Unfortunately for me this book was a disappointment. It wasn't not written at the same level of the other books and I forgot what it was about almost immediately after reading. I will still read more from the author but the characters were bland and the plot boring and predictable.

Good storyline… complex characters….. nice twist at the end…..I will be telling people to read this book!

I have read all eight of Mary Kubica’s thrillers, and they are either a big hit or a complete miss. Unfortunately, Just The Nicest Couple falls into the latter category.

So what happened?

The writing. Kubica uses very short staccato sentences. It reads like this. Is it bothering you? How about reading 320 pages? Just. Like. This.

The uninspired tired plot. I read a lot of domestic suspense novels and this book basically spit out all of the usual devices. A character has macular degeneration of her eyesight, so conveniently cannot see the action unfold. Lily is a damsel in distress cliche and Christian is her knight in shining armor.

The predictability. I guessed every single twist light years before the characters did. Haven’t I read this story before???

The slow burn. Nothing happens until the last 50 pages. The plot unfolds at an excruciatingly slow pace.

Believability. The plot is OTT and had me rolling my eyes many times.

All that being said, I am a fan of Kubica and love to read thrillers written by fellow Chicagoans. I am looking forward to reading her next thriller and hope it will deliver a hit!

2.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 1/10/23

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing-Park Row for the ARC of Just the Nicest Couple in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. Unfortunately, this book was not good. Plot sounded promising, but the characters were one-dimensional and the writing was just bad.

Here we have a fascinating story of secrets and lies, and it becomes clear early on: trust no one; nothing is as it seems. This one is unnerving and tense and kept me flipping the pages late into the night. It’s a marvelously suspenseful domestic thriller, and fans of Mary Kubica will devour it. Well done!

My thanks to @parkrowbooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before its publication date.

This is a domestic thriller that has the potential to be an explosive juicy thriller, but unfortunately it starts off strong but fizzled out by the middle. The major twist was predictable and the ending left me feeling underwhelmed. I love Kubica’s previous books, specifically LOCAL WOMAN MISSING, but unfortunately this book just did not do it for me and I was rather disappointed.

👍🏻𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝐿𝒾𝓀𝑒𝒹:

-The beginning started off strong
-I loved that I was left questioning all of the characters
-The book had me invested
-The multiple POVs
-A quick & easy read
-Lots of repetition


👎🏻𝒲𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝐼 𝒟𝒾𝓈𝓁𝒾𝓀𝑒𝒹:

-The ending left me feeling disappointed
-This one fizzled out in the middle
-The book was written a bit oddly and I was put off by it
-Slow moving
-Flat, dull, and unlikeable characters

Two couples, two close friends, one missing husband…

Two young couples who seem to have it all. Underneath it all, everyone has secrets, and these couples are no exception. When one husband goes missing and another wife is not quite certain that she is to blame, things quickly spiral out of control.

The "Queen of Suspense", Mary Kubica brings the twists, turns, pacing and alternate points of view to keep your turning pages right up to the end.

5 enthusiastic stars!

I don't even know what to say about this one. Just when I thought, Local Woman Missing might have been my favorite Mary Kubic book, here she goes writing Just the Nicest Couple.
I loved the story, and the twist took me by Suprise. I was defiantly not expecting where this was going.
I would recommend this to anyone who love a quick rad with a surprising twist.

I liked that this book was not another missing wife troupe but I found parts of it to be too fantastical to be believable. The book was never told from the wife's perspective and while we later learn there is a reason for that, I did not find the reason compelling enough to make the character realistic. To me it seemed obvious that she was hiding something, I just wasn't sure what she was hiding.

I am having a tough time deciding how I feel about this book. The twist at the end was fantastic. I do feel like it took a long time to get there. Mary Kubica grabbed my attention from the first chapter. I ripped through the first half at breakneck speed and toward the middle I slowed down to a leisurely walk. Until the end where I sped up again. I did not fall in love with any of the characters, I feel as though I did not know enough about them. Some had secrets that were waiting to explode at just the right moment. Tying the story together for an astonishing ending.

Nina's husband has not come home. He has threatened that he is going to leave her, but Nina does not believe it. Until the night he does not. As the night turns into days and there is still no word from him. Nina begins to imagine the worse. Her friend Lily believes she is the last to see him, but she cannot tell Nina. But the question is why can she not tell her?

How well do you know people? Would you swear that your friends, your wife, your husband are exactly who you think they are. Or is there more to each and every one of us? Thank you to Mary Kubica and Park Row for my gifted copy.

I will be withholding my review until Harper gives their Harper Collins union workers a fair contract. Thank you again for the copy.

Another great thriller from Mary Kubica! I enjoyed this book because it was relatable to me. Two of the main characters are teachers and the details about their jobs and schools were right on. This book was a page turner from the very beginning and I didn't want to put it down. I had two or three theories as to "whodunnit" and none of my guesses were correct! There were a few heart pounding moments while reading as well.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Just when I thought I knew exactly what was going on I got "Mary Kubica-ed" again!

Great book with excellent writing, realistic dialogue and relatable characters.

Thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy. It is my pleasure to write an honest review.

Just the Nicest Couple is a story about a missing man. The story follows the narratives of his wife as well as his wife’s best friend’s husband.

I do enjoy have two narratives to read. I feel like it really added to the story to be able to see two perspectives. I was interested from the first chapter to see what would become of these people. However, with this being a thriller, I knew that the story wouldn’t be what it appeared. I really didn’t guess the ending until I was really close to the end. It was plausible, but also not easily guessed. That is something that I truly enjoy about thrillers.

I do feel like some loose ends of the story were never tied up. I would be interested to know the final story that the police put together. I’m also interested in what happened with Ryan. He was mentioned quite a few times in the story, but by the end, the reader never truly knows his role in the story. I could see that becoming some sort of sequel if Mary Kubica were to go that route.

I also wish that we could have gotten a prologue or something from Jake’s perspective. What were his final dying thoughts?

Overall, I really liked this story. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

You all know that domestic thrillers are my jam, so I was happy to see that Mary Kubica gives her fans a little treat in her upcoming thriller, Just the Nicest Couple. It’s centered around TWO couples, so the reader gets a peek behind closed doors X2! Double the trouble, and the fun! I really appreciate how Kubica flips the script in this one. Usually it’s the woman in harm’s way. She’s either being stalked, attacked, gone missing, or dead. This time around, the man doesn’t come home, and I must admit that it’s a refreshing turn of events. In true Kubica form, this one checked SO many of my boxes. It’s suspenseful, twisty, mysterious, and even a little sexy. With multiple POVs, short chapters, and sketchy characters that you love to hate, you’ll fly right through this book in no time at all. If you want an entertaining and nail-biting read, then grab a copy of Just the Nicest Couple on January 10th! It gets 4/5 stars from me!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The novel centers around two of the “nicest” couples, Jake and Nina and Christian and Lily. The story is narrated by Christian and Nina. Lily and Nina teach together at the local high school. Christian, a market analyst, arrives home one night to find Lily scared and upset. She is pregnant after a several miscarriages and her behavior is unsettling for her husband. The same night, Jake, a dedicated neurosurgeon, fails to return home after a fight with Nina. Lily tells her husband about an encounter with Jake at a local nature preserve. After talking with Nina, Lily believes she may have been the last person to see him.

This book got off to a slooooow start. The only thing that really happen for the first half of the book is Jake’s disappearance.

The second half picks up with some good twists and turns.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5181565608

Mary Kubica is an auto buy, go to, never fail author for me. I started reading her years ago, and couldn’t stop. Now I scramble to get her books first, before they go live, so I can feel like I’m her number one fan and gloat. lol no regrets. With Just The Nicest Couple, I sent out requests the minute she posted it’s 2023 release date. I would have bribed, and I did beg, to get it…
Is it everything I thought it would be? Yup. Mary Kubica is that good. I loved the characters in this book, the pace of it, and the little bombs that blow up through out it. It’s all Domestic Suspense, that’s totally thrilling and captivating. I read it very quickly, and could not put it down.
Kubica is so amazing at telling the woman’s point of view in her books, and really gets you emotionally attached to her female protagonist. I’ve come to expect this from her. So imagine my surprise when one of the main narratives in this book is a male perspective, the husband. Christian is not your typical crappy husband found in a thriller geared toward women readers. He is supportive, and will stop at nothing to protect his wife. It was refreshing and added extra intrigue to the story. I actually found myself routing for him instead of the other female narrative.
Duel narratives make this story. Both of them are victims of a sort, and are dealing with aftermath of their spouse’s trauma. There is a lot of paranoia and creeping suspense, giving that feeling that someone is watching them. You will be on the edge of your seat while reading it.

Oh and that last twist….yup… it was perfect.

suspenseful and surprising! I thought I had it figured out, but there were twists I didn't anticipate!

3.5 rounded up.
Let me start by saying that Local Woman Missing was such a well written book from last year - one of my favorite thrillers. I was so excited about this one, as I have come to recognize Mary Kubica as a thriller queen. That being said.
The writing in this started off PAINFULLLLLL. Choppy sentences. Extra sentences in spots that did not really make sense. I am hoping that the final version of this book is run through again, because this book could have been 20 pages shorter by just taking these random phrases out. It was hard to get through, as it felt scattered.
Over all, enjoyable. I wanted to pick it up and see where it went. I was interested in the couple dynamic, as well as the mother daughter dynamic. I wish the tracking device plot was more sinister or plotted out, and while I understand the ending, I would have loved to see a different end to this.
Over all, plot twists were good, it moved quickly. I enjoyed it & I will continue to read Kubica, but it was not my favorite read of the year.

You guys, Just the Nicest Couple was the best book. Lily and Christian are a middle-ish class couple living slightly above their means. She's a teacher and he's got a corporate job, but they sacrificed a lot for their dream house, a reasonable home with an amazing waterfront view. Their biggest wish is to start a family and they've had a lot of trouble doing just that. But just as the book starts, Lily falls pregnant.

Nina, a friend who Lily met because they teach together, lives a very different life. Her husband, Jake, is hugely successful and they have a ton of money. Still, the couples are friendly, getting together for dinner or drinks at each other's houses a couple times a year. Pretty innocent, right?

We all know there is usually far more going on under the surface. After an altercation between Lily and Jake in the woods, Jake has gone missing. Lily is terrified even though she acted in self-defense and Christian is even more terrified because he doesn't want to lost his perfect life. Throw in the fact that Nina and Jake were somewhat estranged due to the time she has been spending with her ailing mother and it all sets the scene for a rapidly developing thriller.

Kubica is truly the Queen of Suspense and her newest, Just the Nicest Couple, is not to be missed. Special thanks to Netgalley and Harlequin Trade publishing for an advanced e-galley in exchange for my honest review. This one is out January 10. Run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore.