The plot of this story: a woman's husband goes missing. A year later, still with no answers, she's convinced to consider the idea of taking a holiday when her best friend signs her up for a housesitting website. As she's browsing - talking to an imaginary version of her husband, which she does throughout the book - she sees a home with photos *of her husband* on the mantle. Of course, she decides to apply to housesit for the home.

When she arrives, there's a neighbor to let her in and she eventually begins to spend time with him in a romantic way. All the while, she's looking for clues in the home to try and determine why there were photos of her missing husband on the mantle. We learn from the neighbor that the homeowner has been through some kind of trauma, and had ended a relationship with a man named Bill who turned out to be married. As the husband's name is Will, you of course assume that this woman was in a relationship with the missing husband.

Filler, filler - a time later, the homeowner comes home early. She's got ~issues~ with memory loss from her trauma (an accident where she was hit with a car) and something about her house-sitter keeps triggering her. Several incidents happen, and we eventually learn through a flashback that the missing husband revealed some time ago that he hit and (presumably) killed a women with his car. Of course, this is the same woman with all the photos of him on the mantel. At some point, we learn that this woman verifiably *did* know the husband, as they acted together in a production.

A few other important notes revealed during all the filler: the house-sitter's best friend is very pregnant, the homeowner has lots more photos of the missing husband in a locked bedroom, the neighbor is still suspicious IMO.

Standoff scene hits: best friend comes to rescue the house-sitter, and the homeowner locks them in until she can sort out what's going on to trigger her memory. Of course, best friend goes into labor. Then the missing husband shows up - I CANNOT EVEN MAKE THIS UP. Baby is born, turns out that best friend and missing husband have made a baby. The timeline for the conception of this baby indicates that the best friend has seen husband since he's been missing.

We find out the husband had been having many affairs, and when an affair began with the best friend, he took a weekend away to gather himself. When he decided he wanted to go home, the best friend flat out refused and blackmailed him with the baby news. He stays missing, wife is suffering - blah blah blah - eventually, he runs out of the house to get away, again (?), and is hit by the paramedics coming to help the baby in - wouldn't you guess it! - the very same spot he hit the homeowner with his car.

KLDFJSKLDFKLSJF. There aren't words for how annoying this whole thing was. I *love* a big twist, but this was twist after twist after twist, and they weren't really necessary. Any one of them alone could've been done better, with less pages, and more pertinent details. There's just so much shoved in that it was truly exhausting. It's not badly written, and if you're in the mood for a wild ride that makes next to no sense because it's just too much, then sure, pick this up!

Thanks to Netgalley and Bookouture for providing this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Jo’s husband Will disappeared about a year ago and she has been searching for him but he is gone without a trace. At the advice of friends she looks into house sitting, in order to get away, since she can’t afford a proper vacation. While looking at the potential homes, she notices picture of Will on the mantle on one of the homes and ends up on a house sitting job there, intending to figure out what happened to Will.

I really liked the concept of his book. I thought it took a little while to get going. I thought once Jo got to the house sitting gig, she could have started making her discoveries a little sooner but once she did start putting things together I was pretty interested. The complete story of what actually played out was certainly unexpected and I didn’t sniff any of it out but I also found it almost overly convoluted. Overall, a pretty good quick read, and I am a fan of Samantha Hayes and will certainly read her next book.

Sadly the book did not work for me. The characters fell flat. The story was predictable and just seemed to drag along. I did finish but took a few days.

I was so excited to read “The Happy Couple” but I had a hard time getting into it. It started very slow bouncing between the past and present and I didn’t really get to the point that I didn’t want to put it down until I reached about 70% through the book. I was surprised by the ending, but most of the book was predictable and flat.

I received this book as an ARC. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for making it available. The Happy Couple has a great premise. Seamstress Jo has been left reeling by the disappearance of her husband, drama teacher and part time actor, Will. When the story begins, Will has been missing for about a year and Jo is struggling to get by. Sleepwalking through life, Jo is trying to maintain her small business, Sew Perfect, (I love that name) without asking her parents for financial assistance. Meanwhile Jo is plagued by Will's presence seeing him everywhere, even talking aloud to her missing husband causing those around her (and the reader) to question Jo's sanity.

Jo's sightings of the imaginary Will are so frequent that I quickly tired of them. These hallucinations are so pervasive that I almost gave up on the book about 40% in but I am glad that I persisted. If you can hang on past the descriptions of Will skulking at Jo from every corner and Jo talking to no one, the book has some jaw dropping twists and turns.

Desperate for an escape from her dreary reality Jo, at the encouragement of her best friend Louise,, begins looking at holiday homes where she can house sit. Nothing appeals to Jo until she sees the handsome face of her husband staring back at her from the mantle of another woman's home. Is this yet another one of Jo's hallucinations or is Will really out there? Jo signs up to house sit and the book really takes off from there.

The latter half of this book is full of twists and turns. Deception abounds and it is hard to know who if anyone, Jo can really trust. While some readers may have solved the mystery of the missing husband, there are definitely some surprises in store and the ending chapters are poignant and hopeful at the same time.

While Jo's inner dialogue during the first part of the book was overused and annoying, I'm glad I continued to read as the ending was worth it! Having read several other books by Samantha Hayes, I would say that The Happy Couple is a decent domestic thriller but definitely not the author's best work.

Thank you to the publisher, Bookouture and to Netgalley for approving me for an ARC.
I am not familiar with Samantha Hayes so this was new to me.

Will and Jo are happily married and trying for a baby. But last year Will disappeared. Left his keys on his desk at work and vanished.

Jo is devastated at the disappearance of her husband and is finding it difficult to move on. Her friend suggests she take a housesitting job to get her away for an inexpensive break. Her friends actually registers her to the website, and whilst browsing finds a house with photos of her husband in the locations photos.

Of course, Jo goes to the house expecting to find her husband leading a double life. And from that point on I could not put the book down. As a psychological novel this one keeps you on your toes. As the reader you are drip fed bits about what is going on, so you really have no idea.

Definitely recommend.

I like Samantha Hayes, I really do. But this book was underwhelming and predictable. There were no surprises until the twist at the almost end which was, I thought, a bit silly.

There is no happy couple. When the book opens Jo’s husband, Will, has been missing for the best part of a year.. She is frantic and miserable and ‘sees’ Will everywhere. Her best friend, Louise, persuades her that she needs a holiday and signs her up for one of those house and pet sitting websites so that she can have a free getaway. As she’s browsing Jo sees a place near the beach that she and Will had talked about visiting. And she finds a house there, it looks great but - wait, what’s that on the mantelpiece? Photos of her Will?

Joe is immediately suspicious but energised and decides to stay there for the two weeks to find out more about the woman who owns the house and has her husband’s photos on her mantlepiece. Of course nothing is as it seems. But, good grief, the contortions that the poor plot was twisted into - it just came across as overwrought. The characters, with the possible exception of Suzanne, the house’s owner, were all horrible, self-serving and whiny. The very end of the book - just no!

I didn’t like this book and I thought the writing lacked any passion or feeling, coming across instead as rather flat. Many thanks to Netgalley, Bookouture and Samantha Hayes for my review copy.

The story follows Will and Jo, a seemingly happy couple, trying to start a family - but to no avail. He is a Drama teacher at a local school and he does acting in his spare time and Jo works a seamstress. One day after work, Jo goes to meet him, but he isn’t there - he’s gone missing.

Nearly a year has passed and Jo’s best friend, Louise, encourages her to take a vacation. She’s worried about Jo shutting everyone down and not opening up about Will’s disappearance and she is equally concerned about Jo ‘seeing’ Willl.

Unable to afford a holiday and not not really wanting to stray too far, in case Will returns, Jo settles on applying to house sit for others. When looking at online ads, Jo sees a house that looks perfect and on closer inspection, she notices a photo of her missing husband on the mantlepiece.

Eager to find out how that picture has come to be there, she applies and is accepted by the mysterious Suzanne, who has secrets of her own. The peculiar nature of this character leaves the reader uneasy about what is going to happen.

I did like how the narrative shifted from ‘then’ to ‘now’ as a way of developing the depth to the characters and signposting clues to the story’s development.

This is a first for me by this author. A psychological thriller is not my usual go to genre, but I do like to dip into them every now and then. I enjoy fast-paced plots with lots of twists and turns that pique your interest about how things will unfold. Though, for me, this book was a slow burner, despite it having lots of twists and turns. I found that most, if not all, of my speculations turned out to be accurate, which was a little frustrating. I am glad that I continued with reading this book and I would look at further work from this author.

I received this ARC of the novel from the publisher Bookouture (via NetGalley) in return for an honest and unbiased review. I’m glad that I finished this novel, but unfortunately it hasn’t been one of my favourite psychological thrillers.

Thank you to Samantha Hayes, Bookouture and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC.

Samantha Hayes is one of my go to authors so I was delighted to receive an arc of this book. The premise was absolutely brilliant, a missing husband whose picture appears on the mantelpiece of a house on a housesitting website. Determined to find out what has happened to her missing husband, Jo immediately sets out to investigate. Some twists yes I did see coming but the main one was totally unexpected. Very very cleverly written, I would recommend this to all fans of psychological thrillers. I look forward to every book this author writes, they are just brilliant.

I really really wanted to like this book. I tried to get into it. I really did. I tried to like the main character but I just couldn’t . I didn’t find the story thrilling or exciting. I found the heroine to be whiny and annoying for the better part of the book and the ending just left me saying “meh.” I was highly disappointed. I expected better from this author

This is an unputtdownable, roller coaster of ups and down emotions, thriller of a book! I love Samantha Hayes' books and she hit it out of the park with The Happy Couple. There was so much I need in a psych thriller all wrapped up in this book with a jaw dropping twisted ending. The whole book was twisted and twisty so the ending was bonus shock value!!!
If you have this in your TBR, read it now!
5 stars!
Thank you to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my free ARC in exchange for my honest review.
My honest review: 5 MESSED UP STARS :-)

Often the premise of a novel will hook me, only to have the actual book fall flat. Luckily, this was not the case for The Happy Couple. I read it in one day — in almost one sitting, if we're being honest — and I dare you not to do the same.

The story quickly catches up to the teaser blurb: a woman whose husband disappears sees photos of him in a real estate listing. From there, it spirals through twists and cliffhangers, and pretty much makes you question the integrity of every character.

My only criticism is that the narrator's inner monologue got a little distracting after awhile, especially since she constantly spoke it aloud without realizing it. If you can overlook that, this is the kind of book that's perfect for a day when all you want to do is escape.

I wanted to enjoy this book and in theory, the premise is really good - I definitely didn't see the twist! However, it may have just been me but I got really confused! There's a couple of characters who have memory-loss-type issues and to me, it was often unclear which character was being affected at what time so that spoilt my enjoyment a little.

I really enjoyed this novel and will look for other books by this author! I definitely wasn’t expecting the twist at the end.

Although the beginning was a little slow, I really enjoyed reading this book. It had some interesting twists that I didn't see coming. I'll be checking out what else this author has written.

Jo and Will are the perfect couple. She's a successful seamstress, he's an acting teacher and performer. Their closest friends, Louise and Archie are pregnant and all is going well until Will disappears with no trace, leaving behind his car, his wallet, his phone and no note. A year later Jo is still grieving when Louise convinces her to apply for a house-sitting job where she can relax and re-group. Reluctantly, Jo agrees and is shocked when she discovers what might be a lead into Will's disappearance when she sees pictures on the house's mantle. That's all you need to know. Shocking surprises, twists, "what the...?" moments that have your head spinning up until the final moments. I've enjoyed Hayes's other novels and this one may keep you up at night as well!

This was a decent read with some twists that I didn't see coming. It centers on Jo, whose husband disappears without a trace; a year later, she can't get past it and move on- she is determined to figure out where he is and what happened. Her best friend recommends that she pick up a house sitting job to get away from it all for a bit, and while searching for homes, Jo sees pictures of Will in one of them. She books the house sitting gig to figure out what is going on, but when she arrives, the pictures were gone. The rest of the book focuses on Jo trying to figure out what is going on, intertwined with flashback chapters that make the reader wonder if Will was really what he seemed.

The story was interested but it was a little repetitive at parts. I didn't really like Jo and got tired of her unrelenting belief that her relationship was perfect and that Will was out there somewhere. I thought the author could have gotten that point across without continually repeating it. The book also veered outside of the scope of reality (in my opinion) as it got closer to the end, though it was interesting and some of the twists were true surprises.

All in all, this was an OK read- the mystery and ultimate surprise at the end keeps you reading even if you might be a little irritated by Jo herself. I'd recommend to those who like the mystery and domestic suspense genres.

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

There are many suspense books in the market with varying similar plots and although I’ve read about the sudden disappearing husband before, this book was a shade above the others. A fast suspenseful read.

Well from the start, this book had me on my toes. I thought I had it all figured out. There were lots of puzzling parts throughout the story. I kept thinking.. I know what's going on here.. Then I would be proven wrong. Lots of loose ends all the way through were tied together in the end. There was one piece of the book I worked out from the start but the rest was a huge surprise. Lots of unexpected things happening and people doing things kept the suspense of the story going until the last page.
The characters were believable although Jo did get on my nerves a little bit at the beginning.
I give this 5 stars and I would recommend this book. Thank you to Netgalley, the publishers and the author for the opportunity to read this advance copy in exchange for my honest review

Jo's husband, Will, just left, vanished into thin air. After a year expecting him to come back, she sees his picture when she is about to apply to be a house sitter. How come Will's picture is in that house? Has he left her to be with someone else?
Don't hold your breath, as prior to the end of the story, you'll still get a couple of twists and surprises.
THANKS Netgalley for an electronic ARC.