Many thanks to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA Books, and Harlequin Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest thriller by a favorite, Adele Parks, with the audiobook perfectly narrated by Kristin Atherton. All opinions expressed in this review are my own - 4 stars!

When Emma meets Matthew, a kind, handsome widower, he seems to be just what she needs. Their friendship moves quickly, and her friends are worried that she might be taken advantage of, since she's rich and Matthew isn't. Emma isn't worried about that, but she does wonder if she is second best after his perfect first wife. But who really can Emma trust - her friends, Matthew, or even herself?

I’m a huge fan of Adele Parks and this book is why – perfect writing with a taut storyline that kept my mind guessing, flipping, and shocked. Emma’s character had me screaming at her naiveté, and lots stretched the imagination, but what a fun ride. Up until the very end, the twists kept coming. I thought the audiobook narration was spot on, and I ended up mostly listening to this one.

This was too much of a slow burn for me .
Thank you Harlequin Trade Publishing and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Adele Parks always delivers outstandingly twisty psychological domestic suspense stories and this latest was no exception. Marriage plots, schemes, lies, gaslighting, gold diggers, revenge and more, this book really had it all and kept me guessing to the end. The audio narration was also extremely EXCELLENT read by Kristin Atherton. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

What happened to Matthew's first wife? Emma is not sure and now she is worried what to do. I found the plot intriguing and was so worried for Emma during the book. I got suspicious of everyone and was surprised here and there! A great thriller and a first for me from this author

Adele Parks' First Wife's Shadow is a masterful work of psychological suspense that grabs you from the very first page and never lets go. As a fan of domestic thrillers, I had high expectations, and I’m pleased to say this book exceeded them919-937-0920 in every way.

The story revolves around the complex, multi-layered characters, especially the protagonist, whose journey of discovery and emotional turmoil is riveting. Parks expertly weaves together a narrative that’s both thrilling and deeply human, making you question everything you thought you knew about love, loyalty, and betrayal. The pacing is perfectly timed, with moments of tension that will leave you holding your breath, eager to turn the next page.

What truly sets this book apart is how it cleverly tackles the themes of obsession, the weight of the past, and the devastating consequences of secrets. The plot twists are unpredictable and chilling, keeping the suspense high until the very last page. Parks' ability to craft a story that’s not just about the mystery but also about the psychology of her characters is what makes First Wife's Shadow stand out in the crowded thriller genre.

The writing is sharp, engaging, and layered with depth, ensuring that readers are not only entertained but also challenged by the complex emotional undercurrents.

If you're a fan of gripping crime thrillers, domestic suspense, or psychological dramas, First Wife's Shadow is an absolute must-read. It’s a perfect blend of dark intrigue and psychological insight, proving yet again that Adele Parks is a force to be reckoned with in the world of thrillers. Highly recommended!

Many thanks to MIRA Books, The Hive, and NetGalley for the gifted copy of First Wife’s Shadow. I really loved this one! It was a twisted and unique thriller. The twists kept on coming in the last 25% of the book and I really did not see a few of them coming which is rare for me.

Emma an extremely independent hardworking woman gets swept off her feet when she meets the swoon worthy Matthew. Matthew a widower quickly wins Emma over and has her making room in her very structured life for a new love. As time goes on strange things start happening and Matthew reveals more and more about his late wife Becky. Emma begins to compare herself to Matthew’s late wife and feels that she is in competition with a dead woman who was with her husband before her. Can these strangers occurrences have anything to do with Matthew’s late wife? How is that possible when she is dead? Is Emma losing touch with reality?

Told from multiple points of views you’ll be tossed into this twisty thriller and questioning everyone.

Full of all the twists and turns you hope for in a psychological thriller. I was baffled, confuddled, betrayed and astonished in this book! I love main character growth throughout a novel, and Emma's character did just that. A total tale of who to believe, who to trust, and who to like; constantly upending itself and making you second guess yourself! A novel about desperation, revenge, love, and the lengths we go to get what we think we deserve. Thank you to #NetGalley and #HarlequinTradePublishing for an Arc of Parks' new, explosive novel!

☆ARC REVIEW☆
Publication date: March 18, 2025

I unfortunately found this quite long and boring. The summary of the book sounded super intriguing but it just seemed to drag.


Thank you NetGalley, the author, Harlequin Trade Publishing for advanced copies in exchange for an honest review.

Such a fun take on the dead wife/gaslit woman tropes! I couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook and when the first major twist hit, I literally gasped. Such a terrific listen. My first book by Adele Parks, but it won’t be my last!

It's really difficult to compete with a dead wife. Despite her Type A personality and competitive instincts, Emma knows better than to mess with a man's memories of a beloved partner.

When Emma first meets Matthew, she seems him through rose-colored glasses. The red flags popping up must just blend in. My GR friend Kaceey did an excellent job in giving us a list. You can check out her review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I was not a huge fan of Emma. She was a bit too preachy on the environmental front. Easy enough to have an all solar and windpowered house and your own EV charging station when you are the CEO of a major company. That being said, I most certainly was hoping she would not get taken in by the movie-star handsome Matthew Charlton. When items start disappearing and weird episodes of vandalism occur, it is time to take a deeper look.

This could have gone to the paranormal (his dead wife is haunting her) or to the gaslighting trope. What Adele Parks actually does with this story is much more creative than I had expected. And that grim Prologue finally makes sense. I had made assumptions and I was wrong!

Now I have read my first title by Adele Parks. Her unique style has me intrigued. Will definitely keep my eyes open for future opportunities to try another. Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow... Absolutely loved this one. Definitely a page-turner.

This book follows Emma, a very wealthy, independent, and set-in-her-ways CEO. Emma falls in Love with Matthew, a free-spirted widower. After Matthew is always talking about Becky, his first wife, Emma, feels like she may never break free from the first wife's shadow. To the point that Emma even feels huated by Becky.

There were so many twists in this book.

I listened to the audio while reading along, and the narrator was perfection.

3.75/5
First book from Adele Parks and I enjoyed it. This is a slow burn thriller which is something I never really read usually they are fast paced. I enjoyed the slowness of the book after I realized where it was going. At first I was wondering where this book was going but half way through I got it and I started to enjoy it. I enjoyed the different perspectives of the book it gave me a different understanding on what is going on. Even though I did enjoy the slow burn of the book the book felt long even it was the average 300 something page book. I found myself against the main female character because of how dumb she was. Even though I didn’t know where this was going I knew the female main character wasn’t smart. Usually I’m all for the protagonist but this time I got annoyed at her and wanted her friends to do a wake up call to her because dang she wasn’t smart even though she is high up in her career. Overall, it was a good book. It had good parts but it had moments when things felt unnecessary and was dragging. I did however enjoy it and glad I decided to read it.
Thank you to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for sending me and allowing me to read this ARC that comes out on March 18, 2025.

Emma has it all, more money than she knows what to do with, a beautiful, state of the art home, an amazing career and great friends, but when she meets Matthew, she is quickly swept off her feet. A decade younger and a widower, Matthew is the man of her dreams, but her friends have reservations, deep reservations. When odd things seem to go wrong at Emma’s house, Matthew is soon questioning her sanity. As things take darker and more dangerous turns, we soon see that there’s much more going on than originally thought! So many twists and so many turns make this a great read! Thank you to Harlequin and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

I was hooked from the start. As a fan of this author, I will say this is one of her best stories yet. I will be recommending this fast paced story to my customers.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

Emma is a woman of routine it’s how she functions in life. At forty-seven she’s focused on her career earning herself a substantial salary. At this point in her life she’s accepted the fact she probably won’t marry and gave children. Her two best friends are married with children. Being included in their lives is enough for her. Then the unexpected happens. She meets Matthew at one of her conferences. His eyes and ears are tuned into her. He can’t tear himself away. Then a second chance encounter brings them together again. This time sparks fly and a relationship blossoms between them.
…
Her friends should be excited for Emma, but they are protective of Emma and see warning signs. Emma ignores them all moving full steam ahead with Matthew. Months later they are married. Something seems off and Emma starts to have some unusual things happen to her.
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Matthew was married ten months ago to another woman. She lost her life leaving Matthew a widower. Matthew is smitten by Emma pursuing her quickly. He’s constantly reminding Emma about his wife which causes Emma to feel jealousy towards a person who’s no longer alive.
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This is a slow brewing story. I’m finding Adele Parks has a writing voice that doesn’t line up with my reading style and I’m trying very hard to find my rhythm in this book. I wish the story moved forward faster. These slow paced stories have me bored to the point of skim reading. I’m here to be thrilled. It’s like waiting in a 3 hour line to get on a roller coaster it’s exciting at first once you enter the line but after a few minutes it wears off when you realize the line isn’t moving. You stand and wait and debate whether it’s worth it to continue waiting in line. That’s where I’m at with this story. I’ve got one foot in and one foot out determining if I should jump ship.
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Patience is a virtue of which I don’t have, yet curiosity is something I do have. By sticking with this story I was rewarded with the twisted truth that explains Emma’s situation. Fantastic turnout.

This book had a slow and fast start at the same time, how do I explain?

Our FMC was very much a routine, need for structure gal, which I can appreciate, cuz, same. She's climbed the corporate ladder and because of it, her personal life is lacking.

When she meets Matthew, things change. She feels an instant attraction and things fly from there.

If you're wanting to stay spoiler free, here's your last chance to exit before I spoil something for you.

I was waiting, and waiting for a plot twist and mid-book, it delivered. There was part of me that thought there was going to be a paranormal element to this book, but it wasn't what I got. In a turn of events, we see two people plotting against wealthy Emma in a desperate need for cash.

But even deeper there's more to the story which complicates things even further. This book is absolutely a page turner because you have to know how it ends. I will say this book was a biiiit of a stretch for me which is why I am rating it in a 3/3.5 star. But I definitely still enjoyed the read.

Thanks NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing for the free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Adele Parks is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors of psychological thrillers and is now an auto buy author for me. I love her writing style, her subtle red herrings, her descriptive writing and knowledge of the human psyche. This book did not disappoint.

MC, Emma, is a self sufficient, strong, disciplined mid-aged woman who works hard! In a “chance” meeting at a work conference, she meets and falls in love with Matthew, who is younger and less successful but doting and attentive. Matthew is a widower who says he is looking for love as he heals from his loss.. Was their meeting a chance encounter?

I thoroughly enjoyed this book with all its psychological twists and turns, convoluted/complicated characters and ability to keep me guessing until the end!

5-⭐️ for me!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC copy of this book in exchange for my honest review and feedback.

A fabulously entertaining psychological thriller full of fun twists and turns.

Emma Westly has it going on. She’s 47 years old and at the top of her career as CEO of AirBright, Britain’s wind harvesting company. She’s attractive, driven, and wealthy. The only thing she lacks is companionship and love. Until she meets Matthew Charlton. Emma falls fast and hard for the handsome photographer 11 years her junior despite the warnings of her friends and some serious red flags. The biggest issue at first is that Matthew is widowed and still grieving for his dead wife, Becky. Emma can’t help but feel a bit jealous even as their relationship becomes more intense and Emma invites Matthew to move into her beautiful home in Hampshire. Woodview is absolute luxury living and they both revel in the new direction they are heading. When Matthew suggests they marry, Emma is over the moon. Has she finally found happiness. Of course not, this is domestic suspense after all. But I won’t spoil it with details as you will have to read it for yourself.

I really enjoyed this and had to read it in one sitting as I couldn’t put it down wondering what would happen next. Although a teeny bit predictable, I did enjoy the revelations and the surprises along the way. The narrative is told from several points of view and that definitely puts all the perspectives in place to change what the reader thinks is going on. I liked the writing style even as I wasn’t sure what I thought about the characters since my initial opinions were challenged by new discoveries. I think it best to go into this without any preconceived notions so don’t read too many reviews ahead of time.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while also following along in the e-book ARC, both provided by the publishers. The narrator did a great job voicing all the characters with the appropriate dramatic flair and expression. This definitely enhanced my enjoyment of the book as it was a quality production.

Enjoy!

This ended up being a fun thriller! It definitely kept me on my toes and some of the twists and turns I was not expecting at all, which I love for a thriller!

I actually started this on ebook and I honestly was struggling to get into it a bit. But once I switched to audio it was great. The narrator was fantastic and I think it helped having her accent to really set the scene that this was in England.

The setup was interesting with Matthew being a younger widower. Emma was also an interesting character. She was older, had all these routines and never thought she would find love. Something just always seemed off with Matthew but I did not guess what was going on!

Where we ended the story compared to where we started and where I thought things might be going were extremely different and there were multiple times that something happened and I just had to pause and give myself a second. Like what?!?

So overall, this was an enjoyable thriller! Was it realistic? Probably not. And I'm not sure that it's going to be one that really stands out, but I had an enjoyable time nonetheless and would recommend!

Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing for the eARC and ALC!

Adele Parks delivers yet another gripping thriller with First Wife’s Shadow—a story packed with twists, secrets, and a creeping sense of unease that doesn’t let up. I was completely consumed by this book. Every chapter pulled me deeper into its tangled mystery, and just when I thought I had all the answers, it twisted again.

It’s the kind of thriller that makes you question everything—who can be trusted, what’s real, and just how far someone will go to keep their secrets buried. The writing is sharp, the pacing relentless, and the tension keeps building right until the final page.

If you love psychological thrillers that keep you guessing, don’t miss this one!