This was a slow burn and a bit too slow for me.  The setting was exotic and the plot sounded great but it fell flat for me. I just didn't like the main character. That being said it was a suspenseful read and I did like the setting.
This is the first book I've read by this author and will try another one.
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

I could not put down this fast paced and suspense filled thriller! With dual timelines we flip between getting to known Charlotte and Sam, their love story and the shady theft/fraud they took part in. In the other timeline the feeling of dread is building in present day as Charlotte is stalked. The super yacht is the perfect setting, there is no way out and no where to hide! There is a small guest list and crew but we don’t know who we can trust. As Charlotte tries to find out who has connections to Sam, she feels less and less safe aboard the yacht.
Even on shore Charlotte feels she is being followed and cannot escape Whoever It Is. Even though Charlotte made her mistakes with Sam in the end I truly felt sorry for her.

This story has a fantastic ending that doesn’t just tell us who is behind it but also explains why!

Thank you to Net Galley & Harlequin Trade Publishing, Grayson House for the review copy in exchange for an honest review!

a very enjoyable escape - i loved the setting - it let my imagination roam, even though i cannot!
the characters were enviable and easy to hate, due to their largesse and evil ways..
so much revenge and greed - i love it! LOL

DNF at 32% - I found this to be just too slow for me to enjoy. The back and forth time hopping really didn't work for me - it just made Sam seem like a jerk and Charlotte seem like an idiot. I couldn't see this going anywhere i would enjoy.

With The Ex-Husband, Karen Hamilton presents a riveting tale of crime and the rationalizations criminals make as they spiral deeper into their lives of lies and deceit. Charlotte, the main character who has been swept along in her boyfriend-turned-husband's schemes, tells herself they are only taking from those who deserve or can afford it, excusing her behaviour in such a way that the reader actually finds herself empathizing with her as the consequences of both her actions and those of her ex that she hadn't been aware of come home to roost.
The book is well-written and suspenseful, the cruise ship settings are intricate and often recognizable for those who have travelled, And the underlying warning to travellers concerning their security while away is one not to be taken lightly.
I did, however, find the ending to be abrupt after the detailed events that preceded it. It left me feeling like I'd missed something somehow.
I am grateful to #NetGalley. and @harpercollinsca for the advanced copy of #TheExHusband .

As cruise ship employees Charlotte and Sam have found many marks and have profited considerably. Now Sam is missing and Charlotte is being threatened. Who is behind the threats and how do they know what they know?
Told from Charlotte's point of view this is almost a chatty book as she tells her story. There are dark twists and turns and a threatening feeling prevails. There were a few too many unnecessary characters for my liking that played no part in the plot. I was also hoping feel submerged in the Caribbean but few were in depth. Other than those few things it was an enjoyable ride that leaves you feel satisfied in the end.
Thanks to Harper Collins Canada for the ARC.
#TheEx-Husband#HarperCollinsCanada#NetGalley

Sam has no trouble convincing Charlotte to become his partner in crime. They scam wealthy cruise patrons of whatever they can. The past catches up to both of them. I did not expect the ending. My first book by this Author but not my last. Thanks to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing/Harper Collins Canada Ltd. and the Author for allowing me to read and review this book.

Living on the edge, is Charlotte easily manipulated, or is she just in love?
Sam seems to be an elite con artist, is Charlotte? Who wants revenge, and Charlotte is being stalked?
We are along on a luxury yacht, such opulence, and yet, are we safe? These are a few of my questions, but I kept guessing as to whom was the culprit, including Sam. Was I surprised, yes, but even with the main questions answered the surprises kept coming!
Now I’ll be on the lookout for more by this author!
I received this book through Net Galley and the Publisher Harlequin, and was not required to give a positive review.

This story started slow and continues to be slow throughout the whole book. On top of the slow pace of the story, Charlotte is a very underwhelming character. She has no personality. The plot is weak and not exciting at all. The ending was a letdown. Overall, I didn't like the book.

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House and NetGalley for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. I had read “The Perfect Girlfriend” earlier and had an idea of what to expect. Once again, we are immersed into the thoughts of the main character. While working on a cruise ship, Charlotte falls for Sam, a charismatic young man and eventually they marry. Little does she anticipate the lifestyle that Sam will lead her into. He is a schemer, a manipulator and a con artist. Bit by bit he trains her to recognize “marks” and to devise scams. His mode of operation is to find wealthy passengers on cruise ships from whom he can steal, whether it is jewels, personal information or cash for his so-called charities. After a few years, Charlotte decides this is not the life she wants and decides to divorce Sam and to set up an honest business as a travel planner. She takes a lucrative contract on a small yacht for a Caribbean cruise. Unfortunately for her, the “chickens come home to roost” and she begins to receive threats from one of her and Sam’s previous victims. Ms. Hamilton has done her research on cruise travel and has set the tone and the atmosphere of life on the seas. She has taken us into the minds of scammers and how they target victims. She has made me more aware of protecting my property in public.
I really enjoyed this book. The first 100 pages or so were a little slow for me, but the stage needed to be set. The pace picks up and the suspense grows until the very end. I would recommend it.

Mixed reactions to this one. Generally good pacing, cruise ship setting, suspenseful in parts but did not really like the main character. Other characters kind of blended together - couldn’t really get a handle on them. Ending was just okay for me.

Thanks to Harper Collins Canada and Netgalley for an early reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This one didn’t do much for me. From the lack-luster title to the repetitive nature of the first half of the book, where we get endless rehashing of the back-story of two con artists who work together and eventually marry, I just never was able to engage with the main character, Charlotte. A person who supports herself through gaining the trust of people when they are on a luxury cruise, then bilking them out of money, jewelry, and possessions, doesn’t seem like a protagonist that’s going to appeal to many readers so I didn’t really engage with the fact someone is out to get her (as she’s done to so many others) and wants payback for her past bad deeds. Charlotte may be trying to go straight but she doesn’t express much remorse for her victims, and frankly, the tension was lackluster. I kept getting the secondary characters on the yacht mixed up because they were too one-dimensional and was able to figure out who was behind everything with little trouble. In my world, this is incorrectly marketed as a “thriller” when it’s actually a fairly tepid psychological suspense story, one of many out there and it left me disappointed.

This book was like “Dirty Rotten Scoundrels” meets “Below Deck” - quite the combo! If you’re in the mood for a fun, trashy thriller, then this is your book.

Charlotte and Sam met and began working on cruise ships together (later graduating to private yachts). Sam pulls Charlotte into his lifestyle, which is stealing from the rich to give to the poor (sometimes charities, but mostly himself). Charlotte starts to enjoy this lifestyle too … it’s not like they’re taking anything that can’t be replaced with enough money, and their victims seem to have more than enough.

One day, Sam disappears, leaving Charlotte with a lot of questions, hardly any money, and one more thing - people who want their money back. People out for revenge. Charlotte takes a job on another private yacht, and plans to sail to Barbados to find Sam, however the people she ends up with soon make her paranoid. What if these people are also wanting revenge?

The writing in this is super basic, but that makes for a quick read. It was what I’d consider a trashy thriller, but sometimes that’s what I’m in the mood for. It did get more serious towards the end, which was done pretty well. I didn’t guess it, and that’s a bonus! Four stars for this fun book that will take you to the Caribbean, and beyond.

(Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Karen Hamilton, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)

Moving skillfully between the past and present, The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton delivers a crackling, suspenseful thriller featuring Charlotte, an unlikeable yet sympathetic character. She and her husband Sam are con-artists, working on cruise ships looking for their prey. But small cons turn into big ones and Charlotte has had enough. After an experience gone wrong and Sam’s presumed death, Charlotte reinvents herself as an assistant to major domo Thomas on the luxury yacht Cleobella.

Now the fun begins. “The note rests beneath my pillow, along with Sam’s dark secrets.” Sam could not possibly be on this yacht. Who knows all of Charlotte’s secrets? Who is blackmailing her? And who wants her dead?

Although most of the characters in The Ex-Husband are unlikeable, the plot is well crafted and full of surprises. The settings are the real star! Below deck life on a cruise ship and a sumptuous yacht contrast with the upper deck lives of the rich and famous. This is a fun, fast read. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Karen Hamilton for this ARC.

Have pandemic restrictions kept you grounded this holiday season? How about an armchair travel on a luxury yacht or a cruise to a tropical destination? Hop aboard the Cleobella and see for yourself – paradise isn’t all it’s made out to be.

Sam and Charlotte set their sights on living the high life – villas and luxury yachts – but when their job on a cruise line doesn’t provide enough income to fund their dreams, they look for easier ways to make it happen! Convincing each other that their plan is harmless, they relieve wealthy cruise passengers of their money and expensive possessions. It’s going well until….it isn’t.

When they divorce, the reformed con-artist, Charlotte, starts up her own business. However, it isn’t long until she discovers that her past has come back to haunt her. She can ignore the menacing texts, but when the towel art on her bed takes on a sinister meaning, she realizes she’s trapped in paradise on a superyacht and a former victim is seeking revenge!

The author has crafted an intricately plotted narrative, stuffed it with glitz, glitter and glam, and just when readers are dazzled by the trappings of a luxury lifestyle, she pivots to show that everything isn’t as it seems. When the tension ramps and a foreboding atmosphere sets in, you’ll realize that being trapped on the high seas isn’t anything you’d like to experience. I was desperately flipping pages trying to find out who was behind the threats and why Sam dropped his nefarious gig so quickly. What happened to him? Who can Charlotte trust?

This domestic thriller is the perfect escapist read and needs to be on your radar come January 18, 2022.

I was gifted this advance copy by Karen Hamilton, Harlequin Trade Publishing, Graydon House and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

ARC Kindle Copy from Review from Net Galley, Killer Crime Club, Harlequin Trade Publishing and Graydon House.

I received a free, advance copy of this book and this is my unbiased and voluntary review.

A cruise to the islands should be relaxing sun filled journey but it soon becomes dangerous for one passenger on board as her secrets start to come out.

She was once married and divorced before he could harm her. But he soon disappeared and someone was threatened them both beforehand. Did she have something to do with it or is it just coincidental?

A riveting read that will have you guessing as you flip through the pages in this engaging story.

I absolutely loved The Ex-Husband by Karen Hamilton! I’ve read all of her books and they were all excellent but this one just kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. I HIGHLY recommend this novel. I enjoyed the setting, characters, and the story as a whole.

The synopsis:

True: Charlotte has an unsavory past. She married the wrong man, got caught up in his con artist games, took what wasn’t hers. She got out, though: divorced Sam, started fresh.

False: She left him before things went too far. Nothing bad happened.

True: Sam is missing, and before he disappeared, he left cryptic messages about someone threatening him—someone who has been threatening Charlotte, too.

True: She’s on the straight and narrow, has accepted a job as a personal assistant for an engagement party on board a private luxury cruise ship, the Cleobella.

False: No one on board knows about her past, and she’s far away from anyone who means her harm.

As the Cleobella sails through its glittering destinations—the Bahamas, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago—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.

I did not enjoy this book at all. I didn't like any of the characters. The plot. Nothing. I"m very sorry but it was so close to being a DNF for me. I hate when this happens. I don't like leaving a bad review.

This book was so close to being a do not finish for me at so many different parts; it was in my opinion a mess. I couldn’t keep track of the timeline or all the characters. Very disappointing. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

I grew up watching the show The Love Boat so I have an affinity for cruise lines and big ships. . The people in this book should steer clear of being on boats since it brings them nothing but bad luck. It was ok read, but didn’t really float my boat.