I was totally intrigued by the punchline but for me this was a slow burner, within 10%.you knew the plot so was wondering where will this lead to.
It kind of dipped from there on and picked up brilliantly around 50%.

I really didn't know what way this was going to go and I really enjoyed the second half of the story.

An enjoyable read but not one of my favourites from this author.

I like books that trigger an internal question within me, "would I be able to marry the person that kill my son?" that was what hook me in at the beginning. However, every main character in this book had a juicy secret and I kept going back and forth trying to figure it out! I have to admit I did not foresee that ending at all!! I really enjoyed it....and the 2 months later/the guest chapter just cracked me up!

Thank you NetGalley, KL Slater and Bookoutour for this ARC, I really enjoyed reading it!

My first KL Slater book so huge thank you to NetGalley for introducing me!

Bridget lost her only son ten years ago when his best friend Tom punched him once outside a nightclub, killing him with one blow. Now ten years later, Bridget ha her life back in track with her charity, new house and new husband....Tom, the man who has just served ten years in prison for killing Jesse...her only child.

This book had me gripped. I really enjoyed how the characters were fleshed out within the storylines and how the author brought them to life so vividly. I would highly recommend this book and am off
To find more form the author!

The Marriage by KL Slater
I give this book 4 stars

Ten years ago he killed my son. Today I married him.
Ten years ago my son Jesse was murdered and our perfect family was destroyed.
No one can understand it. How can I love a man like Tom?
But they don’t really know me at all…

A story with a theme that immediately intrigued me,once l got into the book l didn’t want to put it down. Set in Nottinghamshire with a believable cast of characters who each tell you their side of a past event intertwined with present day. A well written,twisty read.
With thanks to Netgalley,KL Slater and Bookouture for my chance to read and review this book.

“Ten years ago he killed my son. Today I married him.”

The tagline piqued my curiosity! Was it revenge? What kind of person marries a killer? The book exceeded my expectations.

Two boys and their mothers are friends from play school and grow up loving to be in each other’s home. One night the boys are kicked out of a bar, start to argue, and it results in one of them dead and the other serving a 10-year prison sentence. The accused and the mother of the victim meet through a restorative justice program and 6 months prior to his release, they are secretly married.

This compulsive read kept me guessing. The author, like a juggler, was spinning so many plates that I felt unsure which one was going to come crashing down. It kept me absorbed in the story. I read every line because I didn’t want to miss any clues. In the end, the author surprised me. I can only imagine what K.L.Slater’s plot board must have looked like to be able to pull this off! Congratulations are in order; this is a twisty thriller.

You’ll have to read to discover if they’ve married for love or if there’s another motive!

Publishes May 20, 2021

I was gifted this advance copy by K.L.Slater, Bookouture and NetGalley and was under no obligation to provide a review.

K.L. Slater is one of my favourite authors and have always found her books addictive and excellent reads so it is a big surprise to me that I didn’t particularly enjoy this one as much. It is obvious looking at the other reviews that I am in the minority and perhaps I am being a little bit harsh giving it a 3 star rating. I did enjoy it but it just didn’t grip me in the way that all her other books have.

Bridget’s son Jesse was killed by his best friend Tom following a fight outside a nightclub. While Tom served ten years in prison he received visits from Bridget and they fell in love and got married. Now Tom has been released he must face his mother and tell her his secret so he can start a new life. All this time Tom has kept his marriage a big secret from her but he is not the only person keeping secrets.

Like all of this authors books it is fast paced, interesting characters and a page turner but I just felt a little too far fetched this time. I am sure many others will enjoy it and she remains one of my must reads in the future.

I would like to thank both Netgalley and Bookouture for supplying a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

i very much enjoyed this story this author never disappoint s her readers always twisty and gripping ,Thomas and Jesse are best friends but one night there friendship is tested Jessie dies and Tom goes to prison , Bridget Jessie s mum has finally forgiven tom and they fall in love and get married in prison but Tom s mum Jill does not know and she cant wait for the day of release from prison and that day has come and she gets the shock of her life , Bridget and Jill became best friends to but the friendship breaks after that night but there is a lot of twists and lies in this book say no more but so so good a must read

"Ten years ago he killed my son. Today I married him." Well consider me intrigued and hoping this request is granted because what an opening line!

This plotline was pretty daring. K.L. Slater really went for this and I think she nailed it. This story was entertaining, intriguing, and took some liberties. I genuinely enjoyed this.

This was back to the Psychological Thriller level that I expect from K.L. Slater. It was phenomenal after the last few books have been just average. It was back to the utter suspense that I had experienced from the first few books I had read by her, and it blew me away just like they did.
I was gripped right from the start; why is Bridget marrying her son’s killer. What is her ulterior motive? As the story progresses, I can’t tell what the outcome will be; I started to doubt everyone and all of their actions. It kept me guessing and on my toes the entire way through. I didn’t see the conclusion coming that we were presented with. It was a complete shocker and fantastic as not many have been able to do this to me lately. It really kept my imagination alive with all that was unfolding.
We are mainly having the story told from Jill and Bridget’s perspective. However, Tom, Audrey, Ellis and I think a few other character’s get their voices heard, too, which was great to see things from different perspectives.
The premise was really different to any that I have read before, so this kept me gripped and interested the entire way through. I like how the author explains how the book and story came to fruition just from a simple news article and spirals from there. I really do admire how an author can do this. I hear a news story and forget about it a few seconds later, but creating something from such a small piece of information is admirable.
Overall, a superb, five-star read that once again excited me, just like that very first Psychological Thriller (The Mistake) that I read by this author.

Wow! The twists in this book are great. I enjoyed reading this story and I read it very fast cause I couldn’t put it down. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
Tom gets out of jail after serving a 10 year sentence for killing his best friend under self defense. He marries his best friends mom and then the story gets interesting and the drama twists all come out.

I am a fan of K.L Slater so I was looking forward to getting my hands on her latest book.
The Marriage didn’t go the way that I expected it to. The story was not predictable so it was even better than expected.
Tom and Jesse were friends from a young age. Their Mum’s, Jill and Bridget, were best friends until, after an incident on a night out left Jesse dead and Tom sent to prison for his manslaughter.

Restorative Justice put Tom and Bridget in touch whilst Tom served his sentence. They were married just before Tom was released leaving Tom to break the news to his Mum Jill.

The story is told from different perspectives. I expected the story to be about revenge. The fact it isn’t made it a better read.
I loved that Nottingham is the city it is set in as that is where I live and recognising the towns added to it.

As I have now come to expect, this is another excellent book by K.L Slater -and gets a big thumbs up from me

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publisher and the author for gifting me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love K.L. Slater. Firstly all her books are set in and around Nottinghamshire. Secondly, she writes a flipping good story. There are always interesting characters and usually an ending you don't see coming. If anyone ever puts me on the spot and says recommend a book, my response is always anything by Kim Slater.
This book is centered around two young lads. On a night out, too many drinks leads to a fight. Tom ends up in prison and Jesse ends up dead. During his ten year stretch Tom enters the restorative justice program where he meets up with Bridget. Jesse mum.
Over the last two years of his sentence they fall in love and secretly marry in prison. On his release family are shocked. Have they really married for love or is there an another motive?
Many thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read this ARC

Well written with good character development but very predictable to me. I just couldn’t get into it. Your typical murder mystery with an extra marriage twist. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

The Marriage kept me totally entertained from the very first page! Definitely a thought provoking book and somewhat of a departure from KL Slater's typical books. Loved it and definitely recommend!
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

So here’s the thing about this book…

If you pick this up after reading the description, you’re clearly in the mood for a trashy, fun romp of a book. And it starts out reading that way.

The characters are clearly up to no good – every last one of them. Some of the behavior borders on deviant and promises so much popcorn-chomping entertainment ahead.

The problem is that those lovely little hinted at secrets never really deliver.

While there’s a scandal or two, they’re kind of…basic and not so scandalous. And there’s a surprising amount of kumbaya instead of oh my god.

It left me feeling kind of meh when I really just wanted guilty pleasure.

Not quite what I’d hoped.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

This storyline is a good and thought provoking story line. What would you do to the person who killed your only child? The main character in this novel marred him! I will admit the author will keep you guessing and t here will definitely be a surprise or two lurking around the corner. I was especially surprised at the ending, and how it tied up some loose ends that left be wondering.

This was an absolute whirlwind of a psychological thriller! I loved it from beginning to end.

The characters were fantastic. I never really knew who to trust or what their motives were. This book honestly kept me guessing until the very end.

I definitely recommend this one.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this ebook to review via Netgalley.

Tom killed his best friend Jesse in a scuffle outside a nightclub and has served ten years in prison. While he is in prison he is visited by Jesse’s mum and the two fall in love and get married. When he is released from prison his family can’t believe he has kept this secret from them.
Tom is not the only one keeping secrets.
A slow moving story with multiple timelines and characters.
I did not enjoy this book as much as this authors previous books and found the story quite unbelievable.
Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

The premise of this is super interesting...two men are best friends growing up and on night after some drinks, one kills the other with a single punch, knocking him down and hitting his head. Then 10 years later, the mother of the dead man married the man who killed him just before he’s released from prison, so that no one could stop them from being together once he’s free.
There were lots of details and characters to keep straight, but once I got past that, I enjoyed this story. The characters were interesting and there were several twists to keep it going. That being said, it probably could have been about 50 pages shorter and not lost anything but upped the intensity of it. There were parts that just kinda plodded along and didn’t add anything other than pages.
Definitely filled with family drama and lots of skeletons in the closets, this will make a great beach read this summer.
Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this Arc in exchange for my review.

I was intrigued by the concept of this - why on earth would a woman marry the man who killed her son?

It was compulsively readable as I really wanted to know what the characters' motives were and every chapter brought more questions than answers. I enjoyed having multiple points of view and flashbacks to the past so we could see how the relationships between the characters used to be versus how they are now.

I thought I knew which direction this book was going to take and I'm glad I was wrong as I feel that it would have been too obvious. Whilst the ending did come as a surprise to me, it didn't blow my socks off and for me some issues were left unresolved. I would also like to have seen a bit more about how Tom adapted to normal life after spending ten years in prison as it seemed surprisingly seamless.

I would recommend this book as it was a decent read, but it wasn't by any means the best psychological thriller I've read recently.

Just a note, in this ARC there are a few instances where the ages of characters are inconsistent, there are chunks of time which don't add up and sentences where the phrasing is very strange. Also, a character plans to buy a Playstation 5 in October 2019, but these were not released until November 2020 and in October 2019 they were still just a vague concept. I assume that the book will be going through a further edit before final publication so I will not mark the book down for these reasons.