The Next Wife Kaira Rouda (book club reads TXT) 📖

PRAISE FOR KAIRA ROUDA

The Next Wife

“In The Next Wife, two women go ruthlessly head-to-head. Kaira Rouda knows how to create the perfect diabolical characters that we love to hate. Equally smart and savage, this is a lightning-fast read.”

—Mary Kubica, New York Times bestselling author of The Other Mrs.

“Rouda’s talent for making readers question everything and everyone shines through on every page of her propulsive new thriller The Next Wife. Her narrators are sharp and unpredictable, each one with a tangle of secrets to unravel. The Next Wife will leave you tense and gasping, with a chilling twist you won’t see coming.”

—Julie Clark, New York Times bestselling author of The Last Flight

“One of the most insidious, compulsive books I’ve read recently. Kaira Rouda has a way of drawing you in with great characters, fast-paced writing, and a story that won’t let you go. Brilliant, dark, and dazzling.”

—Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author of My Lovely Wife and He Started It

“One man. Two wives. Kaira Rouda has masterfully created cunning twists and sharp narration that take you on an unexpected and delicious journey and will leave you with a gasp. Devious and fun, The Next Wife should be the next book you read!”

—Wendy Walker, bestselling author of Don’t Look for Me

“I absolutely inhaled The Next Wife. Nail-biting suspense, dark humor, and family intrigue. I savored every page and now have the worst book hangover. Loved it!”

—Michele Campbell, internationally bestselling author of The Wife Who Knew Too Much

The Favorite Daughter

“Kaira Rouda’s husband, Harley, may have recently been elected to Congress, but she isn’t looking to make a name for herself just as a politician’s wife . . . The Gone Girl–style domestic suspense novel follows Jane, a narcissistic perfectionist dealing with the death of her daughter.”

—Washington Post

“[An] exceptional psychological thriller . . . suspense fans will be amply rewarded.”

—Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Will hit you right in the heart.”

—Bustle

“Rouda delivers a wickedly perfect thriller with The Favorite Daughter.”

—Good Life Family Magazine

“Delightfully wicked fun!”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Involving psychological suspense that reveals the cracks in what seems like a perfect life.”

—Booklist

“B. A. Paris and Shari Lapena fans will fall head over heels for this suspenseful psychological thriller set in an upscale Southern California community.”

—POPSUGAR

“In The Favorite Daughter, Kaira Rouda . . . provides a front-row seat to the riveting unraveling of an unhinged narcissist who will do anything to regain a picture-perfect image . . . Rouda’s portrayal of Jane is fabulously compelling and darkly hilarious, detailing her self-obsession and conceit . . . This amplifies the discomfort of witnessing Jane coming unwound, but it’s impossible to look away from the wreckage. The resolution is satisfying, but the ride is so diabolically twisted and entertaining that readers will be sorry when it comes to a stop.”

—Shelf Awareness

“Intense, creepy, and classic Rouda. A chilling story, told so well. Don’t miss it!”

—J. T. Ellison, New York Times bestselling author

“Leaves you wanting more.”

—Liv Constantine, bestselling author of The Last Mrs. Parrish

“A smart, wickedly plotted psychological thriller brimming with dark surprises.”

—Heather Gudenkauf, New York Times bestselling author

“Compulsively readable and deeply satisfying psychological suspense.”

—Christina Alger, USA Today bestselling author of The Banker’s Wife

“Alfred Hitchcock meets Patricia Highsmith in this masterful novel of psychological suspense. Quietly horrifying, tightly wound, and diabolical, The Favorite Daughter is a stunning page-turner.”

—A. J. Banner, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and #1 Amazon bestselling author

“Crafty, unsparing, and gloriously Hitchcockian—a masterful glimpse into a world of privilege and appearance with a nasty edge.”

—Emily Carpenter, bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls and Every Single Secret

“Both compelling and addictive, The Favorite Daughter is a roller coaster of a ride that will have you twisting and turning.”

—Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke, bestselling authors of Girls’ Night Out

Best Day Ever

“A tensely written, shocking book that will hold readers on the edge of their seats to the very last page.”

—Publishers Weekly

“This latest psychological thriller from bestselling Rouda is destined to fly off the shelves, enticing readers to ride along as this multifaceted day in the life of the Stroms unfolds.”

—Library Journal, starred review

“Darkly funny, scandalous, and utterly satisfying.”

—Kirkus Reviews

“Rouda keeps the pace taut, the action spare, and the characters intense as she takes readers on an hour-by-hour recounting of a couple’s fateful getaway.”

—Booklist

“This uncomfortably creepy thriller from Kaira Rouda (The Goodbye Year) capitalizes on the current buzz about the prevalence of narcissists and psychopaths, and will surely leave readers wondering how well they really know their loved ones . . . adventurous thriller lovers and fans of Lee Irby’s Unreliable will find Best Day Ever a similarly mind-twisting walk on the sinister side.”

—Shelf Awareness

“It’s clear from the beginning that something sinister is going on in this novel, which will cost you sleep as you race through its pages. Chilling, satisfying suspense.”

—Good Housekeeping

“Best Day Ever is filled with suspense and mystery and is a fast-paced page-turner. You’re in for a treat with this new one from Kaira Rouda.”

—Huffington Post

“Best Day Ever by Kaira Rouda asks us just how well we know those who are closest to us.”

—Hypable

OTHER TITLES BY KAIRA ROUDA

Suspense

Best Day Ever

The Favorite Daughter

All the Difference

Women’s Fiction

Here, Home, Hope

In the Mirror

The Goodbye Year

Romance

The Indigo Island Series

Weekend with the Tycoon

The Billionaire’s Bid

The Trouble with Christmas

Her Forbidden Love

Nonfiction

Real You Incorporated: 8 Essentials for Women Entrepreneurs

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Text copyright © 2021 by Kaira Rouda

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.

Published by Thomas & Mercer, Seattle

www.apub.com

Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Thomas & Mercer are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates.

ISBN-13: 9781542025942

ISBN-10: 154202594X

Cover design by Damon Freeman