CATEGORIES: BOOK BLOG POSTS, BOOK REVIEWS, MYSTERY/THRILLER FICTION
ABOUT THE BOOK
TITLE: THE PERFECT MARRIAGE
AUTHOR: JENEVA ROSE
GENRES: MYSTERY/THRILLER FICTION
PUBLISHER: BLOODHOUND BOOKS
PUBLISHING DATE: 7/13/2020
FORMAT: PAPERBACK
PAGE COUNT: 342 PAGES
SOURCE: SELF PURCHASED
GOODREADS summary
Would you defend your husband if he was accused of killing his mistress?
Sarah Morgan is a successful and powerful defense attorney in Washington D.C. At 33 years old, she is a named partner at her firm and life is going exactly how she planned.
The same cannot be said for her husband, Adam. He is a struggling writer who has had little success in his career. He begins to tire of his and Sarah’s relationship as she is constantly working.
Out in the secluded woods, at Adam and Sarah’s second home, Adam engages in a passionate affair with Kelly Summers.
Then, one morning everything changes. Adam is arrested for Kelly’s murder. She had been found stabbed to death in Adam and Sarah’s second home.
Sarah soon finds herself playing the defender for her own husband, a man accused of murdering his mistress.
But is Adam guilty or is he innocent?
My Thoughts:
This juicy synopsis successfully hooked me from the moment I read it on the back cover. I couldn’t wait to dive into one of my favorite thriller tropes – infidelity gone wrong. So, I had high hopes for “The Perfect Marriage” by Jeneva Rose. I had been on a bit of a romantasy binge lately and needed a change. So, did it wow me like I thought it would? Let’s discuss.
THE PLOT:
Adam is the dopey husband who feels neglected by his high achieving attorney wife, Sarah, and seeks thrills with his mistress, Kelly. When Kelly winds up dead at his lake house, all hell breaks loose. The wife finds out plus the police are eager to close to the case and pin it all on him.
I found the whodunnit aspect of the story to be the most engaging part of the plot. I wondered who could be behind the murder. Was it Adam? Kelly’s husband? Or, someone else from Kelly’s past?
The Dual POV’s didn’t really serve the plot as I couldn’t really focus on one main conflict. Sarah’s POV chapters tended to slow the story down when it centered around her feelings of betrayal and her issues at her law firm. I cared more about Adam’s struggle to clear his name.
THE CHARACTERS:
Neither of the two central main characters were likable. Adam made so many dumb missteps that it was hard to root for him. Also, he came across as super entitled, entirely too trusting, and expected too much from the women in his life.
In contrast, Sarah, came off as cold and rude to the people around her. By the end, I liked her even less.
THE WRITING STYLE:
As I mentioned before the dual POV’s killed the story for me. With the plot twist at the end, it made even less sense to write the story this way. A third person omniscient would’ve better served this story. I see where the author was going, but the twist was executed poorly.
"She makes me so goddamn miserable, but so blissful at the same time. I fucking hate her as much as I love her. Does she know? Does she care? What am I to her?"
While I do like a good psychological thriller with an infedelity-goes-wrong trope, I did not enjoy this book as much as I would have hoped. The ending felt like less like a plot twist and more like the author pulling the rug out from under the readers. If you’ve read “The Perfect Marriage” by Jeneva Rose, do you have any thoughts on it? Leave a reply below and share your thoughts. Thanks for reading!
If you’re interested in more psychological thrillers, check out my post “10 Best Psychological Audiobooks (That Will Give You Chills)”.
HOW TO PURCHASE
The Perfect Marriage is FREE on Kindle Unlimited and it is available now.
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