Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle

A special thank you to Edelweiss, HarperCollins Canada, and Park Row for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Beth Murphy has fled her abusive marriage and is on the run. She has been planning her escape for almost a year; one misstep and her husband will find her.

Jeffrey Hardison returns from a work trip to a messy house and a missing wife. At first he thinks Sabine, who is a successful real estate agent, has a late showing. After cleaning the house and repeatedly calling her, his annoyance is replaced by concern.

Ingrid, Sabine’s twin sister is worried. The pair talk several times a day and share everything—Ingrid knows Jeffrey isn’t as picture-perfect as he looks. You see Sabine is the bread winner, and Jeffrey’s comfortable standard of living is at risk if she doesn’t return.

With a search of the home revealing that she has taken almost nothing with her, and an abandoned car as evidence, the police suspect foul play. Marcus is the officer assigned to the case. With the evidence pointing to Sabine’s husband, Marcus is desperate to find out exactly what happened and to bring Sabine home.

Where is Sabine? Who is “Beth”?

I know what you’re thinking…another domestic thriller with a missing wife. Yes, this has been played out several times before, but Belle’s take is fresh, whip-smart, and expertly executed. Of course there are clues along the way (that’s how this genre works), but I promise that there are several whiplash inducing twists that will completely blindside you.

Riveting from the very first page, the narrative is told through three points of view: Beth’s, Jeffrey’s, and Marcus’s. Not only is the reader trying to figure out who Beth is, but Belle also tasks them with unravelling which wife belong to which husband—there’s even a lover in the mix. And she never gives anything away until it is blatantly obvious.

Besides the flawless writing, what I loved about this book is that it was completely believable. At no point does the reader have to suspend their disbelief. This is so refreshing! I feel that it is a bit lazy of an author to ask this of their reader. If your story is not believable, why am I pretending it is? Belle deftly crafts suspense, delivering a strong narrative that is appropriately paced.

This is an exceptionally executed thriller that is taut with suspense. Without giving anything away, readers will be delighted that the ending is a total surprise.

KIMBERLY BELLE is the USA Today and internationally bestselling author of five novels of suspense. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Agnes Scott College and has worked in fundraising for nonprofits at home and abroad.

Belle divides her time between Atlanta and Amsterdam.

The Floating Feldmans by Elyssa Friedland

A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The matriarch of the family Annette Feldman decides she wants to do something for her milestone 70th birthday, so she organizes a cruise for her family.

But between sibling rivalries that keep rearing their ugly head, family secrets, and her teenage grandkids, Annette’s birthday vacation is looking like it is going to capsize. Sailing on the open seas, the Feldmans are forced to face the truths they’ve been ignoring all while learning that the people they once thought most likely to sink them are actually the ones who help them stay afloat.

I thought that the ship was an interesting vehicle for the story because it forced all of the characters to not only be in the same vicinity as one another, but it really pushed some of the family dynamics front and centre and created some interesting situations.

The exposition and build up were painfully long. Once Friedland's cast is finally assembled, I expected more by way of confrontations and satire. She did redeem herself with the ending, readers will be satisfied as they disembark.

All-in-all a fun read that's perfect for summer, or cruising. Told from multiple points of view, The Floating Feldmans really brings out the fun in dysfunctional.

ELYSSA FRIEDLAND attended Yale University, where she served as managing editor of the Yale Daily News. She is a graduate of Columbia Law School and subsequently worked as an associate at a major firm. Recently, she has written for The Washington Post, McSweeney’s, POPSUGAR, RealSimple.com and Bustle.

Elyssa grew up in New Jersey and currently lives in New York City with her husband and three young children. 

The Starter Wife by Nina Laurin

A special thank you to NetGalley, Grand Central Publishing, and Hachette Book Canada for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Claire Westcott tries to be the perfect wife to her husband, Byron, but fears she will never measure up to his first wife, Colleen. After all, it's hard to compete with the dead, especially when you are living in her house, surrounded by her artworks.

Colleen, the starter wife, went missing eight years ago. Even though her body was never found, the local authorities deemed it a suicide. So when Claire receives a phone call from a woman she believes is Colleen, it sparks a million terrifying questions.

Claire discovers the couple weren't as happy as they would have people believe. And now she's worried Byron has been lying to her. There are secrets in every marriage, but sometimes those secrets are deadly.

Laurin ratchets up the suspense in this incredible thriller by setting the table for her reader—it's all there in the well-placed clues and subtle nuances. Her writing is consuming, expressive, and filled with deception.

The difference between 3 and 4 stars was due to a gaping plot hole. Why didn't Claire investigate Byron before marrying him? A simple search would have uncovered that he was a suspect in his wife's death—the husband is always a suspect. Are we to credit this to her naiveté because she's young?  

Although the ending comes to a screeching halt, it is incredibly explosive and makes suffering with yet another unreliable female lead worth it.

NINA LAURIN is a bilingual (English/French) author of suspenseful stories for both adults and young adults. She has a BA in Creative Writing from Concordia University.

She lives in Montreal, Canada. 

The Wedding Party by Jasmine Guillory

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Penguin Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Maddie and Theo are Alexa's two best friends. Alexa (The Wedding Date) isn't the only thing they have in common: they have a mutual hatred for one another since the moment they met. Theo is too uptight and arrogant for Maddie's taste, and Maddie is too boisterous for Theo's taste.

After a night of passion—that was an agreed upon mistake—Maddie and Theo can't stop thinking about each other. Unfortunately, they both share wedding party responsibilities which means that they will be seeing a lot of more of one another. The tension that's building further ignites their intense attraction. An attraction that only seems to be quelled by secret trysts.

Maddie and Theo won't admit that they like each other, but they also don't want to stop sleeping together. So they come up with some rules: they will keep their arrangement a secret, it will end when all of the wedding festivities are over, and they won't fall in love.

With the wedding fast approaching, and the end of their agreement near, the enemies-turned-lovers are secretly disappointed. Their connection can't be more than physical, right? And aren't rules meant to be broken?

Guillory is back with her third Wedding Date installment which is an updated version of the classic opposites attract story. Her take is cheeky, wickedly smart, and hot.

This story takes place part way through Alexa and Drew's relationship—although the timelines and characters overlap, you do not need to read Guillory's other books (The Wedding Date/The Proposal) before reading this one. Maddie and Theo take turns with this narrative and get some help from some new supporting characters, and some that may be familiar to readers. What I love about her writing is that it is so effortless and endearing. Guillory pens characters that are interesting and engaging and puts them in realistic situations that her readers can relate to.

Jasmine Guillory you are a gem! Your writing is charming, flirty, and clever.

JASMINE GUILLORY is the New York Times bestselling author of The Wedding Date, The Proposal, and The Wedding Party. Her work has appeared in Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, Oprah Magazine.com, and Shondaland.com.

She lives in Oakland, California.

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

A special thank you to NetGalley, Edelweiss, and St. Martin's Press/Minotaur Books for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After the shocking and sudden death of her first husband, Tom, Alice believes that her life is finally back on track. She is remarried, the mother of two, and runs a successful business. She also has the support of her extremely loyal best friend, Beth.

When Alice begins to suspect that her husband Nathan is having an affair, she turns to Beth for help in seeking the truth. After all, she trusts Beth with her daughter, her secrets, and to give her advice. But Alice begins to wonder if that trust is misplaced...

I do love a domestic thriller and Jones' sophomore effort does not disappoint. And by way of thrillers, the Brits are masters. This was a quick and satisfying read with just enough wicked, just enough suspense, and the perfect amount of twists.

Told from multiple points of view, Jones' writing is unflinching and astute. Her characters are carefully crafted and believable. She tells a mesmerizing story and I couldn't put it down.

My only criticism is that it seemed like it took forever for the characters to confront one another. That being said, this is probably more of a comment about the genre as of late with many books falling victim to this.

With the multitude of themes and plot twists that have been overdone in the domestic thriller arena, Jones was fresh and exciting. That Hitchcockian ending will have readers second guessing what they just read. Brilliant!

SANDIE JONES has worked as a freelance journalist for over twenty years, and has written for publications including the Sunday Times, Woman’s Weekly and the Daily Mail.

She lives in London with her husband and three children. 

Bunny by Mona Awad

A special thank you to Edelweiss and Viking for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Set at Warren, an Ivy League university in a bleak New England town, Bunny is told from the sardonic perspective of Samantha Heather Mackey—Smackie for short.

Smackie is a lonely scholarship student whose only friend is Ava, a nihilistic and captivating art school drop out. But everything changes when Samantha receives a glitter-covered invitation to the Bunnies' fabled "Smut Salon" and finds herself ditching Ava to attend. Despite her hostility towards the privileged, and to the overly affected, precious girls in her highly selective MFA program, Samantha is drawn into the world of the Bunnies—a clique of rich girls that function as one lip-glossed entangled hug.

Samantha participates in their ritualized off-campus "workshop" where they magically conjure boys from rabbits. The boys, aka the Drafts (or the Darlings), are as beautiful as soap opera actors, but invariably flawed. The worst Drafts, who manifest as vapid-and menacing-babblers, are literally axed by their ruthless creators.

Torn between Ava's protective anarchy and the toxic matter-of-fact magic of the Bunnies, Samantha conjures something unimaginable, something that will bring these opposing worlds into a wild and deadly collision.

Awad is an incredible writer and without a doubt, she crafts a gripping tale that seizes you, albeit almost to the point of claustrophobia. Bunny is an original take on girl cliques and also of the classic outsider-desperate-to-fit-in story. It is hypnotic and mesmerizing, yet sinister and dark.

This book wasn't quite for me and I can't figure out exactly why and what didn't work—I took a few days before writing this review and I am still stumped. As much as Awad's writing is clever, unique, and fresh, it is so manic that it is exhausting. I also don't think I fully understood what I was reading in that this book was completely bonkers at times, sometimes in a good way, and sometimes...not so much.

That being said, I read an interview that Awad did for the CBC about her debut 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl and I'm intrigued. I mean, how could I not pick it up after learning that Depeche Mode was on her writing playlist. For those that follow me on social media/read my blog know that basically Depeche Mode is my religion and the soundtrack to my life, so yah...I'll definitely be reading it.

MONA AWAD is a Canadian novelist and short-story writer. Her debut book, 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl—a novel about a woman's lifelong struggle with body image issues—won the Amazon.ca First Novel Award and was shortlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize in 2016.

Awad now lives in the US.