The Marriage Lie: A Bestselling Psychological Thriller

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This is now the third book I’ve read by Kimberly Belle and it was my least favorite. That aside, it was quite well written and fast-paced, however, it just wasn’t for me. Wow! This was one rollercoaster ride of a great book! In fact, I am still feeling the adrenaline rush of that last sentence. Then there was the tone of the writing. It felt very YA, which would be fine, but it didn’t fit the seriousness of the story. There were a lot of cringey conversations, and maybe they stood out to me because I struggle with this in my own writing. I also felt like certain characters were introduced for no apparent reason, which I found a little strange. In a nutshell, this is a story about a man named Cam Lasky, a celebrity chef also known as the Steak King of Atlanta (i believe that was the moniker anyway), who owns several successful restaurants, is happily married to Jade Lasky and has been blessed with two beautiful young children, Beatrix and Baxter. Essentially Cam has the American dream that everyone aspires to achieve - financial success, and a happy home. The Laskys have it all, so what could possibly go wrong? I had a hunch about what Stella has been hiding and proved right. The reveal at the end made me go through multitude of emotions: flabbergasted, creeped me out, and I was appalled.

Argh! This is tense! Tenser than any random L. A. woman’s forehead who has been injected Botox at least hundred times! Although for much of the book I WAS engaged I wasn’t finding anything particularly fresh. But, towards the end, Kimberly Belle managed to surprise me with a couple of the reveals-showing once again why I auto-request her books! She is CONSISTENTLY entertaining!

Customer reviews

A twisty and chilling thriller about a woman who did one bad thing when she was young... and must now suffer the consequences. Many will see the 3-Stars and think that means this is a bad book- not the case at all! It was in parts an edge-of-your-seat thriller, and in other parts mystery, but I just felt like I had read this story before. That being said, I wavered in my rating from 3-4 Stars, but sadly I just couldn't justify a full 4 Stars, so I rounded down. Married to her husband Will for seven years, Iris couldn’t be happier. Her friends warn her that the seven year itch is approaching, but she and Will are still blissfully in love. Sounds too good to be true, right? Forget about solving all these crimes; the signal triumph here is (spoiler) the heroine’s survival. I’m deliberately omitting more details because you should read/hear them firsthand. Sebastian was chilling and I took his threats seriously, as did Jade, which made things more ominous given the two children involved. And speaking of the children…I came to adore Beatrix, the true hero of this story. I think you will, too. Thank goodness multiple narrators were used for the audio version as it was important to give the main characters their own distinctive styles and voices. It mattered and they were outstanding. There are twisty turns and bends throughout and the ending felt right, leaving some things to my own imagination. This turned out to be much more than I anticipated (a good thing) but I’m glad it’s over! Put on your adult pants because this is an uneasy ride. 4.5 stars

Talk about Iris and Will's marriage as portrayed at the beginning of the book. In what way does it seem perfect, even enviable? This must be a manual of everything a good writer should avoid and never, ever do. How on earth was this compilation of misogyny, cliché, stereotypes, performative allyship (and at some points just frankly homophobia, like in the passage the author states that one thing you can count on with gay urban men is to have good drugs???? What?????), slut-shaming (a psychologist who works with teens slut shaming a student? Like...really?????), terrible police procedure, plot holes, far-fetched scenarios, inane characters, inconsistent scenarios, racism, and prob other disgusting things I'm forgetting ever got published??? The theme of gift giving in all its forms will make you smile, yell out in frustration and gasp in disbelief. Maybe because this is my third book in as many months with this same scenario, I was NOT QUITE hanging off the edge of my seat, as I should have been considering the circumstances… Instead of driving home from the restaurant afterwards, Stella is taken to somewhere very different ...When a plane crashes, Iris Griffiths watches the news unfold with horror…and then relief. Her beloved husband Will had just flown out from the same airport, but he was on a different flight. This book is very well written and the insights into the past let's the reader piece together what is going on. The descriptiona are vivid and help to set the scene. The cover and synopsis worked well with the storyline.

To my humble opinion, it was a mediocre read. It wasn’t a mind-blowing or a captivating thriller. In contrast, it was quite a predictable one and sometimes even boring. His wife, Jade, has a home decorating business and she’s a great mother to their two children. Precocious Beatrix and Baxter (or the Bees for short!) keep her busy with activities and chauffeuring. Juanita is giving Cam the opportunity to “set the record straight” on what happened on August 6th-the day that his wife Jade, and their two young children, Beatrix and Baxter (affectionately called the Bees!) were held hostage in their own home, by a masked invader. We get an AFTER the scenes peek throughout the novel as the husband, Cam is interviewed by a news reporter. The crime is over and he is commenting on the various aspects. These chapters are interspersed as the kidnapping is unfolding. On a positive, the book is well written, the storyline/plot is well thought out with some good twists. The characters certainly stay with you and make you think.The Marriage Lie is truly a heartbreaking and heartwarming story all rolled into one. The author, Ali Mercer, has done an excellent jobe developing the perfect characters for this story. There are so many secrets being kept throughout this story and it seems that the biggest one will shatter so many lives. The husband in this story has so many layers that need to be pealed away and for most of the story I really didn't like him as a human being. He was a liar, a chest, and controlling. When he springs the biggest secret on his wife on her 40th birthday I thought he was so insensitive and then to place demands on his soon to be ex-wife I was really wanting to do him bodily harm. As this story plays out I am not sure how it all will end but I found myself praying for the right outcome. This story kept me spellbound and wanting to finish reading it so I could find out all the secrets. As this dysfunctional family tries to muddle through so many lies I was really wondering if they would find healing and forgiveness. I would like to thank #AliMercer, #NetGalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #TheMarriageLie in exchange for an honest review.

Iris and Will have been married for seven years, and their marriage is as close to perfect as it can be. But on the morning Will leaves for a business trip to Florida, Iris's happy world comes to an abrupt halt. Another plane headed for Seattle has crashed into a field, killing everyone on board, and according to the airline, Will was one of the passengers.Regarding Iris character, I found her nagging for crying throughout the story and telling everyone that her husband was alive. She gave me the impression of a clinging and a weak-willed wife as she was over depended on her spouse. She also can be characterized as a gullible for comforting herself with the lies Will told her over the years. She didn’t know hell lot things about her husband and she was OK with that?