This book did a great job at grabbing my attention and keeping me trying to think a couple of steps ahead just to find my instinct was wrong. Stories that can get me thinking one way and prove me wrong in a mind-blowing way is an A+ for me. The main character is easily relatable to people of various ages and of different stages in their lives. The twists and turns in this story had me like I needed to know these characters in real life and I found myself having authentic feelings about some of the scenarios. The book also did a great job of addressing some social issues that we see in society such as mental health and the way the elderly and pregnant people are treated as perceptually vulnerable groups. At times I did struggle to follow timelines laid out in the story but this was not an overly distracting concept and could honestly have been me remembering incorrectly. The book kept me guessing and never let up on the twists and discoveries even to the last few sentences. I recommend this book to anyone looking for a suspenseful murder thriller with well-written undertones of societal reflection and current social issues.

3.5⭐️⭐️⭐️


✨ revenge, past life, whos who!?


✨ unfortunately, this book of s.e lynes is not my favourite. The story plot was great but predictable .
I don’t get some of the parts of how his ex boyfriend just instantly want to make revenge - just on a silly that his gf has been lucky in life .
Anyway, on the good note. Easy and light thriller.
Fast paced but not as great.
I think the author can do better especially from the last books she had.


✨ 5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ brilliant star for Tamsin Kennard- the narrator for this book. Everytime i see her going to the voice over, instantly I know it’s going to be performed well. Just the story ruined it all.


✨ Thankyou @bookouture for the opportunity to read this arc for a honest review .


✨shaye.reads

This was a solid 4 stars for me for the majority of the book, but the ending seemed too bland bringing my final rating to 3 stars.

Kirsty is at the end of her pregnancy and is working as a midwife when she runs into her ex-boyfriend in the hospital, only he pretends to not know who she is and has a different name. While her husband and friends offer logical possibilities, Kirsty can’t shake her gut feeling. But if her gut is right, why is he doing this?

This was a true psychological thriller following Kirsty and the strange happenings in her neighborhood. It was repetitive, but to me that’s part of the psychological aspect: constantly questioning self and reality. I really liked Kirsty, and the narration was wonderful! but the reveal seemed underwhelming. It didn’t seem to really have twists. Once things were confirmed it felt like things I already knew as the reader.

Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture Audio
for this ARC. This review will be shared on NetGalley and Goodreads.

Pub Date Jan 06 2025

I love S. E. Lynes, but I found this to be a bit lacking for what I expect from her books. The narrator did a good job

A woman is in danger, bound and drugged and at the mercy of a merciless killer. This is an excellent opening to a novel. A great hook!

We don't quite know who that woman is at the start of S.E. Lynes' The Perfect Boyfriend but, by Chapter 2, the point of view character Kirsty Shore seems like a pretty good guess. Kirsty is lovable, a pregnant midwife who is seemingly friends with everyone, including her elderly neighbor Joan. So when she sees an old flame who vanished from her life a decade prior and who insists he isn't who she thinks he is, it's easy for the people in Kirsty's orbit to just assume she's hormonal, confused, and overly excited.

Our second POV character, Hughie, is exactly who Kirsty thinks he is: the boyfriend she loved as a teen who vanished in the night after trying and failing to take her virginity. From there, The Perfect Boyfriend goes down a somewhat predictable route - Kirsty follows her 8-month pregnant gut, Hughie is absolutely horrible, and no one seems to believe her until it's too late.

A few deaths later, I was able to connect the dots a chapter or three before Kirsty, though the novel ends in two unguessable twists. I didn't love the end reveals---they sort of grossed me out and made me lose a lot of faith in the novel's cast---but they worked in that I didn't see them coming.

In the end, The Perfect Boyfriend was a fine airport-read of a book (I listened to it on walks) and won't disappoint anyone looking for a cheap thrill.

This is my first book by this author and I enjoyed it! What a wild ride full of twists and turns around every corner. I listened to the audiobook in two days because I just had to know what was going to happen next!

This book kept me on my toes the whole book. The twists were not what I expected at all!!! Definitely a book that should be on your TBR.

The beginning of this book caught my attention almost immediately. Who is this person? Why do they look like someone from her past, but answers to a different name? It had so much potential but it all fell flat there. While I can appreciate the author including information that’ll come full circle in the end, it totally diverted the story. I spent way too long trying to understand why the story was called “the perfect boyfriend” instead of “the missing neighbor”. While I can ignore the unbelievability of the big coincidence, I feel like this one missed the mark for me. The audio narrator of this audiobook had a strong Scottish accent. While I enjoyed it, some listeners may feel it difficult to enjoy. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for this ALC.

The narration is absolutly perfect in this one! I was so into it. The book is weird but a good weird. I definitely enjoyed it. I love all the twists. I love how the protagonist tried to figure it all out.

This would have been a 4 until the final chapter when our main character reveals that her partner is a woman. I had the audio arc and thought I misheard. Like, did she just call her husband she/her? I hate that they did that. The only time it could come into play is when the lady thought she was 'with her husband' on the dock. There was no reason to hide her queer identity, but also, why make her queer at all? (Coming from a queer person)

I think as far as thrillers go it was pretty good. Lots of twists and turns. However I do that a lot of the issues could have been resolved if our main character had spoken to anyone with a brain at the police station.

Narrators did a good job. :)

The Perfect Boyfriend by S.E. Lynes
Narrated by Tamsin Kennard

What makes a perfect boyfriend? Is an eighteen year old girl even able to really know she has the perfect boyfriend? When a teenager thinks one thing and then the boyfriend proves another, will she still be carrying the scars a decade later?

Over a decade after Hughie dumped Kirsty in the most devastating manner, Kirsty and Dougie are a happy couple, expecting a baby in a few weeks, looking forward to all the wonderful things to come in their lives. But then midwife Kirsty sees Hughie at her place of work but he acts like he doesn't know her, that she has the wrong person. Yes, he's aged greatly, looks much older than he should look, but Kirsty knows this is Hughie and she wants an explanation for how he left her in such a hurtful manner.

But Kirsty should have left well enough alone. As is often the case with stories like this one, I rolled my eyes at many of the unwise things Kirsty does. Remember, she's about to pop out a baby any minute and one second she's mad because people are blaming her wild accusations on hormones and the next minute she's willing to use hormones as an excuse for her actions. As much as I side eyed Kirsty for some things, I fumed at how Dougie dismissed Kirsty's very valid worries over their elderly neighbor. To the dog house with you, Dougie! I'm not saying whether the neighbor needed help or not but I sure do feel for anyone who just might, maybe, need checking on from Dougie because it's not going to happen.

Pop the popcorn and have a seat as Kirsty becomes an action figure in her last weeks of pregnancy. What do I know, I've never had a baby but where do these extremely pregnant women in fiction get the energy to do what they do? Tamsin Kennard narrates and I always know I'm in for a ride when she's narrating.

Thanks to Bookouture Audio and NetGalley for this ARC.

Woah!!! What did I just read??
This. Was. CRAZY!!

Kind of a dual timeline in that the story keeps bouncing back and forth between HS years and current day, but, wow! Just…wow!

Kirsty is now married with a baby on the way (soon). She works as a midwife.
When she sees what she believes CANNOT be real, she falters. Could it POSSIBLY be Hughie? The guy who walked right out on her years ago? It can’t possibly be!
But there he is. AND…He’s a doctor!

She finally decides to confront him…straight out. But, he totally denies it’s him. And, he must be right. I mean, even the name is different…

But the more time that goes by, the more she believes it IS him!

As Kirsty goes on a sprint to get to the bottom of this, things start to unravel for him and for her. But the closer she seems to get to discover anything, the more threats she receives as well….

This was a true nail biter! Scary…especially with the pregnancy. AND…keeps you hanging on…right…to…the…very…end!

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ for me!!

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for an ARC of the audiobook! **** This is due to be released on 1/6/24, so look for it soon!! ****

#ThePerfectBoyfriend by #SELynes and narrated beautifully by #TamsinKennard.

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First and foremost, I'd like to thank NetGalley and Bookouture Audio for allowing me to listen to an advanced and free audio copy of this book.
Unfortunately, this book didn't work for me that much. I've tried before, twice, to read a book by this author and I actually DNFed those both times, but it is what people say "third time's a charm". So I requested this book so that I could try this author again. And even though I did manage to finish (for the first time) a book by this author - which I totally give it to the audiobook narrator -, I realise S.E.Lynes is not for me. I don't connect with her characters or barely appreciate her writing.
Also, I expected a domestic thriller when I read the synopsis of this book, and it isn't, really.
Basically, I didn't hate this book but I'm sure I won't even remember it in a month or two.
Guess it's safe to say I'm not right audience for this book, or for this author in general.

Based on the cover/title this book was nothing that I expected. I was expecting more of a domestic thriller that was hastily created, but this was really well thought psychological thriller that played on many angles. I loved how small the world was (because as I get older I find that it's true) and that the protagonist was just a kind person in the wrong place at the wrong time. The twist with Dougie i felt was unnecessary -if you want that situation in your book just make it so, hiding their nature didn't add to the story at all. Still a very interesting tale with lots of twists to keep us all entertained.
Thank you to NetGalley, S.E. Lynes, and Bookoture Audio for my advance copy of this audiobook.

Overall, I enjoyed listening to this audiobook and was eagerly waiting to see how things would unfold. I did have to pull my mindset out of normal thriller zone because it is quite clear what’s going on, it’s really just the details that make up the intrigue. I did find it quite interesting that although I feel like I knew most of what was happening that I was still quite involved in the storyline.

I enjoyed the audiobook narration as well. The narration is with an accent that correlates with the setting of the book. As an American listener it was still easy to understand the narration.

Enjoyed!!!!! So I listened to this one as an audiobook and I’m so glad that I did. I really felt like I was inside the story living all these characters lives with them. I felt everything they did and when they did. It was amazing. What was also amazing was the narration. What an awesome job was done with it. Ok now let’s talk about this one. Where do I even start????? This author did such a great job with the characters. I liked them all. They each brought something to the story that made it wonderful. Some of it was good and some of it was bad. That brings me to the story itself. It was intriguing and had me gripped the entire time. Once I read the blurb I just knew I had to find out more. Last but not least that shocking ending. It was a real treat and had me so surprised. I will be thinking about this one for a while. I’ve read this author before and she never disappoints. This one was no different and I can’t wait for her next book.

Now, this is a great mystery thriller what will keep you guessing till the end.

Many thanks to Net Galley and Bookuture Audio for an audio ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review

Listened to the audio book and felt like I was in the story. Did not see that ending at all, had it all figured out and then nope I did not.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #BookoutureAudio for the book #ThePerfectBoyfriend by #SELynes. Kristy and Huey used to date in high school, that is until he disappeared and only left a nasty letter. Years later, while at work at the hospital, Kristy runs into a man that resembles Huey and confronts him. He insists that he is not the same person. Is she losing her mind or did she just stumble upon some major trouble? Can she make sense of all of this?

3.5 stars - Thank you to NetGalley & the publishers for an ARC copy of The Perfect Boyfriend! This was my second audio book and it did not disappoint. I loved the narration, they did a fantastic job of depicting the tone (digust, dislike, panic, etc.). I did find the description of the book should have had a little bit more context (like Kristie was married, was very pregnant, etc.). I was thrown off a little during the first chapter or two because of that. The book had a few twists that I didn't see coming, and a few that I did. Overall I enjoyed the book and gave it a 3.5 stars.