5 Flames for Covet by Tracey Garvis-Graves

What if the life you wanted, and the woman you fell in love with, belonged to someone else?

Chris and Claire Canton’s marriage is on life support. Downsized during the recession and out of work for a year, Chris copes by retreating to a dark place where no one can reach him, not even Claire. When he’s offered a position that will keep him away from home four nights a week, he dismisses Claire’s concern that time apart could be the one thing their fragile union can’t weather. Their suburban life may look idyllic on the outside, but Claire has never felt so disconnected from Chris, or so lonely.

Local police officer Daniel Rush used to have it all, but now he goes home to an empty house every night. He pulls Claire over during a routine traffic stop, and they run into each other again at the 4th of July parade. When Claire is hired to do some graphic design work for the police department, her friendship with Daniel grows, and soon they’re spending hours together.

Claire loves the way Daniel makes her feel, and the way his face lights up when she walks into the room. Daniel knows that Claire’s marital status means their relationship will never be anything other than platonic. But it doesn’t take long before Claire and Daniel are in way over their heads, and skating close to the line that Claire has sworn she’ll never cross.

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I absolutely loved this book! I had a very tough time putting this down once I started it. Covet tells the story of Claire and Daniel. They’re experiencing the first real, long term test of their marriage. Told primarily through Claire’s point of view, this story is a very well paced and engaging study of a marriage in trouble. I’m guessing that many married readers will relate to the scenarios here in one way or another.

What I truly loved about this story is that the circumstances are presented in a very non-judgemental way. It wasn’t about temptation or cheating so much for me, but about the pain these three people are experiencing and the choices they make. The many emotions of the situation came through very clearly in the writing and I really loved how things flowed in this story. It was so easy to get caught up in it.

I loved this very intimate inside view of marriage. I liked getting some of Daniel’s and Chris’s point of view as well. It balanced things out for me and was another way this story focused on emotions of the situation.

The concept of the neighborhood and their troubles as secondary characters worked very well in this story too. I really couldn’t wait to get to the end of this book to see how it was all going to turn out, and what revelations Claire and Chris would take away from it. I was not disappointed.

This is going on my favorites shelf. Recommended.

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Thanks to Netgalley and PENGUIN GROUP Dutton for the opportunity to review this in exchange for an honest review.