Fran and Jack are going to do the thing that never works : run away together, escaping from their respective marriages. 

The fateful day of their departure sets into motion a chain of events that I never saw coming. 

First though, Fran has to undo the steps she took in order to run.

Jack's wife, Helene, on the other hand refuses to let Jack speak to Fran again - which makes Fran assume that something horrible has happened to him...she refuses to believe he'd actually desert her at the airport.

Honestly - they both seem a little naive to me...and I had a hard time liking either of them. I will say that Fran developed nicely though - she came out of her poor me attitude and started to make things happen for herself.

This one can be another one filed under liked...not loved.

The Other Woman by Amanda Brookfield was a book that had me hooked from the very start. A story of domestic drama where the lives of two women are intertwined.  I couldn’t turn the pages quick enough on this book to find out the ending,  absolutely brilliant,

Wow. Just wow..

I loved this book. I feel like I lived this book while I was reading it. Absolutely amazing - maybe Amanda Brookfield was listening in on my life (okay, without the really bad stuff....)

Trigger warning - mention of Domestic Violence

This is a story of two unlikely women's lives crossing when Fran has an affair with Helena's husband. Fran, a wife and mother, is bullied by her husband Pete and seeks comfort and refuge in the arms of Jack. Jack, a struggling artist, is married to Helena and their marriage is full of difficulties too - continuous fights, alcoholism and manipulation from his wife see him seek comfort with Fran.  As the pair can't be together properly because of their respective partners, they hatch a plan to run away to Madrid together. What's more dramatic than an airport getaway between these two? Maybe that Jack never turns up for their rendezvous.

Ultimately this is a journey of self-discovery and growth for the two women following that missed flight. It was fascinating to read both sides of the affair and ultimately see the reasoning for the pair to look elsewhere for love. Pete is abusive and manipulative and I found Fran's segment of the book difficult to read. The domestic violence whilst handled well is hard and uncomfortable to read yet viciously poignant. Whilst Helena's manipulation, scathing remarks and alcoholism turn Jack into a shell of a man. Despite these circumstances, I found it difficult to be sympathetic to any character, so Amanda Brookfield has done a fantastic job at creating flawed unreliable narrators. Everyone seems to struggle with hardship within this story, and I would've liked to see a little more light in their entwining lives. Whilst interesting, this is not the best psychological thriller I have read. 

*Huge thank you to Netgalley and Boldwood Books for the review copy

Having read books by this author, I was quite intrigued by the blurb. Fran was tired in her marriage to a manipulative husband. Interest shown by Jack revived her, but he was married to Helena, who was not happy in her marriage too but was not ready to leave him. 
This was a suspenseful tale in most parts but not a thriller. I got to know both women, not that I liked any of them. The story had moments of finding life again, some self-discovery, and emotions seeped into its words. 
Overall, a good read

What a freaking page turner. Book had me guessing from page to page and I never wanted to put it down. Literally did not see the end coming. At all.  I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A great story telling of three main characters and how their lives become entwined . Well worth a read. I recommend it

The Other Woman by Amanda Brookfield is a women's fiction novel based on love, family, secrets, drama, etc. On a normal day, in a normal house, on a normal street, wife and mother Fran has had enough. She packs a case, leaves a note for her bullying husband Pete, and one for her beloved twenty-year-old son Harry, and heads to the airport - and freedom.

In another house, on another street, Helena is desperately baiting her husband Jack into a fight. These days it feels like the only way to get Jack to take notice of her. Passionate, volatile, increasingly fragile, Helena is fast running out of hope. What Helena and Fran don’t know, is that soon their lives are going to collide in ways neither expect nor understand. And if Fran and Helena are going to change their own futures, then first they will have to change each other’s.

The first half of the book was very very slow and also I had to practically drag myself to finish this book. I liked the plot, the blurb was really promising but the book and the narration was really disappointing. The second half was fast paced and  kind of gets better than the start. The characters at times felt annoying to me. Some dynamics and fate between the characters was okay to read about.
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Thank You to NetGalley and Publisher for sending me an eARC in exchange for a honest opinion.

This is a really well written tale of romance lies and dreams. I was interested in both wives’ tales and it made me think!   I enjoyed how it's told in 3 parts you get to see a different side and parts of people and think what would you do..  Well worth it.

This was such a great read, enjoyed it thoroughly, i was hooked from the first page, great storyline and loads of twists and turns , highly recommend this book x

I received an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review.  This is an interesting story because you get to see different perspectives.  There was a lot going on in this book and it kept me reading. Fran was in an abusive marriage and when she met Jack they started having an affair.  They were planning on running away together but Jack's wife knew he was having an affair and prevented him from meeting her at the airport.  The two women eventually meet and have a showdown.  After that, the story changes and we see what happens. Be prepared you won't stop reading until the very end.

I really enjoyed this book, the way it is set out in chapters belonging to each of the three main characters was an excellent way of the reader being complicit in what was going on with everyone involved. It is a bit similar to another book I read recently from Net Galley, with regards to a wife leaving her husband and waiting for a lover who doesn't turn up but apart from that they went down completely different roads in the story line. This is an excellent book and I shall look for others by this author.

Fran has run away after many years, but things haven't quite turned out as planned. Helena's life is also going off the rails. Nothing is quite as it seems. You can't help but feel for Fran, what you don't expect is how your emotions get twisted for the other characters. Some very clever twists.

This Book is wrote in three parts.
Part One is all about Fran she is in a marriage with an domineering husband , she stars an extramarital affair but as she thinks she she's going to start a new life her lover doesn't turn up at the airport.
Part Two is about Helena the wife of the man who Fran is having an affair with.
Part Three is the part where everything is wrapped up.
A great read
Thanks NetGalley

I really liked the development of the characters and the slower pace of this book as it gives you time to really absorb all of he emotions around what is happening. 

I appreciated that it showed no character as being completely good or bad and that really as people we are all made up of the grey areas inbetween. Our flaws, the decisions we make and the consequences that come from them make us the complicated people we are. 

The point of view change to Helena was fascinating as  in real life we will rarely get to see all sides of a story and though very different women Fran’s and Helena’s vulnerabilities and strengths make them both characters I could identify and empathise with. 

A woman so desperately needing to escape and be free and then another so desperate to fight and hold on makes The Other Women such a poignant read.

Sometimes an incidental meeting can change everything. Fran met Jack at an auction house, when she went in to check out a dressing table being auctioned. She was attracted to Jack immediately, you see it is easy to feel good around someone who pays attention to you in a nice way when you are married to someone who abuses you, physically at times and emotionally all the time. The relationship between her and Jack became very serious and they had plans to run off to Madrid together. Fran is there, Jack doesn't show. Has something happened to him? Why isn't he there?

The story is told in three parts, Fran's story, Helena's story and the aftermath. I enjoyed the writing in this book and could feel the emotions. Jack and Pete were both a waste of skin as far as I was concerned. Even though Fran was having an affair with a married man, I liked her. She was caring and had a rough life. She was always looking for something to make her happy, which was her big mistake. Helena's story was also fraught with disloyalty and betrayal, but she was not willing to give up on her marriage. This is a very realistic story. I could see the characters as real people in real situations. This is a story about personal growth, figuring out what you want out of life, and loving yourself enough to go after what you want and need.

A bit too slow paced for me in spots and overly cliche.  But I was able to finish, and enjoyed some aspects!  Clever, thrilling, chilling, and even shocking in some spots!  I think it could’ve been shortened a bit and would’ve been a great read, but with the way it was written, I think it feel a bit flat and missed that spot I love.  Overall, I would still recommend, as I am a quite moody reader and that may have impacted my view!

This is an intriguing book about the nature of relationships and how we never really know what goes on in people’s lives behind closed doors.

When Fran is left alone at the airport by Jack, who was supposed to be meeting her to escape to a new life together, it is all she can do to try to keep the broken pieces of her life together when she returns home to her oblivious and violent husband Pete.

Jack’s wife Helena is initially portrayed as a manipulative, money-chaser who belittles her husband, which is supposedly what drove him to the affair, after meeting Fran at a local auction.

The first part of the book focuses on events from Fran’s point of view, while the second tells the same story from Helena’s perspective. Then the relationships collide in the final section.

This is more an exploration of the lives of the individual characters than a psychological thriller as such. As a reader, it is impossible not to feel some sympathy for Fran, a woman who has endured so much in life by staying in an unhappy marriage for the sake of her son, whose character is equally compelling.

This is a slow-burner but definitely worth a read!

The book opens with Fran leaving her husband and going to meet Jack the man she is having an affair with. They are to meet and then travel to Spain. The problem is Jack never shows and Fran must get home before her husband finds all that she left. While all of this is going on you are taken back through her affair with Jack the met and the time they spent together. 
  Helena Jack’s wife finds out about the affair and does not let Jack go and the rest or more of the book is about her keeping Jack and then also how the affair changes everything. A look into family life. An okay story.

While I enjoyed this book I found it hard to keep going at times. Fran is having an affair  and all set to leave her abusive husband Pete for new love Jack. Plans are put in place but Jack is a no show at the airport . What happened to change his mind. The book is told from both Fran's point of view and Jack's wife Helena's. Can happiness be achieved at the cost of another woman's marraige. Helena cannot allow Jack to leave. The book explores the deceit of affairs in marraige, how far a woman will go to hold on to their husbands and the struggle to begin again once a marraige has ended.