Book Review: Only Ever Her

Only Ever Her by Marybeth Mayhew Whalen

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Back in July, I was prepping for my annual week long vacation trip to Cape San Blas, FL and I needed a few things to read. Now, I’m not lacking for things to read of course but when I go to the beach I like light reads. I think most of us do.

Thanks to a pre-vacation lunch date with Alison Law of Literary Atlanta she gave me the perfect beach read. It was light and an easy quick read.

Whalen’s Only Ever Her wasn’t astounding by any means and it had some typical storylines but for the beach it got the job done. There was much of it that was predictable and I totally saw some of the plot twists coming. I’m not going to give any spoilers.

I was expecting a suspense and thriller novel but what I got was more of a story about a small town and all the happenings going on within its society. There was an old crime that had not been solved and now a missing girl that was about to be married. The whole town is upset. They are all looking for her, but there are so many things going on in the background. You do have to finish the entire book before you find out what happened to her.

I’m calling this a light mystery. No gore. Not fast-paced. A lot of characters in this story and I totally see a sequel coming with the main character’s cousin, Clary. There is a whole other story to be told there.

The ending does provide closure for all of the characters including the mystery of Annie’s mom (didn’t see that one coming).

GOODREADS SYNOPSIS

It was to be the perfect wedding—until the bride disappeared.

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.