Seemingly Perfect

by Mary Strand

The Pendulum when life gives you second chances

“With Mary Strand at the controls, readers are in for a flight of a lifetime, spiraling downward, seemingly out-of-control, pulling up at the last minute, and into a beautiful, perfect landing. Emotional. Heartwarming. Deliriously Funny.” - Robyn Carr, #1 New York Times Bestselling Author

Victoria Carlyle Bentley has the husband, the kids, the career, the mansion—even the Porsche convertible—of which dreams are made.

But Vic's perfect world collapses when her marriage faces some wildly unexpected changes, the FBI visits her Minneapolis art gallery, and a strange young woman stomps all over what’s left of her well-manicured life. And when she thinks her life can't get any worse, the man who was her first love and greatest heartbreak shows up on her doorstep.

Sometimes dreams turn out to be nightmares. But with a fresh perspective and the help of good friends, Vic just might wake up and find a new dream life for one that isn’t black or white but, instead, a technicolor rainbow.

360 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 8, 2022

About the author

Mary Strand practiced law in a large Minneapolis firm until the day she set aside her pointy-toed shoes (or most of them) and escaped the world of mergers and acquisitions to write novels. The first manuscript she wrote, Cooper’s Folly, a romantic comedy, won RWA’s Golden Heart award and was her debut novel. Her love of Jane Austen prompted her four-book YA series, The Bennet Sisters.

Seemingly Perfect is her third novel in The Pendulum Trilogy of women's fiction novels.

Mary lives on a lake in Minneapolis with her family, too many Converse Chucks, and a stuffed monkey named Philip. When not writing books or songs, she lives for sports, travel, rocking out on guitar, dancing (badly), and ill-advised adventures (including dancing) that offer a high probability of injury to herself and others.

Mary writes YA, romantic comedy, women’s fiction, and children's sports novels. You can find her at www.marystrand.com, follow her on Twitter or Instagram (@Mary_Strand), or “like” her on Facebook (www.facebook.com/marystrandauthor).

Reviews

[Robyn Engel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author's fun, playful writing style drew me in. Beyond that, it was tough to stay. I found the characters unbelievable, the story formulaic, and felt nothing for the main character. A bit of an exhaustingly long read, for my taste.

[Marissa Hestekin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a huge fan of some of the characters personalities they just kind of annoyed me.