The Perfect Boyfriend
by S.E. Lynes
Pub Date: Jan 06 2025

Perfect boyfriend...Perfect liar...Perfect killer...

This story is told by the POV of the two main characters, Kristy and Hugh. It covers the present and the past. It's a very fascinating read, a thriller with an OMG ending you don't see coming!

Synopsis:
Her
When I see him, my heart stops dead. I tell myself it’s impossible, but I would recognise those striking pale blue eyes anywhere. It’s him. The high-school boyfriend I adored… Until the day he vanished without a trace. I run towards him, my pulse racing. He turns, politely, a puzzled look on that familiar face. ‘I’m sorry,’ he says. ‘Do I know you?’ I need answers. I’m certain he’s lying. I just have to prove it.
Him.
Of course you recognised me. Always so keen, always trying to do right by everyone. It’s typical of my bad luck that we happened to run into each other. I left this place for a reason – one you never knew. And now I’m back, I have plans. And I’m afraid, my dear, that you’re getting in my way…

Many, many thanks to #ThePerfectBoyfriend #NetGalley and #Bookouture for providing me with an E-ARC of this 5 STAR MYSTERY THRILLER!

Took me a bit to get into this book. I loved the storyline! I think the English dialect threw me a bit. I also didn’t like that no one believed Kirsty but later in the book you find out why! I definitely enjoyed this story and I think many will.

Wow wow wow, so many twists and turn and that end….
When she was 17 her boyfriend left her and vanished, now she is sure she saw him again after 10 years, but no one believes her.
Can she solve this mystery when strange things are happening?
Great story that will keep you guessing till the end.

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the chance to read this story, this review is my honest opinion.

Promising plot if you can to it. Very drawn out and wordy, too many irrelevant details - at least for me. I found myself drowning in details and not focusing on the plot. For those that do like a lot of context and slow development, this will work for you.

This book was a wild ride. It had me hooked right from the beginning. I found myself becoming seriously invested in the characters and wondering what was really going on. Amazing story! Big thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read this book.

Fast paced with twists galore. I didnt want to put it down until I knew how it was all going to end. What a brilliant story this is.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Midwife Kirsty knows she’s seen her childhood sweetheart working in the hospital she also works in. But the man is called Barry & she always knew him as Hughie.

Soon to become a mother herself, Kirsty can’t leave things alone. She starts trying to find out why Hughie would change his name, and just what is going on.

When her friend and elderly neighbour, Joan, disappears, Kirsty becomes determined to find out where she is.

With everyone blaming Kirsty’s behaviour on her hormones, will anyone believe her before it’s too late?

Goodness, what a tale the author has weaved! Cleverly told in different chapters between Kirsty and Hughie.

The words angst, tense and dark, tell you what you need to know about this story.

This psychological thriller had me doubting everything that I thought I knew, full of secrets and lies.

For me, the ending was spectacular & so unexpected. I was left genuinely gobsmacked.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

Absolutely devoured this in less than a day! Couldn’t put it down.

When her EX suddenly reappears after disappearing years before, but claims she must be mistaking him for someone else, a heavily pregnant Kirsty is sent on a spiral of investigation as dark and mysterious things begin to happen to those around her. But who is going to believe the hormonal pregnant lady?

A captivating story, filled with intriguing characters and a dual POV which allowed for the gradual unravelling of the full mysterious story along the way! While there were times I thought I had it figured it out I was still delightfully surprised by the final twist at the very end. Expertly delivered!

I really enjoyed the format of the story too which made it easy to follow and quick to read. The pacing was also well done the pieces of the puzzle all falling into place in perfect time and place. The characters were well structured and their various connections all masterfully incorporated into this suspenseful thriller.

Up there in my top 5 reads of 2024! I can’t wait to continue to enjoy more from S.E. Lynes. Already a fan and will continue to be so

Thank you to the Author along with Netgalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #Bookouture for the book #ThePerfectBoyfriend by #SELynes. Kristy and Huey used to date in high school, that is until he disappeared and only left a nasty letter. Years later, while at work at the hospital, Kristy runs into a man that resembles Huey and confronts him. He insists that he is not the same person. Is she losing her mind or did she just stumble upon some major trouble? Can she make sense of all of this?

3.5 stars - Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for an ARC copy of The Perfect Boyfriend! This was my second audio book and it did not disappoint. I loved the narration, they did a fantastic job of depicting the tone (digust, dislike, panic, etc.). I did find the description of the book should have had a little bit more context (like Kristie was married, was very pregnant, etc.). I was thrown off a little during the first chapter or two because of that. The book had a few twists that I didn't see coming, and a few that I did. Overall I enjoyed the book and gave it a 3.5 stars.

I’m sure you can imagine the scene. It was the morning of Sunday, 22nd December and there were presents that needed to be wrapped. But I’d started reading The Perfect Boyfriend, the latest book by the amazing S E Lynes, the evening before and I wanted nothing more than to sit on the sofa with a mug of tea and devour some more of it.

Obviously, there was only one thing to be done. Which meant that, by the time I looked up from my kindle, I was two-thirds of the way through the book and it was getting really exciting. But there was only another hour of daylight left, and the dog wanted a walk …

It’s no criticism whatsoever of the book, or the author that even The Perfect Boyfriend wasn’t a match for the charms of a Labrador, so a walk was done, after which I forced myself to decide that the wrapping could wait no longer. So after a couple of hours of swearing at sellotape whilst trying – and failing miserably – to stop thinking about the book, I’ve now decided that I hate wrapping presents and will be quite happy to never receive a gift again if it means that I never have to wrap another one for as long as I live. Obviously, this is all Susie Lynes’ fault.

Eventually, I finished this loathsome task and was able to pick my kindle up again. But then came my second problem. During the day, the mucus that had been stuck to my vocal chords and given me laryngitis for over a week had finally begun to come loose. This had caused me to cough almost continuously and, whilst I promise not to get too graphic, let me tell you something. It doesn’t matter how good the book is, it’s impossible to give it the concentration it really deserves if you’re having to put it down every minute or so to bring something green and unpleasant up from the back of your throat.

So it says a lot that The Perfect Boyfriend was still – effortlessly – able to hold my attention.

In some of her recent novels, Susie has taken a little bit of a risk with her introductions – writing slow-burners that you have to allow to gently caress you in until, before you’ve really noticed, you’re fully gripped – and also her main characters, creating people that you really have to understand fully for the books to really work. This time though, with the character of Kirsty, she’s played it safe. The prologue is one hell of a hook that has you fearing the worst even before the main part of the book has begun, and Kirsty … well. How lovely a woman can you create? Let’s make her a midwife, responsible for bringing new life safely into the world. Let’s have her performing an exemplary emergency birth, which only serves to make the reader every bit as grateful to her as the fictional mother is. When she’s not at work, let’s have her care for her elderly neighbour and yes, a former patient too. Oh, and just for good measure, let’s make her heavily pregnant … I tell you, if you dislike this lady then you must be evil.

Has Susie, in fact, played it a little too safe? Well, maybe. I didn’t care, though, because it worked for me. Not only did it have me cheering Kirsty on at every decision she made and every action she took – even though some of them were clearly wrong, I still wanted her to be right – but it also served as a stark contrast to the character of Hughie. In one sense, she and he are good and evil personified and yet, it’s nowhere near as simple as that. The book also serves as a wonderful illustration of just how easy it is to see what’s presented to us, or to accept what we choose to see without a second thought. But just how easy is it for someone to take advantage of this, particularly if that someone is a psychopath with no sense of empathy, humility, shame, or guilt, only entitlement … ?

I thought that there could only be one way that the book could end, and in one sense I was sort of right. But again, this didn’t matter because Susie still manages to throw in a couple of masterful twists. One of which, in particular, I thought was brilliant. Suffice to say that the message given throughout the book is personified yet again. We assume something about a secondary character, only for this to be revealed as untrue. And only then do we realise what we haven’t actually been told, and see the gaps that we’ve chosen to fill in our own imaginations … Yes, there are a couple of instances when in real life, the truth would probably have come to light earlier but what the heck, it’s still very cleverly done. And I haven’t even mentioned the setting, which also works perfectly by making Aberdeen, in winter, a character in its own right.

My only real niggle with this book is its title. Perhaps, in an early draft, the boyfriend in question did appear perfect at first but in this version, he’s anything but perfect from the very start. I’ve no idea what it should be called instead, but I still don’t think ‘The Perfect Boyfriend’ really works.

Let’s end though on something more positive. The author’s note. Susie invites me, as a reader of hers for the fourteenth time, to pour myself a large drink and also to search for a “Valentina-related Easter egg” that I seem to have missed. I can only apologise and say: blame the lurgy brain for that.

A large drink and a re-read, though? Thank you, I don’t mind if I do.

And on that note, I’ll sign off and say: merry Christmas to you all.

My thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the digital ARC of this book, which is due to be published in the UK on 6th January 2025. I have reviewed it voluntarily and honestly, and will post my review on Goodreads, Amazon and my social media pages.

A solid thriller!

A great twisted ride, very fast paced, I'm glad the story wasn't dragging on and on.

I honestly did not see it coming.

The only thing that gave me a bit of an ick was the excessive Scottish slang.

The Perfect Boyfriend by S.E. Lynes was a 3-star read for me. While I read it in one day, the plot seemed manic between Kristy and Hughie. The title as well did not make sense to me as Hughie was far from perfect and Kristy flashes back to her last night with him while in HS. Not my favorite, but still worth a read, especially for fans of S.E. Lynes. Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own. Publication Date: January 06, 2025

Probably not the best book by this author but kept me interested to the very end. Well written although it did feel a little slow at times. Twists a plenty at the end so make sure you read to the very last page

This book is one wild thriller that had me on the edge of my seat. The ending! Holy cow! Wasn’t expecting that at all or any of what led to the ending. Loved the characters too! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this remarkable book in exchange for my honest review. To be published January 2025. Can’t wait for more books by S. E. Lynes.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Kristy is so frustrating to read, I wanted to reach within the pages and shake her after "watching" her make one wrong decision after another. Even tho hindsight is 20- 20, but her decisions were irrational and wreckless. Her inner dialogues in the book tend to be repetitive and came off like mad ramblings.

Wow, wow, wow!!!!!!! Yet another fantastic story by this author, she never disappoints. Full of twists and turns and nail biting until the very end. Huge 5 stars.

This is another great read from S.E Lynes told in both past and present Points Of Views of the main characters Kirsty and Hughie.
Boy, did I dislike Hughie😡
Don't let the title fool you. This is no romantic read. It's a cleverly written psychological thriller.
The twists at the end were unexpected. I actually thought I'd misread things they threw me totally.
Loved the Easter Egg reference to one of the authors' earlier books.
A RECOMMENDED Read.
Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for the ARC.

Kirsty is at work, heavily pregnant, when she thinks she sees an ex-boyfriend from her teenage years. This brings back memories of how he cruelly dumped her after A levels and she never saw him again. She calls out his name and he ignores her, because it turns out he is someone else, but she doesn’t believe him and starts to work on the mystery of who he is and why people connected with her start to disappear in mysterious ways.
This is an interesting book with lots of twists and turns as it reaches its exciting conclusion. I think one either feel sympathy for, or irritated by Kirsty. Regardless, she is a good person who is kind to everyone she meets and doesn’t deserve to have met the cruel Hughie. I do like the way in which everything is explained by the end of the story.

OMG! What have I just read! This book is amazing!!! I loved the storyline, I loved the characters, the good ones & the bad ones. There's so many twists and turns, this book will have you staying up reading well into the night. I read this in one sitting. Definitely 5 stars from me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️