Book Review-Mr. Perfect by Linda Howard

This review may contain spoilers, so fair warning, upon reading the review.

About The Book

What would make the perfect man?

That’s the deliciously racy topic that Jaine Bright and her three girlfriends are pondering one night at their favorite after-hours hot spot: Mr. Perfect. Would he be tall, dark, and handsome? Caring and warmhearted — or will just muscular do? As their conversation heats up, they concoct a tongue-in-cheek checklist that becomes an overnight sensation, spreading like wildfire at work and sizzling along e-mail lines. But what began as a joke among friends turns deadly serious when one of the four women is murdered….Turning to her neighbor, an unpredictable police detective, for help, Jaine must unmask a killer to save her friends — and herself. Now, knowing whom to trust and whom to love is a matter of survival — as the dream of Mr. Perfect becomes a chilling nightmare.

My Review

First Impressions

Mr. Perfect has been on my TBR wishlist for the longest time, probably a decade at this point haha I have been wanting to explore this author much more and after reading this one (not going to lie that I skipped on over to the library for some more books from her) but I really have been wanting to pick up some more romantic suspense (so if you have any recs let me know) but I actually adored this book so much. It really worked for me in so many ways. And while it wasn’t a perfect read for me, there were many aspects to this one that I wish more romantic suspense had in them. I have really learned to love this author’s writing style, it’s different from what you normally see today. It has that classic contemporary style that is so memorable. I knew it was romantic suspense but I really found it to be such a story that gave me a few surprises along the way and there were some twists and turns that just balanced out the romance in such a delightful way,

Summary

Mr. Perfect sets off with Jaine Bright who has just moved into a new house and is living the best of her life except for her growly next-door neighbor who makes noise all late hours of the night and yells at her for keeping the noise down during the day. Jaine and Sam are instantly at odds with each other, and they definitely have a hate/tolerate relationship with each other. But as they start to learn each other, and become more understanding of each of their different set of circumstances, they begin to open up to each other more and more. But when Janie and her three girlfriends one night come up with a list of attributes of “Mr. Perfect” and what would make the perfect mate, it somehow gets famous and put in the newspapers, everything turns terribly wrong when one of Janie’s friends is murdered and Sam is the one to stand by her side and look for the one responsible as he works in law enforcement. But they are being hunted by a psychotic killer….will Janie survive and find the culprit behind it all?

What I Loved

There was so much to love from Mr. Perfect and even though I had some issues with it (see category below) I had so much fun with this one here. It had so many fun delights to it. I really adored the chemistry that builds between Sam and Janie, they have such a fiery explosive relationship that actually fits their personalities so well. When you first meet them together in the beginning, you wonder how on earth they can work together, but it ends up working out so perfectly. I really enjoyed seeing the suspense plot that builds within the story. I especially loved the prologue which shows the background of our killer and to see the beginnings of this behavior and it does build up the tension within the story so well. I was intrigued in seeing who it really was that was behind on the murder. The friendship between the four women was just beautiful and seeing them connect just showed how dynamic their bond was to each other. They are all so different from each other, but I truly enjoyed seeing how their sisterly bond to each other was built within the story. Then we have the actual romance. It is closer to an instant love connect style of a story. I really didn’t mind this at all. I also loved how tight they were once they were fully together and no unnecessary drama.

What I Struggled With

There were a few things. I did feel like this couple got together way too quickly. I felt like it could have been built more slowly a bit even would have made a difference for me. And also I didn’t like the angst at the beginning, I just didn’t see the reason they were so hateful towards each other. They are both mature adults so it was confusing to me.

Overall View

Overall I found Mr. Perfect to be a delightful read that will sweep its reader of their feet in a way that will bring the thrills of an intense suspense while balancing with a romance that delivers in the tension and feels. You can’t go wrong with this classic.

Title: Mr. Perfect

Author: Linda Howard

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Format: eBook

Source: Library

Length: 405 Pages

Book Links

Amazon| Barnes and Noble| Kobo| Goodreads| LibraryThing| StoryGraph| Literal Club

About The Author

Linda S. Howington is an American best-selling romance author writing under the pseudonym Linda Howard. After 21 years of penning stories for her own enjoyment, she submitted a novel for publication which was very successful. Her first work was published by Silhouette in 1982. She is a charter member of Romance Writers of America and in 2005 Howard was awarded their Career Achievement Award.

Linda Howard lives in Gadsden, Alabama with her husband, Gary F. Howington, and two golden retrievers. She has three grown stepchildren and three grandchildren.