I always get excited when a new Samantha Hayes book gets released, and in these extraordinary times, it was just what was needed!

I raced through this book in two days and completed escaped the strange world we live in and was left feeling exhausted but satisfied. Although I had figured things out, i still really enjoyed it!

As recommended as ever!

Jo's husband, Will has disappeared without trace. He's now been missing for a year. Shes always expected him to return home. Talking her friend Louise's advice, Jo decides to go on a house sit holiday. But when she's searching on the internet, she spots a photo of her husband in one of the houses. The story has you questioning whether Jo really knew her husband at all.

This is a other slow burner. Jo's conversations with her missing husband started to irritate me. I did guess part of the story ut other parts were a surprise. It's also a bit far fetched. The story is told form Jo's point of view and looks back to the time when she met Will their ensuing relationship and the current events. The second part of the book was much better. The ending was worth sticking with the book.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Bookouture and the author Samantha Hayes for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for the chance of reading this book.
I found it slow going to start with and a little bit boring / predictable I felt like I had read it somewhere before but I persevered and was very glad that I did.
The book changes dramatically and the ending was not what I expected at all. Well worth the read but I am not sure it is the right title for the book.

This is my 5th book by Hayes. I love her. She is a solid writer with fun interesting topics that I read quickly and they hold my interest and always have a fun twist. Jo was a character I could get behind and root for. She was struggling honestly not always lucid. I wasn't sure part way through if she killed her husband and simply didn't remember.😳 She had no idea where her husband vanished off to... and yet she kept seeing him and talking to him. Then she meets Simon and she definitely has feelings for him. You want her to be brave enough to move on. I didn't figure this one out completely. There were definitely parts I put together early, but the book took a few fun twists. I will continue to look for all of Hayes' books!

What I liked about this book? All of the questions and loose ends were answered by the end., I was so frustrated with the MC, though, that I almost stopped reading several times. I understand that she has no closure, but the first half of book is way too depressing. Jo was just so unlikable. The constant clumsiness, the blurting (her word) her thoughts aloud without meaning to and then getting stuck in a conversation with someone who says, 'What did you mean when you said that?' over and over. We've all seen stories that are THEN and NOW as you are reading. It can be done very well, but not this time. Much too confusing. At least it started out that the chapters were actually marked so you knew when/where it was happening but several times, the then/now were within the very same chapter, with no warning that you're going back and forth.. Way too confusing for me. And switching from first POV to third and back again. It made my head hurt but I really wanted to hang in there and see how it would all be 'sorted' out. There were a few surprises, but most (and the biggest), I guessed. I can't recommend this book, sorry. To sum up--- depressing and confusing. Should be called One half of an Unhappy Couple.

Thanks #netgalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I loved reading this book. It was gripping with lots of twists and turns, the biggest and totally unexpected one at the end. The characters were well written and believable. I loved reading this book. It was gripping with lots of twists and turns, the biggest and totally unexpected one at the end. It’s about a wife who’s husband disappeared without a trace. He left everything behind and was just gone. A year later, his wife is looking at an online house sitting site so she can get a cheap week away. She looks at the online pictures of the house and rooms and to her surprise she sees pictures of her husband on the mantelpiece. She must go the house to see what’s been happening and to find her estranged husband.
I would highly recommend this book. Also posted on Facebook group books and booze 🥂

A domestic drama around a missing husband. The beginning is slow but picks up after about 35% and has a few twists along, some predictable some not. The conclusion is satisfactory. I liked The Reunion better. 3.5 stars

Honestly I’ve been in a funk with reading lately. Every book I’ve picked up has been okay but lately my love for reading has diminished.

The Happy Couple has changed that! Full of tension, betrayal and pain....exactly what’s needed from a thriller!
Jo felt real because of her pain, her character is flawed but I fell in love with her and just wanted good things!

I had my suspicions about the ending and I was correct but it’s done fantastically. This is a must read!

Wanted to love this book. Really liked the premise, which is right up my alley. The book was slow to start, and the reveal did not really provide a dramatic twist from what you were expecting. (Or maybe I was just not invested enough.) The book was a little long on the previous relationship and short on the current suspense, for me, and I somehow did not really get to the point of caring enough about Jo to be invested. I think the problem is that I like books with kickass heroines who, if their husband ran off to live with another family, would definitely (1) ignore him and find a better guy or (2) make a plan for revenge rather than constantly worry and attempt to psychoanalyze the relationship. It was also kind of hard for me to invest in finding a guy who went missing before and seemed like a jerk who wasn't really worth finding . I think the constant fretting of the main character over an obvious cad never really seemed justified so I could not really get invested. Also not really a surprise that a guy like this might disappear, or do any of the other things he seemed to have done, so there was not a lot of suspense for me. By the end, there was also a little too much going on at once - things got a little ridiculous. when all I had wanted was for Jo give up on this guy by about page 50.

Thanks to NetGalley, Bookouture and the author for providing me with an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Happy Couple by Samantha Hayes
I give this book 3.5 stars
Jo's husband Will suddenly vanishes, without a trace,a year later while looking at house sits after deciding to get away from everything Jo spots pictures of Will on someone elses fireplace. What unfolds when Jo arrives at the property is shocking and has you questioning who Suzanne is and whether jo' really knew her husband at all.
A good domestic suspense story with a few twists and turns thrown in.An easy read,would recommend
Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publishers

It is nearly a year now since Jo’s husband disappeared. After all this time she still believes he will turn up. He left the school where he taught without his wallet and car and house keys. His body has never been found. Surely that must mean he’s still alive.
The scene is set for a story, told between past and present. On the surface it appears Jo and Will had a perfect marriage, their only disappointment being Jo’s inability to conceive. Now her best friend lawyer Louise is pregnant, reminding her that she has suffered two losses in her life. As dressmaker Jo cannot afford a holiday Louise suggests she apply as a house sitter. She remembers a place on the south coast where Will suggested they holiday once and finding a house sitting website checks out properties in the area. During the course of her browsing, the photos of one particular property come as a total shock. Needing to find out more she applies to cover the ten day house sitting the owner is looking for.
There was a little ‘suspend belief’ in the story line but once I got into it, I was wanting to see what Jo would discover. Everyone she came into contact with could be friend or foe. It was never clear, but what happened right at the end was a total and unexpected twist that I never saw coming.
A slow starter but once the story gathers pace it definitely pulls you in.

This book had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. The first pages grabbed my attention and never let it go. I read this in one sitting .

This was a very interesting and compelling book. You honestly cannot wait to see what happens next and even though the lead in is quite long you're amazed that so many pages have already been read and you're still not sure how it all fits together. The theme is wonderfully original. How has someone not thought of this before, but in this digital age and with air bnb around every street corner, who knows, maybe it has happened to some poor abandoned soul. The complexities are deep, you keep learning more and more but not the final question of why Will's photo was in that house. It was another brilliant read by Samantha, she never lets us down. I was only sad that Will turned out to be the worst kind of rotter.

This was an easy read thriller. I’d say a little slow at the beginning, probably the first third of so and then it got better. Plenty of lies and deceit for good measure with a couple of nice twists. A good book if you don’t want to have something where too much concentration is required.

Turns out... that there is such a thing as too many plot twists! This book had so much promise, and I really enjoyed the writing style, but it was all a but... too much! It seemed to be a lot of filler owed by a very unbelievable plot twist, and repeat, and repeat. I feel like if I were to retell the story in its entirety it would sound like the greatest psychological thing ever written, but it was overdone. And although the twists were in essence good ones, non of them really made sense and very convenient. Saying all that, I did enjoy reading it, it was a very fast read.

Many thanks netgalley for the ARC

I admit I gave up at 60 %. Thank you to Net Galley for an advanced reader copy. I kept expecting this book to get really good. Jo, the maim character's husband went missing and you know he did not just die or dissappear. She alludes to the fact and he keeps appearing, haunting her or just keeping her company.

I kept waiting, figuring the real story would start to come out when Jo takes a house sitting vacation after seeing her husband's pictures in the ads for the house sit. It just never seemed to go anywhere.. The story circled around but just never took off to that twiisty part that I was hoping for. Finally, at about 60 % in, I gave up

“People go missing and what you have to remember is that sometimes they don’t want to be found.”

It’s been a year Jo’s husband is missing and the police have given up looking for him. But Jo still grieves and looks for her husband everywhere.
Has someone taken her husband by force? Did her husband leave her? Has he been in an accident and lost his memory? These are the questions she asks herself all the time.
Until one day, pressured by her best friend to take a vacation and rest her mind, she signs up for a house-sitting job and while browsing the photos of the house she sees her husband’s framed photos on the mantelpiece.
Are the photos real or is she hallucinating?
Now more than ever she is determined to go to that house and try to find the answers to her questions.

The plot was intriguing enough to make me continue reading and if it was any other author I would have given up on the book. I have read 4 books by the Samantha Hayes and have loved them all. But this one didn’t work for me.
There were too many whinings and inner dialogues and long unnecessary conversations that became irritating after a couple of chapters in the book.

Thanks to the author, Bookouture and the NetGalley for my copy.

This one was a bit of a struggle to read.. I couldn’t really get into the story or characters and I thought there was a bit too much going on. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy in exchange for review.
2.5/5

I loved the concept of this book one day a man disappears from his supposedly happy marriage. A year later there is still no sign and his wife is just in limbo unable to move on. Jo then sees pictures of her husband Will in someone else’s house.
What follows is her struggle to find the answers. How is the home owner related to Will and where is Will? I did guess the twist in this but it did not detract from the enjoyment of the story. The one aspect I didn’t like was that Jo keeps thinking that she sees Will everywhere which made her seem very unstable.
Worth the time to read.
Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
#TheHappyCouple #NetGalley

Amazing!!! Wow... y’all I was pleasantly surprised by this novel! The characters and the storyline were excellent. Kept me reading all day long!