I quite liked this book. Certainly I wanted to keep reading it. It was a book that was easy to pick up and put down And in the main I liked the characters

I thought the book was a little predictable but only right at the very end and it didn’t detract from the story. Actually I thought right up to the end that Kath had something to do with it or maybe Rik!

Overall an enjoyable read

The Vow tells the story of Amy, whose fiance Matt disappears shortly before their wedding. When she reports him missing, she learns about Fiona who is also reporting Matt as her missing partner.

As soon as I read the blurb of this book I knew I would love it and boy, it didn't disappoint.

The story is told from the point of view of Amy and Fiona, who both claim to be Matt's partner as well as Jess, Amy's daughter. Who can you trust in The Vow? Certainly not Matt, that's for sure.

But Amy may or may not be completely innocent as she keeps her own secret from the past. Will Jess find out?

I really did feel for all the women involved, especially Amy's daughter Jess. In the end everything comes together and the ending is somewhat satisfying but I can't help feel like Jess is paying for Amy's mistakes.

What a rollers coaster this was, you won't regret this.



Disclosure: I'd like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

https://jemimareads.wordpress.com/
https://www.instagram.com/jemimareadsofficial

First off, thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC. I will say, I’ve never heard of this author before, but when I read the description of this book I was hooked. Who doesn’t like a good mystery? Amy and Matt, about to get married and suddenly Matt disappears, the life Amy had planned suddenly ripped apart. The story quickly unfolds, from fear and worry, to grief and pain. We learn about the past and how secrets play a huge role in the ending of this book. At first it moved a little slow, but it didn’t last for long as quickly it started to pick up and the lies started to unravel. The lengths people go to lie, to keep secrets and get revenge makes for a great mystery!

This was a riveting read, building and building with more and more secrets and lies. Told from the point of view of Amy, Fiona, and Amy’s daughter Jess, it’s hard to know who is lying.

As more information comes to light, we jump back to 1996 when the tragic death of teenager Kimberley, followed by the suicide of her boyfriend Charlie, is revealed. Are they connected and if so how?

The plot is very clever, though about two-thirds of the way through I guessed one particular connection, but I couldn’t be sure so it didn’t spoil it for me at all. My main gripe is with the police questioning. I thought they were very hard on Amy and some things I questioned as to whether they would really say or do that. Also I don’t believe in coincidences and surely they must have realised certain things were linked. It took Jess to discover a lot of information that the police failed to find. In this day and age it should have been easy or maybe they just just didn’t look hard enough.

The idea of having two female protagonists (three if you count Jess who really is the stand-out hero) made this different from other psychological thrillers I have read in recent years (and I have read a LOT). Certainly an exciting and entertaining novel.

Many thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The book starts with an exciting encounter with a mystery woman and the main character and then a brief phone call with her fiancé that begins the twisted storyline. That gut-wrenching feeling when you can't find someone or they don't reply to your messages or phone calls is evident when Amy wakes up the next morning, so I felt this book had promise and would be a good read.

However, I had a hard time connecting to any characters in the book. There was enough suspense and twists to hold my interest for the most part, but I didn't feel that invested in the outcome or what would happen to the characters as I kept reading. I did like the main character's college-age daughter and her sleuthing abilities.

The characters and their past made it difficult to believe the plot of the story, however. It felt contrived and a little too out there. The book's beginning was promising, but then the middle felt weighed down, and by the time I got to the end, I just wanted it to be done. This just wasn't my type of book, unfortunately.

#TakeTheVow #NetGalley

Everything was perfect. Until her fiance disappeared
Amy and Matt are set to the the knot in just 2 short weeks! They are writing their vows. Life is amazing!
Matt calls Amy says he will be home late, he is meeting with a client. But Matt never returns home.
The story is told from 3 POVs Amy Fiona and Jess.

I enjoyed this book. It started off great. But as I kept reading it ended up getting a predictable.
Debbie did have some great twists added to this book which I really did enjoy!

Thank You NetGalley And Debbie Howells for this ARC!

What happened to Matt? Who was the mysterious Matt? Two weeks before her wedding Amy’s fiancé goes missing but it is only then that Amy starts learning about the real Matt. A really exciting mystery read with twists and turns on every page.

‘Her conviction that he loved her never faltered. Love takes many guises, after all, and her belief never wavered” […] “It was enough to keep her holding on, to this cruellest, most desperate love that illuminated her darkness, out of fear of losing him, of once again, being alone. The paradox of what it means to love.”

What happens when your fiancé goes missing two weeks before your wedding? This is any bride-to-be/ husband-to-be’s worst nightmare, and unfortunately for Amy it’s her reality. To make matters worse Amy finds out that her fiancé Matt is not the person she thinks he is.

Good storytelling and straight-forward plot. The plot was fast-paced enough to keep me invested in the mystery. I proudly finished the book in one day. There isn’t a lot of characters so you don’t have to worry about getting confused about who is who. There were elements in the mystery that did surprise me, but being an avid thriller novel reader,

I had guessed some plot point revelations early on. However, for first time thriller readers this book is a good start as it does not contain any darker themes (however I would recommend double checking for trigger warnings just to be sure)

One thing I wished was added into the story is a more detailed backstory into Amy and Matt’s relationship just so we can have a better understanding of Matt’s character. Overall, I would recommend this book to any one who is a fan of thriller novels and looking for a quick read to get their minds racing.

3 stars.

I couldn't put this book down! It's so well written and so gripping! The twists and turns will keep your turning the pages. Fab read!

This is a very clever well written and engrossing thriller with many twists and turns that kept me reading on, understated menace and tension leading to a satisfying conclusion.

The cover drew me right in. They say never judge a book by its cover well this grabbed my attention. Lots of suspense and twists and I loved it. The characters at times were hard to connect to but having said that , I still enjoyed reading it.

I really wish I could get into this one but I just couldn't. I've been waiting for a great thriller but much of this novel is written as phone conversations, flashbacks, and police interviews were very little actually happens. The only character I felt tied to was the college-age daughter because she was being pro-active in trying to clear her mother's name. When Matt goes missing the characters talk endlessly about the relationship between the main character, Amy, and her fiance, Matt.

I couldn't understand why these people didn't tell the truth, or even part truths, to their family or closest friends the entire book. The connection between the characters and their pasts was so implausible I started to get angry and almost didn't finish. I prefer more tension in a mystery and more realistic circumstances.

A well executed psychological thriller with a racy plot and unexpected twists with a predictable conclusion. Couldn't put it down. The author has done a superb job of keeping a tight narrative with well drawn out characters. There are also a nice summary of the flowers and their meanings which was informative. Well done 👍

In The Vow by Debbie Howells, Amy and Matthew are set to get married in two weeks. To hear Amy tell it, things couldn't be better. So, it's bad enough when Matthew disappears and Amy calls the police, but then another women also reports Matthew missing, claiming that she is his partner.

As Amy's life unravels, we learn about secrets, emotional abuse, and broken relationships from the past. The story is told from three view points: Amy, her daughter Jess, and the "other woman," Fiona. I really like Jess, who is insightful and strong. Amy and Fiona both seem to be unreliable narrators, and the flashbacks add to the confusion. I liked the beginning and satisfying ending of this book, but the middle seemed tedious as we revisited the past.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Amy, is the happy bride to be, but her life is turned upside down when her fiancé goes missing. Not long after another lady reports her boyfriend missing - with the same description. Could it be the same person missing and leading a double life. The police are involved and the lives of the two ladies are thrown into turmoil.
Told from the perspective of Amy, her daughter Jess and the other woman, Fiona.
Great pace story and keeps you turning the page.

A solid, suspenseful thriller about a man who disappears, and his fiancee finds out he's living a double life. From there, I can't say too much more because the twists just keep coming. Great premise, and the writing hooked me all the way through. I really liked the main character, Amy - while somewhat unreliable (as good thriller leads tend to be), she was the one I rooted for throughout. The story ties back to events in 1996 in Amy's childhood that may or may not be linked to her fiancee's disappearance.

The first half of this book was stellar. I couldn't put the book down and was racing towards the conclusion to find out who did it and why. About halfway through the twists started to get a little too unbelievable and too many for me (a problem plaguing many thrillers these days - writers know we are hungry for twists!). Also, some of the actions of the police officers were just a little bit too hard to believe. But the author did a nice job tying it all up at the end, so that ultimately the story made sense, the loose ends were tied up and the ending was very satisfying. I really loved all the clues and red herrings the author peppered throughout this book. Despite the questions I had occasionally with the plot, this book was fun to read from beginning to end, so I'm giving it 3.5 stars rounded up. Debbie Howells is great at characters and delivers the thrills so I'll look forward to reading the next one from her!

Thanks to Debbie Howells, NetGalley and Avon Books UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to the author for allowing me to read this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is a well written books which starts out strong and pulls the reader into a long reading sessions. I enjoyed the characters and found myself rooting for Amy and feeling her pain.
Her soon to be husband suddenly disappears two weeks before the wedding. As the story develops the mystery surrounding his vanishing act and subsequently discovering his strange behaviour leading up to it, keeps the reader guessing and changing opinions all the time. I was really enjoying it. I am sure you can feel a 'but' coming, and sure enough there is a but. so possibly a spoiler here.
The chapters switches the point of view from mother (Amy) to daughter (Jess) which helps to build a more rounded picture of the relationship between Amy and Matt, but I have to say that the Jess character and then her contribution to the story become less and less believable as the story develops and finally comes to a close. As a reader i cannot comprehend that a young student can outwit the police to find the answers and justice. Also, there are many threads, or possible they were red herrings, thrown in to add to the suspense, but they never went anywhere, which left me confused and a little annoyed that i was needed to be given the information in the first place.
Overall, i enjoyed the story and just wished the ending had been given a little more thought.

Sorry i meant to add that if I remember correctly the Blood type changed from A to B or the other way round

Amy, the herbalist with adult daughter and beautiful garden is going to marry Matt. When her fiance dissapears, she finds out that he had another woman. But who is she and where is Matt?
Gaslighting, revenge, flower symbolism etc.

Mysteries everywhere.

Good reading.

Amy is engaged to Matthew. The wedding is in 2 weeks when he disappears. Things are not as they seem to be and the police department and Amy’s daughter work to find answers. This was a book I had trouble putting down. Loved it!

I just couldn’t connect with this book the way I wanted to. I liked the sound of the premise but it just didn’t spark my interest. I didn’t like Amy and didn’t care for the flashbacks to 1996, which held no suspense of intrigue for me. There was a lot of repetition in the book also with the characters repeating a lot of the same stuff to one another which I found annoying. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and Avon for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.