Many thanks to NetGalley and publisher @HQStories for giving me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication.
Expected: 9 January 2020
It’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having the party of a lifetime to make up for the wedding she never had. Everyone she loves will be there except her daughter Marnie, who’s studying abroad. But although Livia loves Marnie, she’s secretly glad she won’t be at the party. She needs to tell Adam something about their daughter but she’s waiting until the party is over so they can have this last happy time together.
Adam wants everything to be perfect for Livia so he’s secretly arranged for Marnie to come home and surprise her on her birthday. During the day, he hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia, because how can the party go on? But she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive.
The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness?
In my opinion
This was different to my usual reads – more of a ‘thrilling’ drama than a ‘thriller’ per se but I really liked it. But, then that should probably not come as any surprise as, whilst new to me, B A Paris is a million-copy bestselling author.
Anyway it’s Livia’s 40th birthday and she’s having a much-wanted party to make up for her shot-gun wedding. During the day, her husband Adam hears some terrible news. He needs to tell Livia but she’s so happy, so excited – and the guests are about to arrive. The Dilemma – how far would you go to give someone you love a last few hours of happiness? In Adam’s case probably too far but that’s what made this totally compelling, from beginning to end.
Whilst this focuses on a 24hr period, with each chapter moving forward hour by hour, the author beautifully weaves in the back stories of all the characters; the foundations of Adam and Livia’s marriage, Adam’s strained relationship with his son, Livia’s estranged parents and the dynamics of childhood friendships as those friends marry and have children of their own. And, in doing so, some really difficult and thought-provoking subjects are tackled including teenage/unplanned pregnancies, illness, death, betrayal and realising your children are not necessarily the angelic innocents you’d hoped.
Most of all, however, it’s a heart-breaking and powerful story of love (both family and romantic) which shows that together you can overcome most things. It’s emotionally captivating, tapping into your worst fears, and cleverly exploring how different people handle grief and tension in such different and sometimes unfathomable ways. It’s about good intentions, behaving in a shocking way but with the best of intentions.
I liked that the story was told from the two alternating perspectives of Adam and Livia - it’s one of my favourite styles of writing. It means that both characters become equally familiar and understood as the story develops. As well as the main characters, I also found the secondary characters just as likeable, relatable and integral to the story. The chapters were also nice and short which made for an easy, un-put-down-able read.
I’m still struggling to decide whether to this should be 4 or 5 stars. However, I’ve gone with a 4 purely based on the fact that the genre is more drama than thriller - which whilst a pleasant surprise was not what I’d originally anticipated. A superb read though nonetheless and definitely recommended.
The author
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