The New Husband is a riveting thriller about the lies we tell ourselves from D. J. Palmer, the author of Saving Meghan. What makes Simon Fitch so perfect?-He knows all her favorite foods, music, and movies. -Her son adores him. He was there when she needed him most. -He anticipates her every need. -He would never betray her like her first husband.The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.… like her first husband.
The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.
The question is, why?
Nina Garrity learned the hard way that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But with Glen gone—presumably drowned while fishing on his boat—she couldn’t confront him about the affair or find closure to the life he blew apart.
Now, a year and a half later, Nina has found love again and hopes she can put her shattered world back together. Simon, a widower still grieving the death of his first wife, thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina, and his charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, while her friends see a different side to him, and they aren’t afraid to use the word obsession.
Nina works hard to bridge the divide that’s come between her daughter and Simon. She wants so badly to believe her life is finally getting back on track, but she’ll soon discover that the greatest danger to herself and her children are the lies people tell themselves.
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Not my usual genre, dabble in it once in awhile. That said Thank you D.J.Palmer and St Martin’s Press, Wow, this book grabs you up and does by let go. I read it in two days and if had no life or family would have read straight thru! I have read D.J.Palmer’s
Prior book Saving Meghan and had mixed feelings after that. So this really surprised me. You think you can predict where this is going…think again. Well worth the read. Read and find out for yourself
The New Husband by D.J. Palmer is a psychological thriller/mystery/suspense-filled, mind-blowing book. The main characters are Nina, her two children and Nina’s live-in boyfriend Simon. Nina met the seemingly perfect Simon not long after the death of her husband Glen. The author has totally captured all the elements of a psychological thriller in a manner nothing short of sheer genius. This book totally captivated me from the beginning. Just when you think you have figured everything out, you get hit with a surprise mind-blowing twist and turn. I received an ARC of this book in the mail from St. Martin Press and D.J.Palmer for my honest review. In my opinion, you have a bestseller on your hands and I rated it “as must read” high five plus. One last thing readers, make sure you read the Epilogue.
Son of a … Fitch?
Nina Garrity, mother to teenagers Maggie and Conner, has decided to move on with her life roughly 2 years after the mysterious disappearance of her husband, Glen. Nina has fallen in love with Simon Fitch, a teacher at her daughter’s middle school. The couple decide to purchase a house and move in together. Simon seems too good to be true, but Nina is blinded by love and doesn’t seem to think so. Maggie sees a side of Simon that no one else does, she reacts the way any thirteen year old would, by becoming hostile towards the “new husband” (to be). Is Simon too good to be true? Is Glen dead or alive? Will Maggie get over her hostility and learn to like Simon?
While the beginning was a little slow, I still couldn’t put this book down! I had to find out what happened to Glen, where this relationship between Nina and Simon was going, and why Maggie had such an aversion to Simon.
This book was definitely an emotional rollercoaster! There were twists and turns galore. Some were kind of obvious and I saw them coming, but others hit like a brick wall out of nowhere.
I definitely recommend this book, and will probably reread it again some day.
I received an ARC of this book from the author and St Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.
Just an amazing psychological thriller that is filled with suspense!
Do not plan to stop reading this book until you have finished!
Nina needs to be sure her son and daughter will be taken care of now that she is a single parent.
Her husband Glen did the unthinkable. He has moved on with his life or is dead in the lake someplace. Nobody knows for sure.
Did Nina move too quick into a relationship with Simon Fitch to achieve family security? She is positive he loves her, isn’t she?
Does she know anything about Simon or his family or his past?
He is providing love, security, housing and safety for them.
BUT….. things are not always what they seem to be!!
This cozy new family has many hair- raising secrets!
The only one who seems to realize that some thing is a -stray is Maggie, Nina’s teenaged daughter who is sure beyond any doubt that her Dad would NEVER do what they all accuse him of!
Maggie will not believe any of this nonsense and is going to prove them all wrong!
She is truly my favorite character! This is an intense novel and definitely a true heart stopper!
Every woman dreams of having that perfect husband. The one who remembers your birthday, your favorite food, your favorite flowers and your favorite color. But is there such a thing as too perfect? Almost two years ago Nina’s husbands boat was found empty floating in the water with no sign of him anywhere. Nina now has a new man in her life and she and her two children , and her new fiance, Simon, are moving into a house together. Simon is perfect. He’s the dream fiance. Or is he? Her daughter Maggie has her doubts, When he becomes controlling in subtle ways Nina begins to wonder. Sometimes perfect can become a nightmare! There are lots of twists and turns and I found it hard to put the book down! Highly recommend!
3.5 stars
I’ve watched a lot of Lifetime movies in my day and that is what I was thinking reading this book. This would be a good Lifetime movie. I also wanted to scream at a Nina (the main character) a few times during the first half of the book. Like wake up girl! There is a twist with the second half and the ending moves pretty fast. Enjoyable read for me although not a page turner. Thanks to St Martins Press for the ARC
Having read and enjoyed the author’s previous book, Saving Meghan, I was pretty excited about this one – and I wasn’t disappointed. The New Husband is completely different from Saving Meghan, but just as twisted.
The first half of this book is somewhat of a slow burn….and then about halfway through – BAM! – we’re hit with a reveal that changes everything and has me saying “Wait, what?? Hold on a sec…” and flipping back a couple of pages to make sure I’d gotten it right. From there it’s a disturbing, non-stop ride to the twisty end.
Some quick character impressions:
Nina: Most of the time, I wanted to grab Nina by the shoulders, shake her, and tell her to get her mental shit together so she could see what was going on. The amount of gaslighting that goes on – that she accepts! – is mind-blowing.
Simon: I had an immediate, almost visceral reaction to Simon. The minute he appeared on the page, I was like ugh, this guy – and not once throughout the story did that opinion change.
Maggie: Oh, Maggie. The true hero of this story. I wanted so badly for Nina to believe the things Maggie was bringing to her attention.
Connor: I would have liked to have seen Connor support his sister, rather than immediately assuming she was just being “dramatic.”
As the reader, your best bet is to go into this one as blind as you can so you can enjoy it for what it is – a crazy ride of a psychological thriller.
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!
Wow, really enjoyed this book. The New Husband is a great reminder that you shouldn’t judge a book by it’s cover, nor a person by what you see on the outside. Maggie is my favorite character in this book, besides Daisy of course. Just love dogs. Though this is a work of fiction, there are a few pretty strong/important life lessons within this as well, in my opinion. Also, thank you to the author, publisher, and Goodreads for providing this ARC of The New Husband. Great book. Recommend.
This story started out as your typical psychological thriller until it wasn’t. It is a nail biting storyline with some nice twists and one creepy bad guy. I found myself wanting to yell at the main character (in a good way) to stop being blind and listen to your daughter. The New Husband was a quick and enjoyable read. Thank you St. Martin’s Press for my ARC. I throughly enjoyed this story!
Wow! Just wow! Captivating, earnest, and enlightening. D. J. Palmer can sure tell a story. Don’t miss this one! Words don’t do it justice
“Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you know them.”
This is the story of Nina Garrity, Simon Fitch and Glen Garrity.
Nina Garrity learns the hard way after finding out her missing and presumed dead husband was leading a double life. Glen Garrity is presumed drowned while fishing on his boat, so she cannot confront him about the affair, the other woman or his other betrayals.
A year and a half later, Nina considers herself a widow even though police never did find Glen’s body. She has a chance encounter with Simon Fitch, a teacher at her daughter’s middle school. As they continue their friendship, she finds love again. She has hopes that she can put her shattered life back together.
Simon is a widower still grieving the suicide of his first wife. He thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina. He uses his charm and affection to help break through to her hardened heart.
Nina has a teenage son, Connor, and a daughter in 8th grade named Maggie. Connor embraces Simon as a father figure but Maggie sees a dark side to this new man. Nina’s good friends even wonder if Simon is merely devoted–or seriously possessive.
Nina is committed to her soon to be husband and her former career. She has to clear her conscience and nagging doubt that she is not making another terrible choice in choosing a man. She doesn’t want to make a mistake again in trusting the wrong person.
Nina uncovers a shocking truth in her search. She finds that the greatest danger is the lies people secretly tell themselves.
This is a twisty, chilling story of obsession, family, and how the truth lies somewhere in between what you think you know and what you actually know. What does it takes to find out why a person can check off all the boxes, but seem too good to be true?
I didn’t read reviews before I read this because when a book is labeled a thriller, I don’t want to have spoilers revealed. But I did read a lot of reviews before starting mine because I wanted to see if people noticed the same things I did.
To me, it was odd that when we were in Nina’s perspective we were in the third person, but when we were in her daughter Maggie’s perspective, we were in the first person, and I imagine that was difficult to write switching narratives as such. Also, I didn’t love how suddenly a chapter would be Maggie’s perspective, but we only know that from reading the text (it would be nice to let the readers know, hey, I’m switching perspectives and narrative here for a chapter…) Connor wasn’t much of a character, yes he came into play later on in the book, but he was mostly just there, and that’s okay because this really is Maggie and Nina’s story. Randomly, what 13-year-old calls a remote a clicker?
And I’m trying to avoid spoiling for other people but come on, the creep vibes were from the start! And I thought that was really interesting of Palmer to not create an air of mystery but rather flat out start with this vibe, that screamed danger, no thank you, move along! And I’m left wondering if I’m the only one that sees this or not because I’m not seeing it in the other reviews I’m reading.
This quote is the perfect tagline for the book “Just because you love someone doesn’t mean you know them.” Because yes, yes, Nina, yes. Get on board with the program Nina. I’ve written all this and noticed I didn’t do my normal summary, and I think you get the gist from the summary that there’s a lot of creep, a lot of signals being ignored, children being ignored, and there’s an excellent vibe coming off this book that says “definitely read me but be prepared we’re going to get weird in some elements of the writing style and with the story itself.” Bare with it, it is a bit slow in some places but it does get better. Well Done.
Let me start by saying the second half of this book is fabulous. The first part? Not so much. I found the first have of the book dragged. It became bogged down in irrelevant, over descriptive narrative that felt like a bit of a slog. That being said, once the action started to pick up, this book moved swiftly along and became a real page turner. It’s just a shame that the first half is so “wordy”. I would recommend this book if you are willing to put in the work – especially as the reasoning behind Simon’s actions come to light.
Thank you to the author and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I tried to get this on Netgalley was denied, so was thrilled to find the author’s facebook page and got one from him. I’d read Saving Meghan and was so excited to start this one and it did not disappoint and was hard to put down. Nina is a recently divorced mother of two, due to her husband missing for several years. She meets Simon and he becomes part of their life and seems to be the perfect potential new husband. Several things occur which cause Maggie, Nina’s daughter, to question Simon. However when she approaches her mother about it, Nina dismisses her concerns….that is until a series of events occur….which I don’t want to give away. This book was suspenseful and had twists and turns that I didn’t expect at all. When I thought I had it figured out, I found out I was wrong and it kept me reading and wanting more. This book is one I will and do highly recommend! It was all that I wanted and more! I look forward to more books from Mr Palmer!
A heart-pounding thrill ride; suspenseful until the end. I personally do not like spoilers but I can say this, the plot had everything to make this the fantastic book it is! Told from multiple points of view, the reader will get several sides of the story and what that character thinks, feels, etc. Characters were developed well, complex and dynamic. You will be on the edge of your seat and not want to put this book down!
I enjoyed The New Husband, the tension throughout the book was amazing. The kids, Maggie and Connor, were truly well developed, and I absolutely love the fact that Maggie was not your perfect, child that she was a child being bullied in school.
There were unique twist and turns throughout the book, but there were other things that were a little predictable. Also I think the title was a little off.
I don’t want to say too much, because it would be so easy to drop spoilers, which I don’t want to do. I loved the ending though, very fitting.
The New Husband was such an interesting story – things looked normal until you look at them through the eyes of Maggie, the daughter in this book. Maggie sees things others don’t and her experiences lent creepiness to this tale of a family trying to move on after the death of the husband and father.
D.J. Palmer has quickly become a favorite author of mine because he has a way of pulling the reader in, leading them on while building the story and through small hints and foreshadowing, turns things around on the reader before the even realize it.
If you like psychological thrillers and stories about families dealing with the aftermath of tragedies, this book is calling your name. If you haven’t read anything by this author, remedy that quickly!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher for an ARC at my request. Thoughts in this review area mine.
DJ Palmer’s The New Husband was a book of deceit, mystery, pain, and love. When a husband and a father go missing his family is devastated. Not only that but there are questions regarding his improprieties at his job and his fidelity. Enter the new guy, a science teacher, at the daughter’s school. Everyone is on board with him except the daughter who does not trust him. A twisted story that will have you on the edge of your seat. If you like psycho-thrillers The New Husband is definitely for you
A well written, great read. Loved the suspense and all the twists and turns. This book will keep you on your toes and guessing clear to the end. If you like suspense novels, this is a must read for you.
Nina Garrity is a wife to Glen, and a mother to Connor and Maggie. Nina learns from officers that her husband is missing. His boat was found with their dog, Daisy, on board and blood. Glen’s body was never located.
Now, nearly tow years later, Nina has a chance to start over. She is moving in with Simon Fitch, who is a history teacher at her daughter’s school. They have bought a new home. Connor has adjusted to the situation, but Maggie has not. Nina is still hesitant to agree to Simon’s proposal.
Nina finds Simon to be a caring, compassionate person, who makes her feel adored. Ater all, Simon has gone through his own torment with two of his former wives. Maggie seems to see a different side to Simon. Nina chalks up Maggie’s attitude to still grieving over her father. Nina and Connor, wish that Maggie would just accept Simon, so they could all just move forward.
Nina still has unanswered questions about her missing husband, and sets out to get answers and when she does, she learns how little she really knows him. Glen kept so many secrets. On the home front, Nina can’t understand Simon’s persistence regarding her new job. Simon’s attributes aren’t always charming. Nina has no idea her daughter is hiding a secret that could change everything. A secret if told, could put them all in danger.
This story has a lot of twists and turns, and mostly told from through the standpoint of Maggie and Nina. There is also a message of forgiveness, and I loved how the author had an unlikely friendship come into being between Maggie and another overlooked classmate.
I received an ARC from NetGalley via St. Martin’s Press and I have voluntarily reviewed this eBook.