ALC Review: My Husband’s Wife by Alice Fenney
My Husband’s Wife
Author: Alice Feeney
Narrators:
Bel Powley
Henry Rowley
Richard Armitage
To Be Published: January 20, 2026
Audiobook: 8 hours 58 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: December 23, 2025- January 5, 2026
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife.
One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying.
Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But then Birdy stumbles upon a shadowy London clinic that claims to be able to predict a person’s date of death, including her own. Secrets start to unravel, and as the line between truth and lies blurs, Birdy feels compelled to right some old wrongs.
My Husband’s Wife is a tangled web of deception, obsession, and mystery that will keep you guessing until the last page. Prepare yourself for the ultimate mind-bending marriage thriller and step inside Spyglass – if you dare – to experience a story where nothing is as it seems.
Jessica’s Review:
I’ve read a few novels by Alice Feeney, so when I hear she has a book coming out, I look into it. This one has an intriguing premise and I was excited to be granted an advanced copy to listen to and review. And once I started it, I was glad I got this advanced copy.
There are a lot of twists throughout the novel, and it goes in many directions that I was not expecting. And then… Add in a company that claims that it can predict when a person will die… WHAT!?!??!
We have four POVs:
Carter who is a police officer
Eden who is Harrison’s wife and an artist
Birdy who is comes back to Hope Falls and also a police officer.
Harrison who lives in Spyglass and married to Eden
So much happens that it could be hard to keep it all straight. I think the audiobook definitely helped me with this. It is all very implausible and something about the story just did not connect with me. I can’t figure out what it was. Sometimes books are for you and sometimes they just are not. My Husband’s Wife had a lot of promise, but it just ended up not being a book for me.
There are three narrators who did a great job and there are also ‘sound effects’ that enhanced and adds to this story! Nothing too distracting to affect me while I was driving. For example, one effect was when Eden was running you can hear her making those steps. And I just have to say the cover is gorgeous!
Many thanks to the publisher, Macmillan Audio for granting me a copy to listen to and review!
Book Review: The Accidental Pinup by Danielle Jackson
The Accidental Pinup
Series: Buxom Boudoir #1
Author: Danielle Jackson
Narrator: Jeanette Illidge
Published: July 19, 2022
Audiobook: 10 hours 11 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 10-15, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
Rival photographers are forced to collaborate on a body-positive lingerie campaign, but they might have to readjust their focus when sparks fly.
Photographer Cassie Harris loves her job—her company Buxom Boudoir makes people look beautiful and feel empowered with her modern twist on classic pinup photography. Cassie’s best friend, Dana, is about to launch her own dangerously dreamy lingerie line and wants Cassie to shoot and direct the career-changing national campaign. But company politics and Dana’s complicated pregnancy interfere, and Cassie finds herself—a proud plus size Black woman—not behind the camera but in front of it.
Though she’s never modeled herself, Cassie’s pretty sure she can handle the sheer underwear and caution tape bralettes. She’s not sure she can work so intimately with the chosen photographer, her long-time competitor in the Chicago photography scene, Reid Montgomery. Their chemistry is undeniable on set, however, and feelings can develop faster than film…
Jessica’s Review:
After trying to find a book based on ‘stranger photo sessions’ and only finding a novella series that did not work for me (I gave the first novella 2 stars and DNF’d the second), this was the closest I could find. And that was thanks to my friend Yami.
Here we have photographer Cassie whose best friend Dana is about to launch a lingerie line for plus sized women. Dana wants Cassie to be the photographer and after a series of events Cassie ends up being the model (which Cassie has never modeled…) and the photographer is Reid. Reid has been Cassie’s direct competition and he has taken potential jobs from her. And there is some chemistry going on between model and photographer.
I really loved the body positivity and representation in the novel with Cassie. In addition to being a gorgeous plus sized woman, she is also a person of color. We are getting so much representation in this novel! And being this is a contemporary romance we also have the rivals/ enemies to lovers sub-genre.
It got a little bit much on the spicy side for me, but I was prepared for that knowing my friend Yami likes her books spicy! For the readers who read spice/ like the spice it’s most likely not too spicy. But ya’ll know I don’t need spicy, and prefer my romances sweet and closed door for the most part. It did seem as if the relationship was mainly based off of physical attraction, and I mean, Cassie is wearing just underwear around Reid, so he can’t help but see what she has to offer and like it or not!
Overall, I enjoyed this one. Of course there are secrets involved in the story. But there has to be some kind of angst! I really want a decent ‘stranger photo session’ novel! And guess what: I actually found a photographer who is local to me who does these sessions! And guess what else?!?!? I put in an application for a stranger session! We will see what happens, my guess is that mainly women put in for these sessions, but you also have to have men sign up. And the photographer actually attempts to make couples based on similar interests. Will I get a contact from that photographer about a match??? Only time will tell….
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Book Review: A Girl and Five Brave Horses by Sonora Carver
A Girl and Five Brave Horses
Author: Sonora Carver
Narrator: Laci Morgan
First Published: 1961
Audiobook: 6 hours 8 minutes
Reviewed By: Jessica
Dates Listened To: November 1-5, 2025
Jessica’s Rating: 3.5 stars
Book Description:
In the roaring ’20s, adventurous young Sonora Webster sees an exciting act that will change her life forever. Hooves pound as a horse gallops up the ramp of a 40-foot-tall tower. A girl in a sparkly swimsuit waits at the top, and at the last possible second, leaps on its back as they dive through the air, falling to a tank of water far below with thunderous applause.
Sonora is hooked. From that moment on, she is determined to BE that girl, despite the danger, and endeavors to join the diving horse troupe. This memoir follows her exciting career and life on the road as a traveling performer with W.F. Carver’s stunt show, even after she was blinded in an accident. Despite her lack of sight, she continued to dive for eleven years, becoming an inspiration to blind and disabled people who heard her story. Sonora’s life even inspired the beloved 1991 movie, Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken.
Full of twists and turns, humorous animal tales, moments of tragedy, and hope, listeners will enjoy this exciting true tale of a strong American woman finding her place in history during the Great Depression, with an unbreakable spirit and the help of her brave horse partners.
Jessica’s Review:
If you have seen the movie Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken, then you know the very basic story about Sonora Carver. A Girl and Five Brave Horses is Sonora’s story in her own words. This is the story of a life of determination and strength despite the unexpected events that life can be the cause of.
The movie gives the basis of what happens in her life and Sonora’s memoir adds to it. At times the memoir was detailed and other times it isn’t. I wanted to know more about Sonora’s family (especially her relationship with her sister Arnette) and more on her relationship with Al, unfortunately which we don’t get. The movie leads you to believe that Al is much younger than he actually was: Al was about 20 years older than Sonora. The movie does not show that Arnette was a part of Sonora’s life during her horse diving. And for taking place during the Depression, we are not told how life was for those living during that time.
We do get details about Sonora’s treatment for her eyes and her adjustment into life without sight. Growing up and loving the film, I think I went in with big expectations for the memoir and I was disappointed. I feel we could have been given so much more than what we got. There were just details for some events and then other important events were just rushed through. Carver was from another time and maybe that was why we didn’t get as much details as we would get if this story happened now. This could be because Sonora is telling her story to someone else versus actually writing it.
I really don’t like giving a lower rating (3.5 stars) for a memoir, which is someone’s life, but there was so much more that could have been with this memoir than what we got.
Purchase Links:
Amazon US
Amazon UK