I haven’t liked the author’s previous books but I keep giving her a chance. After reading this, maybe I’ll stop. The setting was great but the story lacked oomph

Found it difficult to read at first due to the characters not being likeable. Half way through the suspense builds and I really enjoyed the storyline. I could picture the yacht and scenery perfectly. Definitely glad I continued reading The Ex Husband by Karen Hamilton! Thank you to #NetGalley for the opportunity.

The Ex-Husband was my first read of 2022 and I have to say it wan't my favourite unfortunately!

I found it to be a very slow burn and the story was drawn out. There were definitely some good parts to the book and some twists, but overall wasn't my favourite and I had to force myself many times to pick it up and read.

Thanks for my advanced copy in return for my honest review!

What is this book even about? I wanted to like it so bad, The writing style of the author is not my type. The description of the book captures your attention but as the plot develops, it turns out flat as a pancake.

Charlotte and Sam meet while working on a cruise ship. Swept away by his charm, Charlotte becomes a willing partner in Sam’s con games. The marriage starts to sour and Charlotte ends up leaving Sam waiting for their divorce to be finalized.
Charlotte takes a job as a personal assistant to an events coordinator. The events that need to be planned are a birthday party and an engagement party. This is all to take place as a yacht is cruising through the Caribbean. Before her departure Charlotte received a message from Sam telling her he thought he was in danger. As Charlotte is about to leave she receives a menacing message demanding money. Warily, Charlotte embarks on the cruise and continues to try and contact Sam. She also hopes being on a yacht will end the threats she has been getting which ends not being the case.
THE EX-HUSBAND is an okay thriller. I liked the story but didn’t feel fully engaged with the characters.
Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced digital edition of this book.

I LOVE Karen Hamilton Books, this was definately a miss for me. I didn't love this book at all. The characters and story didn't hold my interest.

In ‘The Ex-Husband’ we meet Charlotte, a woman who was married to a con-artist and who’s now, that they are divorced, trying to stay on the right side of law and leave the past behind. But then Sam starts sending her cryptic messages and goes missing shortly after. It seems like someone knows what happened in the past.

The story is told from Charlottes POV in dual timelines. One where she meets Sam for the first time right to the point where he abandoned her at their last joint con, in the other we see the present and how Sams vanishing effects Charlotte’s life.

I love cruising and I love books about cruising, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that whenever I see a book that’s set on a ship, I HAVE to pick it up. So, the setting worked already in favor of the book, before I even started.

Charlotte is an interesting main character. She thinks highly of herself and what she deserves from life. That makes her really unlikeable in my eyes, but I was stuck with her and her obnoxious thoughts.

The twist was partly surprising, and I liked that. That’s also a plus for this book.

Charlotte has an unsavory past, but she’s on the straight and narrow these days. She was so young then—she married the wrong man, falling for Sam’s sweet-talking charm and charisma, and got caught up in his con artist games.

If only she’d left him before things went too far.

Now Sam is missing. But before he disappeared, he left urgent, cryptic messages about someone threatening him—someone who has been threatening Charlotte, too.
So Charlotte takes a job as a personal assistant for an engagement party aboard a private luxury cruise ship, the Cleobella, to get far away from anyone who means her harm.

But as the Cleobella sails through its glittering destinations, increasingly sinister events haunt the guests, and the turquoise waves and sun-drenched beaches give way to something darker. Someone knows what Charlotte did. Is it the blushing bride? The seemingly placid mother-in-law? Or the mysterious heiress?

Someone knows, and someone wants revenge—before the ship reaches its final port.

The Ex-Husband is the latest novel to come from the mind of Karen Hamilton – the author that brought us The Perfect Girlfriend and The Last Wife. I've been meaning to give Karen Hamilton's writing a try for quite some time now, and The Ex-Husband seemed like the perfect opportunity.

Everyone has skeletons in their closet – it's more or less a fact of life. It just happens that some people have more, while others skeletons are the size of monsters. Charlotte's closet is full of the beasts, but she's not going to let hold her back. She's getting her life back in order.

Or so she thought. She's fallen for the sweet Sam and his wonderful words, only to see him disappear between one moment and the next. Now she's left with a mystery, and somebody who knows her darkest secrets is closing in.

“He gets what it must have felt like not to be able to see properly as a child whenever my glasses broke, or were deliberately broken.”

If you're looking for a fun and quick thriller read, The Ex-Husband is perfect for you. Charlotte's story may feel familiar in some ways, but it is enough to keep readers occupied right up until the end.

There was something very satisfying in the core concept of this plot – a con artist getting conned, or at least having everything flipped on her head. It's not a new concept, but honestly, I don't think it'll ever get truly old. Hamilton clearly knew how to lean on this concept, stretching it out, so it hit those ideal thriller highs and lows.

I like that we got a chance to know Charlotte and see how she is actually trying to improve herself and her life. There is something very human about this and her portrayal. It was the perfect setting for everything else that occurred.

Long story short, I did enjoy The Ex-Husband, even if it didn't end up being one of my favorite reads of the year (no offense, there are just SO many thriller novels out there to enjoy!).

Charlotte is an ex-con who is trying to live a more honest life since her separation with her con-artist husband, Sam. When he contacts her, out-of-the-blue, claiming to be in trouble, she knows something has caught up with him - especially when Charlotte, herself, starts receiving anonymous threats asking for money that she does not have.
When Sam goes missing, Charlotte accepts an assistant’s job on a private yacht, hoping to escape whoever it is that is looking for her. When they set sail, she breathes a sigh of relief, thinking she is about to be too far out to sea to be contacted or tracked down, but Charlotte and Sam’s cunning ways have messed with the lives of too many people and those people are not about to let Sam or Charlotte get away with it.

I was excited to receive the eARC of this thriller, but unfortunately it was not my cup of tea. As a reader who is mostly driven by characters, I was turned off by the fact that I could not relate to anyone within this novel, and not only that, I didn’t find any of them particularly likeable. I also found Charlotte to be a little bit of an unreliable MC - even after finishing the book, I am still not confident that I really know or understand her at all.

I did enjoy following Charlotte’s, past and present, adventures around the world, however. Her lifestyle was not one that I had ever read about, and it was quite interesting, exploring the dis/advantages of working on cruise ships.

The book picked up for me around the middle, where the past narration meets up with the present. I was eager to discover who on the yacht was Charlotte’s antagonizer. It was a pleasant surprise to not be able to predict the ending of this book, because it really pushed me through.

I want to thank @netgalley and @harpercollinsca for providing me with an advanced copy of this novel to review.

I loved this book, Charlotte was someone I could totally understand and I was rooting for her. Sam, omg, wanted to find him for her. The twists and turns in this book held my interest until the end. I

Thank you so much to Harper Collins Canada for the complimentary digital review copy of The Ex Husband. This book came out on January 25, 2022 - available now!

Charlotte has been working hard to overcomer her past when ex-husband, Sam, suddenly goes missing from the property they jointly own. Out of nowhere she starts receiving threats for things she did when they were together leaving her trying to figure out who they are coming from and how to make it stop.

This tropical thriller is told through a series of flashbacks intersecting present day. The majority of it is set in tropical settings, on cruise ships or the islands which was perfect to read throughout a snowstorm.

I didn't find myself rooting for any of the characters and while all/most of the them were flawed, I found myself Invested in the mystery, and was interested in seeing the outcome.

This is the second cruise ship centered thriller I've read this year, so I'm thinking this is something that just isn't for me.

Check this one out if your looking for a quick thriller to get you through the summer months and especially if books set on boats work for you.

Charlotte and her ex-husband, Sam, were con-artists working on cruise ships who stole from affluent passengers. Sam disappears and Charlotte is not being hunted by someone who wants retribution. Now stuck on a yacht in the Caribbean and her hunter is close. Charlotte and her ex=husband are the only characters we learn anything about, all the other characters are on the periphery, and she is not a likeable character. Unfortunately, this fell a little short for me.

Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of The Ex-Husband in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Gist

I think I’m preaching to the choir when I say that 2021 did not really turn out the way many, perhaps all of us had hoped. Personally, it was a crazy, weird, and difficult year, but I wanted to remind myself of the things that still bring me much happiness in life. And things that I am still grateful for.

These things include the fact that I am still fortunate enough to receive ARCs from publishers who think my opinion is worth something.

So, without further ado I threw myself back into reading and reviewing books. Something I have enjoyed for the last 8 years.

I was excited to see Hamilton’s new book The Ex-Husband is part of the Winter Reads Blog Tour.

Hamilton’s previous book, The Last Wife, had me entertained and curious to read more by this author.

Truth be told I had some trouble getting into the story of The Ex-Husband.

I shall elaborate below.

The Details

Simply stated: I couldn’t connect with the protagonist or the story itself. As it sometimes happens, I felt that the entire story is kept at arm’s length, so the speak.

There is a lot of insight into the protagonist and her thoughts – which is great – but because everything else is brushed over it almost feels a bit stale.

The Ex-Husband has such a great premise and is almost an addictive page-turner, but I found myself too many times wanting to shout “show, don’t tell!”. The many minute descriptions of the protagonist’s thoughts and feelings, yet the journal-like quality of the scenes and barely there dialogue makes this story vague.

It’s such a shame, since Hamilton is a very good writer. That’s what has me almost pulling out my hair. Why all this scratching of the surface when the author’s talent is slumbering right underneath it?

The Verdict

Overall, I really wanted The Ex-Husband to have me sitting on the edge of my seat, completely immersed in the story, forgetting everything around me. Sadly, it was a chore getting through it.

Charlotte and Sam met on a cruise ship where they were working and they were instantly drawn to each other. Sam had that effect on people. Soon he had Charlotte wrapped around his finger and brought into his world of a con artist. At first, Charlotte enjoyed the thrill, but soon she grew tired and was ready to settle down for something different. Sam, didn't have the same idea and they went their separate ways. 18 months later, Charlotte gets desperate messages from Sam that she's not sure how to interpret and then he disappears. Then she herself receives threatening messages. What is she to do, who is sending the messages? She continues on with her life, taking a job on a superyacht. Here the threats continue. Who on board is threatening her and will she be able to get away before it's too late? The story jumps from when Sam and Charlotte are together and the cons they pulled to the present when Charlotte is trying to find out who is behind the threats and what has happened to Sam.

Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

At first, this book was a little challenging to get into. I struggled to keep track of all the different characters that were introduced it seemed at the same time. A lot of supporting cast. Once I got into the story, it was easier to follow along and figure out what is happening. I really liked Charlotte. She was a good bad person. Even though she did some bad things in her life, deep down she had a kind heart and never wanted to truly hurt anyone. I was scared for her and didn't want anything bad to happen to her. The ending definitely had me on the edge of my seat determined to find out what was going to happen next.

I gave the book three stars because of the difficulties at the beginning. Overall it was a pretty good book.

This isn’t the first book I have read by Karen Hamilton so of course I was thrilled to get my hands on her latest novel, The Ex-Husband. I was hooked on this book from the very start. There are so many twists and turns that you won’t see coming, and I was flipping through the pages to see what was going to happen next.

Charlotte has a past – a past she has been trying to move on from and start anew. But sometimes no matter how hard you try to run away from your past it always has a way of sneaking back up on you. This is the case for Charlotte. Not everything is as it first seems, and you will be guessing the entire way as you read this book.

A book that I highly recommend that you read.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This one wasn’t my favorite. It dragged quite a bit and was a totally cliche’ murder mystery.

Charlotte married Sam, who is a con artist. Sam disappears. Charlotte starts a new job and tries to start fresh. Strange things begin happening. Is someone out to get her?

Charlotte has a questionable past, by marring the wrong man, Sam, who abandons and betrays her.
She decides to turn her life around, and when she hears that Sam goes missing she fears for her safety.
Charlotte decides to take a job back in the sea where she believes she will be safe from the threats she has been receiving, only to realize that the person who is threating her is on board with her.

I enjoyed the first half of the book but I found the last half to be very slow.
I personally did not find Charlotte to be a well liked character, she put all the blame on Sam even though she stayed with him through it all.
It was a slow read for me, and I figured out most of the plot twists well before the ending of the book.
I didn't think the ending made sense, and it felt very unlikely that that should be how it ended.

I would like to thank NetGalley for the advance arc.

Holy smokes does a cruise ship make for a twisted thriller setting!⁣
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Their marriage has been over for a long time and Charlotte has moved on, but when Sam goes missing - presumed dead - she is swept back into her unsavory past with him, and someone is now threatening her to expose what they did.⁣
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This one takes a bit to get going - there’s an intricate web of deceit and lies that we need to learn first of the couple's past… specifically when it comes to her ex-husband Sam. But don’t abandon ship, because once we meet the key players and find out just exactly what kind of con-artist he was… it’s a fast-moving, twisted excursion to the dark side of paradise.

This luxury cruise ship is full of shady people to point fingers at and keep you guessing as to who is an innocent passenger, and who is planning to sink Charlotte once they reach port.
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The Ex-Husband is an over-the-top island-hop that kept me fully entertained with an intricate mystery, and plenty of seafaring suspense.

This was one of those thrillers that just delivered!!!! First of all, a story set on a yacht with multiple stops in the Caribbean was like a vacation in itself. Charlotte and her ex husband Sam did some shady things in their past when they worked on various cruise ships. They conned a lot of people out of a lot money and then Sam disappeared without a trace, leaving Charlotte with no husband and no money. Charlotte tries to start her life over, but begins receiving texts from Sam that he is being threatened. So she thinks it’s best if she makes a run for it, and she accepts a job as an assistant on a private yacht, sailing for an elite friend group. Onboard what was supposed to be a dream ship, the threats continue to plague Charlotte. Someone is after her now, because Sam has been assumed dead. Is it her new boss? Her old friend whose working on the yacht as well? The head of security? The man on board whom she had a fling with in the past? Buckle up and sit down because you’re in for a wild ride. The twists that kept coming at the end were so shocking, my jaw hit the floor. The ending was wrapped up perfectly, and dare I say was left written in a way that there could be a sequel…. Please Karen give the people what we want and write the continuance of the story!