Kaira Rouda's books never disappoint. I always fly through them in a matter of one to two days. This book was no exception. I kept trying to guess the twists and was sometimes surprised. Even when I would guess them correctly, they way she got to the reveal kept me invested in the story.

If you like reading a story about horrible, vindictive, narcissistic people then this is the novel for you.

Paul Strom has married again. But now he's the rich one after his stint at being a boy toy has ended with his paramour's death. Cecilia is everything he wants after his disastrous first marriage and the loss of his two sons (see first book). She is young and beautiful and will help him take Hollywood by storm. Unfortunately, he doesn't really know her very well at all. And she has her own ideas about what this marriage is going to do for her.

This was just too much nastiness for me. Both Paul and Cecilia are such hideous people that I could barely get through this though others might like this kind of psychological drama. At first, I was drawn in and hoped that perhaps the whole plot would turn out different than expected, but, alas, it was predictable and thus I just read the twisty mess to get to the epilogue. I was not happy with the conclusion either. Definitely read Best Day Ever first before you tackle this one if you really think you need more.

I was able to listen to the audiobook while following along with the e-book, both provided by the publisher. I really wanted to like this one, but I do not like this type of trope where bad people get away with so much evil behavior. I liked the voice of the male narrator, but the female's voice was like nails on a chalkboard and got on my nerves with the breathy high-pitched sound.

This book is an intense rollercoaster ride of twists. I did not read the first book and I do not think it is necessary to read it before this one. Kaira Rouda explains the background a bit, when you come to something that happened in the first. Paul is one unlikable narcissist. He is a waste of space and air as far as I am concerned. But he makes for one fantastic, horrible character. He is smooth, handsome, and now he is beyond filthy rich. How did he get the money, ahhhh you will have to read to find out.

Paul and his beautiful bride of one year are celebrating in Paris. Paul is irritated beyond words. Things are not going his way and Cecelia is changing his plans. You know something is going to happen. He is going to blow a gasket many times on this trip. What is going to happen and why is the best part of it all. I am not giving any more clues and ruin the ride for you.

This was a highly addictive read, that I tore through in a day. It leaves you wanting to find out the entire story in one gulp. I do wish the last thirty pages were trimmed a bit. But I honestly have no complaints, besides having to fit in the first book sometime soon. I need to know more details about Paul before Cecelia came along. Because boy he has met his match now! Thank you to Karia Rouda, Bookouture, and Thriller Book Lovers the Pulse for my gifted copy.

Paul Strom is back with a new wife and enjoying their year anniversary in Paris. Paul is just as egotistical as ever, and I was here for it. I loved that in this book we got his perspective as well as his second wife, Cecelia’s. It was nice to see that Paul might have met his match with her! This book was fast-paced and well-crafted, and I loved trying to piece everything together.

Thank you Bookouture and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I didn’t realize until I finished the book that this one actually is the sequel to THE BEST DAY EVER, published in 2017. However, it can be read as a stand-alone.

PAUL and his wife CECILIA are celebrating their first wedding anniversary in Paris. Paul has planned for the perfect evening, but nothing on this trip has gone as he had hoped! Rather than focusing on her husband, Cecilia keeps talking on her phone and making extravagant purchases. Not that Paul should mind, as he has recently inherited a large fortune!

Meanwhile, Cecilia has her own ideas about how the evening should unfold and she has a few surprises up her sleeve.

The story is told through the alternating perspectives of Paul and Cecilia. I did have my suspicions about how this one would turn out, and I was correct. But there were a few surprises along the way, and this was an entertaining read. I highly recommend going into this one blind!

Read this if you enjoy:
🍎domestic thrillers
🍎husband/wife drama
🍎unlikeable characters

This one comes highly recommended by my friends @thrillerbookloversthepulse!Thank you @netgalley and @kairariuda for my advanced copy.

This is the second book and it was really good! I really enjoyed the first one and was hoping this one would be just as good and it is! Definitely worth a read!

This is the perfect example of a popcorn thrilller where the story is highly entertaining, full of outrageous characters, keeps you guessing, and is hard to put down. However, I was not exactly crazy for this one. While I didn't read the first book and didn't know Mr. Strom beforehand, I found the entire dialogue to be stilted and a little too unbelievable, unless maybe it were set in the early 1900s. This felt just a little too over the top. I personally enjoy a descriptive, in-depth, thought-provoking story, and while I do enjoy a McFadden book here and there, the story has to really pull me in and maintain a somewhat realistic dialogue and plot. There were a few inconsistencies that I chose to overlook as I do in all ARCs in hopes that they will be corrected in the finalized version. Overall, this was just... okay. three stars.

Thank you, Netgalley and Bookouture, for this ARC.

The Second Mrs. Storm
By Kaira Rouda

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 4.5/5 stars

This is my first book by Kiara Rouda absolutely not be my last. The twist and turns that Kiara throws that you will knock your socks off.

A fun fact about me is that I do not typically read synopsis of the books I read. So I went into this one completely blind, and let me tell ya, I’m so glad that I did.

This one is multi layered, and dual point of view perspective. While reading, I kept asking myself, who’s good and who’s bad here. Paul and Cecilia these two seemed as if they had met their match… In more ways than one. They’re both characters you will ultimately not like and love to hate them. It was a wild ride that I was fully submersed in.

Suspense lovers don’t miss out on this one! It releases August 16, 2024, so make sure you pre-order it.

Paul Strom, inherits a fortune after the death of his "companion" Esther. At her funeral he meets the beautiful Cecelia, it was love at first sight. After a whirlwind romance, they get married before moving to California.

Paul decides to whisk Cecelia away for a romantic getaway to Paris to celebrate their first anniversary. The romantic trip very quickly turns sour.

This was an interesting read with timelines and POVs flipping back and forth, which is found a little confusing at times. I didn't find the storyline particularly surprising and predicted most of what was going on fairly early in the book. It was still and enjoyable read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bookouture for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Thriller Book Lovers The Pulse for another fantastic summer thriller!

"The Second Mrs. Strom" is the thrilling sequel to Kaira Rouda's "Best Day Ever," the book that first hooked me on her writing. I couldn't get enough and eagerly sought advance copies of her new releases when they became available!

As soon as I started listening to the audiobook, Paul's unforgettable selfish and whiney voice came rushing back, making me shiver with disgust and fascination. The narrator did an outstanding job of returning me to Paul's world. I couldn't wait to see him get his comeuppance!

While "The Second Mrs. Strom" is a standalone novel, I highly recommend reading "Best Day Ever" because it's just that good. Paul's despicable and self-centered nature is genuinely memorable. A year into his new marriage, he's in for a rude awakening when he realizes his new wife, Cecilia, won't bow to his every whim.

This book is a wild, exciting ride filled with wit and suspense. Watching Cecilia toy with Paul and put him in his place while he obliviously embarrasses himself is pure entertainment.

Thanks to Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for the advanced reading. copies provided via NetGalley. I received copies of the audiobook and ebook from the publisher. All opions are my own.

The insufferable Paul Strom has returned! This book is just as captivating as the first.

Paul and his new wife, Cecilia, celebrate their first anniversary in Paris. He's still obnoxious and arrogant, but Cecilia has a few tricks up her sleeve.

These two, Paul and Cecilia, are a perfect match for dysfunction, creating a tension-filled narrative. I particularly enjoyed the perspectives of both characters.

Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for a free copy of this book.

The Second Mrs Strom by Kaira Rouda, the sequel to Best Day Ever! Thank you to Netgalley, Bookouture and Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse for my #GIFTED copies! I listened to the audiobook and read the ebook! My opinions are voluntary and my own!

Has Paul Strom met his match with his young, new wife, Cecilia? I think so! While in attendance of his “older lover’s” funeral, Paul meets Cecelia. Young, ambitious, beautiful and broke. Paul has just been left a fortune and needs a new wife!
Cecilia will be perfect as the next Mrs Strom — malleable, subservient and future mother to his 3 future children….well, that’s his dream at least.

Unfortunately, for Paul, Cecelia isn’t as malleable as he’d like and he is turning back to his old ways.

When Paul and Cecelia go to Paris for their first year Anniversary, Paul has a surprise for her, but, unbeknownst to Paul, Cecilia may just be at him to the punchline!

My thoughts:
Woah! Just as ‘Best Day Ever’, I LOVED this wicked thriller! Oh, Paul, I love you so much, you narcissistic psycho! You are just too funny and way too confident! A speedy, fun and entertaining read that fans of Freida McFadden must read! This can be read as a stand alone but would be better to read the first book!

If you read the first book, you know Paul’s best day ever didn’t go so well. Will his best night ever with his new wife, Cecilia, fare better?

Often the sequel is a letdown, but The Second Mrs. Strom doesn’t disappoint! Paul is back and up to his usual tricks. However, Cecilia isn’t what she seems. She has secrets and an ulterior motive. Has Paul met his match?

The Second Mrs. Strom definitely keeps you guessing. Who’s good? Who’s bad? Are they all bad?

It was a fun, fast paced read with that I completely devoured. Suspense thriller fans won’t want to miss a second trip on this wild ride!

I received an early copy of this book.

Wow! Kaira Rouda does it again! Fantastic characters that kept me flipping pages long past my bedtime. From beginning to end this was like a roller coaster ride with countless twists and turns. There was no way to know who to trust. Tense, creepy and all round great read.
Thank you NetGalley, Kaira Rouda and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Narcissist Paul Strom, star of Rouda's earlier book, Best Day Ever, is back with a lot of money, a new wife and all kinds of crazy musings. He and his new wife, Cecelia, are in Paris celebrating their first wedding anniversary. Paul cozied up to elderly and super rich Esther, collected her fortune after she died and then married the much younger Cecelia. At first things seem to be going pretty well, but the deeper things go, the more we realize there is trouble in paradise.

I was excited to read this and also concerned. I loved Paul Strom in the first book, much like I loved Joe Goldberg from You, but the subsequent books all went downhill. That wasn't the case with this one. I still found Paul entertaining for the most part, although I will say this book started to drag from about 60-80%. It felt repetitive during that time. This book changes timelines throughout, alternating between the trip to Paris, when Cecelia and Paul met in Palm Beach, their life in Malibu. That could have gotten confusing but it actually worked pretty well. Overall I liked it but don't knwo that I would need any more of Paul at this point.

Cecilia and Paul fell in love at first sight. The icing on the cake is that Paul inherited a ton of money and they can create a new life with no limitations. Sounds perfect, right? As with any good mystery, things aren’t exactly as they seem. Who is the monster here - Paul or Cecilia? Read on to find out!

I am obsessed with this book. It's a thriller about a husband and wife in Paris on their one-year anniversary. I'm obsessed because the characters are terrible people, but in a funny hilarious way.

It just so happened that I am reading this book before the Olympics in Paris, so it's great timing. If you've been to Paris before, you can imagine where the characters are, and if you haven't visited, the author describes the location in great detail.

Paul made me LOL so often in this book. He's egotistical and thinks he is so classy and refined but he's not. His wife and all of the Parisians remind him of that the entire time.

In summary, I loved the characters and the setting. It was the perfect summer read. Thanks for the advance review copy.

This book was full of deplorable characters and situations; in other words, it was dark and delicious! The protago, its was very difficult to tolerate, but I pushed through because of the compelling plot. This book proves that there is still plenty to be done on the sinister marriage trope. Rouda has a way of snaking into your brain and making you belief one thing, while making the reality a complete surprise. Bravo! Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Best Day Ever is my favorite Kaira Rouda book Paul Strom is one of the most despicable characters ever written. He is married again and is now back and up to his same old ways. But Paul may have met his match in his latest wife…or has he??? The scheming and twists and turns kept me reading to this book and finished in one day!!!

Thank you Netgalley and Bookouture for the chance to read and review this book!!!

Book review 📖

📜The Second Mrs. Strom
✍️Kaira Rouda
📠Bookouture
📚 Mystery/Thriller Fiction
🗓️Pub date: August 16, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @bookouture for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨One might look at Paul and Cecilia’s year-old marriage and think they are madly in love. Well, they’d be wrong. In fact, one might be surprised to know that the most successful marriages are built on lies.

✨If you met Cecilia a year ago, she would be unrecognizable. Poor, alone, looking for revenge. She is still looking for revenge, but now she is rich and married, and her husband doesn’t know what’s in store for him.

✨As they wind through the cobble-stoned streets of Paris on what is supposed to be a trip of a lifetime and an anniversary getaway, the revenge is poised and ready.

✨I thought the storyline was interesting (yet predictable), but delivery a little unbelievable. The passive-aggressive dialogue build-up and pure love/hatred Paul and Cecilia have for each other had less of an impact than if it was toned down and left the reader wanting more.

#netgalley #bookouture #thesecondmrsstrom #kairarouda #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview