by Rosie Walsh

“The letters, Tommy, all those letters I sent him via Facebook. Calling his workshop, writing to his friend Alan. What was I thinking?” “A silent phone brings out the very worst in us,” he said. “All of us.”

As I was reading this, I found it to be a real page-turner. I went into it thinking it was going to be a romantic suspense-type novel: a story about a woman whose lover has disappeared and her search for him leading to danger and intrigue. The down-to-earth guy she fell in love with not being what he seemed on the surface. Perhaps involved with organized crime, witness protection, or being a secret agent who disappeared because he was killed or kidnapped? Or perhaps deliberately going out of her life without a trace to protect her from harm? I did not see the twist around the middle coming at all and was blown away by the real story.

But no. Ultimately, I had too many problems and frustrations, particularly with Eddie (did she have to name him Eddie?). I bought the love story and the soulmate connection that happened in a week. I understood Sarah’s obsession with finding him, her terror, and then her pain and bewilderment. I was as bewildered as she was, and I really felt for her. Despite her emotional somewhat unhinged behavior, I didn’t blame her. I wanted her to keep going and find Eddie. 

**Spoiler**

What I didn’t get was the hatred and hostility directed at 17-year-old Sarah for the accident. It. Wasn’t. Her. Fault. I didn’t understand her sister Hannah hating and not speaking to her for 19 years for choosing to save Hannah’s life at the expense of another. And it wasn’t even a choice. It was an involuntary instinct. A reflex in the horror and panic of the moment. If anything, it was Hannah’s own fault for running off and getting in scumbag Bradley’s car to begin with! It was just so unjust and I couldn’t understand. What added to that frustration was she was never blamed for her stupidity and blindness in letting lowlife Bradley into her life at all. In that way, yes, she was indirectly responsible for the tragedy. A more immature, half-witted, and blinder than usual teenager could not be imagined. But she was still only a kid. And Eddie. I lost all patience with him and his cruel ghosting of Sarah when it became obvious that it was a choice, not something forced on him. After the twist, I was initially sympathetic, but ultimately there was no excuse for his cowardly irrational behavior. I just couldn’t forgive him even at the end when he went through so much pain and remorse. He got off way too easy. I felt like his obsession with his sister was a little over the top and, shall we say, off-putting. **end spoiler**

The second twist, I felt, was clever and well done. 

**spoiler**especially given the title of the book . **end spoiler**

It kept me turning the pages, let me tell you! Despite my problems with one of the protagonists and the core motivations, I really liked how it all turned out. So overall, I would recommend this to most people, especially to romantics at heart. But you gotta like melodrama too. I hovered between a 3 and a 4, but the problems I had nagged at me all the way through. So my annoyance rounds it down from a 4.

October 11, 2022