ARC Review: The Wife Before by Shanora Williams

Genre ~ psychological thriller, mystery, suspense

Release date ~ June 28, 2022

POV ~ 1st person ~ Samira and through Melanie’s journals

Page count ~ 322

Audio length ~ 10 hours 6 minutes

My rating ~ 3.5 ⭐

My review:

One of the best best friends to lovers/fake marriage books I’ve read.

Mia and Noah have been best friends since they were seven, now they’re in their 30’s and neither have settled down. An opportunity comes up for Mia to go back to school full time and she is elated. Problem ~ she can’t quit her job that offers medical insurance that she desperately needs for her chronic illness/kidney transplant. Noah has the perfect solution ~ they’ll get married, so she can quit her job and concentrate on her dream of being a pediatric dietician. It takes lots of chicken wings to get Mia on board with this plan ~ and yes, I had wings for dinner the day I finished this, not plain though.

Dual 3rd person POV was perfect for this story. I really enjoyed their easy friendship, Noah’s protectiveness (well actually this fits for both of them), the jokes they played on each other, and, of course, the would you rather game they’ve been playing for all these years. It took a bit, but they finally realize their feelings go deeper and they give in to their desires ~ in a clean manner.
I am a believer in YOLO, so I wasn’t feeling either of their decisions for certain things, but luckily it all worked out in the end.
Claire and Graham and Natasha and Barbara were great side characters too.

Overall, super cute ~ super fun ~ quick read ~ heartwarming ~ sweet ~ some teary moments ~ lovable characters (except one, there’s always gotta be one) ~ an all around delight.

I would absolutely be interested in reading more from this author.

*Thanks to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Allison Ashley and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

Samira is working as a waitress and mooching off her brother a lot ~ what’s up with that? when she meets Roland. They have an instant connection and he tracks down her number.
Roland is a pro-golfer that was accused of murdering his wife, Melanie. He claims he’s innocent and she believes him even though her brother disagrees.
They get married rather quickly and now she’s living in a mansion with no job. To occupy her time she starts reading Melanie’s old journals. As she reads page after page after page her belief in her new husbands innocence starts to falter. With nothing else to do she starts investigating on her own ~ will she uncover the truth about what really happened to the wife before?

Told in the 1st person both by Samira and through journals that Melanie wrote during her marriage to Roland. I found the journals a tad odd with their full on dialogue, but they did tell quite a story.

Overall, this was slow going for me, but had some suspenseful moments. There was a nice twist in there and I was mostly kept engaged. This is my first time reading this author and I’d give her a go again.

I was able to listen to a final copy that was narrated by Tracey Conyer Lee for 10 hours and 6 minutes. Her voice was actually so slow at my usual 2x, so I had bump her up to 3x. Which is crazy quick but it worked for this one for me. Ultimately, I feel reading was the better option to be able to decipher when it was Samira vs Melanie’s journals.

TW ~ infidelity, domestic abuse, rape reference

I appreciate the author’s note at the end that explained why she chose to write about these heavy topics. It helped me have a better understanding of the book.

*Thanks to Kensington Books, the author and NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily leaving my honest review*

⬇Purchase links⬇

Fans of Verity will be engrossed by this unpredictable novel of suspense as a new bride’s fairytale marriage becomes a prison of secrets. From the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of The Perfect Ruin, this insidiously sexy, twist-filled psycho-drama is reminiscent of the classic gothic tale Rebecca.

BookBub’s Best Mysteries & Thrillers of 2022

Samira Wilder has never had it easy, and when her latest lousy job goes south, things only promise to get harder. Until she unexpectedly meets a man who will change her life forever. Renowned pro golfer Roland Graham is wealthy, handsome, and caring, and Samira is dazzled. Best of all, he seems to understand her better than anyone ever has. And though their relationship moves a bit fast, when Roland proposes, Samira accepts. She even agrees to relocate to his secluded Colorado mansion. After all, there’s nothing to keep her in Miami, and the mansion clearly makes him happy. Soon, they are married amid a media firestorm, and Samira can’t wait to make a fresh start—as the second Mrs. Graham . . .

Samira settles into the mansion, blissfully happy—until she discovers long-hidden journals belonging to Roland’s late wife, Melanie, who died in a tragic accident. With each dusty page, Samira comes to realize that perhaps it was no accident at all—that perhaps her perfect husband is not as perfect as she thought. Even as her trust in Roland begins to dwindle and a shadow falls over her marriage and she begins to fear for her own life, Samira is determined to uncover the truth of Melanie’s troubled last days. But even good wives should know that the truth is not always what it seems . . .