The Marriage Secret – ARC Book Review

He married me despite my darkest secret. But am I safe now that I know his?

From the outside, my marriage to Zach was perfect: dream home, a perfect baby girl and passionate, all-consuming love. When we met, I confessed my darkest secret to him and he never judged me for it. Instead, he vowed to always protect me whatever the cost.

But as I cradle my gorgeous baby, I have to accept that the husband who used to be my everything, has changed. At first it was little things: expecting me to keep to a strict schedule, picking out my clothes for me. Now, he controls every aspect of my life: from how much money I have, to when I leave the house and who I can see.

One fateful night, a young woman is found murdered and Zach is a potential suspect. Turning towards me, a look of warmth returning to his eyes, he swears he’s innocent, and I realize there is only one solution. If I agree to be his alibi, he will keep my secret and our daughter can grow up in a loving home. In that moment, I do what any faithful wife would do: I stand by him.

But I know deep down, only one of us will make it out of this marriage alive.

Content Warning:- Domestic abuse, murder, substance abuse

OK….I only have one word to describe this book…it’s simply just WOW….

How well do you know your spouse? Holly and Zach fell in love, got married and now Holly is pregnant with their first child. But after Holly gives birth to a baby girl named Jolene, Zach started changing. He starts almost controlling Holly’s life and threatening to reveal one of Holly’s dark secrets if Holly ever leaves him. Later on, the police come knocking on the door, questioning Zach about the disappearance of two girls, Beth and Claudia, who had affairs with Zach.

Now, this book is a fast paced thriller and I love reading fast paced thrillers. Holly is a complex character and as a reader, you feel what is the secret that Holly is afraid of revealing. The plot is really good, the writing was intense as the author did a good job of drawing the reader into the story. Holly is going through something like a “silent” domestic abuse what with Zach controlling her, deeming her to be unfit of becoming a parent. We see Zach’s love affair with Claudia and soon towards the middle, the story starts reaching its climax, with twists and turns that were completely unexpected! The ending…oh my god…the ending took my breath away–this was such an unexpected twist that the author had given and I couldn’t literally believe that ending at all!!! It was such a complete unexpected twist in the end! I couldn’t even put this book down and stayed up all night reading this book!

Overall, if you are into fast paced thriller, with a little bit of drama here and there, with so many twists and turns with an unexpected ending, I strongly recommend this book to you–worth five stars!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC. The review is based on my honest opinion only.