Everything felt perfect.
But then her fiance disappeared…
Synopsis
Two weeks before her wedding, a stranger stops Amy in the street and warns her she’s in danger. Then that night, Matt, her fiancé, doesn’t come home. Desperate, Amy calls the police – but when Matt fails to emerge, she’s forced to call off her wedding day.
Then another man is reported missing, by a woman called Fiona – a man meeting Matt’s description, who was about to leave his fiancée for her. He was supposed to be moving in with her – but instead, he’s vanished.
Amy refuses to believe Fiona’s lover can be her Matt – but photos prove otherwise, and it soon becomes clear that Matt has been leading a double life. As the police dig deeper, two conflicting, yet equally plausible stories emerge from two women who allegedly have never met.
Details
- Title: The Vows
- Author: Debbie Howells
- Publisher: Avon/Harper Collins Publishing
- Publication Date: October 15, 2020
- Pages: 368
My Thoughts
What a fun plot. Amy and Matt are making wedding plans and just weeks from the big day the unthinkable happens: Matt never returns home after a business meeting with a client. The last call Amy received from him was at the end of his workday. He called saying he had a last-minute appointment so he would be late. The close of his call had vibes of a cryptic message when he called Amy babe and told her to take care. He never called her babe or ended a call with those words.
And my heart was pounding. It was off with a bang. Perfect.
Unfortunately, the story told in various POVs, began to slow down, not speed up. At times I’d find myself yawning and wondering when it was going to go somewhere. It almost flat-lined and lulled me to sleep. Much of it was very repetitive and unnecessary.
But did I keep reading? You bet. It may have had problems, but enough of the writing was good that I needed to know more.
As far as twists and turns were concerned, for me, there really weren’t any. But I guess it depends on what you pick up and don’t as you read.
Yes, until I read the last of the book, I wasn’t 100% sure, but I had most of the mystery completely figured out.
As far as the characters, they were vanilla. They were fine, yet not memorable.
My Concerns
As much as I wanted to really like this book, my concerns began to mount up.
- The first of the book felt repetitive.
- The detectives didn’t feel consistent or completely believable.
- The likelihood of all of this playing out didn’t work for me.
- Even though it’s a lengthy book, it still felt disjointed.
Conclusion
This book had me turning pages, but it could have been so much more. I believe tightening it and working on the flow would have greatly helped. It wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t polished.
There were enough possibilities with this book that I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up another by this author.
I think this is a book that you’ll either fall in love with or semi-enjoy.
My thanks to NetGalley and Avon for the ability to read this ARC and leave my opinion of the book.
My Rating
True rating 2.5 but I round up.
About the Author
After self-publishing three women’s commercial fiction novels, Debbie wrote The Bones of You, her first psychological thriller. It was a Sunday Times bestseller and picked for the Richard and Judy book club. Three more have followed, The Beauty of The End, The Death of Her and Her Sister’s Lie, all published by Pan Macmillan.
After a number of career changes, Debbie now writes full time, inspired by the peacefulness of the countryside she lives in with her partner Martin, Bean the rescued cat and a rather elderly golden retriever called Bernard.
You can visit her website at www.debbiehowells.co.uk or blog at www.howellshenson.com.
Follow her on Instagram @_debbiehowells, on Facebook @debbiehowellswriter or on Twitter @debbie__howells.
My thanks to Google Books for the above information.
