Her Second Husband, by Jane E. James

The opening of this book sets the story up brilliantly and it truly hits the ground running from the off.

Linda was married to Jim for 28 years and they raised two daughters together. Jim is lovely, caring, dependable….. and boring.

After their divorce, Linda married Marcus, but their exciting life isn’t quite as it seems and when Marcus drowns in the sea in Crete one night and Linda discovers he’s spent all of her divorce settlement money, she ends up living in a small flat and working in a chippy to get by.

Until she gets a message through a dating site, from a man claiming to be her second husband and unexplainable things start to happen.

Linda has a fiery relationship with her straight talking, best friend, Gail and as the truth starts to unfold, she turns to Gail and Jim for help. Linda and Jim’s daughters don’t bring anything of relevance to the story and I would suggest their characters either need to be better developed or get rid of them to live abroad or something 🤷🏻‍♀️

There are a few holes in this story, if I wanted to be picky, but honestly, this is a great thriller and a very enjoyable read with plenty of twists.

4.5/5⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Linda is dealing with the aftermath of losing her second husband, Marcus. Her world begins to unravel after she is contacted by someone who looks and sounds exactly like Marcus on a dating website. With the help of her first husband, Jim, she sets out to find the truth on her second husband and whether he really is dead.

This was a very tough read for me. I liked the premise of the book, but the overall execution just missed the mark for me. Linda is a very unlikable character who seems to have a victim complex, but seems to be the reason behind the destruction at every turn. There were way too many twists in the story that I actually lost count! It just seemed like every time we were in the middle of one twist, another was starting to play out, and it was too much as once.

Normally, I love British written books, but I really struggled with the heavy use of British slang in this one, especially since I had to stop reading just to search the terms so I could make sense of what i was reading.

Thank you to the author and NetGalley for the ARC. This book was just okay for me. It had a few twists but I found Linda to be incredibly annoying. I did guess where the book was headed very early on and found the ending to be a let down. The author has a wonderful style of writing and I hope to try another book in the future.

Emma is the character that you root for through so much of this story…until you find yourself questioning everything! This was a fast read with several twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. There’s more in common with Derrick and Tom than simply falling in love with the same woman! This is a book I will be recommending to my friends and family!

Her Second Husband by Jane E. James was my first read from this author, but I am confident that it will not be the last.

Linda had a loving husband, two daughters, and a beautiful home. But her desire for a more adventurous life leads her to Marcus, a man who shares her wanderlust and promises to show her the world. An ill-fated trip to Corfu, though, will be the last for Marcus as he drowns, leaving Linda a widow and virtually penniless. Trying her luck at online dating some time later, Linda is shocked to discover a man by the name of Tony Fortin, whose face can only be that of a man she knows only too well, her dead husband Marcus.

This one had me racing through the pages in a constant state of delicious anticipation. Clearly all is not what it appears, but is anyone to be trusted in this clever tale of domestic suspense? 4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for an ARC.

This is not a satisfying thriller for me, the twists and reveals are not a surprise and while I did enjoy the fast pace I found Linda, the main character not enough for me to sympathise with.

I enjoyed this book. It is a solid, fun thriller. The twist was a little unsatisfying, but I still had fun reading this. I think the first husband should’ve just died in the first place lol

I cannot say enough good things about this story! I was immediately invested in the main character Linda and her life because it was written so well that I could picture everything. Little curveballs kept me guessing the whole time and wondering "Who can she even trust?" To say more would be to give away major plot lines, so instead I will leave you with "If you want an addicting story that keeps you guessing and needing to know what happens next, pick this one up! You won't be sorry."

Little did Linda know leaving her husband James for the good looking charismatic Marcus would be her downfall and ever since that night in Greece Linda has been living in it tiny dirty apartment and the only thing she still has from her old life it’s a friendship with her best friend Gail. When she goes over to the website Welcome, A website for singles over 50 and sees Marcus on a profile under someone else’s name she is amazed by this she thought Marcus was dead and here he is with the profile and everything. Her best friend Gail and the only one she told about the last time she saw Marcus in Greece soon goes missing in action but her ex-husband James decides to help her find Marcus but the longer they hang out together the more Linda remembers it what made her fall in love with James the first time but of course like most thriller it’s not everyone is who they pretend to be in some or who they pretend to be but people can change right? This book was so OMG twisty! although this isn’t the best summary this is the best book in one I highly recommend I have never read a book by this author before nor have I even heard of her but would definitely be interested in reading more from her. This is a definite five story there is no way you will guess the culprit! This is a definite ending that is a total shock to everything we learned in the plot… So good! I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Good book to read. Lots of twists by the author throughout. The book is well written.. The plot is good and played out well

Here’s Linda. Unhappy, living alone in the decrepit apartment over the deli where she works. Why is she alone? For an unknown reason, in her early 50s, she abandoned her husband Jim and her daughters to run off with Marcus, a charismatic, womanizing charmer. Now Marcus is dead, drowned (possibly with Linda’s help) and she has nothing left since she spent her divorce settlement on this mid-life misadventure. And then, as she flips through the choices on a dating site for the over 50 set, there he is. Marcus. Very undead. Things move quickly from here. Linda wants to find Marcus, of course, so she reconciles with Jim for several reasons, one being he has a car, and the search is on.

HER SECOND HUSBAND could have been improved with better editing. I didn’t understand why Linda would abandon her family for Marcus. The reader never gets to see his charming side, only his crimes and failures. There is too much drama with Josh and the daughters. I thought that was unnecessary and didn’t add much to the plot. It was hard to like Linda and understand how she thought and what led her to the thriller’s conclusion. The ending seemed not how we thought the Linda we met in the first chapters would behave. That said, I thought this was a solid mystery and would definitely read another book by Jane E. James. 4 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Coffee Books and Jane E. James for this ARC.

I’m a bit torn on this book. It has some good twists, but much of it was spent inside the protagonist Linda’s head, which was not a place I wanted to be. The story centers on Linda’s life after her 2nd husband, Marcus, disappears and is assumed dead. Linda is now back in her hometown, where her family and friends are still mad at her for uprooting her life to marry him in the first place, when creepy things start happening that make her question what really happened that fateful night.

It was hard to empathize with Linda, whose thoughts were often rather scattered, and who I had trouble understanding how she could abandon her entire family due to some kind of mid-life crisis. To me, she came off as a narcissist masquerading as a victim and I didn’t buy it. I also had to suspend my disbelief a bit regarding what happened to Marcus and how it would appear in the eyes of the law. That being said, there were some good twists in the book and it kept me reading late into the night.

Overall, interesting read that I didn’t love but I definitely liked. It probably could’ve been tightened up a bit in terms of how much of the narrative was in Linda’s head versus actual action. I’d give it 3.5 stars, rounded up. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Meet Linda, a 58 year old grieving her husband, when she finds his doppelgänger on a dating app. He doesn’t have a twin. He’s dead. Or is he… ?

Linda’s navigating different stages in her life. Newly widowed, looking into her husband’s past, reconnecting with her estranged daughters, learning truths about her first husband, ups and downs with her best friend all while figuring out how she wants so spend the rest of her life.

Her Second Husband is definitely an “unputdownable” catch! I was instantly hooked to my kindle ever since I started. It did feel just a little dragged out for a moment halfway through. Overall, loved the writing style and fast paced feel.

Thank you Joffe Books and NetGalley for the ARC.

Her husband is dead - isn't he. Well yes but when did he die? A long, long time ago, months ago - or tomorrow.? A wonderful tale of the life of a widow a few months after her beloved husband's death. She's broke, living in a grim little flat - and then the fun begins. Thank goodness she can rely on her ex-husband to help her out - can't she?

Loved it.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Joffe Books I read a free advance review copy of the book. This review is voluntary, honest and my own opinion.

This plot was an instant must-read for me. Unfortunately, in execution, it didn't live up to its blurb. It was so slow, and the story focused on the past rather than being he future which wasn't nearly as juicy or thrilling.

Your husband’s dead. He’s never coming back. So why is he on a dating site asking you to go out with him?

What a blurb. Certainly the reason I wanted to read this book by Jane E. James. However, I honestly was not impressed with the characters because they were not likable and it seemed as though the author was putting too much emphasis on the boring marriage that made them unhappy. The book itself was hard to engage because of the slowness of the storyline and the protagonist, Linda’s thought process and the fact that her thoughts were all over the place. The book has potential but needs a little help.


2 1/2 stars out of 5



Thank you to NetGalley as well as the author/publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my unbiased and honest review?

3,5 stars rounded up.

Your husband's dead. He's never coming back. So why is he on a dating site asking you to go out with him?

Then

Linda has a gorgeous home, a devoted husband and two loving daughters. But she throws it all away to chase an impossible dream.

Now

Linda is alone and penniless, living in a shabby rented flat. With nothing to lose, she joins a dating site for the over 50s. But one man who responds to her profile, a man calling himself Tony Fortin, is not who he says he is.

It's not often we get a book where the main characters are in their 50s. The author did a great job with character building, even though some were unlikeable. There are plenty of twists to keep you guessing. I did guess correctly where some of the story was heading. I liked the authors writing style. This was my first read by the author, but I will be looking out for her books from now on.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #JoffeBooks and the author #JaneEJames for my ARC of #HerSecondHusband in exchange for an honest review.

Many thanks to Jane E. James, Joffe Books and to NetGalley for this ARC read. Unfortunately the book wasn't for me but I can possible see a lot of other people loving this book!

We follow Jane and her life, marriages & dramas. I don't want to say anymore as I otherwise would giveaway the plot. I had a really hard time connecting with the characters. There are some shocking twist and turns who would appeal to some readers.

Jane E. James is a descriptive writer and I certainly would read another book of her. This one just wasn't my cup of tea.

I enjoyed the first half of this book, but then I got bogged down with the main character's constant speculation and I felt the story was meant to be creating mystery but was instead just becoming confusing and going all over the place. I found there was too much use of proverbs and by the last quarter of the novel the characters were all behaving in totally different ways to how they had been previously described. By the end I couldn't find any redeeming qualities in the characters or relate to them in any way.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

I love a good psychological thriller and this started off well.
I liked the idea of the woman swept off her feet by a seemingly charming man after many years of a boring yet stable marriage and how this experience had changed her.
However, I found it hard to care enough about the characters to really engage with the story, which had many twists and turns and was all 'told' rather than 'shown. I found that, too often, I was in the head of Linda, the main protagonist, sharing her rambled and sometimes confused thoughts,. This, for me, slowed down the action too much.
I am sure there will be many who will love this novel but it was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book.