I really enjoyed reading this book! Held my interest and finished it in two days. Very good character development.

Ah, a novel about a new widow discovering her husband's secrets! Not a new plot to be sure but this one is well done with some nice twists. A good read.

Just an ok read for me, I expected more suspense and intrigue but found things only kicked nearer the end of the book

The Good Widow is a very well written book. However, I found some parts of the plot sort of familiar. I' d recommend it to any of Elin Hildebrand 's fans.
Thank you Netgalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Great story by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke. Really thrilling read, great characters and an enjoyable story. Highly recommend to others!!

For me, the premise of this book felt familiar due to literally reading one with a similar plot already this year (Elin Hilderbrand's Winter in Paradise), however, I found a way to thoroughly enjoy both books. I listened to this as an audio from Kindle Unlimited and I ended up speeding it up because I was biting my nails so badly to try to figure out how it would end. If you want a book that you will get sucked into quickly and will enjoy the whole time, I highly suggest this one.

This book was so hard to put down! It had me engaged the moment I started reading. I stayed up way too late reading to find out the ending. So good!!!

This is my first novel I have read from Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke and I can't wait to read more! This book was a fast paced mystery/suspense novel with just the right amount of twists and turns. The Good Widow examines the relationship between a husband and a wife and the lies that we tell ourselves and those around us. For me, I was hooked right from the prologue. Many times I thought I had the ending figured out and boy was I wrong!

I do not want to give too much away about the plot and ruin anything.
We start with meeting "Jacks" a 4th grade teacher. She is married to James. They seem to have a pretty "normal marriage". They have some fights here and there and are struggling with infertility. One day police officers come to their house and tell her that her husband James is dead and he was not alone when they found him in Hawaii.

Then we meet Nick. He is the fiancee of the woman James was on vacation with. She was the last person to see James alive. Nick shows up at Jacks door and wants her to explore the place where both the ones they loved died. Nick is very sweet and patient with Jacks but she is unsure if she wants to go to a tropical location with essentially a stranger.

From here we experience the truth behind each relationship. Jacks and Nick lean on each other when things get hard. They just want answers. They want to know how their partners could have betrayed them like they did.

This would have been such a great beach read! I will absolutely purchase this book in the future so I can lend it out to friends!
Thank you to Net Galley and Lake Union Publishing for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was a fantastic story from two authors who successfully leaped genres with The Good Widow. There were undertones in the book that were so subtle that I kept second-guessing my own instincts about it. Back and forth emotions and assumptions are powerful tools to draw me into a story. It also didn't hurt that it took place on the beautiful island of Maui. I hope the authors continue with more suspense, as I will definitely read more of what they write.

The Good Widow is a page turner! I had a hard time putting it down. I was expecting a twist at the end but not that twist!

This really should not be categorized in the suspense genre. It would fit more appropriately in the chick lit genre. The main character was really frustrating. The suspense aspects did kick in near the end, which left the book ending on a strong note.

A page turner of a book! Definitely kept my interest glued to the page. A large portion of the book takes place in Maui, Hawaii, which was a thrill for me because I just visited there a few years ago. The book follows the journey of Jacks (short for Jacqueline), a widow that has just found out her husband died while on a trip to Maui even though he was supposed to be on a business trip to Kansas. From there it unfolds in quick succession, leaving you wondering what will happen at every turn, not really trusting anyone, and guessing how it will end. Very satisfying mystery/thriller. And it was so much fun because this is the first of this new genre by the authors.

Jacks’ world is shaken when her husband, James, dies in a car accident on Maui. But what shakes her even more is that he was meant to be on a business trip elsewhere and there was another woman in the car with him at the time. Her pain deepens when a guy called Nick shows up on her doorstep, revealing that his fiance, Dylan, was having an affair with James. He wants Jacks to join him in Hawaii so they can each find some answers about their partners’ betrayal and deaths.
This is the authors’ first foray into suspense and the last section really nailed that brief. It’s a pacy read with flashbacks to fill in the gaps of the characters’ back story. Engrossing read.

Departing from their usual light-hearted, magical novels, Liz and Lisa have arrived on the suspense scene and found a place of their own! If you're long-time fans of their previous work, this is a whole different style of novel, but it's also a true testament to their gift of writing!

The Good Widow is the tale of a recently widowed Jaqueline (Jacks) and her journey to find out more about the series of events surrounding her husbands death. The characters are well developed and emotionally raw while the plot builds at at a steady pace at first and gaining momentum as the climax approaches. The twists and turns in this story will have you flipping back to early pages to see the subtleties that you might have missed and they definitely go out on a high note leaving you feeling satisfied, but a bit shaken at the end. I'm super excited about this new venture for Liz and Lisa into the suspense genre and I can't wait to read what they publish next!

When someone you love dies, your pain and grief feel unbearable. This is rendered even more debilitating when your loved one dies unexpectedly.

For Jacks, the death of her husband James feels almost cruel. Their last words to each other were borne of frustration and heartache, so to lose him forever, knowing that she can't undo that conversation or what led to it, tortures her.

Imagine, then, how much more severe that torture becomes when she learns that James was not in Kansas for a business meeting when he died. Nor was he alone. Another (younger) woman, Dylan, was with him, and the two were in Maui.

Jacks is reeling, her grief and confusion consuming her. When Dylan's equally confused and grief-stricken fiancé Nick shows up, Jacks finds someone who understands what she's feeling and experiencing. Nick suggests that the two go to Maui so they can learn more about their partners' relationship, and Jacks agrees.

Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke make a point here of showing you how grief weakens you, rendering you unable to suss out truths. You grasp what is convenient and close because you simply cannot expend the mental and emotional energy to listen to reason. It hurts too much.

The authors tell this story primarily from Jacks's point of view, although they do provide some of Dylan's perspective. The one person we don't hear from and who remains a mystery is James. You have to infer his motivations. His relationship with Jacks is emotionally fraught at the time of his death, so perhaps that is why he's attracted to the rather bland and simple Dylan. Perhaps she was nothing more than a diversion. Yet you also find yourself wondering why he felt entitled to this behavior. Why the lies and obfuscations with Jacks. What would he have done if he had returned from Maui?

I was so obsessed with getting answers that I sent messages and emails to Fenton and Steinke, who were kind enough to respond to my frantic pleas. Even though I wanted answers, one of the things I loved about this book was its ending. You can't ever really know someone's truths unless they want you to do so. We reveal what we choose to reveal to each other and we conceal what we want to conceal, something Jacks knows all too well.

Please read this one, and then come back and tell me what you thought. We need to discuss this book. We simply must.

I have feelings about this book that are hard to put into words without giving too much away, but I felt like I had already seen a movie with pretty much the exact same plot. It was a bit of a struggle for me. I didn't make a great connection with the characters and couldn't stop comparing the movie from several years ago. I think had the story been new and fresh, I would have enjoyed it more. However, it just fell flat for me. I think the premise has been done over and over and this didn't add a new twist. I would pick up another book by these authors to give them a second chance, but I can't say I would recommend this title.

The Good Widow by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke 4 ☆'s

Any book that starts out with a lyric from a Billy Joel song can never be a disappointment. This book has something for every reader nestled in the pages. There is tragedy, romance, twisting plots, familial relationships, and new beginnings. This book shows how one person can overcome more than they ever thought was capable. It is a book about discovering oneself and finding out who they really are. The character's had to discover their own strength and choose to keep going when life seemed impossible. 

Jacks finds out that her husband died in a crash in Maui, when he was supposed to be in Kansas. He wasn't alone, either. As she digs deeper into his death, with the help of a new friend, she discovers that everything isn't what it always seems, and that she must decide to move forward and make the choice to face the hard truths even when living in a bubble seems like the better option. 

The book is told in alternating viewpoints between Jacks and another character. There is also time changes from before and after the accident. Each viewpoint and time change helps add depth and complexity to the plot. As the novel progresses, it is easy to see how each character felt 'right' in their own decisions. New information is presented on every page that keeps you addicted to the book and not wanting to put it down. 

The authors create an intense and twisted plot that helps keep the reader engrossed from the first page. Right away, we, as the readers, are plunged into a world of mystery. This book had everything that I love to see in a book. It didn't end how I expected, and there was enough going on plot wise to keep me entranced in the writing. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes thrillers and is looking for a quick read. They would not be disappointed with this book. I hope to someday soon check out the other books by these ladies and become, once again, captivated in their novel. 

I did receive this book for free from the publisher for an honest review. All opinions in this blog are mine and are not influenced in any way by this.

Just o.k.- figured out one of the results of the tragic deaths but didn't see the other one coming.....