This book flew by. I was eager to get to the end to figure out the connection between what happened on Zoe’s wedding day, her missing sister, the spat with her sister-in-law, and the obnoxious ex-friend Cassie. I was satisfied by the ending and found this to be an interesting quick read. 

I don't know if I loved the main character, Zoe. I feel like she spent too much time worrying about what other people thought of her instead of just asking. I also don't know if I believe that it would take ten years for anyone to ask questions about Dina and look more into her disappearance. No one else saw her at the wedding or in their small hometown leading up to it? I was able to easily overlook these few holes though and enjoy the story for what it was. 

This was the first novel I’ve read by Shalini Boland, but I will certainly be looking into getting my hands on some of her other books.

A new book by Shalini Boland is always a momentous occasion, and I absolutely jumped at the chance to review it!

What an amazing book this is! I really couldn’t put it down. Right from the first page it grabs you and doesn’t let go until the last page.

I had no idea what might have happened to Zoe on her wedding day, and how this was going to have an impact on her anniversary, ten years later.

When the truth is revealed, it’s such a shocker, but there are more twists and tense and gripping action to come. It’s truly edge of the seat stuff near the end.

Such a clever and addictive plot, it will completely engross you from start to finish. Absolutely brilliant.

Shalini Boland is an author who delivers every time with her novels. You know the psychological twists are going to hit you with a sledgehammer. 

The Wife is the unfortunate story full of events like family secrets, lies and the story of a character caught in the wrong place at the wrong time.  

I enjoyed the gradual increase in weird happenings, the odd behaviour of past friends that left me trying to figure out what’s happening and the main secret that’s been hidden for a decade!  

With most psychological thrillers I tend to guess parts of the plot. But with this one, I hadn’t got a clue. A very good storyline which captures your imagination enough that you don’t even try to guess what is going on and when you do you realise you’d forgotten to even try. I was at the first revelation before I realised I’d not even got a theory! My reading is spent doing this as it’s the part I find really enjoyable. But no! I hadn’t even tried to come up with even an inkling of a guess! 

Great novel once again!

I could not put this book down!! I read it in one day. I was on the edge of my seat wanting to know what happened!! A must read and I would definitely recommend this book!!

Shalini Boland is in my top 5 favorite authors - I read every book she publishes. The Wife was no exception to her typical books. It was great! I absolutely loved it. It kept me on pins and needles trying to figure out what happened. Highly recommend!

Of the numerous thriller authors out there, few have the narrative style that I actually enjoy. I say this after three years of blogging and falling prey to the hype and reading the more popular authors. This does not mean I would not recommend a few of them, or even that they do not hold a large part of the reading public in thrall. It is just an odd thing that I like a different type of pacing and information revelations being done more subtly. 
Shalini Boland is one of the authors that I have actually picked up more books of and liked reading them. They are quick reads with pretty entertainingly paranoid characters. A sense of forbidding accompanies their daily life, and they question their sanity for almost the entire narrative. This case was no different, Zoe does not recollect what happened prior to the wedding ceremony. She woke up from a faint and found her to-be in-laws looking at her with concern. Ten years have passed, and she is back at the hotel for an anniversary but being there is triggering her memory. Now, the problem here was that to me, the plot twist was glaringly apparent from a very early point. Every following confirmation did nothing to dissuade me. Usually, I am tricked, but there was no wriggle room here for that to happen. 
The characters were once again unique and untrustworthy for the most part. Despite all, I did not 'enjoy' this book as I did others. My reaction to this is a little harsher for the sole reason that I did relish the plot twists in at least two of her previous books. I would recommend this to readers of this genre but also to not try to puzzle out the plot while reading.
I received an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, but the review is entirely based on my own reading experience of this and earlier works of the author.

Zoe knows that she has never been herself since she fainted on her Wedding Day.  She has amnesia about the events that took place that day.  This unsettling feeling has haunted her ever since.

This is my first book by Shalini Boland and my favorite genre which is the Psychological Thriller.  I really enjoyed this book, but it fell apart a bit at the end.  I will continue to read more books by this author and have already purchased some for my To Be Read pile.

Very engrossing and fun to read.

Thank you Netgalley, Bookouture and Shalini Boland for the ability to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Ooh wow is all I can say, a great book this was, what happens on her wedding day when the bride has a moment of blankness before she weds her husband and she is told she fainted  but something just doesn't feel quiet right.. Roll on 10 years later and their anniversary party is planned for in the same hotel, what can ppssibly go wrong or will the  moment of blankness come to light... just loved everything about this book x

Zoe and Toby are married and have kids. They have an ideal life. Zoe and Toby will be celebrating their 10th anniversary at the same place where they got married. Zoe is worried as her wedding day was not perfect she fainted on her wedding and she doesn't have a recollection of events those have happened at her wedding. She only knows what she has been told.
The more the anniversary is coming near the more she is realising that there is something more which she is not aware of.
A twisted story which you should read if you like a psychological thriller. I was awake till 2.00 am on normal working day just to know what happened this tells how much the story has gripped me.

The Wife is another edge of your seat, intriguing read from this author. 

Zoe cannot remember part of her wedding day, it's not bothered her unduly, but as she organises her tenth wedding celebration, her life starts to unravel, and she's not sure why.

This is a family drama with touches of noir, especially as the plot reveals the true events surrounding Zoe's memory loss.  The clues are there, and I did work out part of the mystery, but this increased my enjoyment of the story.

The pacing is perfect, the characters layered and hiding secrets and the final revelations breathtaking.

I received a  copy of this book from Bookouture via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

If you’ve been following this blog for a while, I guess it’s no secret that I absolutely adore Shalini Boland. I am on a self-imposed hiatus from psychological thrillers but I just couldn’t resist a title by Shalini.

Zoe fainted on her wedding day and now has a blank space in her memories. She is suspicious that something bad occurred but her family reassures her that nothing did. On the days leading up to her ten years anniversary, Zoe is forced to re-examine her wedding day with more questions than answers.

I had no clue on where this story would go. I was curious about Zoe’s wedding but couldn’t have guessed what had happened leading to the memory loss. The author managed to keep my mind racing with other mysteries including friends and family suddenly turning cold and a missing person re-appearing.

I enjoyed The Wife by Shalini Boland though I am not a fan of the bland/generic-ish title and cover. This was a fast-paced, twisty thriller that kept me guessing up to the last page.

Rating: 4 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷 !!!!!!!
Book: The Wife 
Available NOW -Release Date: September 9, 2020
Author: Shalini Boland
Genre: Thrillers, Mystery, Suspense

The Wife is a book packed with secrets, betrayal, and mystery. I felt for the main character Zoe. The story follows her as she is planning her 10-year wedding anniversary. Only thing is, ten years prior, on her wedding day, something happens, and she cannot remember. As the day gets closer, she realizes something bad happened and the people she love may hold the key. 

There are hardly any redeemable characters in this book besides Zoe and maybe one other. With the betrayal, lies, and coverups, I just wanted Zoe to lash out at everyone. Boland gives you just a peek chapter after chapter to keep you reading to see what actually happened on that fated wedding day. There were small twists and reveals that tied up the story in a nice little package. I can say that at the very end, one character made me want to shake the life out of her which I think was probably the desired feeling from Boland. I am interested in checking out more of her stuff as I liked her writing style.  

Thank you to @NetGalley @Bookouture and @Shaboland for an advanced copy of @TheWife. 

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OOOOOOOH!!!!  LOTS of secrets with this one!  It is beyond me why Ms. Boland is not a bigger author than she seems to be, or maybe that's just here in the states. I was fortunate enough to receive 4 of her books as ARC's over the years and have since gone back and purchased several others. All are very good, easy reads. This one is no different. Zoe is living her best life with her husband and kids but as their 10 year anniversary nears, strange things begin happening. This triggers her memory of fainting right before her wedding. What happened during that time? That is where the mystery begins. I enjoyed this, although I was not too crazy about Zoe. I found her on the weak side, but there were still some twists I did not see coming. I would recommend this book and author.

Thank you to NetGalley, Shalini Boland and Bookouture for this ARC!

I absolutely love good psychological thriller's and this novel was atmospheric, creepy with a lot of dark secrets. 
I'm always happy when I don't quite figure out the twist!
Quick read so i recommend it definitely.

Thank you NetGalley.

I really enjoyed this book all the way through.  It had a really good plot, great main characters and really keeps you hooked on the plot.  I would highly recommend this book.

Rating: 5/5
Genre: Thriller
Plot: 
It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Zoe was sitting in her hotel room, in her perfect white dress, looking forward to the moment when she would make kind, handsome Toby her husband.
Then, there was a blank.
They said she must have fainted, overcome with emotion. But nothing felt quite right afterwards. Did something happen in that missing time?
Now, Toby and Zoe have two beautiful children and a perfect life. They’re planning their ten-year anniversary party for their family and friends. The invitations have been sent, the food ordered. They’re going back to the grand hotel where they got married.
But as the anniversary gets closer, it becomes clear not everyone is looking forward to celebrating. Zoe catches Toby lying about where he’s been. One of her best friends seems to be ignoring her. And someone is spreading stories that might stop the party from happening at all.
Zoe is increasingly sure that she doesn’t have the full story. But does she want to know the truth, if it will destroy everything?
My verdict: Oh my god I loved this book! I’ve decided now that Shalini is the queen of thrillers. This book had everything; manipulation, estranged family, a vindictive mother in law and a cat and mouse archetype where Zoe is determined to find out what happened o her wedding day. But, somebody doesn’t want her too. It’s a choice of who does she trust? That is one of the biggest themes in the book as well as infidelity, dishonesty and revenge. It’s like a dominos effect A series of mysterious events kept happening to Zoe and we as readers thought she was going absolutely bonkers.
This book is told through dual narratives including flashbacks and false memories and after reading this book it made me question whether all we are told by those we trust is true. Honestly this book was a rollercoaster of emotions as we discovered alongside Zoe what happened and it was one of those books I couldn’t put down. The scenario itself reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock films with the unreliable narrator and red herrings. Just as you start to piece together the clues the author immediately throws you a curve ball questioning all your assumptions you’ve made through reading. I love the characters, even the bad ones they are so well written but they almost jump off the page. They all had a part to play in this cover-up and a conflict of interest where we never really knew the characters true agenda until the gut wrenching climax. I could easily see this being turned into a BBC drama. This book has all the hallmarks of a brilliant thriller and I love how Shalini prolonged the mystery to the very last second where even I could not predict the novel’s ending. The narratives overall message tells us that even the tiniest of white lies can spiral out of control affecting not one person but everyone around them. Thank you to netgalley for letting me read what I consider to be another home run for Shalini Boland!

Really loved this book this author is becoming a favourite of mine.   Plenty twists, well thought out & fabulous ending.  I would recommend to anyone.

When Zoe fainted on her wedding day, she assumed it was because she was pregnant at the time but something about that day has always felt off. It was supposed to be the happiest day but it's surrounded by a cloud of haze and doubt. Now, ten years later, she's about to find out the truth. 

The plot of this book was interesting enough but the execution fell flat. The characters were okay but I didn't connect with any of them. I saw most of the twists and turns coming, which in a thriller isn't what I'm looking for. The middle of the book dragged out and we spent way too much time having the main character whine about why her sister-in-law was ignoring her and why her old best friend is now a jerk. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy.

Zoe fainted on her wedding day, and she never knew why. She’s always felt sure something bad happened. Ten years later, she’s going to find out what. It was supposed to be the happiest day of her life. Zoe was sitting in her hotel room, in her perfect white dress, looking forward to the moment when she would make kind, handsome Toby her husband. Then, there was a blank. They said she must have fainted, overcome with emotion. But nothing felt quite right afterwards. Did something happen in that missing time? Now, Toby and Zoe have two beautiful children and a perfect life. They’re planning their ten-year anniversary party for their family and friends. The invitations have been sent, the food ordered. They’re going back to the grand hotel where they got married. But as the anniversary gets closer, it becomes clear not everyone is looking forward to celebrating. Zoe catches Toby lying about where he’s been. One of her best friends seems to be ignoring her. And someone is spreading stories that might stop the party from happening at all. Zoe is increasingly sure that she doesn’t have the full story. But does she want to know the truth, if it will destroy everything? 

This is a good read but not a great one and why I could not rate it higher. Boland starts with Zoe's wedding day and the strange events that happen, fast forward ten years and Zoe is still unsure what happened and now strange events are occurring once more. As I have said this is a very engaging read, Zoe is very likeable and I was on her side as she tried to discover the truth. At the heart of this is a good old-fashioned mystery that always makes for good reading. However, the twists are obvious and the whole read was missing something extra that would have boosted the rating and made this more exciting. 

Boland flits between past and present throughout, I much preferred the present day chapters however as the read progresses, the past chapters become more important. I do think it might have worked better just having the past chapters towards the end of the read when they serve a purpose. The pace really ramps up towards the end of the read but so do the obvious twists. Nothing that was revealed shocked me and this was a real shame. 

'The Wife' is good but not great and suffers from a lack of thrills and excitement. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for an advance copy.

Starting a Shalini Boland book is a bit like opening a favourite tin of biscuits. You pretty much know what to expect — twists and turns, dark secrets, red herrings galore — but by the time you've scoffed the lot, you feel pretty satisfied.
Luckily, the author's books are calorie-free but a great way to pass the time. What I like the most about her writing style is its simplicity, which is not a criticism. She knows how to tell a tale without resorting to flowery phrases or complex language. 
I won't go on about the plot. It's sufficient to say that something went wrong on Zoe's wedding day, something that starts to unravel ten years' later on her wedding anniversary. Yes, there were moments when I thought, 'Really?' and 'Hmm, not sure about that' but that didn't stop me from racing to the end. Another scratching the head moment, but still thoroughly entertaining. My thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for my ARC.