I was instantly hooked on this story and my focus was held throughout as the story unfolded and the secrets were revealed.

There is nothing special about this story, but there's also nothing wrong. It's an okay triller, which kept me interested enough to carry on with the story.
The 1st half focuses on the disappearance of an elderly woman. Our protagonist was her close neighbour and somewhat carer. One day, she displayed a strange behaviour and by the next day, she was missing. I had an issue of no-one believing her and telling her not to go to the police; the behaviour displayed was completely against the norm and if it was me, who couldn't get in touch with a neighbour I saw on a daily basis, and her texts didn't sound anything like herself..I would phone the police immediately.
The theme of this book is that no one believes Kirsty, and pregnancy is being used as an excuse for this. So basically, if you're pregnant, you're crazy.
When it came to the end, and the explanation for the events of the book, it was a loooooong monologue, so we were told and told the whole history by his side, not showed anything, just told all that pass. And then there was a twist in the twist which got me even more confused 😂

Issues:
I really can't understand how you can pass a 29 year old for a 15 year old!!
I actually was very confused by the ages!
I was also confused by the fact that Kirsty husband is a woman, they go by Douguie and i thought i kept hearing the word husband but then Kirsty says she, bear in mind I was listen to the audiobook so maybe I misunderstood something? It just felt like it was dropped in there to make the book "inclusive"? Without much thought being it!

Pros:
Good how everything tied up in the end, for a moment there, I couldn't see how it was going to, considering that there was no apparent connection between the characters.
Twists and twists to make you dizzy 😵
I don't think anyone can guess the twist in the twist 😂

have read and really enjoyed a book by this author previously and found them well plotted and domestic which are two of my main requirements for a thriller. I have been in a thriller phase over December and was really looking forward to reading this.

Clearly a narrator’s voice is very important to the success of an audiobook and whilst this narrator had a great and very easy to listen to voice, I wasn’t totally convinced that she was Kirsty. There were a lot of different voices in the book and I think she voiced some of these well, and others not so well. I would prefer for a male to have voiced the part of Hughie.

At the beginning of the story we witness an attempted murder with the book then stepping back to look at the events which led to this point. Kirsty is a pregnant midwife looking forward to the imminent arrival of her child. She has become anxious about the welfare of an elderly neighbour and friend, Joan, who is behaving strangely. One day at the hospital she spots a man who appears to be her ex boyfriend who left abruptly. He denies he is the ex and has a new name and identity. Then Joan goes missing and her body is found in the sea. Kirsty is convinced that she has been murdered and that her ex boyfriend is involved. But no one will believe her.

This has a really interesting plot and I loved the domesticity. The early parts of the book where Kirsty is trying to contact Joan and even searching her home are really compelling and very tense! Added to this a really nerve-wracking car ride when Kirsty finds her brakes aren’t working! I think for me there were two issues affecting my read. I wasn’t convinced in the viability of the boyfriend’s story. Without going into depth or spoiling plots there was an age detail which I struggled with. I was also really uncomfortable with his narrative.

I will definitely read more by this author as I think she writes compelling thrillers.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Bookoutre for my audiobook.

I enjoyed the twist and turns in this. At first I was confused because it started off as a thriller so fast. It went quickly into the mystery of it. Not that it is a bad thing! I did find myself having to backtrack but after the first 3 chapters I was able to piece it together.
Most psychological thriller books tend to be a lot alike but the storyline of this wasn’t a typical storyline you hear. It’s nice to hear something different.
My favorite line from this has to be when Kristi says, “What happens to you doesn’t define you. Don’t let your something bad stop you from doing what you want. Don’t let it define you.”

Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read “The Perfect Boyfriend.” I really enjoyed the pacing of this book and the narrator did a really good job with the audiobook! I also loved how it had the POV of the girl and her missing ex who mysteriously returned years later. The things I wasn’t the biggest fan of was the main female character, she kept annoying me with the dangerous choices she was making throughout the whole book while being heavily pregnant, I also started to get confused towards the end of the book with the amount of lies that were told from the ex. Overall I did enjoy this book and would definitely read from the same author again!

The Perfect Boyfriend was a great psychological thriller that had me hooked from the start. I thought the plot was really well paced, with just enough doubt placed on Kirsty to question whether she was a reliable narrator, while also giving enough details to build conclusions about what probably happened. The only reason for the 4-star review is parts of the ending - I thought that the "bad guy" was just a little bit overly evil/sinister to be quite believable. Otherwise, I thoroughly enjoyed the book, it was a wild ride from start to finish!

I was provided both the eBook and audiobook through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to Bookouture and the author for letting me read it early!

The Perfect Boyfriend by S.E. Lynes had a lot of potential, but unfortunately, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations. The cover of the book was striking and promised an intriguing psychological thriller, which initially drew me in. However, the story itself unfolded at a pace that felt frustratingly slow, and I found it hard to stay fully engaged. The story centers around Kirsty and is told in her POV through transcripts. The Perfect Boyfriend just didn’t deliver the suspense or thrill I had hoped for. Though the book does explore some intriguing psychological themes, I would have preferred a more engaging and faster-paced narrative.

Thank you to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for the advanced copy of The Perfect Boyfriend.

The Perfect Boyfriend by S.E. Lynes gripped me immediately. However, once the focus shifted from Kirsty and Huey to Kirsty and a neighbor, I became bored and annoyed, as it had very little to do with the blurb of the book. I expected a cat-and-mouse game between them, but it felt more like a Nancy Drew mystery. Once that side plot was resolved, the story refocused on their game of wits, eventually revealing some obvious secrets and some shocking ones.

All in all, it’s a good book that I rate 3 stars due to the feeling of being deceived and the dragging middle section. I will likely read more of Lynes' books.

Tamsin Kennard is amazing, as usual!

Thank you to Bookouture Audio for providing me with an ALC.

This book was full of lies and twists galore. Ok, so the title is irrelevant to the story and it's not an entirely realistic storyline, but it was suspenseful and kept me interested throughout. Also, the narration was very well done. Thank you to the author, NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for a gifted ALC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I listened to the audio version of this book in exchange for my reviews. The narration was easy to listen to and had a pleasant cadence. The story was mysterious and had me getting through it quickly. However there were parts of the story line where I felt very confused as a listener, almost as if I had missed big sections of the book. I did finish this book and there were many twists and turns I didnt expect.

Thank you NetGalley! I enjoy this author. I couldn’t completely get into the story. I found it a bit far fetched and predictable. Which was unfortunate because I wants to like it

Many thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and Bookouture Audio for gifting me both a digital and audio ARC of the latest by S.E. Lynes, with the audio perfectly narrated by Tamsin Kennard. All opinions expressed in this review are my own – 4 stars!

Kirsty is happily married and pregnant, working as a midwife. At the hospital one day, she runs into a man she instantly recognizes as Hughie, her former boyfriend who disappeared years ago. But the man insists she is mistaken.

Told from both Kirsty and Hughie’s POV through a documentary, as well as from the past so that the reader gets both sides of the story. I liked the past glimpses – the characters felt like real teenagers, and you could feel the angst. This is a twisty one that had me gasping at one point – didn’t see that coming, although not sure it necessarily needed to be a big surprise? Loved the accents and thought the narration was perfect. As always with SE Lynes’ books, this was a well-written psychological thriller that will keep you guessing.

Stayed up too late to finish.. really enjoyed this. It was a unique story that wasn’t totally predictable. I’d read more books by this author. Thanks NetGalley for the audio book to review! Great narrator.

The beginning of this book caught my attention almost immediately. Who is this person? Why do they look like someone from her past, but answers to a different name? It had so much potential but it all fell flat there. While I can appreciate the author including information that’ll come full circle in the end, it totally diverted the story. I spent way too long trying to understand why the story was called “the perfect boyfriend” instead of “the missing neighbor”.

Kirsty and Dougie are a wonderfully happy couple. Kirsty is pregnant with their child, has a fantastic job delivering babies, and has a close network of friends. But when she sees her ex boyfriend, Hughie Reynolds, at the hospital where she is employed, her world turns upside down. Especially because of the way he vanished from her life years ago. Now that he has returned, strange things start to happen. Even stranger, this man claims he isn’t Hughie. But Kirsty is sure it’s him. It has to be him.

This book feels just like a Lisa Jewell novel, but with its own unique twists and turns. Lynes does a fantastic job of building suspense and drama in an easy-to-follow but complex way, leaving you guessing until the last page. I loved the switching POVs. I thought it was interesting to read from both perspectives and it really added depth to the story. It helped the pacing as well. This book felt layered and each page was a new discovery as you get closer to the truth. It was truly a fantastic book. My only critique is the title. It didn’t seem to suit the story as a whole. It just seems a little on the plain side compared to how wild and thrilling the actual book is. Overall, I adored this book. It is truly a gem.

Thank you Bookouture Audio for providing this audiobook for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I was really disappointed in this book. First of all, the title does not give a clue about the book.I have no idea why it's named that. I am still not sure.I understand the ending as far as who's who. I was invested and disappointed in the end for sure.

Well well well another fantastic ARC with thanks to Netgalley & Bookouture for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook in return for an open and honest review, which is as follows....

I thoroughly enjoyed this audiobook the storyline had a strong plot from beginning to end with the main bones being that Kirsty met Hughie while at school had a relationship with him that left her extremely heartbroken and even as far as traumatised by the way and means in which he left he basically disappeared from nor only her life but her family and all their friends...

Fast forward into the now timeline slightly dualistic timeline merge in this that brings the pieces of this psychological thriller together and we have Kirsty who loves all her friends, family and neighbours alike she is a outgoing bubbly people person very much an empath who enjoys caring for others which shows in her job as a midwife. Kirsry is currently pregnant and as she walks along the corridor I work is when things begin to go terribly wrong she sees a man who she is convinced is her ex Hughie but it can't be surely, he looks older, bigger, balder but there is something about him, ever get that gut feeling like you just know something 🤔???

Kirsty then starts to see various suspicious activity without giving away the rest of the storyline let's just say it was a contiued sequemce of events that all made sense to her but also there could be logic applied at times. Its always alot od litle nothings that maybe feel like something eventually adding up proving to be sadly pretty much exactly as the gut has been teying to warn you all along...!!! There is a reason we all have this gut instinct

This was riveting, well written and well narrated all characters came alive in their own way much of it I was able to predict myself as we went along with exception of 1 thing although I did it wasn't until the last minute which isn't like me very well done I was a little like whoa because I thought I thought it but I dismissed it so the writer was so good even I was dismissing myself within the story as well which I found to be outstanding work!! Also, a great wee twist at the end some may or may not predict..

Overall an enjoyable easy 4 stars very frustrating that nobody would listen or believe Kirsty in her plight till closer to the end when eventually her best friend does and also a mum who she had helped deliver the baby of but I won't go any further with those details...

A definite add for your 2025 TBR list!

First of all the title does not match the book, at all. This gal’s old boyfriend, or his lookalike, shows up years later and seemingly 15 years or so older. The mystery, wondering what in the world is happening and questions how people are connected kept me listening. The narration was good. However, the ending with gobs of twists, some completely unnecessary threw me off no lie. Thanks to @bookouture for my advanced copy! :)

First time reader of SE Lynes and I will say this book was a fast paced, thrilling, mysterious read. There were a lot of twists and turns and I was trying to figure this one out right until the end. I thought some of it was a bit coincidental and slightly over the top but this was a good read and I'll definitely check out other works by this author.

The audio narration done by Tamsin Kennard was superb. I loved the voices, the accents and the pace.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for access to the ALC in exchange for an honest review.

This high quality audio version deals with what happens when you have moved on with your life you are heavily pregnant and happy and suddenly you come face to face with the boy who cruelly broke your heart at age 18. Except he tells you you are wrong its not him. Queue a binge listen as a pov mystery is revealed . The narration was engaging . fast paced with a drip character history this will keep you hooked until the end, with . The twists just kept coming and coming. I loved the way other events were pulled into the narrative that at the time seemed irrelevant. At times this was film like and so out there it felt unrealistic and at times I couldn't care about the characters as their actions seemed wrong. There were plot points that seemed to be there to move the story along. It was really entertaining and i needed to know the truth. The final reveal was spot on . This is 4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. perfect for anyone who loves a mystery that is revealed within a series of other events. Thank you netgallery, publisher, author and narrators.