It has been too long since I've gotten hooked into a thriller. The Golden Couple swooped in and captured my curiosity from the get-to. I had so many different guesses during the reading of this story, and while I ended up being right about the ending/twist, it didn't lesson my enjoyment of the story. The multiple perspectives between Avery, the therapist, and Marissa, the cheating wife, was well-done and provided complicated character development that made them realistic and engaging. This was a genuinely enjoyable read for me that I struggled to put down because I had to know the ending.

Why this isn't a five star for me is that some elements seemed very forced in their connection and unrealistic. This is my first book by these authors and I automatically put several of their others on hold so I can read more. 4.5 stars

Reading Between the Wines book review #14/135 for 2022:
Rating: 4 🍷 🍷 🍷 🍷
Book 🎧: The Golden Couple
Author: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
Genre: Women's Fiction
RELEASES on March 8, 2022!!!

Sipping thoughts: If this book was anything like The Wife Between Us, I knew I was in for a great treat. While The Golden Couple was no TWBU I really enjoyed it. The twists were on point and unexpected but not contrived. I like how the plot followed Avery Chambers- a fallen therapist and Marissa and Matthew Bishop, a married couple who goes to Avery to fix their marriage. Both characters have their own storyline as well as the combined storyline. Someone is lying within their groups and while reading to find out you will be in for a ride.

Cheers and thank you to @NetGalley and @MacmillanAudio for an advanced copy of @TheGoldenCouple

#TheGoldenCouple #GreerHendricks #SarahPekkanen #MacmillanAudio #NetGalley #advancedreadercopy #ARC #Kindle #Booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #nicoles_bookcellar #bookworm #bookdragon #booknerd #booklover #bookstagrammer #bookaholic #bookreview #bookreviewer #IHaveNoShelfControl #ReadingBetweenTheWines #fiction #thriller #suspense #mystery #MysteryAndThrillers #WomensFiction

Three parts, countless twists, one very shocking ending. I can always count in Hendricks and Pekkanen for keeping me not only on my toes but also up late at night trying to find out what happens next.

Marissa and Matthew are having marriage troubles and decide to see Avery for some help. Except Avery is not your typical therapist. She has a 10 step system to help. Will they make it to the end?

All I can say is wow. Top 10 so far for the year.

First off, thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan audio for letting me listen to this book in exchange for a review.

Now of course, I've read of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen books so I requested this one without hesitation as soon as I saw it. Their face paced psychological thrillers get me every time.

Marissa and Matthew have known each other since they were teenagers. They are looked upon as the Golden Couple until Marissa makes an appointment with Avery, a therapist with unconventional methods, and admits to cheating on Matthew. Avery requests 10 sessions with the couple but she learns very early that Marissa is not telling the whole truth and Matthew has his own secrets.

I'm sure this reads differently that hearing it but I enjoyed it.

This author duo has a golden streak going. Their ability to hoodwink me continues into this fourth title. Our narrators are Marissa and Avery. Listening to title on audio really brought them to life with great casting for the two distinct voices. I'll start with Avery -- the therapist with unconventional regimens and without a license to boot. Early on she comments on how much easier it is to solve other people's problems than it is to solve her own. Very telling. Avery has developed a ten session treatment with each visit having a title. The first is Confession. Marissa and Matthew begin seeing Avery to repair their marriage. They walk in looking like the golden couple that they are. That gold veneer is beginning to flake and a confession during that first session causes a massive crack. Is Marissa the sweet wife and mother she projects? And Matthew -- is he really 100% committed to following Avery's program? Chapter after chapter we are given clues and red herrings. Who can we trust? Will there be a happy ever after for The Golden Couple?

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an audio ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A thrilling ride that would be great for fans of A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight. I’m not sure how I feel about the ending but I stayed up til 3am to get there!

I don’t think there’s a more polarizing duo writing in the thriller genre than Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, with every one of their releases meeting an incredibly wide range of responses. As such, I've always wanted to get around to picking up one of their works, and the upcoming 2022 release The Golden Couple seemed as good as any to start with. It’s got friction between a seemingly idyllic couple and a shady therapist with dubiously legal treatment methods as its premise. All in all, a fun setup for a domestic thriller. Unfortunately, this premise doesn’t leave a lot of room for the high stakes you’d expect from the genre - other than a few clunky exposition dumps around a murdered childhood friend of the wife Marissa and red herring sideplot attached to the therapist Avery.

I wanted this thriller to up the stakes before the climax where things escalated so quickly the big reveal felt almost cartoonishly villainish. Domestic thrillers often toe the line between spending too much time in PTA meetings and too much time with the main character playing detective, and I think this one leans more heavily into the former. Marissa is in a constant cycle of following her son to extracurriculars and re-arranging luxury goods in the boutique she runs. And while that’s perfectly fine for a character being marketed as “the perfect wife,” it made her chapters somewhat dry in comparison to her therapist Avery.

What this book lacks in pacing it at least makes up for in originality. Having such a morally grey, emotionally disconnected character like Avery trying to save this marriage was truly a fascinating dynamic to watch play out. I loved Avery’s investigation because it was a game of strategy that while not outright illegal, would most definitely be questioned by anyone wanting to hire her in any professional capacity. I will say her side plot dealing with a corporation on the hunt for a whistleblower that was one of her former clients was a bit convoluted. But it at least gave her some complicated motivations as she splits her time between trying to assist Marissa and Mathew in resolving their marriage troubles while her own life is potentially threatened.

This book definitely didn’t dissuade me from wanting to check out more of this author duo’s works, but it wasn’t the knockout thriller I had hoped for. Overall, if the pacing had been tightened up and the seemingly incongruous flashbacks not as jarringly noticeable as setting up for what was supposed to be an off-the-wall reveal, I think this would have been a 4-star read. In the end, I’m left with a reading experience that will stick with me for originality despite the technical aspects of the storytelling itself that didn’t fully work for me.

Thank you to the publisher Macmillan Audio for providing an audiobook ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

This book really fits into the psychological/domestic drama that this writing duo has done in the past. This book was fine. I didn't dread picking it up, I didn't happily anticipate looking it up. The narrator was fine, I didn't love her, I didn't hate her. I did speed her up, because there were parts of this book that were kind of slow (i.e., the middle). There are a lot of extra words in the story - sometimes that's a little frustrating when listening. An example - there was a statement that there was a lot of crime in Marissa and Matt's neighborhood. Then is said that there was a robbery at the pharmacy - I understood that to be the neighborhood pharmacy, but the text went on to tell me that, and then said it was where Marissa filled her prescriptions and got vitamins. Obviously, it was her neighborhood pharmacy. There were a lot of characters, I didn't like the golden couple, I liked Avery just fine, and I had little feeling for the numerous other characters. Avery would make a good recurring character. I finished the book, there were plenty of red herrings, and I was surprised by the ending. 3 is a fine rating. It means I liked the book (as per goodreads rating standards)

*I’m reviewing the audiobook version of this book. The narrators did a great job.*

I enjoyed this book. It’s a fast paced thriller told by 2 different narrators, Avery the therapist and Marissa the client. Avery is a therapist who promises to fix you in 10 sessions. If she feels like you can’t or won’t benefit from her chosen questionable method of “fixing” clients, then she won’t take you on. Her newest client is Marissa and her husband, Matthew. Marissa has come to Avery to drop a bomb on her husband (she had an affair) and puts her faith in Avery to help her save her marriage. As the book unfolds, there are secrets that are still being kept, mysterious threats, and an intricate weaving of how everyone is involved and the roles they play. I have only read 1 other book by these authors, The Wife Between Us, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It kept me on my toes! The Golden Couple did so at times, but I found I was able to guess more of the secrets/lies in this book. And while I wanted to know the conclusion and how everything was connected, I wasn’t that interested in the actual characters themselves. Overall I thought this was a good psychological thriller!

Thank you to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press & Macmillan Audio for the ARC!

Marissa and Matthew Bishop are the "golden couple" that many view with envy: looks, brains, success and an adorable 8 year old son as well. Privately, all is not "golden" and something is amiss within their marriage but, Marissa is desperate to fix things. She seeks out a couple's therapist named Avery Chambers who is known to use some unethical tactics. Well, that is how she lost her license but, some clients continue to rave about her amazing results. She employees a unique Ten Step program which turns out to be somewhat unorthodox to saw the least and her methods at times were even jaw dropping at times.

Can this marriage be saved? What brought the"Golden Couple" to seek therapy? Who can you trust in this story?

This audio book hooked me immediately: narrated by Marin Ireland and Karissa Vacker who did an excellent job. The story is told from the POV of Avery, the therapist and Marissa, the "golden wife" and even though I wasn't sure I could trust either one them at times, I was drawn to each of them for different reasons - Marissa seemed to want to mend her marriage and Avery, well, she adopted an abused pit bull:) These women do have their secrets as does "golden husband" Matthew. There were several secondary characters as well that added suspicion to the story.

I found the story engaging even if it did fizzle out a bit after a while. There were several twists and a somewhat unexpected climax as well. I enjoyed the team of authors in the past and was happy I had a chance to try this one.

Rating - 4/5 stars

https://bibliophilebythesea.blogspot.com/2022/02/book-review-golden-couple-greer.html

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for allowing me to read this book in advance!

Avery takes on the responsibility of treating Matthew and Marissa Bishop. She feels as if there’s something more deep that’s troubling their marriage. She has a unique approach to treating her clients. Will her method work? Will this golden couple open up and reveal their secrets?

This physiological thriller had me turning pages! It was a fast read with multiple POV. There were so many layers filled with mystery and deceit, that you simply couldn’t stop listening to this audiobook. My favorite character was definitely Avery. She is flawed in so many ways, yet she has a slew of patients asking to treat them. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to my friends who are looking for a fast- paced psychological thriller.

What a well paced and twisty novel. We have an unconventional counselor who agrees to work with a couple to help them recover from an infidelity. Having read two other books by these authors, I feel like their writing is more refined here and this book hits a good stride.

The characters were all distinct and the descriptions were rich enough to help the reader print a vivid picture.

The ending was a tiny bit hard to follow and I found myself having to go back to certain passages but everything checks out!

All in all a good read and I'm happy I got access to this ARC from NetGalley!

Avery Chambers is a former therapist who fixes you in a 10 sessions, who lost her license to practice because of her unconventional methods. Enter Marissa and Mathew Bishop, the golden couple, who present to her post infidelity by Marissa, setting a collision course of hidden secrets, plot twists, and crossing paths. The Golden Couple was a great listen with good narration and likable characters. There were things along the way that didn’t seem to fit the story, almost as if there were two separate storylines being told together, but it did all come together in the end. I have yet to encounter a book by these authors that I didn’t enjoy engaging with, trying to figure out the plot, while thoroughly enjoying the story. This audio file was provided by Macmillian Audio and St. Martin’s Press in return for an honest review. #NetGalley #JennReviews #ReadingEscape #TheGoldenCouple

The Golden Couple A solid 4.5 star book from a the top 10 writing duo of Hendricks and Pekkanen. Since this dynamic duo is a favorite of mine, I was super excited for the opportunity to listen to and give feedback on their newest thriller, The Golden Couple. A good group of narrators can obviously make or break an audio book and I am happy to say that the narrator was excellent for this book! I enjoyed her production of both male and female characters and it was easy to tell the characters apart.
The storyline and plot of The Golden Couple was also unique, making it it a very enjoyable read. I am a frequent reader of suspense thrillers but this one kept me guessing right up until the end. 4.5 solid stars

STOP WHAT YOU’RE DOING AND READ THIS BOOK. Seriously, so so good! After loving this author duo’s first two books (The Wife Between Us and An Anonymous Girl) and being disappointed with their 3rd book (You Are Not Alone), I didn’t know what to expect with The Golden Couple. I clearly had nothing to worry about, because the story was phenomenal! I really had no idea where the plot was going until it got there, which is very rare for a thriller snob like myself! The narration was also FANTASTIC from both sides. Easy 5 stars from me! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for my advanced audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I didn’t read the summary or reviews. I didn’t go into it with the need to solve the mystery before the reveal. I just read it as it was written only knowing it was a thriller. And boy was it FUN! I took things at face value. I loved it! Binge read! Easy & quick! Entertaining psychological mystery/thriller. I loved it!

Read on if you need a little incentive.

A marriage therapist who’s claim to fame is fixing couples in 10 visits. A perfect couple who’s one moment of infidelity has their relationship in peril. BUT they’re perfect.

The story flips between 2 character’s POV and 2 timelines. A page turner.

Thank you NetGalley & Macmillan Audio for supplying the Advance Reader Copy. I’ve already bought the book.

Publication date - Feb 22, 2022

Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanan are becoming household names lately! I was excited to listen to their newest book, The Golden Couple and want to thank @macmillan.audio and @netgalley for the early copy!

I always think of their books as popcorn thrillers/contemporary fiction; I devour them but they’re never too groundbreaking or mind blowing for me personally. I enjoy them nonetheless, and the same goes for The Golden Couple. Actually, I think I might have enjoyed this one more than the others!

I loved the concept: if unconventional therapist Avery Chambers can’t fix your problems in 10 sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. Marissa and her husband turn to her after Marissa cheats. The secrets don’t stop at the affair though, and Avery is determined to air out all of their secrets so they can heal.

Avery’s 10 steps took us on quite the ride and threw us for quite a loop. The “bad guy” wasn’t a huge surprise to me but I really enjoyed the route we took to get there! There was a decent core cast of characters to follow and unravel their inner workings along the way.

I was pleasantly surprised with the way the women handled things in this novel. There’s a few women that started with some initial cattiness but ended up being great allies to one another when I could have seen things going in a very different direction.

The narrators, Karissa Vacker and Marin Ireland, were both phenomenal and easy to follow along with. Their narrator made me want to keep listening and made it easy to speed up the audio and finish quickly!

I received an audio copy of The Golden Couple from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

In my opinion The Golden Couple is your typical psychological thriller. Husband, wife, childhood friend and therapist in a convoluted dance. The story is easy to follow and the culprit easy to guess.

I think the physician and digital book would be better than the audio. The female narrator was always frantic. The male was flat.

I give this audio book 2 stars. I was generous with my stars.

I absolutely LOVE this writing duo! All of their books are amazing and The Golden Couple is no exception!

This is a bit of a slower burn, character-driven psychological thriller and those are my fave!!

If you like short chapters and entertaining characters who all have something to hide, I highly recommend this one! This one also has a therapist aspect which I always enjoy in my thrillers as well.

Hendricks ans Pekannen always a deliver a wild and fun ride. Great stories with fantastic endings … You can’t go wrong with their books!

Avery Chambers is a therapist, or at least she was until she lost her license due to her unorthodox methods. Now only able to consider herself a consultant, she has no shortage of work. She guarantees to fix her clients in ten sessions, and has been extremely successful.

Marissa Bishop was referred to Avery through a friend and is desperate for her help. Avery and her husband, Matthew, are successful, wealthy, and happy- The Golden Couple. Despite this, Marissa ends up cheating one night. She loves her husband, her son, and believes Avery can be the one to repair them.

This is the first novel I’ve read from Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen, but it most certainly won’t be my last. It was a book full of secrets and I devoured each one while these authors took me through many twists and turns. I’m often not a fan of slow burn character-driven thrillers, as they can be tough to keep my interest, but this was a great example of how it can be done right. Avery and Marissa were such intriguing characters and the alternating chapters between their POVs left me wanting to know more.

While I was able to guess some of the twists, I think I may have just gotten lucky. I was never entirely sure and often found myself second guessing. The book also had several mysterious side characters that made for multiple possible outcomes.

I am grateful to have been given the audiobook along with an ecopy, and it was very well done. There is a separate narrator for Avery and Marissa, and each really brought the character the life. If you enjoy audiobooks, this one won’t disappoint!

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Macmillan Audio, and NetGalley for my advance copies in exchange for an honest review.