Book Review: Rock, Paper, Scissors

I'm a week late reporting on our March book club. If you look at this picture and think "Hilary looks tired," you would be right. I arrived at book club after an eight hour day at a writing conference with another six hours spent there the day before. A couple of the women in our group had just somewhat recovered from a five-day mission trip with middle school girls. But we all carved out a little time for tacos and books.

Now on to the review:

My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Cons:

For my readers who prefer Christian fiction, this is not that. In fact, none of our book club reads have been Christian fiction, but they have all been mostly clean reads. I know many of my followers prefer or read only Christian fiction so I always want to make that clear before you pick up a book I've given 5 🌟. The book had a smattering of bad language and few lightly intimate scenes, meaning all the real action happened behind closed doors. These issues do not cross my own boundaries of what I will and will not read, but they may for others, so just beware. One other con, the book can be a little bit slow in parts. By the end of the book, I also found a few loose ends that were not tied up. The author references specific details meant to increase the suspense that felt like promises made to the reader which were never fully fleshed out in the end.

Pros:

I found the suspense very well written. Author Alice Feeney sprinkles clues about what's really going on throughout the book in all the right places. About halfway through I realized I was on the edge of my seat however nothing had really happened. It takes a skillful writer to string readers along in suspense without a lot of action. The suspense pays off in the end with a couple of twists I did not see coming. Also the characters draw you into their personalities and their backgrounds.

My Thoughts:

Amelia and Adam Wright's marriage has been on the rocks for a while. When Amelia wins a trip to Scotland to stay in an old church transformed into a B&B, she jumps at the chance to save her marriage. Adam isn't interested in going but agrees. They both know the trip will either save their marriage or be the end of it.

They don't know, however, who is really behind this "free" trip.

Their vacation starts with a snowstorm which leaves them stranded in the abandoned church where nothing is quite what it appears.

Sprinkled throughout the book we find letters written to Adam from his wife on their one-year anniversary. Each year the letters grow a little more cynical as their marriage crumbles.

The more you read about Adam and Amelia, the more you'll realize something isn't quite right with the Wrights. I'm pretty good at reading clues and unraveling twists, but I never saw this one coming.