A late one from TWG this evening, but I am delighted to be closing the blog tour for Laura Elliot and ‘The Wife Before Me’. Thank you to Bookouture for the blog blitz invite and the ARC of the book. Here is my review:
One evening as the sun is setting, Amelia Madison’s car slides into the sea off Mason’s Pier. Her body is never found.
Two years later, Elena Langdon meets Nicholas Madison. She is grieving the loss of her mother, he is grieving for his wife. Together they can help each other.
Now Elena is living with Nicholas. But Elena doesn’t really know him. She doesn’t know what he is capable of.
And she doesn’t know what really happened to Amelia.
Until the day she discovers the torn page of a letter and the words she reads chill her to the bone.
Elena must find the person who wrote these letters if she is to save herself.
What does TWG think?
Have you ever lived in someone’s shadow? No, I don’t mean setting up camp in a shadow of someone standing in front of you, I mean living your life with the past of an ex, looming over your head like a noose. Have you? I have, but not in the same extent as Elena. For one, the shadow I was living in was still breathing, whereas the shadow Elena is living in is, as far as everyone knows, is dead. Dealing with her own personal grief, Elena is trying very hard to come to terms with the loss of her mum, whilst also managing to catch the eye of a man who would later become her husband. A nice ending to a sad situation, right? Wrong….
‘The Wife Before Me’ has an incredibly hard-hitting theme running through it from start to finish. It isn’t pleasant, yet the author has done well by putting this particular topic at the forefront of her storyline. Yes, it will no doubt fill your body with goosebumps, and yes, some readers may find that they’re able to relate to it directly or indirectly, but its the sort of topic which needs to be discussed so that more people feel comfortable to open up about it without getting victimised when they do. I was very impressed by the way in which Laura Elliot handled the theme in her storyline, very impressed indeed.
I have to say that I was a little bit confused as one moment the storyline felt like a romantic novel, and then the next it was like WHAM, and the intensity went through the roof. I know that that might not sound so confusing to others, but the cross over between genre’s was tough to get my head around as there was no in between – it was either one or t’other. However, I thought the overall novel was very suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat. There was certainly a lot of grit to sink my teeth into, especially where Nicholas’ character was concerned.
All in all, ‘The Wife Before Me’ is an extremely promising read which highlights a very emotional subject. Even though I would have preferred the pace to be a little bit faster and not so staggered, I really did appreciate this page turner of a read due to the strong elements of suspense and intensity. Personally, this is my favourite book by Laura Elliot.
About the author.
Laura Elliot is an Irish novelist who writes psychological thrillers and lives in Dublin, Ireland. Her novels are: The Wife Before Me, Guilty, Sleep Sister, The Betrayal, Fragile Lies, Stolen Child and The Prodigal Sister. She has worked as a journalist and magazine editor
For more details check http://lauraelliotauthor.com/
The Writing Garnet 
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I was delighted that The Wife Before Me featured on The Writing Garnet as part of its blog tour and would like to thank you for that insightful review. I really appreciate the time you took to read my book and am so pleased you enjoyed it.
Warmest regards
Laura
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