Book: Happily Married
Author: Victoria Jenkins
Publication Day: May 11th 2023
Book Description:
My husband is keeping secrets. I’m watching his every move…
Jake and I were childhood sweethearts. Strong, dependable and with a smile that melts my heart, he is the perfect husband and father to our beautiful little daughter. We have our money troubles – but getting a lodger, Kara, calms the panic I feel about our bills. Jake is reluctant but what choice do we have?
I’m relieved that Kara is so sweet, playing endless games of hide and seek with Elsie and settling into our home. But when I catch Jake and Kara sitting close together on the sofa one evening, they jump apart when I walk into the room. Jake promises it’s nothing…
When I search Kara’s room, I know for sure. My husband is keeping a terrible secret. And it’s much, much worse than I imagined.
Confronting him will tear our marriage apart, but I’ll do anything to protect my precious daughter.
Even if it means putting on a smile as I greet Kara at the breakfast table.
Even if it means lying to my husband’s face.
Even if it means someone has to die…
For fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Housemaid, this is a psychological thriller with a mind-blowing twist you’ll never see coming.
BLOG TOUR REVIEW
Review for 'Happily Married' by Victoria Jenkins.
Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Victoria Jenkins, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous
Publication date 11th May 2023.
This is the fourth book I have read by this author. I have previously read 'First Playdate', 'The New Family' and 'Tje Bridesmaids' which I highly recommend.
I was originally drawn to this book by its beautiful eye catching cover and its intriguing synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that this book 'For fans of The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Housemaid, this is a psychological thriller with a mind-blowing twist you’ll never see coming.' I am a huge fan of 'Gone Girl' and 'The Housemaid' so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I am also a huge fan of Victoria and if this is half as good as 'The Playdate', 'The New Family' and 'The Bridesmaids' it is sure to be a page turning read. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).
This novel consists of a prologue and 43 chapters set over 2 parts. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!
This book is set in Llanafon, Carmarthenshire, Wales 🏴 , UK 🇬🇧. I always seem to get on with books that are set in the UK better as I am from Wales and have sometimes visited places mentioned in the book. The fact that I live in the same part of Wales this book is set is amazing especially as Carmarthen is just a fifteen minute drive from my house!!
This book is written in a mix of third and first person perspective and the protagonists are Natalie and an unknown (?) protagonist. The benefits of books written in first person perspective are as long as they are well written it makes you feel that you are being spoken to by the protagonist and it can create more of a bond between yourselves and them. If there are several protagonists you also get to see more of what is going on. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything. To have the benefit of both first and third person perspective ensures you don't miss out on anything.
Well, Well, Well I did NOT expect that bombshell of an ending!!!
Wow!!! What a rollercoaster ride of a read!!! Fantastically written with vivid descriptions throughout making me feel like I was in the storyline. The synopsis, title and cover suited the plot perfectly.
I could not put this book down and read it in one sitting!!! It is one of those books that each and every time I said one more chapter and then bed something happened so there was no chance I could put it down so I ended up walking around with my kindle glued to my hands until I had devoured it in one go!! Mind you, to be fair, I have come to expect nothing less from the extremely talented Victoria Jenkins!!
I absolutely LOVE the fact it is set in an isolated farm, a creepy and unique setting. The fact that this farm is just up the road from me is absolutely the icing on the cake!! I was able to picture the roads, countryside and everything between it being so local and because of Victoria's fantastic evocative writing skills!! Just Perfect!! The storyline was absolutely gripping and kept me up until the early hours of the morning as I could not put it down!! I absolutely love how intriguing, complex and multi-layered the storyline is with so much going on!!! I was sitting on the edge of my seat with a pounding heart and my jaw dropping as Victoria takes us on a psychological ride of suspense and tension!!!
Natalie and Jake have a daughter called Elsie and live on the dairy farm that Natalie's parents owned before they tragically passed away. Natalie and Jake were childhood sweethearts and Natalie gave up her dreams of becoming a lawyer after the loss of her parents to take over the running of the farm and also run her ice cream shop. Tyler helps with the running of the farm along with his mum May who is the accountant. Natalie and Jake's marriage has taken a nose dive and they haven't been happy for months. Add to this fact that they are also struggling financially and there is a ton of stress to add to an unhappy marriage. Natalie wants to rent a room out to help with their money worries but Jake isn't keen. After interviewing several possibilities Natalie decides that Kara is perfect. Jake isn't keen and after Kara moves in strange things start to happen. However, it soon goes from strange to scary and dangerous after an event with Elsie. Natalie starts questioning everything and everyone but what is really going on? Well, you will just have to grab your copy today to find out!!!
I was absolutely gobsmacked when everything was revealed, absolutely explosive twists which I was not expecting!!! A HUGE congratulations to Victoria on that as it is definitely getting harder and harder to shock me but you most definitely did that!!! There were points where my heart was in my throat and I was on the edge of my seat, and then the edge of my bed as I was not putting this book down until I finished!!! I loved that everything was tied up nicely at the end as a pet hate of mine is loose ends and having something mentioned in a book that the author seems to then forget about but absolutely everything was explained by the end of this one. It is rammed with secrets, friendship, secrets, twists, lies, and absolutely everything you could ask for in an explosive psychological thriller! I was absolutely mind blown by some of the secrets that were coming out and just when I thought they had all been told BOOM another shocker!!! The ending was definitely the biggest twist and I would not have seen that one coming in a million years!! This book would make a fantastic movie!!
Clear your schedules before glancing into this absolutely addictive and explosive psychological thriller as once your hooked there's no letting go until the very end!!
The characters were all strong, realistic and very well developed. I was completely invested in each and every one of their stories. They all had such unique personalities and I felt different about each of them, liking them or not trusting them for different reasons. It is hard to say much about any of them really without giving anything away so I will go by how I felt before certain announcements were made. My heart completely went out to Natalie who couldn't understand why her husband Jake was so distant or why things were happening or even who to trust. Victoria brings each of the characters to life with her fantastic writing skills, again something she does in all her books, and between the characters and the plot you will be left absolutely gobsmacked!! Regardless of whether you love or hated the characters they all worked perfectly well to make this a page turning psychological thriller!!
I absolutely loved your book Victoria and congratulations on yet another HUGE success . I cannot wait to read more of what promises to be heart stopping reads. Here's to your next success 🥂.
Make sure you read to the very end of the book to read the first chapter of Victoria's 'The Argument' which promises to be just as addictive as this book and Victoria's other page turners and is one I'm definitely looking forward to reading myself!!
Overall a heart pounding, page turning, edge of your seat psychological thriller filled with explosive twists that will keep you up late at night.
Genres covered in this novel include Romantic Suspense,Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction, Women's Domestic Life Fiction, Womens Psychological Fiction, Suspense Thriller, Psychological Literary Fiction, Women Writers & Fiction, Mystery , Women's Literary Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Domestic Life Fiction, Mystery ,Thriller & Suspense Literary Fiction, Psychological Suspense, Domestic Fiction, Domestic Thriller and Thriller amongst others.
I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Lisa Jewell, 'The Girl on the Train' ,Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, Gillian Flynn , Shari Lapena 'Gone Girl', 'The Wife Between Us', 'The Housemaid' and anyone looking for a mind blowing psychological thriller!
294 pages.
This book is just 99p to purchase on kindle, free with kindle unlimited and 7.99 in paperback (at time of review) via Amazon or which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!
Rated 5/5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.
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Author Bio and Social Media
Victoria Jenkins lives with her husband and daughters in South Wales, where her bestselling series of crime novels featuring Detectives King and Lane is based. The first in the series, The Girls in the Water is a top 5 US kindle bestseller. She has an MA in Creative and Media Writing from the University of Wales, Swansea.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/vicwritescrime
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vicwritescrime/
Bookouture Email Sign Up: https://www.bookouture.com/victoria-jenkins
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