Before We Met by Lucie Whitehouse

Before We Met was one of those books that got me with the “blurb” on the back cover. It sounded intriguing, and like something I would enjoy reading.

A whirlwind romance. A perfect marriage. Hannah Reilly has seized her chance at happiness.Until the day her husband doesn’t come home…

I have to say it was both, although for the first chapter or two I was a bit worried it was going to be run of the mill thriller. I thought it was also seeming a bit too obvious. Thankfully I was wrong.

Hannah goes to the airport to pick up her husband, Nick, who doesn’t turn up. A frantic night of worrying is followed by a phone call saying he missed his flight and so decided to stay in New York. Hannah should feel relieved…if Nick’s Assistant hadn’t told her Nick was supposed to be in Rome, not New York. An attempt to find out the truth leads Hannah into a web of lies, leaving her to question everything she knows about her husband, her marriage and her life.

The great thing about the book for me was how many twists and turns there were. Every time Hannah thinks she’s found the truth, it turns out she’s wrong and every time I thought I had the ending sussed, it turns out I was wrong too. Meaning I kept reading, finishing the book in a day or so.

It also meant there was a great pace to the book, one that never let up. I really did feel as if I was being dragged along with Hannah herself, who I grew to like, although I would have liked her to be a bit more solid as a character. There were times when I thought Lucie Whitehouse relied on the twists and red herrings rather than developing Hannah. The same is true of Nick, who felt a little wooden and very much the stereotype of the perfect, gorgeous, successful husband.

This meant I couldn’t say I loved the book but I did like it a lot. I’ll be reading more Lucie Whitehouse and will recommend the book.

Emma