The Ex-Husband - Karen Hamilton

[goodreads]

Title: The Ex-Husband
Author: Karen Hamilton
Genre: Suspense
Rating: 3/5
# pages: 352
Date read: June, 2022

Charlotte has an unsavory past, but she’s on the straight and narrow these days. She was so young then—she married the wrong man, falling for Sam’s sweet-talking charm and charisma, and got caught up in his con artist games.

If only she’d left him before things went too far.

Now Sam is missing. But before he disappeared, he left urgent, cryptic messages about someone threatening him—someone who has been threatening Charlotte, too.
So Charlotte takes a job as a personal assistant for an engagement party aboard a private luxury cruise ship, the Cleobella, to get far away from anyone who means her harm.

But as the Cleobella sails through its glittering destinations, increasingly sinister events haunt the guests, and the turquoise waves and sun-drenched beaches give way to something darker. Someone knows what Charlotte did. Is it the blushing bride? The seemingly placid mother-in-law? Or the mysterious heiress?

Someone knows, and someone wants revenge—before the ship reaches its final port.


Basically I'll read anything that takes place on a cruise ship ;-) Fortunately, that wasn't all it had going for it, and I did end up really enjoying it, and read the second half in just one day! The beginning is told in two timelines (past and present) which seldom works for me, as I by far preferred the "present" to the "past", so I was glad when the "past" caught up with the beginning of the book, and the rest could just be told in real-time.

It's definitely NOT realistic, but I knew that going into the story, so didn't have any problems suspending my disbelief for it, and I did love reading about life onboard the yacht. The ending came a bit too easy for me, but worked with the characters, so it didn't bother me too much.

All in all I understand the fairly average rating - it's a fairly average book. An enjoyable read, but nothing out of the ordinary.