Think Stepford meets Instagram, but make it sinister. It’s a glossy parade of curated perfection with just enough buried secrets to make you side-eye your sourdough starter.

The Tradwife's Secret is a gripping tale centered on Madison March, a social media "tradwife" influencer residing in idyllic Montana. She portrays the perfect life of sourdough baking, gardening, mothering to a brood of children and taking part in a very traditional marriage. Behind the facade her marriage and domestic bliss are anything but real.

The story is told through multiple POV who all have intersecting stories that are woven to create tension, suspense and layers of deception. While this book is twisty and fast paced it did over time become rather predictable. Once I got to the end I wasn't even that enthralled with the big twist bc I felt like I saw it coming from a mile away.

Overall if you are someone who likes a darker domestic thriller filled with secrets or if you're interested in tradwife or influencer culture this might be a great book for you. My final feeling was that it needed to be a little bit shorter as not to telegraph all of the twists so far ahead.

This book was really good. It kept me surprised! The setting was in Montana, but some of the authors writing was clearly from the UK.

NetGalley reader: Originally, I thought The Tradwife's Secret was non-fiction, but alas, it’s fiction. Still, I found it wildly intriguing. The writing style was strong, and the story itself was fascinating. I couldn’t wait to turn the next page.

The narrative alternates between two women whose lives are starkly different, which I found both interesting and compelling. Around the halfway point, I started to sense something sinister unfolding; it wasn’t all rosy, peaches-and-cream for the family in the story. That darker undercurrent kept me engaged, and the twists and turns in the latter half were well worth the read.

That said, there were a couple of characters - the PR person and the assistant - who felt unnecessary and underdeveloped. Their roles were unclear, and it nagged at me, though I didn’t fully realize it until midway through the book. Once I did, it became clear they added little to the plot and probably didn’t need to be included at all.

Aside from that, it was a terrific story—entertaining, suspenseful, and thoroughly enjoyable. I highly recommend this book!

The Tradwife’s Secret by Liane Child is a captivating thriller told in multi-POV, following a social media influencer, her current secret life, and the past secrets she’s buried.

This story is for all the thriller readers who love a morally ambiguous female character (or several), and enjoy when their characters are a bit unlikeable. It was right up my alley as far as characters and plot were concerned. I really enjoyed this propulsive read.

I also purchased the Audible exclusive audiobook, and listened while I read along. The audiobook was performed by one narrator, who did a great job. While I would have liked to have multiple narrators, I can understand why the choice was made for one narrator. I listened at 1.7x speed (my normal audiobook listening speed is 1.5-1.75x).

Thank you NetGalley and Harper360 for this advanced readers copy.

I really enjoyed this mystery. The Trad Wife phenomenon definitely interests me so this was timely and engaging. A great popcorn thriller for the summer!

Madison Marsh has thousand's of followers and works to show her perfect family, perfect life and perfect home. Anyone's dream. But things are not always as they seem.
when the veneer starts to crack she gets even more followers. How far will she go to help herself, her children and her community.

This psychological thriller pulls you in from the start with a seemingly perfect “tradwife” influencer life in Montana—until the cracks begin to show. Reviewers consistently highlight how addictive the plot is and how many sharp twists keep you hooked.

Thank you @netgalley for the early copy. I’m late to the game on this one. It came out on May 27 so if you didn’t get your copy yet, make sure to do so. Worth the read. & hear me out!

It took me awhile to get into this one if I’m being honest. The multiple point of views and amount of characters was a little difficult to follow at first.

But when I tell you it’s worth the read. It’s worth the read. The twists this author came up with without hinting towards them at all. The ending was unreal and deserves a round of applause.

Social media has no limit. How popular do you really want to be? Make sure your live video isn’t turned on. & that your past won’t come to haunt you.

This book follows Madison March, an Instagram famous tradwife, and Callie, the new tutor for Madison’s four children. I found these characters very frustrating, partly due to the fact that my views are so vastly different from Madison and her husband, Michael’s. I did enjoy some of the twists towards the end, however, the overall content and plot fell flat for me.

Liane Child surprised and delighted with The Tradwife’s Secret, a deeply empathetic and richly layered story of identity, tradition, and transformation. Her protagonist’s secret life unfolds gradually, revealing themes of belonging, autonomy, and the courage to defy expectations. Child’s writing is precise and evocative, bringing internal dilemmas sharply into focus. Secondary characters are well‑drawn, grounding the emotional stakes in warmth and conflict. As societal constraints are challenged and truths emerge, the novel blossoms into a compelling exploration of what it means to choose one’s own path. Smart, emotionally honest, and quietly powerful.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for a readers copy of this title. My reviews never contain spoilers and are freely provided.
Madison is an Instragram influencer with millions of followers, promoting the tradwife (traditional wife) lifestyle. To the public she appears to be the ultimate 1950’s style homestead wife- baking her own bread, gardening, raising her 4 perfect children. Behind the scenes is a full crew making it happen. Her life is a lie. And she has secrets related to a follower named Brianna.
The book does make you think. Do woman who are totally submissive to men allow those men to become controlling and in some cases, abusive? Is the traditional wife model why women are not paid equal pay for equal work? Very thought provoking issue. Good story and characters.

3.5 ⭐️’s
Madison March is the perfect tradwife, but looks can be deceiving. For her followers everything is perfection, but not so much in real life. Madison is living a lie, but will that lie catch up with her? A uniquely crafted thriller that keeps the twists coming with a sea of unlikable characters. Thank you to HarperCollins UK and NetGalley for an ARC of this book.

While the characters may not always be the most endearing, particularly the husband, whom I despised, the book offers a compelling commentary on the deceptive nature of social media.

It was truly captivating to observe the authentic Madison, contrasting with the influencer homemaker she portrays online. It seems that appearances can be deceiving, a sentiment that certainly applies to the world of social media! If you're looking for a slow-burn story with screwed-up characters, you may want to check this one out!

What a wild ride! While the writing was not the best, the plot and characters had me so sucked in I couldn’t put this book down. The #tradwife movement is fascinating to me and this book put it on blast! This book is a novel version of instagram vs. reality and the reality is not at all what you expect. Set on a beautiful Montana homestead, Madison March is the perfect wife. She has 4 (and one on the way) beautiful children and her husband Michael is putting food on the table (literally as a cattle rancher). Turns out, Madison is actually an influencer with a team of people taking care of every detail of her perfect facade including cooking and cleaning for her family, teaching her children, and even carrying her unborn child. And Michael isn’t exactly a model husband either…far from it. Looks can be deceiving and you’ll be dying (pun intended) to know how this one ends! If you are a fan of Frieda McFadden and Alice Feeney, this book is for you.

Thank you to @TLCBookTours @lianechildauthor and @hqstories for having me on this tour!

I did not know what a tradwife was prior to reading this book, and I can promise I will never be one lol. This was a wild ride, full of secrets and lies and women in roles I hope we never go back to. A ‘traditional’ wife, or tradwife, is one that does everything for her husband, makes him happy, cooks for him, has his children, truly puts him at the head of the household. And Madison March has figured out how to capitalize on that with her social media empire, and her millions of followers. She has the perfect life, is a perfect wife, all is just perfect in her world. Or is it?

I was wondering what I had just read (in the best way) when I was done, I flew through this I enjoyed it so much and thought the audio was great as well.

This book was a very captivating and engaging thriller! I absolutely could not stop reading it once I began. Lots of twists and intrigue!

Trad wives have secrets. In this domestic thriller, secrets have a way of coming out. Especially in the life of Madison March married to the successful rancher Michael Marsh. Madison is a social media influencer with many followers. As an inspiration to all
Traditional wives, Madison, with the assistance of her friend Lori, and other assistants paints the picture of a Perfect traditional marriage where the husband is in charge. How will
Michael’s doomsday bunker fit into their lives?

In the other story line teenager Brianna, and her boyfriend Jonah, are trying a traditional lifestyle on a homestead.

Madison hires a tutor, Cally, who represents the opposite of her family ideals.

As time passes, how does the lives of Madison and Lori, fit with teenage Brianna, and her boyfriend’s sister Mary?


Thank you to the author and Net Galley for this ARC. This review is my honest opinion.

This was a super fun read! I enjoyed the fresh new take of a tradwife and social media in a thriller book. One thing I did want to note is that the lock on the door of the bunker is stated to have had 6 rotating mechanisms on it, but when Cally puts in 1870 the lock opens. Which is only 4 numbers instead of 6. Just a little inconsistency I wanted to note for the publisher/author.

I did find it to be slightly predictable (I had guessed the Brianna/Madison “connection”) and it wasn’t exactly what I would consider a jaw dropping thriller but I did still think it was well written and an enjoyable read.

This was a really good book! I couldn’t put it down actually. Great writing style and easy to read. Would recommend as a quick thriller read!!