The Perfect Couple by Jackie Kabler (thoughts)

 

Summary from Goodreads:

"A devoted wife…

A year ago, Gemma met the love of her life, Danny. Since then, their relationship has been perfect. But one evening, Danny doesn’t return home.

A missing husband…
Gemma turns to the police. She is horrified by what she discovers – a serial killer is on the loose in Bristol. When she sees photos of the victims she is even more stunned…they all look just like Danny.

Who would you believe?
But the police are suspicious. Why has no one apart from Gemma heard from Danny in weeks? Why is there barely a trace of him in their flat? Is she telling them the truth, or is this marriage hiding some very dark secrets?"

My Thoughts:

The Perfect Couple was a really enjoyable, page turning read that kept me guessing until the end.  One of my favorite things about this book was that it felt like the perfect blend of domestic suspense and police procedural.  The story was told from two different viewpoints: one from Gemma's point of view where she was dealing with the fact that her husband had gone missing and the second point of view was from the lead inspector who was trying to solve the two recent deaths that had recently occurred and then also gets drawn into the case of Gemma's missing husband.  The fact that there were two recent deaths of men that looked like Gemma's missing husband really had me guessing.  I could not figure out what was going on and was kept guessing the entire time.  I love the way the author set this book up.  I found myself trusting Gemma and rooting for her...then questioning her...then trusting her all over again.  It made up for a really fun reading experience in the end.  Even when I started to "think" that I knew what probably had happened, there were still twists that I didn't expect as well as the fact that I couldn't figure out the why's behind it all.  The night I finished this book I fully intended on getting things done - instead I sat wrapped up in my book until I turned the last page.  I was just completely immersed in the best of ways.  Also, I love the way this book ended!  I won't say anymore for fear of spoilers but it just gave me a very eerie feeling.  I cannot wait to read more by this author!

Overall, I'm sure that you can already tell that I really enjoyed my time reading this book!  I think that readers that enjoy domestic suspense, those readers that enjoy police procedurals, and those readers who enjoy a page-turning, suspenseful read should definitely pick this book up!    This is an author that I plan on reading more of and will be watching for future releases!  An easy book to recommend.

Bottom Line: A suspenseful read that kept me turning the pages as fast as I could!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.  Honest thoughts are my own.

Goodreads:

Purchase Links: HarperCollins | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Author Links: Website, Twitter, and Instagram

An Invincible Summer by Mariah Stewart (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"It was a lifetime ago that recently widowed Maggie Flynn was in Wyndham Beach. Now, on the occasion of her fortieth high school reunion, she returns to her hometown on the Massachusetts coast, picking up right where she left off with dear friends Lydia and Emma. But seeing Brett Crawford again stirs other emotions. Once, they were the town’s golden couple destined for one another. He shared Maggie’s dreams—and eventually, a shattering secret that drove them apart.

Buying her old family home and resettling in Wyndham Beach means a chance to start over for Maggie and her two daughters, but it also means facing her rekindled feelings for her first love and finally confronting—and embracing—the past in ways she never thought possible. Maggie won’t be alone. With her family and friends around her, she can weather this stormy turning point in her life and open her heart to the future. As for that dream shared and lost years ago? If Maggie can forgive herself, it still might come true."

My Thoughts:

This book was such an enjoyable read for me!  I was in the mood for a change of pace from the darker books that I had been reading and this fit my reading mood perfectly.  One of the things that really made this book stand out for me is that it featured an older protagonist.  As a women in her late thirties, please let me tell you how refreshing it is to find a book with a main character that is older and in a different stage of her life than you usually find in books.  Like yes please!  We need more books with characters that are in their fifties or sixties for instance, and starting a new phase of their life.  It's just not done that often - I didn't know that I wanted it until this book - and now I want more!  Because there is plenty of life after thirty despite what some people might think or act like.  Why shouldn't we be reading about those stories as well?  I'm going off on a bit of a tangent but I just loved that part of this book and want to see it in more books.  I also loved that even though this book was Maggie's story - it was also the story of Maggie's daughters and Maggie's two closest friends.  There is a lot to this book and some of it is a bit on the darker side which I didn't expect.  Please make sure you check the content warnings that I'll share at the end to make sure that you are prepared going in.  But I really loved these characters and this story.  The characters just felt real and flawed in the best of ways.  I found myself caring about each of the characters which has me really excited that this book is just the beginning to a series.  I will definitely be continuing on as I want to see what happens with some of these other characters.  I just want more if I'm being honest!

Read this book if you are a fan of women's fiction, contemporary fiction, or are looking for a great summer read.  This is a book that looks at grief and also just life in general.  It stood out for me because it isn't focused on your typical characters that are just starting their life.  Instead it looks at friendship, motherhood, and just being a woman in general but all from an older more experienced viewpoint.  It's a book that I breezed through (although that seems a bit wrong to say considering there is some darker subject matter included within) but I couldn't put it down.  The author really brought these characters to life for me.  And because she did I enjoyed this book immensely.  I'm really looking forward to reading more in this series in the future.  Highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  A book with characters that I want to read more of!  I definitely will be continuing on with this series!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book thanks to the publisher as part of a TLC book tour.  Honest thoughts are my own.

CW: Death of a loved one, divorce, suicide, drug use, cheating, loss, grief, adoption, secrets

The Lost Girls of Devon by Barbara O'Neal (thoughts)

Summary from Goodreads:

"It’s been years since Zoe Fairchild has been to the small Devon village of her birth, but the wounds she suffered there still ache. When she learns that her old friend and grandmother’s caretaker has gone missing, Zoe and her fifteen-year-old daughter return to England to help.

Zoe dreads seeing her estranged mother, who left when Zoe was seven to travel the world. As the four generations of women reunite, the emotional pain of the past is awakened. And to complicate matters further, Zoe must also confront the ex-boyfriend she betrayed many years before.

Anxieties spike when tragedy befalls another woman in the village. As the mystery turns more sinister, new grief melds with old betrayal. Now the four Fairchild women will be tested in ways they couldn’t imagine as they contend with dangers within and without, desperate to heal themselves and their relationships with each other."

My Thoughts:

The Lost Girls of Devon was one of those books that just felt like the perfect book at the perfect time.  I absolutely love when that happens!  I feel like there is a certain kind of magic when a book fits into your reading mood so perfectly without you even realizing that it was what you were in the mood for necessarily.  There was just something about it that really drew me into the book from the very beginning.  There's a lot going on in this book but it never felt like too much.  I was worried about what happened to Zoe's missing friend throughout the book.  I was also equally concerned about Zoe and her mother's relationship, the romance that seemed to be developing between Zoe and Sage, the secrets Zoe's daughter Isabel was hiding, and the health struggles that Zoe's grandmother was facing.  I was just completely absorbed in their lives - there is really no other way to put it.  Another thing that I appreciated about this book was despite the harder topics it covered, I found this book hopeful.  I can't really explain what I mean about that without spoiling anything but I still really wanted to mention it.  The characters are up against many different things but it still left me hopeful by the end without just wrapping those darker threads into a bow.  This book is also told from each of the four women's viewpoints which was the perfect setup in my opinion.  We got to read from Zoe's point of view the most but she was really at the center of everything.  I felt like I understood each of these women more because of the way that the book was written.  Having the opportunity to really see things from their point of view allowed for the author to bring all of these characters to life for me.  I liked the way things ended with this book but I almost wasn't ready to say goodbye to these characters.  I really enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading more by this author in the future!

Overall, this book really swept me away in its' pages and was a wonderful reading experience.  These are characters that I came to really care about.  I won't be forgetting their story anytime soon.  I'm so glad that I took the opportunity to read this book because it just fit with my reading mood perfectly.  I love when that happens!  Also, can we please talk about how gorgeous that cover is!  It brings to mind (for me anyways) a summer read but I have to say that this book felt just a bit heavier than that.  It may not have given me the summer vibes that the cover did but it really was a compelling read with characters that came to life for me.  I would recommend this book to fans of women's fiction, those readers who enjoy a lighter mystery, and just fiction in general.  I really think that this book would appeal to a variety of readers - I hope that many other readers find it and love it just as much as I did!  Highly recommended!

Bottom Line:  This is one of those books that I found myself just entranced by from beginning to end!

Disclosure:  I received a copy of this book as part of a TLC book tour.  Honest thoughts are my own.

**Please note that Blogger seems to have cut out portions of my thoughts - I didn't realize until afterwards so I went back and edited it with my original thoughts as best as I could.  My apologies!