Just One Look

More about the book

Eyes aren't the windows to the soul; emails are. Cassie Woodson finds herself adrift after a significant fall down the corporate ladder, forced to take a thankless temp job reviewing correspondence for a fraud suit. This monotonous work highlights the voids in her life—love, friends, stability—and leaves her with too much time to dwell on her past mistakes. While sifting through a flood of emails, she stumbles upon the intimate exchanges between Forest Watts, a partner at the firm, and his captivating wife, Annabelle. Despite knowing she shouldn’t, Cassie can’t resist reading them. Each day, from her dingy workstation, she dissects their affectionate messages, finding joy in their seemingly perfect life filled with vintage wines and lavish dinner parties in Westchester. As her admiration turns into obsession, she begins to mimic their lifestyle, hoping that if she plays make-believe long enough, it will become her reality. However, when Cassie engineers a "chance" meeting with Forest and uncovers unsettling truths about his marriage, her fantasy crumbles. Suddenly, her admiration for Annabelle transforms into a desire to take her place, and Cassie feels equipped to pursue that goal.