Deborah Raney

When Mitch Brannon's wife doesn't return home after a conference, he does everything he can to find her. Hours turn to days, and many theories are given about why she has yet to return home. Mitch knows she wouldn't have left him voluntarily, though, so he he can't give up trying to find out what happened to her, with the help of their next-door-neighbor and his wife's best friend, Shelley. But how can she handle her growing attraction for her missing friend's husband as she begins to spend more time with him?

When I first heard about this book, I had some concerns about how it might go, based on the synopsis, regarding the developing relationship between Mitch and Shelley. But after reading some reviews, I decided to give it a try. While my concerns were not entirely unfounded, the author did handle the situation as well as I think could be possible in this type of book, especially on Mitch's side of things. I did not like Shelley, however, who had been attracted to her best friend's husband long before any of this happened, and whose actions I didn't care for throughout the book.

The book is written well, but the story was not as engaging as I would have hoped for. It's said to be suspense, but to me, there wasn't much of that. The mystery involving Mitch's wife made me curious, but curiosity is not suspense. In the end, it went on a little long and included a few romance cliches that made me cringe, since I couldn't buy into any kind of romance between the two main characters. It's an interesting perspective regarding a Christian man or woman whose spouse goes missing (not dead, not moved out/divorced, but just disappeared) and the question of how or when, if at all, the one left behind should move on with their life, especially relationship-wise.… (more)

Unabridged audio, finished only because this was a new genre for me.

Interesting premise, so I thought I’d give a whirl. If this is an example of the genre, I’m not sure I’ll read more.

I found the heroine completely unsympathetic and irritating. She becomes a total wuss when life gets tough. She gets angry at her loved ones when they pick up her slack. She’s not very forgiving or sympathetic to others’ difficulties. Personally, I think her husbands are too good for her, but I will finish this out in hopes she turns into a good example of Christian love, strength and forgiveness.

Finished: The heroine did not improve. She found herself in a difficult situation; and essentially whined and cried about it until the guys decided how to resolve it. She was unbelievably self-centered. Every obstacle was bemoaned over how it effected her or made her life harder. Ugh. The only character I disliked more was her bitchy mother-in-law.

I guess I need to look elsewhere for female characters -religious or otherwise - who have a spine and breathe a little fire now and then.… (more)