THE INVITE

3 stars out of 5

Since I received a prerelease copy of this book to read and review, I felt obligated to do both - and it really pains me to say neither was easy. That's truly a shame because there's an intriguing plot here, but it's buried under endlessly repetitive angst, hand-wringing, self-doubting musings coming from the minds and mouths of multiple characters. Around the 30% mark, in fact, I almost decided to call it a day.

But I'm not a quitter, especially when, as I said before, I accepted the offer of this book and thus don't want to abandon it. Besides that, I have no doubt there are readers who love emotionally overwrought heroines like Kaitlin Chalmers, who has found a soon-to-be husband and father for her young daughter Ruby after divorcing the abusive original. As this one begins, the new guy - Greg Walker - has arranged a fancy birthday party for Kaitlin. It's even more special because Kaitlin's best friend in the entire world, Zoe (who "rescued" her from the ne'er-do-well ex) will be coming in from Portugal. Zoe isn't just leaving a job; she's leaving what she believed was a serious relationship that suddenly turned seriously sour.

I don't know why Kaitlin had such bad luck with a man (well, actually I can think of at least one good reason), but her rationalization for Zoe's seems to be that Zoe grew up "in care" - a tidbit readers are reminded of at least half a dozen times in the first half dozen chapters. Problem for me is, I never found out what that means, exactly. The only thing I'm sure of is she didn't live with birth or foster parents - so what's left? A cardboard box under a bridge? Well yeah, I suppose that might leave a few emotional scars. 

In any event, Zoe's already sour life puckers up even more the second she arrives at Kaitlin's bash and immediately intuits that by marrying Greg, Kaitlin is making a huge mistake. But since her 5-minute screamfest with Kaitlin doesn't convince her friend to ditch him, Zoe ditches both the party and Kaitlin in a huff. After Kaitlin and Greg mull all the whys, why nots and what ifs, Greg agrees to go look for her and talk his idea of sense into her head.

He comes back empty-handed, though, and (surprise!) Zoe goes missing. Police are called in, and from that point on, the pace begins to kick up several notches. That in turn leads to learning that some people may not be who they claim to be, hinting at possible danger for Kaitlin and Ruby (and giving readers more names to keep straight). It ends in a flurry of action - some of it predictable but entertaining enough to keep me turning the pages. In the end, it's safe to say this one isn't going to appear on my 50 favorites book list, but if you've got a couple of hours to kill on a sunny beach or by a cozy fireplace, it's not a bad choice. 

The Invite by Sheryl Browne (Bookouture, February 2022); 331 pp.