The New Husband

3.5 stars

This book had its ups and downs for me. I really wanted to give it 4 stars but some things bothered me enough to take the stars off.
Nina's husband goes missing but nobody knows if he's dead or not since there's no body. On top of that she finds out her husband had secrets. Not that long after, she is in a new relationship. Small town so everybody is side eyeing her. Now my problem isn't that she started up a new relationship even though she had no idea if her husband was dead or not (That truly doesn't bother me. Do you, booboo)...my issue was her reason for staying where she lived. She is a stay at home mom, and her husband handles the money making. She has access to the accounts but with money missing she can't afford the house they live in...so she rapidly moves in with her new boyfriend SIMPLY BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T WANT TO MOVE OUT OF THE STATE? What. She was not going to end up in the street with her children. She not only had her parents but two best friends who seemed like they would have helped her in any way, shape or form. Instead she moved in with Simon, who offered to pay for all of the things until the end of time. Did I mention that she had enough in the account for a year and a half or two years. Nothing was stopping her from moving to a smaller place and going back to work. It made no sense to me and it seriously bothered me. She had mom guilt and she had doubts and second guess herself a lot. I get that. Completely. I'm a mother. I. GET. THAT. A lot was going on. But still that one thing seriously bothered me.

It was a bit slow at first but it kicks into high gear halfway through. This is also where I can see someone rolling their eyes at Nina..but I'm on the outside looking in. It's easy from my vantage point to yell OMG HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE?!

I liked her daughter, Maggie. She was acting like a bratty teenager and tbh I was here for it. She had every right to act the way she did... Never tell my children I said that. She had a lot going on and she was pretty aware for a 13 year old. Her brother, Conner, served zero purpose until maybe the very end and really if you took him out of the story it wouldn't be any different.

The POV's got a little confusing at times which usually doesn't happen to me. Overall it really was a good read. Once the intense parts kick in it kind of stays at that same pace until the end. Also I find the title of the book to be hilarious..but I'm weird like that and I've read the book so I can.

Starts Slow Then Gets Explosive. This is one of those that is a very slow burn at first - things maybe feel a bit off, and there is more of a sense that a particular character is pretty dark without any real evidence at first. Then just before the 50% mark, the game changes completely and we spend the rest of the book waiting for various characters to catch up to what the readers now know. Strong use of an Autistic character in that he is shown to be perfectly “normal”, just Autistic. The one jarring part in at least the ARC copy I read (which could very easily be fixed before publication, so if it is fixed in your version, just ignore this comment) is that the perspective shifts at random chapter beginnings can be a bit jarring and perhaps a label could be used to better identify what is happening. (Note that the chapter is from whatever singular perspective, but the character that may be narrating a given chapter can and does change.) Ultimately everything builds to an explosive yet satisfying ending. Very much recommended.

FABULOUS read! I tore through this one after catching so many highly recommended reviews!

Nina's husband disappeared with no explanation 2 years ago and she has since been trying to rebuild a life with her two children, Maggie and Connor. After a chance encounter (or so we think) a new man comes into her life. Simon is a teacher at Maggie's school, a widow and seems to fit everything Nina is looking for in a man as well as oddly reminding her of her missing husband in so many strange little ways. As Nina puts her trust into this man and her new relationship things start to seem off... leaving her to question every little detail.

This was one of those books that sucked me right in and I could NOT put it down! This is my second book by this author and I'm hooked - I'll surely be back for more!!