The narrator had a pleasant voice, but I couldn’t help but feel the story would have been more immersive with dual narration, especially since we get perspectives from both Kirsty and her high school ex. The premise had so much potential - a high school boyfriend reappearing out of nowhere, sparking intrigue and danger. But I struggled to see how the title connected with the plot. The “perfect boyfriend” in question was anything but, considering he ghosted Kirsty and treated her poorly back in the day.

Both Kirsty and the ex-boyfriend were weighed down by excessive internal dialogue, which slowed the pacing. I found myself frustrated with some of Kirsty’s choices - especially with her being a very pregnant woman taking unnecessary risks. It felt far-fetched at times and pulled me out of the story.

The story dragged in parts and became repetitive, though it did have its moments. Some of the twists genuinely surprised me, which kept me engaged enough to see it through to the end.

While I enjoyed a few of the surprises and appreciated the narrator’s performance, the pacing and believability left me wanting more.

I was given an ARC of the audio version from NetGalley. In the beginning I thought this story was going to be completely different than it ended up being based on the description. I enjoyed the plot very much. It wasn’t super twisty, but I did suspect a different person to be involved. Overall I really enjoyed this one.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to listen to this early before publication. I will say I loved how this book started off. I was definitely hooked wanting to know everything. Unfortunately, midway through the book I was annoyed with the main character and the supporting characters. The supporting characters felt like they may have been gaslighting the main character. What kept me intrigued with the book and kept me from DNF'ing the audiobook was wanting to know if this lady was crazy and imaging things. I wanted to know how it all ended. The Scottish narrator I loved but it may be difficult for some listeners to follow. I think this book is good for those of you who are new with reading thrillers, others who may be avid thriller readers may find this book a bit of a dragged on story.

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!