If you are someone who doesn't like to read something very long, then here is the short version for you - if you like to read a thriller which has twist upon twist, many of which you don't see coming at all, then just grab hold a copy of The Second Marriage by Jess Ryder and settle down to read it when you are guaranteed to not have any distractions. I assure you, you definitely will not be disappointed.

This is the first book of this author's I am reading though I have heard of her some. Going by this book, I am not surprised that her work is quite well-known. This book starts with our heroine Lily's wedding engagement with Edward, a wealthy widower, and Lily is private teacher to his son Noah. Edward also has two grown-up daughters who live independently in a house paid for by him. Though she has only known him a short time, she agrees to marry him thinking that the worst that can happen will be some issues with Edward's daughters.

But on the night of the wedding, Noah tells Lily that his mom is not dead and that he remembers everything. Lily's close friend Marsha, who doesn't completely trust Edward, asks Lily to look under the surface and not get fooled by the lies she is told. Edward, on the other hand, points the finger at Marsha and says that she is trying to turn Lily against him because she doesn't want to let go of Lily. What follows thereafter, is a series of convoluted events and lots of twists, which take us through a labyrinth of truths and lies, that confound Lily on whom to trust.

The story has so many twists and turns, that many a times, I was almost sure something will happen but instead something else will happen. By the time I was half way through the story, I just couldn't put it down and couldn't put the story out of mind even when I had to be away from it for a while. The story had the usual dark, broody mood of impending disaster that one can expect from a psychological thriller but still didn't darken my mood terribly. I rather enjoyed coming across the various unexpected events and it was fun to read as well. In fact, I can't remember when I last has such fun while reading a psychological thriller.

This book is a must-read for lovers of psychological thrillers and I just can't recommend it enough. It is fully deserving of the 5 stars I am giving it and I think I am definitely going to check out Jess Ryder's other works. Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC of this book in return for which I have given my honest opinion of the book.

First, I want to thank Jess Ryder, Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with this book so I can bring you this review.

OMG!!! O.M.G!!! My head is spinning and I am totally left speechless after reading Jess Ryder’s latest Psychological Thriller Second Marriage! This twisted tale will suck you into its fast paced storyline that you will lose track of time! It is a book you must add to your tbr list as it is one of my favorites of the year (out of 141 I have read).

The graphic designers did a great job on the cover art! The ring graphic went right along with the theme of the book.

Ironically we are introduced to the Second Marriage as the happy couple are getting married.

Ohh this book was twisted, eerie, creepy in a way, gripping, heartbreaking, and oh the secrets and revelations! This book is filled with lies and infidelity.

Noah had my heart in this book! Even though his Mommy is gone he thinks she is still alive and coming back to get him.

The book is called Second Marriage yet there was much secrecrecy around the first wife Claire! What really happened to her? Why were there no pictures of her? Why couldn’t anyone bring her up to Noah? I found myself yelling at my Kindle wanting to know answers of what Edward was hiding from everyone.

Edward I was not a fan of for many many different reasons. However, one big reason is nobody should control or stop you from seeing your friends. He was very controlling and manipulative.

Jess is an incredible storyteller. Often I wonder how authors come up with these creative stories. In the back of the book she gives her inspiration behind the storyline.

This book keeps you in suspense with all its twists and turns and a few red herrings. A book I found hard to put down! Great book and I’m looking forward to the next one the author writes.

Lily has taken a job as a private tutor to Noah. The little boy whose father seems to want to protect him, but is also hiding secrets.

But Lily soon becomes stepmother to Noah, deeper darker secrets will soon be uncovered and both Lily and Noah are in danger.

Ryder gives us a few twists, turns and red herrings through to the end, which left me taking multiple guesses and leaving me in suspense whilst reading; to the extent, I stayed up extremely late and even hid away so as not to be disturbed.

This is a great novel that I would recommend.

How soon is too soon to marry someone?

In this case it was too soon due to a lack of information regarding the chosen partner!!

Lily had only known Edward for a few months yet accepts his proposal, eagerly looking forward to their life together. Starting as the tutor for Edward’s son, Noah, she already has a bond with him, and surely she will eventually bond with his teen daughters, Tara and Georgia,as well.

Or not.

Tara and Georgia are not ready for their mother, Clare, to be replaced. Will Lily and Edward ever have a happily ever after with this second marriage?

I was able to fly through this book, and the twists kept me wanting to keep reading without taking any breaks! Once I reached the halfway point, I had to know the ending and truly could not put it down.

The characters were all believable and well developed, and I appreciate how the author devised the ending. Everything came full circle!

Overall, this is an entertaining book that made me want to reach through the page and just shake that Edward character!

Thanks to #netgalley and #bookouture for the ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review. After a brief romance you marry your student's father. You are his second wife and your step son/former student is insistent that his mother, your husband's first wife is very much still alive. She leaves him notes ...but your husband and his other older children tell you she is definitely dead. A well paced twisty read that will have you second guessing everything your spouse tells you about their former partners. ⭐⭐⭐#netgalley #bookouture #goodreads #amazonkindle #litsy #thestorygraph #tea_sipping_bookworm #bookqueen #bookstagram

Lily admits, maybe she did rush in to marrying the handsome very wealthy Edward, and if she was completely honest, maybe Marsha, Lily's best friend was right, apart from knowing that Edward's previous wife Claire had sadly passed away, she knew very little else about her new husband.

Lily adores Noah, Edwards eight-year-old son, who she has been hired to home school, but wonders why Edward is adamant that any mention of Noah's mum is off limits and will greatly upset Noah and will cause the child to have a panic attack. Not surprisingly alarm bells start sounding loudly in Lily's head when Noah whispers "they're lying"

The story ramps up at that point, Lily begins to second guess everything, she begins to doubt everything Edward tells her and the lies take on a life of their own. What are they hiding, why are Edwards two elder daughters Tara and Georgia so hostile towards her?

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for my advanced reader copy of 'The Second Marriage' by Jess Ryder the twists and turns kept unraveling, this story was a five-star riveting read for me, that kept me guessing till the end.

A great thriller! Middle aged widower proposes to the woman who homeschools his son. Match made in heaven. But as Lily begins to question why Edward insists on Noah’s homeschooling, Edwards answers seem too “tidy”. Why does Noah lead a secluded life? Why does Edward feel that he is too “sensitive” to go to public school?

Hmm…. Things don’t add up. Is Edward hiding something about his past, Noah’s past, his late wife’s past? The questions keep adding up but the answers don’t make sense.

Hold on for a thrilling read with Jess Ryder’s nee release!

This has been a great read, highly enjoyable from start to finish with plenty of intense moments and nail biting gripping drama.

I thought the story plot was well written and cleverly entwined throughout, loved how it was told by two characters, Lily in the present and then Fran in the past and how it seamlessly came together at the end. All of the characters were well developed, and believable, especially that of little Noah. Although I did think the character of Lily was somewhat naive for going into that marriage so quickly without having gotten to know her husband a bit more, she should definitely have listened to her best friend more.

I was captivated and gripped from start to finish and I literally couldn’t turn the pages fast enough for wanting to see what was going to happen next. There were a couple of twists and turns within the story that I think I spent majority of the book sitting on the edge of my seat in anticipation.

So if you love psychological thrillers, then this book is definitely for you. I truly can’t recommend it enough.

Lily Baxendale had a choice to listen to two people with regard to her new marriage to rich widower Edward Morgan - her best friend Marsha and one unlikely source, her new stepson Noah. Noah might only be eight-years-old, but there is something about him that gives Lily pause. She is in love with Edward, of that there is no doubt. He is older than her by 15 years, but that means nothing to her. Even though she is the second wife (Edward also has two daughters), she has no doubt that Edward loves her.

Well, that is how it started anyway. She began as Noah's tutor and fell in love with Edward. While tutoring Noah things went well between the two of them, but after her marriage to his father their relationship began to change. For one thing, Noah is experiencing different feelings about the loss of his mother, so much so that he is traumatized. He lost his mother when he was three years of age. He is home taught, isolated, alone and unhappy.

Lily does love Edward, but she continues to confide in Marsha, and Marsha does not hold back with her feelings about their relationship, which happened rather quickly. Meanwhile, things begin to occur regarding Noah, and soon Lily begins to doubt the state of her marriage.

What happened to Edward's first wife and what impact could that possibly have on her marriage? Why is Noah so distant and seemingly disturbed? What about the odd behavior Lily notices in Edward's daughter? In this thrilling story, these questions and more are answered. I liked Lily and Noah and how things developed. This story was filled with tension and ended with a pulse-pounding conclusion.

Many thanks to Bookouture and to NetGalley for this ARC for review. This is my honest opinion.

The Second Marriage is a book I thought I knew where it was going and that was down a predictable path but I was wrong this took me in a direction I never saw coming.
Lily has decided after breaking up with long term boyfriend that she is going to take the job of teaching a small boy at his home. Edward his father reeks her in from the start and an instant attraction is immediate despite Edward being 15 years older. Lily is told she mustn’t mention Noah’s mother as he can’t cope with hearing about her after she disappeared a couple of years ago. After a few months and to the dismay of Edward’s elder daughters Lily and Edward are married. Everything seems perfect to begin with until Lily finds out Edward has being lying to her. With the help of her best friend they try and get to the bottom of what happened to Noah’s mother and Edward’s first wife who also died in dubious circumstances.
This was a book I couldn’t wait to get to the bottom of, there were plenty of tense moments and lots of twists where I didn’t know which way it was going to go. I enjoyed this book and previous ones by Jess Ryder and await the next!
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

My Thoughts: it can sometimes put me off when a tag line for a book says it’s “Utterly Gripping” because it kind of makes me want to roll my eyes because that’s what any psychological thriller is supposed to be right?

But this one really didn’t let me down! – sooo many twists and turns that I just didn’t know where it was going.

What is Edward hiding & why?

Is Noah telling the truth, or is he creating a reality that he wants to believe in? & How far is Lily willing to go to find out?

There were some really strong characters in this book and my favourite was Marsha, she stood up for what she thought was right and even after Lily asked her to back off she kept digging behind the scenes because she really strongly believed that something was off.

When the truth starts being unravelled who should Lily believe? The friend who has always been there for her or the husband that has promised her that it’s all a big misunderstanding?

Turns out the lies go deeper than anyone could’ve ever imagined and involved so many people.

I definitely didn’t work out the ending & didn’t expect half the twists that happened!

I cannot recommend this one enough

I found this book to be hard to put down! An enthralling read with all the mystery and suspense that comes with a great storyline and characters!

Thanks to Bookouture and Jess Ryder for the opportunity to read this gripping book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was a very well written and suspenseful thriller! It was incredibly hard to put down once I started. Lots of twists and turns in a very engaging story. I highly recommend!

This is the second book I have read by this author. This story was too long and drawn out. I did not enjoy the twists or turns as the writing felt disjointed. It would go back and forth in time and flash on the other character’s narration and then shift back to the main character. I got exhausted just trying to get through it. As for plausibility of a 3 year old having memories over 5 years and remembering felt so contrived. It felt like no research and pure fiction. After awhile I got really tired at the repetitiveness and annoying characters and could not relate to any of them. I did not feel any connection to anybody and it felt like a bad Jackie Collins plot. So disappointed in this one.

The Second Marriage by Jess Ryder

Lilly is marring Edward but Edward has been married before and has two daughters, Tara and Georgia, and an eight-year-old son, Noah, and a past Edward does not want to talk about. Then on the night of their wedding Noah says secretly to Lilly that his mother is not dead and is coming to get him soon. Lilly can’t ignore this and starts to do some investigating into Edwards past but when she finds the truth she wishes she never met this family in the first place.

I enjoyed this book very much. I have read many of Jess Ryder books and they are always full of mystery and suspense.

I would like to thank Net Galley and Bookouture for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

Solidly entertaining and fast-paced, I enjoyed reading this thriller from Ryder. Lily first meets the older Edward as the private teacher for his young son - but soon she takes another role in Noah's life, as his stepmother. Though the courtship moves quickly, Lily's enough in love to overlook the warning signs that Edward may not be telling her the full truth of his own past. Cryptic comments from Noah compound Lily's curiosity and she soon starts investigating her home - and the clues to Edward's past within it.

While Lily definitely makes some questionable choices, she remains a likable and believable character. The ending does feel a bit rushed, but is overall satisfying. It's a quick read that is hard to put down. It would make for a great airplane or beach read! It's straightforward but intriguing and makes me quite glad to already have two of Ryder's previous books waiting in my TBR!

OH boy, what a surprise this was. Do you really know someone? I mean REALLY????

This is the story of a younger woman getting involved with a bit of an older man and then the mystery happens.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for this advanced readers copy. This book released November 3, 2021.

Finally! It’s over. I decided to try the audiobook version of this novel for a change and I’m surprised that I enjoyed it. The narrator was amazing, a bit weird listening to the dialogues but after a few chapters in, I was enthralled.

Honestly, I don’t feel any sympathy for the other woman. I mean, you can’t expect me to feel sorry for someone who deliberately stole someone’s husband and broke a family apart. Ugh! Whatever happened to her, she brought it on herself and she deserved it.

My first book from Jess Ryder and it was OK. Not that memorable if you’d ask me but I’m totally impressed with the voice narrator. Good job!

Lily needed a change from her job as a primary school teacher so she answers an ad for a personal tutor. Edward is a rich & charming man. He wants a teacher for his son Noah who he doesn't think can cope with a normal school. He stresses that the topic of Noah's mother is off limits as he can't cope with talking about her. Lily enjoys her job gets on well with Noah & before long she is in relationship with Edward & he proposes. Her best friend is happy for her but warns it's been awfully quick. Edward's daughters are also not exactly delighted about it but it goes ahead. As she is putting Noah to bed he tells her that she is being lied to, his mummy is alive & she is coming to get him soon. His Dad & sisters know that she is alive but he begs Lily not to tell them she is coming to get him. Before long Lily begins to wonder if she has jumped into this marriage too quickly & how much does she really know about her new husband & step-daughters. Is Noah still traumatised by the loss of his mother or is he telling the truth?

This was a really gripping read. I loved Noah. Lily was a strong character who was determined not to be walked all over. I was kept guessing as to how it would turn out & the descriptions towards the finale were really chilling. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.