Tish has risen from the proverbial ashes of her troubled youth and snagged the life of her dreams. She's married to a wealthy older man and has everything she ever wanted... Except his attention. Lately, John's been stressed and distracted. He blames the impending IPO of his company, which he shares with his ex-wife Katie, but Tish is suspicious that there's more to their present-day relationship than business. When John dies suddenly (and suspiciously) and a new will appears, Katie and Tish are immediately at odds. In their fight for what they each believe they're entitled to, they'll each do what it takes to get what they want... No matter the cost.

Frankly, it took everything in me not to DNF this book. From the beginning, it felt poorly written - Sort of like a first draft attempt by someone with a fledgling interest in writing a book. The writing was incredibly distracting and made it hard to really sink my teeth into the plot. Additionally, the characters were extremely unlikable - I wasn't rooting for a single one of them. It was obvious to me from the first mention of homeopathic medication provided by Katie that she was working against John, but it feels as thought the moment when her daughter visits the doctor that allegedly provided them is glazed over.

Altogether, this felt like a halfhearted attempt at a thriller and I definitely don't intend to pick up anything else by this author in the future. I honestly can't believe it has a 3.79 rating on Goodreads.

The Next Wife is an engaging read. The twists and turns are well written and flow through the plot without a hitch. It is good to see a story told from many perspectives when relationships are broken and being mended, especially from the kids angle when there are children involved. This is definitely worth a read. Thoroughly enjoyed.

Actual rating 3.5*

This is my second Rouda's book, and since I wasn't a huge fan of Best Day ever, I was a bit reluctant about this one.
It turned out to be pretty decent book, with a crappy ending unfortunately (and that's why no 4* from me).
I enjoyed that all the characters were sort of grey and you couldn't trust anyone. I enjoyed the intrigue, the powerplay. It was so well executed and well written.
Unfortunately the ending ruins everything and it left me with sort of WTF face.

I really enjoyed Kaira Rouda's Best Day Ever and The Favorite Daughter, so I was excited to read The Next Wife...and it did not disappoint! The characters were so well-written, and it was easy to empathize with Kate and Ashlyn. I raced through this book because I couldn't wait to see Tish (hopefully) get what was coming to her, and the ending was surprising and satisfying. I highly recommend The Next Wife...thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for giving me the opportunity to read and review this amazing book. : )

The Next Wife was a thriller novel featuring the second and first wife battling out over power and money. After her husband's company goes through an IPO, Tish (the second wife) takes her husband out to Telluride to get time to reconnect as she sees him beginning to drift back to his ex-wife for companionship. Instead of the relaxing trip she wants, she quickly uncovers his desire to leave her. Through the night, her husband mysteriously passes away by a heart attack launching the company into a state of distress and throwing up suspicions with the daughter and first wife. It is a battle of the wives as they fight over the mysterious new will and the suddenness of the husband's death. Kate and her daughter begin to uncover Tish's fatal past and how she may be tied to more than just her husband's death.

Ugh. I don't know who I liked least - Kate or Tish. Or maybe even spoiled Ashlyn. They were all terrible. You might say Tish is the worst but at least she's honest with how she feels and her intentions, ya know?

This book was typical thriller-ish, although the writing felt almost juvenile at times. It was a very quick read and was trending toward 3 stars for me, until the twist at the end. That earned an extra star. Other than the twist, it was very general, run of the mill, thriller stock. Old wife and new wife hate each other, (ex)husband is selfish and generally not a great guy, daughter is a spoiled brat, etc etc. I wasn't overly excited about this one but it wasn't terrible.

I really wanted to love this book. The synopsis made it sound perfect, but I just can’t get in to it.

I hate giving up on books but this is just slow going and I’m getting bored. I’ve been trying to get myself to continue to read it for the past couple of weeks but I just can’t find the motivation.

I might come back to it at a later date, but for now it’s going to have to go on my DNF list

I really struggled with this book, and I wanted to like it based off what I'd heard from friends. The writing itself is quite good--Kaira Rouda is a solid writer. But that's basically where I stopped enjoying this book. Stereotypes, including of abuse victims. Women hating on women. Just... something I would have expected 10 or 20 years ago, but not now. I had a hard time finishing this book for that reason.

Amazing book . Amazing characters , the plot was unique . I could not put this book down . What amazing story ... love it .... I can’t wait to read more book from this author .

This book didn’t work out for me.
None of the characters are like-able.
John is supposed to be smart being the CEO of a very successful company but predictably “fell in love” with his EA claiming she’s his “soulmate” all along. I couldn’t roll my eyes more.

First wife, Kate, is one of those typical weak character, I don’t even know where to start.

Second wife, Tish, should’ve been an interesting character and had the high potential to be THE bad-ass wife but no, again, here goes the typical mistress-turned-second-wife who goes shopping everyday and always thinks of ways to extract the first wife and the daughter from their lives.

And finally, Ashley, the daughter who likes the second wife on the first few months but then decided that no, she changed her mind, she hates her now.

The “battle” between the wives is so lame and childish. I couldn’t care less about these women fighting for a man, and then fighting for the company. It’s just plain pathetic.

About the book:
Kate Nelson had it all. A flourishing company founded with her husband, John; a happy marriage; and a daughter, Ashlyn. The picture-perfect family.
Until John left for another woman.
Tish is half his age. Ambitious. She’s cultivated a friendship with Ashlyn. Tish believes she’s won.
She’s wrong.

Tish Nelson has it all. Youth, influence, a life of luxury, and a new husband. But the truth is, there’s a lot of baggage. Namely, his first wife―and suspicions of his infidelity. After all, that’s how she got John. Maybe it’s time for a romantic getaway, far from his vindictive ex. If Kate plans on getting John back, Tish is one step ahead of her.
She thinks.

But what happens next is something neither Kate nor Tish saw coming. As best-laid plans come undone, there’s no telling what a woman will do in the name of love―and revenge.

Thank you Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer and Kaira Rouda.
How do you build a family and a successful business with your husband to suddenly have the rug pulled from under you?
Your husband asks for a divorce and the new wife works in the same company. Nightmare.
I did not like manipulative, gold digger Tish. What a witch!
Loved Kate and Ashlyn, I was rooting for them from the get-go.
I however did not see that sudden twist at the end, my jaw dropped.
Enjoyed overall this quick read.
Recommend
4 stars

I didn’t like the character of Tish from the beginning of the book, so it was less enjoyable than some of Rouda’s earlier titles. It is a fast read, but there didn’t seem to be many surprises.

Tish Nelson is the novel's titular character, an amibitious and beautiful young woman who managed to lure John Nelson away from his first wife, Kate. But John and Kate were married for sixteen years, share a daughter, and a business empire, and it's not as easy as Tish expected to slot into the role of John's next wife. When Tish strats to suspect that John may be regretting ever leaving the first Mrs. Nelson, she takes immediate action, whisking John off for a weekend away in the mountains. But what Tish sets in motion is a chain of events no-one could have predicted...

...although actually that's not quite true, as I managed to predict most of this book from the first couple of chapters. Although the premise was intriguing, the writing was very amateur in places - the dialogue was inane and repetitive and every character was one-dimensional. This could have been so much better had the writing been tightened up in the edits, and the reveals not been so obviously set up - they were so clumsily done I thought that they would be red herrings for sure...but nope. Disappointing as I feel like the author had a great premise and the beginnings of something that could have been really good, but instead turned out to be predictable and mediocre.

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

The Next Wife is a thriller told from the POVs of the ex-wife, the new wife, and the daughter. I think it would be great for someone who is new to thrillers. It wasn't very graphic and there really was only one "twist." For seasoned thriller-lovers it may not be very complex. Even though I had it figured out from just about the beginning, it was still entertaining to see how the three women responded to events and the details of how the story finished. Overall I would say it was a decent read. 3.5 stars

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an incredible read!!!!! Whoaaaaaaaaaa, Fantastic book! The Next Wife is amazing, It did get a little slow in the middle for a bit but the twists and turns made it worthwhile to plow through. I Loved the plot and the characters. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough trying to figure out who was going to outwit whom. Its a Great book and you will be totally engrossed in it.

I devoured this one!!! I have read previous works! And this one was I ng on the cake. Love her writing style, and loved this book! Thanks for the arc in exchange for a honest review.

Tish has finally made it, she's landed the rich, successful husband of her dreams. Unfortunately, she has to deal with his ex-wife and daughter in the family business. Lately John has been stressed since the company is going public and has been having secret meetings with his ex-wife and business partner...and he's falling for her again. Tish will not lose what is hers, no matter what it takes.

The Next Wife is a domestic thriller with a decent twist...however all the characters were terrible people and completely unlikeable and that just kills a story for me. The book also had a juvenile feel to it that didn't quite hit the level of thriller this book seems to want to be. I'm giving this a rounded up 3 stars.

That being said I loved Rouda's Best Day Ever and look forward to reading her next book.

Thank you to Netgalley and The Next Wife by Kara Rouda and Thomas & Mercer for sending me an advanced reader's copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda!

I read this book in a day. It was a fast paced, easy read.

In a nutshell, this book is about Kate, who was married to John for 20 years, with the two running a successful business, when John left Kate for his much younger assistant, Tish. Shocker. Three years into John's marriage to Tish, he mysteriously dies on a trip to Telluride. This is a who dun it type of read. Did John die of natural causes, did Tish kill him or was it someone else?

This story is told from the POV of Kate, Ashlyn (Kate and John's daughter) and Tish and up until about 70% into the book, had me guessing and completely enthralled. Unfortunately for me, things stalled at about that mark and the book started to become predictable and never seemed to recover. All in all, an ok read, but not one that I would encourage people to put at the top of their TBR stack.

John divorced Kate to marry Tish but he's still working with Kate. Until he dies, that is. This has lots of drama about a man who really isn't that great. The company, that's another story. What happened to John in Telluride? No spoilers from me but know that you might see things coming. That's not to say, however, that this won't make a great beach read. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Very poor writing, characters, and plot.

First off, it is very hard to read about characters that have absolutely no redeeming qualities. If you like books with characters to cheer for and get invested in, this book isn’t for you.

The writing is very annoying and repetitive. For example in the first few chapters, both characters continuously think “I’ve been so foolish.” That could have been a good line to use ONCE per character, not once per page.

The plot: horrible. If you like suspense in your suspense novels, this book isn’t for you. The answers to any questions are answered right away, leaving no reason to continue reading at all.

I won’t be reading from this author again and recommend that you save yourself the time and don’t read this dud.