Review for The Second Mrs. Strom by Kaira Rouda

 The Second Mrs. Strom by Kaira Rouda

Published August 16, 2024 by Bookouture

Genre:  Psychological Thriller

 

Taken from Goodreads:  I don’t want the perfect marriage. I want revenge…

If you had met me a year ago, you wouldn’t have noticed me. A beautiful woman, but a struggling nobody in a tiny apartment, invisible…

Meeting Paul changed that.

And now here I am in Paris, after a whirlwind courtship and a stunning beach proposal. I smile at my handsome husband, my eyes shining in the candlelight, my huge diamond ring sparkling on the starched white tablecloth. Other women look at me in envy. They see a couple completely in love.

They’re wrong.

Despite this incredible luxury vacation, my husband and I can’t escape our problems. I can’t get over what he did with that woman just after our wedding, and my bright smile can’t hide the hardness in my heart.

I wonder if Paul knows the truth. That our first meeting, when we fell in love, wasn’t the coincidence he thinks it was. That what I want from him has nothing to do with his money.

And now that he’s wronged me, I’ll stop at nothing to get it…

 

My Thoughts:  This book is…well, I am not sure what to call it.   It is a thriller for sure and full of drama, but it just sat differently with me.   I have read Kaira Rouda before and loved her books, this book just felt different to me.  Not in an entirely bad way but I did not love this book as much as her others.

I could not decide who was going to be the bad guy in this book.   Paul and his young wife are both playing games with each other but who was going to win.   Each time I thought I knew what would happen next, something would change, and I would be wrong.  I like being wrong when trying to guess what would be happening next in a book.  

I love the Paris setting.  I could picture the city as they traveled around visiting well-known places and some lesser known. 

Thank you Bookouture for a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

 

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Meet Kaira (Taken from her website):  Kaira Rouda is an award–winning, USA Today and Amazon Charts bestselling author of contemporary fiction that explores what goes on beneath the surface of seemingly perfect lives. Her novels of domestic suspense include The Widow, Somebody’s Home, The Next Wife, The Favorite Daughter, Best Day Ever, All the Difference. Her latest, Beneath the Surface, has been optioned for a feature film. Her next novel, Under the Palms, is out in May 2024, followed by The Next Mrs. Strom in August 2024, and Only the Nanny in November 2024. To date, Kaira’s work has been translated into more than a dozen languages. Three of her novels have been named Amazon Editor’s Picks for Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense. The Next Wife was named a Suspense Magazine’s Best Book of 2021 Award, and a 2022 Silver Falchion for Best Suspense Novel and a 2022 Silver Falchion first runner-up for Best Book of the Year.

She is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, Women’s Fiction Author Association, and the International Thriller Writers Association. She served as a committee chair for the Edgar Awards 2024, and frequently appears on panels at conferences across the country. Active in the areas of homelessness, food security, and empowering women and girls, in her twenties, as a volunteer, she created the first walk-in emergency shelter for homeless families in Central Ohio. Kaira has received numerous awards for her community service, including the national Kiwanis Service to Mankind Award, the Ohio Sertoma Service to Mankind Award, and Kick Ass Woman of Orange County by Orange Coast Magazine. Kaira was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsome to the California Volunteers commission. Kaira lives in Southern California with her family.

Kaira also belongs to the following writing organizations:
Sisters in Crime | Mystery Writers of America | International Thriller Writers (ItW) | California Writer’s Club | Killer Author Club / founding member | Author’s Guild of America | Women’s Fiction Writers Association