The Vow by Debbie Howells is a scintillatingly secretive and dark novel swathed in questions, accusations and the need for answers.

In this novel, readers are introduced to Amy Reid, soon-to-be Amy Roche. With the wedding of her dreams just a couple of weeks away, her life is coming together in the most fairy-tale-esque way, and she couldn’t be happier. But isn’t it strange, how absolutely perfect something can appear to be on the surface, when beneath, that is most certainly not the case? Once-divorced, Amy already knows what it’s like to have her heart broken, to be let down in the most life-shattering of ways. Having come away from her first marriage, Amy and her daughter, Jess, who is at Uni, have managed to leave their past behind, and are ready to begin again, albeit with a new man in their lives. But in the space of just 24 hours, everything changes for Amy, and her soon-to-be husband, completely vanishes.

From the get-go, the mystery behind Matt’s disappearance was ultimately what kept me turning the pages, but further down the road, it became clear that there was much more to this novel than the disappearance of a soon-to-be married man. Peppered with snippets from the past, I was constantly kept on my toes, wondering who, what, where and why. I had so many questions, much like Amy, and as the plot progressed, I found myself becoming more and more impatient to have them answered. Once the police become involved, the story takes a much darker turn than I had anticipated, and it dragged me down even further, on -edge to find out where the author would take me next.

Being taken back to the past before being dropped back into the present day is something I adore when reading, and it’s even more sneaky and delicious when it happens within a premise like this. It’s sort of cheating, in a way. The reader gets glimpses of what happened before, and slowly, oh-so-slowly, you can try (emphasis on the word ‘try’) to slot the pieces of the past into whatever is happening in the present, unfolding story. It’s a fantastic way to deliver hints to the reader, and really fleshes out the backbone of the story, giving it a little bit more weight and realism. These flashbacks really got the cogs in my mind turning as I tried to put two and two together. I don’t want to give too much away, but there is so much more to discover within this book than simply what is set before you on the page.

The characters were believable and I enjoyed getting to know each of them. Jess, Amy’s daughter, was a particular favourite of mine. She seemed determined and tenacious and very driven whenever it came to her mother, and I found her to be one of the characters who stood out most to me long after I’d finished the book. Amy, a herbalist, was interesting and I found her to have a lot more layers to her than I’d originally thought. I was rooting for her, and when the plot takes a drastic turn for her much later on, I couldn’t believe what was happening. I really wanted some good to come her way, because I honestly felt that she deserved it. As for Matt, I felt like I knew enough about him to put together a good picture of what he was like. The sort of man women would do well to stay away from. Although not present throughout the novel, Howells did a great job of still managing to make him come to life on the page. There were a handful of others characters too, who really made the story take shape, like Mrs Guthrie and WPC Page, all playing a role in the search for Matt, no matter how big or small.

Overall, The Vow by Debbie Howells was a brilliant novel, with all of those key qualities that ensure a reader sticks with it. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey I was taken on while reading this book, and I would recommend it to any readers out there who love a good mystery/psychological thriller, emphasising the importance of trust and honesty in a relationship, because it doesn’t matter how well you think you know the person you love, sometimes you just don’t know them well enough.

The Book Babe is giving The Vow by Debbie Howells a rating of four out of five. I’d like to thank Avon Books and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reading copy of this book.

The synopsis is known, and there is nothing to add before you start reading - the author does an amazing job to go from here and unfold a story that kept me interested and guessing until the end. It's an enjoyable read, a mystery, woman's fiction, a bit of everything.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy!

Devoured this book, really enjoyed the switching of characters and trying to figure out who the "other woman" was. Great style of writing

Amy and Matt are getting married. It should be one of the brides most memorable times of her life. And it will be but not because of the wedding. Matt has disappeared. And when Amy reports him missing it comes to light that Matt was living a double life. He has a girlfriend named Fiona who has also reported him missing. So what happened to Matt? Told in different POV's this story was engaging enough to keep me turning the pages. We get to know Matt from three perspectives. I was curious to know if something foul had befallen our groom or if he staged his own disappearance. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

I enjoyed this book which provided a good amount of intrigue and intensity. The plot is a little predictable in part but there's enough to keep you guessing and turning the pages.
All in all a good page-turner and definitely worth a read.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Publishers Avon UK for this ARC for my opinion and review.

This is a fabulous read of intrigue and suspense. Was there or wasn't there a murder?

The reader is taken into the everyday lives of Amy and Jess, mother and daughter. Amy is divorced and through this experience, although there is no description of the divorce, the reader will see that it has left her uncertain of herself and insecure. Had the author included the former husband and divorce details the read would have become bogged down, by not doing so the read concentrates on the main characters and moves quickly. Amy has followed on from her grandmother's vocation and is a practicing herbalist which she has been able to build up into a rewarding business.

There is excitement in the household with the pending marriage between Amy and the fabulous Matt who has moved into the home already. Everything appears to be on track even with a few nerves and supposed anomalies on Amy's behalf. That is, until the day she receives a message from Matt that he will be late home as he has an appointment with a client. When he fails to return home Amy, naturally worried, phones his work only to discover that there was no such appointment.

From here on the book is hard to put down with the intrigue and suspense that follows.

Amy's childhood was traumatised with the death of her sister and in order to cope with this and events surrounding the death and events that followed, Amy has blocked them all out and by reinventing herself has been able to move on with her life. However with the disappearance of Matt, her past begins to unravel, the mystery of the ownership of their home, the stranger that warns her, the woman from her past, reaching the point where she is taken into custody by the Police.

Great thriller, everything comes together very well. The story kept my attention and I found I couldn’t put the book down. There are plenty of twists and turns in this novel.

Thank you for the Arc copy of The Vow. This is a book of twists and turns and I found it relatively easy to read. I did find parts where a bit drawn out and my concentration wandered a little but it did keep my interest enough to want to find out what happened to Amy and her fiance. All in a all a good read

I thought this book was just okay. I felt it was slightly convoluted and I love a good story with lots of character and detail but some of it was just useless. Zoe, what was the use of her? I found I got sidetracked counting all the commas this author used, which shows me I wasn't terribly interested in the story. It was a good bit of twist at the end though so I will give it that. Also, the author had me convinced that other characters (ie. Zoe) were sinister so well done there too.

i very much enjoyed this book if you want twisty gripping addictive this the book for you its a brilliant story Amy has meet the man of her dreams Matt . but as there wedding day gets near he goes missing am not saying no more but her daughter Jess places it all together so a must read book

"You'd have saved us all a lot of time if you'd been honest," says one of the people in this story of secrets and revenge. He may speak for readers who are impatient with characters who get themselves into terrible trouble, but who are slow to see or admit any connection to the dark shadows in their past.

If you are not one of those impatient readers, this is a creepy, twisty tale, skillfully told, of a beaten-down woman whose cheating fiancé goes missing on the eve of her wedding. Shocking clues accrue, pointing toward her guilt, including a bouquet of red and white flowers with stems sunk in his blood. When the other woman surfaces, the malevolence intensifies.

If you are one of those impatient readers, you may be frustrated with the way some of the characters react in this book, including the police. Either way, it's a well-told story, and you may particularly enjoy this book if you like gardening, herbs, and the sometimes menacing language of flowers.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Enjoyed this suspense novel! This will be hard to put down until the very end. Very predictable storyline but had lots of twists that kept you engaged.

Amy and Matt are two weeks away from their wedding when Matt vanishes. Sure that something has happened, Amy calls the police the day after he didn’t come home from meeting a client. When the police start to investigate they find Matt wasn’t meeting a client at all and then they receive another missing person report and the missing person is also Matt, but this comes from his other girlfriend Fiona. While Amy is devastated to learn about Fiona, Amy’s daughter Jess isn’t so sure, she didn’t like Matt and the front he put on for her mother, and when the police look closely at Amy for his disappearance, Jess decides to dig into Matt’s past.
I found the story equally fascinating and annoying. There was a lot of repetitive passages that I found unnecessary, I.e. we would get a point of view from one of the characters, then it would be repeated as a police statement. I found because of this the story dragged in the middle.
#netgalley #avonbooks #thevow

DNF’d this book.
The narrative is full of unnecessary description of every little thing around her.
I really like the blurb but I can’t push myself to go on.
Sorry.

I would have given this book 5 stars but felt bit let down by the ending as I was expecting more. Up to that point I had really enjoyed the book. It was an 'edge of your seat' type of read where I wanted to keep reading to find out what was going to happen. For that reason I would still recommend this read but perhaps don't expect any major twists.

This is a very good domestic thriller and the first book I’ve read by this author.
The plot is fast paced and there are plenty of twists and turns to keep you guessing throughout.
I’ll be looking out for more books from this author in future.

"Nature perseveres...until balance is restored." Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. Amy was leading a seemingly perfect life, or so everyone thought, until her fiance disappeared. An ever twisting tale of deceit, lies and secrets. A masterfully crafted whodunit that will keep you guessing until the end. The characters are so well written that I was invested in the story immediately. By the middle of this story I couldn't put it down. The first person writing really made me feel like I knew Amy. I would highly recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers and murder mysteries!

From the first page of this book, I was hooked. I didn't want to stop reading. I carried the Ipad with me as I did my steps...couldn't wait to get back to the story when I was cooking. Once in awhile, I come across a book that puzzles me...this one did. Although I determined the outcome early on, it was still a good read. The main character was a naïve woman who didn't trust herself-and others didn't either. The book is character driven with little thought given to the setting, although that is fine for this genre. The character I liked the best was Jess, the daughter. She was intuitive, smart, and strong. She cared about her mom, and she saw through the boyfriend early on. When others gave up on her mom, she did not. Although I enjoyed reading this novel, I did not like the story in italics. I did not like giving background that way. There was some language that was not necessary. That being said, if one can get by that, this book is one that will cause the reader to stop and think-why do men want to abuse women? Trying to discern the ending is a good way of learning that all mysteries are not the same. This author has honed her craft, and I hope she will write more in this genre. However, I hope she might refrain from using the words that most of us just don't need to read. They take away from the story. As one reads, all of a sudden a character blurts out...not necessary...after all of this...read the book...understand the protagonist...feel for her...wonder if she is a murderer or not...or a victim...read read read and enjoy. Just an afterthought, I loved the part about the gaslighting...few write about that anymore...

When you think your life couldn't be more perfect and you're about to marry the man you love, what could possibly go wrong? When Matt doesn't come home one night, Amy gets worried and eventually has to report him missing.
Fiona also reports Matt missing a few days later. Both of them claiming to be in a relationship with Matt. Where is he and who is to blame for his disappearance?
The Vow has many twists and turns and had me guessing throughout. as Amy is arrested for the murder of Matt, her and Fiona's past become intertwined. When both ladies were children, someone died and could that have something to do with Matt disappearing?
I was impressed with how the writing led me to think different scenarios right up until the last page.

Amy and Matt are getting married in two weeks, everything seems perfect and they are writing their own vows. Matt says he is taking a client out for dinner and will be back late - but he doesn’t return!!

Amy had been warned by a stranger that “she is in danger” but now wonders if the message is connected with Matt’s disappearance.

When the police start to investigate, another woman, Fiona comes forward as her boyfriend Matt has disappeared. Was Matt living a double life?

The story is told from Amy, Fiona and Jess’s (Amy’s daughter) point of view.

I loved everything about this book, its eye catching cover caught my eye, but the story soon had me totally hooked with its suspense and twists along the way.

This is much more than a missing partner story, we have snippets that Matt and Amy’s relationship was not all it initially seems and that they are both hiding secrets from their pasts, that leads to an explosive ending.

I highly recommend this book!!

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.