Great read! Really enjoyed this one. I’ll definitely be looking out for other books by this author. I did however find it a bit slow at the beginning but I’m glad it picked up and started to get more twisty.

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains domestic abuse
Freya and her husband Phil have a blazing row and he storms out of the house. Minutes later, he crashes his car and when he wakes from the coma he has lost all memory of the last two years and their whole turbulent marriage. Freya hopes he has changed but his behaviour becomes increasingly worrying. Meanwhile the couple discover that someone tampered with the brakes but which one of them was the intended victim...?
The Stranger In My Bed had me gripped the whole way through. We witness the argument between Phil and Freya and over the course of the book see other incidents that chart the disintegration of the whirlwind romance that brought them together in the first place.
The narrative is told in the third person but from various angles including Freya, Phil, her sister Daisy and a mystery person in the first person. This allows us to see their perspectives on events and the actions of the other characters.
Karen King has done a spectacular job of dealing with the intricacies of domestic abuse. The negotiations and compromises that need to take place for a successful relationship are missing from Phil and Freya's marriage. Both stand up for themselves and this leads to conflict.
Freya is desperately hoping that Phil has changed as a result of the accident and they have a chance at a fresh start. Phil does not recognise the person that Freya alludes to and when she challenges him he fears that she may have been the abuser.
The Stranger In My Bed is a fantastic psychological thriller. There were plenty of twists in the plot that had me reading even more voraciously. I thought the conclusion was excellent and the final page did make me gasp a little...

I really enjoyed the premise of the book and I understand how the author wrote it to try to create a sense of suspense and dread, however, I did not like the execution. 

We are meant to believe that Freya is the beaten wife about to leave her husband before he gets in an accident erasing his memory and leaving him back to when the first fell in love and things are good between them. I never got the master manipulator or the feel of Freya being in a toxic relationship. It’s like the author googled “toxic relationship” and just used what google said the signs were. It felt forced and insincere. 

The book was a super predictable, a really quick read with short chapters.

Thanks so much for the opportunity to read this book Netgalley  It was extremely well written & had credible & strong characters.  The twists & turns are really good in this excellent thriller.

A very well written domestic thriller. The storyline is good and the characters very believable. A few twists along the way to keep you guessing .

A controlling husband is put in the hospital after someone tampers with the brakes on his car. Who wants him dead? As he gains consciousness, everyone soon realizes he last lost memory of the last two years of his life. He cannot remember anything about his marriage or what the marriage was like. As you get further into the story, you discover what a jerk he truly is and why he has made several enemies. What I really liked was I was not able to completely figure out the whole ending on my own. Who doesn't like a surprise? Thank you NetGalley, this was a very intriguing read for thriller/suspense readers like me.

The stranger in my bed is told from multiple point of views. Freya married Phil after 6 months they know each other. After 2 years, Freya decided to leave her abusive and manipulative husband but suddenly he got into a car accident. She can't leave him when he got amnesia and kinda fragile so she decided to give him a second chance tskkk

I like the ending. Serve him right duh but goshh I hate Freya's sister!! How can she backstabbed her own sister? Like wtf ?? Ohhh I don't like her mother too!! Seems like she don't even care bout her own daughter goshh

Thank you Netgalley, publisher and author for this ARC!

🌟🌟🌟.5

The first time I read a book by Karen King, and I enjoyed it. The Stranger in My Bed is a psychological thriller which is more of a suspense thriller. When Freya and Phil met she thought he was the man she would spend the rest of her life with. But that quickly changed into a nightmare. Freya trying to rid of this abusive marriage decides to leave which as she is getting ready to the police come to her door saying that Phil was in a horrible accident. He has no memory of the past two years and Freya decides to try to fix their marriage, will it be a huge mistake??
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the advance ecopy.

A Stranger in My Bed was my first read for December. Penned as a "gripping psychological thriller" I was really excited to dive in. I would say this one is more of a domestic thriller but 🤷

Freya and her husband Phil have been married for 2 years. When an argument pushes them apart Freya is ready to leave Phil for good. Until the police arrive at her door with the news that Phil has been in a terrible accident. In the hospital, they find out Phil has extreme amnesia and cannot remember the past 2 years of their marriage. Leaving a lot of secrets to be uncovered.

I found the characters to be likeable but I figured out pretty much every "twist" and even though I like being right I do enjoy the mind-blowing feeling of being wrong. I also felt that so much of the dialogue was redundant. To the point that I was like OKAY, WE GET IT! MOVE ON! 

I am interested to read others from this author I just think this one missed the mark for me.
3.5/5 stars

The Stranger in My Bed is the first book I have read by Karen King, but I also understand this is her first foray out of romance. This book is billed a thriller with a twist, but I say it is more of a domestic suspense or psychological suspense. I was hooked from the opening and enjoyed this well written book, but there wasn't much of a twist. Phil Keegan falls for Freya Swinton the first time her sees her. He sweeps her off her feet during a whirlwind courtship and they quickly get married. It takes only six months after their wedding for Freya to see the real Phil and for his violent, narcissistic personality to come out. She is ready to leave him, when she gets a knock on the door. Phil has been in an accident and is in the hospital. He isn't seriously injured but has lost his memory of the last two years of his life. Not only that, but it appears someone tampered with his brakes and tried to kill him, or perhaps it was Freya they were after. Freya decides to give him another chance, that perhaps she can get him to change, but can anyone change someone's true nature?

As I was reading this, I kept going back and forth trying to figure out who was telling the truth. Were they all unreliable narrators. The secrets are doled out as Phil recovers and regains his memory. There is also a third POV, from someone who hates Phil and is sneaking around, even being the person who tampered with his brakes. This is a realistic and devastating look at the chaos and trauma that abuse can wreak on those subjected to it. I really felt for Freya and her dire situation. She was a likeable character, rushing to be by Phil's bedside even after making the decision to leave him because of the abuse he subjected her to.

As the story unfolds we learn that Phil really is not a very nice person, and I wanted to know who else wanted to make him pay. The ending was a bit rushed, but overall, it was a satisfying way to end this story. This was an emotional story and I was involved right up until the end. I was gifted a copy of this book upon request. The rating and opinions shared are my own.

The Stranger in my Bed is a quick read with twists throughout. Although very predictable, I was interested in finding out how events would come to fruition. It wasn’t the worst thriller, but definitely not the best either. I’m not closing the door on reading future books from Karen King, This book had its thrilling moments, but few and far between. 2.5 stars rounded to ⭐️⭐️⭐️. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Loved it! My brain was racing ahead of eyes dying to know what would happen next. A dramatic tale of love,marriage,and secrets. This will draw you in and keep you there until the last page. Wonderful stuff!

Brilliant.  This book had me hooked from the beginning.  An edge of your seat, page turner that you really can't guess. Freya seems to have it all from the outside,  married to a successful man, with a loving family around her. One day her husband is seriously injured ina car accident and it appears it might not have been accidental, someone might have tampered with the brakes. And now he can't remember the last 2 years of their marriage.  As we go further into the story we learn that their marriage hasn't been fully happy.  So who might want to hurt him, what secrets are there to be discovered and will the truth make them all happier or more miserable.

I would like to thank the author, the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. It drew me in from the start and there were so many times that I thought I had it all worked out only to find I was wrong. I would definitely recommend this book.

Gripping thriller that I recommended to my non-reader friends who even had a lot to say! Great discussions had with this one!

This was an excellent read that kept you guessing until the end. Freya was portrayed brilliantly, her character was believable in every way from the first chapter.  The story line surrounding Phil,s changeable behaviour develops at a perfect pace and along the way includes, Daisy, Freya’s sister, whose involvement becomes apparent as Phil starts to recover from the accident. Similarly, flashes of the past are dealt with to perfection so by the time you are nearing the end of the book everything becomes clear and out in the open as we discover what a dreadful and cruel person Phil is and how catastrophically his behaviour affected everyone in his life.

Just gripped had me hooked from the first few pages a page turner characters strong a few great twits and turn good plot easy to great enjoyed this book

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. I really enjoyed this book and the characters in it.  When Freya's husband, Phil, is in a car accident, he does not remember the last two years of his life. As some memories start to come back, he questions himself if he had an affair and if he was physically abusive. This book had me guessing who was involved in tampering with the brakes in Phil's car to cause the accident and had many twists and turns until the very end.

I'm afraid this book wasn't for me. It felt stilted and the characters unlikable. I struggled to finish it.

Favorite Quote:

‘Determined, not stubborn,’ she corrected lightly. ‘Determined is a good trait; stubborn isn’t always.’


My Review:

This is the type of story that has me wanting the shake sense into the characters and give them a good pinch for being so obtuse they annoy me.  The women knew better, yet they still fell repeatedly for the Irish charm.  The intriguing storylines were twisty, well-paced, and taut with impending peril, domestic abuse, family drama, lies, betrayals, and secrets aplenty.  This was my introduction to Ms. King’s work and I was astounded to see her Goodreads listings packed with multiple genres including children’s books, rom-coms, suspense, poetry, and even some naughty erotica.  Oh, my.  I do believe further research into this talented scribe is now required.