(2.5/5 Stars)

Okay, so The Trad Wife’s Secret was one of those audiobooks that I really wanted to love — and to be fair, there were parts that totally had me hooked! The plot itself is unique, which I appreciated. It took a direction I didn't expect, and the final twist I did not see coming, and honestly, that alone bumped this up from a 2 to a 2.5 for me.

I also have to give a shoutout to the narrator, Lauryn Allman—her voice really brought the story to life. The pacing was good for her performance, and I felt she added a lot of depth to the characters, which kept me engaged even when the plot itself was a little slower than expected.

Now, here’s where I struggled: the pacing. Oh my gosh, this book was slow. Like, REALLY slow. For the first half, I honestly didn’t feel like I was reading a thriller at all (I legit went back and checked the NetGalley description at 40%). The beginning reads more like a quiet, almost domestic drama. I didn’t mind the slower pace at first, but after a while, I started to feel like it was dragging. The tension I expected from a thriller just wasn’t there until much later in the story.

Once the twist hit, things definitely picked up, and I was finally hooked—but it took way too long for that to happen. By then, I wasn’t as invested in the characters or plot as I thought I’d be.

Overall, I think The Trad Wife’s Secret had a lot of potential. If you’re a fan of slow-burn thrillers and love being surprised by the ending, this might be right up your alley. But for those of us who like a little more excitement early on, it might leave you wanting more.

A big thank you to NetGalley, Liane Child, and the publisher for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook.

I wanted to love this book but unfortunately it just wasn’t something that kept my attention and I. Just got so bored that I gave up.

I can’t recommend this book.

Madison's life appears perfect - her social media presence portrays her as the epitome of traditional domestic bliss. Yet, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that her public persona is a façade. Her marriage is a mess, her fans don't know what is going on behind the scenes, and Madison's past comes back up to bite her. It had me on my toes.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This book was interesting. Honestly, I didn't know what the term "Tradwife" was! It's definitely not the direction my personal life goes in, but it was interesting to read regardless. I learned a lot about a lot of things.
This book follows a tradwife who is also an internet personality. She does tradwife videos and shows her way of life. Her husband is a complete tool, but she seems to be fine with it for the most part. Life seems so perfect for this couple and their children with one more on the way. However, things aren't always the way they seem. Buckle up friend, you're in for a ride!
I really enjoyed this story more than I thought I would at first. It seemed sort of slow and not going anywhere super-fast. However, you are reading the present time and also a story that takes place in the past. When they finally come together it's... BOOM! Nice ending to the story.
I had the chance to listen to the audiobook as I read along. It was really good. The narrators are fantastic and really bring the story to life. Definitely recommend if you like audio but even if you don't, I do recommend the book.

The "trad wife" trend on social media has been picking up in popularity recently. Loved that this book explored the whole trad wife trend, the work around keeping up appearances for social media, and the inclusion of a who dun it. This story was fast paced and kept me guessing until the end! Looking forward to the next Liane Child book!

I was able to listen to this book on NetGallery as an early release if I give a review. I really didn’t know what Tradwife meant going into reading this book. Honestly, I was kind of confused at the beginning of it but understood the dominance of the male over his wife and people living the “homestead” life. Once all the pieces fell into place it was a good book. Just a very slow start for me, and a wild ending!

The author did a good job showing the dark side of influencers, which is definitely on trend in thrillers right now. Madison’s curated, “perfect” life is the kind of illusion we’re used to seeing online, and peeling back the layers to reveal what’s really going on made for an engaging premise. That said, I found the story fairly predictable, and it didn’t surprise me the way I hoped it would. Still, it was a solid 3 star listen.

Thank you NetGalley & HarperAudio for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

This book sucked me in right from the get go. The topic was so relevant to today's social media presence and I think the author did an amazing job at conveying that! I loved every thing about this book - no complaints whatsoever. Everyone should read it.

Trigger Warning: Domestic Violence

Wow—this audiobook really delivers! If you're into stories with drama, twists, and a peek behind the picture-perfect lives we see online, this one's for you. It touches on so many themes: Instagram, influencers, curated social media lives, traditional vs. modern lifestyles, jealousy, family dynamics, friendship, motherhood, city vs. country life, and yes, even some serious topics like domestic violence (please take care while listening).

What stood out the most to me was the incredible narration by Lauryn Allman. Normally, I get a little distracted when one narrator voices every character—especially when they try to change their voice for different genders—but Lauryn absolutely nails it here. Her range of accents and character voices kept me fully engaged and never confused about who was speaking. She deserves all the praise!

The plot itself is packed with juicy drama—the kind you imagine happening behind all those “perfect” posts on social media. The twist? So good. I had a tiny inkling something was off, but even then, I didn’t see it coming. That’s the kind of storytelling I love.

If you’ve ever rolled your eyes at a too-perfect post or wondered what might be going on behind the scenes, this audiobook will absolutely hook you. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves drama, suspense, and social media commentary wrapped into one.

Side note: Lauryn Allman has also narrated The Housemaid and The Death Row by Freida McFadden—so if you enjoy her performance here, you’ll want to check those out too!

I listened to the audiobook of this one and I liked the narration quite a bit. I’ll admit I am not a fan of the trad wife trend (and by that I believe in everything it opposes), but I enjoyed seeing this a possible seedy underside of it. This book is told in several perspectives but primarily from three young women: Callie a Boston girl tutoring for this homesteader’s children, Madison the perfect instagrammer tradwife, and Brianna a young girl in Montana trying to make the homesteader life work with her high school boyfriend. There are a couple of others thrown in to help flesh out the story and I really loved how they all came together. I did see most of the twists coming, but I still enjoyed the wild ride.

Madison March is a tradwife. Her millions of followers love the wholesome content she posts daily, including cooking and being an amazing mother to her four children. She is adored and envied by everyone around her. However, is Madison’s life as perfect as it seems, or is it all a lie?

If you’re looking for a book with many secrets and drama, this one is for you. It follows the lives of three different women. Their stories all eventually weave and collide, and when they do, there are twists and turns you won’t see coming. Overall, I did enjoy this book, but the male characters were hard to like. The narration by Lauryn Allman was good and made me want to keep listening. I would recommend this one to anyone that enjoys a thriller filled with secrets and lies. I give it 3.5/5 stars.

4.5 stars ⭐️

This book was an interesting read. I wasn’t sure where it was going and it had a slow start but about 50% through I was hooked. The ending really surprised me, it was good!

I typically get annoyed when we have main POV and they keep really important chunks hidden from us, as we are “in their head”. For this story, it was necessary and actually provided a great plot twist. I think it was well done and brought my overall feelings of the book up.

I went into The Tradwife’s Secret expecting a breezy, entertaining domestic thriller that was fun, but ultimately forgettable, but what I got was something far more clever and unsettling. Liane Child delivers a sharp, slow-burn unraveling of the “perfect wife” fantasy, complete with eerie tension, social media satire, and just enough twists to keep you rapt.

Madison March’s seemingly idyllic homestead life feels like something off Pinterest, but you can sense the cracks from page one—and watching them widen is both chilling and deeply satisfying. The novel’s commentary on performative femininity and the curated tradwife aesthetic is surprisingly layered, and I appreciated how it subtly critiques the toxic pressures hidden beneath all that sourdough and sunlight.

Is it a little over the top at times? Sure. But that just adds to the fun. I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed this one—dark, juicy, and sneakily smart.

Wow! I was strung along right until the end with this one. I wondered how it would all tie together.
I first heard of “trad wives” on a recent episode of “doctor odyssey” and I’m so intrigued by this lifestyle. This book has a great amount of secrets to uncover and twists to leave you wondering what will happen next.

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for the opportunity to listen to and rate this ALC!

I enjoyed listening to The Tradwife's secret. The narration was done very well by the single narrator.

The book kept my interest and it was written in a way I couldn't stop listening and had to know what happened next especially as secrets started getting revealed! I enjoyed the fact it was written from the pov of an influencer as well as the other characters. I did not see the twist coming and would absolutely read more by this author!

The Tradwife's Secret is filled with twists, turns, lies, loyalty, and betrayal. Madison seems to have it all... the perfect family, the perfect ranch, and millions of social media followers who tune in for housekeeping and family raising tips and tricks. She's the perfect Proverbs 31 wife, or is she? Callie arrives to be a "nanny" for the March children. She quickly finds out that everything Madison portrays on social media isn't exactly how it actually is. The loving homeschooling mom actually expects Callie to educate the children (unless the camera is working). Those home cooked meals that seem oh so healthy and delicious? Yeah, those aren't made by Madison. The seemingly perfect husband actually mistreats both his wife and children. Callie unravels lie after lie and starts to put 2 and 2 together... except it could cost her. Is it worth exposing the lies? What will happen when the truth comes out? Will Madison’s fans understand or will they abandon her in search of the next perfect tradwife? Find out in The Tradwife’s Secret coming to shelves on May 27th.

Thanks to NetGalley, Harper Audio and HQ Digital for the digital copy of this book and audiobook; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Trigger Warnings: Physical and mental abuse.

I’m not one to follow influencers, but I do a lot of the things that may seem foreign to some people: canning fruits, vegetables, meat, and meals in a jar, I make some of my own bread, I cook from scratch all the time, before I had physical limitations, I gardened (now I rely on farmer’s markets). It’s what my Silent Generation mother and father taught me to do. I stayed at home with the kids when they were little simply because I got laid off while pregnant, but while I was home with the kids, I went back to college and got a dual degree. I also took over the money management. So, I always say I’m an urban homesteader/NOT A TRAD WIFE. I’ve only seen clips here and there of trad wife content and it’s so–ick. But that’s part of the reason I wanted to check out this book. From working in television, I know that what happens in real life is not the same as a carefully curated and edited reel.

There are three points-of-view in this book. First, Madison March. She’s a trad wife content creator who does and says what her husband will allow. He is the head of the household, period. She has four children and another on the way. If you only looked at her online presence, you’d be wowed. But things are not always as they seem. Younger influencers are making it tough for Madison to get the same amount of traction on her posts that she used to.

Another POV is Kylie (Kally–had a hard time discerning this name while listening). She’s desperate for money to free her brother and she needs it fast. She takes a job as a tutor for Madison’s children. Of course, working for an influencer means she has to sign an NDA, and all she can think of is to try and make it to July when she’ll have enough money to quit. She sees some crazy crap going on in the house.

The last POV is Briana. She’s been sucked in by the trad life she sees on social and wants to be a trad wife. She and her boyfriend just up and leave their home and move to Montana, otherwise known as trad country. Their parents have cut them off because they’re not married. She’s having a hard time adjusting and wonders how all these other women with trad content make it look so easy. She reaches out to the trad wife community and gets no response. She’s bereft.

This was a really interesting book with a lot of red herrings, and MacGuffins. I was fully engaged with the audio narration of Lauryn Allman. Excellent twisty thriller!

I reviewed the audiobook for The Tradwife's Secret, thank you for the ALC Netgalley and HarperAudio | HQ Digital.

First of all, I loved the slight accent in the narrator's voice. It was told from a single narrator, but she did a great job differing the voices during different POVs. She spoke clearly and kept a good pace for the whole novel. I think no matter what this would have been a captivating story whether read or listened, but I appreciated how she brought the story to life. I had no issues keeping track of chapter changes at all!

I would pick up this novel whether written or audio! I love the whole Trad wife concept, and seeing the ups and downs of social media. It was twisty and truly caught me off guard. Madison may be one of my favorite characters of a book I've read this year. Her survival skills are A+.

This was a great listen for me! I had never heard the term tradwife before but I certainly know of those types and I spend a lot of to on social media seeing how influencers paint their lives.
I loved everything about this book. The characters, the twists and how it showed that watching videos is far, far from the complicated, hard work and messiness of real life.
This story has two timelines. The first follows Madison March an influencer with a huge following and the second Brianna, a teenager who listens to her domineering boyfriend and goes with him to “homestead” and live off the grid.
Madison sells her audience on her being able to do it all!! She is a stay at home mom who keeps popping out children. She is subservient to her cowboy husband and relishes all the traditional tasks of homemaking such as cooking, crafting and keeping the farm going all while looking amazing!
The reality of her life couldn’t be more different and as they always say it takes a village!
Things take a surprising turn and there is some mystery and danger which is the thriller part. I enjoyed the ending of this book very much and I loved the ending.
Thank you to Harper Audio and NetGalley for this amazing listen/read.

Is it possible to write this review anonymously?? I am so embarrassed for this to show up on my feed...and forever on my digital footprint. So unless you are living under a rock the "Trad Wife" aesthetic exploded during the pandemic (Think sourdough , kids playing with wooden toys, sewing your own clothes...kinda like an Amish person with Instagram-sorry if that offends you-well I guess it doesnt matter Amish will not be reading this review anyway....)
Now I am all about women staying at home raising the kids, taking care of the house and cooking. meals. But where this author gets it wrong and most left wing feminist do she has not been coerced or forced into this role (in this book she was...but if the "Traditional" roles of men and women are followed it is the natural order of things, I will not go deeper into this.....) Also this author paints the picture that men are idiots, let alone "Red Republican Fox New Channel Watching". I seriously wanted to cringe when she thrust Michelle Obama on a pedestal.

Okay so weed through all her political woke judgements, the story was actually pretty intriguing I was invested in the story and it got pretty suspenseful at the end. I have a feeling this book was written kind of like sattire because it pokes fun at influencers so I enjoyed that aspect of it. I almost wonder if she got inspiration from Ballerina Farmer....??

Assuming this book was written to taunt Instagram and its mindless followers of Trad Wife accounts it is a pretty funny take......totally popcorny and basic.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to review this advanced copy of the Tradwife's Secret. I was not influenced or paid for this review. All thoughts are my own.