It's the day of Alice's wedding and she's about to marry Seth, the man of her dreams but, as she walks down the aisle, he turns to greet her and she doesn't recognise him! Who is this man and why is he insisting he is her fiance, even more confusingly why are her parents and the rest of the congregation saying it's him too? Alice knows she needs to uncover the truth, but how, when nobody seems to believe her and her perfect life has turned into her worst nightmare?

The Silent Bride is the latest thriller by Boland who is the master of taking a story and turning it completely on its head, leaving the reader wondering what just happened. This one hits the ground running from the first page, told from Alice's perspective, across two timelines, alternating between now and then and with a third party's musings intricately woven in between, we witness Alice's whole world fall apart before her very eyes. I spent much of this book, which I devoured in a matter of hours, accusing various characters of being behind what was happening to Alice, but I was so far off the mark when it was finally revealed. This author's books are always full of suspense and intrigue and this one was no exception, if you like a story that messes with your head and has you second guessing at every turn, this one is a must!

I'd like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and Netgalley for the approval, I will post my review on Goodreads and Amazon.

If you’re looking for a quick psychological thriller then this is the book for you. This is my first book by this author and it was an interesting read. I did enjoy it but I also thought some of it was a bit slow and repetitive. But one thing I will say, I didn’t guess anything and for me that is good, as I usually do! Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK, Thomas & Mercer for letting me read and review this book. 3.5 ⭐️

The Silent Bride
by Shalini Boland
Pub Date: 01 Jun 2023


The first part of the book moved very slow but after that I'm glad I hung in as it got superbly interesting from there until the gripping ending! It was full of twists and turns I never saw coming. Overall, this was a good book and I thought the storyline stood out within the psychological thriller genre. It's a very quick read and I highly recommend it!

Description:
In this chilling story, it’s the wedding day of Alice’s dreams. Until it becomes a nightmare…

Thank you to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for an ARC of this 5 Star book.

Alice is marrying Seth, the man of her dreams. It’s been a whirlwind courtship and many of her friends and family haven’t even met him yet. But, they will today, when they become man and wife. It’s a storybook romance until Alice begins to walk down the aisle. When her groom turns to look at his bride she realizes she doesn’t recognize him. She doesn’t recognize his parents either. How can that be? Is she losing her mind? With the wedding called off, Alice sets out to discover what happened.

Generally speaking I enjoy Shalini Boland’s novels. They move along at a good pace, with good characters and plot. The Silent Bride has a good premise, with several twists at the end. but, for some reason, it didn’t quite appeal to me. it could have been the explanation for why and how things occurred (I’m being a bit obtuse, since I don’t want to spoil the story for other readers). Or, it could be that the pace seemed choppy and slow at times. So, for me, it was just okay.

Shalini Boland is still a favorite author of mine, so I will be reading her next book, knowing that not every single one is going to be a home run.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a copy of this book for review.

This is a great psychological thriller.
Alice can’t wait to marry Seth but when she walks down the aisle, the man waiting for her is a stranger to her.
Alice stops in her tracks and her Dad can’t understand what’s wrong, but Alice knows she can’t marry this man.
The days that follow are hard for her and she can’t understand where the man that she was engaged to has gone. No-one else has a problem with Seth, but to Alice he is a stranger and she feels anxious when he comes to talk to her.
I can’t say too much more as it will spoil it but this is an original psychological thriller with a few surprises in store.
A great read.
Thanks to Amazon Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.

As always the author delivers a belter of a good read!
As Alice walks down the aisle she is stunned to see, not her beloved Seth, but a stranger and so begins an unbelievably brilliant tale.
A really unique unusual read that will have you completely hooked from the start

It is June 10th, Alice Porter’s wedding day. She can’t wait to get married to Seth Evans. Alice starts walking down the aisle, but who is waiting for her at the altar? It’s not her Seth. Everyone around her insists that it’s Seth, but Alice doesn’t recognize him. Why doesn’t Alice recognize her own fiancée?

Shalini Boland has done it again. Just when you think you know what is happening, another twist comes and knocks you out of your seat. It is told in a dual-timeline format which helps the reader get to know more about Alice and Seth before the wedding incident. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of the ride until the cliffhanger ending. I highly recommend it to anyone that loves twisty thrillers! 4/5 stars.

I’d like to thank Amazon Publishing UK and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘The Silent Bride’ written by Shalini Boland in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

It’s finally arrived, the day Alice is marrying Seth the man of her dreams. As she walks down the aisle towards him with her father by her side and bridesmaids following Seth turns to greet her, but it isn’t her Seth, it’s a man she doesn’t recognise. Seth insists he hasn’t changed but Alice doesn’t feel safe with him anymore and calls off the wedding. She can’t find any trace of the real Seth, all the photographs she’s taken of him have disappeared, and Alice starts fearing there’s something wrong with her mind. With the world she knows gradually disintegrating, Alice can’t understand what’s happened to the Seth she fell in love with.

I’m a great admirer of Shalini’s writing and have been looking forward to reading ‘The Silent Bride’. I haven’t been disappointed but it has given me the impression that it might have been one of her earlier novels as it isn’t quite as sharp and exciting as the others I’ve read. It has an interesting though unbelievable plot but if you’re looking for a novel of pure fantasy then this is for you. I’ve enjoyed the setting of Ringwood in Hampshire which I know well, who doesn’t enjoy reading of areas they recognise, and am happy to recommend this novel which is ideal for reading while sitting on the beach on a sunny afternoon.

The Silent Bride by Shalini Boland was a chilling story about Alice and she has always dreamt about her dream wedding, the day she will wear the beautiful wedding dress and say "I do" to the man of her dreams!. The big day has arrived..........her marriage to her perfect fiance Seth, who is a doctor. They are So in love and she wants everything to be perfect. But, as, she put on her wedding dress and looks in the mirror, she looks amazing, the apple of her parents eyes.......What could ever go wrong.

Holding on to her fathers arm, they both walk slowing down the aisle to be finally be married to handsome Seth!

Alice Stops! she can not move one more step towards the alter. She is frozen........she looks at her groom! with a Shocked face " This is Not my Seth! he is not my Fiance! and they are not his parents!

WoW..............Who is he? and who are these strange people who are saying they are Seth's parents!

Everyone around Alice is stunned! Alice mum and dad doesn't know what to do bar reassure her that he is Seth and they are his parents standing there.

Everything around her become a nightmare…...........The stranger insists he’s Seth, her husband-to-be, and the entire congregation agrees, he is Seth. Her parents try to persuade Alice to go through with the wedding...........Alice’s world comes apart. As panic sets in, The room starts to spin..........Is she loosing her mind?

Alice sets out to uncover the truth and try to escape the nightmare she’s living in. But with everyone around her convinced by the fake Seth, how can she ever hope to find the man she loves? her Seth! the man she was meant to be marrying!

This book is brilliant and kept me awake! I could not put this book down. I highly recommend it. I loved it!

Big thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing UK for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Is it love, control or just plain madness?

You can see from early on in the book that her friends and family have not met Seth. A little unbelievable? I had some really headshaking moments.

The dual timelines flick us from past to present and it did give a little more insight on how Alice got to know Seth and how their relationship progressed so quickly to find herself on her marriage day.
When all hell breaks loose her parents are judgmental, not supportive at all and under the circumstances it really broke this book for me.
If that ending didn't come through like it did, I would not have bothered with 3 stars. I think it needed more to really sell the plot. I kept thinking, when is this going to get better, plot revelation?

Not a bad read, just a really slow burn up until the end and the plot goes into end game.

Imagine you are about to get married to the love of your life and as you're walking down the aisle, the man you see standing there is not your fiance, but someone you don't recognize! This is exactly what happened to Alice as she was about to marry Seth. I don't want to say much more, but be prepared to be amazed!

THE SILENT BRIDE was just what I needed to get me more excited to read books this year. It is fast paced and engaging! I didn't want to put it down. The ending was a nice surprise that I did not see coming. ALL the stars to Shalini Boland for her brilliant story. I can see this being a HUGE hit!!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be shared to my Instagram (@coffee.break.book.reviews) closer to publication date.

This one was well written, the premise was great, but the book felt like it was a very slow one. Not even a real slow burn, even slower than that. The plot twists did make it worthwhile though!

I have some mixed feelings about this book. It was a very quick read and definitely interesting.. I thought that the story itself moved slowly through about the first 3/4 and I wasn’t sure the last 1/4 was great enough to make up for that slowness. I didn’t find the final reveal to be super twisty and overall I think I was dissatisfied with the ending (not the twist that was fine, but the actually ending). This is also perhaps a tiny thing but I don’t think he title made a lot of sense. Alice is on cloud nine, ready to marry the love of her life, but as she walks down the isle she finds she doesn’t recognize the man saying he is her fiancé or his parents at all. Completely flummoxed she tries to figure out what is wrong, but this man that everyone tells her is her fiancé scares her and she doesn’t know what happened. The story is told in then and now dual timelines and primarily from Alice’s perspective although there are glimpses from a mysterious perspective too. Overall I gave this one 3.5 stars rounded down for my disappointment at the ending.

Whenever Shalini Boland releases a new book, I'm all over it! The Silent Bride does not disappoint - it is clever, fascinating and easy to read but complicated in its resolution. What a great story where you will suspect everyone and everything!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer for this ARC!

A great read and what a unique premise, a bride who on her wedding day doesn't recognize her groom. So may twists and surprises, just when you think you've figured it out something else is thrown at you. A very easy quick read although a definite slow burner, but the twist at the end was worth it.

The day you dream about your whole life .. your wedding day !! You stand at the top of this isle with your dad … ready to walk out , all eyes on you …. You look up at the man you’re about to marry , but the man standing at the other end of the alter isn’t your fiancé ….

Wow !!! I loved this twisty , fast paced , thriller !! I couldn’t figure out what was happening and couldn’t turn the pages fast enough to find out !!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author , and I’m already looking for the next one !!

5 stars !!

IG post will be up soon!!

I went into this book blind so knew nothing about the story. Alice is walking down the aisle to marry the man of her dreams but when she stands next to him at the altar she does not recognise this stranger. A very slow burn mystery with no surprises. I am sure other readers will enjoy it more just not for me.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in return for giving an honest review.

Another brilliant book from one of my favourite authors who never disappoints, everything about this book, the storyline and the characters were all great.

I was hooked from the very first page until the last and what an ending it was, I never guessed, just brilliant and it brought the book to a satisfactory conclusion.

Thank you to Netgalley and Amazon Publishing for this ARC which I have no hesitation in recommending.

Wow, what a premis, a bride who doesn’t recognise her groom on the day of the wedding. You really will suspect everyone here and I didn’t get the answer. Had me glued to my kindle.

I enjoyed the characters of this book and it was an interesting premise. Imagine walking down the aisle on your wedding day, full of excitement, until you realise you don’t recognise your groom! This is the reality for Alice who then has to work out what has happened and who or what has caused it.

I had some idea of who was to blame but the twists and turns kept me guessing. The book appeared to have 3 endings though which in one sense added tension but in another got a bit ridiculous and meant that you end up not knowing how on Earth it actually ends.

I know some like thrillers that end this way, and I have read many that I enjoyed where the ending is implied rather than spelt out, but this one implies several things which I feel took away some of the power of this kind of ending.

A good read but the ending could be improved I feel.