Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica, the set up is intriguing, Lily and Nina are professional colleagues and friends. Their husbands are acquaintances who have met several times, but at the beginning of the novel Nina's husband, Jake is missing. Is he taking some time for himself after an argument he had with Nina or is there more to his disappearance? As Nina tries to piece together what happened to her husband, Lily and her husband, Christian are trying to cover up their involvement. The whole picture is not clear and the evidence against Lily seems to be stacking up. This thriller read quickly, but the reveals came slow. The character's were completely unlikeable. They were terrible friends/partners and for well educated individuals they made some very shady decisions. This was my first Mary Kubica book to read and I am not sure I will read any of her other works. I will not be recommending this to the masses, but if you need something to fly through this will do the trick. It will not stick with you or make you think but it will give you some low stakes entertainment for a bit. Thanks to Cindy Barnett and Netgalley for allowing me read this egalley before publication. I do plan on attending an author event for this book and maybe I will have more appreciation for it after hearing her perspective.

First book of Netgalley November was just... meh... Local Woman Missing by Mary Kubica is one of my all time favorite thrillers, so this one just totally and utterly pales in comparison. Not to sound too harsh, but is this even the same author? The writing was middle grade at best -- continuous simple sentences, no varied sentence structure, weak verbs and vocab, and to top it off, the thrill aspect wasn't exciting.

Betrayal comes in many forms: unfaithfulness, treachery, and infidelity. In her latest novel, Kubica imposes every insidious one on passive, unassuming Nina Hayes.

When her husband Jake never returns home, Nina assumes he has decided to end or, at the very least, suspend their decaying marriage. But little does she know, her fellow schoolteacher and friend, Lily Scott, is ninety-percent certain Jake’s next destination is the county morgue.

Meanwhile, Lily’s husband, Christian—convinced Lily has killed Jake in self-defense—is on the offense, determined to protect his wife from incarceration and a stress-induced miscarriage, regardless of the personal risk or consequences.

Kubica ramps up the action and suspense when the authorities discover Jake’s corpse. Upon learning the cause of death, Lily and Christian realize someone else killed Jake and it wasn’t an accident or a case of self-preservation.

A veteran author, Kubica is quite proficient in the often-underappreciated art of skillful deception. I doubt many readers will see that nice little twist coming near the end. Although I think more strongly delineated characters would have benefited the novel, as well as a more satisfying conclusion, I highly recommend JUST THE NICEST COUPLE to both cozy mystery fans and those with a penchant toward psychological thrillers. My gratitude to Mary Kubica, Park Row, and NetGalley for the ARC.

Mary Kubica book are either a hit or a miss. This was a miss. The writing was subpar, with somethings repeated for no reason. It was a slow moving book and then BAM the ending was rushed. Certain story lines never developed like the other English teachers part. What was the purpose? Was it just to throw another person who could have done it into the mix? Something was missing from this one.

I have enjoyed other books from this author but for some reason I just could not get into this one. I may go back and give it another try. I just need to read something in between.

I'm pretty sure I have not read this author before, but she has a large fan-base. Those that are long-time fans have reviews that are mixed, quite a few feeling this title was not up to her usual standards. Being new to me, I had no point of comparison, and I thought it was pretty good. I was a bit surprised by how dark this one got, especially since the main characters seem like Donnie and Marie (but not really, because they are married and not quite that wholesome!). But it was good. A fast read that keeps you turning pages. Thank you NetGalley and publishers or providing a digital ARC for review.

I really wanted to like this one because it sounds right up my alley, but I found myself frustrated while reading it instead of invested. The writing style and I didn’t mesh well and it ruined the experience for me entirely. There was little to no opportunity to infer anything - all details were repeated 10 times over to ensure you understood as a reader and it felt like beating a dead horse. The bones/structure of the plot was great but the execution really put a damper on it for me.

Fabulous book that will keep you guessing until the very end. Nice and twisty and enjoyable I will recommend it far and wide.

I enjoyed this new book by Mary Kubica, and it definitely kept me interested. However, I felt like some parts of the story line were a bit far-fetched for my liking. I kept wondering if people actually do these things that the characters did. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

This was a DNF for me. I never DNF books but this one the writing felt a bit off. I love mystery/thriller and it felt short for me. It felt like a narrative of a script and not a book. I normally love her writing.

I enjoyed Kubica’s latest novel, Local Woman Missing, so I was excited to hear that she was coming out with a new one. This one started off a little slow and took a while for me to get into it, but the twists and deceit from each character made it enjoyable.

Domestic suspense thrillers are one of my favorites to read and this was an entertaining one. I do wish the pacing was a little faster, but all in all, a good one.

Thank you to Netgalley, Harlequin Trade Publishing, and Mary Kubica for the gifted ARC.

3.5 ⭐️ (Rounded down to 3)

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Can you ever go wrong with Mary?!! Really enjoyed this book and appreciated the twist plot at the end!
Thank you!

I loved the dual timelines and POV, it kept me on my toes. The narrations seemed skewed and unreliable at best, which made for a fun time playing detective!

4.5 rounded up
Great characters and well written story. Nicely paced andceasy to follow. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Friends, husbands, a sick mom, a stalker, an affair, and a murder--not in that exact order. Interesting plot.

BOOK REVIEW: JUST THE NICEST COUPLE

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

JUST THE NICEST COUPLE is about two couples - Nina and Jake and Christian and Lily. Nina and Lily are friends who work at the same school and all is well until Jake goes missing. Nina thinks he may just be taking space since they had a big argument, but then Lily shares with her husband that she may know more about Jake’s disappearance…

I LOVED Kubica’s last novel - Local Woman Missing - so I couldn’t wait to read this one!! THE NICEST COUPLE was a slow build and felt repetitive at times. Overall, I wish the pacing was faster in this one and that the twist was a bit more shocking.

If you love domestic suspense novels, I’d say pick this one up but if you’ve never read a Kubica novel, start with Local Woman Missing! Looking forward to seeing what she writes next!

CW: infertility

I enjoyed that this book made the reader believe the mystery was mostly solved from the beginning, and yet there was a really good twist lying in wait One thing that could improve would be the storyline between Ryan and Nina. It was incomplete and left the reader with so many questions. This book was fast-paced and plot rich, which makes for a quick read and is what I have come to expect from Mary Kubica.

Thank you, NetGalley, for an advanced copy of this novel. Just the Nicest Couple started strong. Two colleagues and friends, teach at the same school. One of them has a run-in with the other's husband and the story evolves. There are some twists along the way, but the ending seemed rushed. Still entertaining to read!

What I love about Mary Kubica’s books is that they are tight thrillers that read quickly. The title “Just the Nicest Couple” sets you up that there’s something dark lurking around. I may have stayed up too late reading this book. Thank you for another great thriller.

Thank you @netgalley and Park Row for this ARC to be published on 1/10/23.

Themes: 👥🗣 dual pov, 👩‍❤️‍👨🏡🔪

My feelings: 😬🫣🫡😲🤗

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