This is the first book of 2021 I’ve completed that wasn’t for the purpose of a review, and it feels a bit odd if I’m honest! Because there wasn’t a deadline to read to, I really took my time with Your Neighbours Wife-it was okay but it didn’t blow me away.
It seems like Tara has it all-perfect, stay at hone husband, beautiful and smart son, adorable dog and an upbringing in an upper class home with her own pony. Tara runs her own business and a trip for a conference abroad sees her partaking in a one night stand who doesn’t want to leave things in the hotel room.
Once I had gotten over Tara’s indiscretion, I saw how awful her partner for that night really was, and as a reader I really grasped her terror as the book went on. However, I did find it seemed to almost drag in places (this is where I would put the book down and indulge in some TV drama and a cup of tea and put off picking the hook back up for a few nights), but the twist at the end was so worth it! I honestly didn’t see that coming in any way! I don’t want to give too much away, but honestly the entire set-up leading up to that moment was just mind blowing! And that final chapter just made me feel a little bit sentimental for Tara and Christian.
This is the first title of Tony Parsons I have read and I’m not sure if I’ll be adding previous titles to my constantly growing TBR list, and I really can’t compare to anything else he’s written, although a fair few reviews by fans of his do point to this being an entirely different style, genre and pace to Parsons series of titles. But I will say that a few book-bloggers I follow have found some Lisa Jewel titles quite slow and stalling, so I would say this title would seem similar to some. The writing style was good and I liked the characters-it was hard to know if you were meant to like Tara or hate her most of the time, and I really despised James Cain (as the reader is meant to) and the Accidental Dater blogger (didn’t see that one coming but also wasn’t really that surprised by it).
I’ve found an interview that fans of Parsons other books, of anyone whose curious to know more about Your Neighbours Wife, might find interesting.
Author Biography
Born in 1955 in Essex, Tony Parsons went to work in Gordon’s Gin Distillery (I wonder if he’s a fan of gin after all these years?) until he went to work as a music/punk journalist for NME (New Music Express-a magazine publication that’s no more), and much like the character of Christian, he married a fellow NME journalist who he shares a son with and divorced before remarrying again. Parsons has written numerous books going back to the early 00’s and is most well known for his DC Max Wolfe series.
Morelli’s Reads 