Heather De Cair

FM is one of my favorite authors for books in this genre, light, easy to read while unwinding, suspenseful romantics. However by Chatper 20 or so I was convinced that this book wasn't even written by her. Maybe she had AI help her out, it felt that way at least. There were a ton of discrepancies in the book. A character asks another if they have ever heard of a popular dating app and tells them about it, then later in that same chapter says they met that same character ON that dating app years prior. Doesn't make sense- too many things like this happen. The narration was read like a B movie- especially the male narrator. It got better at the end, but man I was questioning what I was listening to for the first 3/4 of the book. The female lead, Sydney, is dumb. like DUMB dumb. Like she couldn't BE any dumber. I hate when female characters are written like they have no common sense, no logic, no awareness. It paints women in a really bad light. Especially in a book like this, it makes them seem vulnerable, like they are easy targets, helpless, and easy to take advantage of. I expected more from a female author like FM. She is a strong, successful woman- she's a doctor who specializes in brain injuries who doubles as an accomplished novelist. I wish her female lead was written more like her- her other novels such as The Teacher and her Housemaid series were far more heroic. She has started to "water down" her female characters, such as in The Inmate. Bummer. A real bummer.