The cover looks more distopian than romance, but it certainly drew my attention. It was why I downloaded without reading the blurb, which I usually don’t since I would have known this is not my type of book. Still having downloaded it, I will nonetheless review.

The formatting is clear, readable and easy to follow. It’s very basic but it does everything it has to: Table of contents at the beginning, linked to the Kindle table of Contents button, easy to read resizable text: would that more books were so clearly laid out.The quotes under every chapter heading are an interesting stylistic and are appropriate to the story.

The story is fairly simple: married woman meets man. The blurb presents it as if single and married people can’t be friends without starting an affair. Fortunately the book is more nuanced, and it is made very clear it’s the effect of Paige’s situation and Alex’s persistence that results in the trouble. If you expect Brief Encounter, you will be disappointed.

Daisy Chain is marketed as romantic suspense, but there is far more romance than suspense. There is no real feel of menace, and the moment tension arises it is resolved within a few pages. As a suspense reader, I would give this one a miss although romance readers may enjoy it more. That said, the attention to detail is excellent, and the author has done their background research in a way few do. This gives it a very real feeling, and while the main pairing might be bland they come across as a very true-to-life married couple.

My real problem is that I can’t stand the lead female: she’s the heroine and I really don’t like this woman. She’s bland and the only character traits seem to be wanting a baby, being self-centered, making hideous mistakes, and a tendency to believe whatever she is told. (The antagonist’s explanations would have had a brighter woman nodding sceptically and phoning the police). Dealing with your husband’s infertility by having an affair is not a trait of a sympathetic character and the ending made me shake my head. The most sympathetic character is Paige’s husband, who really does not deserve what she puts him through.

As a romance it has the inevitable happy ending, although to me it felt a little hollow.

Overall it’s a romance book that I am not mocking mercilessly, and those are rare. 3 stars.