This has potential but I just didn't understand the motivations of the characters . THe first half was paced a little too slowly and the second a little too quickly. Felt contrived. Sorry.

A brilliant read from this author, very well written with well developed characters and a great page turner.

I th0ught I had this all sussed out but turns out I was wrong.

I can thoroughly recommend this book and I look forward to reading more from Wendy in the future.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for giving me the opportunity to read this book.

This was a nice quick read, perfect holiday type read.
I wouldn't say it was the best book I have read recently, however it was well paced, interesting enough to keep me reading, and I don't want to give anything away, but I personally enjoyed the ending. I would read more from this author.

Synopsis: Alice is surprised to hear that her former best friend, Joanna, is getting married to a man that she has only known for a month. Joanna has invited Alice over to meet him, despite the fact that they have not seen each other in 10 years. When Alice arrives at Joanna's house, she is surprised to find that her former best friend is in fact not there, is. In fact Mark, Joanna's new fiance. tells her that Joanna is missing. Where is Joanna? Why hasn't Mark called the police and can he be trusted?

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC of The Bride by Wendy Clark! Unfortunately, while psychological thrillers are my go-to genres, this book just did not do it for me. While there were as many twists to the story as the title entails, the amount of twist and turns this story took did not do the overall story justice. While I absolutely love complex protagonists, Alice was very one-dimensional. She was a bit too weak for me and I could not understand her motivations or her reasoning behind practically all of her decisions.

The story was also a bit too slow for me. The majority of the story happened in one place, and while that can work for some, I found myself extremely bored with the setting. Too much time was spent on the details of the setting and not enough around the characters what was motivating them to make the decisions they were making.

Again, there was potential here, but it just did not hit it for me. For my rating, I would give it a 2.5 out of 5.

I've enjoyed Wendy Clarke's other novels and this one is right up my alley. I found it a little disjointed but I think it's because I read it in so many sittings instead of a few like I usually do. Alice has been dumped by her fiancee and surprisingly gets a text from her oldest "best" friend Joanna even though they haven't seen each other for ten years. She travels to meet Joanna's fiancee and discovers her friend is missing even though she meets Mark who claims he didn't know she was coming. What transpires is a cat-and-mouse game that vacillates between Alice and Joanna's POV that keep you a bit off-balance as we are never sure what the truth is. Even at the very end, I kept thinking to myself, "What???" For me, there wasn't enough "back story" to be entirely believable, but I did enjoy the twists and turns!

First, thank you everyone who gave me the opportunity to read this book. #netgally, #bookouture #wendyclarke.
When I requested this book I did not realize that I had already read one of Wendy Clarke's books. As I started reading I was intrigued to find out what else she has written and was pleasantly surprised to learn this was not an new author for me. I really enjoy Wendy's writing style, although somewhat slow in the beginning it allows you to get to know the characters better and then bang come the surprises when you least expect them. And while one may find the beginning slow there are lots of clue hidden in these chapters.

In The Bride we first meet Alice, who comes home from holiday to learn her finance has cheated on her, is leaving her and his new girlfriend is pregnant with his child. Just when she thinks she has no one, Alice receives a text from her best friend Joanna. Joanna texts Alice that she is getting married and wants Alice to meet her finance. As Alice has nothing at home she ventures off to meet her best friend.

When Alice arrives at Joanna's we learn from her fiance that Joanne is not home. Rather than turn back and go home, Mark invites her in and tells her to stay and wait until Joanna comes back. A few days go by and Joanna is not home, nor returning calls or texts. Mark then confides to Alice that Joanna has been missing for a few days. From this point on the roller coaster begins....where is Joanna, did someone kidnap her? Did she run off on her own? Who would want to hurt her and just how good of a friend is Alice to Joanna anyway?

Don't miss this book!!!

Title: The Bride
Author: Wendy Clarke
Pages: 300
Rating: 5/5

A huge thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for letting me read this advanced reader copy.

Synopsis:

Alice and Joanna used to be joined at the hip, they were best friends until life got in the way. When Alive finds her life in tatters, she receives a perfectly time text from her old best friend asking her to come and meet her fiancé Mark. Alice grabs at the chance to reconnect with Joanna, it is just what she needs. However, she is surprised when she arrives and Mark answers the door and says Joanna is on a course. Despite this, Alice spends the weekend at Joanna’s anyway, with charming Mark. However, he soon admits that Joanna is not on a course, she is missing and life as Alice knows it is now turned upside down and will never be the same again.

Review:
Releasing 20th May 2020.
The description and the cover of this book grabbed my attention, but the mixed reviews had me questioning as to whether I would connect with the story. However, this book took me by surprise! This is why I have rated it full marks because I was not expecting it to pull me in the way it did. It absorbed me that much, I devoured it in two hours!

The prologue and the descriptive writing of the author pulled me in straight away and got me questioning right from the beginning. Yet, nothing much was given away at the start leaving me with unanswered questions and the need to know all about the few characters involved. The writing style was just perfect for this book, helping you to feel the character Alice’s pain but yet sometimes made you think, “what on earth is she doing?!”

There weren’t many characters involved in this book which I think made it feel more of an eerie read. You were locked in their own, crazy, twisted world where normal seemed to have gone out of the window. All of the characters were a little odd in their own way so you never knew who was actually good or bad in all this
.
The more you read this story, the weirder and creepier it got, which is exactly what you want from a physchological thriller. I was trying to constantly unpick what would happen, but I generally couldn’t which added to the build-up and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen at the end of this.

The book is in two parts, the twists and the turns start of small in part 1, that part just seems to be dedicated to playing with your head and giving you a sense of disbelief. Part two however, you are hit with twists after twist! The ending I did not see coming, and it left me feeling very uneasy- again great job from the writer! The complex characters, the build up and those twists and turns had me thrilled, just like the book said it would. I’m not sure if it’ll be for everyone, but it was definitely for me!

An interesting book, is probably the best way to describe it. Three main characters Joanna, Mark and Alice. Despite not having been friends for several years Alice turns to Joanna at a vulnerable point in her life. However, Joanna is missing... The book unfolds with a good amount of drama, intrigue and mistrust. However, in contrast it felt that it 'dragged' a bit at times, and whilst I am all for books occasionally being flexible with 'believability', this book at times did perhaps take this too far - and you were left questioning the decisions made by some of the characters. I also thought that the ending felt a bit rushed and need more context around it to bring the book together.

Loved this one and just bough Wendy Clarke’s other two books on my Kindle to read next! I thought I knew where this story was going, then it took a huge turn. Just when I thought everything was wrapped up, it turned again. Loved the final twist at the ending! I highly recommend this one.

After being left by her fiance, Alice receives a text saying that her estranged best friend, Joanna, is getting married and she wants Alice to meet her future husband.

The book was well written, but it wasn't for me. I found that Alice was far too naive and pliable to be believable.

My thanks to NetGalley, Wendy Clarke, and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this advance copy.

In the beginning, there is an emergency, an accident, and the person involved awakes to find she's in hospital, but she has no memory of the events that led her to be there. She can't quite understand or explain, but she feels confident that she isn't safe.

Joanna and Alice were best friends, although not seeing each other for 10 years, Joanna called Alice and told her she was getting married to Mark, whom she had known for a short time but knew he was the one, hearing this made Alice feel slightly uneasy.
Alice gets dumped by her fiance, so decides to go and visit Joanna and meet Mark, at Joanna's invitation.
Joanna and Mark live in an old, abandoned warehouse renovated and converted into flats, with only one other tenant residing in the building. When Alice arrives at the apartment, she is not there.
Alice is surprised to find Mark home alone. Mark tells Alice that he was not aware of her visit, and Joanna is not there, it then comes to light that she has in fact, gone missing.
Alice tries to contact Joanna but to no avail.
Where is Joanna?
Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and the Author Wendy Clarke for allowing me to review a pre-publication copy of the novel.

two friends Joanna and Alice both from different backgrounds one has it all one has lost everything not spoke or seen each other for 10 years .Joanna gets in touch to say she getting married and wants her to meet Mark but when Alice arrives she not there the building so creepy this story is very twisty so enjoyed recommend

I hate not giving a good review to a book but with this one I just can't. I read straight thru to the end and still can't find anything worthwhile to say.
As far as it being a twisty psychological thriller...no. It wasn't.

The character of Alice is too unbelievable to be the protagonist. In literature there is a saying, "too dumb to live." That about describes Alice in full.

The writing style was a bit off putting as well. Lots and lots of exposition that made me want to flip pages to get to the next part. But I didn't, in order to give the book a fair chance.

And another thing off putting was introducing Joanna's voice when more than half of the book was over. We were in Alice's POV for eons and then all of a sudden, Joanna's.

Thanks to Netgalley for a preview but this one just didn't do it for me.

Thank you NetGalley, Wendy Clarke, and Bookouture for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of "The Bride."

Alice and Joanna were best friends growing up but have not spoken for the last ten years. When Alice gets a message from Joanna that she is engaged to a man she has only known for a month, Alice only feels it is right to go and visit her friend and meet the man she claims is so wonderful. Only, when Alice arrives at Joanna's apartment, Joanna is no where to be found. Her fiancé Mark is there and he is charming, gorgeous and nothing but nice to Alice. He then tells her Joanna has gone missing... the suspenseful story starts to unfold from there. Where is Joanna? And who can Alice trust?.

Once I received a copy of “The Bride” I started it right away. I was hooked from the first chapter and it was definitely a page turner for me. The story starts to unfold right away and as a reader you just want to know what is going to happen next. It was definitely fast paced and kept me guessing the twists all the way through. I really enjoyed this book and found myself not wanting to put it down. Wendy Clarke does a beautiful job in her writing and story telling that I got a feel for all the characters and how they felt throughout the book. I will definitely be checking out her other novels! As a fan of psychological thrillers I would definitely recommend #thebride to any other thriller lovers out there!

I found The Bride to be a quick and easy read. It was billed as a psychological thriller and whilst I did enjoy it, I couldn’t gel with the main character Alice and just felt the book was lacking something. I would rate this book 3.5 stars. Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for the chance to review.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. 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. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

I love a good psychological thriller as much as the next girl and I get really excited when I find one that keeps me on my toes. Unfortunately, this book didn’t do that for me. I felt like the author was trying to hard and that the twists and turns the book took felt a bit too forced. The main character Alice was also hard to like. I found her to be a bit too whiny and the ending wasn’t very satisfying. The book did have some potential at the beginning but the spark just faded out for me.

4.8 stars rounding it to 5.0 stars

OMG what did I just read! I never even thought it to be like this. This book keeps me pulled in. The first chapter is curious enough to keep you reading. The twist always go higher and higher until it blast! Definitely unexpected.

Alice's life is a mess. From her horrible experience with meeting her father, to her plane experience, up to her and Drew's break up. Everything is a mess and she only need a comfort from one person, Joanna. Luckily, she was invited to go to her place to meet her fiancee. However she is not there. Not to mention the place is out of nowhere.

I love that this book only has Alice and Joanna's point of view. I love it when point of views only focuses on few people to only pull the attention to them. I also love the fact that there are only few characters here. Not complicated to remember.

The twist is definitely commendable, and noteworthy! I never even thought! Though there are things which I made a correct guess but I still didn't expect the happenings. It's a shock! A bomb!

Why not 5.00 stars? It's because of the ending! I wanna cry about the ending. It's a genius idea to make the ending like that but why????? OMG. I really can't get over with the ending. It's such a slap I don't even know how to react. This book is great and yet so sad. Really sad.....

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bookouture for approving me of this read.

Full review on my website https://inkly.in SOOON....

Thank you Netgalley and Bookoture for an ARC of The Bride. The review and comments are my honest opinion.
Alice has received a text from her former best friend, Joanna, to come for a visit to meet her fiancé. When Alice arrives she finds a distraught fiancée and Joanna is not there.
I felt that as the story continued Alice was naive and easily manipulated to the point that the story became unbelievable.
This book was not as I expected from the description. But as I indicated above, the review is my honest opinion.

This is my first Wendy Clarke book but I was really intrigued by the blurb and I'm glad to have given it a shot. It follows Alice, who gets a text from her estranged best friend Joanne asking her to come to visit and meet her fiancé. When Alice gets to London, she meets the fiancé, but Joanne has gone missing.

I loved the setting of this book. The old tobacco warehouse was so well-described and I liked how eerie it felt. I wasn't sure about the story at first as the main character makes some extremely questionable decisions which I just didn't understand but once I was about 30% in to the book, I was hooked and didn't want to stop reading until the end (unfortunately work sometimes got in the way so I had to!)

There were some fantastic twists and turns in the book and I enjoyed the theme of toxic friendships, but I personally hated the ending. It might work for some people, but I really would have preferred it to end differently.

Overall I would recommend this.