Books like 'The Life She Wants'
Readers who enjoyed The Life She Wants by J.M. Hewitt also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological thriller suspense crime family literary-fiction female-mc breakup domestic-drama
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Francesca by Gillian Y. Godden
Rated: 4.60 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsSingle mother Francesca is struggling to get by when an act of desperation leads to her owing a debt to notorious gangland boss, Tony Lambrianu. Tony has his own troubles – a change of image from playboy to respectable married man is needed to further his criminal career. He has women falling at his feet, but none he wants to make his wife... -
One Moment by Linda Green
Rated: 4.39 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFinn and Kaz are about to meet for the first time. Ten-year-old Finn, a quirky, sensitive boy who talks a lot and only eats at cafes with a 5-star hygiene rating, is having a tough time at school and home. Outspoken Kaz, 59, who has an acerbic sense of humour and a heart of gold, is working at the café when Finn and his mum come in... -
Blood Brothers: A gritty, unforgettable gangland thriller from bestseller Heather Atkinson by Heather Atkinson
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen you’re running the streets, loyalty is everything…Gangs rule the streets of the rough Gallowburn Estate in Glasgow, but the deepest rivalry of all is between Jamie Gray and his friends, known as the Blood Brothers, and their enemies, the Lawsons... -
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GUIDE STAR a gripping and emotional rollercoaster of a novel about love, life and not giving up by Joy Ellis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDo you love emotional and gripping fiction full of twists about people fighting back against what life throws at them? Then try this book by a #1 best-selling author now. You won't want to put it down. WHO DO YOU TURN TO WHEN LIFE GOES WRONG? WHO IS YOUR GUIDE STAR? What readers are saying about GUIDE STAR “ Loved this book... -
No Beach Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThe Benson family needs a fresh start. Can they find peace and happiness on the beaches of Nantucket?Last summer, a storm blew the Benson family’s lives to bits.It’s been almost a year since that fateful day.Since they learned that life at the beach isn’t all sunshine and rainbows.They’re doing their best to pick up the pieces.Mae is running the Sweet Island Inn... -
What She Saw by Wendy Clarke
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsShe lied to her daughter to save her family. Everyone knows Leona would do anything for her daughter Beth: she moved to Church Langdon to send Beth to the best school, worked hard to build a successful business to support them and found them the perfect little cottage to call home. Leona and Beth hike together, shop together, share their hopes and fears with one another... -
Last Seen by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.16 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsIn a small seaside community, there’s always somebody watching… Twisty, pacy, and superbly plotted, Last Seen is the perfect psychological page-turner for fans of Clare Mackintosh and Sabine Durrant. Seven years ago, two boys went missing at sea – and only one was brought to shore. The Sandbank, a remote stretch of coast dotted with beach huts, was scarred forever... -
Nowhere to Hide by Keri Beevis
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsDuncan Stone is one of the country's most eligible and handsome bachelors, and he wants to take me, Callie Parker, on a date. At first I am surprised and flattered, the envy of my friends. Then when our whirlwind romance escalates and he asks me to move in with him, it's like a dream come true. But as I get to really know my new boyfriend, my fairytale turns into a nightmare... -
Famous Last Words by Gillian McAllister
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIt is June 21, the longest day of the year, and the life of new mother Camilla is about to change forever. After months of maternity leave, she will drop off her infant daughter at daycare for the first time and return to her job as a literary agent. Finally. But when she wakes, her husband Luke isn’t there, and in his place is a cryptic note.Then it starts... -
Glen Affric by Karine Giébel
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsBestselling French author of psychological suspense Karine Giebel makes her American debut with this dark and haunting novel about the unbreakable bond between two brothers, both treated unfairly by the world—for fans of Karin Slaughter and Stieg Larsson.“I’m so stupid. I barely have a brain at all... -
The Forgetting by Hannah Beckerman
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of If Only I Could Tell You comes the story of two women determined to uncover the truth. But how can you trust the present if you can't remember the past?“Left me gasping. Brilliant.” —Alex Michaelides“Has one of the best story twists I have ever read…superb writing.” —Ruth Jones“Resonates long after you turn the final page... -
The Thorn Girl by Laura Elliot
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA swallow flutters its wings into a dimly lit attic as Adele Foyle stumbles across the secret diary of the mother she has never met, and a shocking account of a crime committed over twenty-five years ago... -
The Other Couple by Diane Jeffrey
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsTwo couples. A fatal accident. And a decision that changes everything… Kirsten and Nick are enjoying a weekend away until, on their drive home, they accidentally run over and kill a man. They should call for help – but they have too much to lose, and no one can know the real reason they’re here. Instead, they make a split-second decision to conceal the accident...Categorized as:
thriller crime breakup domestic-drama female-mc law-enforcement suspense literary-fiction -
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My Sister's Husband by Nicola Marsh
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsThe sunroom at the back of the house is just as I remember. I can’t taste homemade lemonade or smell oatmeal cookies without thinking of home, of the beautiful cliffs of Martino Bay, and I feel welcomed. But all thoughts of a happy family reunion are destroyed the moment I see him… He’s as handsome as I remember: broad shoulders, piercing blue eyes, hair the colour of burnt toffee... -
The Marriage Betrayal by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratings‘Daddy has been lying.’ Faye Townsend has planned the perfect summer trip for her family. But returning to the small seaside town her husband grew up in does not go to plan, the rain pours and the long days become stifling. And then the unthinkable happens… Her husband Jake and her six-year-old son Dylan go for an early morning walk along the beautiful, windswept clifftops. They don’t come back... -
You Need to Know by Nicola Moriarty
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling author of The Ex and Those Other Women comes a thrilling family drama about the secrets we keep, the lies we tell and the truths that won't stay hidden.The holidays are here. The extended family has gathered. The cars are packed and the convoy sets off.The cottage is a few hours' drive - but not everyone will live to see it .. -
The Lodger by Valerie Keogh
Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsShe’s in your home…Leigh Simons can’t say for sure what made her do it. A moment of madness, perhaps, but when the young, loud and gorgeous waitress at her favorite coffee shop reveals she is homeless, Leigh offers her the empty room in her house.In your head…Gina is the perfect lodger; Leigh, lonely and frustrated with her life, becomes infatuated with the woman – her boldness, her zeal... -
Stone Cold Fox by Rachel Koller Croft
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA perfectly wicked debut thriller about an ambitious woman who, after a lifetime of conning alongside her mother, wants to leave her dark past behind and marry the heir to one of the country's wealthiest families.Like any enterprising woman, Bea knows what she’s worth and is determined to get all she deserves—it just so happens that what she deserves is to marry rich. Filthy rich... -
A Killing Cold by Kate Alice Marshall
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA woman invited to her wealthy fiance’s family retreat realizes they are hiding a terrible secret—and that she’s been there before, by the bestselling author of What Lies in the Woods.A whirlwind romance.When Theodora Scott met Connor—wealthy, charming, and a member of the powerful Dalton family—she fell in love in an instant... -
The Engagement by Samantha Hayes
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsYou thought you had escaped him. Until he proposed to your daughter.‘There’s someone I want you to meet,’ Belle says, as a man draws up to her side. He’s tall with dark hair and stubble on his square jaw. He’s dressed in expensive-looking clothes – tan trousers and a fitted navy shirt... -
The Narrator by K.L. Slater
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat if the chance of a perfect life… put your daughter in grave danger?Being a single mother is tough, but I’d do anything for my little girl Scarlet. I’d given up on my career as a voice actor when the call came, but suddenly I was the new narrator for a secret book from bestselling author Philippa Roberts, who has been missing for eight months. It was a lifeline for me and my daughter... -
Positively Murder by Netta Newbound
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor Melissa May, happily married to Gavin for the best part of thirty years, life couldn’t get much better. Her world is ripped apart when she discovers Gavin is HIV positive. The shock of his duplicity and irresponsible behaviour re-awakens a psychiatric condition Melissa has battled since childhood... -
Brothers & Sisters by Adele O'Neill
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhat lengths would you go to protect the ones you love? When the complex web of dark family secrets begins to gradually unravel, Tim and his sister Rose are consumed by trying to protect their 46-year-old secret, a secret that was never meant to be told. Faced with an impossible dilemma, they must decide whether to tell the truth or face the consequences... -
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The Perfect Family Man by M.M. DeLuca
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsFive years ago, my little boy went missing. Now my husband’s vanished, too.I wish I could say that the tragedy of little Jack disappearing brought me and Nate closer together. But my husband is more distant from me now than he’s ever been. Perhaps that’s why I don’t ask him exactly where he’s going when he sets off on another business trip...Categorized as:
crime suspense female-mc literary-fiction family thriller psychological contemporary -
Third Party by Brandi Reeds
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIs it murder? Is someone playing mind games? Or is it both? The chilling answers are in this twisting novel of psychological suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Trespassing.The apparent suicide of a beautiful aspiring law student unites two strangers, connected only by their tangled suspicions: that nothing about Margaux Stritch’s tragic end is what it looks like... -
The Lies We Hide by S.E. Lynes
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThirty years ago, Nicola Watson lived with her parents and older brother in a respectable suburb... -
Hurt Mountain by Angela Crook
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn estranged mother and father join forces to uncover the truth about their missing daughter in a haunting novel about trauma, loss, family, and hope. When patrolman Brandon Hall comes upon a broken-down car on a Colorado highway, he finds a young girl in a bloodied nightgown at the wheel. In the back seat, the brutalized body of a teenage boy. The girl will say only one Hurt... -
One Little Mistake by Emma Curtis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsVicky Seagrave is blessed: three beautiful children, a successful, doting husband, great friends and a job she loves. She should be perfectly happy. When she risks everything she holds dear on a whim, there's only person she trusts enough to turn to. But Vicky is about to learn that one mistake is all it takes; that if you're careless with those you love, you don't deserve to keep them . .Categorized as:
crime family female-mc law-enforcement literary-fiction suspense thriller 21st-century -
Don't Blink by L.G. Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings*This book was previously published under the titles The Girl in the Rain and The Girl in the Storm.* Two years ago, Paige Wilson watched helplessly as her brother Ryan was shot, right on her doorstep. He survived the attack, but never fully recovered from the trauma. Stuck in a wheelchair, Ryan refuses to accept the life of a paraplegic... -
Circle of Doubt by Tracy Buchanan
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsShe thought she was the perfect mother—until the new neighbours moved in.Emma and Dele’s dreams came true nine years ago when they adopted their daughter, Isla. It felt like fate, like they were meant to find each other, and now they’re living the life they always wanted... -
My Little Girl by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings‘I’m sorry. Your daughter is missing…’Claire Nolan receives a panicked phone call, telling her that her seven-year-old daughter Beatrice has gone missing on a trip to the local fair.It’s every mother’s worst nightmare. And it’s happening to her... -
The Family Trap by Lorna Dounaeva
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsPrudence welcomed Zoe into her home. Now she’s fighting to survive.Two simple words shatter Prudence Ahern’s world - “I’m pregnant.”Her son Nathan is only eighteen when his new girlfriend Zoe drops that little bombshell. Prudence feels she has to support her son and asks Zoe to move in with them.Right from the start, Prudence knows something isn’t right...Categorized as:
suspense thriller family female-mc literary-fiction psychological fiction contemporary -
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
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In Her Eyes by Sarah Alderson
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou're at home with your family. You think you're safe. You're wrong... Ava's life is the kind other people envy: loving husband; great kids; beautiful house. Until the night a violent home invasion turns the dream into a nightmare, and leaves her beautiful daughter fighting to survive.And then things get worse. Ava realises that the attack wasn't random. Someone is targeting her family... -
The Break by Katie Sise
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCan she trust the people she loves? Can she trust herself? A new mother is pushed to the edge in a provocative thriller by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of Open House.After the traumatic birth of her daughter at a New York City hospital, Rowan O’Sullivan returns home to her apartment with her perfect newborn, Lila... -
Not My Mother by Miranda Smith
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhat if the person you trust most in the world is lying to you?I’d heard of the Baby Caroline case, of course. When a baby is snatched from her mother’s arms, the whole country knows about it. I knew about the parents left lying by the swimming pool, the open window in the nursery. But I never dreamed it had anything to do with me.Today, my beautiful daughter turned one...Categorized as:
suspense thriller literary-fiction female-mc audiobook psychological fiction contemporary -
Her Perfect Family by Teresa Driscoll
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsA gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of I Am Watching You. The perfect family? Or the perfect lie?It’s their daughter’s graduation and Rachel and Ed Hartley are expecting it to be one of their family’s happiest days... -
The Secret Mother by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAre you my mommy?Tessa Markham returns home to find a child in her kitchen. He thinks she is his mother. But Tessa doesn't have any children.Not anymore.She doesn't know who the little boy is or how he got there. After contacting the police, Tessa is suspected of kidnapping the mystery child. Her whole life is turned upside down. And then her husband reveals a secret of his own.. -
The Accident by Natalie Barelli
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsIf only she'd said no... Katherine knew she’d had too many drinks, but they were only going a short distance. And as Eve pointed out, it was late, there was no traffic anyway... Now, Katherine would do anything to turn back the clock. If anyone ever found out about the accident, it would ruin Katherine’s life... -
The Woman in Our House by Andrew Hart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat happens when you open your home to the perfect stranger?Anna Klein is ready to return to work as a literary agent for the first time since having children. She and her husband, Josh, decide to hire a live-in nanny with some trepidation, but all their misgivings disappear as soon as they meet Oaklynn Durst. She has stellar references, a calm disposition, and a natural way with children... -
The Widow by Valerie Keogh
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsGrieving or guilty?When Allison’s wealthy and charming husband Peter is found dead, she appears distraught, devastated….delighted?Because despite an apparently picture-perfect marriage, Allison knows it was all built on a bed of lies.And as the truth regarding Peter’s life and death are revealed, Alison must try to keep her own dark past buried... -
After She Left by Claire Amarti
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsAbigail Gibson is gone. The morning after Christmas Day, she walks out of her home in the leafy suburbs of Westchester, New York, leaving behind a strange note on the kitchen table… and her ten-year-old son, Sam.When her sister Gillian gets the call, she can barely believe it...Categorized as:
family suspense thriller literary-fiction female-mc fiction contemporary psychological -
At the Quiet Edge by Victoria Helen Stone
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA young mother has done everything possible to put the past behind her, but it might not be enough in a gripping novel of suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Jane Doe novels.Abandoned by her fugitive ex-husband, Lily Brown is rebuilding her life on the edge of a Kansas town that still feels the sting of his crimes... -
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The Other Daughter by Shalini Boland
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsNine years ago her daughter was taken. And now she’s back. Two-and-a-half-year-old Holly is playing happily in a pink plastic playhouse, while her mother Rachel sips coffee and chats with a friend nearby. It should be an ordinary day for all of them. But, in the blink of an eye, it turns into every family’s worst nightmare. Holly is taken by a stranger and never found... -
Little Whispers by K.L. Slater
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsYou shared a secret with the wrong person.Janey Markham is thrilled to be moving with her family to Buckingham Crescent, the smartest address in a desirable suburban town.Worried she’ll be excluded by the glossy local mothers, Janey is thrilled when she meets Tanya, the kind of woman she has always looked up to... -
What It Seems by Emily Bleeker
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA page-turning novel of suspense about the perfect family, and the perfect lies, by the bestselling author of When I’m Gone and The Waiting Room.Adopted by her controlling foster mother at the age of eight, twenty-year-old Tara has seen little of the outside world. Lonely, punished for the slightest offense, her only distraction comes from watching the Feely family’s online videos... -
Blood Vines by Erica Spindler
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIn this bare-knuckled adrenaline ride from New York Times bestselling author Erica Spindler, Alex Clarkson’s worst nightmares are about to come true… A sinister, hooded figure… When Alexandra Clarkson starts having terrifying visions filled with blood and ceremonial images, she tries to find a rational explanation – maybe her mind is playing tricks on her, resurrecting creepy tableaux from her... -
Little Friends by Jane Shemilt
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTHE STUNNING NEW PSYCHOLOGICAL SUSPENSE FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF RICHARD & JUDY BOOK CLUB SENSATION DAUGHTERTheir children are friends first. They hit it off immediately, as kids do. And so the parents are forced to get to know each other. Three wildly different couples. Three marriages, floundering.There are barbecues, dinner parties, a holiday in Greece... -
The Happiness In Between: A Novel by Grace Greene
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA woman returns home to hide from her past mistakes and discovers one more chance at happiness. Sandra Hurst has left her husband. Again. After dropping out of college to marry Trent, divorcing him, then remarrying him, she’s shown up on her parents’ doorstep nursing her wounds. But her parents refuse to help this time—emotionally or financially...
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