Maggie and Brad have gone to Lake Tahoe for a vacation and some much-needed couple time. They meet Joe and Skye and invite them over for dinner. When Skye and Joe’s rental turns out to be a scam before you can say, that’s too bad, they have an invitation to stay with Brad and Maggie.
This chance meeting was anything but fate bringing new friends together. Joe and Skye chose them, and not because they thought they looked like a fun couple. Their game is blackmail, and the unfortunate Maggie has something to hide. There is little doubt that this idyllic vacation will not end well.
I can usually go with the flow when I read fiction. After all, if you didn’t have characters with closets full of skeletons, lots of coincidences, and villains who are always one step ahead, you wouldn’t get hard to put down mysteries and thrillers. Somehow though, I never could get past Maggie and Brad inviting these strangers to stay in their house. I mean, who does that? Maybe I am just a cynical New Yorker, but it kept niggling at the back of my brain and stopped me from becoming fully engaged in the story. That is just me though. There are quite a few good twists and turns, and when I thought everything was wrapped up, there was one more surprise. I liked it enough to want to read another book by this author.

This book draws you in and doesn't let go. Great read. Loved the ending did not see that coming at all. The characters were all fantastic as was the setting of the story.

Thanks to the Author, the publisher and NetGalley for an early release of this book

Great mystery and psychological thriller that involves a couple who meets another couple on vacation. I love reading about vacations right now especially since we can’t take any. The characters were realistic and it kept me going into last page.

Thank you to Net Galley and Cathryn Grant for the advanced copy in return for my honest review. The Other Couple is available December 6, 2020 - be sure to go get yourself a copy!

Maggie and Brad are on vacation at Lake Tahoe, where they meet another vacationing couple - Skye and Joe. The four quickly become friends and even end up housing together. But Skye and Joe are not who they claim to be and Maggie has a secret. The couple uses this information against Maggie and tries to blackmail her - but something goes very wrong.

I loved that this book was told from all four points of view. I feel like I got to know each and every character quite well. The multiple twists through the book had me unable to put it down! Especially towards the very end - I thought I knew the characters well but was shocked at the close of the book!

Oooooh so many twists in this story! It’s dark and delicious with enough action throughout. The twists had me reeling. Lots of unexpected events that as a reader I loved! The characters are unlike able but it adds another fantastic element to the story!
One of the best books I’ve read this month and I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from Cathryn Grant!

The only downside is the cover. I don’t think it draws the reader in? It’s not a book I would choose to read after only seeing the cover! (Don’t let it put you off though, this is a fabulous book!)

5/5

A couple goes on vacation and by 'chance' befriends another couple.....they become immediate friends, and from there, everything goes downhill. You see, one couple is just out to con the other couple...make an easy buck and move on. The events that follow are anything but what either couple expected, and things quickly spiral out of control.

Based on previous novels from this author, I expected more. I foreshadowed some of the events happening...some were a bit unexpected, but there weren't any wild twists that left me with my jaw dropping.

It was well written, well paced, an easy read to escape with. I'd recommend it if you enjoy a pretty standard psychological thriller.

Thank you to #NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

So I don't really know what I thought about his book. I loved the premise of it and it kept me entertained but I just felt meh when I finished it. Too many unanswered questions and I just felt like I needed something more at the end. I never really loved any of the characters so I think that didn't help either. Great story idea just fell short to me.

The Other Couple is a psychological thriller following married couple Maggie and Brad Fromm who take their annual vacation in Lake Tahoe, nestled between the stunning Sierra Nevada Mountains, connecting the states of Nevada and California, travelling from their home in Silicon Valley, CA, to spend some quality time together. Skye Smith and Joe Marchant are con artists who present as a couple who have been together over a decade and are visiting the beauty spot looking for their next mark. They soon set their sights on the successful and attractive Fromm’s. The couples seemingly meet by chance, and the Fromm’s have no idea that they have been carefully chosen to be victims of a blackmail scheme, and hit it off so well that Maggie and Brad invite the couple back to their stunning lakeside rental for dinner. Skye and Joe arrive at the cabin in a charcoal grey Mercedes van with Florida licence plates. The Fromm’s give them a tour of the spacious, luxurious house complete with beautiful views.

Unfortunately, they know Maggie’s dark secret and plan on blackmailing her to keep quiet about it. But soon everything explodes into a mess of deaths, infidelity, secrets and that's just for starters... This is a compulsive, addictive and thoroughly original story in which Grant keeps you firmly on your toes. The engaging mix of engrossing plot, detestable characters and sinister undertones made this is a superb read and there are times when the tension was palpable. It felt like an exciting and fresh domestic-based thriller and stood out from many other similar books. The story is full of intrigue as you wonder what exactly Maggie is hiding from Brad and how devastating it would be if it was revealed. The plot is superbly planned and multilayered with so much action and enough intense drama and an all-encompassing, complex page-turner complete with a tricksy blackmail scheme and plenty of surprises. I'm looking forward to Grant’s next book. Highly recommended.

Thank you Netgalley and Inkubator for allowing me to read this ARC. First of all a little quibble. I live in the "Silicon Valley and have never used that to =talk about where I live. I have never heard anyone else do that either!
I liked the story. A conman and his girlfriend find the perfect marks, or has he? The things that happened surprised me, as did the end. I didn't like any of the characters, so it was not easy to keep reading. I need at least one person to root for. I found the writing kind of difficult also. I don't know how to explain it, but all four have POV chapters and most of them were filled with what I would call inner dialogue. I prefer conversation over someone telling me what someone said.
I will still look for this author's books because I really liked the story!

The Other Couple is a fantastic psychological thriller.

It tells the story of Maggie and Brad who are on their annual holiday and meet another couple, Skye and Joe, and become instant friends. If only it was that innocent. Skye and Joe are con artists who have carefully selected Maggie and Brad to blackmail but that's when the twists start. As I was reading it I thought I knew where the story was heading but every time I thought I had it sussed there was another twist that sent me off in a totally different direction.
I absolutely loved this book and would definitely recommend.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkubator Books for my ARC.

The plot was too predictable and the characters not very likeable. The whole concept of making the kind of friends you invite to share your holiday h9me in less than a day was an anathma to me as holidays so predacious that the book got off to a bad start and never redeemed itself.

I read the synopsis for ‘The Other Couple’ and it certainly sounded like the sort of dark and twisty psychological thriller that I particularly enjoy. I had high hopes for this book and I wasn’t to be disappointed. Overall I did really enjoy reading ‘The Other Couple’ but more about that in a bit.
It took me next to no time to get into this book. In fact by the time I got to the end of the first book I knew that I was going to be in for a treat and that I would find it nigh on impossible to put the book down for any length of time. I can’t say that I especially liked any of the characters- in fact I disliked them all intensely- but that didn’t stop me from developing a need to know what happened to them. I thought that I had worked out what was going to happen to each character and although I wasn’t too far from the truth in some respects, in other respects I had the wrong end of the stick entirely. The pages turned increasingly quickly as I worked my way through the story. My desperation to find out how the story concluded grew and grew as I charged to the end of the story.
‘The Other Couple’ is well written. The author certainly knows how to grab your attention from the start and draw you into the story. Cathryn has one of those writing styles that is easy to get used to and easy to get along with. The chapters are voiced by the four main characters and tells the story from their perspective. The chapters interlink well and the story flows seamlessly. I found that I was so wrapped up in the story that I began to interact with the book as if the different characters could hear me. Yes, before anybody says anything I know this is fictional but I find if I enjoy a book as much as I enjoyed this one, I ‘live’ the story as if it were real. I did feel as though I was part of the story and that’s thanks to Cathryn’s very vivid and realistic storytelling. I found ‘The Other Couple’ to be a gripping read that kept my attention throughout.
In short, I really enjoyed reading ‘The Other Couple’ and I would recommend it to other readers. I will certainly be reading more of Cathryn’s work in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 4* out of 5*.

Two couples meet in a restaurant at Lake Tahoe and instantly become friendly with each other. One couple do not know that they have fallen in a dangerous spider net and that their lives will change forever.

Brilliant thriller that you can't put down! Masterful manipulations with characters and readers.

Skye and Joe are sitting in an expensive Lake Tahoe restaurant, enjoying the view and their drinks and discreetly observing the other diners. They're looking for a husband and wife who will fall for their con. Maggie and Brad fit the bill perfectly and before the evening is over they've invited Skye and Joe to share their lakeside rental house. I was quickly hooked by the plot and enjoyed the way that chapters alternate between the four main characters, but it got very repetitive very quickly and the plot began to drag. Brad wants time alone with his wife to work on their marriage. Maggie is glad to have their new friends as a buffer. Skye and Joe are just in it for the free vacation and whatever they can steal....and then things go wrong. I appreciated that each character had a distinct voice but the plot started to lose its grip on me about halfway through and there was a twist I just couldn't make myself accept.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC of Grant's newest novel. I wish I had better news because Grant is a favorite author of mine but this book really missed the boat for me.

Two couples, previously total strangers, meet and become quick friends on vacation in Lake Tahoe. One couple is out to scam the other and blackmail is easy to come by within their marriage. And that's pretty much the end of the drama. Very little happens, making this story drag for 400+ pages.

I'll still be looking forward to Grant's next work, but I won't be spreading this one around.

Thank you NetGalley for the complimentary ARC of this book. I enjoyed this book, however, it moved a little slow for me.

I love psychological thrillers and books where the author chooses to tell the story through alternative voices / perspectives. I feel like this method lets you better understand the motivates of each character. Granted, some of these characters are naïve, and some characters are deeply flawed, but they are intriguing. I found this to be an easy read that you can devour in a single evening. There are some great twists - especially in the epilogue. I love the premise of this book - a couple had a chance encounter with another couple over drinks and decides to invite them back to their amazing lakeside rental home for dinner. Would I ever do this ?- absolutely not! If I wanted to get to know someone better I would have invited them to join us for dinner later at the restaurant where we met- safe and neutral ground. I would not let them into my vacation home (Heck, I have good friends that I would think twice about inviting on vacation). The only logic is that this is a thriller. People do simple, dumb things in thriller/horror books and movies that end up having lasting consequences. In this case, a simple dinner invite extends to an invitation to stay for the week and leads to at least two people not surviving through the week. One of the best lines in the book. "Murder hadn't been the plan, but plans change." While I think the book is slow in parts and unrealistic about one major plot twist, this is still a book that I would feel comfortable recommending to friends who enjoy this genre. Disclaimer: This book will make you question the motives of strangers who are overly friendly and make you think twice about accepting new Facebook friend requests. Thank you to #netgalley and @Inkubator books for an advanced copy of this book.

I enjoyed the majority of this book. I love psychological thrillers. I did feel that there could have been a little more “story” to it. I feel like one of the characters that had a major storyline was just kind of “lost”. Other characters were given too much of the action. I just feel that this could have been a really great story and it ended up just being a good story. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for a chance to read and ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Firstly, BRAVO to Cathryn Grant for this phenomenal piece! I throughly adored this book, beginning to end. Also, thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful piece I was able to read. The book is from all 4 characters POV which is super interesting. I’ve never read a book formatted like that and I have to say, I absolutely LOVED it.

Skye & Joe are two people who have more secrets than most. They are con artist who meticulously strategize who their prey will be. They scope out individuals/couples, set the scene & then devour their prey, only this time..it’s not such a clean getaway like they’re used too. The targeted couple, end up inviting them to their rental lake house in Tahoe and that’s when things take a turn for the worse.

I thought the authors writing from each POV was extremely well done. That’s not something that’s easy. I wished for more depth at times BUT I did like how “short and sweet” it was. She gave you just enough to have you wanting more. You could somewhat guess what was going to happen however she had some twists and turns on what you expected to happen.

All in all, I definitely have recommended this book to my friends and cannot wait to hear what they think!

Again, thank you so much for the opportunity to read this phenomenal book!

I would give this book ten stars if I could! This is the best book I've read all year. I had my eyes glued to the page to make sure I didn't miss even one word. This psychological thriller is told from the POV of all four characters. While it seems like you would know more of what's going on, this book just keeps you guessing the entire time. It is so well written and will absolutely keep you up at night. It doesn't have the creepy feelings like you would get from a typical thriller where you're scared and want to lock your doors. This book is a true psychological thriller! I have already started recommending this book to everyone I knew. It's the first book I've read by Grant, but you can bet I'll be looking into more of their works!