Wife Support System

An amusing tale of budding friendships and an excellent debut novel!

I really enjoyed this book, it was entertaining and enjoyable. I really enjoyed the dynamics between the 3 main characters and loved witnessing their budding friendships.

I liked the way it was written and found it really easy to listen to and get immersed in.

I found the narrator easy to listen to and she added to the experience of the book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me this arc in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

Perfectly relatable, full of humour and warmth.
It was such an enjoyable read and works well as an audiobook

This is a story about three women called Louise, Polly and Erica who all move in together, along with their children, so that they can help each other with housework, cleaning, cooking and childcare. This works to a point, but soon they are annoying each other and bickering. Will they be able to keep their friendship strong through all of the experiences they share together? I enjoyed this book and I thought the narrator was very good, with a pleasant voice that suited the story. There were some funny moments in the book which made me laugh.

Many thanks to the author, publisher and Net Galley for a copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I received this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked this, more than I expected to, it wasn’t as light and fluffy as I expected but was funny in places and it’s a book that gets you really engaged with the main characters, definitely worth a read.

What a lovely book. Great characters and a good storyline. All 3 characters are different but strong in their own ways. As the story evolves we learn more about each woman. It had laugh out loud moments and also moments of sorrow for the characters. The only slightly irritating thing was the amount of time some sentences were repeated, for example Summer chewing on her dummy!! Other than that a great story which I really enjoyed listening to.

A fun, playful, witty listen with plenty of personality.
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LOVED:

🎧Really enjoyed Natalie Dew’s narration. It was my first time listening to her and she did a fantastic job of portraying and differentiating the characters.
💚Definitely recommend this as a fun, lighthearted read. It was exactly what I had hoped it would be; a mix of humour, mum realisms and the odd twist.
💜I came away with a smile.
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COULD HAVE LOVED MORE:

I have an aversion to astrology, which one of the characters mentions a lot, but given other characters felt the same, I felt in good company.
I’d have liked more interplay with the husbands/partners, but it didn’t affect my enjoyment.
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SHALL I COMPARE THEE TO:

The style reminded me of some of my favourite Wendy Holden audiobooks, complete with quirky humour and snark.
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OTHER THOUGHTS:

Looking forward to seeing what both Kathleen Whyman and Natalie Dew do next.
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Big thanks to NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio for providing me with an audio ARC in return for an honest review.

In a Nutshell: This was a quick, fun read where you don’t need to tax your brains too much but just go with the flow.

Erica is a busy stylist with a passion for fashion and fitness and not much time for her daughter. After her nanny quits, she finds herself struggling, especially as her partner Dan isn’t a hands-on parent.
Still mourning the loss of her love, Polly has moved into her old family B&B with her two kids. She finds herself lonely and struggling to return to normalcy.
Louise is a highly organised career woman who is conscious about her excess weight and suspicious about her husband’s commitment. She decides she needs a break from her relationship.
The three friends soon realise that the best solution to their problems is if they cohabit under the same roof and share in the parental and household duties. As can be guessed, the result is organised chaos.

The book is full of over-the-top situations and exaggerated humour. So it works well if you keep your brains aside and just take it as a predictable light-hearted story. The three friends are all flawed characters so it is tough to identify completely with any of them. (Well, I came very close to connecting with Louise over her passion for Colin Firth. I get you, girl!) At the same time, they show a decent amount of vulnerability that is endearing and irksome in turn. But as I said, I just kept my brains aside while listening to this audio, so while I wasn’t surprised, I wasn’t disappointed as well.

The writing is pretty decent for a debut author. She needs to work on making the narrative crisper as there is a fair bit of repetition in the name of thoughts and a lot of dragged-out writing in some of the scenes. But other than this sharper editing requirement, the book stands pretty strongly in its genre. It talks of friendships, adjustments, letting go and trying out new things. It also shows how no one is perfect and you must be comfortable in your own skin before others can accept you for who you are.

Narrator Natalie Drew converted this 11.5 hrs audiobook into an enjoyable experience with her spirited rendition of all the characters. I loved her performance. A hearty 5 stars for her efforts.

Overall, this was a fairly good read and I’d recommend it to lovers of light-hearted women’s fiction. 3.5 stars from me, rounding up to 4.

Thank you, NetGalley and Saga Egmont Audio, for the audio ARC of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I listened to this one as an audio book and I thoroughly enjoyed the dynamic between the three different women. I found myself getting frustrated at the men in their lives and then also getting frustrated at the women who began to act exactly like the people they were trying to avoid. I will also say, I liked the audio except for the children, I absolutely hated when the children had any lines in the book because the way that the person did the children's voices was like nails on a chalkboard. Overall, I think that this was a good book, definitely something to make the commute to and from work a bite more bearable.

Loved this fun, heartwarming, fast paced read! Fantastic debut from this author, Kathleen Wyman!

Three very different characters, Erica, Louise and Polly, all mums are bright together on a cheeky holiday wth their children. Due to childcare issues and (all with lack of father roles) and juggling work, Erica manages to persuade the other two what a great idea it would be to all move into Pollys rundown large ex B&B.

The plan to share childcare, housework and cooking etc soon falls short with Erica and Louise heavily relying on the lovely, sweet Polly. However, they soon realise this comes at a cost!

The story follows the three separate journeys, each one I loved. Pollys unravelled unexpectedly (and quite sad!) I enjoyed her journey the most. It was so lovely to watch her grow stronger and happier.

Friendships are tested throughout but also discovered and each learning from the other and the situation.

Btw I also enjoyed the kids journey. It was also very interesting watching developing from initial excitement of all friends living together to some challenging moments!

I could really relate to the motherhood juggling and the story was refreshing and brought to life by the wonderful narration from Natalie Drew.
She was so good!

I will defo be looking out for Kathleen's next book and more narrations from Natalie!

To conclude this was an awesome, fun, read. Great plot, original concept and imaginative. Thoroughly recommend this book if you like a chick-lit, holiday read then this is a must!

Thanks to Netgalley and Saga Egmont and the author for allowing me the pleasure of this advance copy of this audiobook.

Being registered blind its a wonderful thing to read /listen to such a good book!

Thanks to Net Galley, and the author for allowing me to access an audio of this book.
This book gets a solid 4 from me!
I read this over a week, it had the perfect mix of hilarious and seriousness.
There were points where I hated the characters, but I soon got over that, and like them again. The story lines of each of the "wives" were believable, but obviously as a fictional book, in comparison to real life I doubt you'd find a group of 3 ladies who go through and have been through what they have, who know each other, then again Maybe you would as you have no idea what's happening behind closed doors(this is not a criticism).
I shall be looking out for more books by Kathleen :)
I recommend this book.

Really enjoyed this audiobook. Fast pace of storyline. Clear and understandable narrator. I would recommend- and would quite fancy a 'wife support system' myself!

The synopsis drew me in on this book. The idea of a wife support system will make a lot of sense to a lot of people I’m sure! Women supporting women, mums coming together to help each other out. I’d be lying if I said I’ve never thought of this idea! Love my hubby but sometimes your female friends would be more help!!!
Meet Louise, Erica and Polly; three friends who have a million things going on and could use the support of each other; so when Erica has a bright idea to live together to solve some of their problems, it’s not as wacky an idea as it might seem!
Wife support system follows the three women as they try but to navigate their increasingly complicated lives, while living together and trying to remember whose turn it is to do the washing up!!!
This is an easy, fun read with three leading ladies whose characters grow and learn as they go along. I listened to the audio version and really liked the narrator too! Five stars from me!

I listened to the lovely light story in just a couple of days and was thoroughly entertained. The story was good and at times funny and the narration was brilliant!

The story is about three completely different women: Erica, Polly and Louise. At the start of the story they are more acquaintances than friends, with not much more in common than the fact that they are all mothers. When Erica’s nanny quits without any notice Erica comes up with the idea of these three women and their kids living together so they can help each other out as especially Erica’s partner is not much help. Once the two others are convinced the challenges of cohabiting really start.

Although I am a mother that is also just about the only thing I have in common with any of these three women. I did not relate to any one of them in particular but still really enjoyed the story and the narration. A good story about motherhood, friendships and relationships and trying to balance it all.

Three 'friends', none of whom are particularly likeable, living together to fix the various issues they have - A lot of women will identify with a life spent juggling childcare and a successful career, including the sinking feeling you get when you're let down with childcare. Likewise, there will be many readers who, like me, are desperate to loose weight and gain body confidence. I guess fewer will identify with Polly as suddenly finding herself a widow with a baby.

In many ways, this is a pretty effective illustration of raising a family and experiencing relationship issues; one where not everything is perfect - but I didn’t find myself liking, or sympathising with any of the women, who mostly treated each other abysmally. There were a couple of 'reveals' which made the story more interesting but I wasn't particularly invested in the characters.

Many thanks to NetGallery and Saga Egmont Audio for allowing me a copy of is book.

Full of over-the-top situations, exaggerated humor, and deeply flawed characters who experience significant emotional growth by the end of the story, this book makes for a good light read (or listen, in this case). The narrator of the audiobook did an excellent job of holding my attention bringing each of the characters to life.