Really impressive for a debut novel, I must say. Book kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much from the very beginning. On the side note: I could never understand women who fall in love with prisoners serving life sentences or on death row. I think psychologically, they want to be in a situation with no way out and no future for them or their relationship, they like to live in the sort-of fantasy world where they can create their own "happily-ever-after" without actually facing realities of it. Our main character here, Samantha, is kind of like that. She falls in love with Dennis, who has spent 20 years on a death row for a murder he committed when he was 17. Sam believes wholeheartedly that Dennis is innocent and there is a big online following of a like-minded individuals. When Dennis is finally acquitted and released, Samantha is forced to face reality - her "happily-ever-after" is not quite like she's imagined it will be. It's not always flowers and unicorns. For once, Dennis is very different now, that he is out: he is very cold towards Samantha, very distant. Even the consummation of their marriage (when it finally happens) is as romantic as an enema. On top of that, Dennis might have some secrets that he doesn't want Sam to know and is it possible that he just may have done something really bad in the past?

Merged review:

Really impressive for a debut novel, I must say. Book kept me on the edge of my seat pretty much from the very beginning. On the side note: I could never understand women who fall in love with prisoners serving life sentences or on death row. I think psychologically, they want to be in a situation with no way out and no future for them or their relationship, they like to live in the sort-of fantasy world where they can create their own "happily-ever-after" without actually facing realities of it. Our main character here, Samantha, is kind of like that. She falls in love with Dennis, who has spent 20 years on a death row for a murder he committed when he was 17. Sam believes wholeheartedly that Dennis is innocent and there is a big online following of a like-minded individuals. When Dennis is finally acquitted and released, Samantha is forced to face reality - her "happily-ever-after" is not quite like she's imagined it will be. It's not always flowers and unicorns. For once, Dennis is very different now, that he is out: he is very cold towards Samantha, very distant. Even the consummation of their marriage (when it finally happens) is as romantic as an enema. On top of that, Dennis might have some secrets that he doesn't want Sam to know and is it possible that he just may have done something really bad in the past?