I really loved this book and warmed to the characters . I did keep saying to the leading lady just ask him why he’s covering for you and what you did but I suppose then there wouldn’t have been a story at all . I will look forward to reading more from Sam Carrington in the future

Summary: Louisa is about to turn forty years old, and just had a new baby. She and her husband also have a teenager, which all together has made her sleep deprived and forgetful. Louisa has an amnesia from her teenage years that is blocking out a traumatic event that happened to her, but she can't remember what it was. When her best friend, Tiff, and her husband, Brian, team up to give her a surprise birthday party, Louisa starts experiencing flashbacks. Especially when she runs into her old boyfriend, Oliver. After the party, his wife goes missing, and he invades Louisa's life. Where is his wife? What happened to Louisa as a teen? How is Oliver involved in all of this?
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.Review: I really enjoyed this thriller. There are twists and turns until the very end. Louisa seems like an innocent bystander at all the tragedy taking place in her life, but is she really? What are the secrets that she can't seem to remember? Everyone in this book is keeping a secret of some sort. Best friends, husbands, and old boyfriends. This book was so much fun to read and I would love to read more by Sam Carrington. There was a shocking ending and feeling that left you wondering how Louisa will cope in the future. Highly recommend if you love a good thriller!

I really couldn’t finish this story. It seemed really far fetched and totally dragged in. I’m sorry. It just wasn’t for me

A nice mystery thriller about a surprise birthday party that brings ghosts from the past with their share of secrets and lies.
The heroine can't trust anybody including herself, is everybody acting suspicious or her mind is playing tricks on her?
This was a fun ride although some of the dialogue could have been improved, and I did find the ending somehow farfetched.
Thanks #Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Zero stars!

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. And honestly, this book could quite be the worst one I have ever read. I am not exaggerating, The dialogue is so ridiculous it's laughable. The plot utterly ridiculous. And when you put it all together, the end result is a book that should never have been published. A disgrace to the wonderful mystery and suspense novels that are out there--the ones with exceptional writing, plots that leave you breathless. And are a combination of mystery, thriller and suspense in one great package. This is definitely NOT one of them. Pass!

Sat down to reD a few pages was immediately drawn in unputdownable.Twists turns characters thAt come alive.So well written so tense grab this one.#netgalley#avonbooksuk

This is a story that keeps you on your toes....Louisa is about to turn 40 and her best friend Tiff organises a surprise party for her, which would be great if Louis wasn't delirious with tiredness whilst getting used to be a mature mum unexpectedly.

When a face from her past rocks up in the shape of her ex, Oliver, Louisa has a feeling inside that's something isn't quite right, which comes to fruition when Oliver's wife, Melissa goes missing....

Louisa finds herself in a situation where she doesn't know who to trust any more, she certainly doesn't trust Oliver, Tiff starts acting strangely and even her dependable husband Brian raises her suspicions but maybe the person she can't trust the most is herself....and what about the fact that nobody even remembers seeing Melissa at the party...was she even there?

Not a bad read, did find the ending slightly crazy but up until then it flowed quite well.

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this book, this is my honest opinion

*CONTAINS SPOILERS*



Ohhhhh my!! What a twist!! That was an amazing turn of events!!

Absolutely loved Louisa, really felt for her most of the time...so hard being a new mum and having a husband who doesn't help out...or older sibling.

I think Brian knows what happened in 95, but would probably be waiting for Lou to 'fess up herself....Oliver was a dark character!! He was creepy. I'm glad for what happened to him....shame they had to hide it though!

Tiff seemed like a bit of a snobby moo....always slating Lou behind her back, that isn't a true friend....maybe Tiff was jealous of everything Lou had, husband and children....who knows lol....

Melissa was a good character...I knew there had to be someone to tell the full story....I'm glad she finally had closure about her sister..

So well written from Sam again....absolutely loved every book I've read by her....keep up the great work beautifully!!!

I received an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

Nothing about this book particularly sucked me in, but it didn’t turn me off either. The main character is actually quite likable but it’s hard to understand why she allows the people in her life to treat her so badly. I did feel the need to finish to make sure she came out OK in the end, so that would clearly indicate some investment beneath the ambivalence and the meh.

Louisa is exhausted. Her 40th birthday is in two weeks; she has a baby(Noah), a teenager(Emily) and a husband(Brian) who may be not so faithful. Aside from all of this, she has nightmares and possible hallucinations. She is relatively estranged from her parents and essentially has one friend - Tiff. Her baby is fussy and keeps Louisa up all night - so add sleep deprivation into the mix. Louisa began to check her husband's phone, lately. A partial message from Tiff (to Brian) said, "All good for meeting Friday, still?" But Brian had told Louisa that he was going out with his mates that day. Hmmm...

Actually, Tiff and Brian were planning a surprise party for Louisa's 40th birthday! But Tiff was in charge of the invitations- she added Facebook friends, friends from Exeter college (over 20 years ago) and past work buddies/school moms. But Louisa is not happy. All of these people! And all she wants is sleep! Then, to Louisa's surprise, Oliver Dunmore, Louisa's first love (from when she was 17 years old) is at the party. He tells Louisa he had been married for a year. . Louisa gets drunk at the party but Brian has arranged for B&B rooms for both Louisa and Tiff at the party's site.

Oliver is supposed to be around the area for business awhile and strikes up a friendship with Brian. Also, he ingrates himself on Louisa. He says his wife, Melissa, has been missing since Louisa's party. In come the police. He needs help and tells Louisa "help me like I once helped you". Louisa has a mental block of some of her time at college, so... she does help him. Only she may learn that this was an awful decision with dire consequences...

Many thanks to AVON Books, UK and NetGalley for a book with lots of suspense and twists you do not see coming - A Must READ!

The Missing Wife by Sam Carrington is a rollercoaster of deception, betrayal, long-buried secrets and lies, and I could not devour it quickly enough. I was immediately engaged in this dark and twisty tale, and was tearing through the pages in an effort to slot the puzzle pieces into place.

Louisa is an exhausted mother of a newborn son when her husband and best friend decide to throw her a surprise fortieth birthday party, compiling a guest list from her collection of Facebook friends. When Louisa arrives to the party, she recognizes very few guests, with the notable exception of her old boyfriend Oliver, someone she hasn't seen in over twenty years. Sometime during the party, Oliver's wife goes missing. Although Louisa has barely any recollection of events, her frequent visions and hallucinations cause her to suspect that she may have had some type of contact with the mysterious Melissa, but she cannot say for certain what has transpired. To further complicate matters, Oliver has infiltrated Louisa's life, and shared secrets from the past begin to resurface.

This is a riveting read that I consumed in a single afternoon. I loved the complexity of Louisa, and could fully empathize with her struggles as an exhausted mother, and her frustrations as a result of dissociative amnesia. I am immediately adding every novel by this author to my 'TBR' list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Avon Books UK for this wonderful ARC.

Twists, turns and betrayal are the name of the game in this stonker of a novel! Sam Carrington has a way of writing that draws you in completely and I was sat in a coffee shop reading this, oblivious to all around me! Excellent all round!

Facebook, the place where we “friend” people we knew years ago and know slightly now, is never the place where we talk with our real friends. But exhausted mom Louisa is getting a surprise birthday party and all her Facebook “friends” are invited. Most of these are people Louisa hasn’t even seen in years, she’s really rather have a long nap. But the party is on and one of the guests is her old boyfriend, Oliver. Shortly after the party Oliver’s wife disappears and no one at the party can quite remember what really happened. There was a lot of alcohol of course, but Louisa believes someone knows the truth about what happened to Melissa and she doesn’t intend to rest until she finds out herself. I’ve been thinking about opting out of Facebook for a while, this may be just the push I needed

Louisa is barely coping with her new baby, teen daughter and sleep deprivation. On top of this her best friend Tiff helps Louisa's husband Brian arrange a surprise 40th birthday party. Wanting to make it an event she will remember Brian finds a long list of guests from Louisa's Facebook friends. Disaster. People she hardly knows or remembers and amongst them charming Oliver - her first love. Then Oliver's wife Melissa goes missing from the party, but was she even there?
Sam Carrington weaves a story of betrayal, deceit and escalating danger. One lie becomes five becomes dozens. Important things Louisa believes are found to be untrue. People she trusted now seem unreliable. Long buried memories resurface. Old secrets are told. Nothing is at it first appears.
Highly readable with a twisting turning plot, a fragile exhausted heroine and proof that sometimes the road to Hell really is paved with good intentions.

Thank you Netgalley for an advanced copy of The Missing Wife.