Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

(Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!)

about book:

It was to be the perfect wedding—until the bride disappeared.

Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts?

Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?

As the days pass, the list of suspects in her disappearance grows. Could it be the recently released man a young Annie misidentified as her mother’s killer? Could it be someone even closer to her?

While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.

my thoughts:

I've read a few of MMW, 's books and have LOVED them.  So, I was thrilled to read her latest, Only Ever Her - especially as it was being touted as a mystery-thriller (which is my new favorite genre to dive into on any day).  A bride-to-be gone missing? C'mon, you know that sounds intriguing. How could I resist, right?

Well, I kind of wish I had resisted. Turns out that Only Ever Her was not my cup of tea. Yep, I was disappointed.  I was expecting a suspenseful drama full of twists and turns and instead got an extremely slow-paced story chock full of a variety of characters giving their perspectives and not much else (and only two were even interesting). And, there was no bride - meaning, where was her perspective? I did enjoy the small town vibes, but that was about it. I feel like the idea was a good one, but it just wasn't as thrilling as I had hoped it would be. It felt rather rushed and just cobbled together in the end. Overall, I do wish I had missed this one.

Oh well, different strokes, right?

Here's the link to the TLC Book Tour schedule for: Only Ever Her

Thank you to the publisher and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of this book!