This book is so deliciously dark, I'm tempted to say something corny like "Your only obsession will be with this novel." I would never say that. By the time I finished my speech, they were all staring at me with mouths open. Crap. I’d gone too far. I shouldn’t have said all those things. (c) For all that it's worth, Logan was the most respectful, sweet and thoughtful stalker I've ever stumbled upon. He was just a precious little bean that needed therapy. she had a sign in cursive that said Good Vibes Only- which, okay, kind of basic, but I supposed no one was perfect- I'd put on a pink cable-knit sweater over faded jeans and tied my hair up with an actual, damn scrunchie. No one, especially a cop, has ever been murdered by a girl who wears scrunchies with daisies printed on them. Mendez couldn't possible find anything suspicious about me, not like this."

Tanya Bigelow was a solemn little girl when Dr. Alex Delaware successfully treated her obsessive-compulsive symptoms. Now, at nineteen, she still seems older than her years–but her problems go beyond hyper-maturity. Patty Bigelow, Tanya’s aunt and adoptive mother, has made a deathbed confession of murder and urged the young woman to seek Delaware’s help. The doctor recalls Patty as a selfless E.R. nurse struggling to raise a child on her own–a woman seemingly incapable of the “terrible thing” she has admitted. But for Tanya’s peace of mind, Delaware agrees to investigate, and he enlists LAPD detective Milo Sturgis in the search for the phantom victim of a crime that may never have occurred. If that had been all, I probably would have still scored this a bit higher. But then there was all the times - in the first half - that I was pulled out of the story with irritation over some sexist, slut-shaming, or woman-bashing comment. It wouldn't have been so bad if there'd been some calling out on this sort of behavior and thoughts, but there wasn't. It was said, it was laughed about or brushed off, or just a normal part of conversation, and then it was over. I know these comments ("bros before hos," "she's a slut,") happen in real-life, a lot, but I'd have liked to see a bit better from my heroes, maybe just someone saying 'hey, that's not cool. Happily, after the half-way mark these sorts of things eased up.

Overall Opinion: I've been in a huge book slump lately, so when I was looking for my next read I thought "why not?" when looking at this suspenseful read. I have found success in branching out to other sub-genres in the past when looking to break a slump, but sadly I don't think it was the case here. The pacing and flow was ALL over the place (see pacing section below). I'm not quite sure how the publishers and editors that uber popular Nora Roberts has were okay with this. The book felt disjointed and did not have a good flow at all. There was a catching first section that drew me in. Then there was a super slow description of Naomi's life up until adulthood (which to an extent I understand was necessary), and then there was a ton of decor and photography descriptions/scenes. Then as if it was like "oh crap I gotta work in some suspense" and there was a side suspenseful aspect murders started happening of a copy-cat type scenario that felt way too rushed and not given enough attention (especially after the decor and photography stuff). It ended way too abruptly with a lot of stuff up in the air. While I do agree with other reviewers that the romance and suspense had a pretty good balance, I didn't feel like the romance was concluded like I needed it to be. An epilogue would've gone a long way here! Welp...on to the next 🤷🏻‍♀️ As well as being cheesy he is also horrible at comparisons, worse than me actually, and I literally make up comparisons out of my ass.

I do hope they are able to move on in life and put this completely behind them. But will that ever really happen. It will always be on (authors) mind.I really liked how the book was structured: a precise balance between Nicole's personal story and research around stalking. There is much information about different types of stalking and the realistic legal procedures that can be pursued against a stalker. On this, Nicole does not sugar-coat anything. I was equally angry and sad at the dismissiveness she faced and the social biases that influence us to diminish the dangers of stalking... or even joke about it.

Naomi's uncle Seth and partner Harry had the family come live with them. But..... the mom caused problems and they all had to move again. Safety: This one should be either Safe with exception or Not Safe for most safety gang readers depending on personal preferences.The Obsession obviously snags one's interest but in my case I almost passed it on by BECAUSE of the title. But a few GR friends had read it and the plot looked so good. And it was!

And guess what, she seems like she has a crush on him. But there’s a big problem for their relationship; her mother’s abusive asshole/ police officer boyfriend doesn’t want Delilah to fool around. So he has to catch the officer in the act when he physically abuses Delilah and her mother so he can use his as advantage to file a complaint against the cop who has real anger management issues. Yes, sir. My daddy hurt Ashley. He tied her up down in that old cellar in the woods by this burned-out cabin place. He hurt her really bad, and he hurt other people, too. There were pictures of them down there. I don't know why he did those things. I don't know why anybody would do what he did."

How to Vote

Even though it wasn’t difficult for me to guess who the bad guy was, the suspense was gripping and very well-written. It was retained from the beginning of the second half of the story onwards. And I can tell you that it gave me the shivers to read about this psycho villain and that absolutely had me on the edge of my seat many times.