This is told Over a dual timeline
The plot is very slow and repetitive.
Suspense is lacking and the twists were so predictable
The characters were very one dimensional and under developed

Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Great twists! The pace is a little slow and could probably benefit from being a bit faster to keep the tension.

The thing with this book is that the title has very little to do with the story. I found the book to be slow paced and repetitive in sections. I didnt really feel the suspense in the book. It was quite easy to solve the twists . I found it to be a bit over the top and unrealistic.

When Heather, mother to Jade and wife to Alex tragically dies, her loved ones struggle to cope, especially Alex. Then Alex meets Natalie and his life is transformed. Believing he can put the past him, he marries Natalie and one evening he goes for a few beers with some clients from London. Walking down the street on his return he can smell burning; there's a house on fire and it's his own...

I loved this smart, twisty thriller which is my first read from Rebecca Fleet. Her writing style is fast-moving and engaging. The compelling story moved back and forth between the past (1999) and present (2017) gradually revealing Natalie's backstory. Twists bombarded me from all angles, and from a variety of sources and it seemed that everyone had a closet overflowing with secrets. With characters that were well-drawn and realistic, I found myself reading this late into the night. The grand finale was something of a surprise even after a raft of unsettling events and behaviour. I'm delighted to have read The Second Wife and I certainly recommend it.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel, at my request, from Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Black Swan via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Rating 4.5 Stars

After the death of his first wife, Alex was left as a single parent to his teenage daughter Jade. When Alex met Natalie she changed his life and he's determined to build a happy family.

But his new-found happiness is destroyed when the family home is engulfed by a fire and finds that his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder. Alex is faced with an impossible choice of who to believe.

I enjoyed this novel following the plot as it interweaves between the present and the past, following sisters Rachel and Natalie's life of when they were living in London. It slowly reveals itself and I like the way it ended.

Whilst I knew this was set in a seaside town as it mentions a pier, it's not until 77% of the way through are you told it is Brighton - something that could have been put in the first chapter as Alex is walking home from a business meeting! And the description of Portslade doesn't quite feel right either - the "high street" as I recall it doesn't have the pubs it mentions plus when in court it's a barrister not a lawyer who asks the questions - but that's me being pedantic!

I received this book from Netgalley in return for a honest review.

The blurb reads '.When Alex met Natalie she changed his life. After the tragic death of his first wife, which left him a single parent to teenage daughter Jade, he’s determined to build a happy family.
But his new-found happiness is shattered when the family home is gutted by fire and his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder.
Alex is faced with an impossible choice: to believe his wife or his daughter? And as Natalie’s story unravels, Alex realises that his wife has a past he had no idea about, a past that might yet catch up with her.
But this time, the past could be deadly' .....
A little repetitive sometimes but overall this is a good solid story with a big twist at the end. The author writes well and I will look for more books by her. Thank you Netgalley, Random House UK and the author Rebecca Fleet for giving me the opportunity to read The Second Wife.

This book had a good premise and some great writing. However, I was disappointed as I wanted a faster pace and more action. It was quite slow and left the reader wishing for more.

Sadly I didn’t enjoy this book very much and I struggled to finish it, I kept expecting something exciting to happen but it just was too slow paced,

EXCERPT: 'What happened?' I ask quietly, but she just shakes her head and raises her hands in a strange, useless gesture, grasping at nothing as if she is looking for the answer in the air around us.

'What happened?' I say again, my tone rougher this time. 'I don't know,' she says at last. 'I don't know how it happened.'

The ambulance weaves on, and above our heads the strip lights are flickering, brightness ebbing and flowing like the aftermath of a camera flash. Next to me, Natalie shifts in her seat, leans forward and clasps her hands together, blinking fast, whispering to herself. I look at her profile, her clenched jaw. This woman with the trembling hands and tears drying in streaks . . . my wife, but not the mother of my child. Not the one who would have found her, no matter where she was.

ABOUT THE SECOND WIFE BY REBECCA FLEET: She's part of the family now. For better--and for worse . . .

When Alex met Natalie she changed his life. After the tragic death of his first wife, which left him a single parent to teenage daughter Jade, he was desperate to leave the pain of his past behind.

But his newfound hatppiness is shattered when the family home is gutted by fire and his loyalties are unexpectedly tested. Jade insists she saw a man in the house on the night of the fire; Natalie denies any knowledge of such an intruder.

One of them must be lying, but Alex is faced with an impossible choice: to believe his wife or his daughter. As Natalie's story unravels, Alex realizes that his wife has a past he had no idea about, a past that might yet catch up with her.

But this time, the past could be deadly . . .

MY THOUGHTS: The Second Wife is narrated over two timelines, the turn of this century, and 2017, mainly by both Alex and his second wife Natalie.

This read dragged for me and I seriously considered not finishing. The plot is slow and repetitive, with little suspense, and the twists were all rather predictable. I also felt that I was being 'told' what was happening, rather than experiencing it.

The characters are very one dimensional, and none of them aroused any emotion in me whatsoever. Personally, I need to love, hate, or relate to the characters somehow, but there was just nothing.

I was interested to read in the author's acknowledgments that she was convinced, after the first couple of drafts, that the book was 'finished', as good as she could make it, and was daunted and more than a little defensive when her editor suggested a major rethink of the structure. Fleet says that she was left with a much better book as a result. But me? I have to wonder. . .

All in all, this was a very average read. But one with a rather beautiful cover.

😣😣.4

THE AUTHOR: Rebecca Fleet was educated at Oxford and works in brand strategy. She lives in London.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, Black Swan via Netgalley for providing a digital ARC of The Second Wife by Rebecca Fleet for review. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

For an explanation of my rating system please refer to my Goodreads.com profile page or the about page on sandysbookaday.wordpress.com

This review and others are also published on Twitter, Amazon, Instagram and my webpage

This is a solid domestic thriller with an excellent twist that I managed to guess, most satisfyingly, only moments before the big reveal - the breadcrumbs well laid, the clues placed before you at just the right time. That alone, in my opinion, makes this worth a casual read.

The twist aside, I appreciated the way that the narrative made me empathise with different characters at different times - although, inevitably, I ended up wanting to strangle several of them at various points due to their terrible decision making. That's par for the course, however, and I suppose sensible, rational characters would not lead to particularly interesting books. I'm not sure that any character comes out of this with much credit, but I enjoyed the journey all the same.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was an okay book with an okay storyline and okay characters. I seem to have read a lot on the same subject recently and this was probably not one of the better ones. Sorry

I’ve previously read this but didn’t realise! Sorry for requesting again. Here’s my review from last time.

I’m lost for words and not in a good way.

The Second Wife sounded exactly like my sort of book, thrilling, dark and full of secrets. In reality it’s a little boring.
The writing frustrated me so much! Going between different years is absolutely fine but there needs to be something tying the storyline together! When the story first went back to 1999 I completely forgot about the fire and by the time it came back to present day I didn’t care about the fire. The subplot was more interesting but nothing really stood out....well not for good reasons. There is nothing believable about the story and by the time I got to the “twist” (most obvious twist ever) things didn’t make sense. Then it got worse.

I honestly don’t know how to take this story seriously. I’m left annoyed that I’ve wasted my time reading this when I have much better books on my list.

I'm not sure about this one - I enjoyed reading it and I raced through it, but it felt a bit typical. I guessed the main twist about 50 pages in, and I don't think there was enough here to make it stand out from the rest of the genre. It was a fun read though, and would be good to read on holiday.

I read this ARC for an honest review
All thoughts and opinions are mine

Really enjoyed this
I was hooked from the beginning - I found the story intriguing
The twist wasn't a shock but it also didn't spoil my enjoyment

This book was enjoyable, an intriguing story about past lives. I really enjoyed the split narrative, and felt it gave the book a fast pace. However, I did unfortunately predict the twist quite early in the book, although the read was still enjoyable.


This book will be great for thriller lovers, with great insight into all the main characters’ past and present lives.

Alex has found happiness with his new wife, Natalie, after his first wife tragically passed away. But when he returns home one evening to find his house on fire with his wife and teenage daughter inside, his world is turned upside down. When his daughter Jade regains consciousness, she insists there was a man in the house; Natalie insists otherwise. When Alex begins to look into the situation more closely, he begins to realise that there's a lot about Natalie that he doesn't know...and the fire may not be the greatest threat his family will face...

I loved this smart, twisty thriller, which is the second I've read from Rebecca Fleet, and definitely won't be the last. Her writing style is well paced and engaging, and I like that the twists are genuinely surprising. I loved how this story went back and forth between past and present to gradually reveal Natalie's backstory, and the characters well developed and realistic.

Will definitely be recommending this one, and am already looking forward to what this author does next.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for providing me with a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ties, Lies And A Web Of Deceit.....
Domestic suspense, a well told tale of familial ties, lies and a web of deceit. An interesting cast of characters, well drawn and credible, unexpected twists and plenty to question along the way.

I greatly enjoyed this book, thank you for giving me a preview copy. The plot was interesting and fast paced and I sympathised with the characters. This is the first novel I have read by this author but I hope it will not be the last!

After the fire in a house, Jade, Alex's daughter from a first marriage, claims that there was a man in there but Natalie, his second wife denise everything. Widower Alex starts to really know Natalie and her past.

Classic domestic thriller, full of secrets and doubts between people who suppose to love themselves selflessly. A bit slow at first, nonetheless joy to read for all who like this genre.