My husband has been keeping secrets for a long time. He thinks I don’t know what he does outside of this house. But I know everything… Karla watches silently as Jason hurriedly packs his belongings into a suitcase. She knows that her stillness is unnerving him as she watches his every move from the doorway of their bedroom.Clothes are screwed up and packed into the case, along with a watch she … along with a watch she bought him for his last birthday and his precious laptop. He takes everything from his bedside table. Everything except the framed wedding photo, which now stands alone. Karla strains to see the smiling faces in the photo. If only she knew then what she knows now.
‘I’ve fallen in love with someone else,’ he’d said to her, just moments earlier. The brutality of those words hit Karla hard and she struggled to breathe as she took in each word in turn.
You may think you know what Karla will do next. But you’ll be wrong. Because Karla isn’t who you think she is. Only she knows what’s about to happen. And you will never see it coming.
An absolutely gripping psychological thriller for readers who loved The Girl on the Train, Gone Girl and The Other Woman. With twists you’ll never see coming, you will not be able to put this one down!
What readers are saying about The Marriage Trap:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I absolutely loved this…. I was hooked from the first page… Thrilling – a real page-turner… A fantastic 5-star read.’ Netgalley reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow, wow, wow. What a great thriller with tons of twists that keep you on the edge of your seat!’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘I read this thriller in under 24 hours…. Loved this book and would totally recommend it.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘It is a VERY powerful and emotive start indeed and sets the scene for what’s to come… There’s a knockout twist at the end, very clever… I can only say read it and you will not be disappointed.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow!! This author had me turning page after page until I finished it in an afternoon. I could not put it down!! A must-read!!!’ Netgalley reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Brilliant read – a shocking, tense thriller. Sheryl Browne’s books are always five star reads. Full of twists and turns… the type of read that you pick up and hours later look up and realise you’re back at home after this wild ride of a story.’ Netgalley reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Had me hooked from the beginning… Knots in my stomach, chewing my fingernails – I was invested in this family as if I knew them in real life. It was an addictive read and easy to fly through.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wow… What a book. I so enjoyed it. A very addictive read.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘A dazzling story with plenty of mystery and suspense!… Everyone has secrets. As time unwinds, the reader finds out what these secrets are and what they can potentially destroy. No one escapes this story unscathed. Excitement and twists we don’t predict are interesting and unexpected. This is one brilliant read. I was unable to put the book down.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Oh boy… You think you know what’s going on, you think you understand what you’re reading, but then everything gets deliciously flipped.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Amazing new thriller.’ Goodreads reviewer
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘This book was exciting and like a rollercoaster ride I never wanted to get off.’ Book Life
⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Domestic thriller at it’s very best. Highly enjoyable thrill ride with a lot of twists. The Marriage Trap is a must-read!’ Goodreads reviewermore
Talk about a book to leave the reader frustrated with this marriage full of lack of communication! I found myself just muttering “talk to each other!” Sheesh….. Sheryl Browne has crafted a great book out of how not to conduct a marriage, and she twisted me around so well to an effective conclusion. This read is full of surprising (but yet not surprising) twists and a fully charged range of emotions from many different family members’ points of views. Karla and Jason start off as the perfect married couple, and it doesn’t take long before misunderstandings and interference from Karla’s father soon create chaos and heartache. I wouldn’t say this book is absolutely gripping, but it does keep one involved and interested!
Loved, loved, loved, this book!
As I hurried through the pages, eager to unravel the mysteries that the book was holding, I couldn’t help feeling sad at the tragic elements that were revealed. (Not saying a word :-). No spoilers here – haha).
I found myself quickly flicking between Karla and Jason’s chapters with ease. I needed to know more about them, and fast. As with all Sheryl’s books I’ve read previously, I couldn’t put it down. And, as always, she writes a killer prologue and the one in this book was no exception.
I loved the scenes with the children, they were so realistic. I was almost convinced I’d been eavesdropping in a family’s home as I read them. Bravo and fantastic. Looking forward to the next one now.
A great psychological thriller full of tragedy that will keep you guessing. Great read!
Married for twelve years, Karla and Jason have two children. Life is mostly good. They have a few problems, but they can work it out. That’s what Karla thought, at least, before Jason abruptly announces he is leaving her for another woman. But Karla knows something Jason doesn’t… and he had no idea what’s about to happen.
The story begins with Jason packing his bags and informing his wife he’s in love with someone else, before going back three months in time to show what led up to that moment. I loved how it immediately grabbed my attention, making me want to read as quickly as possible to find out how their marriage went wrong.
I imagine many scenarios along the way, but none were as shocking as the reason compelling Jason to leave. Whoa. Up to that point, my sympathies were all firmly in Karla’s corner. Clearly, Jason was a jerk, and the obvious villain in the matter… or so I thought. Knowing all the facts made me reconsider everything I thought I knew about Jason and Karla, resulting in a definite shift in sympathy. In hindsight, it should have been obvious who was behind Jason’s decision to wreck his family, but Browne’s careful crafting of the story kept me in the dark until the moment of truth arrived. I was floored by it completely… outstanding!
The surprises kept coming after that, and it became clear to me that nothing was as it seemed. The final revelations of ALL secrets and motivations led to multiple satisfying conclusions. What a ride this book proved to be! I definitely recommend this book to readers who love books full of twisty surprises.
I received an advance reading copy of this book courtesy of Bookouture via Netgalley.
Karla and Jason are a young married couple with 2 children. Jason has his own business which is having financial problems and Karla wants him to borrow money from her controlling, not-so-nice father, Robert, who has despised Jason from the first time he met him. As family secrets begin to surface, this turned out to be a gripping thriller and kept me guessing right up to the end and even then I did not have it figured out. This book was a little slow in the beginning but soon picked up and it turned out to be a page-turner. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this very suspenseful thriller.
Four personalities, four points of view. Karla, her husband Jason, and Karla’s parents Diana and Robert. The story starts in the midst of a marriage breakup with occasional glimpses of earlier times explaining how the marriage turned sour. Karla’s pain is unmistakable as she slides into a sequence of events that are not only self-destructive to her marriage and to the relationship she holds dear with her ‘babies,’ but also her reputation at work. Witnessing such a tipping point is sheer torture, as Browne leads her readers down a slippery slope with no hope of recovery. As Jason pursues an enticing on-line interest, the little grey cells in my head began to get the drift.
When we meet Karla, she has probably hit rock bottom and her character is going through the inevitable stages of grief — self-denial being the theme that carries throughout the book — and trying to right a wrong she has no hope of doing on her own. You can’t help feeling for Jason, with or without his faults, and I hoped he would somehow make a change.
My thoughts:
The ending had thee surprising twists, although there was one I had toyed with earlier. It was later confirmed with powerful backstory of Karla and Sarah, and Michael Kinsella’s background.
The family dynamic was complex. Robert a hardened Lothario with a reputation to uphold and a horrible secret he is desperate to keep. The most manipulative of the four, he drove me insane, especially with a motive that would have driven any protagonist over the edge.
Diana, enjoying the lifestyle that goes with being married to a businessman, has a few secrets of her own. I think out of all of the characters in the book, I liked her the best. Guilt-ridden to the end, she continued to demonstrate an inner strength and a sacrificial love for Sarah and Karla. We can all empathize with her situation.
This is a well-written, pacey read, hard to put down and cleverly plotted.
Summary:
When I think of divorce, I often wonder if it’s because the ‘exciting’ part of a person’s character has been stripped away with raising two children and navigating life. That’s why the fairy tales end with ‘they lived happily ever after’ because to go any further would spoil it. There are stress fractures in Karla and Jason’s relationship that need loving reinforcement. But what would happen if they had been allowed to go back in time and bottle the essence of what attracted them to each other in the first place. Could they reclaim some of the excitement and magic they first experienced? Did Karla demonstrate this with what she did? Without spoilers, you’ll just have to read it.
Twists and turns, secrets and lies and some not so nice characters !!
Who doesn’t like any of those things ?
Secrets have a way of coming to light, to change lives and perspective. Jason and Karla are about to find that out. !! Big time !!
At first I thought the book was slow to start but then I think the author just took her time setting us up for what was to come !!
Didn’t get it right !!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review The Marriage Trap !!
What a roller coaster ride of a read! Read this in one day – it was that good. Two marriages, lots of secrets, an undiscussed death and a soul-destroying admission. Who will survive?