I loved this book, it grabbed me from the start and I could not put it down. I loved it.

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about this book which I couldn't put down after starting it saying to myself I will just read a couple of chapters.....well that never happened. With an OMG prologue I was sucked into the world of Samantha and Dennis where we follow one rather shocking and unique story which I totally loved.

Set in Florida's Red River County Dennis is facing time for a brutal murder of a young girl. and causing a storm online for his release to free him for being wrongly accused. Mean while back in England Samantha is obsessed with his case and writes to him it isn't long before letters flow back and forth before them and Samantha leaves her life in England to marry him. Then Dennis becomes a free man and things take a turn with Sam when she discovers something that might not make Dennis innocent after all.

First of all I have to say I cannot believe this is a debut novel, it is so damn good. This is one of those books that will eat you up and spit you out.

Having pen pals myself back in the day I really loved the letters between them which is the first part of the story I was fascinated between them and the author does a brilliant job of building the characters up through the letter writing. Even though we know that Samantha marries him I still couldn't help thinking she was mad but of course this is all part of the story.

Samantha is a character who is insecure and has the story unfolds I actually felt sorry for her she is definitely the Innocent Wife. I just wanted to punch Dennis how he was when he is first released from prison....you will know exactly what I mean when you read it yourself.

The Innocent Wife is one very well crafted story and is full of mystery and suspense.....it will have to guessing until the very end that's for sure it ticked all the books for me and I think fans of true crime stories will also love it. I can see it being a big hit for 2018 and cannot wait to see what the author has in store for us next

This book is a must read which I highly recommend giving it 5 massive stars. Thank you to Penguin for a copy in exchange for an honest review. And I would also like to thank Anne Cater for inviting me to take part in this epic tour.

What a compelling read-I couldn't put it down.I was reading for hours to get to the very satisfying conclusion.It would make a great film.Recommended!

3.0 out of 5 starsGood plot that lacks in the telling.
ByMKon 14 January 2018
Format: Kindle Edition
The premise of the story is interesting. Most of us probably wonder what it is that draws a woman to someone on death row, convicted of murder. In The Innocent Wife Amy Lloyd explores this question and delves into the 'what happens after'.
Samantha is lonely, heartsick and suffering from low esteem. Her boyfriend has left her after she has done a terrible thing. When the man she writes to in prison writes back, they begin a long distance affair which ends in their marriage. This is what Sam has dreamed of but things do not turn out as she expected as she is propelled into a world of secrets and deceit.
The plot of the book is good but I did not enjoy the way it was written. Ms Lloyd knows how to frame the plot and there is a neat twist at the end but it feels all tell and no show. Although their motivations are explored I found I could not engage with the characters. We are drip fed information and all the ingredients are there for a cracking suspense novel but nothing grabbed me.

I’ve been given an ARC of this book in exchange of my honest review. All of opinions in this post are my own.

Sam is an unhappy British person working as a school teacher when her former boyfriend shows her a tv show about a person that supposedly killed a bunch of girls and it's on the death room even with almost no proof that he actually did it. So she stars getting obsessed with everything about this case and at the end start exchanging letters with Dennis the guy accused of being the killer. She falls head over heels in love with him and fly to America to meet him.

For me Sam is pretty much unstable herself, her self-confidence is lower than zero and she's all the time hating herself that she can't focus on anything else. Dennis shows her he loves her and in a desperate attempt asks her to marry him which she accepts. I just wish she wasn't all the time being a pain in the ass thinking everyone is out to get her, it started to annoy me from the middle of the book.

Dennis pretty much is a mystery until the middle of the book you can't quite place him, you're still not sure if he did it or not, he keep being hot and cold but you attribute the fact that twenty years of his life was spent in prison for something he might not have done. So you try to keep an open mind and the more the suspense builds up, the more blinder you get, I was all the time at the edge of my seat waiting for the moment to come, for the mystery to be solved just to get back to square one.

Until the middle of the book you can't still know for sure who Dennis actually is. The guys he's showing for Sam, the innocent guy from the tv show or the creepy bad reckless guy his village portrays him to be. It's a very good mystery around this whole situation where you can't really know for sure who the person really is just trying to grip its personality from the POV of the main character which in this case is Sam.

Carrie is the woman who's done the first tv show and that believes in Dennis. I know the author is trying to make her harmless and clueless but I just think she knows more than what she shows it. Or that she just believes so much in him that everything else is blind to her, for a moment I really thought she felt something for him but she's just really a friend who believes he's completely innocent. By the end of the book I was unbelieved with her actions and how far can she go for the people she cares about.

I like the author's writing style. It's enough to make you grip your hair and fly through the pages waiting to see what happens next. It's fluent, it's with a perfect suspense so far and i know that by the end of it I will be left breathless. It's been a while since I've read such a smoothly gripping suspense book that gets you hooked from the beginning.

The whole book revolves in mystery when you think you have some clue, some kind of answer one of the characters does something that send you right back to the start. Halfway through the book and the heavy mystery is still hanging and you can't be for sure what's happening and why all the mood swings. Samantha accepts everything like it should be normal all the weird behaviors Dennis is having and I for once think it's not. He's been incarcerated for twenty years but the man he was with her on the letters is completely gone and she's just too blind to see it or to accept it.

It just annoys me of how much Sam closes her eyes to everything around her. Everything is her fault or she's seeing too much and it's her mind playing make-believe. WAKE UP!! Sometimes during the book I just wish I could just get inside the book grab her and shake some sense into her head. The storyline is very good and even with her annoyance I can get past it through and enjoy the reading.

The whole book is so full of suspense, it's so gripping and enchanting that makes your head swim with theories and being desperate to actually get real answers. It's like every chapter leaves you with the need to read the next one so you can understand fully what the hell happened in the past chapter.

The story by the end has some gaps that didn't get answered. You finally learn the truth but I can say I'm very annoyed with it. Samantha showed how freaking dependable of the others she is, I swear i would smack her right in her face so she could wake the crap up. I'm in shock with the ending, it was and it wasn't what i expected it to be, I confess I'm still swimming with the final chapters in my head. You get an inside about everyone's lives, how is Dennis inside and outside the prison, everyone who hates and loves him, the secrets, everything.

Overall the book is solid, the suspense is there, the mystery, the killer where you still need to figure it out if he did it or not, all the chances, Samantha just annoying me with her ridiculously personality but the book drawn me in. I was hooked, I was desperate for answers, the chapters were getting good and full on cliffhangers for you to not drop the book aside. I just wished the ending was better explained and a bit different.

I'd definitely read more books from the author and I think she's going through a great path with the suspense in the book. Flawlessly writing style and she does get inside the characters there's no doubt about it, so it must be why even annoyed with Sam I just couldn't let go of the book. I call it talent for story telling.

Reading this book it was intriguing at first but as it went on the story was boring me, definitely don’t think the plot was strong enough and you could pretty much see where it was going less than half way through it. That being said, I powered through even though I didn’t connect with any of the characters or the storyline and don’t think the book is that good if I’m honest, which is a shame because it sounded good.

The book centres around a relationship between Samantha, a teacher from England and Dennis, an American who is a convicted murderer serving on Death Row.

Sam has just come out of a relationship and has incredibly low self-esteem. When Dennis singles her out from the other women who write to him, Sam finds herself flattered and drawn in, she believes that he is innocent and travels to see him, leaving her family and job behind. 

When Dennis is released from prison, will the relationship survive? Has he been unfairly imprisoned for twenty years or is he a callous and dangerous killer?

The character of Dennis was fascinating to me, kind and caring one minute, sinister the next. The story keeps you guessing about his innocence in the murder, his feelings for Sam and his intentions for the future. I honestly couldn' t work him out and felt nervous about what he would do next.

On the other hand, Sam just frustrated me (as the writer intended) and her naivety and submissiveness left me urging her to stop being such a pushover.

The plot has plenty of twists, characters who stir up emotions and just the right amount of suspense.

.I usually enjoy books more where I connect to at least one of the characters but this book isn't one of them. However, the intrigue was enough to keep me reading and I will definitely be looking out for Amy Lloyd's next book.

Thank you, NetGalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Samantha has an usual pen pal - death row inmate Dennis, who proclaims his innocence over the brutal killing of Holly Michaels. Determined to campaign for his freedom, Sam becomes embroiled in a documentary that hopes to free Dennis. But maybe Sam should be careful what she wishes for. Is Dennis really as innocent as he says he is?

This is a really interesting and unique premise for a thriller. It doesn't follow the typical layout of serial killer/murderer on the run, but rather features a man already convicted proclaiming his innocence. Its like the sequel to most thrillers I've read, and I can't deny I was drawn into the story - which clearly drew influence from Making A Murderer.

The writing is good, and clearly well thought out. It flows well, and is easy to understand and follow. I always appreciate that in thriller style books, where the plot has the potential to get unnecessarily convoluted, making me confused. Thankfully this didn't happen here, although I did find that there was a lot of 'filler' to the story, where not much happened for large portions of the plot. I admit I did get a little bored after a while as I desperately hoped something, anything, would happen.

By comparison, I thought the ending was overly rushed after such a drawn out process, and this left me feeling a little flat. It was as though just as the action and pace were picking up, the novel ended. If the novel had been more evenly paced, with action dispersed throughout rather than rushing it at the end, I think I would have enjoyed this more.

The main character, Sam is a little irritating. She's naive enough to believe in this man's innocence, and complains when he isn't exactly like the man she's fantasied about. This meant I found it difficult to sympathise with her, and as such I had little emotional attachment to what happened to her. I also found her a little slow on the uptake with regards to what Dennis was doing, and this made the epilogue completely out of character, far fetched and gratuitous in my opinion.

Dennis is more intriguing. He's the prefect psychopath. Charming yet chilling. It's obvious there will be no happy ending, and his interactions with Sam quickly go from sweet and misunderstood to outright mean very quickly after his release. This meant there wasn't really much scope in terms of where their relationship was going and not many surprises. I would have preferred to have seen more of Dennis's character fleshed out and developed properly as opposed to being more of an enigma, as he was far more interesting to me than Sam. I wanted to see inside his mind, and see what he was thinking as he manipulates towards his ultimate goal.

An interesting thriller with a unique premise, but I wanted more action and character development.

I received this proof,with thanks ,from Netgalley and the publishers,in return for an honest review. In that vein,however, I have to admit that I didn't really enjoy as much as I expected to.
The writer absolutely has talent,otherwise I wouldn't have read to he very end.
However,none of the main characters were in any way likeable or relatable.
In a post Making a Murdere and Jinx world,the idea of a woman being in love with a Death Row inmate and desperate to save him in order to find some validation in a life that has none is an easy trope.
The bit I found most poignant was the main characer,Sam,the 'Innocent Wife',leaving England for America and no one even noticed.
The characters were thinly drawn and unrealistic in their aims and execution. The plot was thin but driven forward enough that I wanted to find out how it ended.
But in and of itself it is not a good sign when you actually don't care if the main character escapes her situation she has created and the ending was a bit of a letdown I felt.
A better book ,in my humble opinion,is 'The spider and the fly' by Claudia Rowe.
I am genuinely sorry that I did not enjoy it more,I may have had I not just read the aforementioned book so possibly some might find my review unfair.
I would definitely read future books by this author but this was not,unfortunately for me.

A very good read, once started I couldn't put down. All the way through I thought I knew what the outcome was going to be but the end had a surprising twist. Well worth the read

I am always intrigued why woman write to convicted Murderers who are strangers to them and this book gives an insight into what drives a Woman to do so. Although not my usual genre I found this an interesting read and it didn't go the way I thought it was going so did hold the suspense. There was a lot of depth to the characters and I thought that the way the relationship was explored, when Dennis was acquitted and released from prison and Sam moves to America to be with him, was well written. The ending was a surprise to me too. If you are a fan of thrillers you may enjoy this book as I did find it easy to read but personally for me it wasn't particularly memorable.

A must for fans of true-crime documentaries, raising interesting questions about the justice system and how well we can ever really know someone.

This book started as one story where I thought I knew how it was going to unfold but then swerved quite quickly into a darker and more intriguing story. I found the characterisation spot on and was strangely attracted and repelled by Dennis. A great piece of writing. The descriptions of Dennis’ family home were so well done that I felt I was looking at a photograph. Well done Amy Lloyd

I absolutely loved this story of a woman who falls in love with a man wrongly convicted of murder - or is he? While the characters are all unpleasant in their own way, Lloyd sucks you into the mystery of what really happened and why as Sam and Dennis adjust to married life outside of prison and the uncovering of long buried secrets. This is one of those books you'll devour in one sitting.

I was so gripped by this story. I started off believing in Dennis, then I wasn't sure, then I was again. That was my rollercoaster emotions throughout this book. I don't want to spoil it for anyone so all I can say is, READ IT! Not sure I'd do the same thing in Samantha's shoes but to each his/her own. The author did a brilliant job with the book and I definitely recommend it.

This was a dark, psychological thriller. Three people who were damaged by their upbringing, hold dark secrets. The story shows the gullibility of people taken in by a handsome face, corrupt police force and a closed community. The conclusion was totally unexpected but did it really address the problems revealed during the story? Totally absorbing read..

A storyline that gripped me from the start and made me reluctant to put the book down opens with Sam, a teacher from England corresponding with Dennis in a Prison in Florida serving his sentence as a convicted serial killer. They marry while an appeal is being made against his conviction and he is released after the campaign is successful. The writer takes you on uncomfortable journey of doubt, certainly, suspicion and intrigue and my decisions of his guilt or innocence changed throughout and the ending took me by surprise. Did he do it? Read and find out - you won't be disappointed

3.5 stars.
Most of the story was compelling and held my attention, although I did find it a little repetitive and mandate in places; even though the characters were not very likeable, they were interesting and flawed; the writing wasn't bad. The ending, however, was rushed and left me disappointed. Overall, I enjoyed the book and will read another by this author.
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the ARC.

I'm sorry I didn't really enjoy this book. A good beginning and thought I would be gripped but it seemed to loose it's way in the middle and got a little confusing but in the end the characters for what they deserved.

I loved this book, totally believable characters, flaws and all. Kept me guessing till the end. Highly recommended. Thanks to Netgalley for the advance copy.