A solid "meh" for me.

Sandy is in jail after being found guilty of rape but is close to getting out. His daughter is sure he's innocent. He meets a woman who writes to him while he's in prison. And his victim is terrified of him. The story is told by the 3 women in alternating 1st person chapters.

My first problem was that the 3 narrators (especially Jane (victim) and Collette (daughter)) sounded so similar. If I wasn't paying attention when the chapter started, I would get confused when Collette was talking about running the hotel - oops, no, my bad, that's Jane. It got a little easier to differentiate as the story went on, but still not great.

I was hoping for twists and turns in this thriller, but it had barely any. There was one small one with Jane about mid book but I think that was it. The ending was super boring and a bit predictable. Again, I kept waiting for a twist, any twist, any surprise, anything at all, and got nothing. The tagline was also a bit misleading since Jane (victim) just wanted to be left alone and get on with her life despite the unprocessed trauma.

Sandy manipulates his daughter: telling her to eat less since she's out of shape, criticizing her work, telling her that he shouldn't have let her marry her ex-husband. It was sad watching this poor woman keep telling herself that he didn't mean it and he's right. For his girlfriend - he clearly is stringing her along and lying to her. Again, it was just sad watching this desperate woman let herself be manipulated and keep making excuses for his behavior. I wanted to be open and not assume who was telling the truth and who was lying, but it was so painfully obvious throughout.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

Sandy was convicted of rape and has been in prison. His upcoming release will affect the lives of three different women.

The story is narrated by Colette the daughter, Jane the victim and Lynne the new girlfriend. The story unfolds through their eyes. There is some content on sexual assault and some common misconceptions (she was promiscuous so she can’t have been raped etc).

I wasn’t keen on the casual fatphobia in the book. But overall it was well written, if a little overlong.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Boldwood Books via NetGalley.

Three women’s lives are about to change forever.

The Daughter - My father is innocent. He’s spent almost four years behind bars, but now he’s getting out. I gave up everything to be there for him, just like he was always there for me. It’s all going to be worth it now.

The Girlfriend - As soon as I opened the paper that day and saw that picture of Sandy, I didn’t care about the story surrounding it. There’s no way he hurt that girl. Now he’s out, we’ll get married and I’ll finally get to meet his daughter. There’ll be no more hiding our love.

The Other Woman - No one knows what happened all those years ago, and the life I built depends on no one finding out. Now he’s getting out, my secrets may soon see the light. I can’t let that happen.

Starting out this book I knew everything was not what it seemed. The other woman was the most intriguing storyline. I can see how hard it would be for someone to open up about what had happened to them, especially if they are starting to doubt themselves. It couldn't have been easy for her and I can see how that would have affected the rest of her life. You can't just move on from something like that pretending it didn't happen. I was surprised by the ending though, that was not what I was expecting at all.

The Ideal Man is a well-written, dark and disturbing look at the relationships between women and men, and the reality of who we are versus what we reveal to others. Three women are affected in different ways by Sandy, the man at the center of the tale, and each tells her story about him in her unique POV. Which of the three women sees Sandy most clearly?

All three female points of view are equally well-told, and this reviewer is especially impressed by the uniqueness of their voices. The author does a great job of giving each character distinct personality traits and motivations. The novel is set in France, treating us to language and scenery that provides added color to a story ripe with mystery and tension. The final chapters put me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed reading this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for providing an ARC to read and review. This review will post to Bayside Book Reviews at https://baysidebookreviews.com and its Instagram page on release day. *NetGalley Top Reviewer*

This is more a family drama than a thriller per se, but potato...potatoh!! Either way, it was engaging and easy to read. I truly felt for all three women - the daughter unquestioningly believing in her father, the "girlfriend" blindly and sadly putting all her romantic eggs in her prison pal romance basket, and the victim who has lived with her secrets for years while it slowly destroys her mental well being and her family. I probably felt the worst for Lynne, the girlfriend. So many times I wanted to shake some sense into her and then hug her tight. The ending was quite fitting and had some delicious twisty things.

This is a terrific read and one that I’d strongly recommend.
It drew me in immediately and there were plenty of twists throughout that kept me guessing. It has a unique plot and intriguing characters which makes for a great thriller.

This book is told by three alternating characters. We have Colette, whose father Sandy is awaiting release from prison for sexual assault. We have Lynne, who is Sandy's pen pal girlfriend. Lastly we have Jane, on of Sandy's victims. As the story progresses Aand Sandy is released, we see how the lives of three women are effected, disrupted and destroyed.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.
I enjoyed reading this book and did not see the twist at the end coming. 3.75 out of 5 ⭐️

The Ideal Man by T. J. Emerson.
The Daughter.
My father is innocent. He’s spent almost four years behind bars, but now he’s getting out. I gave up everything to be there for him, just like he was always there for me. It’s all going to be worth it now.
The Girlfriend.
As soon as I opened the paper that day and saw that picture of Sandy, I didn’t care about the story surrounding it. There’s no way he hurt that girl. Now he’s out, we’ll get married and I’ll finally get to meet his daughter. There’ll be no more hiding our love.
The Other Woman.
No one knows what happened all those years ago, and the life I built depends on no one finding out. Now he’s getting out, my secrets may soon see the light. I can’t let that happen.
One Loves Him.
One Needs Him.
One Wants Him DEAD.
Really good read. Twisty. 5*.

I loved this dysfunctional family thriller! Super glam setting in the south of France covering up some bad vibes. It was a bit hard going along with ladies who support this guy but once you got past that the story was vey enjoyable. Four stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Boldwood Books for an early copy of The Ideal Man. I really liked this book, I liked Lynne a lot, she was just so hopeful and fun to read about. It was a very good plot, the ending was better than I anticipated. A really well written book for a sad subject. Can’t wait for her next book.

Three women’s lives are about to change forever, the daughter, the girlfriend and the other woman. This had the potential to be a great book but unfortunately for me it did not hit the mark.

The book has what feels like a million characters and trying remember who was who and what had they done started doing my head in. Also, as the book progressed I kept waiting for something big to happen that would hopefully take my breath away, twists did start to occur but we are nearly three quarters through the book before the story brings these women together and any great action begins and for me this was just to long. There was not a lot of depth to the characters and really they have quite shallow personalities which did not make me engage more with the story. I do not like giving negative reviews so all I will say is read it for yourself, you may enjoy it more than I did. I think also that I have read several really good books previously to this and the standard was just that much higher. 2 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, and the publisher for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm, this book did not live up to my expectations, which is a shame since I normally really enjoy Emerson's book and I have read a couple of them before

The story itself felt conveluted and I was not able to connect to any of the characters

At the beginning of the book I felt like there were 2 books. One was Lynne and Collette, and Jane was the other. There didn't seem to be the connection to all 3 women until maybe 75% of the way thru, and then finally the pieces stories seemed to intertwine better. The book was great with keeping you on the edge of the seat with "where is this going?" And a couple big twists at the end that I didn't see coming, but wow. Just have to say that I would have done the same thing if I were Lynne or Collette.

This was such a wild ride! I enjoyed this thriller and it kept me on the edge of my seat! Its not my favorite thriller I've ever read but I was able to emerge in the story and it was a quick read so I enjoyed it.

Unfortunately this was a miss for me. First it was too long for the actual content and story. Then, there was no real twist or mystery, and the story didn't really captivate me as much as I wanted it to. I liked some of the descriptions of the locations as they made me want to visit France, but that was it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the chance to review.

I liked The Ideal Man but didn’t love it. Although the plot kept me entertained throughout, I didn’t find the book to be as tense or gripping as I expected. Thank you to NetGalley, Boldwood Books and the author for the chance to review.

This is one of the best books I have read in a long time has you going with the twists and turns absolutely loved it highly reccomemd !!!!!

This is my first book by T.J. Emerson and oh what a wild ride it is! This thriller is set in France and told in multiple point of views. I was having a hard time keeping track of who was who. A man named Sandy served some years in prison for raping a woman but he got out early and had to start his life over. More secrets emerged and there was quite the twist at the end! Looking forward to more books by this author. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. To be published January 2023.

Whoa! What a wild ride! I couldn't put this down. The characters were so interesting and really drove the story to its shocking conclusion. I was dying to know what was going on with Sandy. A captivating thriller.

I love this intense, climactic thriller. I was incredibly invested in the characters and plot. Readers are going to love this incredible novel.