The Life She Wants – ARC Book Review

You want to save your marriage. She wants to destroy it.

Paula worries that her marriage to Tommy is hanging by a thread. She loves how safe her husband makes her feel, but lately, it seems like he’s pulling away from her, and he keeps avoiding a much-needed conversation about finally having children.

When Tommy suggests a cruise getaway for the two of them, Paula is thrilled. He’s fighting for this marriage, and he’s even promised that they will talk about growing their family. It’s Paula’s dream come true. Until the couple meets beautiful Anna.

From the moment Anna appears in their lives, things start to go wrong for Paula. She finds herself trapped in a sauna. Her hair is destroyed at the salon. Money goes missing from her cabin. At first, Paula thinks she’s paranoid in suspecting Anna is turning her dream holiday into a nightmare. But soon, it becomes clear that Paula may not be the only woman fighting for Tommy’s affections.

How far will Anna go to get what she wants? What lines will Paula cross to protect her marriage? And whose dark past will return to destroy them first?

No. of pages:- 240 pages

Date published:- will be published on 8th July 2021

Publisher:- Canelo

Genre:- Psychological Thriller

Rating:- 2.5/5

The plot line sounded interesting to me initially. However, as I read the book, I realize that this is not my cup of tea.

1. One of the things I like in a thriller is the pace–if it’s fast paced, then that would be a plus one for me. Unfortunately, the book started slow, not much fast paced like I would normally expect from in a thriller
2. Another thing about the thrillers would be the number of twists and turns and unpredictablity–twists and turns would make a good thriller in my opinion. In this one however, the plot is too direct, not many twists and turns and is too predictable to me.
3. Characters are not very likable in my opinion. One person wants to destroy the marriage–the reason not very clear and the other person wants to make the marriage working.
4. The book was too slow and overall bland to me. The ending was OK to me.

I don’t normally give bad reviews but to me, this book was a bit of a disappointment–worth 2.5 stars in my opinion.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.

J.M. Hewitt is the author of five crime fiction novels. Her work has also been published in three short story anthologies. Her books usually incorporate twentieth and twenty-first century events and far flung locations, and her novels explore the darker side of human behaviour.
In contrast to the sometimes dark content of her books, she lives a very nice life in a seaside town in Suffolk with her dog, Marley.

When she was ten years old she’d read all the books she owned, all those on her mother’s bookcase and everything the library had to offer. She decided the only course of action to take was to write her own stories. Thirty years later, she is still writing them.