Mayas mother mysteriously died when she was 6 leaving her to be brought up by her father, as an adult their relationship is close, to the extend of uncomfortable co-dependancy. When he brings home a girlfriend for the first time Maya is thrown and hostile as she struggles to understand how this new arrival is so like her monther. Her journey to discover what really happened on thsoe clifts all those years ago when her mother died begins.
I wanted to like this but found all of the characters extremely difficult to emphasise with, even the protagonist Maya, who behaves like a spoilt child rather than an adult for most of the book. The side storyline of her fathers co-worker was also a strange one, and I still cant work out what that brought to the nook.
Overall this is very much a slow burner of a book, which I struggled to stay engaged with.The twist at the end was good but im not sure for that that it was worth struggling through the rest of the book for. Maybe others would enjoy it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an earc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So, the premise of the book seemed intriguing. It was why I requested it in the first place. However, I just didn't enjoy the book. It was okay. The writing was good, and there was enough of a mystery to be entertaining. Yet, at the same time, the mystery felt a little disjointed. It was almost as if there was too much going on, and nothing felt really well developed.

The characters too, I didn't really like. It felt like the book was aiming for unreliable narrators and just missed the mark with this one. It's a shame, because I think it could have been a really good book.

There were some important points brought up in the book, but in the context of the whole plot...just felt odd and unnecessary, like, they were brought in to add more tension, but instead did nothing.

<B>CW/TW:</b> abuse, domestic abuse, murder, self-harm

ohh this was good! I really enjoyed the setting. I could picture myself there in that big cliff side house. The setting was its own character in this story and a major one.
The pages kept me guessing and I had it all
wrong! A definite twisty thriller!

I have read books by this author before and I am a fan. Needless to say that I was looking forward to this one too.
It’s true that not every book grabs you by the throat straight away with a lot of action going on, but that’s not a problem for me. As long as the author can keep me interested, that is what I am looking for. I know that somewhere, sometime, the story will explode and that I will be lost to the world.
First of all I like the cover, but that’s me loving jewellery. You can’t go wrong there. 😉 Good choice.
When I read the title, I had some scenarios in my head, but none of them were the right ones. Kudos to the author for this. 😊
After having read a book, I take a few moments to think about it and especially how the cover and title fit the story. I already talked about the cover. So, how did I feel about the title? I quite like it when the title summarizes the whole book, but sometimes it’s indicating something else too. It focusses then on one important part of the story and this was the case this time in my opinion. It was only a very small part in the book, but when that was revealed,for me, that’s when all hell broke loose.
I never knew who to trust and I love that. It shows the author’s background in psychology. She uses it to create interesting stories. 5 stars.
Thank you, Wendy Clarke and Bookouture

The first but now certainly not the last book I've read by Wendy Clarke. Plenty of twists and turns in this psychological thriller. Maya was 6 years old when found at the top of some cliffs near her home after going out with her mum who died. Moving on, Amy is now a grown woman still living in her childhood home with her father. The story only has a few characters but they all play a part in the book. Maya has a few memories of her mum, always happy ones, but what is the truth behind her mothers death. As a new love comes into her fathers life these memories are all brought to the surface.
I really enjoyed the twists and turns in this book.
Received this book from Netgalley and publishers in exchange for an honest review.

This was an introduction to Wendy Clarke for me, and I’m delighted to have found another author to add to my ‘go to’ list for my favourite genre of psychological thriller fiction!

‘His Hidden Wife’ is full of twists making it delightfully unpredictable!

The plot centres around Psychologist, Stephen, who has brought up daughter, Maya, alone, following the death of her mother in questionable circumstances when Maya was just 6 years old.

Maya suffers memory loss around this stressful event, but things start coming back to her when her father starts a new relationship with Amy, a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Maya’s dead mother.

In an interwoven storyline, we learn of Teresa, Stephen’s infatuated colleague, who has her own share of stresses and secrets.

With a gripping plot, well crafted characters and clever storytelling, this is a book I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend.

My thanks to Net galley, author and publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for an honest review.

Holy heck!! I have no words for this book! It was twisted beyond measure! I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! This book will be with me for a long time to come!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

One word, brilliant! This book had so many twists I felt dizzy and loved every single minute of it! Another fabulous psychological thriller that had me gripped from page one, and just as I thought I had the plot figured out, another plot twist happened. Highly recommended

This book revolves around Maya and the memories or rather lack of memories she has surrounding her Mother's death.

As an adult, Maya feels a sense of obligation to her Father, Stephen but when he brings a new girlfriedn home, things begin to change and Maya finds herself questioning her memories, are they her own or has been told these are her memories?

I wasn't quite sure where Teresa storyline fitted in to begin with but I suppose it's about people having different views of the same person.

Quite a slow burner.

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

I am a Wendy Clarke fan and was looking forward to this book. While the book had a great story, I just found it to be repetitive and dragged on to get to the meat of the story. Normally I connect with at least one of the characters but in this case, I found them to be single noted and not have much depth to them at all. The twist at the end was a surprise to me so I was happy for that.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an early copy of His Hidden Wife. Started out very slow and only got interesting at about 78%, I’m sorry but it was just not a good read. The characters were unlikable and the plot was drawn out. Sorry.

After her mother's death twelve years ago, Maya and her father Stephen have formed a close (if not codependent) relationship with each trying to protect the other from the past. It's just been them against the world, and Maya likes it that way. Suddenly the status quo is shifted when Stephen brings home a new girlfriend.
The presence of this strange woman begins to transform their once close relationship, and Maya is curious to know why Stephen's new girlfriend looks and acts just like her mother. This odd coincidence (or is it?) stirs up a lot of questions in Maya. Though her father has always refused to talk about her wife's death, Maya knows he is keeping secrets from her and is determined to find out what they are.
Was her mother's death a tragic accident? Was it suicide? Or was it something far more sinister?

This story had a lot of twists and turns.
It was an unpredictable, exciting and often emotional journey that focused on the power of memories: How they define us, how they reshape and change with time and how they bleed the past into our present.

Another thing I enjoyed about this story is Clarke's ability to create such vivid landscapes. It really pulls the reader in, as does her ability to write endearing characters.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

His Hidden Wife by Wendy Clarke is a psychological thriller that keeps you guessing from page one. The book opens with Maya at 6 years old who just experienced the apparent suicide of her mother. You become enamored with the thoughtful care and good relationship she has with her father, Stephen.

The book is told from two points of view, Maya and a co-worker of her Maya's father, Teresa. You are given glimpses of flashbacks and you will wonder what is real and what has been manipulated. Maya is a sympathetic character as her life is devoted to her father, and you want to protect her from various people who seem to have evil intentions.

Wendy Clarke delves into the powers of memories by using her psychology background, which fills this book with nuances and suspense.

The characters have flaws which draws the reader even further. You can not help but try to figure out who to sympathize with and who is at fault. Trust me though, you will be shocked when it is not at all what it seems.

I was provided a free advance reader copy from Bookouture in exchange for my honest review on Net Galley. The opinions shared in this review are my own.

Wendy Clarke writes well and His Hidden Wife is different from other thrillers I've read. The pacing is slower than I like, but the author does a good job of unmasking the characters and their motivations by the end of the book. Many thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing an ARC of the story to read and review.

I would definitely recommend especially if you like the suspense category and going through twists and turns especially the ones you think you know are about to happen but you end up getting flipped on your head .

This was a slow burner to start with and I can’t say that that I liked or connected with any of the characters. However, as the book went on the pace picked up a bit and I found myself quickly turning the pages.
The storyline was good, that was what kept me reading on. The characters seemed to lack personalities, some of the writing also glossed over their pasts and a lot of other information which I feel could have explained why they were the way they were and I think this is why I didn’t connect with them.

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I double dare you to try to figure this thriller out!

In this novel, Maya tries to discover the secret of her mother's death. Her father, Stephen tries to keep secrets from her in order to protect her. But, is her really protecting her or making the death of her mother only worse? Her father soons gets a new girlfriend, Amy, who Maya believes will help her figure out the real reason for her mother's death. On the literal last page of the novel, it all comes together.

This mind-blowing thiller by Clarke should be the 1st to-be-read thriller of 2021 for you! You will not regret it.

Maya was six when her mother dies falling off a cliff near their family home. She can’t remember the full details to what happened that day. All she remembers is her lying under some pylons and someone grabbing her and pulling her away. Twelve years later, her Dad Stephen a psychologist says that she is suppressing her own emotions after the terrible trauma she endured. She lives with her father ever since. He tells her of her happy childhood and years ever since.
When one day, Stephen comes home and introduces Maya to his new girlfriend Amy who looks the spitting image of her mother. She seems to keep him calm and happy. As Stephen gets older, he is starting to have bad mood swings that Maya can’t always deal with. Maya is not happy at first but accepts Amy until Maya starts getting flashbacks to the time when her mother died. Is her Dad telling the truth to what happened that day?
Thank you Bookouture for a copy of His hidden wife by Wendy Clarke. I have mixed feelings for this book. This is a beautifully written book, told in several points of view which for me personally find a bit confusing at times and it found it to be a really slow paced. If you like that sort of thing that this book for you. Sadly, I found this too slow for me

Definitely not what I expected.
Maya’s mother died in suspicious circumstances when she was a young girl - was it murder or suicide.
Maya, now grown up lives with her psychologist father. They have, to say the least, a strange relationship. Her father Stephen has never properly explained what happened to her mother though rumours abound in the locality that he was somehow involved.
The book is told from Maya and Theresa’s POV. Theresa works in the clinic with Stephen and seems to have ‘the hots’ for him, despite being married.
Unexpectedly Stephen brings a new woman into his life - Amy who seems to behave and look like his ex-wife.
This was a very slow paced book and took me several attempts to finish.
3 Stars ⭐️
Thanks to #Bookouture and #Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.

This is one of those books where I can't decide if I really liked it or not, even a couple days after finishing. The ending was interesting and the reveal was twisty, but the characters were hard to connect with. It centers primarily on Maya, whose mother tragically fell from the cliffs near their home when she was only 6 years old. Now 18, she has been taking care of her dad, Stephen, and enjoying their isolated lifestyle, when he suddenly shows up with a new love, Amy, who looks creepily like Maya's dead mother. There are also chapters told from the POV of Stephen's colleague, Teresa, who is secretly in love with him and working up the nerve to tell him.

Maya is the primary narrator, and I struggled to connect with her. We don't really know why she felt that her dad needed her to step into the caretaker role or why she favored that over leaving home and going to college. I wish that the author had done more to show the reader the level of attachment between Maya and Stephen, though that became somewhat more clear at the end. I thought that the relationship with Stephen and Amy moved extremely quickly, which was also confusing- he had no girlfriend for 12 years and all of a sudden he is in a serious relationship?

When it starts to come to light what is really going on, the pace of the book picks up a great deal. I thought that the storyline was interesting and unique, and it did answer some questions I had about Maya and Stephen earlier in the book. I figured out the final twist but it felt satisfying, though perhaps a bit out of character for the person involved. Overall, I enjoyed the ending though.

I'd give this book a solid 3 stars- I think it's worth reading and has an interesting storyline, but it is a slow burn for much of the book and I couldn't connect to the characters. I also cannot figure out the relevance of the title to the story- maybe I missed something but it didn't make sense to me. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.