Elementary teacher, Jacqueline "Jacks" is "kind of" happily married for eight years to handsome, hunky, Costa Rican, James Morales. He travels often, this time he is in Kansas. Laughing and talking on the phone with her sister, Beth, Jacks is interrupted by two policemen who come to her front door. They ask her if she is the wife of James Morales? They inform her that her husband was killed in a car accident in Maui and his companion was a young, beautiful blonde, also killed. "No, it's not true. James is in Kansas." But it is true. Shocked and devastated, Jacks is filled with questions, what ifs, was this her fault? Could she have changed the outcome? How?

Their marriage was not perfect, but she trusted James. She did not believe he had ever lied or cheated on her. True they quarreled a lot. When they were dating, James was adamant about having a family, four children was his wish and Jacks agreed. Now eight years later, trying hard to get pregnant, they were unsuccessful. Jacks had a secret and when she finally confessed that she had only 20% chance of getting pregnant, because of an old illness, James lost it. He called her a liar and told her he would never have married her if he knew her truth. Could this be why James had cheated on her?

Another knock on the door after the memorial for James and a nice looking young man introduced himself as Nick Ford, a fireman, and the fiance of Dylan, the gal killed with James. Nick was grieving, blindsided by the affair. He wants closure and persuades Jacks into returning to Maui with him to retrace the lovers last days in Paradise. He, too, needs answers. Against the wishes of her sister, Beth, Jacks and Nick return to the same hotel in Maui and begin to find out what happened. They follow the lovers itinerary and discover James and Dylan were posing as newlyweds. Dylan also had a secret she needed to share with James. Was that what caused the car to go off the dangerous Road to Hana? The dynamic duo of Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke do a sterling job of telling a story of lies, betrayals, with so many twists and turns to shock and surprise you. Maui is a perfect setting for this and the descriptions on the road to Hana had me on the edge of my seat. A tropical drink with a pink umbrella would have helped! Jacks grew on me as she refused to give up and kept digging deeper, trying to find truth and perhaps forgiveness.

I found Nick too sweet to be true and began to create my own ending to this truly riveting tale of deceptions. I read THE GOOD WIDOW swiftly and quickly and look forward to their next! What a great beginning to a suspense debut. Bravo! I am a fan.

Book Summary