This is a great beginning to a new series. There’s mystery and intrigue. I was glued to the pages. The main characters are great with each other as they both try and overcome their past.

Call me crazy, but if my husband randomly makes me promise to take our children and keep moving if something ever happens to him, I’m gonna be asking some serious questions. Yet the heroine in The Perfect Distance did not.

But she did keep her promise. And now in a new town in a new state, she’s doing her best to get her two children settled into their new life. While also trying to keep everyone an arms length away. Does she not know that’s impossible if you move to a small town???

Anway, she manages to get entangled with the man who lives on the property next to hers. He also has his own complications in his past. And as things heat up between the two of them, it’s also apparent the past is coming back to haunt them. But just whose past is causing all the trouble is the big question.

One of the great things about NetGalley is discovering first-time authors. As a fan of the romantic thriller trope, I was really looking forward to this one. But this trope can be a delicate balance because I want equal parts of both the romance and the thriller. And while I think the author balanced things well, overall the story had a hard time keeping my interest. I feel like there was just too much fluff that didn’t move the story forward and the pacing was slow. I also think this one fits more in the suspense category - things really only got moving at the end, with the rest of the book moving at a much slower pace.

Still, I’d be willing to read more by this author. There were plenty of side characters with apparent mysterious backgrounds of their own, so there could be several more stories to come!

* thank you to NetGalley and The Wild Rose Press, Inc for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

EVERYTHING about this book was wonderful…the characters, the mystery, the suspense and the romance! Widow Finley Thompson is on the run with her teenage children. She is also still running from her past, the murder of her parents twenty years ago and her belief that she was responsible for their deaths. Meeting her neighbor, former Navy SEAL CJ Sinclair, was not in her plans. She found him injured on his property and agreed to care for his house and service dog when he was taken to the hospital. She didn’t want another man in her life, but as they slowly become friends, he makes her feel things that can’t always be controlled. He knows that he should stay away due to his career as a Navy sniper, but she brings light into his life. When he learns that he knew her husband in the military, was his death really an accident or involved with their last mission? An intriguing mystery as their two pasts collide in this compelling story. I love to find a new author and I can’t wait to read the next book in this series! I received an advance review copy at no cost and without obligation for an honest review. (by paytonpuppy)

With very engaging characters and a tortured, wounded hero full of pain, “The Perfect Distance”, by Dianne May (The Wild Rose Press), mixes romance and suspense in the beautiful setting of a North Carolina small town.
I liked the slow romance between CJ and Finley and the friendship and interaction between CJ and his buddies. The web of support he has contrasts with Finley’s lack of it, accentuating her loneliness.
The depiction of CJ’s traumatic brain injury and its effects, namely the memory loss, is handled well, better in the beginning of the story. I liked that he could remember the smell of something Finley had baked when they first met (and I would have liked more of this kind of insight into the hero’s condition).
CJ’s condition is complex, has many facets and the author doesn’t minimize its effects (yet I wonder how he could mount in “one fluid motion”…). I liked how we get to see the hero coping and adapting.
I liked that the fact the heroine is some years older isn’t an issue, even if she feels some understandable insecurities about it.
Finley carries a lot of baggage and her past is unbelievably dark.
I enjoyed how the animals – the horses, the dogs - were a part of the story.
I found the story entertaining, but the intrigue and suspense weren’t always appealing and some plot threads and coincidences seemed implausible.

Loved it. Action filled romantic suspense. Small world. Animals and children add to the heart and danger. I skipped over the intimate details as usual, but enjoyed the intriguing plot and lively interaction among the characters. I look forward to reading the next one.