Synopsis

What makes Simon Fitch so perfect?

-He knows all her favorite foods, music, and movies.
-Her son adores him. He was there when she needed him most.
-He anticipates her every need.
-He would never betray her like her first husband.

The perfect husband. He checks all the boxes.

The question is, why?

Nina Garrity learned the hard way that her missing husband, Glen, had been leading a double life with another woman. But with Glen gone―presumably drowned while fishing on his boat―she couldn’t confront him about the affair or find closure to the life he blew apart.

Now, a year and a half later, Nina has found love again and hopes she can put her shattered world back together. Simon, a widower still grieving the death of his first wife, thinks he has found his dream girl in Nina, and his charm and affections help break through to a heart hardened by betrayal. Nina’s teenage son, Connor, embraces Simon as the father he wishes his dad could have been, while her friends see a different side to him, and they aren’t afraid to use the word obsession.

Nina works hard to bridge the divide that’s come between her daughter and Simon. She wants so badly to believe her life is finally getting back on track, but she’ll soon discover that the greatest danger to herself and her children are the lies people tell themselves.

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Review

Psychological thrillers give us a peek into the twisted mind of a psychopath.

Things are never as they seem.  This could not be more true than in this new release.  A man is missing, but is he dead or did he run off with someone else?

You know in horror movies when you shout at the screen “don’t go in there” or “get out of there now”?  Well, there were several places in this book (especially near the end) where this is what I wanted to shout at Nina.  Especially when everything was coming to a head in the last 15% of the book and my heart was racing fearing for the characters.

This book is told from several POV but primarily Nina, the mom, and Maggie, her daughter.  Maggie believes her dad is still alive even though it has been 18 months and his body was never found and there has been no word from him.  Nina, despite everything, has moved on with her life and has found love with someone new, Simon.  Simon Fitch seems to care for Nina and her children, but does he really or is there something more in his motive?

The story has some massive twists and turns that I did not expect.  Sure some of it might have been a little predictable, but those twists had me questioning everything I thought I knew about this book and the characters.  Simon is not someone to be trusted, but for the first half of the book or so, I thought he was doing everything for Nina and her family because he loved her.  But he had deeper motives than we could have ever expected.  I would have liked to have seen more into Simon’s past than the few glimpses we had because I think it would have explained more about him.

While I liked Nina and thought she was doing what she could for her children, I wondered why she waited nearly 2 years before finding a job to support them especially when she discovered that there was no money and Glen had spent it all.  It isn’t like the children were young, but maybe it was the grief and everything she went through while searching for Glen and trying to move forward with her life.  I am glad that she started questioning things and didn’t take everything at face value.

Overall we really enjoyed this book and give it 5 paws up.