I had to DNF. The first few chapters were so overly-written that there was no way I was going any further.

A popcorn thriller.

Here a wife, there a wife, everywhere a wife!

My first by the author, although I am planning to read her debut .

If you love an unreliable narrator, you may just be in for a good time. Someone is scheming and they are in the driver's seat (or so they think).

Elisa thinks her brother in law is a killer. He has a checkered past, including the death of a wife and a missing fiancee. She decides she needs to put her detective hat on and get to the bottom of her suspicions.

You never really know who is being truthful, spying is going on, manipulation, gaslighting, anxiety, and paranoia. I did feel there was a lot going on with a few of the characters (too much really). Nothing ground breaking here, though you'll get your twists and gasps and I know I laughed out loud more than once. The ending was suspenseful, but left me shaking my head.

Go ahead grab your far-fetched glasses, bowl of overflowing popcorn and settle in for quick read. Did I say OTT?
3.5 STARS

Darby Kane is truly a master at writing addictive mystery/thriller novels! The Replacement Wife is a fast-paced read that complete blew me away! Centering around Elisa Wright, who comes to the heart stopping realization that her beloved brother-in-law could possibly be a serial killer!! From that point, I was all in and could not put his book down!

I loved that Elisa is the narrator throughout, I definitely think she keeps the reader on their toes… is her perspective accurate!?! I loved playing detective and (through Elisa’s eyes) figuring out the who, what, where, when, and how! Having LOVED Darby Kane’s debut novel Pretty Little Wife, I felt confident The Replacement Wife would “wow” me, but now she’s officially an automatic must read author for me! The Replacement Wife is a 5++ star book that I recommend everyone put at the top of their reading lists!

For a sophomore novel this wasn’t bad, but it also didn’t have the punch that Kane’s first book did. I enjoyed the writing and the story kept me intrigued but the ending was fairly lackluster. I don’t feel Josh’s motives were well explained enough; given how sinister his motives felt throughout the final scenes just seemed to fit a different character completely. I’ll definitely read more from this author, but this novel didn’t stand out for me.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Replacement Wife, was one of my most sought after novels of the year. I am a HUGE fan of Darby Kane after reading her debut novel "Pretty Little Wife" .

At the start of the novel I found many similarities between her two books (psychopath brother in law) and I was wondering where this was going and if it would be TOO similar....... IT WAS NOT.

The replacement wife is one of those thrill chasing, cant breathe, cant sleep, chest tightening kind of books. I lived with anxiety reading the whole novel.

There are character you love to hate and those you fall in love with and silently root for.

Darby Kane is a force to be reckoned with. Her talent shines through with each flip of the page. I can not get enough of her writing! Concluding this book I was left with a major book hangover..... Now what do I do with myself? I was completely consumed with this book from start to finish.

I thought I had this book figured out, I was completely wrong. Although I did know the identity of "concerned" early on, i did not know how it tied in. I dont want to give away too much but I can not wait for this book to release! This is one of those books i will read over and over again and will NEED to have a physical copy.

The Replacement Wife is not made for television, this book is made for the BIG SCREEN! If this book isnt made into a movie I will be extremely surprised. I wish I could give it higher than a 5 star rating. This is a book that needs to be on everyone's wish list. Keep an eye out for Darby Kane! This author is just absolutely mind blowing and out of this world. Darby Kane, truly knows how to narrate a gripping thriller!!!!

WoW! Seriously can't thank William Morrow Paperbacks, NetGalley and Author for this compelling ebook!

When I read Pretty Little Wife by Kane I was a fan for life!
So when I seen The Replacement Wife I prayed to the Galley Gods for this approval! 😘 much love y'all for this approval!

Unreliable characters are the absolute best! I love them. And they have never failed me before!
This very well written, fast paced, compelling story was everything I had hoped for.
When you wake up at 3am thinking about a book and wanting to put a few chapters in before it's time to adult that itself is worthy of five stars to me!
Quick paced and what a physiological thrillers this was. So many twists it has your head reeling.
Couldn't put this one down until I knew all that was going to happen.
Another top notch book from this author.

I will post to my platforms closer to pub date!

I absolute love unreliable narrators, ones that you are never quite sure if they are truthful enough to be believed or if in fact, are just as crazy as the story unfolded around them.
I also happen to love and good mystery/thriller that keeps me on edge, looking over my shoulder, and constantly guessing. I got all of these things in this story and more.

I devoured this and truly couldn't put it down. I was constantly guessing, re-guessing on the edge of my seat wondering what crazy unbelievable thing would happen next. This truly was hard to put down and hard to stop thinking about. I loved every single moment of it.

This was a decent book, though I had a bit of an issue fully immersing myself in the story, maybe due to the writing style. It centers on Elisa, whose friend disappears, leaving Elisa convinced that her brother-in-law, Josh, did something to her. Josh starts dating a new woman and Elisa wants to warn her off while also getting to the bottom of what happened before.

I love a story with an unreliable narrator and the author does a great job with that aspect of the book. Elisa is somewhat likable but has some skeletons in her own closet which leads the reader to question whether she can be trusted.

The storyline got a little convoluted at parts but I do think that the ending pulled everything together in a way that was satisfying.

Overall, pretty good read even if it wasn’t my favorite. I liked this book more than this author’s other book, though both have a writing style that seemed somewhat perfunctory and wasn’t as engaging as I would have liked. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

THE REPLACEMENT WIFE is recommended for fans of plot-driven thrillers. Kane grips the reader from the first page, with chapter one being a prologue from the villain's POV and then jumping right into Elisa in chapter two. It's obvious the author plotted the story carefully and, for the most part, the narrative is well-paced. Readers will question whether Josh is guilty and whether Elisa is reliable.

My one complaint is the writing itself, which feels a little clunky. The prose doesn't flow the way I had hoped. However, this could be intentional on the author's part. I recall that some thriller writers (e.g., James Patterson) write this way to appeal to certain readers.

The ending wraps up the story in a satisfying way.

This is probably one of the best thrillers I’ve read all year. I would highly recommend this book. The story was excellent and I really liked all of the characters.

<i>The Replacement Wife</i> has the reader invested from page one. Elisa is struggling with her own personal trauma when her closest friend suddenly disappears. Her closest friend who also happens to be her brother-in-law, Josh's fiancée. Suddenly, Elisa is putting pieces together and realizes that Josh has a highly suspect past, with a trail of missing or dead girlfriends. Could her perfect brother-in-law be a murderer?

As soon as Elisa begins to suspect Josh of this (possibly) crazy theory, he suddenly shows up with a <b>new</b> girlfriend. And Elisa's life begins to become a lot more scattered. Could her previous traumatic events finally be catching up to her? Is she really irrational?

As a reader, I had a lot of doubt about Elisa, I also had a lot about Josh. <i>The Replacement Wife</i> is well-written and had so many twists and red-herrings, that by the end, I truly didn't know how the truth would come out and how the story would end. Pick this one up, for sure!

Fans of Kane’s last title “The Wives” will enjoy this domestic thriller. The narrator Elisa is a likable, if at times maybe unreliable, character. I did feel like there were a bit too many clues peppered throughout the book that gave away the books one big reveal. Overall, this was an enjoyable mystery with a satisfying ending!

Darby Kane does it again! A super twisty tale of a gaslighting brother-in-law who may just be a serial killer. Watching him pull the rug out from under everything she believes and making her doubt herself in hard to watch, but the comeuppance is quite satisfactory!

This book has a very good first few chapters, which had me intrigued, but then I saw it disintegrate into something overly plotted and confusing.

I found this to be very convoluted and totally unbelievable. There were too many characters, embroiled in too many unlikely scenarios.

Though I love mysteries, sometimes I wish that authors would simplify rather than add so much to the story.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book.

Darby Kane is very quickly becoming my new favorite psychological thriller author. I haven't read her other books under her pen name but may have to check them out.

We all have in-laws we can’t stand, but Elisa Wright’s take the cake. She’s sure her brother-in-law is a murderer, his fiancee has disappeared and the wife he had before her is dead. Now he’s taken up with a new woman and Elisa is afraid she’s going to meet the same nasty fate as Josh’s last two lovers. She decides to try to find out what happened to Josh’s fiancee, and uncovers evidence that leads her to believe that not only is other other woman dead, she may be just one of many. But as she gets to know Josh’s new girlfriend, she begins to doubt herself and wonder if a traumatic incident in her past is clouding her judgement. Is Josh really innocent or is she related to a monster?

This book had some twists and turns, but I never felt like it had the tension or suspense of a thriller. The POV felt more like a stream of consciousness than a moving storyline. Everything felt very "surface" and straight to the point which made the story hard to believe and the characters hard to connect with.

A great idea, but poor execution IMO. I couldn't tell if Elisa was truly struggling with mental illness or if she was just an insecure doormat. She went back and forth between standoffish to timid and confused to assured. It was hard to keep up with her (lack of or excess of) emotions and wishy-washy ways. She seemed lost to me and I never felt like she had the moment of clarity that I want for MC's.
(as an aside, the undercover PI - now her story is one I'd like to read! )

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow and Custom House for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Holy cow!!! What an amazing book. I read this on vacation and could not put it down. I loved all of the unexpected twists and turns, and when I thought I had it figured out, I didn't! I cannot wait to recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy. I am eagerly awaiting the next Darby Kane book!!