Review: 'The Marriage Lie' by Kimberly Belle (2016)

Are you ready to question if everything in your life is really as it seems…
She thought they had a perfect marriage…. When a plane crashes, Iris Griffiths watches the news unfold with horror…and then relief. Her beloved husband Will had just flown out from the same airport, but he was on a different flight.
So why is his name on the list of victims?  Surely there’s some mistake – her husband would never lie to her. Would he? But wading deeper into the truth of her husband’s deception, Iris begins to think the unthinkable.
Maybe she’s glad that he’s dead…
Kimberly Belle's 'The Marriage Lie' was released at the end of last year. I was straight away intrigued by the description of the book when I was contacted by the publisher, but I was still stuck in a pile of Christmas reads in December, so saved the book for January to be one of my first review books for the new year. As many of you will know I usually go for chick lit reads or books that guarantee a happy ending, but I can quite enjoy a good thriller every now and again, as long as it's not too gruesome! So, I was curious to get started on 'The Marriage Lie' and hoped I would end up enjoying it!
Iris and Will are the example of the ultimate happily married couple. They are still crazy in love with each other and can't wait to start with the next step in their lives: trying for a baby. But everything goes horribly wrong when Iris discovers that Will has died in a horrible plane crash. The strangest thing is, though, that Will was supposed to be flying to an event in Florida for a three-day business trip, but the plane involved in the crash, Liberty Airlines flight 23, was on its way to Seattle. Iris can't ignore the strange feeling in stomach and decides to dive into Will's life to discover what else he was hiding from her. She soon finds out their whole marriage was built on lies and Iris knows she won't be able to let this go until she has discovered the whole truth...
I really love it when you start reading a book that has a storyline at its core that immediately grabs you and keeps you wanting to read more because with each chapter you discover new things and you just need to know where it is all leading up to. That was exactly how I felt when I was reading Kimberly Belle's 'The Marriage Lie', which is an intriguing and well-written read that focuses on main character Iris. Her life is turned upside down when her husband Will unexpectedly dies in a plane crash of a plane he wasn't supposed to be on. Each chapter of the novel introduced new elements to the storyline and it continuously had me guessing and wondering what it would all lead to in the end, and that end still managed to surprise me a bit as well, even though I did see a few twists and turns coming. 
I quite liked Iris, who works as a counsellor at a school for privileged kids. I secretly hoped her job would play a big role in the story, since I would have loved to read more about it, but that wasn't really the case. I also immediately warmed to Iris' family, especially her brother Dave, who helps Iris to try and solve the puzzle surrounding Will's death. This was my first time reading something by author Kimberly Belle and I have to say I certainly enjoyed it and hope we are treated to another one of her novels soon. On the whole I thought 'The Marriage Lie' was a gripping and intense read that had me on the edge of my seat with its twists and turns; a convincing thriller I can definitely recommend.

Rating:8,5/10

  For more information about this book: Amazon.co.uk / Amazon.com / Goodreads
Thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy in exchange for an honest review.