The Millionaire’s Wife by Shalini Boland

The Millionaire's Wife: An absolutely gripping psychological thriller by [Boland, Shalini]

Title: The Millionaire’s Wife

Author: Shalini Boland

Publisher: Adrenalin Books

Date of publication: April 27th, 2017

Genre: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller

POV: 1st person

Number of pages: 306

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

How far would you go for the one you love? Lie…cheat…KILL?

When a woman is killed on the other side of the world, Anna Blackwell realizes that her past has caught up with her. That her greatest fear is about to come true. That it’s her turn next.

Uncover a web of lies and deceit in this chilling, twisty suspense thriller.

My review:

I like it when a mystery/suspense/thriller is so creepy that I am still creeped out…the day after I read it. This book kept me on the edge of my seat while I was reading it. I devoured The Millionaire’s Wife and I finished it within a day.

The suspense and thriller parts of the book are what sold me. From the first chapter, when Anna is getting the mysterious texts to when Fin showed up to the one twist I didn’t see coming and the twist I figured out, I couldn’t stop reading the book.

What I also liked about this book, which normally I don’t like and usually complain about, was that the book went back and forth in time. The book mainly takes place in 2017 but every few chapters, the author would flashback to different times. Starting with 2005 and ending in 2014, you got a good look into Anna and Fin’s relationship. As well as her relationship with Sian and her parents. Like I said, I normally don’t like it but in this case, it worked with the book. While Anna is dealing with her present-day issues, the past Anna has a whole bunch of issues that give to her present-day problems.

I did think Anna acted like an ostrich during the first couple of chapters. But honestly, if I were in her shoes, I think I would have done the same thing. Just keep everything to myself and pray that it goes away. But in her case, it didn’t go away. But that is what made the book so good.

Fin was a seriously deranged dude. Even when Anna and he first got together, I could see it. And the years that they spent apart didn’t do anything but make him even more insane. If you want to know what I mean, read the book.

There are two twists in the book. One that I saw coming (the way that the past scenes ended really did hint at it and it was a no-brainer when the twist became known). But the other one, well that shocked me. Talk about a character doing a 180. I couldn’t contain my shock. I was also shocked by the puppy hatred by another character. It made me sad but I can see why the author wrote it that way.

The end of the book was also a bit of a surprise but I enjoyed it. It was the perfect ending to the story.

How many stars will I give The Millionaire’s Wife: 4

Why: I really enjoyed this book. It had a great storyline, characters that I felt bad for, rooted for and that creeped out me out.

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Adult

Why: Language, violence, and some sexual situations

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

The Best Friend by Shalini Boland

The Best Friend: An utterly gripping psychological thriller with a breathtaking twist by [Boland, Shalini]

Publisher: Adrenalin Books

Date of publication: October 20th, 2016

Where you can find this book: Amazon

Goodreads synopsis:

‘I can tell we’re going to be the best of friends…’

When Louisa Sullivan takes her little boy to his first playdate at a new friend’s house she doesn’t realise life is about to change for her family. Because she’s about to meet Darcy Lane.

Darcy is a woman who has everything – a dream house, a powerful husband and enviable wealth.

She’s the perfect wife. 

The perfect friend. 

The perfect liar

From the top ten bestselling author of The Secret Mother and The Child Next Door, this utterly gripping psychological thriller will have you up all night reading. If you loved Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train and The Wife Between Us this book is for you.

My review:

Shalini Boland is fast becoming my favorite thriller/suspense/mystery author. She can creep me out to the point where I jump if interrupted while reading her books!!. I had done a review for The Girl From the Sea back in September that was creepy and thought it couldn’t be beaten. The Best Friend proved me wrong.

I liked Louisa from the beginning, even though I was convinced that she was overreacting. They were great friends at first and then things started to head south with their friendship. It was after Joe’s birthday party, and her being let go from her newspaper job, that Louisa seemed to go off the deep end. It wasn’t until something awful happened and that I started seeing Darcy in a different light.

I was convinced that Darcy was innocent in all this until about a few chapters from the end. The things that Louisa was harping on could have been written off as Darcy having Mom brain. But then little things started going on that started casting doubt on Darcy.

While the Louisa/Darcy drama is playing out, there is a substory going on. It’s about a girl named Nicole and her brother Callum. Nicole and Callum are abused by their alcoholic mother. They were taken from her after Callum (and Nicole) got caught stealing from a local grocery store. The first time they were mentioned, though, was when Nicole was 6 and Callum was 3. Then they are mentioned every 3-6 years, ending when Nicole is 22. How they are tied into the Louisa/Darcy drama is explained at the end of the book.

The ending of the book was not what I expected. It was good, but 100% not what I expected and the epilogue was even better!!!

How many stars will I give The Best Friend: 4

Why: A very well written psychological thriller that kept me guessing and on my toes for the entire book

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age Range: Adult

Why: Violence and language. No sex.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**