During her bachelorette party in California, New Yorker Abigail Baskin had a one-night stand with a stranger from San Francisco. Expecting never to see each other again, they don't share their real names or contact info. Abigail doesn't tell her fiancé. Three days before her wedding, on her way to work, Abigail spies the stranger. Then she gets an e-mail from him saying his name is Eric, and begging her not to get married and to meet him in Nebraska. A myriad of strange twists riddles the thriller Every Vow You Break.
Abigail met her fiancé, Bruce, in a coffee shop. Three days later, Bruce proposed. He's rich, while she can barely make ends meet. It's a whirlwind romance, and Abigail is swept off her feet. Bruce generously arranges and pays for a bachelorette getaway for Abigail and her bridesmaids at a swanky winery in Northern California. That's where an inebriated Abigail hooks up with a handsome stranger who shares all her interests and even quotes lines from her favorite poems. The bride-to-be is remorseful but committed to marrying Bruce. Then Eric appears at her wedding and, later, at the same resort where she's having her honeymoon. A confrontation is inevitable but Abigail suspects something much darker is going on.
What author Peter Swanson (Eight Perfect Murders; The Kind Worth Killing) puts his heroine through is maniacally cringe-worthy. Luckily for readers, he keeps the story grounded by making Abigail an average person who refuses to be a victim. It's this simplicity that makes the character appealing and her triumphs magnificent. --Paul Dinh-McCrillis, freelance reviewer