The Rebound Effect - Linda Griffin

The Rebound Effect by Linda Griffin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was expecting this to be a romantic suspense novel, as I think that's what it was listed as on NetGalley. It isn't. I think it's actually a shame that it's been listed as romantic suspense as there are plenty of people who would enjoy this thriller who might be put off the idea of it being a romance.
Our main character Teresa has terrible taste in men. She has a broken marriage behind her (where she was married to someone who couldn't cope with the fact that their son was deaf) then she has an ex-boyfriend who cheated on her when he got the sack from his job. Now a new man comes dancing on the scene with more red flags than if he was called Mr A. Busive. He goes from the first date to telling her that he loves her and that they should get married in about thirty seconds. He is controlling and she finds herself swept along with him. She could, of course, told him where to go but she does like him. She also, although I don't think that this is explicitly stated, doesn't want to upset him. (I'm not going to go into a rant about how women are conditioned to do that, but she very much falls into that category.)
As I mentioned before, this is a thriller, not a romance, there is little romantic about Teresa's interactions with any of the men in her life. I don't know if it was intended that Frank would appear nice to begin with, but I didn't like him from the start. It didn't start well when he told her how much her earnt and then was trying to control her from there on in as he could afford things that she couldn't. (That said, I am aware that the talking about how much you earn could be just a cultural difference. I can't imagine anything crasser, but I believe that it's not rude in the US.)
This was a good read. It did finish a little abruptly. There were hints that suggested a link between the main storyline and events that were happening in the community, but it was never clear if that really was the case. It was still a good read and once I got into it and saw where this story was going and that it was a thriller rather than a romance, I really enjoyed it.
I received a complimentary copy of this book through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

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