Jack and Grace are a newly married couple who appear to be the perfect couple to onlookers. Grace is an amazing cook, can sew and has a lovely house. We meet Jack and Grace at a dinner party they are hosting for friends of Jack’s and also a new couple of the neighbourhood, Esther and Rufus. Esther doesn’t seem as taken with Grace’s perfect life as the other guests and is probing into Grace’s life as she gets to know her. Grace is always careful how she answers questions as she knows Jack is listening to every word.
Before you even begin to read the book and open the first page you will learn from the blurb that Grace doesn’t go anywhere without Jack. The reader will understand that the marriage isn’t what it seems before starting the book.
Jack and Grace met in the park where Grace was with her sister Millie. Miles has Down Syndrome and stays at a boarding school through the week, however she is soon to turn 18 and will live with Grace. Grace has always thought she would never find a long term partner due to the commitments of looking after Millie, however when Jack comes along he’s almost too good to be true as he falls in love with Grace very quickly and wants to get married.
As the couple are married very quickly after they meet, and despite a hiccup along the way they honeymoon in Thailand. It’s on Grace’s wedding night that she begins to learn that Jack isn’t who she thought he was. Try as she might however she cannot get away from Jack and her life changes very quickly from this moment on.
We read the story of Grace’s life as she deals with her marriage, attempting to see Millie as often as she can, all the while not allowing the outside world to know what is happening behind closed doors.
I was gripped from page one and the book was finished within a day. It was easy to understand the premise of the storyline and it would be difficult not to be rooting for Grace all the way through. The book jumps from Grace and Jack meeting to present day and back again through the book, but this helps the reader gain an understanding to their lives. My only criticism is that I felt there was a long build up to the climax of the book and perhaps it jumped a little ahead of itself when the ending was near. It was a fitting end to the book which was written so well I’ll be looking out for more books by B.A Paris in the future.
You may also enjoy The Couple Next Door, The Loving Husband, The Loving Husband
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I had to read your review because I read this one recently too! I think it was genuinely one of the scariest books I have ever read!