Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin audio for allowing in me to listen to this audiobook for free in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this. It was equal parts creepy and riveting. I wanted to smack these male characters so much it was unreal. The audacity was strong throughout this book. I am not sure how the MFC kept her composure to be honest. Overall, the twist was only foreseeable when I got about 75% through, and it was fast paced. Definitely recommend!

As Gabby and Fred say goodbye to their daughter, Gabby realizes she won’t be able to handle being an empty nester with Fred. To ease her sorrow, Gabby heads to a bar, has too much to drink, and tells a total stranger that she wishes her husband was dead. Gabby can’t remember a thing from that night but feels someone is watching her. She keeps getting messages from someone she thinks is the mysterious stranger, but can’t seem to get in touch with her. This is a good read, it keeps you guessing

The younger woman by cate ray - Gabby and Fred have been on the rocks for some time and after their youngest child leaves for school… They know the writing is on the wall. Then one evening Gabby sets off a dangerous game with a stranger in the pub… One that has put them both in serious danger.. This one started out really slow and I almost DNF it but I kept going and I am so glad I did because it really makes up for it after the first 6-7 chapters. It was one of those books that built and built and then grabs you by the metaphorical balls. Brilliant book.

The narration was epic and I really enjoyed the story

4 stars

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧
𝐁𝐘: 𝙲𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚁𝚊𝚢
𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: 🌟🌟🌟🌟

⬅️ 𝘚𝘸𝘪𝘱𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘺
...............................................................
"𝐀 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧'𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐬𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐭-𝐚𝐧𝐝-𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫."

💭20 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Gabby is done with her cheating husband, Fred! Now empty nesters, she is ready to leave him. One night, Gabby meets a young woman at a bar and intoxicated, unloads her thoughts of Fred and wishes him dead.

Thus unfolds the drama of the story. Texts from the woman, seeing her outside their home, and then a twist less than mid-way through.

I enjoyed this one! Go in knowing that it's a 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐮𝐫𝐧, but it's done well. It was a little longer than it needed to be and I predicted the twist at the end but still very well written.

Thank you @netgalley for the e-arc
Thank you @htp_hive @htpbooks @cateraywriter and @harlequinaus for the free ALC!

🎧I listened to a lot of this one and the narrator was SO good! @hannahcurtisnarrates

The Younger Woman is written by Cate Ray. I was fortunate enough to listen to the audiobook of this story and I enjoyed it. Gabby and Fred are becoming empty nesters. Gabby is also find out out that she does not think she likes her husband very much. After they drop their daughter off at college, Gabby meets up with a friend at a bar. She has a little too much to drink, which the truth comes spilling out. She says words that a strangers has heard " I wish my husband were dead". Then the elusive stranger is no where to be found.

Gabby finds out that her husband has been cheating on her for years. Now she wonders if it was with the elusive stranger. Secrets start to come unraveled. I enjoyed this slow burn domestic thriller.

This has a dual pov, but the author has woven it together seamlessly.. The narrator did a phenomenal job with her voice.

This was a new to me author will defiantly be keeping an eye on any upcoming work

Thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read a copy of this book - all thoughts are my own.

Men will ruin you! In this slow burn (and I do mean slow) you have a wife and mother who has realized she hates her husband and finds herself voicing so to a young stranger in a bar. Or is she? I love the empowering piece in this book for women (albeit a very minor portion). Women are usually blamed for it all. Blamed when the man steps out of his marriage (well did you stop tending to his needs?) 🤨 Women, be selfish because a man will always put himself first!

I’m so glad I got the audio for this new thriller!! Such an epic ride and kept me on the edge of my seat. One of my new favorite thrillers! I will be buying a physical copy once it’s released!!!

Ooh what a reveal at the end.

“The younger woman” follows the life of Gabby, experiencing empty nest syndrome after her daughter leaves for university she has a very sudden and harsh realization that she hates her husband. And understandably so he’s only cheated on her several times throughout their marriage.

After making it known she wants to file for divorce she is faced with the reality that her soon to be ex husband is dating and in love with a younger woman, except things aren’t adding up because she recently met this younger woman at a bar and had a very interesting conversation with her.

This book filled me with woman rage, after learning about Gabbys childhood I’m even more annoyed at her for even putting up with her husband for as long as she did and refusing to out him to her children and make him deal with the consequences of his betrayals. I’m annoyed that she never screamed at her dad that it was all his fault and I’m even more annoyed at her rejection of Ellis. Honestly I wish this woman would grow a back bone and see things through because her husband imo deserves no sympathy but that’s just my wishful sadistic thinking 😂😂 if you can’t play out your revenge fantasies in book format then honestly what’s the point 😆😆

The way the book came to an end did give it a more realistic / real life feel to it but if I’m being honest that left me wanting because I don’t want to read about real life scenarios where the stomachs her rage and lets everyone walk all over her I want to see her embrace the rage and watch everyone get scorned but never mind 😂 due to that this one is getting 3 stars from me,

The audio narrator did a great job so props to her.

Thank you for the gifted audio copy,

I love the narration and I love the twists, even if they are a little predictable. It was an okay book. I definately want more books with older women.

Domestic thriller- just became empty nesters, messed up childhood, not happy in marriage, and opened up to a stranger about her husband’s cheating- not knowing who she really was. Some different twists and some awkward items left unconnected but overall decent read. The narrator really kept the suspense and wonder. Thank you Net Galley for the advanced copy of this audiobook.

3 stars – Had potential, but the slow pacing lost me

I was drawn to The Younger Woman by Cate Ray because the premise sounded like it would deliver a tense, character-driven domestic thriller. Unfortunately, the story just didn’t quite hold my attention the way I’d hoped.

The audiobook is narrated by Hannah Curtis, who does a great job capturing the tone of both main characters—Gabby and Ellis. Her performance was definitely a highlight and probably the main reason I stuck with it. But the plot itself felt very slow. I kept waiting for things to ramp up, and while the ending did bring some action and twists, it felt a bit rushed and didn't totally pay off the buildup.

There were some interesting dynamics between the characters, and I appreciated the dual perspectives. But overall, the story just didn’t grip me emotionally or keep me invested. If you enjoy slow-burn psychological dramas with layered female leads, it might still be worth a listen—but go in knowing the pacing is a crawl for most of the book.

Gabby and Fred have just become empty nesters and now that they don't have children to look after and hold them together realize they can't stand one another. As the couple navigates divorce options an intriguing young woman befriends Gabby and offers to help her keep her beautiful house going forward through the divorce. Gabby wakes up the next morning with very little recollection of her meeting with the woman. And then the woman begins to call Gabby and things get very weird very quickly. If only Gabby could remember the conversation she had with this woman. What did she agree to? This was a fun domestic thriller that had me listening non stop. It had just enough twists and turn to keep me glued to my ear buds. I listened to the audio version the the narrator was quite good. Recommended. 4 stars
Many thanks to Net Galley and Harlequin Audio for a chance to listen/read an ARC version of this book.

Gabby has seen her daughter off to college and is now an empty nester. In the days after her daughter leaving for school she has come to realize that she doesn't like her husband much and she doesn't really want to go into this next stage of life with him. When she is out with a friend, she meets Ellis and after too many drinks, she admits to Ellis that she wants her husband dead. The next day, Gabby doesn't recall all of the details from the night before nor can she seem to locate Ellis. As the plot unfolds, Gabby questions just who Ellis is and how she is connected to herself and her husband. This domestic thriller delivers a twist at the end that allowed for the book to have a satisfying end.

Overall, The Younger Woman was a slow burn as far as the mystery went, but the pacing overall seemed balanced. The narration was also very consistent and allowed for a well paced and engaging experience. Overall, I enjoyed this title and would like to thank Netgalley for the opportunity to review it.

This book was pretty good and intense, I wanted it to end differently for some reason. It's funny how this author got me to root for a "bad" person.

I really liked the synopsis of this book so I thought I would really enjoy this read. Unfortunately it was entirely too introspective for me. I feel like most chapters were spent inside the MC’s head/thoughts and not enough action or suspense was occurring.
I think the narrator gave a good performance, but her voice stayed the same the entire time- very dark and monotone with not much variation.

This was a winner. I was hooked from the beginning. I kept guessing along the way and never would have predicted the ending. If you are a fan of thrillers, this is a must read.

Many thanks for my gifted copy.

I loved this book and read it in one sitting. I could not put this book down.
This book was absolutely wild and I loved every minute.
The number of twists kept me wanting more! I didn't know what would happen next but it kept me on edge! This was probably one of the most twisted stories I've ever read.
Cate Ray’s atmospheric writing heightens the suspense, as she masterfully weaves tension. The psychological unraveling of the characters makes for an intense and unpredictable read.
The Younger Wife was an exciting story I very much enjoyed.

I was intrigued by this plotline, but unfortunately felt that the twists were too predictable.

I did like the alternating POVs and the flashbacks from an unknown narrator throughout the book.

Thank you so much to netgalley and the publisher for the arc of this one in exchange for an honest review!

This book follows a woman who is an empty nester. With her kids gone, she realizes that she hates her husband and wants a divorce. When she meets a woman and tells her that she wants her husband dead, things quickly unravel.

I was not a big fan of this one. I liked the narrator and I thought this one started out strong.

However, I did not like a single character in this one. Everyone just stood up for the cheating husband and it was just annoying me. The main character also made stupid decisions and was just annoying.

I also felt like the flashbacks were just not necessary and took away from the story. I just didn’t like those chapters. I think the story just dragged on a bit.

Unfortunately this one was not for me but I hope others love it.

One night at a bar, Gabby meets an enigmatic younger woman named Ellis, and in a haze of drunkenness, she confesses that she wishes Fred dead. Surely she didn’t expect anything to come of it, but when she tries to track Ellis down again, she realizes that Ellis might not have been who she said she was.

“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive.” This is the perfect quote for this book.

This book twists and turns and has you guessing. Gabby is someone who has regrets! And as this story unravels, it becomes evident that she has really screwed up in her decisions…or has she been a victim…you need to read this to find out.

I enjoyed the intensity and the questions that come up as this story moves along. It really keeps the reader wondering what is going to happen next.

The narrator, Hannah Curtis, did ok. She tended to get overly excited or emotional in spots. But this was a minor issue.

Need a good guessing game…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.