The Pre-Nup by Arianne Richmonde
Genre: Psychological thriller, Domestic thriller, Suspense
Read: 23rd July 2023
Published: 27th July 2023
★★★ 3.5 stars
DESCRIPTION:
She signed the papers. And now her life is in danger…
Then: I gaze at my new husband and smile. It’s our wedding day and I feel like the luckiest woman alive.
Lucas is perfect. He brings me coffee in the morning, flowers in the evening, and never leaves the room without a kiss.
So I try to ignore the niggling doubt in the back of my mind about the prenup he made me sign. Does he think I’m a gold digger?
I reassure myself that it doesn’t matter, because I know we’ll be together forever…
Now: Three years in, Lucas has changed. I don’t feel safe in my own house, and when I look at my husband, I don’t recognize the man I married.
And now I’m trapped in this house with a man I’m beginning to realize I never really knew at all—and I’m terrified I might not make it out alive…
An absolutely gripping psychological thriller. Impossible to put down and packed with whiplash-inducing twists, perfect for fans of The Couple Next Door, The Silent Wife and The Marriage.
MY THOUGHTS:
She signed the papers…Now she must pay the price…
I've enjoyed two previous thrillers by Richmonde - "The Guilty Sister" and "The Breakdown" - so I was keen to dive into this one after reading its intriguing premise. Ava, Lucas and Claudia in a love triangle like no other!
Ava met Lucas and it was lust at first sight. They were at it like rabbits for days until reality set in and Ava had to actually go to work. And then she discovers she's pregnant. Well, for well-to-do Lucas' conservative parents, a baby out of wedlock just won't do. So a wedding for three weeks hence by pulling a few strings and voila! Ava and Lucas have walked up and down the aisle, thus married.
But first, a pre-nup. One which states that everything Lucas has, or doesn't have but will have or may have, Ava will have no claim on should they divorce. She's no gold digger but she is in love with Lucas so she signs the papers without a second thought.
And now here we are.
Three years on and Lucas has changed. At first it was little things. Late home from work; a lipstick in his pocket; an earring that wasn't hers. All these things added up to one thing - Lucas was having an affair. Oh no, work has been busy; I must have picked it up by mistake; I bought you those earrings and here you are wearing them! Ava is pretty sure nothing could be further from the truth and that her husband is an expert manipulator is gaslighting her with smoke and mirrors.
And then she meets Claudia. Star of her favourite show and her husband's mistress. A recipe for disaster? Or a perfect storm? What could possibly go wrong?
There isn't a lot I can say about this book without giving too much away. It does start off a little on the slow side and it was almost depressing. Why, if she knew what he was like, was she staying with him? Pre-nup or no pre-nup, no man is worth risking your sanity or your self worth for. She loved him, more fool her, because it is clear from the outset that Lucas suffered from "Tom Cruise syndrome" in that the only person Lucas loved was himself. He took risks and didn't care if he was caught because he just manipulated the picture with a sleight of hand move that left Ava questioning what was real and what wasn't. And Lucas just went about life as if everything was his God-given right. The man was a snake and I hated him from the first moment he opened his mouth.
By the time the story hit Part 2, things were ramped up a notch and began to get interesting. By Part 3, I could see where this was going, was wholly invested and couldn't wait to see it play out. And although I knew it was coming, that ending was just superb. I wasn't hoodwinked by any means and saw it coming from a mile off but it was pure perfection. While the book as a whole was average, it was that ending that was its saving grace. Just brilliant.
Overall, an entertaining read that dipped in parts but stick around because the ending is worth the wait.
I would like to thank #ArianneRichmonde, #Netgalley and #Bookouture for an ARC of #ThePreNup in exchange for an honest review.
MEET THE AUTHOR:
When not writing about the passions and fragilities of human nature, she loves to spend time with her husband and their animals, including a femme fatale Husky with one blue eye and one golden eye. Arianne's a chocaholic and sometimes sneaks off to sunny, exotic locations, all in the name of research.
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