“That first night, as they admired how wide the sky stretched above and beyond them, how bright the stars were here, how they could actually see the haze of the Milky Way cut its swath across the sky, Finn lowered his eyes to hers, and she saw something there that she only then realized she hadn’t seen from him before: hope. “Maybe nothing has to be as complicated as we make it,” he said. “Maybe life really is this simple.” 

Summary…

Violet and Finn were “meant to be,” said everyone, always. They ended up together by the hands of fate aligning things just so. Three years into their marriage, they have a wonderful little boy, and as the three of them embark on their first vacation as a family, Violet can’t help thinking that she can’t believe her luck. Life is good.

So no one is more surprised than she when Finn leaves her at the beach–just packs up the hotel room and disappears. And takes their son with him. Violet is suddenly in her own worst nightmare, and faced with the knowledge that the man she’s shared her life with, she never really knew at all.

Caitlin and Finn have been best friends since way back when, but when Finn shows up on Caitlin’s doorstep with the son he’s wanted for kidnapping, demands that she hide them from the authorities, and threatens to reveal a secret that could destroy her own family if she doesn’t, Caitlin faces an impossible choice.

As the suspenseful events unfold through alternating viewpoints of Violet, Finn and Caitlin, Jessica Strawser’s Almost Missed You is a page turning story of a mother’s love, a husband’s betrayal, connections that maybe should have been missed, secrets that perhaps shouldn’t have been kept, and spaces between what’s meant to be and what might have been.

Our Review….

We can practically close our eyes and feel the warmth on our faces, hear the ocean waves crashing, and smell the sunscreen wafting off of the little kids whizzing by as we imagine being Violet on that fateful day…

Violet seems to have it all. Her life seems perfect. Except, everyone has secrets. Especially Finn, Violet’s “perfect” husband and the father of her little boy, “Bear”. After Finn takes their son up to the hotel to wash up, Violet soaks in the last few minutes of warmth, takes a deep breath, and heads up to join her wonderful family. Except…

They’re gone. Like nowhere to be seen, left the face of the earth, vanished…. GONE! Something is terribly wrong! Violet never saw any of this coming. Confusion and devastation sweeps over her and she uncontrollably sobs. Why? Where is her beautiful son? Did her husband take him away? Was someone else behind it all? Are they… alive?

A twisty tale that at first… portrays a perfect marriage but then unravels a different story. You never know the secrets of someone’s life by looking at them enjoying a day on the beach with their family? What-could-they-be-hiding?About the author…

Jessica Strawser is the Editor-at-Large for Writer’s Digest magazine, North America’s leading publication for aspiring and working writers since 1920. Her debut novel, ALMOST MISSED YOU (St. Martin’s Press), was a Barnes & Noble Best New Fiction Selection upon its March 2017 release, as well as a She Reads Book Club Selection and a PopSugar Best Spring Read. The book garnered accolades from such wide-ranging bestsellers as Chris Bohjalian, Adriana Trigiani, Lisa Scottoline, Jacquelyn Mitchard, and Garth Stein. Her second, NOT THAT I COULD TELL, is forthcoming from St. Martin’s Press in March 2018, and a third is under contract for 2019.

Her diverse career in the publishing industry spans more than 15 years and includes stints in book editing, marketing and public relations, and freelance writing and editing. A Pittsburgh native and “Outstanding Senior” graduate of Ohio University’s E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, she counts her New York Times Modern Love essay and her Writer’s Digest cover interviews with such luminaries as Alice Walker, Anne Tyler and David Sedaris among her career highlights. She lives in Cincinnati, Ohio, with her husband and two children.

She blogs at the WritersDigest.com “There Are No Rules” blog and elsewhere, tweets @jessicastrawser, enjoys connecting at Facebook.com/jessicastrawserauthor, and speaks at writing conferences and events that are kind enough to invite her.

Visit jessicastrawser.com to learn more, read some of her work and sign up for her email list.

Buy Almost Missed You HERE