Synopsis from Goodreads:
Elementary school teacher Jacqueline “Jacks” Morales’s marriage was far from perfect, but even in its ups and downs it was predictable, familiar. Or at least she thought it was…until two police officers showed up at her door with devastating news. Her husband of eight years, the one who should have been on a business trip to Kansas, had suffered a fatal car accident in Hawaii. And he wasn’t alone. For Jacks, laying her husband to rest was hard. But it was even harder to think that his final moments belonged to another woman—one who had left behind her own grieving and bewildered fiancé. Nick, just as blindsided by the affair, wants answers. So he suggests that he and Jacks search for the truth together, retracing the doomed lovers’ last days in paradise. Now, following the twisting path of that fateful road, Jacks is learning that nothing is ever as it seems. Not her marriage. Not her husband. And most certainly not his death…
Review:
Jacks seems like a very dependent woman, like she always has to have someone there. When it's not her husband, it's her sister. Then, after her husband dies, she latches onto Nick. With a name like Jacks, I just pictured someone who was strong emotionally and didn't take any crap but this character was more naive than I anticipated.
Nick seems like the all-American guy. He's a firefighter and is always ready to help a damsel in distress. He's a little too clingy for a guy. I know there are nice guys out there that just want to spend as much time with the person they love as they can (my husband being one of them) but it can sometimes get annoying. Women enjoy their free time just as much as a man does and Nick doesn't seem like the type who understands that.
I tried to put myself in Jacks' shoes: If my husband died in another state and had another woman with him, whom he was having an affair with, would I really want to retrace their steps? I think part of me would just out of pure morbid curiousity but the other part of me, and probably the bigger part, would be more apt to say, "He didn't know what he had with me so let's just move on." What if the woman's boyfriend/fiance came to me for help in finding out more about their affair? Knowing me, I'd brush him off. I don't like to dwell in the negative.
Overall, this is a really interesting premise for a novel. There is a twist towards the end that I had an inkling about but wasn't quite sure until it happened. The chapters are short so it feels like a fast read (thank you!!!). I will say ... this book wasn't my favorite but I didn't hate it either. I'm more indifferent to it, which I know has to be horrible for the author (or authors, in this case) because you want people to feel passionately about your work. I really wanted to but it's just not happening. I even waited a few days before writing my review just to see if I'd feel something more than indifference. If it helps ... as I was reading it, I kept wanting to know what was going to happen next. So, it is an engaging read but I wasn't sad about finishing. It's one of those books you could probably read in an afternoon or two to pass some time but I'm not 100% certain it's the type to stand out in your memory.
I'd have to give this one 3.5 out of 5 stars.
*A physical copy of this novel was provided by the publicist, Goldberg McDuffie Communications, in exchange for an honest review.