This is my least favourite of Sue Watson's books that I have read.
I didn't like the characters, except for Marion - strange, but I liked her upbeat personality and friendliness.

Sophie was a little like a love struck teenager, falling for looks before she had even got to know Emilio. And ignoring the red flags. And him not telling her that he was married.
He never got more than a thumbs up message from the woman who he had been married to for years - how thick must he be? No one is THAT busy to only reply with an emoji!
Unbelievable.

The book dragged a little, for me. And the title is misleading as well. He only had one wife, and we didn't find out till later that she was his first wife.
Didn't love the book, but also didn't hate it. Marion was the saving grace for an extra star.

"𝑰 𝒅𝒐𝒏'𝒕 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑬𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒐," 𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒆.
"𝑹𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚? 𝑩𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒉𝒆 𝒌𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒔 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒔 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒚𝒐𝒖."

I am a big fan of this author, but her last few books have felt off. My two biggest issues with this book were with the MC and the dialogue. The MC was so terribly naive, desperate, and well, just stupid. I couldn't muster much pity for her and the predicament that she created entirely of her own volition. The dialogue was incredibly cringey and added nothing to the narrative.

The setting, however, was something truly stunning. The story centered mostly around Sicily with a little bit of regional folklore thrown in. I would have loved to see that developed more.

While this one was a miss for me, I'm sure readers who want a quick popcorn thriller will enjoy this one. Fingers crossed the next one is a win! Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas and Mercer Publishing for the early copy. Look for this one on June 13, 2025.

Wow!!!!! I wasn’t expecting that ending at all. I’m shocked. I knew from the very beginning something wasn’t right but I never would have guessed what it was. So this author is one of my favorites and this book proved why. All the twists and turns alone made this book wonderful. I think my favorite was the location. It sounded beautiful and magnificent unlike the characters. They were the complete opposite of that. I hated all them. They each had something to hide and were either mean or delusional. I definitely believe the author intended for us to not them. Also, every one of them had a shady past and handled it all wrong. You need to face it head on and not run from it. If you run it makes it so much worse as you find out in the end. Next up is the plot. It kept me interested and on the edge of my seat the entire time. Last but not least, that ending. I was like OMG. I’m still thinking about it hours later. I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next. I know she has something cooking in the oven and hopefully it will be out in the world soon.

Argh, I just wanted to scream at the main character; how many red flags does she need to see, and acknowledge, without just shrugging her shoulders and going ‘oh well, I’m sure it’s fine’. The actually story is quite good but the twists were fairly obvious and I just found the whole,e thing a bit too far fetched. A decent read.

After a bereavement Sophie heads to Sicily to take up an art teaching job. There she meets the enigmatic professor Emilio and its love at first sight.. But her overpowering friend and neighbour discovers that Emilio is married. Emilio tells her he and Gina are separated but can she believe him, especially when it evolves that Gina is missing.
In true Sue Watson style this book takes you on a journey of mistrust and secrets. Every character has their secrets and these are drip fed in such a way that you don't know who to trust or believe. If you like a book with strong characters and twists and turns, you're sure to love this novel.

Sue Watson is a rarity. Her hit rate of success in utterly enrapturing me in her stories is 100%. This offering was another tension-filled, misdirection masterclass. The vivid imagery of the setting was a highlight. The development of characterisation, first class. The plot- spellbinding; undeniably engaging and demanding of your attention. A true definition of ‘one last chapter’… I had to know the conclusion! Kept me guessing until the very end. 5 stars!

WOW just WOW! I love all of Sue Watson books but thanks to Netgallery for letting me read this early this book has easily become one of my favourite reads so far this year. The characters are so relatable and I got gripped from the Prologue. Absolutely brilliant book totally 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 from me. Highly recommend people to get this when it comes out x

His First Wife by new to me author Sue Watson, published by Thomas & Mercer, is a thriller.
Set in Sicily,Europe the heroine, Sophie spends the summer as teacher and meets Emilio.
Professor Emilio, charming, good looking who's lost his first wife.
Sophie is immediatedly smitten with him, ignores every red flag that comes up and soon she's in danger of reaping the notbenefits. There's this secret stranger who's trying to warn her away from him, and soon she doesn't know anymore who to trust.
A twisty thriller that kept me intrigued from start til the last chapter.

Sophie is in love with Emilio but can she trust him?
Well written characters with a great storyline that sucks you in.
Great twists, most of which i didn't see coming.
Not my favourite from this author but still a well deserved four stars from me.
My thanks to netgalley and the publisher for my copy.

love all Sue Watson trillers and this book was not the exception.
In this story we follow Sophie, who is mesmerized by Emilio from the moment she first sees him. Once these two are interacting she falls FAST…

I felt like throwing my kindle away because Sophie’s decisions were often reckless and she actively chose to ignore all red flags thrown at her. Sue did a great job at keeping the suspense built until the last moment, and although I thought I had figured all out, the twists proved I never did.

I totally recommend this thriller to anyone who enjoys twisty, mysterious stories!

Thank you Netgalley and Sue Watson for the ARC!

Thanks to NetGalley and Amazon Publishing UK for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of His First Wife by Sue Watson due to be published June 13, 2025.
Sophie wasn’t expecting to find love in Sicily but did with Emilio. Is he the perfect man she thinks, or someone else?

This was a fast read, but I didn’t like some of the characters. Sophie was a pushover and would believe anything she was so “in love”. I could see it as a young person, but she was in her thirties. The other characters were a little more believable and likeable. The plot got better about halfway through, and I was hooked. There were some startling revelations at the end that made the book worthwhile. I recommend it if you like thrillers!

#NetGalley #Sue Watson #HisFirstWife #AmazonPublishingUK

I couldn’t put this book down I never knew what to expect when I turned the page. It was a suspenseful and had an addictive plot that kept me on the edge of my seat!

It kept me reading long after I should have turned out the light. I’d highly recommend this book it’s a must read!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟stars

The inspiration by Du Maurier’s Rebecca is clear in this book. The author has a strong focus on painting a clear picture of the setting and does a great job of placing the plot very squarely in Italy, making the most of the use of volcanoes as an allegory for some of the events of the story. I feel the book would have benefitted from more time invested in character development as they all seemed fairly shallow to me, with some even bordering on caricature. The ending is terrific, leaving you wondering how far the protagonist is prepared to go to protect what she has gained,

A charming man, a Sicilian setting, mystery. This novel was so addictive, I kept turning the pages!
Emiliano is too good to be true - a charming man with a mysterious past. His wife is missing.
Should Sophie ignore the red flags?
Ahh this was so great! The tension and the twists were thrilling!