Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this audio.

Wow!! This book!!! Had me hooked form page one and that twist!!!! I couldn’t stop listening to it!

I really liked this audiobook! It was fast moving and the plot twists kept me interested and wanting to listen to more. I would recommend this book to anyone who liked Gone Girl, and that genre of books. I will definitely tell my friends to listen to or read this book. I received a free copy of this book from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

Is there anything scarier than being scared of the one person you're supposed to trust most in the world? Total edge of my seat! Kept me guessing from page one until the end!

Thank you NetGalley for this book in return for an honest review.

4.75☆
I really enjoyed this book, its very engaging and really keeps you endge the entire time. The book was well executed to make you believe one thing but the ending/murderer was completely different and very unexpected.

Really enjoyed this audio book , A controlling over protective mother but will she actually kill someone she doesn't think is suitable to marry her daughters ?
Lots of twists and turns and an unexpected ending just what you want in a psychological thriller
I listened to this in a couple of days so will look out for more from Samantha Hayes

This book was a very good slow burn with crazy plot twist right at the very end. The last 10% was absolutely wild! I loved this book so much.

Rating lvl: 4/5 ⭐️

I initially received this as an arc from NetGalley but I didn’t get to listening to it till recently. It was a quick read/listen and I thoroughly enjoyed the whole thing.
It’s been a minute since I’ve read a mystery/thriller book and this certainly delivered on that front.
This book quite literally had me on the edge of my seat with a blanket up to my face as I listened in suspense.
However, I will say, it did take me a second to get used to a more British vocabulary and narrator but the initial struggles are quickly swept away with how gripping the plot was.

I loved the idea of a world so cruelly made up in someone’s mind that they become so shaded and in denial of what is right in front of them. And because of their negligence, the consequences can often be deadly.

It brought so much realness to this work of fiction, with which in turn, makes the story all the more creepy and intense.

I truly loved the way the story flowed and how everything seemed to be woven in the perfect pattern. With it wrapping everything up so neatly at the end.

However, with that being said, there are some negatives or rather instances I found myself being pulled out of the story and into my own head. First and foremost the thought I kept falling back to in the beginning, was that it seemed rather repetitive. Just some of the FMC’s thoughts sort of got repeated a lot, at least to me, and it was sort of annoying but that could also just be a me thing. And secondly, there was a section in like chapter 51 or so (around there) that the audio just cuts off for like a whole minute. It might be in part to me listening to it through NetGalley’s app or whatnot, but that was a weird and abrupt pause I wasn’t expecting.

But honestly, besides me being nit picky about some small things I really recommend this book! It truly gave me the thrilling experience that a mystery story should. And it has me itching to read more by Samantha Hayes and more mystery thrillers in general!

Before I plunch into the plot of this story let me say: this one has a twist for sure!!
In the middle I really wanted to give up because of being soooo annoyed with all the characters! But this is what a psychological or rather domestic thriller is all about, isn't it?
I really couldn't stop listening because the story turned out to be something completely different than I expected!
Thank you #NetGalley #Bookouture Audio for this audiobook

This is not your typical nightmare mother-in-law thriller. Lizzie is getting married. She only hopes her fiance’ will live to see the day. Her mother has a track record of trying to control her daughters’ lives. Shelley, Lizzie’s sister never had the chance to walk down the aisle on her wedding day. Her husband tragically and mysteriously died minutes before the anticipated event. Lizzie fears her mother is somehow involved and is panicked that her wedding day will also have a deadly ending. As the plot unfolded I was certain I knew where it was going. Needless to say, I was blown away by the final twists. To say I was surprised is an understatement. The epilogue also had a shocking twist. I was intrigued by this addictive thriller from start to finish. The narrator masterfully brought the characters to life while adding suspense and a constant sense of foreboding. Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for my audiobook.

Mother of the Bride
By Samantha Hayes

I have never read anything by Samantha Hayes before but I am certain it will not be the last. Mother of the Bride is a great story with an end twist that will leave you shocked.

Lizzy has met the man of her dreams in Dubai and is excited to marry him and have his baby. Lizzie’s mother is planning every detail of the wedding but Lizzy is cautious because her sister’s finance was killed on their wedding day a year ago. This is truly a twisty psychological thriller that will have you on the end of your seat.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture audio for the advanced copy of this amazing story.

I’m not normally one to care if a book is predictable because, anxiety. But most of this book felt like watching a girl run straight into her killer in a horror movie. Lizzie’s internally monologue was, “Oh weird I keep finding this guy who is know my fiancé, after 6 months of knowing him, in lies. It’s so clearly him but It must be my mother. I think she’s crazy and I’m scared she’s a murder BUT I feel safe enough to live with her and left her plan my entire wedding in one week.”
I liked the overall plot of the book as it is a unique thriller. Lizzie just drove me crazy the entire time.
The narrator did a phenomenal job and kept me engaged the entire time!

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio copy of Mother of the Bride.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for an audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

Lizzie has had a whirlwind romance and engagement and now a baby on the way with her future husband, Owen. Due to some unpaid invoices they have fell on some hard financial times so they return to her small town to stay with her mother. The mother she has been running from her whole life. The mother who drove her father into a mental facility. The mother who mysteriously lost her job. The mother who may have been involved in the death of her sister fiancé. And now the mother hell bent on planning her wedding to Owen. When mysterious things start happening to the couple Lizzie fears her mother is up to no good and Owen could be her next target.

I thought the concept of the book was good with an overly dramatic mother who could have sinister tendencies. However, the book is slow and lacks a lot of the drama. Lizzie and her mother have a tumultuous relationship and although Lizzie thinks here mother is capable of murder she never confronts her. Lizzie is happy to use her mother's money and all the while complains about her planning the wedding but never stops her. The whole family are terrible communicators and just create lies and deceptions to avoid each other with no resolutions to any of their issues. I saw the ending twist very early on so the rest of the story wasn't as entertaining. The pace was a little slow as Lizzie is the narrator.

I had the audio version read by Tamsin Kinard who is great to listen to. I enjoy here pace and characters. I highly recommend her work.

4.5 ⭐️ I really enjoyed this book. I kept me interested. Fast paced. Short chapters. Kept me guessing. I did guess the big twist pretty early on but it didn’t make me like the book less, I just wanted to see how it was going to play out. The last twist was interesting and I didn’t see it coming. The audio was really good and I liked the narrator a lot. Overall fantastic read!!

I’ve realized I really enjoy listening to psychological thrillers on audiobook because it just takes it to a new level. Like it’s creepy. This book had me on the edge of my seat. I don’t want to give too much away but if you have a couple hours to do nothing. Listen to this book. I would say you could multi task but you won’t be successful. I’ve never been so still listening to an audiobook before.

Thank you to @netgalley @hachetteuk for the opportunity to listen to this arc. Available now.

🏷️
#audiobook #arc #netgalley #bookish #bookstagram #audiobookstagram #bibliophile #book #thrillerbooklovers
51s

I could not stop with this book! I was hooked. I only thought my family was dysfunctional haha I wanted to scream at times, these characters were getting me so worked up. I was able to figure out one of the big twists but it didn’t make it any less exciting! I definitely recommend this one.

Thanks NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook!

There are meddling mothers and then there’s this mother of the bride….if you like family secrets then this is the book for you! LOVED IT!!

Amazing book with lots of twists and turns the narrator in the audiobook built great suspense and made it enjoyable to listen to as a physical copy reader it was a lovely break.

The characters were built well and I certainly became attached and found I was left wanting to know more often.

Domestic thriller with triggers. If you have experience with this kind of family dysfunction it can be triggering. At bit long on the family tense and less in twists and one at end that felt out of place and lack of follow through on emotional fall out. The twists were good In themselves but also a bit elaborate in execution/premise.

Thanks NetGalley for the read!!!

Oh Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy. This woman drove me to drink on more than one occasion. I mean, how much misery can one person allow another to inflict on them and just keep taking it, for years?

Sylvia, mother to Lizzy and Shelley, is dreadful, and by the end of it, I realised that not only was she dreadful, but a little unhinged. The dad (I forget his name now) isn't much better - allowing his girls to suffer such abuse for so many years and do nothing other than take them for the occasional camping trip. And then running to hide in a 'safe place'. No more about that or I will give it away.

After Minnie the cat, Shelley and Jarrod are my favourite characters. Especially Jarrod, I do wish we'd seen a little more of him. Don't let my negativity about Sylvia put you off, they may be vile, but these are the characters who we love in our books (from a safe distance). All in all, it ticked along nicely and was a quick and relatively pleasant read.

I saw the first twist coming a mile away, the second not so much. It was, as always, brought enchantingly to life by Tamsin, who is one of my favourite narrators.

3 and a half stars. Rounded up to 4 because nothing bad happens to Minnie!

I read this book in audio format and have to give major kudos to the narrator who did a fantastic job. The story suffers a bit in the beginning from the constant repetition but she does such a fantastic job keeping the reader engaged.

The story follows newly engaged and pregnant Lizzy who, with her fiancé in tow, are forced to move in with her mother while they plan their wedding. Lizzy struggles with the fiasco of her sister’s wedding from the past along with dealing with her nightmare of a mother. Things keep happening that leave her wondering if her mother is worse than she thought possible.

It’s a decent thriller that unfortunately felt too predictable. I guessed about 40% in what the big reveal would be since it’s just so glaringly obvious. I had a hard time believing how oblivious Lizzy was being at times. The photos, the phone call with her best friend. It was frustrating dealing with a dense main character who didn’t really have any backbone. The only thing that kind of threw me off was the epilogue but it didn’t feel like a big gotcha moment for me so it felt anticlimactic.