This sounded like just the thing for an escape from reality: a story about a couple who “met cute,” got married and had a child, went on their first vacation as a family, and then…the husband and pre-school-age boy disappear completely! I  thought it had “beach read” written all over it – not a bad thing! Also, the fact that Lisa Scottoline and Chris Bohjalian (a couple of authors I enjoy) had glowing things to say about it increased my interest, so I was pleased to receive an advance copy of Almost Missed You from St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

We first encounter Violet and Finn, the married couple who are referred to by their friends as “meant to be,” meeting on a beach in the Carolinas. Although they had an instant connection, they didn’t actually meet F2F for some time. In the interim, Finn had a fiancée and Violet was restlessly single. Finn apparently still thinks about Violet and their brief encounter, and of course they end up together. Violet is happy as can be when they head out on their first vacation as a family…and then she finds herself in her worst nightmare. (The revelation of Violet’s dawning realization of the disappearance of her husband and child is particularly well done).

Other characters impact the story, particularly Caitlin, who has been friends with Finn forever, and who comes to be Violet’s BFF. She plays a critical role in the events that happen both before and after Finn and Violet get together.

The full story is told through alternating viewpoints of Finn, Violet and Caitlin, and has strong themes of marital betrayal, the role of fate in a relationship, secrets (both those kept and those revealed), and the relationship between a mother and her child.

Given that Ms. Strawser’s day job is Editorial Director of Writer’s Digest magazine, expectations are high for this, her first novel. For a beach read, it’s a five star (not literary fiction, but extremely entertaining, and well written).