Review: His Ex-Wife by Maria Frankland

        

Print Length:  301 pages

Publisher: Bookouture (October 23, 2024)

From Goodreads.com: She wants him back. I want her gone.

I’ve never felt welcome in my husband Dominic’s family home. His parents make it clear I’m a poor comparison to his perfect first wife, Carla. But we’re here for Christmas, so it’s important to pretend everything is fine. Until Dominic’s mother bustles into our bedroom. Smiling thinly, she blindsides ‘You won’t mind, will you. Carla is coming for the holidays. She’s still one of the family to us, and she can’t get home because of the storm.’

My eyes widen – did she and Carla plan this on purpose? I know Dominic won’t say a thing. He never stands up to his parents. Apart from marrying me, I guess – with my past, I wasn’t exactly what his family wanted. But then I see the smallest hint of satisfaction cross his face. Did he know about this too?

When Carla arrives, her beautiful smile doesn’t fool me. And with the howling snowstorm promising days of ice-white isolation, we’re stuck here. It’s quickly clear that not only does she want Dominic back, she wants me gone. Forever…

But what neither she nor Dominic know, and his family can never guess, is that I’m far, far tougher than they give me credit for. I’ve survived before. If I have to, I would kill to survive again…

                                                         *******************

My Rating: 1 star out of 5

I have noticed a very concerning trend among publishing companies these days, and that is to call a book "utterly gripping", when in fact, the most interesting thing about it is the synopsis. Sadly, that was the case with this story. 

First, let me take a moment to address the surprising amount of inconsistencies that I found in this story. To begin with, in the news article that was released when Natalie's ex was murdered, the headline specifically mentions it being a brother-in-law that was killed, despite the fact that Natalie later says that she and Kyle were never married because he "didn't believe in it." Later on, Natalie goes into the lounge while everyone else is asleep, but when she is confronted by her mother-in-law and asked what she was doing in there, she says that she "totally forgot which room was the lounge." Again, a simple mistake that should have easily been caught before publishing. Later on, after falling asleep with a wine glass in her hand and spilling it all over the sheets, she somehow manages to gather the lot of it up (sheets, and duvet) and stuff them into her rucksack. I'm sorry, how big is this rucksack of her that it can hold all of that? 

There are also other little inconsistencies in this book, like when it takes police several minutes to get to the house due to the condition of the roads, but their backup seems to arrive shortly after being called. And what was probably one of the most glaring of all, when it says sister on a piece of documentation when it should have said brother. 

Now, some of these things might not have stood out quite so glaringly had I actually been invested in the story, but I wasn't. I wanted to like Natalie, after all she seemed liked the wronged woman here, and don't get me wrong, while she very much was, I also hated the way it seemed as though she was incapable of standing up for herself. I understand that she was trying to make a good impression on her in-laws knowing how they felt about her, but she needed to stop letting them walk all over her. I also couldn't get behind Dominic, and the way he treated his ex compared to the way he treated his current wife (for example Natalie suffered an allergic reaction to nuts being in her torte and started to going into anaphylactic shock saved only by her Epi-pen), but instead of staying with her as she had asked him to, Dominic instead goes downstairs to watch a movie with his family and his ex-wife. He sees the cold way his parents treat her, never once sticking up for her. 

Of course, eventually the truth about everyone is revealed and their over the top actions and reactions suddenly make a lot more sense. However, the only thing I found shocking about it was how over the top and silly it all was.