I agreed to review Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen because I’ve really been on a suspense/thriller kick for months now. They are calling to me.

Only Ever Her was hard to put down. It’s told from 4 different perspectives and includes a wrongfully convicted man, affairs, broken relationships, and long buried family secrets. There was actually quite a lot going on for a relatively short book but it wasn’t overwhelming and it kept the pacing quick.

There were quite a few things that we don’t know in the beginning: who really killed Lydia if not the man convicted? What secret is Clary hiding? What happened to Annie? The good news is that Whalen doesn’t keep us in the dark for these answers.

One thing that I really loved about the way that Whalen told her story is that she didn’t leave any threads hanging! I hate it when there are things left undone. I like resolution and I didn’t have to worry about that here.

One thing that I didn’t love was how Annie treated a few of the people in her life. These were core people and deserved better from her. I know she felt she had to do what she was doing but she was being selfish too.

I kind of feel like Only Ever Her was more than just a thriller read. It didn’t lack in the thriller department but I’m just sad when I think about it now. I’ll definitely be checking out more of Whalen’s work! I really did enjoy this one and I’d like to read more of what she has to offer!

This character driven mystery focused on the missing bride, four days before her wedding, missed the mark a bit for me. I felt mostly ambivalent towards most of the characters and was not emotionally invested in the story line. I enjoyed the writing and the story had much potential but it was just missing a bit of action or a twist to make it more entertaining.

Thank you so much for this review copy! The cover is to die for and I will be grabbing her next book when it comes out for sure !

3.5 Stars

The story is one that’s been heard before. A bride disappears before her wedding. The difference is this bride has a history of disappearing for a few days at a time and always reappearing like no time had passed. Everyone in this story is holding their breath hoping that this is was the case this time too. As I kept reading I could tell that there was going to be more to this story than a bride with cold feet.

I liked that there were many characters telling the story. I found it easy to tell who was telling their tale and to see how life was affecting them. Their thoughts on Annie’s disappearance, the way the police and the town was handling the investigation, and what they thought of Annie was not always the same for each person. It was interesting to see how their points of view could be different for the same happenings.

I am a fan of Marybeth Mayhew Whalen and was excited when I heard she had a new book coming out. This isn’t my favorite but it is a great addition to my collection of books by authors I look forward to.

I'm always in for a small town secrets type story, and Only Ever Her falls squarely into that wheelhouse. It's told from a variety of perspectives, all of people who are connected in some way to Annie Taft, a young woman who is known in her small town mostly for the fact that at 3 years old, she gave testimony that was critical in sending a man to prison for the murder of her mother. It's days before her wedding, and her sudden disappearance not only sends everyone into a frantic search to find her, but causes those close to her to think about their relationship to her and the secrets they've kept with her.
Despite the high stakes, this wasn't the fastest paced book. It definitely has that warm, sticky summer day feel, where everything moves a little slower. It takes time for the big secrets to come out, but it was worth it when the biggest one of all was revealed. This is the first book I've read by the author, but I can see why she's appreciated in the Southern/women's fiction area.

This started with an interesting premise and a cast of suspects but failed to deliver.

Only Ever Her is the story of Annie Taft - a bride who disappears days before her wedding. Is she a Runaway Bride or did something dark happen? Told from several viewpoints - this is the story and aftermath of what happened to Annie.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Annie Taft is getting married in 4 days and everyone is working hard on preparations. That is...until the bride disappears. Is this a case of cold feet or is something more sinister at play?⁣
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This is not a thriller but a slow burn novel about secrets. There are a lot of characters, none that really stood out to me. I needed more character development, particularly for Annie. There was a disconnect for me with the characters and overall, left me feeling disgruntled about the plot. There is a mystery within the mystery and while both are given closure, it left me wanting more. Thank you @amazon for this advance reader in exchange for my honest review.

Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen is a book that has so much potential. The concept is one that is really intriguing, but the execution of the plot falls flat. Also, there are multiple points of view and so many sub-plots that the main story sits on the back burner for most of the novel.

Reviewing this book without giving away the ending is difficult, however, it is one that seems to have needed quite a bit more editing. I love the idea of a runaway bride murder mystery. Although, this novel just seemed a little bit all over the place. It starts off with what seems like an enjoyable main character who is struggling with whether the man who is imprisoned for her mother’s murder years ago should be released. All of this is happening at the same time she is about to be married. It seems like Only Ever Her is off to a great start, but it just begins to spiral from here, unfortunately.

❀ TOO MANY POINTS OF VIEW

Often thrillers and mysteries are written with more than one point of view, but Only Ever Her has far too many. There is a main character, her aunt, her cousin, and a news reporter who all have there own perspective and storyline in the book. All of these characters and subplots makes the book confusing to read and distracts from the mystery of where Annie disappeared to. These side stories seem to run off in tangents and don’t add to the story at all.

❀ TOO MANY SUB-PLOTS

While the missing bride theme sounds like it is going to be an interesting read, Only Ever Her is far from it. With too many perspectives and sub-plots, the book just becomes less interesting to read. If some of the extras are edited from the book, it could have some great potential.

I enjoyed this book. The overall story was captivating. Although I did stall out in the middle it was a story that I wanted to finish. There were times it seemed there may have been too much in depth information about some characters than was needed but I did enjoy the way it was told through multiple point of views. This book reminded me of a soap opera covering multiple storylines woven together to tell a story of a family. I recommend it because at the end of the book I was disappointed the story was over!
I received a ARC through Netgalley in return for an honest review. Grab this book when it goes on sale May 7, 2019!

I finished Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen this weekend. I probably could have read it in one sitting, but adulting kept getting in the way. I loved the pace of the book. I really liked the alternating between characters and I didn't have any trouble keeping up with who was who. Towards the end I was worried that my questions wouldn't get answered and there would be loose ends. But there wasn't and it wrapped up pretty well

This book had me turning the pages thinking I had it all pieced together. It was a little slow paced and I didn’t care for the third person narrative but it was still a good book.

2.5

I read Marybeth Mayhew Whalen's book, "When We Were Worthy" and really enjoyed that one. This one was lacking depth for me. The writing itself is good and easy to follow it was just the story that did not resonate with me. I feel it started off pretty good but I admit that I started skimming towards the end. I wanted to find out what happened to Annie. I guess I just did not like the characters very much. I thought adding Faye's 7-Up Chicken Salad Recipe at the end of the book was a nice thought.

I'd like to thank NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing for granting me the opportunity to read this Advanced Reader Copy.

“Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts?”

How can I NOT read this?!? Well, I did and I have whiplash from WAY TOO MANY POVs (in my opinion), which was confusing and lessened the plot. Too many characters that I was trying to remember and connect with, which was way too much for me when I trying to use reading an a simplistic “escape from reality”!?! I felt ,as if, literally the entire town gave their POV’s on Annie and I found myself not really caring?!?

I rated the book 2.75/5 stars. It was just not for me. Thank you Netgalley & Lake Union Publishing for the ARC.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

Thanks to Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review.

Contemporary suspense drama told from several viewpoints surrounding the mysterious disappearance of a local woman; only days before her wedding. Runaway Bride? Or is it possible that this is somehow connected to the recent release of the man convicted of murdering the bride's mother twenty three years ago.

Honestly, I felt torn between DNFing and continuing the book. Since I received this as an ARC, I felt I owed it to the author to give the entire story a shot. Admittedly, I was hooked in the beginning and there are some great choices of suspects. But I feel the second half of the story fizzled to a lukewarm ending and the revelations didn't really leave me satisfied. Love that cover though!

A set of bookclub questions and a recipe are included in the book. Thanks to the author, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen for a list of her book writing music playlist listed in her acknowledgment section.

Goodreads Review 04/05/19
Expected Publication 07/05/19

Hmmm... where to start? This was a well done character driven women’s fiction story. This was not a thriller, and I along with many other readers (I think) went into this with that expectation. So when you pick this one up please keep in mind this is a slower story that is all about the characters. There is a bit of a mystery but it’s not twisted or jaw dropping or anything like that. Marybeth Mayhew Whalen did a great job of creating that southern small town vibe.

Three days before Annie is supposed to get married she disappears. Is it cold feet? But how could that be she is marrying the perfect man. Does it have something to do with her mother’s murder over 20 years ago? Especially now that the convicted murderer has been found to be wrongly accused, and is being let out of jail?The book bounces around between multiple characters, all of them with a connection to Annie. We also get Annie’s perspective before she disappears. What transpires is a complex web of lives that intersect and intertwine. Reading this book was like unraveling these characters secrets and guilt.

Even though I guess you would say Annie is the main character of this book, I was much more drawn to Faye and Clary. Faye is Annie’s aunt she owns a beauty shop and I thought this gave the book a bit of a Steel Magnolia vibe. I found her unconventional relationship both touching and heartbreaking. Clary was a bit odd but endearing, I liked her bond with the doves. There really was a lot going on in this book, and we only scratched the surface on a lot of it. I did truly enjoy this book, however I believe that if there were fewer characters and a little less going on I may have enjoyed it even more. Simply put this was a well told character driven story with a dab of Mystery and a heap of heart.

*** thanks to Lake Union for my copy of this book ***

Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and the author, Marybeth Mayhew Whalen, for the ARC (and wish granted) for this book, Only Ever Her.

After reading this book, I have a new author to add to my list of favorites, and will be requesting her other books to read.

There were many main characters in this book, and each one had their own story and even though each chapter was a different character, it was easy to keep the stories separated and easy to follow each.

The premise of the book was to be the wedding of the bride, that everyone in this town just loved and were looking forward to her wedding, however you soon realize that the closer it gets to the wedding, the more it looks like the wedding just might now happen.

I loved how the author brought up the previous murder and how this affected almost all of the main characters of the book, and how they lived life because of this tragedy.

I really related to Clary, the cousin, and when I read the acknowledgements at the end of the book, I realized why, as Clary was modeled after Pink!.

This was an amazing read, and I truly did not see the ending of this book at all. Kudos to the author for keeping the momentum going and for blowing my mind at the end.

5/5

A first read by me from this author. All I can say is WOW! This book has so many main characters so well written in each of their stories to blend it in so well. This is a page turner for sure. Kept me in suspense and full of so many surprises I never saw coming! I couldn’t put it down and read in half a day! Honestly it blew me away! Thank you Netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for granting my wish for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Annie, was found wandering the town as a small child and it was discovers that her mother had been murdered. The entire town got caught up in her life as she grew up and she became a beloved member of her community.
Annie is grown now and about to be married. The town is so excited for her. Then just a few days before her wedding, she goes missing. Her disappearance happens at the same time as her mom's supposed killer's prison release. Is it a coincidence or not? So many characters and so many suspects, but who is really responsible?

It took me some time to get through this book. I couldn’t connect with any of the characters and with the story told from a number of viewpoints, I found that my attention wandered from what was going on in the book.

Anything I have ever read by Marybeth Mathew Whalen has been really great and this one is no exception. I couldn't put it down until I found out what happened. All the characters were so unbelievably realistic I felt like I knew them and there is such a surprise at the end I would never have guessed it. I would give this book 10 stars of I could!

Thanks for the ARC Net Galley.

This is an unusual novel in that on the surface it appears to be a mystery but usually mystery novels are very plot-driven and fast-paced whereas this story is slow burning and is very character-driven.

It's about Annie, who days before her wedding goes missing. While she tells a few bits of her story in the very beginning, most of the book is told from the perspectives of 4 other people: her cousin, her aunt (who is the mother figure because Annie's mom was murdered when she was a kid and she was raised by her aunt), her high school secret best friend, and another high school classmate (not friend) who is back in town working for the local paper.

I usually love character-driven stories and when thrillers take this route I am even happier. And this was totally my kind of novel where the mystery of what happens to Annie (and what happened to her mother) were what united the story but it was really more about the small town, each of the people and their individual stories and their journey. The biggest reason this is not a 5-star read for me was that I didn't end up connecting with any of the characters. I think this is because there wasn't enough depth, vulnerability, connection built between them and the reader. Maybe that's cause there was more telling than showing, or just not enough in general but even though I can't quite put my finger on the why, I just didn't feel connected to the characters as much as I like to in this type of story. I will say, though, that I didn't find any of them dislikable. None of them are two-dimensional, comical, or unreliable. Which is already a huge win compared to so many of the mysteries that seem to be coming out lately.

This was a solid read for me. I enjoyed the time I spent with it.

Thank you to netgalley and Lake Union Publishing for the early review copy in exchange for an honest review.

Title: Only Ever Her
Author: Marybeth Mayhew Whalen
Genre: Mystery
Rating: 3 out of 5

When Annie was a little girl, she was found wandering in the woods, not far from her mother’s murdered body. Now grown up, she’s the town’s darling, and her imminent wedding is all anyone talks about. Annie’s ready for her life to change, but can she leave behind this small town—and her support system—to start her new life?

Just days before her wedding, Annie disappears. There’s no sign of her. No sign she might have run. No sign she spoke to anyone before she disappeared. With her mother’s accused murderer freshly released from prison, the town fears the worst, and those who love Annie will have to deal with their own issues as they search for her.

I did not connect with this book at all. The small-town vibe was accurate, but I found Annie herself unlikable, as was her secret friend. I didn’t find this very suspenseful, and everyone had secrets, of course, but the only character I liked was Clary. Just not a good fit for me.

Marybeth Mayhew Whalen lives and writes in North Carolina. Only Ever Her is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of Lake Union Publishing via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)