Me and Will. Will and Me. A perfect match. He said he would always be there for me, but it’s been a year since he drained his coffee, walked out the front door and vanished. Did he leave me? Or did something terrible happen? I’m scared someone finally found out about what happened on the drive home that night… I lie awake at night trawling the internet for rental properties, desperate for an … escape. Until I see my husband’s gorgeous face smiling back at me from a photograph on the fireplace in someone else’s home, and something inside of me snaps. At the house, I find no trace of him and the woman who lives there has no idea who I am. But I’m certain she’s hiding something behind the locked door upstairs. I know that if I want answers, I have to stay. You might think that what’s inside that room is the answer to all my questions and the end of all my pain. But it’s only the beginning… Nail-biting and completely gripping, The Happy Couple will make you question how well you really know the ones you love. Perfect reading for anyone who adored by The Wife Between Us, The Girl on The Train or Gone Girl. Readers are loving The Happy Couple:‘I DEVOURED this book. I finished with my mouth hanging wide open. What did I just read? There were so many twists that you just couldn’t even keep up at times. It was a thrilling rollercoaster ride… read it entirely in one sitting.’ Goodreads reviewer‘OH MY LIFE! This book had me captivated from the very first page!… I LOVED THIS BOOK! There are some huge shocks and twists which will have you gasping!… Clever, captivating, devious, exciting and non-stop. I highly recommend this book!’ The Book Reviewing Mum Blog, 5 stars‘I was hanging by the edge of my seat then BAM. Surprise! OMG what an ending!!! I loved, loved, loved it!’ Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars‘OMG!… Hits you between the eyes with the most perfectly placed plot twist that had never even crossed your mind! You certainly won’t see where this one is going so just buckle up and enjoy the ride… A BRILLIANT page-turner! It has an incredibly satisfying ending that sent shivers down my spine AND an exquisite twist that made my heart sing! Loved, loved, LOVED it!’ My Chestnut Reading Tree, 5 stars
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3.5* Missing Stars
I was so excited to read this story after reading the blurb of a husband gone missing without a trace and then him suddenly appearing in a photo on a fireplace mantel in a rental property. I dived into the book full of intrigue, but the first half was very slow and not too exciting at all. I struggled with Jo’s constant inner monologue and her hallucinations of him around her all the time. I was happy when there were a few twists and turns which presented themselves towards the end of the book and this made for an exciting more enjoyable read.
Jo & Will have been married for several years. He is a part time actor & a full time school teacher. Jo is a seamstress in business with a friend. Jo & Will have been trying, unsuccessfully, to get pregnant & the struggle is beginning to strain their marriage. When Will disappears one day, mysteriously & with no warning, Jo is beside herself with fear & loneliness. Police are unable to locate Will or even determine what may have happened to him. After an entire year without Will, or any information regarding his disappearance, Jo decides to take on a house sitting job in another part of the country. Things go down & up & down again from here for Jo.
This was an exceptionally riveting read. I do not recall the last time I read a book that had me so gripped by fear, sadness & suspicion, not to mention downright curiosity – where the heck is Will anyway? The characters & the general atmosphere of the story were scarily well done. The ending is completely shocking & I don’t think anyone reading this will see it coming.
Read this book – I very strongly recommend it.
Thank you to Netgalley, the author Samantha Hayes, and the publisher Bookouture for granting my request to read this excellent thrill ride of a book. This is my honest opinion.
Jo’s husband, Will, a teacher and actor, has been missing for a year now. Jo’s co-owns a sewing shop called Sew Perfect. This is where she met Will when she was repairing his costume for a show.
The pain of missing Will has worn Jo down and her best friend, Louise, wants her to take a holiday and suggests house sitting. While searching pictures of properties, she comes across one that shows a picture of Will on the mantlepiece. Determined to check this out, she applies to housesit and is approved.
When she arrives, the picture is no longer on the mantlepiece. Jo finds walking the dog to be therapeutic for her. A neighbor man is quite friendly and encourages her to get out to the local pub for quiz night. But, what happened to the photo and why does she feel like she sees Will standing in the same room she is in? Is she hallucinating? In addition, why does she continue to have strange dreams that she can’t figure out? Just when you think you’ve figured it all out, you find that you are totally wrong.
This book started to irritate me at times and I wanted to give Jo a swift kick and ask her how stupid she could have been to get involved with Will in the first place. But when we finally approach the ending of the book, it all rushes into place where it all makes sense. While it is an unusual plot, I can’t help but wish the book had not been as long.
Copy provided by NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
An interesting glimpse into the life of a woman who thought she had it all. A husband to love her, hopefully a baby soon, a job she loved and friends and family. Until the day her husband disappears without out a trace. Almost a year of grieving, wondering, the unknown worse than the knowing. Is he head? Did he leave? When a strange glimpse of him catches her eye in a photograph her path is already set. She cannot let it go. She cannot unsee it. Wether he left her for another woman or not, she will find out. No matter the consequences.
There’s no much I can say about this book because I hate doing reviews below or 3 stars, but as promised this one looks at the beginning I just can’t get all caught in the story and characters. Jo talking to Will all the time get me a little anxious and just want to find out what happened to him, but so I can finish the book and move on. The ending was way to fast wrapping and explaining everything, and sorry but I’m personally hate the final part about louise, the baby and Jo, after all the betrayal Jo taking care of the consequences of that is just beyond my understanding, I really hate Louise because she’s a despicable person and give up what she should keep and protect with her life just give me more reason to totally dislike her.
In conclusion, the book started very promising, but was just that, promising but loosing me as I keep reading, and with the end totally lost me.
Thanks to Netgalley for providing an ARC, this is my honest review.
3.5 Stars
I typically really love Samantha Hayes books so I was super stoked to receive an e-ARC of The Happy Couple. I mean, did you read that synopsis? It sounds deliciously gripping!
The story is told in third person, however, when we are taken back to the past as Jo remembers times with Will, it’s told in first person. This format worked for me, but it might be irksome or confusing to some. The story starts a little slow, but it has steady growth and had me turning pages a faster as the story progressed. The end might not have been as shocking as it could have been, but there were still enough twists to keep me second guessing myself and that’s always fun!
I liked how I could relate to Jo and her absolute clumsiness. I really liked Simon and Suzanne and, of course, the addition of animals is never a bad thing for me. She talks to herself A LOT. I don’t know if that’s a bad thing or not? I’m sure it will drive some readers absolutely nuts. For me, it just made her even more relatable since I am always talking to myself, and just as she did, I often blurt out things and don’t even realize it until my husband looks me with a seriously confused look on his face lol.
A few things that didn’t work so well for me and left me rating this at 3.5 stars, closer to 3 than 4:
1) Jo clearly has some mental health issues that were never addressed. I really wish they had been, even if just in the smallest way.
2) There were a few times that reminded me of horror films where the audience is thinking, “oh come on, no way the person is dumb enough to do that…”
3) The ending was just a little too fast and unbelievable.
Overall, it was an enjoyable, quick read with some great characters. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a quick, suspenseful read. If you haven’t read any of her other books, I highly recommend you pick one up.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookoutre for my e-ARC and the opportunity to provide my thoughts.
Twists and turns galore in The Happy Couple.
Jo is happily married to Will , who one day a year ago simply disappears.
Jo becomes obsessed and a little crazy hoping every day Will will come back.
There are times you laugh at Jo, cry with Jo but always want her to move on so when she takes a job house sitting to get away you have hope.
Should you though?
Twists and turns , the pages turn quickly with these quirky characters.
A great book to spend time with ! Put it on your list !!
Thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read The Happy Couple
“What the heck” was my mantra throughout this book, and I mean that in the best possible way. At any given time, I was unsure how reliable of a narrator Jo actually was as she seemed lucid and unstable, often nearly simultaneously. There are a lot of secrets to be uncovered and a few really good twists. I liked how Jo had to do a little bit of soul-searching to figure out her next steps, and her reactions were very realistic. The pace is a little slow at first (to build the story) but stick with it because it turns into one heckuva ride. For more thoughts, please visit my blog at Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews. Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for a digital ARC of this book.
Tension and a gripping plot, but the lead characters — eh, not my cup of tea
3.5-4stars
Yes, this Samantha Hayes novel had a gripping plot and I HAD to finish it to fully understand how these characters created such an unmitigated mess between them. I liked the author’s use of alternating timelines to go from the present to significant moments in Jo’s past. This kept the tension escalating as secrets were slowly revealed. The climax was action-packed and a real thrill ride.
But I REALLY disliked the lead characters. Jo was maudlin, selfish, totally absorbed in her own version of her life to the extent that she could bend the rules as long as it furthered her ends. Her run-on, one-way conversations drove me crazy and her visions were so frequent: Bedlam’s got an extra space with her name on it! Hubby Will and BFF Louise were also people who I did not like and would be loathe to have in my social circle. I usually really like psychological thrillers but I prefer ones with at least one sympathetic lead character.
I also thought Jo’s positive transformation at the end was too quick and seemed virtually painless: unrealistic considering the lengthy period she was unhinged!
Thanks to publishers Bookouture and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of the book; this is my voluntary and honest review and opinions expressed are completely my own.
Jo Carter is a seamstress and is married to Will, an actor and a school teacher. One day, Will disappears and Jo does not hear from him again although she has visual and auditory hallucinations of him all the time. After Will has been missing for a year, Jo’s best friend, Louise, suggests she take a house sitting job so she can get away for a while. Louise sets up an account for Jo to look at homes available. While Jo is looking at homes in an area where she and Will had vacationed before, she spots his picture on the mantle in one of the homes. Jo applies and is accepted to house sit. From here, the story is very interesting with lots of twists and turns which makes it hard to put down. I wasn’t sure at first if I was going to like this book but I was soon hooked. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC of this very interesting book in exchange for an honest review.