The Perfect Fiancé

by T.J. Brearton

A gripping psychological thriller from the bestselling author of Her Perfect Secret.

Julie thought he was the man of her dreams.

I walk into my bedroom. There’s a woman in my bed. Next to my fiancé. He promises her he has no idea who I am. That he’s never seen me before. He’s calling me a stalker.

But before I even know how to respond, someone’s breaking down the front door. Pounding up the stairs. I run, but I can’t hide.

Now I’m trapped in a cabin in the middle of nowhere in the midst of a blizzard with a man who swears he doesn’t know me. As though the last five years together never happened.

He’s lying.

And then he looks me right in the eye and whispers so our kidnappers can’t hear him:

‘I’m sorry.’

Her perfect fiancé is turning her life into a perfect nightmare.

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 14, 2024

About the author

Timothy James Brearton lives in the Adirondack Mountains with his wife and three children. He's loved thrillers and police stories for most of his life. HABIT follows broken cop Brendan Healy down the rabbit hole of a human trafficking conspiracy. DEAD GONE delivers Florida cop Tom Lange into a criminal underworld and THE KILLING TIME introduces FBI agent Shannon Ames, a country girl in the big city.

http://tjbrearton.net/about

Reviews

[Jenny · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I came across this book I thought that the premise sounded really intriguing. And the book started wonderful with intense action that made me wanting to read more.

The book begins with Julie coming home from a conference earlier than planned and finding her fiancé, Colton, is sleeping with another woman and claiming that he has no idea who Julie is. Then suddenly two guys storm in, and despite their attempts to flee, Julie and Colton are shoved into a vehicle and driven to a log cabin in the countryside.

As that point I had already so many questions and was hoping for great plot with some exciting twists. However pretty fast I started to feel confused and bored. As the book progressing, more and more characters were introduced which makes it a little hard to follow, especially that the book is told from multiple different POVs. And as much I normally love this kind of structure, too much is just too much.

Sadly the pacing of the book was also off more me. After intense start it got slower and it felt like the author wasn’t sure were to go wit the plot. At some point it get kind of ridiculous and unbelievable. There were some promising ploy twist in the book but unfortunately those were ignored and the author rushed the ending with predictable events.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Captivating.....

This story was absolutely amazing. I have never come across anything like it before and found it totally captivating and intriguing. Right from the start the reader is hit with a conundrum, a woman comes home from a conference to her house and her finance, only to find him in bed with another woman and for him to completely deny knowing her. This is totally crazy but, believe it or not, it gets worse – much worse. We seem to go from one scenario to another and none of them are good. To say it’s scary is the least of it – it’s just psychologically disturbing. All the characters were very well written, especially Stamper and Cuthbert – the two main detectives – who I believe handled this whole strange mystery very well and amazingly managed to work it all out, as much as was possible. There were just so many twists the reader really didn’t know if they were coming or going, and it was just so beyond belief that I had to keep reading because I just needed to figure it out. The ending was a revelation, but to a certain extent the natural conclusion. However, the whole thing ended with a hanging twist which made me think again about the whole story. Thank you to both the author and the publisher – Joffe Books – for this brilliant story. I highly recommend it anyone who loves psychological thrillers.

[Christine Rennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Perfect Fiancé by T J Brearton. Is a psychological thriller about two women who look alike and a fiancé who ends up dead.
It was an okay storyline which got very muddled and fizzled out at the end.

[Vivienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Fast paced always something happening and a really unusual plot. An author that's new to me, but I'll definitely keep an eye on future releases.

The plot kept me guessing, and it was hard to say what way it was going to go. I finished this in 2 days, which is good for me. If you enjoy a fast-paced thriller, this one is for you.

Thank you to Joffee books for the advanced copy

[Lucy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was gifted this book from Joffe books.
It’s a psychological thriller and the action starts right from the beginning.
Julie arrives home unexpectedly to find her boyfriend in bed with another woman. Before she can really react her house is broken into and she flees through an upstairs window.
Unfortunately this story is very far fetched and not very believable. Julie and her boyfriend end up in a cabin. It takes the author too long to get to the point and at times I was quite confused with where the story was going.
Finally the boyfriend is shot dead and after an epic car journey the plot is revealed - Julie is being used by a criminal women who is her doppelgänger.

[Tracy]

Gave up around 60% of the way though. Confusing and strayed into too nonsensical for me.

[Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie returns home from a conference a day early. She discovers her fiancé in bed with another woman and he denies knowing Julie. An armed man accosts them and they both jump out of the bedroom window to escape the situation. The other woman has also disappeared. The story is told in Julie’s words and also those of the police who are searching for them. The plot is very complex and the characters very well developed. It is a great way to spend a free weekend. Thanks to Joffee Books for an ARC for an honest review.

[Rozebudzz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

It’s been awhile since I read such a gripping psychological thriller. I had plans for the day but I just couldn’t put this down. Had to read it in one sitting. All the characters were well written. The detective on the case was fantastic in moving the story along. The plot unfolded slowly, sometimes too slow, and there were a few twists and turns. A couple of them didn’t make sense. I think every character got what they deserved which, to me, was most satisfying. If this is your genre, this one is a must read.

[Wanda Caldwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

the perfect fiancé

I couldn’t put it down I finished it in one night ! It grabs your attention and holds on . If you like psychological thrillers this one is definitely must read !!!

[Christine Abruzzi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful !

This was the most convoluted book I have ever read. I cannot believe I actually finished it. It started out pretty good and seemed like it was going to be a good story but it was totally confusing and skipped around so much, it made my head hurt. I hung in there thinking it would get better....it didn't!

[Jeannie Bee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an ARC of this book via Joffe Books in return for an honest review.

Thoroughly enjoyable read. Interesting premise for the story. Great holiday reading.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book as it started out so well. Julie arrives home earlier than expected from a Conference only to find her fiancé in bed with another woman. He then says he doesn't know who Julie is and why she's in his house. As the other woman leaves, armed men burst in and kidnap Colton and Julie. After this the book became totally confusing and I had no idea what was going on. Who were the kidnappers and why did they take Colton and Julie. Sadly I wasn't much wiser at the end. Thanks to the Pigeonhole for the opportunity of reading this book.

[Pip · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this with the Pigeonhole. It had a very promising start. The cheating fiance's assertion that he didn't even know Julie seemed to point towards an unreliable narrator. I really enjoy those intriguing set-ups and began to imagine all sorts of ways that the plot might go. Unfortunately the writer took the narrative in a very different direction. I read to the end because I wanted to find out how it would all be tied up, but I have to admit that I could not understand the reason behind the abduction that was central to the story - or what the fiance had been told.

[Maegan McFall · Rating 3 out of 5]

It took me a while to write this review because I am not sure how I felt about it. The storyline and outcome seemed a bit convoluted. I enjoyed to pace of this book and the premise had potential and all in all was well executed but may have fallen a bit flat towards the end. I felt Ike there was a rush to tie up a few loose ends and it didn’t really work.

I loved the investigation chapters, it felt like I was watching an episode of Law and Order, one of the most well written investigations I’ve read.

[David Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who is the real Julie?

The Perfect Fiancé is the thirteenth book I’ve read by T.J. Brearton. While not all thirteen of these books were psychological thrillers, I’ve come to expect specific things from T.J.’s psychological thrillers. There is going to be one or more damaged characters whose personal issues may or may not exacerbate the situation. There will be some intense action or situations that create enough tension to carry through the full story. Finally, at some point the situations will start to become very clear to the point of being able to predict the outcomes, until they aren’t quite so clear.

The Perfect Fiancé had all three of these elements, and to be honest I was sure I had figured out what was going on until a situation was introduced that made me question my belief in where the story was going. This book was very entertaining, I remember opening it at 8:00 pm thinking I wanted to see how it started and then put it aside until the next day. No plan survives first contact – I didn’t put it aside until I was at the 50% point and only then because I couldn’t keep my eyes open anymore. If you give this book a shot, you might just have a similar entertainment experience. However, I would suggest starting earlier in the day or earlier in the evening. I received an Advance Reader Copy of The Perfect Fiancé and chose to provide this review.

[Louise McIntosh · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm sorry, but this book was terrible.

I ended up skipping through massive chunks just to see what happened at the end.

Just in case anyone else doesn't want to finish, but wants to know what happened, the best of my understating is:

Julie's "perfect fiancee" was a pig who cheated more than once, but most recently with someone who was Julie's doppleganger, which was set up by his brother who hated him. Apparently the super rich doppleganger was about to be charged with some crime, so she came up with the idea to; seduce the fiancee, kidnap then kill Julie, who people would just assume was the doppleganger because they looked alike, and then assume Julie's life after leaving the fiancee.

But then there was a whole "Julie is mentally unstable" subplot. And a "the doppleganger wants to pretend to be her twin" subplot. And the "fiancee pretending not yo know who Julie was" (even though he was in on the whole plan, despite being an idiot) subplot. And the "doppleganger's parents not recognising her on the news" subplot.

Honestly, the book was so badly written, and the main plot (and all the sub-plots) were just insane. And Julie was just an idiot too. This was just so frustrating and implausible. Blergh.

[Eva Edge · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
THE PERFECT FIANCÉ by T.J. Brearton is a totally unputdownable, nail-biting, gripping, full-of-action psychological thriller that will make your heart skip a beat!
WoW!
Right from the start the reader is sucked into the action! It was like watching an action movie! There was constant movement, no slow or boring descriptions!
And it was so cleverly twisted!

All Julie wanted was to surprise her finance Colton instead of finding Colton in bed with another woman. Colton states that he has never seen Julie but to confuse even more this whole situation some men break into the house and take her and Colton hostage. Colton still states he doesn't know who is she!
When Stamper and Cuthbert, the two main detectives, arrive on the scene they get very confused as the neighbor's door ring camera shows that Julie and Colton escape via a window and are chased down but then 3 minutes later Julie leaves the building via the main entrance...
What the hell is going on? Can Stamper and Cuthbert solve this case?

Thank you Joffe Books and NetGalley for an early copy

[Janine Roussouw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Julie is engaged to Colton and she's been away to attend a work conference. Due to bad weather predicted, the conference ends earlier and Julie decides to surprise Colton by getting home earlier than planned. Only when she gets home she finds Colton in bed with another woman. Colton shows absolutely no shame or regret and he tells the woman that he has no idea who Julie is. Everything spirals down from there when Colton and Julie end up being kidnapped. When reading the book you would ask yourself "Has the kidnap turned out badly or has it turned out well or is the whole setup so bizarre it's almost unbelievable?" I would say it all depends which character is the narrator. The author messes with the reader's head all the time, afterwards you don't know which character is telling the truth. Excellent and sneaky twists to all of the characters. Even close to the end I really believed the events to be true. Shocking edge of your seat twists that the author brought in there. This book is just so good! If you haven't read this book yet, go out and get it.

[GinAndBookClub · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fast paced, action style, thriller a page turner from the start. Jam packed with action and told mostly from the point of Juile the innocent victim of an odd kidnapping or is she? The first section gets you in fast as Julie finds her husband in bed with another woman then is kidnapped with her husband and dragged to a cabin in the woods. Lots of peculiar comments and suggestions are made which leaves the reader very much in the dark as who to believe, I don't mind this too much, as my imagination goes wild but I am sometimes underwhelmed by the real story! Unfortunately, it was a little slow to reveal the true events so the middle section did feel like more of a chore than enjoyable but the ending tidy away all of the loose ends, so it was worth finding out the real story. I thought the characters could have been developed a little more as I had no feeling towards any of them.
I would recommend for those that like a fast paced page turner and slow reveal to truth. 3*
ARC received from Joffe books via Netgalley

[Misfits farm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Julie comes home early from a work conference to find her fiance Colton in bed with another woman. As she yells and tells them to get out some men break into the house and take her and Colton hostage, bundling them into the back of a van. She thinks she recognises one of the men however Colton apparently doesn't know who she is. They are taken to a cabin in the back of beyond and more things begin to fall in place about who the kidnappers are. But what do they want with Julie and why?

This is an interesting premise well executed and a read where things move on at a pace. The reader is plunged into the drama right from the very beginning. I felt for Julie and her predicament.
A good psychological thrill of a read, one to keep the reader between the pages right the way through.
For more reviews please follow me on Twitter (X) or Threads @nickisbookblog
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[Fay Flude · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am giving this book 3 stars because it started out in a promising way and it had the essence of a good thriller with the doppelganger idea, someone in trouble trying to stay out of it and alive by swapping lives.
However, as a reader, instead of being able to deepen my connection with the characters, the thread holding us together was stretched so thin that it snapped. I couldn't understand the developments because the events weren't always making sense. Either it was me losing my way as I read, but I am sure one minute Julie was in a truck with Monique and a knife and then all of a sudden she was with Keith and Monique had disappeared. People kept coming and going!
I sort of liked the detective Stamper but then lost even that investment in a character when right near the end it looks like all is not well for him, only to be told it is a dream.
I do wish the author well with this publication and thank you to Pigeonhole for hosting the 10 day serialisation of the novel.
I just cannot in all honesty claim this is a book I would recommend to others.
Sorry.

[H.S. Burney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

It's more of an action thriller than psychological thriller. It's not a badly written book but I struggled to get through it. Maybe it was the author's writing style that didn't resonate with me. I wanted to DNF so many times.

No big twists at the end. I was super intrigued by the plot point thrown out at the 75% mark. That would have been an amazing twist but sadly the author decided to go in a different, predictable direction.

What bugged me the most that the whole plan was ridiculous. In today's day and age, it would've never worked. The author themselves presented several reasons why but for some reasons the perpetrators had rocks for brains. Which after finding out their backgrounds made no sense. Colton, the finance's actions made no sense either at any point in the book.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed "The Perfect Fiance" but it wasn't until about 75% of the way that it picked up. I was under the impression it was a psychological thriller, but it was more of a crime and police procedural.
It was well written, but I as the reader still had a couple of questions that weren't wrapped up at the end. I did however love the ending, as it was written to make the reader continue wondering, what if...

Julie comes home early from a conference to surprise her fiance, Colton. She comes upon him in a bedroom with a woman in bed and he denies knowing her. Soon after that, the couple is kidnapped. The book follows Julie through the journey of the kidnapping and several hidden twists.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts like a Tetris game, but with people's lives! Who is telling the truth? Who are people and their relationships? There was a lot to figure out. That said, the head scratching and action were heavier in the beginning of the book. After a speedy set up, the pace slows down as though the author and characters weren't sure where they were headed. Then, near the end, I felt like there was a twist tossed in that should have been foreshadowed a little more instead of thrown in the pot. Instead of a twist, it felt like a last ditch effort to add to the storyline. Despite that, this was a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Joffe Books for a copy of the book. This review is my own opinion.

[Veronika Jordan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Julie arrives home at 6.52 in the morning to find her fiance in bed with another woman. She was away at a conference, but came home early to surprise him. Not half as much as what she saw surprised her.

Julie and Colton have been together for five years and now he’s doing it in the bed they bought together, in the house they bought together, and only recently moved into, with someone else. Who is this woman?

‘Who is she?’

‘Her name is Monique.’ Like it matters what her name is. And so it begins.

A race against time thriller, as Julie and Colton are forced to escape through a second floor window, while being pursued by an unknown assailant. But what do they want with them? What has Colton done that has put them in danger? Or is it about Julie?

This was very exciting, moving quickly from one dangerous situation to the next. And poor Julie has no idea what’s going on. But does Colton?

It’s a fairly complicated plot, at times a bit far-fetched, but this is fiction, and stranger things have happened in real life. I quite liked Julie, hated Colton, Keith and Michael, but for some reason I found Monique the most interesting. She’s like a Bond villain, all sleek black hair and a slinky cocktail dress, with a small gun hidden about her person. Sophisticated. Unlike frumpy Julie.

And I also love the poleman Stamper. He’d be great in his own series.

Many thanks to the author for giving me the opportunity to beta read The Perfect Fiance before publication.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Perfect Fiance by T.J. Brearton is a book that will keep you awake and reading well into the night. A word that comes to mind is "WOW". I never saw that coming! I received an advance copy and I always review every book that I read. The plot and characters are well developed. Even after you finish the book, you will keep thinking about the characters and what happened. This is a THRILLER!! I could not wait to find out how everything finally turned out. The suspense was keeping me awake. You can read the synopsis, so I won't go into details. I will say that this book is a "must read"

[Edith · Rating 2 out of 5]

Kann ein Thriller auf 350 Seiten packend sein?
Nur wenn ein Könner ihn schreibt.
Das als Thriller beworbene Buch »Der perfekte Verlobte« hat eine durchaus spannende wenn auch sehr amerikanische Handlung. Da sind aber so viel Nebeninformationen, inneren Monologen, Träumen und beschreibenden Dingen, die nur überfrachten und nicht dazu beitragen, den Leser bei der Stange zu halten.
Die Protagonisten scheint die meiste Zeit neben sich zu stehen und der im Titel prominent erwähnte Verlobte ist blutleer und defacto unwichtig. Gegen Ende waren soviel Namen im Gespräch, dass ich den Überblick und die Lust verlor, weiterzulesen.

[Pheadra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this through my online bookclub, Pigeonhole and stopped commenting early on because the story was convoluted and confusing.
It started off with a great premise when Julie arrives home unexpectedly early to find her fiancé in bed with another woman. Before she can literally come to terms with this, she and her fiancé are abducted. Then the story became bizarre and almost seemed as though the author kept writing but didn't know where the story was heading. Described in the blurb as a gripping thriller, it didn't deliver for me. A disappointing 2 and a half stars

[Bronwen Lanning · Rating 4 out of 5]

twists & turns!

I’m new to this author, but I really liked this book. I really wanted to ring that fiancé‘s neck, but I did feel kind of teeny bad for him in the end because I think he realized he was wrong and felt regret, albeit a little too late . I really wasn’t quite sure about our heroine’s strengths. I really wanted to root for her, but I wasn’t impressed. However, I really liked the detectives and the overall story. It was well written, and it kept me engaged thru the whole book.

[Sue Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

The perfect fiance by TJ Brearton.
I do like this author. This is book 11 I have read of his. This was a good read. I didn't like Colton from the start. I liked Julie. I did feel for her. It was slow in places especially after the firery start. But it did pick up when Stamper and Cuthbert come on the scene. I loved how they handled everything. The ending surprised me with another twist and I found myself questioning everything again. 4*.