The Widow's Watcher

She was suffering from a loss. So was he. She was ready to end it all, but he refused to let her.....

Jenna Shaw is suffering guilt and grief from losing her entire family in an accident. She was supposed to be there, but the chance to have some quiet time was something she could not pass up. Sending her family to Alaska, she gets ready to settle down to some much-needed rest and recuperation after a busy summer. But then tragedy strikes, and she is left alone - forever. She has coped the best she can, but she is ready to let everything go, and join her family in death. She hears her daughter Cassie's voice in her mind - but nothing from the remainder of her family - just her teenage daughter giving her advice, and questioning the choices that she is making.

Lars is suffering from a loss of his own. He has covered the grief over the many decades that have gone by, but the memories are still there. He does the best he can to cope, but at any moment, the memories can rear their head. Two children missing, one son who was left behind, and the one person who knows where they might be is not talking. Lars has done the best he can to move on, but both he and his son have buried the memories of the day his mother walked out of their lives, taking her two youngest children with her. While no sign of Francine or Will is ever discovered, Audrey is discovered - incoherent and mentally broken.

Jenna shows up next to his house, thinking that she will walk out into the lake and just end everything, but Lars catches her and refuses to let her kill herself. Saving her life, he drags her back towards his house. Instead of bringing her inside, he leaves her on his porch, in a frigid Minnesota winter. When the tow truck driver finally shows up, she is in for an even bigger surprise. Owen forces his dad to take Jenna in until he can get her van fixed, and neither of them is happy with the situation. As the days go by, a truce is formed, and little by little a friendship begins to form.
As their stories unfold, they both find that they are burying painful memories, and perhaps the other can help them get through the grief.

Eventually, Lars asks Jenna to use her skills as a journalist to see what she can uncover about his family and the mysterious disappearance of his children. He is desperate for any information that can be uncovered, holding onto the slimmest shred of hope. Jenna is hesitant to do so, but she does not want to let Lars down. She begins to dig into the families past, but she discovers that there is more than one secret lurking, and the truth just might destroy the fragile older gentleman's heart once and for all...

I sat and read the entire book in just under three hours - it was that good! I am going to warn you though - this book will run you through the gambit of emotions, and run you through an emotional wringer. I wanted to set it aside and finish another time, but there was no way I could set the book down and move on. I had to know what was going to happen next! Add this to your summer reading pile! It is one that is definitely worth the read.

Some adult language used in the book

Thank you to NetGalley and Lake Union Publishers for the ARC for an unbiased and honest review