Ruth Heald is a new-to-me author, and I am excited to say that "The Wedding" didn't steer me wrong. Exciting and suspenseful with lots of twists and turns, it managed to surprise even the most experienced of thriller readers.....me! Lauren and Adam have been dating since young adulthood, and are finally ready to tie the knot. Lauren is over the moon as she plans her big day with Adam. That is, until a mysterious someone starts sending threatening notes to Lauren. At first, Lauren assumes it to be a bad joke from one of Adam's friends. The threats continue to escalate though, until Lauren can no longer deny the obvious.....someone wants this wedding to be cancelled, and they also want Lauren out of the way.

Adam is a handsome and successful doctor. He loves Lauren, but he can't deny that he does have some skeletons in his closet. Flirtatious and charming, could one of Adam's patients have a crush on him? Or could it be his best friend from university, Kiera? Or....could the threats be coming from the one person that Lauren does not, and cannot, ever know about? Adam struggles to solve the missing piece of the puzzle in order to find out who is threatening Lauren.....and why.

As the big day approaches, the threats to Lauren turn more real. It becomes crystal clear that unless she can figure out who is stalking her, her wedding to Adam may not happen. Lauren's life is in danger, and time is running out.

This book did it all for me. It was fast-paced from the get-go. Told from the perspective of both Lauren and Adam, I like that I was able to delve into the minds of both of them. The short chapters are a personal preference for me, but they also added to the incentive, as I was able to quickly breeze through the book. And just when I thought I had it all figured out....bam! Heald threw another bomb into the mix, completely blowing me away. I was very impressed with this author, and will be checking out her other works asap.

A fast-paced domestic thriller about a bride-to-be facing mysterious threats before her big day. The suspense builds well, with short chapters and a few solid twists. However, the characters lack depth, and the ending feels over-the-top. A quick, entertaining read—but not especially memorable.

A twisty turny and gripping thriller that will keep you guessing until you finish it - Highly recommended, a thoroughly enjoyable rip roaring story!

This didn't grip me initially and I found myself putting it down and getting distracted, until about 40% of the way through and then I couldn't get enough. I thought I'd guessed who was behind everything and why, but I was wrong. It was my second guess though!

I could not really get into this book at all. It just wasn't for me. I have read other Heald books in the past, and liked them. I think I just didn't feel a lot of character depth or connection with them.

I could not get into this book, ultimately it was not form me and I could not finish it. It may be one for other readers

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.

A good enough thriller, but one that is ultimately quite forgetable and nothing about it makes it stand out against a sea of other options.

Lauren and Adam are looking forward to their wedding day. She has been dreaming about this since she was much younger. Unfortunately someone is planning on ruining their plans. Who is it? Why are they doing it? Gripping and thrilling read not to be missed!

I love a good twist and this definitely did not disappoint! Just when I thought I had worked out what happened I was completely wrong and it took a completely different direction. A satisfying thriller overall

So many twists! Every time i thought i had guessed who was behind it, the plot shifted to prove me wrong. I love twisty reads like this and I was up into the early hours to finish devouring it.

Didn’t enjoy this one, not sure it’s my type of book and it isn’t one I would read again in a hurry which is a shame as the cover looked very appealing

After 18 years together, Lauren is finally marring her childhood sweetheart, Adam. Lauren receives a suspicious letter stating that her future husband didn’t not love her. A creepy doll with a resemblance to Lauren was wearing a slashed up wedding dress accompanied the letter. This book was an engaging read that you will want to read straight through. The book follows different time lines, past and present. It will keep you guessing who the culprit is with all the plot twists!

Clever writing with likeable characters, however they were hard to connect with. Good twists but also quite predictable. Good writing and an interesting storyline.

Reading Between the Wines book review #131/115 for 2021:
Rating: 4.5 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 📱: The Wedding
Author: Ruth Heald
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers
Available now!

Sipping thoughts: Planning your wedding should be the happiest time of your life. Yes, it can be stressful but for the most part it should be a happy time. Well, someone does not want Lauren and Adam to get married. Lauren can’t even enjoy her engagement due to mysterious letters stating her fiancé doesn’t love her, ominous surprises left for her, friendships with her fiancé that seem to close, fears of infidelity, assault, and lies. The secrets these characters have are so life altering that I would not want any of these people as my friend or family. Lauren is such a cry-baby and Adam is the biggest douche. The culprit was not such a crazy reveal, but the actual reveal was crazy, if that makes sense. And that last twist was juicy. I went to search for the next Heald book and can’t wait to read The New Girl released Jan 25, 2022.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @Bookouture for an advanced copy of @TheWedding.

#TheWedding #RuthHeald #Bookouture #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers

A wedding is being arranged between Lauren and Adam but someone doesn’t want that at all and will go to great lengths to prevent it. Loved the idea but definitely not the characters. The pair were absolute dimwits who would make a potato seem intelligent. It’s hard to believe that Adam was a GP and Lauren a consultant in a hospital. She seemed to lack medical knowledge, constantly crying or on the verge of doing so. Neither of them had much money which seemed rather odd considering their careers! Two of the other characters played a large part and then nothing more so loose ends. There was some tension with each problem, red herrings, a whirlwind finale and a great location. Might make a good stocking filler.

The wedding
I did not enjoy this book. First off if starts all thrillingly scary, Lauren gets a letter written “he doesn’t love you”, with a gruesome doll enclosed. It makes you think how childish and the clues don’t even make any sense.
As the story flashes back to two lovers in Thailand having a romantic relationship, while present day Lauren is undergoing these threats and her fiancé is nowhere around. He sure has a lot of time hanging out at bars with his best female friend and then never has time for his fiancée. I don’t even get the sense the two engaged people are in love if they never see each other and at drop of hat are diverted toward other insignificant things. M

Then the story throws in a patient who makes advances at Adam to make you think that she is the one who is going after Lauren.


It was so long winded and predictable, since the clues were not practical trying to throw the reader off. Even when you figure out who it is, it was so unrealistic how the criminal involved was guilty and didn’t even defend herself so you knew it was not her. You get glimpses that she was avoiding her sister for 15 years and then when they have the wedding in Thailand she minimizes how she feels with blaming her sister for the death. It’s examples like this that make the characters fall flat.
The timeline does not add up, Lauren feels guilt for her parents’ death yet Adam and sister had the fling even before so why was Lauren even clueless about the relationship.

And if Adam noticed something about Jasmine why didn’t her own aunt notice similarities.

This author tried to put in so many twists and turns to throw you off track, but leaves me to wonder why would anyone would even want to marry spineless Adam if he lied this whole time. So many holes and far fetched ideas make this story a terrible read.

I read it in one sitting and loved it!
This book has been on my shelf for a while and I now wish I had read it sooner.
Plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing throughout.

I quite liked this book. It was a read that didnt over exaggerate, the plot grabbed me from the word go. It was great escapism.

I'm a huge fan of thrillers but sadly this one was a bit slow in places and overall I felt it was a bit flat. Really enjoyed the storyline though but not enough 'thriller' for me.

There are a lot of excellent reviews for this though so its definitely worth a read.

Thank you Netgalley.