Only Ever Her

by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

“Unputdownable!” —Robyn Carr, New York Times bestselling author

Annie Taft’s wedding is four days away, and it will be one of the grandest anyone can remember in her small South Carolina town. Preparations are in order. Friends and family are gathering in anticipation. Everything is going according to plan. Except that Annie herself has vanished. Did she have second thoughts? Or has something much worse happened to the bride-to-be?

While her loved ones frantically try to track her down, they’re forced to grapple with their own secrets—secrets with the power to reframe entire relationships, leaving each to wonder how well they really knew Annie and how well they know themselves.

• ISBN10: 1503903893
• ISBN13: 9781503903890
• Publish Date: 7 May 2019
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Amazon Publishing
• Imprint: Lake Union Publishing
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 298
• Language: English

Reviews

[Stephanie]

This review was originally posted on Once Upon a ChapterI received this book for free from Lake Union Publishing in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.





I agreed to review Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen because I've really been on a suspense/thriller kick for months now. They are calling to me.

Only Ever Her was hard to put down. It's told from 4 different perspectives and includes a wrongfully convicted man, affairs, broken relationships, and long buried family secrets. There was actually quite a lot going on for a relatively short book but it wasn't overwhelming and it kept the pacing quick.

There were quite a few things that we don't know in the beginning: who really killed Lydia if not the man convicted? What secret is Clary hiding? What happened to Annie? The good news is that Whalen doesn't keep us in the dark for these answers.

One thing that I really loved about the way that Whalen told her story is that she didn't leave any threads hanging! I hate it when there are things left undone. I like resolution and I didn't have to worry about that here.

One thing that I didn't love was how Annie treated a few of the people in her life. These were core people and deserved better from her. I know she felt she had to do what she was doing but she was being selfish too.

I kind of feel like Only Ever Her was more than just a thriller read. It didn't lack in the thriller department but I'm just sad when I think about it now. I'll definitely be checking out more of Whalen's work! I really did enjoy this one and I'd like to read more of what she has to offer!

[Jeff Sexton]

Small Town Secrets. Big Time Heart. This story set in fictional Ludlow, South Carolina tells a multilayered story of the secrets of various people in a small town affecting each of their lives in dramatic ways. It is a story of love, loss, and moving on, and it captures the rural small town South extremely well. The multiple interweaving perspectives could make for some intriguing cinematography, should Hollywood ever come calling for this tale, and I for one would love to see it on the silver screen and look forward to reading more from this new-to-me author. Very much recommended.