Author: Michele Campbell
ISBN: 9780008271862
RRP: $29.99
Publisher: HQ Fiction
Copy: Courtesy of the Publisher
Holidays are really messing with my review time, but I’m happy to say I’m still finding time to read. The problem with that is it’s been quite a while since I finished reading It’s Always the Husband, and now I need to review so I think I will keep it short and sweet.
It’s Always the Husband is a suspenseful read that kept me guessing throughout. I thought I had it all figured out a couple of times, but never actually did. The amount of twists in this one makes it a little difficult to review without giving it all away.
The story is a contemporary suspense told with dual timelines so half the story is told in the past when our trio of best friends, who are sometimes more like frenemies, met at college. This gives the story a very YA feel with so much of the narrative taking place with college kids.
Two decades ago Kate, Jenny and Aubrey were thrown together as roommates. Three girls who were completely different but built a friendship on the strength of their proximity. Friendships built in the beginning of college burn brightly and they sometimes seem to be attachments that would never have been made under different circumstances, and that is definitely the case with these three.
Aubrey worked hard to gain a scholarship to the prestigious Carlisle College after growing up on the wrong side of the tracks, and she doesn’t really want to let her new friends know about her roots. Jenny was born and bred in the New Hampshire college town and her working class family have taught her to do what needs to be done to get where she wants to be. Kate is the old money New Yorker with oodles of charisma who is at Carlisle more for the experience, and to shop for a husband.
I enjoyed the story and the twists kept me guessing but it was not what I was expecting. The blurb led me to believe this was a story about a trio of 40 year olds, and it was but it was also the story of the trio and how their friendship developed.
We meet the college freshman and share their freshman year with them before catching up with them again as 40 year olds. We see how they have grown and what they made of their lives as we spend a lot of present day time learning about the people they became.
It’s Always The Husband explores friendship, relationships and how the passage of time changes us all. Campbell has written an engaging debut that paints her as an author with great potential whose growth will be interesting to watch.
Michele Campbell can be followed on Facebook, Twitter and the Michele Campbell website.
It’s Always The Husband is available now from Angus & Robertson Bookworld, Booktopia and where all good books are sold.
Thanks to HQ Fiction 20 of our Beauty and Lace Club members will be reading It’s Always The Husband so please be aware there may be spoilers in the comments. I look forward to hearing what they think.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!
It’s always the husband was the first book in an while that had me up till all hours of the morning reading. It had me hooked from the start and i just couldn’t put it down.
It follows three girls who are from different backgrounds, and are thrown into living together in college. It follows them through their current life situations and goes back to explaining how they came to be where they are today. The book has you constantly guessing about what happened and who dunnit? But just when you think you have it figured out it makes you second guess all the way to the end.
Highly recommend this book to everyone that will listen.
Thanks for the chance to read It’s always the Husband
What a fantastic read although I found it very slow to start it soon emerged as a very intriguing storyline concerning the past & the present
So this story is about Three girls meeting together in college their life after college then the dramatic twist
Really cannot say too much as it has spoilers lets just say great read with twists & turns & an end that defied all my guesses as to “who dunnit’
Once again thanks again & would recommend this as a great read
Thanks to Beauty and Lace and Harper Collins for the chance to read and review this book.
I have never read anything by Michele Campbell before and I am so glad that I now have. Loved this book from the start to the end and couldn’t recommend it more!
The story is based around 3 girls who start college together and all share a room. Three different girls with 3 completely different backgrounds and personalities who all become best friends straight away. There is many twists and turns as you follow these characters through high school and start to see their true colours come out.
The book then catches up with the girls when they are older where even more drama unfolds! You find yourself constantly guessing and trying to figure out the story but you will never guess it until you finish the book. It is hard to go too much into the storyline without giving too much away!
It is a great thriller and a easy read. Once you pick up this book you will struggle to put it down. If you love a thriller, trust me you will love this story!
Thank you again for the opportunity to read and review this book, highly recommend it!
I absolutely loved ‘It’s always the husband’! It was a book that I found I couldn’t put down because I couldn’t work out who did it, but there were so many clue and so many leads – it was doing my head in. The clues were all plausible and I changed my mind so many times thinking that this time I really knew who the culprit was, to only fine out in the end that I was completely wrong. The story was well written, with characters who were relatable, both as teenagers and also as adults. I only wish that there was a ‘5 years later’ or something like that to tell us where all the characters were.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for another fantastic book to read. Highly recommended for those who like who dunnit stories >:o)
Its Always The Husband was a fantastic read. This book kept me on my toes the whole time.
The story line is about 3 girls that are thrown together as room mates at college. All very different and from very different backgrounds, they all become best friends very quickly. Aubrey is from a broken home, with a mother that does not do much to care for her. Then there is Jenny who’s parents are middle class and are very loving. And lastly there is Kate, the poor little rich girl. Each of these girls brings a different dynamic and their friendship comes under fire.
The story is told in two different time lines, one when they are in college as room mates and the other, when they are older with families and husbands.
I found the storyline very suspenseful and easy to read. I couldn’t put the book down, I just wanted to know who did it?
If you want to know, you will just have to read the book.
Thanks B&L for another great read.
Wow! The beginning sucked me and and from then on I was left guessing for the entire book! Just when you think you’ve got it picked, you change your mind and so on and so on! Never did I expect that it really would come down to the last page before we would know the truth!!
Th relationships between the characters surprised me – who liked who and who ended up with who and how each was treated by others. I often wondered how on Earth the three girls stayed friends through college let alone bothered to stay in contact afterwards. I don’t think they would have ever become friends had it not been for rooming together.
This was a good, simple read that I looked forward to picking up each day and was sadden when it ended, although it was wonderful to finally learn the truth of who-dun-it.
It’s Always The Husband by Michele Campbell, definitely a book I would recommend!!!
What a fun romping mystery with twists and turns and omg moments. The characters draw you in quickly and I think we can all see a bit of us or a friend in one or more of the characters and the relationships, even if we do not want to admit it. Then as things turn more serious so does the book and we wonder what really is going on. You feel the background, family and context well, as the setting for the drama unfolding, and it makes the book quick to get into, imagine what is going and follow the story. I would recommend giving it a go. 4 stars.
Thanks for the chance to read “It’s always the husband” by Michele Campbell.
Overall, I enjoyed the book. To me, the measure of a good book is if I think about it when I’m not reading it. I’m currently suffering from lack of sleep due to my 8 month old having a sleep aversion and kept getting confused, thinking I was thinking of a show I was watching on Netflix! In saying that, I really could see this book as one season show. Although I know the ending now so couldn’t watch it!
I enjoyed getting to know the characters and forming my opinions on them – I’ve not read a book where I’ve not particularly liked any of the characters before. The author did a great job of keeping me interested in people I didn’t like very much.
I did feel the beginning of the book was long. I was constantly wondering when the events would happen but on reflection, this needed to happen to reach the conclusion.
All in all, I think I would read a Michele Campbell book again. Bit sad this one is over now!
My favourite thing about ‘It’s always the husband’ is the dynamic between the 3 main characters.
There’s charistmatic Kate, the spoilt little rich girl who has a way of dominating those around her. Then there’s passive aggressive overachiever Jenny, always the sensible and reliable one. Aubrey is a bit of a trainwreck, a lost soul looking for acceptance.
The story rotates between the present day and 22 years earlier when the girls were college roomates. They go through many ups & downs together: death, cheating scandals, academic struggles…but they stick together & have each other’s backs. Or do they?
Fast forward and their lives are still intertwined, all still striving for success and acceptance in their own way. And someone is going to get hurt.
This is an incredibly intoxicating, addictive who dunnit. I couldn’t put it down!
I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for more if Michelle Campbell’s works. Highly recommend this riveting drama.
I really enjoyed reading this book. After an initial scene where an unknown character is standing on the end of a bridge, being urged to jump to their death by another unknown character, the story rewinds to start 20 years later. It starts off as a lighthearted story about three young girls who are placed together as roommates at college. The three girls could not be any more different, and would be unlikely to be friends under other circumstances but do end up exclaiming to be best friends despite their differences…or so they say, as it never seems they ever like each other that much. The book flicks between narrative of their college days, and the present which is 20 years later and things aren’t so rosy particularly in each of their marriages.
In college, Kate is the popular rich girl who everyone seems to be envious of as she could have anything she ever wanted yet she is never truly happy. Twenty years later, she still isn’t happy and she’s never worked a day in her life. In the beginning Aubrey is the complete opposite to Kate whom she idolises, having come from a lower class family which she tries to hide. Twenty years later, she has transformed to a confident, calm and collected yoga teacher who loves her job. The third friend, Jenny has always been a hard worker who can see through Kate’s perfect image. In college she worked hard towards what she wanted, and twenty years later she has it, although it may be more about the favours along the way rather than her determination.
It is hard to write too much about the story without giving anything away. It was interesting to see the links that build between the past and the present as the story progresses. As we get closer to finding out what happened, every time I thought I knew, another twist was thrown in and it wasn’t until the very last page that we found out! I found the ending very thought intriguing!