Sally Hepworth is a favorite of mine because I can always count on her books to be addicting. I couldn't put this one down and spent my whole weekend engrossed in it. That being said, I didn't love the ending and wish she had gone in a different direction. Nevertheless, I loved the characters and the plot and I'm sure others will too. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for another fabulous read.

Great book that was hard to put down. I liked that the characters all had their own issues and yet all remained together at the end. Well, except for one. A good, quick read that may be the gateway to Sally Hepworth books if you have never picked one up before.

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with a digital ARC of this title via Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
This wasn't always what I expected, but I enjoyed the read. It was fun not knowing what was going to happen and who did it. I liked the family drama mixed in with a little murder mystery. Fun read, clean writing.

Please read no further if you don't like spoilers. People, women especially, men too, I suppose, are good at keeping the secrets of the one they love. Gaslighting, abuse, narcissism are all covered in this very well written (and obviously researched) book by Ms. Hepworth. She's long been one of my "new" favorite authors. This book reaches a whole new level of realism for me. Although hard to believe how far some will go to keep secrets; it is so apparent in our society today. The death of hundreds at the hands of their spouse/partner proves it. She might just have saved a life with this book!!

I'm trying to decide what the takeaway here is. I don't want to read into it all too much--and I don't want to be too serious about what is clearly meant to be light entertainment. But is the message here that women don't know their own minds? And that abused women, especially, can't be trusted to know themselves or act rationally? This story definitely kept me entertained and flipping pages, but I really despised the wishy-washy (possibly even lazy?) ending and all that it implied.

The Younger Wife is one of my top reads this year. I was fully prepared to hate the younger wife, Heather, who wouldn’t after she was engaged to a married man with a wife with dementia. But I found Heather to be a completely sympathetic character. I loved the realness in the flaws of Tully and Rachel. They both were complex characters with real problems and dealing with their dad being engaged to woman younger than they were and their mother’s illness. The ending was out of this world and I’m still questioning what I just read. I could not put this book down! The plot was twisted and kept you on your toes while the characters inspire empathy for one must read thriller. Sally Hepworth is on my must read shelf! My voluntary, unbiased review is based upon a review copy from NetGalley.

Nobody does a family drama/mystery like Sally Hepworth. This one is another favorite! This story follows two sisters, a father, and the father's soon to be new wife. The only problem is the father is still actually married! Between the two sisters and their issues, the father still married to their mother with dementia, and the new wife this book was impossible to put down. Lots of twists and turns keep you turning the pages.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Expected Publication Date: 4/5/22.

Tully and Rachel find themselves thrown for a loop when their father announces he is divorcing their mother with dementia and marrying a woman younger than both of them. As they dig deeper into Heather's secrets and confront their own issues, comments from their mother make them suspect that their parents' marriage may not have been as idyllic as they thought. Knowing the wedding will end in blood, The Younger Wife is an addictive domestic thriller that keeps you engaged as you play amateur detective, judging the reliability of the narrators and deciding who you think is guilty.

Tully and Rachel are sister in their mid-thirties that both have their own personal issues. Their private issues and challenges come to light when their father, Stephen, decides to marry Heather. Heather is only a few years younger than the sisters and Stephen is still married to Tully and Rachel’s mother, who is suffering with dementia. The story begins with the wedding of Stephen and Heather, but the story is put on pause when tragedy strikes, the book then goes back to the past to show the reader how the characters got to that point. I couldn’t put this book down, lots of twists and turns and scandals. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advanced reader copy of this book.

It was destined to be an awkward lunch: adult daughters Tully and Rachel are meeting their father's new girlfriend, the interior designer hired to help him and his wife, Pam, with their new home remodel. However, with Pam's mind slipping into Alzheimer's, Stephen falls in love with Heather, a beautiful woman with a checkered past who's younger than BOTH of his daughters. His engagement announcement sparks the fire that threatens to reveal everyone's secrets.

The characters are delightfully flawed: Tully with her anxiety attacks and compulsions, Rachel with her obsessive eating, and Heather with her deep neediness for a place to belong. I love that the readers get chapters from all three characters' viewpoints. The story pulls you along emotional twists and turns, as all the characters (and the reader!) struggle to determine who the villain really is.

This thriller is a delight, with an ending that will have you second-guessing everything you thought you knew. I highly recommend this book.

TW: abuse, sexual assault

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I like Sally Hepworth's writing and I like the setup of the story but I was not a fan of the ending. It's confusing at best and undoes everything at worst. I just don't know why she would choose to make that the end. However after having said that I think the book is really good and it does keep you engaged all the way through the end. A solid 3.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was very intrigued the whole way through this novel. I loved the varying perspectives and I think that each character was unique in their own rite. I think it would have been better to have a more conclusive ending, however. I feel like it left the reader with doubts instead of certainties. The epilogue could have cleared it up but it didn’t. I enjoyed it regardless but I didn’t like the back and forth about what truly happened.

This book is a solid 3 star read. The characters are interesting and dynamic, and it's an intriguing domestic drama. The story is well written, there's enough of a mystery to keep you engaged, and the shifting POVs help hold attention really well.

However, I really wasn't a fan of the ending. It takes a really special kind of skill to write such a beautifully ambiguous ending, but I just felt hollow when I finished. I wanted payoff!! I wanted these women to have to confront their perceptions, their way of thinking, themselves!! I understand that the takeaway of this book is that we might not get closure on everything in life, but this just felt really unfair. To go on this full, twisty, at times intense journey with these characters only to have the whole thing turned on it's head in one chapter felt unfair.

Adding a twist at the buzzer seems to be the Hepworth style. So if that's what you're into, definitely pick up her books!

Add Sally Hepworth to the (very short) list of authors whose books I’ll always read. Her domestic suspense is readable, the characters appealing and relatable. In “The Younger Wife” especially, I can think of several people in my life who have similarities to the book’s characters, which makes it all the more readable and possible.

Family drama and family dysfunction! A crazy twisted family and is their a root to all this craziness. I was really expecting a different ending but this one kind of leaves me going hmmmm. An enjoyable domestic thriller. Thanks to the Publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC

This book was brilliant! I was totally immersed in the story from the first page, and THE YOUNGER WIFE is a perfect example of how to write domestic suspense.

The story begins at the wedding of Stephen and his much younger bride Heather. His daughters Tully and Rachel have grudgingly accepted Heather although they are resentful of their father divorcing their mother, who is languishing in a care home with dementia, to make this wedding happen. Shortly after the vows are finished, there is a scream, blood, and a body. While you're left reeling, the story then goes back in time.

The less details you have going in, the better. While the dysfunction is this family unfolds piece by piece, it's treated with a level of respect that is often lacking in this genre. These issues are not to be trivialized, and the author explored each with the utmost care.

The ending was SO satisfying, and it was a heroic feat not to peek at the last few pages as I was nearing the end as I had NO idea how the author was going to wrap up this story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for this early read. Sure to be a smash hit of 2022!

Set in Australia, The Younger Wife has a lot to recommend it: an up-to-the-minute plot, varied and well written characters you quickly become invested in, and pacing that keeps you turning the pages to see what happens next. Unfortunately, so much of what happens next is predictable. I kept hoping for something unexpected but there were very few surprises.

There is the potential here for a really good domestic thriller. Everyone has secrets and they are not staying hidden away. As these secrets are revealed, there is the possibility to create a great villain but instead the story just sort of glosses over everything. Toward the end things are wrapped up nice and cozy, very much like a Hallmark or Lifetime movie. If you like domestic thriller “light,” this is your book.

My copy of this book was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to the the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review it.

Nothing in this book surprised me, but it was still a fun read.

A young woman is engaged to be married to a wealthy surgeon who:

A) has kids approximately her age and
B) is still legally married to his first wife....that is has dementia and living in a nursing home.

Naturally, this is already a recipe for disaster.

3.5 stars rounded up

Thanks so much to the publisher and Net Galley for a chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
The story starts off rather slow - Rachel and Tully are two grown daughters, and their father Stephen, has just become engaged to Heather who is actually younger than his daughters. Oh, and Pam Stephen’s current wife who is suffering from early onset dementia . Everything is normal-ish, but the 30% mark it all starts to unravel. Seems that everyone has a secret, and the story takes a sharp turn as pieces are unraveled.
I really enjoyed this story, though it deals with some seriously dark themes. I wont give any spoilers, but I came to care for the characters, I’m still worried one of them at the conclusion. Everyone is not ok. Recommend this book.

This book was outstanding, I could not put it down..Sally Hepworth is a master storyteller. I love reading her books. Read The Younger Wife, you won’t be disappointed.