The trapped wife by @samanthahayes.author

Jenn just lost her husband, has difficulty handling her teen son, her medical practice is tiring, she is pregnant but does not know who the father is !! Suddenly her life is spiraling out, her patient blackmails into her house and life, secrets are revealed !!

The first half of the book mostly is of description and lot of details of past and present creating a big web of lies. I found some parts stretching but somehow managed to read the whole book. I had guessed the killer but there were more unexpected plot twists towards the end that made me concentrate better on the book. When I thought I knew how it would go, the book had a shocking twist!!

Recommend to readers who love thrillers even though the book has some lengthy parts, the twist is totally unexpected.

Thank you @netgalley and publishers for my copy

A good read
Not as good as her other books
But worth a read
Plenty of twists and turns
And the end is not what I thought
Thanks NetGalley

This is a bit of a bonkers book!

Jennifer's husband recently went missing in an avalanche and is assumed dead. She suspected he was having an affair and with his mistress on his ski trip where he went missing.

Prior to her husband's disappearance, discontented with her marriage Jennifer has a one night stand. To her shock she's pregnant by her one night stand. Who conveniently turns up in town and wants a lot from her.

The book focuses on her missing husband, their relationship, Jen's relationship with her kid, her pregnancy and this mystery man.

I really enjoyed this title. I liked the twists and turns and the writing style is nice and smooth. The story flows well and kept my attention. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title. I will be recommending this one to friends.

It's a great thriller surrounded by mysterious events and strange people. The title is completely justified based on the story. The narration was clean, seamless and gripping. The main protagonist Jennifer's emotions are depicted in a very deep manner and readers will be able to relate to her at every step. Definitely recommended for the fast paced narrative A 4..5 star read. Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
#TheTrappedWife #NetGalley

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Christ on a cracker, this book was something else! Halfway through I was feeling all smug with myself thinking I had things ALL figured out. Turns out I did not. 😮This was a brilliantly plotted psychological thriller. I can't even complain about the one thing that annoyed me because it turns out there was intent behind this person's actions. 🤷🏻‍♀️ That's about all I am going to say about this one. It needs to be enjoyed with no preconceived ideas. Trust me though, you do not want to miss this one!

**ARC Via NetGalley**

What do you do when there is someone in your house that you don't trust? Who knows something about you that would shatter your life? Who is toying with you and clearly enjoying it? Those are the questions that The Trapped Wife intends to ask, but neither the questions nor the answers truly stuck for me. Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

So first of all this blurb is misleading, specifically that first paragraph. I don't want to start of a review negatively, but it does set readers up for a bad reading experience if the blurb is so off. The blurb employs, or hints at, a different kind of suspense, a different kind of plot, almost, than we actually get in the book, so after I got about three chapters in I had to make sure I was reading the right book. I'm all about keeping things mysterious, but let's not be inaccurate. Because Thrillers depend on getting off to a good start! We need to know what we're in for, so that we stick with it when the tension rises. And The Trapped Wife gets off to an amazing start, dropping you right into Jennifer's mind. Her stress and confusion is palpable and it hooks you immediately.

Jennifer is not having a great time. Her husband has recently died in a ski accident, she is pregnant and now her new patient, Scott, who seems eerily familiar, won't leave her alone. After revealing his intentions and his role in her past, Scott forces his way into her home and life, leaving Jennifer with seemingly little options of regaining her independence and former happiness. But this is only half the plot. Occasionally we pop back in time, to two unhappy schoolkids, who squash bugs and lament their home-lives. As their actions escalate, you can't help but wonder how this relates to Jennifer. I'm going to have to be honest and say that the link between the two plotlines didn't work for me. While Hayes successfully wrongfoots you in fun ways here and there, this subplot takes away from the pace of the novel. Hayes does mention in an afterword that one scene in this subplot was where The Trapped Wife started for her, so I can see why it was important for her, but it didn't really add much for me, despite the history it presents. I also struggled connecting to Jennifer, who is mainly reactive in many parts of the novel. Scott himself is a question mark of a character, in that he is technically the worst but I can't form a proper picture of him. A lot of aspects of his character make sense on their own but not in combination. There is a whole set of side-characters, many of whom play important roles in the narrative but don't feel fully realized on their own.

A quick SPOILER alert, please skip to the word SAFE ZONE below if you don't want any kind of spoilers, or angry rants from me! Are we good? Ok. Here is something I'm really beginning to dislike in domestic thriller books. We all know I love a good unreliable narrator, I love being surprised like that or being constantly unsure like that. What I do not like is when a narrator is revealed to have been lying to the reader, in the sense that the interior monologue and thoughts that we have been seeing has been actively misleading. Don't convince me she is worried about her husband, about his affair, all these things, if she has at least some of the answers already. (Yes, I'm aware the blurb says she lies, but then show us how she does it, let us build suspicion without explaining it away immediately!) That's not an unreliable narrator. An unreliable narrator is either a narrator whose own perception of their actions is off or inaccurate, or a narrator who is actively narrating and therefore misleading. In The Trapped Wife we have an omniscient narrator, instead, who should know the truth, being omniscient. Through them we get to see inside a variety of characters' minds, but what we see there should be the truth. If you want to cut away before revealing something, please do, but don't write twists that undercut your own work, don't leave things hanging in a way that doesn't make sense! Especially when the build-up to it becomes a bit agonizing and therefore also annoying. The SAFE ZONE starts here! I had to get that rant out. thank you for bearing with me.

The Trapped Wife feels long, which was odd. I enjoyed much of the pacing, of the slow unraveling of characters and plot, but then at a certain point it did begin to drag. About halfway through the novel I begun to wonder whether Samantha Hayes wasn't trying to do too much. We have a missing husband, a house intruder, we also have family tension, strained friendships, and concerns about a blurry night. It was specifically the latter which felt majorly underworked, which was a shame since it is meant to fuel so much of the tension. Also, considering the themes it deals with, it should have been handled with care. And then there is the historic subplot where we deal with troubled childhoods, murder, and teen angst. It all adds up to a lot of "something", but it never entirely connects for me. Sometimes it felt like there was two great books inside of The Trapped Wife which, by being combined, lost some of their power. However, Hayes does keep your attention, she does make you want to keep reading, to follow it all to the bitter end. I will definitely be giving some of Hayes' other books a read, as I do think she has all the tools needed to make for a great thriller. Sadly this one just wasn't it for me.

While there were many aspects of The Trapped Wife that I did enjoy, it ends up trying to do too much, which leads to much of it not working for me.

Dark. Twisty. Suspenseful. Intriguing. Addictive. Keeps you guessing. I just could not put this one down. Wonderful read.

This was a decent read, centered on local doctor Jennifer, who is recently widowed and pregnant, while raising a teenage boy. Jennifer's marriage was on the rocks when her husband was killed in a skiing accident. She had a one-night stand and now that the guy, Scott (who may or may not be the father of her unborn child), shows up at her practice and causes all kinds of trouble.

The book was paced quickly and the ending was a true surprise. There were a lot of different things happening and I think the author did a great job of weaving it all together for a very satisfying conclusion. My only issue was that I didn't like Jennifer and I thought she made stupid decisions. I wanted to be able to stand up for her but I found myself shaking my head at many of the things she said and did.

Overall, I don't know that this will be a hugely memorable read to me since I didn't connect with the characters, but the story itself was good and the ending was a lot of fun. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Tue Trapped Wife is a dark and sinister read that will stay in your mind long after you have finished the final.page. When a young GP is unexpectedly widowed she soon learns more about her husband and her recent life as she experiences flashbacks of a night when she was sexually assaulted. She finds herself pregnant and confused. Plenty of twists and surprises in this one.

Slow burn that picks up towards the end.

A few reviewers have said that they found the characters a bit annoying, and I can see why they feel that way.
I figured out a few of the twists ahead of time, but there were still several I didn't see coming.

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains child murder, rape and domestic abuse

TRIGGER WARNING: this book contains child murder, rape and domestic abuse
GP Jennifer Miller is adjusting to life as a widow when she discovers she is pregnant. The baby is the result of a drunken night out so she is shocked when the father appears in her consulting room. Scott soon forces his way into Jennifer's life and makes it clear he is here to stay...
The Trapped Wife is a dark and sinister psychological thriller. The atmosphere is created in a  really effective way but it is also relentlessly unpleasant. It is compelling reading with fabulous twists.
The book is written from three perspectives: Jen in the first person in the present day, her best friend Rhonda in the third person also in the present day, and a deeply unhappy boy in the past as a third person viewpoint. This variety of perspectives is a creative way of giving us glimpses into the lives of different characters.
Jen's life has been in turmoil for months as she suspected her husband was having an affair. Out at a conference, she got drunk and had a one night stand which may not have been consenual but is now pregnant and having flashbacks about the night of the conception. Her husband disappeared during an avalanche and now her potential rapist has tracked her down and is blackmailing her.
It is a very intense plotline, further escalated by the chapters set in the past. A boy, Evan, is living with domestic abuse and is desperately unhappy at school. He finally makes a friend and they set up the Kill Club with tragic consequences.
Author Samatha Hayes does an amazing job of creating multiple possibilities in the readers' minds as we try to figure out the connections between the past and present. I doubt anyone would fully guess the ways that all the strands weave together!
The Trapped Wife was a gripping novel but tackles big issues that were sometimes difficult to read about.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley inexchange for an honest review.

While reading the majority of this book I was convinced I was going to give it 2 maybe 3 stars. Jen irritated the crap out of me. Rhonda was pushy and nosy and supposedly well meaning. But then I got to the end and it was like oOooooOOOOOOOOoooo ok Jen makes sense now. That was actually pretty cool. Rhonda was still a pain in the arse though.

This was a really gripping thriller with many twists and turns that I didn't expect. Although some of the plotlines were a bit farfetched, I liked the links between the past and present and how this novel played on gender stereotypes and expectations.

I liked this book, but it didn’t blow me away like some of Hayes’ other books. It had some twists that really got me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.

Lots of twists in a story that leaves you unsure who to believe. And whoever you choose,........ you would be wrong. A great read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this ARC

This is everything you would want a great psychological thriller to be. It’s dark, well executed with plenty of twists and turns throughout.
I couldn’t put it down once I started it and raced to the end to find out the final twist.
This is another excellent book by Samantha Hayes and one I’d strongly recommend.

Samantha Hayes is one of my favourite authors in the psychological domestic thriller genre and The Trapped Wife did not disappoint. A cleverly written plot again from this author, the characters are strong and the twists are superb.
I just wanted to keep reading to find out what happened next and get to the end. Dark and tense, just what a good psychological thriller should be.

Wow... what a cracker of a thriller. Samantha Hayes really gets your pulse racing with this rollercoaster ride filled with suspense. With mind-blowing twists and turns and an ending that leaves you in absolute awe…that I’m still thinking about it.

A modern psychological thriller with relatable characters and a plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat till the very last page. A must read.

My Thoughts: as far as thrillers go this one kept me guessing all the way through, I didn’t see the conclusion coming at all!

we’re following Jen, who is a grieving widow raising a teenage son, right away I got the feeling there was more to her husbands death than the story that had been out there, where was the body?

Jen soon found herself in a predicament, that was not planned and started causing flashbacks to a conference she attended with work shortly before her husbands death, could there be more to it than what she remembered?!

There were a lot of unsettling scenes in the story towards the end which made me feel uncomfortable but in the best way possible, this book is definitely not for the fainthearted.

A whole bunch of characters, some that are unsettling and others that are not afraid to make themselves heard!

A brilliant psychological thriller that was quite difficult to put down!