Second Wives
Carey Baldwin
306 pages
Bookouture
published March 17, 2023
About the book:
“There’s been a terrible accident, Brigid, but the only thing that matters is that I love you. We’ll get through this together.” As I slowly wake in my hospital bed, my darling husband’s familiar voice soothes me. Yet, as I look across at him, I can’t shake the feeling that this is not my husband at all…
Later, I realize the awful truth. Because of my injury, I’m unable to feel the same emotion towards those I loved. The doctor calls this emotional amnesia, but gazing over at my husband, I call it torture.
As the weeks pass, my family and friends keep me going, especially Charity. Years before, she married my ex-husband and I, in turn, married hers. To keep our friendship group together we kept things civil – I thought we had the perfect blended family.
But once I’m back home, I begin to notice Charity inserting herself into my family. At first it’s little things, her hand lingering a moment too long on my husband’s back, playing the role of hostess in my home at a family barbeque. Then I see her encouraging her wayward brother to pay my only daughter more attention and I feel instantly threatened.
That evening, I am haunted by a familiar nightmare of an unknown man forcing someone under water, vowing that their next breath will be their last. As I gasp for air, my husband tries to comfort me.
But lying there in his arms, I feel anything but reassured. With no one I can really trust, I have to ask myself: does the man who gave me a second chance at love want me gone?
A completely addictive, twist-laden psychological thriller with an ending that will leave you speechless. Perfect for fans of Freida McFadden, Nicole Trope and Adele Parks.
My Review
This one has a unique premise. Two friends end up, through a series of events that unfold during the book, switching husbands. While I am not married, this seems unlikely to happen. Especially when they stay in the same circle of friends. But this is the start of the book. After Brigid is accidentally shot at a dinner party, she is not the same and having weird dreams about witnessing someone being drowned. I’ll admit that I did not like the characters much but I needed to know what happened. Who was trustworthy and if someone was after Brigid. And I definitely needed to know if her “friend” Charity was gaslighting her or if there was something bigger happening.
In such a short book, the author also deals with money issues, mental health of Brigid and family issues. All while developing some pretty complex characters and keeping me in the dark about who was up to what. I liked the chatty writing style of the author. And I’ve never seen this before, but some of the chapters end on cliffhangers that aren’t immediately resolved at the next chapter. In the past I’ve seen the author go to a new character to keep the reader guessing, but in this book, it just jumped a little ahead in time and then took its time resolving the cliffhanger. That really kept me on my toes.
The easy to read writing style and the ultimate mystery kept me engaged and seems on par with what I’d call the popcorn thriller genre.
About the author
Carey Baldwin is a USA Today bestselling author of psychological suspense. Also a dedicated physician, she holds two doctoral degrees, one in medicine and one in psychology. Her experience in the fields of medicine and psychology often informs her writing. She loves reading and writing stories that keep you off balance and on the edge of your seat. Carey lives in the southwestern United States with her amazing family. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and chasing wildflowers.
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