My Husbands Lie - Emma Davies

This book is set up very nicely...you definitely feel you are following Thea & Drew on this wonderful journey to their new lives. You get a very firm sense of who they both are very early on &, I really enjoyed that.

However, as I enjoyed the first half of the book so much...it came as a surprise that I didn't love the entire 2nd half of the book...

I think the impact of the book lies in how much you care about rumours & what other people say about you. I just don't think that would have had such a big impact on my life or anyone I know....the revelations seemed quite minor...&, I don't understand why the issues weren't dispelled promptly both in the past & present. If you know the truths or believe you do...then would this really make your world fall apart? I just struggle to think it would & why you would let it.

I also don't understand why Thea & Anna struggled so much to do what was right & what seemed quite obvious.

The power certain vile people in story held...seemed to make no sense at all...& turning against the people closest seemed also bizarre.

Having said that although I did struggle with the 2nd half of the book because I thought the revelations were minor & everyone overreacted....I did enjoy the writing & the scene setting.

Emma Davies is a very talented writer. Her places & characters seemed very real. I could see & feel Pevensey House...it was a character in itself.

The writing & character building was done beautifully & I will definitely be looking out for Emma Davies' next book.

Thank you to the author, publisher & Netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe I would have enjoyed this book more if I hadn't been expecting it to be a thriller (it's not) or if it had had a different title. The plot is interesting and the characters and their relationships are well developed, but I kept waiting for the awful event or revelation that never came.

Thea and her family leave London to return to the village where she and husband Drew grew up together in neighbouring houses. They manage to buy Thea's old family home, full of happy memories. But gradually Thea becomes aware of a distance between herself and the other villagers: is she being paranoid or are they hostile?
The previous books from Emma Davies have all been warm romances so My Husband's Lie was quite a surprise. There is a darkness and mystery to the book as the insidious nature of rumours and distrust take over the village and Thea's life.
There is plenty of emotion in this book as Thea struggles to reconcile the past and the present. She needs to negotiate relationships with her family and new community but feels that things are being kept secret. The need to feel comfortable and make new friends is very relevant and human, pulling on our basic instinct to belong and be sociable.
Thea is quite a likeable character although I did find her reactions a little odd at times as she seemed to bounce between extremes of emotion. The use of the first person narrative allows us to see how the events in the book are affecting Thea's life.
The suspense and mystery in the plot unfold at a reasonable pace to keep the reader's interest. I feel that the title is perhaps a little too emotive, but from another angle it is very clever as there are several husbands in the book who could be referred to.
My Husband's Lie was a hugely enjoyable book overall and I definitely enjoyed the change of style from this author.

Thea wants to move back to her Childhood home to rekindle all the happy memories. But there are lies, secrets and what seems like a whole village against her. The opposite of what she wanted. A thrilling page turner that you do not want to miss!

I really enjoyed this book. Although titled My Husbands Lie, I feel it was more because Drew wanted to protect Thea, than blatantly lie to her. Was horrible for them as a family to be victimised, but as they say, the truth will out.

A story of a couple who move back to the town they grew up. Thea and husband Drew grew up as neighbours and both moved away from the idyllic village when they were eleven. With wonderful memories of her childhood Thea ends up buying the old family home. A good domestic drama with strong characters. A story of love, friendships, secrets and lies.

A wonderful book. It is an emotional rollercoaster that looks at relationships and the difficult subject of child abuse.

The story follows Thea and Drew, childhood sweethearts who are now married with kids of their own. They are making the move from London, back to their childhood home.

What should be an idyllic existence is marred by the discovery of a long held secret. The village turns against them and Thea has to work out who is on her side, why she is so upset and how she can possibly move forwards.

Relationships are tested to the limit. The book comes to a dramatic climax which definitely keeps the pages turning.

Two children, Thea and Drew, grow up together as neighbored, become friends and eventually marry. Naturally, when her childhood home comes on the market, Thea wants to move back, filled with nostalgia and happy memories. Wrong move! Good story, not really a thriller, but enjoyable and quick read.

I loved the premise behind this book but overall I was left disappointed. The story was too linear and i plodded through it. I enjoyed the concept of escaping urban life and returning to Thea and Drew’s childhood village and house and the complex dynamic of village life, especially in the playground. I’d be interested to read the authors future work as with a little bit of clever plot development this could have been a great read.

Overall I enjoyed this book.

It was well written and easy to read. The title somewhat misleads the reader and it wasn't nearly as suspenseful as I thought it would be. I found the main character unlikeable and self centred which made the book less enjoyable to read.

Thanks to Netgalley for my copy

My Husbands Lie is a twisty but cleverly written book.
Thea and Drew have known each other since they were children and until they were eleven years old were next door neighbours. Fast forward quite a few years and we find Thea and Drew married and with two lovely daughters. They are all at a point in their lives when a change is needed, they are living in too if each other and feel a change of scenery and a bigger house would be better as Thea is a book illustrator and Drew is setting up his own business building his own design of honeycomb houses. By chance Thea’s old family home is for sale and without a backward glance they sell their old house and move into her old family home and with a few home improvements is the perfect house but not the perfect village people who seem to hold a grudge against Thea but she has no idea what until things start to really hot up.
This was a good read, I don’t think I would say it was a thriller and I think the title is a little misleading as the husbands secret is one of the very small revelations in this book.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Bookouture for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

Thea had such happy memories growing up in the country next door to her best friend Drew. She moved when she was eleven. Her friendship with Drew grew & they married. Now with two girls they feel they are at the stage in their lives when they could move to the country & work from home. When her childhood home come on the market it seems like it was meant to be. However it is said you can never go back & although all seems well at firs, Thea soon realises that there are awkward undercurrents & soon all out gossip about her family.

This wasn't really a thriller but it was a good story. I think the title isn't all that accurate, however I enjoyed reading it. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

Well written with a storyline that evolves throughout the book. However, the premise of the story did not ring true for me. I do not want to spoil the book for others but for me the revelation of the “incident” regarding Thea’s father did not seem a good enough reason for the bullying 25 years later. Leo’s bullying of Tilly was far more believable but her mother’s reaction to it was totally incomprehensible and far fetched. Thea came across as self centred at times but I liked Drew and the relationship between Tilly and Lauren was delightful.
I am grateful to Emma Davies, Netgalley and Bookouturefor giving me the opportunity to read this book and give my unbiased opinion.

It took me a while to get into this book. The first few chapters were what I call a very slow burner shaping and building the main characters, the village inhabitants and the background story but it kept me interested to see what was going to materialise.

Thea and her family move from London to the village where herself and her husband Drew both grew up In contrast to London, everyone knows everyone's business. Her daughters seem to settle in and make friends quite quickly. But soon Thea notices that some people in the village are quite distant and don’t seem to talk to her. As the story unfolds secrets and lies including rumours are exposed which affect Thea to the core. Is her dream of moving to her hometown is turning into a nightmare? The author really touches on the importance of relationships, family and friends.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Emma Davies for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was very excited to read this one, the synopsis sounded great...unfortunately the synopsis and the story didn't really match up. I'm not sure why the book is titled My Husbands Lie when the omission of truth from Drew really had little bearing on the story. Had he told her what had happened when she found the listing for Pevensey it wouldn't have changed the outcome much. Perhaps they wouldn't have moved there, but they still would have been the subject of gossips. Tilly still would have been bullied. And her father still would have been innocent.

Good not finish this book. The writing style did not flow for me & was incredible hard to get a reading pace with. The cover of this is GREAT though & I believe the story line could have been great!

I have to say that I really enjoyed this book. All the little details, including the relationship between the husband and wife, Thea and Drew, were so well written that it was believable, and I was a tad bit jealous of how close they were. The name of the home they moved to, Pevensey House, alone conjures up some feelings that something unexpected and not completely good may develop there. Maybe that's because books with home titles like that are often very atmospheric. That aspect did not disappoint!

The story evolves in a way that shows things are not quite right there, and it was intriguing enough to keep me captivated until the end, which was a bit surprising.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and feel it is definitely worthy of 5 stars.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This was an average read, average storyline, annoying characters but worth an effort

"Looking back, I wonder whether our holiday had been to blame. Two weeks of unexpectedly perfect weather at Easter, when the girls had gambolled like lambs in the fields surrounding the farm where we had stayed, and even Drew had lost the pinched look he so often wore. His stride had lengthened, his shoulders had relaxed, and he just looked... content."

'My Husband's Lie' by Emma Davies is a mildly dark family drama that centers around the main character Thea, her husband Drew, and two children as they embark on a bold move to free themselves of the constraints of the big city life and corporate work environment.

It's a feeling many of us have had or will experience in our lifetimes. That point when you tire of working to make others wealthy at the expense of your own best interests and decide to take a risk, to branch out on your own. More and more, it's becoming a common narrative in our society.

When Thea discovers the home she spent some of her happiest years in happens to be on the market, her fond memories foster an excitement and determination to return to her roots. Having begun her life in Pevensky House, with her then best friend and now husband right next door, their families abruptly moved away while the pair were still children.

"Seeing her on that holiday reminded me of the Thea I first met, the one who walked barefoot everywhere, the one whose fits of giggles exploded out of nowhere. It made me realise how beautiful she was, how much I loved her. And her work? It came to life during those two weeks, the best she'd ever produced - winning the commission was evidence enough of that. So how could I possibly hold her back, just when she had found her wings."

What starts out as an earnest change for the betterment of their lives, soon clouds with uncertainty. She and Drew seemingly drift apart and people go out of their way to avoid her.

After discovering an unexpected secret tucked into her childhood hiding place, she's faced with more questions than answers and a growing sense of unease. Meanwhile, the other citizens of the small town turn against her as more secrets and accusations come to light.

This novel definitely touches on some uncomfortable topics.. abuse/assault, destructive lies, and so forth.. but I assure you that it doesn't go into much detail in those regards. It's not an exploitative book. It's almost more of a study as to the effects, not just of the original harm caused by such things. But also the ripples stretching outward over the years beyond due to the lingering weight of keeping the secrets. So many more lives are changed by one act than we might at first believe.

Watching characters struggle with the accusations is hard enough, but the feelings of betrayal, loss, and disillusionment sit even more heavily on them. Thea's pretty relatable, she's hurt and angry. She lashes out, sometimes in stupid ways, which are completely understandable. But all that aside, it's kind of hard not to feel sorry for some of the targets of that anger.

"How can you ever grow if you don't have roots?"

At the core of the family, Drew and Thea have a really lovely relationship. It's warm and supportive. They like to say sometimes that they "don't know where one of them ends and the other begins." And it's especially difficult to watch that conflict between them because of the usual nature of that relationship. Plus, their girls are also quite darling and you really just want to see everything work out for them all.

I will say, I saw the reveal coming before the foreshadowing was really at play, but some of that is instinct as to how an author writes. I don't feel like there were any telegraphing issues of note or anything like that.

My only disappointment is probably the idyllic wrap-up. There is a particularly tense moment toward the end of the story that I felt could have been well served with a different conclusion, but it's all well-structured and moves at a good pace. I just like a little more destruction in my stories than most.

Definitely a worthwhile read if you are a fan of mysteries or contemporary dramas.

Emma Davies is a new-to-me author and I am so glad to have found her! My Husband's Lie is a tight and fast moving story with lots of distractions and fully fleshed out characters. White tense most of the time it is a very good read!