The beginning of this book is great and it draws you right in. Then the family arrives to their cabin and there is a strange woman on the porch with a young girl. When the woman hugs Sadie's husband Ted, the drama starts when they realize it's his ex girlfriend Alice. Unfortunately for me that is about where I started disliking this book. Alice barges in and somewhat makes herself at home and they just let her? I would be like, I don't think so! Ted and Sadie let Alice walk all over them and many unbelievable events happen. I was not a fan of this one, sorry.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture Audio and Rosie Walker for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This was fun! Some of the execution was a little rough, but I really enjoyed the style and the premise. It was well paced, so I never wanted to put it down!

Premise - a middle aged married couple facing a difficult time in their relationship heads to the English countryside for a Christmas of reconnection… until the husband’s past comes knocking.

Loved:
+ all the drama
+ rural psychological thriller vibes (think: locked room)
+ the author kept me guessing

Room for improvement:
- one character had a complete personality transplant after their truth came out towards the end and, in light of what we learn, some of their old behavior and choices made no sense
- the villain was pretty flat

Overall I had a great time and would read more from this author!

Thanks, NetGalley and Bookouture, for the gifted ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Publication date: May 3rd, 2024
Page number: 276
Audio length: 8 hour 57 minutes
Narrator: Helen McAlpine
Genre: domestic thriller
POV: Sadie
Setting: isolated Irish countryside

Sadie, her husband Ted and their 2 children rent an isolated home to have Christmas either families. Ted’s ex girlfriend and her daughter show up. Drama, confusion, lots of secrets.

The suspense created in the first half was great- tension kept building- it kept me very engaged and I did not want to stop listening.

The second half had a lot of action, but seemed to be a bit choppy and unrealistic/far fetched and I became less interested and engaged.

Thank you to author, publisher, NetGalley for advanced audio copy. This is an honest voluntary review.

Wow this is so messy! I love it so much. Imagine your husband's estranged ex shows up to stay in your vacation house with yall over christmas.
Then you catch them kissing. Then you find out her kid is also his kid.
And then there is a storm keeping them trapped with you.
This isn't just awkward either. It is a whole entire nightmare. The whole family has arrived and now you just have to deal.
At first I didn't love the protagonist. She seemed weak and a little pathetic but I also saw Ted as a clueless guy and he is not that at all.
Our protagonist is obsessed with her husband. I mean beyond obsessed.
No one in this book does the normal thing. It is delightful. I could not predicta single thing.

The narration was perfection.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ | Format: Audiobook & E-Book

Okay so I was totally enraptured by this story from start to end. It’s a thriller, yes, but basically also could be described as someone’s personal horror story depicting all the scenarios you would NEVER want to happen. Marriage falling apart leading to the decision to go on a Christmas trip to a secluded cabin with your family, when your husband’s ex-girlfriend suddenly shows up with her child? Quickly finding out danger is following said ex-girlfriend? A terrible, life-threatening storm with no possibility of escape? Yeah, definitely a nightmare come true and things only progressively get worse from there…

Addictive and heart-pounding, with an absolutely excellent narrator for the audiobook (Helen McAlpine), I found myself constantly surprised by the direction the story took, but ultimately felt like the ending was rushed and disappointing, lowering my overall rating.

Thank you to Rosie Walker, Bookouture, & NetGalley for the ARC! All opinions are my own.

This audiobook was made available for me to listen to and review by Rosie Walker, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley.

The narrator of this domestic thriller is Helen McAlpine, and I'm fairly certain this is the first audiobook I've listened to narrated by her. I enjoyed her narration and her soft Scottish accent.

This is a fast-paced thriller set over the Christmas holiday in a remote rented house. Sadie has planned a family focused Christmas holiday with her husband, Ted, two daughters, Charlie & Tamara, Ted's parents, Neal & Patricia, Ted's brother Matt and Sadie's own mother, Julie. Sadie and immediate family arrive early to the rental in the Scottish Highlands so they can have one night as a family before the extended family arrives.

As they are settling in, there's a knock at the door, Sadie opens the door and in walks Ted's ex-girlfriend, Alice, with her own daughter, Natasha who appears to be 12 or so.

Why have Alice and Natasha joined them for the Christmas holiday? Who invited them? Why is Alice really here? What does she want? This is twisty with multiple reveals, a few I guessed correctly, and a major one I did not see coming at all. Very well done. I'll definitely seek out more by this author.

Thank you to Rosie Walker, Bookouture Audio, and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.

I couldn't really get into this one. It seemed slow; I didn't really care for any of the characters. I did skip ahead to the end and can honestly say, I did not see that coming, but it wasn't interesting enough to me to listen all the way through.

Ex Girlfriend
Rosie Walker
Sadie, Ted and their two children have rented a cabin for Christmas. They are expecting his brother, Matt’s family, Ted’s parents, and Sadie’s mother to join them for the holidays. An unexpected visitor arrives and turns the holidays upside down. Alice, Ted’s former girlfriend and her daughter act as though they have been invited. Ted swears he didn’t invite the woman. Alice throws herself in Ted’s arms. Sadie doesn’t know what to think or how to react. She wants Alice gone. The child with Alice is obviously Ted’s child. Ted’s parents arrive and are thrilled to see Alice. They make a fuss over her making Sadie fill like she is an outsider.
First let’s look at the characters:
I couldn’t help but feel sorry for Sadie. She and Ted were having a bit of trouble. She wanted her family to stay together. She loved her children and her husband. I didn’t pick up on the nuances of her marriage at first; she had to be careful when she talked things over with Ted or he might get upset.
Alice was the unknown factor in this book. For at least half the book the reader doesn’t know who invited her to the family Christmas. She shows up with what turns out to be Ted’s daughter in tow but no presents for the child.
Ted’s mother, Patricia, I wouldn’t want her for my mother-in-law.
Then there was Ted. The first part of the book he seemed like a spoiled husband but not a bad person. Further into the book I began to suspect he was a liar, manipulator and not a nice person at all.
There is a great deal of tension throughout this book. Strange incidents helped to build the tension: Alice’s arrival, finding out her daughter is Ted’s daughter, discovering Ted’s parents had recently seen Alice, the missing iPad, the storm, the loss of electricity, etc. The premise of this tale is built on jealousy, mistrust and anger. Alice was experiencing all of these emotions. I enjoyed the tale and was eager to see how it would play out. The ending left me disappointed. I wonder if author Rosie Walker felt like she had painted herself into a corner and didn’t know how to escape. The ending left me with unanswered questions.
Thank you NetGalley for providing me an ARC audio copy for review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for the book #ExGirlfriend by #RosieWalker. This is the ultimate book on manipulation and what people are capable of. I thoroughly enjoyed it and was surprised by the ending. Highly recommend.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio ARC in exchange for an honest review. If you're into domestic thrillers, this will be right up your alley. While I did appreciate the narration by Helen MacAlpine and in particular the highly credible Scottish accent given the Scottish setting of the lodge, I'd have to say that the bad guy/gal reveal was not that credible to me. I mean, you keep expecting for the initial baddie in the story to be proven innocent of all wrongdoing, the twist is not jaw-droppingly incredible, but plain hard to understand based on the information available to you as a reader. All in all, not a bad book, but Big Little Lies with the slowly building momentum and shocking 🤯 reveal this is not.

What I appreciated the most here were the female friendships and the reflection on what having a sibling or even a half sibling might mean for a kid

What a great story! I will say this one really surprised me and had me unable to put it down. I highly suggest listening to the Audiobook version it was really good.

I was really looking forward to reading this thriller, I’ve loved Helen McAlpines narration on many other books, and she’s done a great job again here.

The tone is set for fear early on as the family approach a remote Scottish cottage during an impending storm. It soon transpires that there are a lot of fractures in Ted and Sadie’s marriage and Sadie hopes that when their extended families join them for a cozy Christmas break they’ll be able to plaster over the cracks and move on. When Ted’s ex girlfriend (you know the one, the one that left him broken and talking in his sleep, but isn’t Jolene) turns up seemingly out of the blue and they become trapped by the weather things are really not looking good.

The story was tense, fast paced and eerie with a massive amount to unpack. Some of the twists felt a little bit off course, or out of the blue, but generally I really enjoyed it and I absolutely didn’t see the shocking end coming.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and Rosie Walker via NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an honest review.