I don't believe I have ever read a book as awful as this one! This book is proof that too often we get what we pay for. Yes, the plot of an abusive husband involved in illicit activity has been overdone, BUT the right author can transform a simple, reused plot into an enjoyable read. Not Christine Kersey! I think it is a literary crime that this writer is allowed to publish her work and subject other people to it! And why oh why was this author's work likened to that of the incomparable Mary Higgins Clark!!!!!

Here are some of the problems with the book.

The main character, Lilly, starts out being a determined young lady bent on maintaining her independence and achieving a good education. Then she meets Trevor, a character who at the onset is little more then a dull stereotype. She literally bumps into him and falls in love with him (very realistic?). A week later he is crazy about her too and within the span of a few weeks he pressures her to get married and she DOES IT! Only in Walt Disney movies do two characters race so quickly to the alter. She knows very little about this man and the little she does know is highly suspicious. Then we are expected to feel sorry for her when her marriage inevitably goes bad.

It takes 300 pages for the author to write what could have been condensed to 100 pages especially since the novel has no ending, which works because it has no character development. Other characters include Nicole and Michelle. All we know about these young ladies are their names. Then there is Alyssa, the prophetic and relentlessly judgmental best friend of Lilly (a friendship that is never developed). Alyssa is determined to dislike Trevor even though initially she has no reason to. She is also a saint who drops everything to help the main character. Lastly for some inexplicable reason, Alyssa knows the thoughts and heart of her friend Justin, and tries to force Lilly to be with him. Justin's character is (surprise) never developed. I have no idea why he is even included in the book except for to provide fodder for Trevor's abuse. We are told that Justin is a nice guy but his selfish behavior contradicts that. For example, even though Justin senses that there is tension in Lilly's marriage he still tries to force his friendship on her, knowing that it could jeopardize her marriage and well being. Then just as suddenly as they are introduced, Justin and Alyssa disappear from the novel.

Next there is Bronson who is more of a caricature than a character. His best friend ask him to do a very delicate and crucial favor, but Bronson is sidetracked by the offer of a free meal. And this is the climax of the book!!!!!!! The least developed character is alluded to throughout the book but we are not introduced to her until almost the last chapter. She meets Lilly in a public restroom just to tell her (surprise) that Trevor is mean. I couldn't believe it! The more I read the more I was convinced that the author had no real objective when she wrote this book. She just added details as she went along and hoped it worked. The most crucial point of the book, Lilly's attraction to Trevor and her determination to marry him is never explained. We are just supposed to accept that after a few passionate kisses she should be with him forever. Even a novice writer could have included a special striking characteristic about Trevor, aside from his nondescript good looks, that would have drawn Lilly to him. Perhaps even a mention that Trevor reminded Lilly of her deceased father would have made the reading audience understand her preoccupation with him. But we get nothing!

I am an avid fiction reader and I know that sometimes you have to suspend your disbelief in order to enjoy a novel, but this writer never succeeds in persuading the audience to go along with her poor plot devices. There is so much absurdity in these 300 pages that you read the book longing for it to get better. There is nothing good about this book! It is poorly written, there are glaring grammatical issues, the same word is used twice in many of the sentences e.g. "Trevor went to work so he could work",there is no character or plot development!!! A high school student taking an intro creative writing course could have produced better material, that included basic plot structure and a reasonable ending. If you possess any love of good fiction or even any desire to retain your present IQ do not read this book.

I did not like this story at all. The beginning (and summary) sounded like a bit of a mystery was going on, which intrigued me. However, at the point where the abuse began, the writing became very predictable. I found it very difficult to read an account of a man abusing his wife, so from that point on I skimmed through it to see if things got better. They did not. The ending didn't have closure. The woman was not free from her husband, she was just on the run from him. I will not be reading the sequel, because the first three chapters give the sense that the whole book will be spent with this woman trying to keep from being found by her husband. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

I am afraid to say that by page 20, I decided to stop and give this book a miss. The writing was plaisant enough to follow (hence the 3 starts) but the plot is too obvious from the start, and not interesting enough. I decided to stop when I realised that I didn't care whether what I thought was going to happen was correct or not. The main character lacks character (no pun intended...Lol). It just wasn't the book for me, someone else might find it interesting. It was just too much what I call a sugar romance, typically a romance novel about a spineless stupid goody goody girl who falls in love with the wrong guy before being rescued by prince charming. There are too many good books out there for me to waste my time on something I'm not enjoying.

There really was zero suspense in this story. The idea might have been a good one, but the writing fails to live up to its potential. The main character should be one that you can get attached to, but that never even came close to happening for me... I, too, wonder if I read the same book as some of the other reviewers.

The plot is good, but the writing is bad, bland, predictable and frustrating! I still feel like I don't know Lily AT ALL. The entire book read like a bullet list. "First I did this. Then this. Then this. Then this." The dialogue was so unrealistic. No one talks like these characters do in real life. Calling this book a romance is also wrong. There's no romance at all. He's creepy and abusive, they don't have sweet conversations, and all I know is that he has blue eyes and likes to give Lily "lingering kisses." I got this book on bookbub, but I won't pick up another book from this author, free or otherwise.

I reserve 1 star ratings for books I don't finish & since I finished this one it gets 2 stars. I got tired of reading how the main character loved him & wasn't interested in the other guy romantically -it just got repetitive. I also couldn't believe how naive she was about how he treated her. I won't be reading the next book & I wouldn't recommend this book.

So far this has been a fine read. I would recommend this for either right- before- bed, or on the beach, a quiet afternoon, etc. There are quite a few dynamic features to the story line. A few twists and tunes, and the characters are pretty well developed. There are a few parts that could be edited slightly better, but I do know most authors on here prefer for their readers to help them out in this aspect.
It was not hard reading by any means, but it was also not an elementary level book. Be prepared for some love scenes. But honestly, sometimes they do add to the storyline, right?
I hope to either purchase more in this series (if there is one) or get the author motivated to write more! Not that this was left with just a cliffhanger or anything, I have just loved how the storyline was developed, and would love to know where this could head into the future. Knowing how the characters have developed, interacted, and have grown leaves me with a lot of hope for more. I always love series/ books where there is a spin- off into a similar setting, but with acquaintances that the characters had, or will have.
Overall, this is a great value and I would highly recommend it. It is a great value for the price, and it simply cannot be beat! I will be purchasing more from this author in the future, and look forward to new releases.