Special thank you to Darby Kane and NetGalley for an advance digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

Pretty Little Wife revolves around Lila, a closed-off, cold woman who keeps to herself. She and her husband seem to be polar opposites: he is well-known and liked in their community, he teaches at the local high school, and he’s the girls field hockey coach. Lila’s social anxiety keeps her at home or working in real estate at her leisure. When a shocking discovery shakes Lila’s content lifestyle, she must take matters into her own hands.
Lila is an introvert, closed off from a past she never intends to relive. As the story goes on, Lila’s character becomes more and more likeable. Lila resonates with the reader and you find yourself on her side.
This is a thriller that continuously kept me guessing. Throughout the book, I found myself unable to figure out which way the ending would go.

I have seen a lot of reviews stating that there are grammatical errors in this book, and I would just like to point out that this book has not yet been published. All the errors are in either “early releases” or “advances reader copies”. Therefore I was very able to look past any editorial errors since this book has not yet been published.

I truly have nothing but good vibes and positive words for this book. I enjoyed the writing, the narration, the character development, and the story. I hope Darby Kane continues releasing books because I will be the first in line to read them!

4/5 stars, definitely recommend!

Do y’all ever finish a book and just keep thinking about how everything played out? I’m sitting here desperately wanting to discuss it with someone. So please get this book and then come back and talk to me about it when you’ve finished it! Oh my goodness I LOVED this book!!! The very first few words grabbed me and the book didn’t let go until the very last few words! I’ll start at the end and say that I did NOT see the ending coming! What a shocking twist! I absolutely love Darby Kane’s writing style! I love the nonlinear storyline and how things were revealed slowly. I cannot wait for her to write another book in this genre!
Pretty Little Wife gets 5 huge stars from me!

Thank you so much to HarperCollins and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

Don't underestimate the "pretty little wife" with secrets of her own.

I would have bought this premise more, had it not been for the clunky writing and wholly unrelatable and mostly unlikable protagonist-Lila Ridgfield.

The premise was interesting enough-woman with dark, sordid past tries to rewrite her life but finds husband with dark, sordid past that upends her life all over again. But the writing itself, which seemed riddled with character inconsistencies and was just a jumbled mess to follow-held me back from awarding this novel a higher rating. Lila didn't often come off as a calculating lawyer. She also didn't come off as the feminist vigilante she was lauded as either. She would chide herself for not having female friendships one page, talk about how nothing was worse than men preying on women on another page, and then spend an entire chapter picking apart her female neighbor or the lead investigator on her husband's case. Her character just didn't work for me. Possibly the only character that did work for me was Ginny, and I feel that the novel could have benefited from being told mostly from her perspective. The mystery/twist wasn't all that surprising to me <spoiler>I mean c'mon. The Payne brothers. The Payne Family Murderers. It's obvious they're in the business of inflicting PAIN. Too obvious.</spoiler> and this just doesn't make the list of best new mystery/thriller novels out there right now.

Somehow in an oversaturated genre, this book still manages to engage and surprise readers! I loved the flawed and frightened characters. I loved the seen and unseen twists. And I really would like to see the investigator in future books. Gina's character, though theoretically only there as a foil to Lila, was well developed and would be great to follow along on future investigations. I think that is the sign of a really good book. At times the subject matter (grooming, sexual abuse, physical abuse, kidnapping, murder) can get a little heavy but it is written well, allowing for mental breaks and providing some distancing. A nice balanced book!

Wow, this book was amazing! Hands down one of the best books I've read this year.

The characters were unlikable, but both had similar tragic backstories, where it kind of made you feel bad for them. I liked all the twists and turns, I couldn't put the book down.

Besides mystery and secrets, the book also deals with marriage, relationships and mental health.

This was a deliciously devious domestic suspense/thriller story, with a lot of surprises I didn't expect. This is one where every time you think you have a solid handle on what must have happened, there is new information that challenges that assumption. This will be a great one to hand to readers who cannot get enough of the genre, as it has some unique points to the plot that I think make this one stand out from the crowd.

I really enjoyed this book so much! Definitely falls in. the psychological thriller genre, which can be hit or miss and this was a definitely good hit! I really loved the main character - slightly unreliable narrator but not in a frustrating way. The "who dun it" was woven really well and the supporting characters were also really well rounded out. I've already been recommending it to people and I think it would be a perfect book to curl up with on new years weekend! Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me this eARC!

Where is Aaron Payne?

Lila thought she knew where her husband was, until he wasn't. The quest to find Aaron turns into an unraveling of characters with a multitude of layers and secrets upon secrets.

I was slow to warm up to this one just because the characters aren't very likable. I don't have to like the characters in a book but I have to at least care about what's going on with them and I was slow to get to that point. Once I did the book kept me interested. Lila comes off cold and uncaring, but you can tell she's extremely intelligent. Once you learn more about her background you understand why she is the way she is and at times even feel sorry for her because her life seems to be a repeating pattern of awfulness in regards to the men in her life. I've seen many reviews that call her an unreliable narrator. Is someone unreliable when they withhold info? Maybe. I always use that more for when a narrator lies or has a mental illness that doesn't allow them to see the truth. I wouldn't call Lila unreliable, just very guarded, not very open, keeps her cards close to her chest. In fact, EVERY character in this story is that way, very close lipped, except for the rookie male cop who blurts his thoughts frequently, lol.

The twist was twisted and while I didn't see it exactly panning out that way, I knew who I thought would be involved. The believability is where it was a little bit of a let down for me. Is what happened really plausible? Again, maybe. You hear about some terrible crimes, but I dunno. I didn't peg the villain to be that cunning for that long because there are certain personality traits of certain types of psychos that craves attention. It's fiction, I get that. It was good, it was entertaining, but I was left feeling slightly unsatisfied.

A tightly-woven, suspenseful thriller, Pretty Little Wife is a book that readers will not want to put down. As the story unfurls, more and more pieces keep being added to the puzzle of is her husband dead, and if so, where is his body and who took it? Kane maintains a tight balance of suspense that draws in readers to learn more about the characters and what they are hiding.

I struggled with this one. I found it to be choppy and had a hard time keeping the characters straight.
If it wasn’t a Netgalley book, I wouldn’t have finished. I just couldn’t connect and the ending just didn’t make sense to me.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

[Many thanks to NetGalley and William Morrow Paperbacks for the advance reading copy, scheduled for release on December 29th].

"Marriage is a transaction," Lila Ridgefield tells Ginny Davis, the investigator in charge of her husband, Aaron's, disappearance. "Whether people marry for stability or money, to escape or for children, it's a real made between the parties in the marriage. A deal only they know the terms to." What happens, then, when the terms of the transaction are broken? Is it enough, to say, commit murder, like Lila has been accused of?

I thoroughly enjoyed this debut novel from Darby Kane. I thought it was a compulsive page-turner that kept my attention the deeper we got into the story. You couldn't help but root for Lila, the intelligent, sharp lead that goes from enemy number one in the town's eyes to someone they rally around after the circumstances behind Aaron's disappearance change. I also enjoyed the evolution in her personality. At the beginning of the novel, Lila was an aloof character that refused to let people into her life and while she maintained her aloofness, she recognized there were individuals she had misjudged and perhaps were worth letting into her life.

While it got a little long toward the end, this was still a great novel to stay up with.

Murder,Suspense , Action , Drama, Romance, it’s all in this one debut book by Darby Kane! The book has made an explosive mark on the scene and everyone is talking about this new thriller that has more twists and turns that it is an Unputdownable book!

I would have to agree with the majority consensus because I too found this book mesmerizing and I could not stop turning the pages. A couple sections I had to think about and wonder if they tied in, but overall this book is fantabulous!

Lila is a wife that has been mind controlled from a young age and her husband took advantage of her emotional state. He was able to entangle her mind and mold her the way he wanted. He structured her daily routine and activities and kept her from having outside friendships by isolating her with a variety of tasks. He has a strict schedule and routine when he is at home.

A young girl goes missing and apparently this is not the first school age girl in the vicinity of the surrounding areas to come up missing and then Lilas husband Aaron, a local teacher who is loved by all comes up missing.
Could this be connected together and how is this going to be linked to Lila? This is where the books twists and turns begins and you won’t believe what takes place next!

I definitely recommend this book!

I received an advanced copy from NetGalley and these are my willingly given thoughts and opinions.

All of a sudden a girl comes up

What a great debut!

I've had this book on my radar ever since the author announced its sale to the publisher, but somehow, between then and the time I picked up my eARC, I'd forgotten the premise and didn't bother to read the blurb. I'm so glad I didn't!

I flew through the first 2/3 of the story, enamored by the two female protagonists. Lila, in particular, is an enigma! She's unlikable in many ways yet sympathetic, and I loved the complexity of her character and what it brought to the mystery. In fact, nearly all of the characters are flawed and complex, and that depth in characterization is what made this such a compelling domestic thriller.

The last 1/4-1/3 wasn't as strong for me. Characters began showing their true colors, and some of the allure I'd found (and loved) earlier in the story was lost.

Still, I'd highly recommend this one. I'm definitely looking forward to reading more domestic mysteries by this author.

CW: emotional/psychological abuse, sexual abuse (off-page), suicide (mentioned)

Rating: B+ (4½ stars)

You know going in that Lila has killed her husband Aaron- but what happened to his car and his body? That's the question that bedevils Lila, Aaron's brother Jared, and most of all, Ginny, the detective who goes looking for Aaron after he's reported missing by the school where he teaches. Lila knows that Aaron had a twisted-and illegal- practice of sex with his students but she doesn't know, and I'm not going to tell, how rotten he truly is. They both have horrible backgrounds (again, no spoilers) that play into this twisty tale that kept me (and, btw, Ginny) guessing. To be honest, Aaron, Lila, and Jared are not sympathetic characters, although Ginny is. This has periodic dips into a podcast about missing women; I recognize this is currently a popular device but it doesn't really add anything to the story. The title of this is demeaning but don't let that deter you from reading this very very twisted tale. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. It wasn't what I expected when I started it and I have to admit being surprised by the end. A page turner.

Lila and Aaron have the picture perfect marriage...but do they really? With Lila's past and Aaron's infidelities with underage girls, what could go wrong? Oh wait, literally everything. Aaron, the beloved teacher, could go missing with only 1 logical suspect, Lila, or at least thats what the police and public think. Then end will have you reeling!
🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
WOW. What a great read! I could not put it down. The drama will keep you on the edge of your seat. I will say I thought I knew how it was going to end, but even I ended up surprised. It would be interesting to see another book about Aaron and Jared's childhood. The concept of their upbringing is super intriguing.

Thank you Darby Kane, Netgalley, and Harper Collins for the amazing ARC!

Lila Ridgefield lives in an idyllic college town but not everything or anyone is at seems. A small town is worried about the disappearance of a student and then of a popular teacher. This is a domestic suspense story and was a great read

The pretty little wife in the book by that name by Darby Kane is Lila Ridgefield, who has just found some sex videos of her husband with some of his students as this debut novel begins. Meanwhile, three young women have disappeared without a trace in Lila’s college town in New York.

Lila and her husband Aaron Payne are on the outs over the videos, and soon Aaron disappears, or so Lila leads investigators to believe. However, Lila is confused because the last time she saw her missing husband, he was dead in his car parked on the schools’ grounds.

Ginny Davis, the senior detective on the case, suspects that Lila knows more than she’s telling, and as the wife, she becomes the number one suspect among two others: Aaron’s brother Jared and his principal Brent. The story takes many twists and turns as it is brought to a horrific climax with the Pretty Little Wife being in jeopardy.

Darby Kane is the pseudonym for HelenKay Dimon, a former divorce lawyer turned bestselling author of more than 40 romantic suspense, contemporary, and erotic romance books and novellas. She lives in San Diego.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting December 16, 2020.

I would like to thank HarperCollins Publishers for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Okay, I am used to the missing spouse in thrillers, but a wife who is distressed not because her husband is missing, but because his body is not where she left it is a surefire way to get a reader into the book. What the reader will find a storyline with so many twists that at times you just must forget that little voice in your head that keeps saying “Oh, come on…. how could this possible happen?” This is an excellent start to debut author, Darby Kane’s writing.

I would give this one three and a half stars. I really liked reading this one! While there were parts that seemed to drag on, I was invested in Lila Ridgefield and if she was involved in any of the happenings that occur. I did figure out part of the twist and expected the ending but overall think this was a pretty good debut for this author and I hope that they write more in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: Lila and Aaron have a perfect life, both good looking, lovely house in an upper-class neighborhood, financially well off, and Aaron is a beloved teacher in the community. So why does Lila decide to murder her husband? As the facade begins to fracture, we see that things are not as perfect as they appear on the surface. Lila finds hidden videos of her husband's students in compromising situations. Numerous videos, showing he's been exploiting and abusing his students for years. Lila devises a plan to kill her husband. The plan was perfect and went off without a hitch. Until his body and his car are not found where she left them. Lila is left wondering if she didn't actually kill him or if someone knows what she did.

Lila, of course, becomes the center of the police investigation. Her emotionless demeanor rubs lead investigator Ginny the wrong way. Lila struggles to keep her cool, especially when she receives notes claiming to know what she did. She worries that Aaron is still alive and is plotting his revenge.

In addition to Lila's missing husband, there are also three missing college students. Are the cases related or coincidental? This picturesque town has secrets that run deep.

My Evaluation of the Book: Pretty Little Wife is a roller coaster ride of a story. I thought I knew how the story would end, but I was completely wrong. None of the characters are what they appear to be, and the author developed layered and complex characters that keep you guessing who is ultimately responsible. The ending was shocking, and I raced through this story to uncover all the hidden secrets.

My only fault with this book is that Aaron was such a diabolical character that I don't think it is entirely believable that no one knew what he was up to or that none of the students let it slip about their sexual encounters. He deserved so much more than he got, and Lila should get an award for putting up with him for all those years.