A year ago, Elisa Wright had a picture perfect life. A loving and supportive husband, a wonderful child, and a brother in law engaged to one of her good friends. But after the fiancee Abby vanishes without a trace, Elisa is left wondering why she's the only one who seems to suspect anything is amiss. Josh, the brother in law, is convinced Abby leaving was merely a dramatic way to break up with him. But surely she wouldn't abandon her friends and the rest of her life too, would she? It never quite sat right with Elisa, but the police investigation didn't turn up anything. It's not until she finds some suspicious items Abby left behind, and Josh shows up with a serious girlfriend that seems to have appeared out of nowhere that Elisa starts to suspect Josh may in fact be a murderer. After all, Abby wasn’t the first woman in his life who is no longer with us…

This was a hard one for me to read and review. I really enjoyed Darby Kane's debut and despite a few problems with it, I was looking forward to her next book. So much so in fact that I glossed over the mentions of panic attacks and a breakdown in the blurb. That is my own fault and I own that. If you are like me and do not enjoy "maybe crazy" unreliable female characters and those who gaslight them, I cannot recommend this. I was hoping this would be more about a woman slowly uncovering a mystery and less a fairly one-note main character (does she have a personality that isn't trauma survivor?) wading through panic attacks and possibly on pills she doesn't remember taking.

Reading this felt like I was underwater. And I'll give credit where it's due for that. Kane did in fact very effectively evoke strong feelings of panic, confusion, and self-doubt. This reader simply isn't one who enjoys that. I also don't enjoy characters whose actions don't make sense or bond villain style expository monologues. So I want to be fair and acknowledge that a lot of my problems stemmed from simply being the wrong reader for the book.

I found the whole thing to be predictable, repetitive, and frustrating to read. If it wasn't an ARC, I would not have finished it. Other people seem to have enjoyed it much more than me, so I'd urge you to check out their reviews as a counterpoint.

Available December 28, 2021.

I do want to thank NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for the opportunity to review this title. Hopefully the next one will be a better fit!

I thought Darby Kane hit it out of the park with Pretty Little Wife, but this one has surpassed my expectations!! The Replacement Wife was non-stop mystery, intrigue, and captivatingly tantalizing, this is definitely a must read for 2021!! The who-dun-it unravelled brilliantly and the characters and plot just kept me on my toes until the end. Elisa had such a character development from beginning to end. Sweet Elisa trying to live a quaint quiet life, but her brother in-law Josh just can't seem to stop having dead wives pop up so Elisa becomes the sleuth of all surban wife sleuths and stops at nothing until she finds her answers!! If you want a book guaranteed to keep you captivated this is definitely it!! Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this and be amazed once again by the written work of Darby Kane!!

Kane does it again!! I'll forever and always read with Darby Kane writes. She is becoming one of my favorite authors. This book is full of twists, turns, and red herrings. I LOVED this.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of The Replacement Wife.

This is similar to the author's first book, another one with 'wife' in the title, that features a stereotypical cliche of a charming, handsome man who may or may not be a serial killer, and an unreliable heroine named Elisa, who suffers from PTSD after a horrific tragedy.

Naturally, as her fears about her brother-in-law, Josh, grow, she is easily gaslighted by the people around her. Of course, her own husband, Harris, doesn't believe her concerns because she's been 'sick' and need meds and therapy.

Don't get me wrong; the premise still had potential but the characters left something to be desired, as well as the narrative, which dragged on and on.

Readers are offered various forms of gaslighting, typical tropes like objects being moved around or missing, suspicions that someone is in the house, Elisa suffers from panic attacks and often feels light-headed and foggy.

Elisa is a heroine hard to like; she's not unlikable, but she's not someone I would want to hang out with.

It's due to the way the author describes her; I understand she's fragile and still dealing with the aftereffects of a tragedy she still hasn't come to terms with, but Elisa strikes me as a doormat, her personality has never been strong to begin with, so it was hard to sympathize or even care about what was happening to her.

I saw the last twist coming a mile away, and though it was hard to suspend disbelief for, it wasn't the only hard to believe scenario I had to take with a grain of salt.

*thanks NetGalley for the advanced e-book copy to read!*
I loved The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane. Here we follow Elisa Wright, a normal wife and mother dealing with not only past trauma but also trying to find a missing friend, who is her brother-in-law's finace. The reader follows Elisa as she continually spirals into believing her brother-in=law is a killer while no one believes her. Not much more can be said, but this book does not stop in terms of pace. It was written very well. I will continue to read everything that Darby Kane puts out!

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Omg, the ending! I was surprised by the twist at the end only to be surprised again by the next twist.

📖The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Domestic Suspense • Psychological Thriller • Crime

Elisa is staring at her brother-in-law and she is certain he is a murderer. Is she right? Is she paranoid? Is someone messing with her or is she messing with us? With women missing here and dead women there, a mystery lurks around every corner.

I really enjoyed the originality in Kane’s first book…Pretty Little Wife. While The Replacement Wife isn’t as unique, it was still an entertaining thriller. The current publication date is December 2021.

(Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy of The Replacement Wife.)

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I really enjoyed The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane. Elise is a young wife and mother , who suspects her brother in law might be a murderer. He has a dead wife and a missing fiancée and already has another girlfriend. I couldn’t put this book down there was so many twists and turns that kept me reading till the end. I highly recommend this if you like psychological thrillers. Thanks to Netgalley for this arc.

First time read by this author and I am so glad I was granted this book. A wonderful thriller that had me reading late into the night. Can’t wait for more by this author.

Thanks to NetGalley and Harper Collins for an ARC on this new book by Darby Kane!

The Replacement Wife was a dizzy thriller that had a unique story of who dun it and then who did it.

The reason for 3.5 (rounded up to 4) was because of the unrealistic relationship between an accuser and accused. No one would be showing up for dinner if they were being accused of what Eliza suspected.

This one sucked me in. So many layers. So many twists. I was changing my theory each chapter.

It starts a little slow and then the unknown perspective is introduced and I started questioning everything. I do wish the unknown POV would have been more prominent, there are only a few chapters from their perspective.

The main reason this wasn’t a 5 star for me was how repetitive the story was which added to the length. I saw over 400 pages and thought oooooof. It’s a quick read regardless but damn. I wanted to jump ahead when Elisa would be “in thought” because it was always the same.

Ends with a nice cliffhanger that leaves you open to make your own assumptions which I always love!

Ultimately - grab this one if you like twisty who the fuck do I believe thrillers

Wow! Thanks to the publisher and author for the chance to read this book early. What a great story. Twists and turns that I didn't see coming. Add this one to your TBR list; you won't be disappointed.

Darby Kane knows how to write a thriller!

Take a man with a dead wife and a missing fiancé and throw in a unreliable narrator of a sister in law that questions everything and you have a book that will make your head spin and make you question everyone up until the very end. I was able to guess one of the plot twists about half way in but it didn’t at all take away from the enjoyment of this book.

Book Description: Elisa Wright is a mom and wife, living a nice, quiet life in a nice, quiet town. She’s also convinced her brother-in-law is a murderer. Josh has one dead wife and one missing fiancée, and though he grieved for them he starts dating someone new. Elisa fears for that woman’s safety, and she desperately wants to know what happened to her friend, Josh’s missing fiancée.

Searching for clues means investigating her own family. And she doesn’t like what she finds. A laptop filled with incriminating information. Other women.

But when Elisa becomes friends with Josh’s new girlfriend and starts to question things she thinks are true, Elisa wonders if the memories of a horrible incident a year ago have finally pushed her over the edge and Josh is really innocent. With so much at stake, Elisa fights off panic attacks and a strange illness. Is it a breakdown or something more? The race is on to get to the truth before another disappearance because there’s a killer in the family…or is there?

Tིhིeི Rིeིpིlིaིcིeིmིeིnིt Wིiིfིeི
bིyི Dིaིrིbིyི Kིaིnིeི
Rིeིlིeིaིsིeི dིaིtིeི 12/07/2021

Y’all have zero clue how much I harassed this sweet lady for her book. She won’t forget me and probably not in a good way 😜😜 but I loved her first book. And I had to have this. And she was super patient and sweet. So thank you, Helen !! I love your Darby Kane thrillers, and for the future anytime you write one. I want it 😜📚🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻👩🏻‍💻

Anywho, so Elisa and Harris are married with a son named Nathan. Harris’s brother Josh has a deceased wife and a missing fiancé, and now 4 months after she went missing he is seeing someone new. Abby his missing fiancé was one of Elisa's friends, and she seems way more concerned about her disappearance than Josh does. She’s mortified by his behavior. Elisa has a secret. She has Abbys laptop, with loads of secrets which keeps Elisa bursting at the seams. Elisa has some underlying issues, which later in the book you’ll understand why. She has debilitating panic attacks, hyperventilates, and can’t go within a 20-mile radius of her own home.
But she’s on a mission, to find out what went wrong with Josh’s first wife, his last fiancé, and the reality of his newest relationship.
I loved Elisa's determination, her won’t quit attitude.
This book is so twisty and turny, that you can stop turning those pages, which ends up making you stay up until 330 am reading. 😳🤩 5 🇸​🇹​🇦​🇷​🇸​🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟from me
It’s a great thriller, mystery, and family drama book all into one !! I can’t wait for her next ❤️❤️


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2.5 stars

I was so excited to receive an ARC of this one after Kane’s debut last year was such a pleasant surprise. However this one didn’t really click with me as much as Pretty Little Wife unfortunately.

We’re following Elisa, a maybe-unreliable narrator (think Woman in the Window), who thinks her brother-in-law murdered his wife and tries to uncover the truth before his new girlfriend gets too involved with him.

I felt like it had a good storyline and a few good twists but the biggest reason it didn’t work that well for me was that as an ‘unreliable narrator’ Elisa has some psychological issues going on and I felt like a lot of her paranoia was so overly and unnecessarily detailed, I found myself skimming through paragraphs because they were just redundant details of her being scared or in shock. It made the book a lot longer than it needed to be and I think it would benefit from a bit of editing.

Also while Pretty Little Wife went surprisingly dark (kind of light Karin Slaughter vibes), this one is a much tamer, pretty standard domestic thriller, more in the vein of Greer Hendricks/Sarah Pekkanen’s books.

I will continue reading Kane’s thrillers because I enjoyed her previous book so much but this one was a disappointment for me.

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane

“Everyone will be talking about “The Replacement Wife!” Darby Kane has written another book you won’t want to stop reading!”-Green Gables Book Reviews

The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane
Green Gables Book Reviews thoughts:
When I saw The Replacement Wife in my inbox, I started reading right away! I had recently read “Pretty Little Wife” and was WAITING/HOPING I would get an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of “The Replacement Wife.” When I read it, I think it had me even more on the edge of my seat than the first book! Darby Kane’s books keep getting better and better. I can’t wait to see what she writes next! The Replacement Wife releases in December. I think you will see this book often. I know you will see it on my page!

ABOUT THE BOOK!
The Replacement Wife by Darby Kane
“How many wives and girlfriends should disappear before your family notices?”


Elisa Wright has a great life. Loving husband, Harris, adorable 7-year-old son, Nathan, and brother-in-law, Josh. They do the typical family things together, hang out, play in the yard with Nathan, have dinner together. Elisa, Harris, and Nathan live in an old historic house in a great neighborhood. But, Elisa has started feeling edgy. Her friend, Abby, Josh’s fiancee’, is missing. And, she feels Josh is too casual about it. He says they weren’t getting along, he thinks she had cold feet about getting married, but Elisa knows she would have said goodbye. Elisa is tired of his excuses. Then, a shock. Josh is dating someone new and wants them to meet her.

Is Josh’s new girlfriend, Rachel, in danger? Elisa needs to find out where Abby is. She starts doing some investigating on her own, and it leads to many more questions. Things are happening that Elisa doesn’t remember doing. She thinks someone is following her, and she is fighting to overcome an incident from last year that would shake anyone to their core. She feels like her life is spinning out of control, and she is doing her best to keep panic attacks under control. And, now even Harris is starting to question her actions.

Can Elisa get someone to listen to her before another girlfriend disappears?

I am so pleased that NetGalley offered this book to me to read and review.

Go to Darby Kane’s website to read more about her books. You can also read an excerpt of Pretty Little Wife.

A psycho-thriller breath of fresh air murder mystery! I literally could not put this down and read it in one day. The Replacement Wife centers around Elisa who is trying to find out the truth about her missing friend and her brother-in-law who was engaged to the friend. I really enjoyed the mystery and look forward to reading more from Darby Kane. If you haven’t read Pretty Little Wife, I would also recommend that. A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC!

What a spectacular return of this talented writer! The storyline focuses on a perfectly content wife and mother who begins to suspect her brother in law of being a cold blooded killer as more and more women in his vicinity meet with unusual and unfortunate circumstances. Loved this tale of deceit!

This book really grabbed me from the first page. I found it to be very original, with a very unique writing style! Loved the characters development, as it really connected me to their story and made me need to finish and know everything! Fast paced, intense, well written, and unputdownable! Plenty of fun twists turns, chilling chills, thrilling thrills, and haunting shocks! Will definitely be leaving me with more than a bit of a hangover, and watching for more by this author! Highly, highly recommend!

Will buzz around platforms and use top Amazon reviewer number on release!

I am absolutely a fan of this up and coming new thriller author! I recently read her first book and enjoyed it so was extremely happy to be able to read this book! I will say, she had me guessing pretty much the entire book. I was both impressed and happy with the ending. I wanted more!
I cant wait to read her third book. I think Darby has a great future with writing engaging storylines and keeping readers on their toes!