* DID NOT SEE THAT COMING *

I really enjoyed listening to this twisty/suspense story. There was a couple different events happening throughout the story which all ended up tying together nicely at the end. I truly loved the CRAZY twists and I did not see a lot of it coming in the way it ended. I had my suspicions that something was going on with certain characters but in the end it was not what I thought throughout.

The author did a great job at making you think you knew what was going to happen and just waiting for certain events to happen but it really took a turn at the end. I definitely loved the characters and their stories. The character development was on point!

The narrator definitely made me giggle as she did a great job with the male character voices. I really felt like I could envision the book through the way she narrated the story.

Overall I would give this book 3.5 stars (rounded up to 4), based on the story line, character development & the major twist at the end that I did NOT see coming.

I had the pleasure of being approved to listen to this audiobook thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio.

3.4/5 Stars! Thank you, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for this audiobook of Mother of the Bride by Samantha Hayes.

This book was just okay for me. This is my first book by this author and I feel like there is potential there but it didn't hook me as others have before. This book was dragging for me a little bit so I had to speed it up. I was listening it to just get through it and I didn't feel like I missed anything. I'm glad I got the audiobook for this one because I don't think I would've been able to finish it. Overall, I felt like the main character was too clueless and was starting to get on my nerves. I will say that the mother of the bridge was legit crazy and the plot was pretty good.

I don't think I got the narrator's name but she did a pretty good job narrating this story.

First of all thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for early access to this audio book in exchange for an honest review. This book was released 3/26/24.

As a wedding planner I love thrillers wedding based and this one seemed like a great thriller.

Lizzie and Owen and expecting a baby and soon to be married. Their current living situation has fallen through and are kind of forced to live with her mother. Which is great for her mom because now she can control every detail of their upcoming wedding.

Lizzie has her concerns. Things keep going wrong, her dad is in a mental health facility and has been acting stranger than ever. Panic starts to rise in Lizzie especially since it’s only been a year since her sisters fiancé was found dead on their wedding day with her mothers corsage next to his body.

This book was overall ok. Nothing that truly stood out. The narrator did a fine job. I just feel like it was missing something. It was a slower paced read for me. I did enjoy the twists at the end but it wasn’t thrilling or exciting enough leading up. I would recommend to check it out, but I don’t think it’s for everyone.

Long multiple cons going on in this twisted story. Lizzie is so excited to get married to Owen, the love of her life. When circumstances leave then with no where to live, the couple move in with things start to go awry. Why is her mother, Silvia starting to act so odd? She stars questioning so many things, first and foremost what really happened to her sisters fiancé. It’s a wild, creepy story filled with deceit and a whole lot of revenge. It was a well narrated tale that at times had me thinking I knew exactly what was happening and ultimately being shocked that there were still some surprises.
Uprated to 4 stars from what would have been a 3.5 rating if half stars available.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this book by one of my favourite authors. There’s been a few of hers that I enjoyed but not as good as this one.

I’m glad I have Bluetooth EarPods! I was able to clean house and do shopping while “reading” my book as I really was glued to every word.

I definitely won’t be forgetting this one in a hurry and will be on my top ten for sure this year in its genre.

Twisty family saga. Love it. Especially when you get duped at the end and all what you think goes out the window.

If you love family secrets, twists and unreliable characters……you won’t go wrong reading this.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'Mother Of The Bride' by Samantha Hayes.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Samantha Hayes, Bookouture publishers, Bookouture Audio, Hachette UK, and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 26th March 2024.

This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have also read 'The Trapped Wife', 'The Engagement' and 'The Inheritance'. I would highly recommend them all!
This novel consists of a prologue, 58 chapters and an epilogue. The chapters are short to medium in length so easy to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

OMG!!!! WHAT DID I JUST READ!!!! I DID NOT EXPECT THOSE TWISTS!!! MIND BLOWN MUCH!!!
Wow!!! This book is fantastically written and had me hook, line and sinker from beginning to end. The descriptions were so in depth and vivid that the hair on my arms was standing on the ends and my heart was pounding throughout. The synopsis, title and cover were perfect for the storyline.

I was absolutely absorbed throughout this page turner. It is filled with tension, drama, suspense, lies, secrets and omg the twists!!! I DID NOT see them coming at all!!! A MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS Samantha!! It is getting harder and harder to shock me but by God you managed it big time!!! What an ending!!! One of the most gripping unputdownable nerve wracking psychological thrillers I have EVER read!!! You lady have one hell of a talent and I cannot wait to get hold of your previous and future books. I cannot remember the last time I was so hooked by a book but you managed that big time!!! The storyline is filled with shocks, suspense, secrets, drama, lies, family, tension, deceit and family. In this fantastic book we meet Elizabeth, more commonly known as Lizzie and Owen. After a whirlwind romance and discovering that Lizzie is having an unplanned pregnancy they are now also engaged. Lizzie is dreading telling her controlling mother but after some financial difficulties it isn't just the news she needs to tell her but also to ask for her help. The last family wedding was her sister's Shelley where she was meant to be marrying Rafe but it ended in a tragedy with Rafe being found dead the day of the wedding. Will Lizzie and Owen be able to get through their wedding without any disasters or tragedy? What really did happen to Rafe? Will Lizzie's mother take control of all plans? Well, you'll just have to grab your copy of this absolutely gripping page turner to find out for yourselves!!!! Filled with wedding plans, drugs, a controlling mother, death, suicide, falls, lies, twists, complex characters and an explosive ending you would have never seen coming you will not be able to put this book down!! With Sam's absolutely amazing evocative writing skills and Tamsin's brilliant narration I was walking around with my earphones constantly in while I was doing the washing, cleaning the house and driving around. When I was listening to it sitting down I was on the edge of my seat and I found myself biting my nails throughout!! This really is an absolutely compelling, addictive, action past and speedy psychological thriller that i devoured in one sitting as will anyone who picks it up!! The storyline is multilayered and along with wedding plans there is Lizzies dad in a mental care facility, the search for the brother of a boy who committed suicide after a teacher taught them the wrong syllabus, stolen money and a police investigation into the death of Rafe, each with their own twists and turns to give you whiplash!! It really is like being on a rollercoaster reading this book as it will have you speeding in one direction then a twist and a turn and your shooting off in a completely different one at the speed of light!! I thought I had it all worked out at one point but nope, I was completely wrong. Please do not let my partner know that I said that though as of course, I am never actually wrong!!! It was intriguing to see the dynamics between the characters which were intricate and complex. Another gripping and addictive storyline from this fantastic author not to be missed! There were at least not one, not two but several explosive bombshells I did not see coming!!! There was so much going on and it was very fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat throughout. The storyline is scarily realistic and what happens in the book. Clear your schedule before you start as I read this in one sitting as I could not put it down!! Practically every chapter ended on a cliff hanger so no way could I put it down!! Absolutely hooked!! I would absolutely love to see this turned into a movie!!!!

This is one of the few books that I have listened 100% on Audiobook. If I listen to a book on audiobook I usually also read the physical book between but I listened to the whole book and I was impressed! I must say a HUGE congratulations to the narrator Tamsin Kennard who did a great job bringing this story to life. I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity and Tamsin did a fantastic job on both male and female characters voices!!! I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Samantha but also to listening to more books narrated by Tamsin! I have previously listened to 'Her First Child' by Sheryl Browne, 'The Suspect' by Kathryn Croft, 'Love You Gone' by Rona Halsall, 'My Daughters Boyfriend' and 'Her Husband's Mistake' by Daniel Hurst that were all also narrated by Tamsin Kennard and I would highly recommend listening to or reading them all as it they re other fantastic page turners from other great authors!! I would listen to it in the car and while walking at any opportunity. I'm not only looking forward to reading more books by Samantha but also to listening to more books narrated by Tamsin.
I was completely invested in both the storyline and the characters. Each of the characters had their own unique personalities and I felt differently about each of them. this is one of those books where how I felt about each of the characters changed throughout the storyline so I wont go into what I thought about them as I don't want to run the risk of spoiling the storyline for future readers. Sam and Tamsin both do an amazing job of portraying the individual characters personalities with their fantastic writing and narrative skills really bringing each of them to life in front of your eyes and you feel like you can reach out and touch them. I had no idea who to trust and who were hiding secrets, especially as it seems that every one of the characters had something to hide. There was definitely mixed feelings with some of them and some major shocks to be had!! Regardless of whether I loved them or hated them they all worked perfectly together to create an absolutely gripping and tension packed storyline!! If you want to know more you will just have to grab your copy now!! All in all a great eclectic mix of unique characters that worked perfectly with this storyline.
This is the EXACT reason that you are one of my favourite authors Samantha!! Bring on the next one!!! I cannot wait!!! Here's to your next success 🥂

Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the prologue of Samantha's 'Date Night' which promises to be another explosive page turner and one I am looking forward to reading myself!!

Overall an absolutely heart racing, nerve wracking, compelling and unputdownable addictive psychological thriller!!!

382 pages/ 9 hours 51 minutes

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited, £9.99 in paperback and £16 for the audiobook via Amazon which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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This was a solid “okay” book. I did find myself becoming bored for most of it which made it hard to stay engaged.

I would have enjoyed a more in-depth storyline that focused more on the interpersonal relationships in the story, as I found myself confused at multiple points about who was who to who. I know the title is Mother of the Bride, but it felt like almost the entire book was just one weird occurrence after the other involving Sylvia and it was like “okay, we get the idea.”

I did, however, think the twist was creative and unpredictable. I really like the final scene which was only made more entertaining by the narrator who was great all throughout the book. The epilogue provided a fun, extra twist which is always a personal favorite of mine.

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Samantha Hayes for this ALC in exchange for my honest review. Happy Publication Week!

3.5⭐️ A fast pasted thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. Some bits were kind of predictable but still much that surprised me. Very good and entertaining. The narration was pretty good, easy to listen to.

2.5 stars rounded up. Going into this book I assumed it would be a bit campy with the subject matter for a thriller. Any of us who have planned a wedding know that the mother of the bride is an easy target. Of course in this book the mother of the protagonist appears to be a true villain- ruining her and her sister's childhoods with over the top volatile and abusive behavior. At one point she even poisons all her friends at her birthday party! When her sister's husband dies at their wedding the year before, clues point to the mother doing the job. It does make sense - but did she???

My main critique of this book is something that I look for in every thriller I read - does the book require a suspension of disbelief. Does the actions of the protagonist and other characters make sense? Do the twists make sense or does it come out of left field? Could the things in the book actually happen? Unfortunately for many things in this book the answer is no. For someone who feels like her mother is abusive and psychotic, she ultimately protects her and cuts her a lot of slack. Even though she doesn't trust her, her actions don't reflect that (just to move the plot along). Below are spoilers:

SPOILERS


SPOILERS



Even though I guessed the twist of who the actual villain was almost as soon as it was hinted at (I am not someone who tries hard to guess either which means this one was too obvious), it did not make sense that she looks at photos of the person at SIXTEEN YEARS OLD and yet she needs some AI, fancy computer aging software to realize that he was her fiance?? Like, how different could he look from that age?!? And her mom wouldn't recognize him either? It was just too far fetched. Plus the final twist in the epilogue was pretty bananas. She just loses track of a huge equine fentanyl patch? That got a bit of an eye roll from me. And to try to redeem the pretty terrible mother at the end was hard to swallow. So, while not a bad book overall I have to settle on 2.5. Thank you to Netgalley for letting me review this audiobook for a fair and unbiased review.

This was a quick listen, but I think if I had read the book it would have been hard to finish. The narrator was great and made what was somewhat of a slow burn more bearable.

I really liked the premise of this book, but found a lot of it to be unbelievable, especially when it came to her parents. Some predictable twists but I really enjoyed the epilogue, I thought that was a very clever ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Mother of the Bride was full of twist and turns, but not so much that i didn’t have an idea of what the main plot was. Sometimes i felt like Lizzie was way too clueless and trusting. When she really believed that her mother was a murderer, she still stayed in the house with her.. The fiance, Owen, seemed too good to be true, and in the end was shockingly unbelievable. Nevertheless, i did enjoy the audiobook on a long car ride and was happy with how things turned out. *That surprise ending was so unexpected!!!!

I was super excited to read this book. The cover and synopsis had me hooked. Unfortunately, the book itself fell flat to me. It was an easy read. But as far as thrillers go, this one was slow paced and fairly predictable. I didn't feel like any of the twists were shocking. Some aspects were repeated so many times that you'd be hard pressed to have not figured it out. The epilogue was a surprise, though, which was nice.
Our FMC, Lizzie, was very dense and wishy-washy to me. She never knew what to think or believe but was quick to jump to conclusions when there was the tiniest bit of proof. But even with mounting evidence, she never questioned the right people. She had a lot of misplaced blame. And she was definitely a pushover who rarely stood up for herself. She blindly trusted those she definitely shouldn't have.
Also, some things in the blurb didn't actually line up with the book. "I pray he’s right as I slip a gold band onto his finger with trembling hands." But in the next paragraph, the priest is asking for objections. Typically, objections are done before rings.

The narrator did a fantastic job voicing Lizzie.

I loved this book!!! I listened to the audio version and I couldn't stop until it ended. Lizzy goes home to London to introduce fiancé' to her mother, against her better judgement. She had such bad memories of her childhood with her mother, that she kept away from home from the time she was 18. Now she was going back, and she knew it was going to be bad!

Lizzy's controlling mother starts to take over and plan her wedding. It was a great mystery and thriller for me. I was completely engaged through the entire story. I highly recommend this book!!! Thank you to Bookotour Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

3.5-3.75 Stars

I found this thriller to be quite entertaining, with several unexpected twists that kept me engaged. Although I was able to predict the big reveal, it did not diminish my overall enjoyment of the story. However, I do wish Lizzie had been more forthcoming with her family or Owen instead of keeping secrets to add complexity to the plot. If you are a fan of the crazy mother-in-law storyline, I would definitely recommend giving this thriller a try.

***Thank you to NetGalley, Samantha Hayes, and Bookouture Audio for graciously sending me the audiobook to review. As always, all thoughts are my own.***

2.5 stars.

While I found the story amusing, I predicted the resolution halfway through. There were several issues throughout the narrative. Sylvia's character was portrayed as overly dramatic and almost villainous, so her sudden change in behaviour felt jarring. Given that the story is told entirely from Lizzie's perspective, it's puzzling how her perception of her mother shifted so suddenly, especially after believing her to be a villain for four decades.

The blurb hints at Lizzie finding her mother's corsage near a dead body, leading readers to assume she's the murderer. Consequently, Lizzie hides the corsage to protect her family. However, there are numerous irrational elements in the plot. It's hard to believe that Lizzie never questioned her mother about it and rather forgot it in a place easily discoverable. Further, Lizzie never wondered about her mother's past job loss, and the reasoning being that she never asked seems implausible.

Despite these flaws, I still found myself enjoying the story. The most surprising aspect for me was the incident at the sister's wedding, which added a shocking twist to the narrative. However, while the epilogue provided explanation, I couldn't help but feel slightly unsatisfied. Overall, while the story had its moments, it fell short of my expectations.

I used the audiobook for this story, which was narrated by Tamsin. It was a delightful experience which actually ended up making the story more interesting than it actually was.

Special thanks to NetGalley for providing me with an advanced audio copy.

I couldn’t put this down. I listened to it all in one day. It was great to be able to have to the audio and ebook versions. I did not expect the ending, or the epilogue. Lizzie can’t trust her mother, especially after her sister’s almost wedding the year before. She’s afraid to have Owen even meet her. She wants to know exactly what her mother has done, but the more she learns the less she wishes she knew. I devoured all the details and had just as many questions as Lizzie did.
I enjoyed the narrator of this one. Her voice made it very easy to immerse myself in the story.
This is my first book by Samantha Hayes and it won’t be my last.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4. I read another book with a VERY similar plot line literally this month. However, this was a great listen. Towards the end I did not want to stop listening. The end totally shocked me!!

Thank you to Net Galley and publisher for the ARC for this book. It was a psychological thriller that fell flat. Kept me engaged, wondering but then just ok.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC! This was my first book from Samantha Hayes. It was intriguing to some degree but also super predictable. The main "twist" was easy to figure out.

Lizzie and her mother's relationship is complicated, to say the least, but when Lizzie is back home from abroad with her soon-to-be husband Owen, they are somehow forced to stay with her due to their financial problems. 

Lizzie suspects her mother has something to do with the death of her sister's fiance because she found her corsage beside his dead body. With her mother taking over their wedding preparations, Lizzie is worried about Owen's safety.

As soon as I read that it was a domestic thriller, I knew I would love it. Though some of the twists were predictable, I totally didn't see the ending coming. As soon as it was finished, I was like, "What the hell did I just read?". It was cosy and tense at the same time, and it kept me on my toes. 

The only thing that I didn't like was that it was a bit repetitive at times, like the constant mention of her mother's "corsage."
Other than that, I loved the characters; they were so well written. The audiobook was also an absolute gem, and despite being slow-paced, the ending made the wait worth it.

This was my first Samantha Hayes read, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books. I would recommend everyone do the same. 

I'm sincerely thankful to NetGalley, Samantha Hayes and Bookouture Audio for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.