in the meantime she finds a new man to help heal her family and the wounds. But is Simon who and what he says he is? While trying to learn from her past and move on she may have just moved into something more diabolical. This book was so disturbing that it left me thinking for days.

This is very much "The Stepfather" movie series in book form. Except for one twist that includes torture, it's the usual - Man stalks woman, gets people out of the way, worms way into the family as a wonderful new husband, child/woman finally start to get suspicious, man's true characters come out.

A little too much un-needed detail thrown in to plump the story.

But it does remain acceptable escapism reading.

I was looking for a thriller to get lost in over the Thanksgiving holiday and some of my book reviewing friends highly recommended The New Husband. I had never read a D.J. Palmer book before but the description was intriguing. I was immediately sucked into the suspenseful storyline and loved the premise of "never knowing who you really can trust".

While it was somewhat predictable, it was also a page-turner and highly entertaining which was what I set out to find. There were definitely some unanswered questions and some of it was a little unbelievable, but at the same time, it kept me guessing and wanting to read more. As someone who struggles to ever feel super satisfied with this genre, this is high praise from me!

I look forward to reading more of D.J. Palmer's writing in the future. Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced copy.

This is my first book by D.J. Palmer and it was terrific and won't be my last book by this author. This book is a real page turner. I was annoyed to have a talker on my flight and I did not get to keep reading until I arrived.. The book did start a little slow but that was to introduce us to Nina Garrity and understanding her husband Glen and their children. The book starts out making you question how well do you know the person you are married to.

Simon starts out being the "good guy" as a widower and an 8th grade teacher. He seems perfect until the book starts to expose his dark and possessive side.

The book keeps you interested until the end. Nina has to do what is necessary to save her family. There are a couple of good twists that keep you on the edge of your seat.

Thank you to #NetGalley and #St. Martin Press for my review copy!

3/5 stars

This is a tricky book to rate, because I wanted to rate it much higher based on the ending, but had to keep reminding myself that up until the 50% mark I was kind of bored.

In "The New Husband", Nina Garrity's husband, Glen, has mysteriously gone missing. Presumed dead, Nina begins trying to get on with her life...that is until it comes to light that Glen had an affair with another woman. Wondering what other secrets Glen may have been hiding until his disappearance, Nina begins to find love again with Simon Fitch, a teacher at her daughter's middle school. But things are not always what they seem, and Nina finds herself wondering if she has once again fallen victim to a poor choice in men.

As I mentioned earlier, I was bored up until the halfway point of this book. I kept pushing myself onward though, because so many reviews raved about how good it was. Honestly, it was a bit of a popcorn book: predictable, nothing to write home about, but I wanted to keep reading to see if my theories were true and honestly, who doesn't love a wild ride?

This is a well-written book that offers a somewhat interesting, if not annoying at times, cast of characters. The chapters change points of view between Nina and Maggie, her daughter, to lead the reader down two paths converging toward the same climax. I found myself empathetic towards Maggie and all the stress she's been through, while wanting to smack some sense into Nina and wondering if Connor, her son, served a purpose other than plot development. While I was beyond frustrated with Nina at times, the epilogue made me feel more sympathetic with her. After all, who am I to judge? How do I know what I would have done in her situation? Maggie keeps on being wise beyond her years.

One of my biggest complaints was that the beginning of the story was both slow and predictable. I found myself thinking "wouldn't it be wild if this happened?" and then...it did. Things picked up rapidly in the second half, but it was still a push to get there. There were also several unbelievable things happening at times, which stopped me from giving it 4 stars.

Overall, I enjoyed the later half of this book. While I had to suspend my disbelief at times, and some things were easily predicted, it was still a fun ride and I wanted to find out how it ended. Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for my review copy!

The New Husband by D.J. Palmer was a thriller. The story was twisted and suspenseful. This book kept me guessing until the end.

Nina is trying to put her life back together. Almost two years ago, her husband, Glen, disappeared and she believes he is dead. She found out about his double-life and is trying to get over the betrayal. Thank goodness she found Simon who is a middle school teacher at her daughter Maggie's school. They just bought a house together and she is almost ready to say "yes" to his marriage proposal.

Nina's son, Connor, likes Simon. Maggie on the other hand does not. She believes her dad will come back and Simon will hit the road. Maggie believes that Simon is not a good guy, he is hiding behind some kind of mask and it worries her.

Maggie takes it upon herself to find out if Simon is really the nice guy he appears or if something else more sinister is going on. What will Maggie find out about Simon? What really happened to her dad? And will her mother believe the truth?

Very good read, very suspenseful. I was hooked on these characters and understood their emotions and feelings. I would love to read more by this author.