Lucia and Mara Sitwell was spending the night on their garden, camping out and enjoying life. An otherwise normal and harmless activity for 2 young girls turned tragic and forever changed the course of their lives. Someone abducted 11-year-old Mara Sitwell. And she was never heard of again.

Damian Caslocke struck up a friendship with Lucia during the early stages of Mara's disappearance. A friendship that eventually led to marriage and 2 adorable kids. 19 years later, juggling family & work duties, Damian received a call from Lucia. The police have Mara and she's alive.

What should be a tear-jerking reunion was met with fright and suspicion.
Damian feels like there's something terribly wrong with Mara. He doesn't trust her. He's afraid of her. He's afraid of the safety of his children.

This book is narrated in different perspectives and somewhere in between is the truth. As I traversed its suspenseful path, I met boredom, vexation, pettiness, confusion and betrayal. Each one gave me loads of questions that weren't quite answered 'til the very end. Was there really any love at all? How can someone change that much in a short span of time?

I finished reading this yesterday and did I not like the ending! I was rooting for more, firmly believing that that can't be the reality. It's just absurd! Making this review was hard because despite what I felt, there was a feeling in my gut, something I haven't quite grasped. So I gave it some thought. I read some of the lines I highlighted - the things that just didn't sitwell (sorry, I just had to) with me. I went back and forth across the various accounts, over and over again, until I managed to silence that nagging thought with this question:

Just how reliable can one be, given their personal biases?

I really, really want to elaborate more but I can't without using spoilers. All I can ever tell you is this:

Keep an open mind.

Mara was only 11 years old when she was abducted from the garden. Nineteen years later she was found wandering in the woods and reunited with her sister Lucia who is married with children. Mara is jealous of her relationship and seemingly exploits Lucia's guilt that it wasn't her who was abducted. Full of twists and turns, a good, well written psychological thriller but a little predictable. Nevertheless kept me reading until the end.

This is a fantastic read, and full of twists. A great self-published author I didn't discover until recently on Amazon.

His Wife's Sister - is centred around a missing girl who claims to be 'His Wife's Sister', however not everything is as it seems and we all know that in thrillers, sometimes when something seems too good to be true - it usually isn't.

The author has cleverly crafted an enticing read that draws you in with each chapter. It is repetitive in the later parts, and the ending could be guessed very easily. Despite a few flaws it's an enjoyable book and a recommended read.

Really gripping and interesting. I have been trying to read alot during the lockdown and this didn't disappoint.
I like the style in which the writer explains things too

This book was so good I didn’t want to leave it to go out, but I had to. Mara was kidnapped 19 years ago. She finally escapes and goes to live with her sister and her family. Her sisters husband Damien doesn’t like that. That’s when strange things start to happen. Lots of twists and turns. Who do you believe?

Thank you netgalley and cherry tree publishing for this digital arc!
A J Wills - nice to meet you - you twisted evil genius author 😊
A woman is found alone and confused wandering through the woods. She claims to be Mara Sitwell, the little girl who mysteriously disappeared from her home nineteen years ago. She says she was abducted and has been held captive in an underground cell. Not everyone believes her. Finally reunited with her sister Lucia who invites her to live with her , her husband and their two kids. This, after Mara gets the okay from the hospital after two months of monitoring her. Damian ( the husband) doesn’t like Mara living in their home because he feels she is dangerous . Lucia won’t hear any of his nonsense! Is he right ? Why won’t anyone listen to him ? What lengths will he go to to prove Mara is a loose canon !
Oh boy ! As the story unfolds - we witness the crumbling of the marriage. We are taken through Mara,S abduction journey ! This is the first psychological thriller that had me in tears !!!! The twists and turns had me dizzy and I didn’t know who or what to believe ! I absolutely loved it and can not wait to read another novel by this author !!! Fantastic and genius !

While this is a good read I can not say it is one of my favorites. I was not fond of any of the players and the ending wasn’t a surprise to me. It is a quick read and definitely fits the thriller genre. While it kept my interest and kept me turning pages the story isn’t one that clings to me.

Damian's life is turned upside down when his wife's missing sister returns nearly two decades after she was abducted. But Mara is hiding something, and Damian fears for his family's safety. His Wife's Sister is an accomplished thriller which will keep you guessing until the end.

I enjoyed the book and thought that the clever, fast paced plot was delivered successfully.

I did not like any of the characters although they are well written. Perhaps this was the point.

The dialogue was written effectively, to the point where I found myself as frustrated as the characters in some scenes! The setting was described well which added to the creepy and eerie backdrop of the novel.

If you like fast paced thrillers and plot twists then you will enjoy His Wife's Sister.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. When I first started reading this book I liked then as I got to know more of the characters I found I really disliked them. I also found the story a bit far fetched so for me is 3 stars.

Lucia and her sister Mara are sleeping in the yard, when Mara gets kidnapped. That was 19 years ago. Now Mara has returned. Where has she been and what has happened to her.
Mara and Lucia's husband, Damian, don't get along. Is Damian jealous of all the time Lucia wants to spend with Mara, or is Mara mentally scared for her past. Thanks netgalley for the privilege of reading this book.

His Wife's Sister
by A J Wills
Cherry Tree Publishing
Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 07 May 2020 | Archive Date 02 Sep 2020

Maybe this is another book that just wasn't right for me. There were a lot of things that just didn't make sense to me. I did not enjoy reading the book and found myself thinking while reading it... REally?
Thanks to Net Galley and Cherry Tree Publishing for providing the ARC of this book.

for me it's a 2 star.

After being kidnapped 19 years earlier Lucia's sister is found. When Lucia moves her sister in strange things start to happen and Lucia's husband, Damian, gets the blame. It's a edge of your seat thriller that has you wondering till the end. Puts a new twist on hating your in-laws.

Lucia and Damon are shocked when Lucia's sister Mara, ,who has been missing for years is found alive and wondering in the forest. Mara was kidnapped as a child and kept hostage by a missing man, James Finch. Mara either can't or won't tell much about her time as a hostage and seems to have severe anger and psychological issues.
When Mara is finally released from the hospital she comes to live with Lucia and Damon much to the chagrin of Damon who is worried for his children. After she moves in strange events happen that only Damon seems to see and experience.
I found this book reminded me in a way of the novel Gone Girl, a novel I did not like because of the characters all of which I disliked. In this book Lucia is very weak of character believing everything her psychologically damaged sister tells her and nothing of her "loving husband and friend Damon. Mara is unlikable because of her jealousy and wish to destroy Lucia's marriage and Damon is weak for having affairs while married to Lucia.
The last part of the book seems really unbelievable also and I felt the ending was unsatisfactory.

I really enjoyed the beginning of this. After Mara escapes from her kidnapper's grasp, her family are faced with how best to support her following her ordeal. Having been imprisoned from the age of 11, it's a big adjustment to the world at large, but her sister is determined to be there for Mara. Her husband, not so much.

Escaped kidnap victims are becoming an increasingly popular genre, and there's a lot of good writing being done as a consequence. This, unfortunately, isn't in that category. Initially it's exciting and intriguing, the first half from the husband's POV with the second written from Mara's. However, the unreliable witness trope is badly done so that by the end you're still not sure who was telling the truth (although the details are so minor and unimportant, it doesn't really matter, so you're confused for no real reason), while the descent of one character into what can only be described as sheer madness makes no sense. There's no good reason for it and what little justification is given simply doesn't add up.

So it's a good idea, but poorly thought through, which made this an ultimately disappointing read.

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC without obligation.

Welp, I've taken another one for the team. You're welcome. 😉

Sisters Lucia and Mara were just barely eleven years old when Mara is abducted in the middle of the night. Now imagine nineteen years later when Mara is discovered lost, alone, and malnourished in the middle of the woods. How did she get there and where did she escape from?

Damien, Lucia's husband, thinks that something isn't quite right about Mara but Lucia doesn't hesitate to bring her into their home. Where else is she supposed to go?

Honestly, this book is a hot mess. It is obvious from the very beginning how this situation is going to play out. Coincidences and plot holes galore and to top it all off none of this would have ever of happened had Mara just been honest about what happened to her when she was discovered. There wasn't any reason that she shouldn't have been truthful. She basically just said "I don't know. I didn't feel like it." Really??? 2 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cherry Tree Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book as a whole.
I especially liked the characters, they all felt very well-rounded and real, and I enjoyed the split between Damian's and Mara's perspective. Mara's story really made you feel for her and I found her very likable, regardless of Damian's opinion of her.
The pacing was quite well done and the plot kept you engaged throughout the whole book, although I kept wishing for a shocking twist because most things which happened were a little predictable. I didn't mind that too much though because the atmosphere was still good and the plot twists were well set up and all tied together nicely.
The ending definitely really hooked me and I couldn't stop reading, and the switch to Mara's perspective was really nicely done, but I kept waiting for something unexpected to happen which never came, which was why I didn't love the ending as much as I could have. I felt like Mara's backstory could have been explained more and could have tied in more with the rest of the plot to make it seem a little more complete.
Overall this was well-done though, and definitely a really good thriller.

His Wife's Sister is a good read with a solid plot which captures your attention. The characters are strong and well fleshed out so you feel a connection with them. The only thing that could do with a bit of work is the ending, it felt at odds with the pace of the rest of the book,

Mara returns after been abducted 19 years ago. Mara is reunited with her sister Lucia, her husband Damien and 2 children. BUT life isn't so easy on return. From the beginning I didn't take to Damien. I found him so sly and he lacked any sympathy for Mara for what she had been through. He was very reluctant to give her the help and support she needed. Mara moves into the family home with them and things go from bad to worse for Damien. the book goes back and forward of issues between Mara and Damien and who Lucia believes, while mistakes from Damien's past catches up on him.

I was kept engaged throughout the book and read it in just over a day...I liked the short chapters which for me adds pace and keeps me engaged. I did like the story line however i felt the ending was a bit of a let-down. i felt it was a bit unrealistic at times. I did like the book; not love it and I feel that the ending let it down.

Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for an ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

An interesting concept where someone is returned from many years of being missing. We have all read about the real life cases and here is another fictional account. However, this is less about how they reintegrate into society - indeed Mara seems to do this relatively easily, but more about the relationships between the people left behind. It was easy to move your suspicions of the characters as the author ensures they are all acting in suspicious ways. I didn't find the ending particularly surprising although it was certainly action packed! I was interested in the undertones of Damien's behaviour which I thought could have been explored more.

A woman named Mara who went missing 19 years ago has reappeared and thrown her sister Lucia's family into chaos. Lucia is thrilled that she's back and is ready to put her life on hold to help Mara heal. Her husband Damian, however, is nowhere near as ready to offer his full support. He fears for the safety of his children and wife, and believes there is more to Mara's captivity and escape than she is admitting to. Mara isn't saying much about what happened which fuels Damian's continued unease even though Lucia has no doubt that Mara just needs time.

After Mara moves into their home there is a growing number of he said/she said situations between her and Damian where each of them has a completely different version of events. Lucia believes her sister most of the time, and when she doesn't, she makes excuses for Mara because of the trauma she suffered at the hands of her abductor. But is her faith in her sister jeopardizing her and her family? Damian believes so and will stop at nothing to show Lucia that there's more to Mara than anyone knows.

It's hard to explain my frustrations without giving much away, but I'll try. It seems like the author tries to lead us one way and then surprise us with a twist. But it's not surprising, as dark behavior is shown from the start. Are the readers not supposed to catch onto that? And most irritating is that the difference in those conflicting versions of events are never explained! There's absolutely no reason given for why one person recalls things completely different than the other, fully believing that they experienced something that never happened. It's not that they said something happened that didn't, it's that we were reading their narrative where those events happened the way they described. But apparently they didn't! You can't just expect readers to buy that. Blackouts, multiple personalities, etc. are actual reasons for these discrepancies to occur. Not just, oh they must be crazy and somehow had a skewed version of events. No.

With that out of the way, I otherwise thought it was a good read. But the unlikable characters and nonsensical behaviors just can't redeem it for me. It has the potential, if only the resolution worked better and the characters were relatable and developed beyond their surface traits. That would give the story the extra boost that it needs to leave the readers satisfied.