Two couples. Two close friends. One missing husband.
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Jake Hayes didn’t come home last night. His wife, Nina, attributes it to the fight they had the night before, but soon it’s obvious not only is Jake not coming home, he’s not going to his job as a neurosurgeon, nor has he spent any money from their accounts. Lily Scott, Nina’s teacher coworker, was the last to see Jake alive. She tells her husband, Christian, and two try to figure out a way to keep Lily out of the missing person investigation. But someone is lying and it’s only a matter of time before the truth comes out.
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Mary Kubica is an auto-read for me and I can always count on great suspense and page-turning mysteries! This was such a great thriller I had to know what happened so I devoured it in one day! Highly recommend all her books!

CW: miscarriages (recounted), blood, murder, violence, vomit, gun, theft, cancer

Another great thriller from Mary Kubica. Kubica followed her pattern of using multiple narrators throughout the text but this novel stayed in the same span of time instead of her normal pattern of one narrator in the present and one in the past.

The characters in this book were unlikeable, normally that isn't an issue with thrillers because there should always be an antagonist, but they were all bad. I like the way it picked up in the second half, and there was a good twist in the end, but for the most part the book was boring at times, and I didn't like the characters enough to constantly read it.

This was an interesting book and was one that I enjoyed. There were times it was a little more slow paced for me than I would have liked but overall I enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to more novels by this author as I've loved all her previous novels.

Kubica’s second novel was one I devoured in less than two days…however, it fell short. I was hoping for some more depth Amon the characters and their relationships and some of the plot points just didn’t quite make sense. This domestic thriller is a quick read that follows two couples with plenty to hide. And when one of the husband’s goes missing and the other wife might be the last one to see him, tensions run high.

Thank you so much @ParkRowBooks for giving me this ARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 10 January 2023)

SYNOPSIS | Lily is pregnant again after several miscarriages and her husband (Christian) is worried about her during this anxious time. One day he comes home to find Lily distant & fearful and learns that she thinks she might have been the last person to see Jake (her co-workers husband) who is now missing.

WHAT I LIKED:
- lots of red herrings that kept me guessing
- the blindside ending
- each of the characters are pretty untrustworthy

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the short staccato abrupt sentences where lots of details felt repeated
- the plot unfolds extremely slowly & doesn't really get going until 50 pages from the end
- the main characters make a lot of stupid decisions that had me rolling my eyes & frustrated at times

3.5
This was such a fun thriller that kept me entertained! There aren't a lot of players in the book which helps keep it somewhat simple and easy to follow.

There are 2 couples that are addressed and we rotate between two POV of the man of one couple and the woman of the other. They each tell their story as time moves on and we hear their perspectives...skewed as they may be. Hearing the others perspectives helps keep the author on their toes to try to deem what is actually going on.

I loved that the premise was a missing husband (instead of the always, floofy missing wife that seems to happen in thrillers these days). We have a good idea of where he is and what happened but there are holes and inaccuracies. The book keeps you guessing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harlequin Trade Publishing, Park Row for the e-copy of this book.

#JustTheNicestCouple:

I’ll be honest, Mary. This just ain’t it.

Big fan of Kubica here, but this felt sloppy and not like the amazing seasoned thriller writer we all know and love. The stories were disjointed, it was choppy and then thrown together for a viola finish. It reminded me of spaghetti. Let’s throw all this stuff together and hope it’s still edible.

Nina is as boring as a dinner plate. I wanted substance. Lily was the worsssst but I’d love to hear her moan and groan that Nina. Everything could have been avoided if someone just STOPPED for 2.5 seconds and said, “let’s think this through” but no. It was a snowball of bad decisions.

Well, now I’m hungry for spaghetti. Thanks @mira here’s to hoping the next Kubica keeps my hunger at bay.

TW: Major TW on infertility, loss of baby.

Unfortunately, I decided to set this book down at about 50%. I am a huge fan of Mary Kubica, but thought the writing was too distracting in this case. Things were over-described when they didn't need to be, and the way they were described was just awkward. It made me think that the Kubica was just beefing up the word count to hit a quota. The story itself wasn't super thrilling. However, I will be first in line for her next novel. Thank you to Harlequin for a widget of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

JUST THE NICEST COUPLE is a fast-paced domestic thriller with twists, turns, and deceptions. Kubica continues to write wonderfully addictive reads that will have the reader second-guessing everyone’s motives.

Oh, how juicy this book was! It pushes the perceptions of how a person is seen. What is real? The carefully crafted image presented to the world sees or what lurks under the surface? Then, as each layer is pulled back to reveal the truth, the relationships of the characters begin to change. There is always a moment when reading Kubica's books when I wonder in anything presented at the start of the book is real. It is one of the best parts about reading one of her stories.

The author masterfully creates a tale of duplicity filled with tension. Even if you can see under the surface and read between the lines to figure out its conclusion, JUST THE NICEST COUPLE is a book that will take you on a ride well worth it.

Oh man, I’ve been avoiding this review. Let me start by saying that Kubica’s last novel LOCAL WOMAN MISSING was a 5🌟 read for me—and I highly recommend you pick that one up in lieu of this one.⁣
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The premise of the book is interesting: Lily was out for a walk when she had an altercation with Jake, her friends’ husband, who was coming on to her. When Jake never returns home and is reported missing, she assumes it must be because she hit him with a rock while trying to protect herself. Lily and her husband decide to try to cover it up, but as they do things get more and more complicated.⁣
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Here is the ☕️🫖 of why this book was just not it for me:⁣
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The writing is legitimately…not good…which is not something you will hear me say often. I felt like a large majority of sentences in this book were five words or less, so it felt really choppy and hard to get into. Certain descriptions were waaaaay too repetitive. We get it, Jake is a doctor and Nina’s mom has macular degeneration—that doesn’t need to be said every time they’re mentioned in the story 😅 Lastly, I guessed every single plot twist, and pretty early on. I usually try not to guess the endings when reading mystery books, but this was pretty obvious.⁣
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While the plot was decent and I enjoyed the multiple POVs (the only reason this wasn’t a 1🌟), my honest opinion of this book is to skip it and read some of Kubica’s earlier stuff. *Note that this was an ARC given to me from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. However, I will not be tagging the publisher or the author in this post.

Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica was a fast paced, twisted thriller that you can read in a day. What I like about Kubica’s books are the everyday people, the kind that could be your neighbors, that find themselves in these crazy situations.

When a husband goes missing after he and his wife have a fight, usually, there’s a prime suspect. Not in this case! Nina’s husband may be missing yet her colleague and friend, Lily, saw him that day under unusual circumstances. Lily and her husband decide to not share any info with the police or Nina. They believe silence is the best policy.

Of course, no one does the “right thing” which leads to the type of thriller that I can get behind. Some unlikable characters were dotted in as red herrings that kept me guessing what would happen. Kubica’s books are my cup of mystery, not to gruesome or nightmare inducing. They’re just the right speed for me!

I live in Chicago, as does the author, and I appreciate all the references to real places I know well. It’s always fun to read a book from your own city or town, especially when the author gets it right!

When Jake Hayes fails to return home after a heated argument with his wife, Nina, she assumes that he's cooling off in a luxury hotel. When he doesn't return home after two days, she thinks maybe he's left her. When she hears from his work on day five that he hasn't been in to the office, she knows something is wrong. Jake Hayes is missing.

Lily Scott is Nina's best friend. She was her mentee, she's her work bestie, she shares everything with Nina. Everything, except for the fact that she may have been the last person to see her husband alive. Lily tearfully divulges the information to her husband, Christian, who agrees that *no matter what* they cannot share what happened that afternoon with Nina, the police, or anyone else.

It would all be so much easier for the Scotts if Nina would just stop looking for Jake, but once they are in for a penny, they've found themselves in for a pound, and readers will be surprised to see just how far the nice couple down the street will go to protect their perfect little lives.

A must read for fans of Lisa Jewell, Stacy Willingham, and Lisa Unger, Mary Kubica has hit another homerun with "Just the Nicest Couple." Readers will be on the edge of their seats until the very last page as they race to discover exactly what's happened to Jake Hayes, and who, ultimately, is responsible. Special thanks to NetGalley and to Park Row for providing an Advanced Reader's Copy of "Just the Nicest Couple" in exchange for an unbiased review.

I started this book last night before I went to bed, and that wasn’t a good idea - not recommended! 😆

If you like thrillers, this is a quick read that gives you all the thriller vibes and is difficult to put down. It definitely kept me tense, but there were lots of sections with information I felt like wasn’t necessary. This book definitely has unlikable, untrustworthy characters. You don’t know who to trust, and even though there are a couple twists, I’m not really shocked at the end.

I’m normally a huge Kubica fan, but unfortunately this one was just ok to me. I didn’t really get into it and didn’t feel like there was anything particularly exciting about it. It won’t be one that I really keep thinking about. All in all it was a miss for me. Thank you netgalley for my free copy.

This book started out really good but then went off the deep end. Lots of bad choices by the main characters that were hard to believe. Overall a decent read but don’t expect anything noteworthy

Mary Kubica can do no wrong, and this newest novel just proves that she’s a phenomenally talented thriller writer.

Keep reading and she’ll keep you in your toes. This midwinter release will find huge audiences among thriller and mystery fans for good reason.

How in the world does one possibly follow Local Woman Missing? It was so great and such a well executed twist that I had a feeling the follow up wouldn't be quite as explosive. While this wasn't, it was still a good read because it's Mary Kubica, after all. I agree with other readers that the writing style and format is different from what we usually see from her books. It came across as short scripted and seemed very detailed at some parts. But putting that aside, I really liked the story, plot and that amazing twist at the end. The book is told in two parts Nina’s perspective and Christian, Lily’s husband. I thought the choice to have Christian instead of Lily was interesting and I ended up liking it. The character development was very well done and all characters were fully fleshed out. There is not one character in this story about which I do not understand their motives or actions. By the time we reached the conclusion, everything made sense and I really appreciate this about Kubica’s writing.

This thriller was just published in January; I was so eager to get my hands on these pages, as it was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the first half of 2023. Overall, I enjoyed it!

My favorite thing about this thriller was the pacing; it felt very consistent & the continued flow was very easy to read. My life is the busiest it has ever been right now, but this one was so bingeworthy, that I was able to fly through it in less than 48 hours. I loved the dual perspectives; I typically really like this component in novels, as it allows us to really mentally shape the characters. I love using hints from each perspective to put the pieces together in thrillers.

Mary Kubica is a rockstar at writing the perfect, most atmospheric domestic thrillers. I loved the setting/house location of this one & thought the concept was very unique. There was loads of imagery throughout that really helped me to visualize it all happening.

The reason this one wasn't a 5 star for me was because I 1000% predicted the twist (very similar twist to one of my all time fave thrillers). I know a lot of people enjoy when this happens in thrillers, & while it is satisfying in a way, I absolutely live for the complete shock factor in my thrillers. That is the number one reason why thriller is my favorite genre. In the past, I have really enjoyed Kubica's thrillers, especially Local Woman Missing. In both of the ones I have read, she did completely shock me in the reveal. This one, however, I detected very early on.
The ending did wrap up VERY quickly & left me with a residual question about a supporting character's story, but thankfully I felt that I was able to make assumptions to figure it out.

Overall, I give it four stars, because I did really enjoy it, and I do recommend this one! Definitely a quick thriller read, that I’m sure a lot of people will be absolutely shocked by! I really think it’s possible that the only reason I completely predicted it, is because I’m such a seasoned thriller reader/read so many of them.

Definitely can't wait to see what Kubica does next!

I did not expect it to go as it did at the end. This book goes into different p.o.v between Christian and Nina.
Nina and Jack are a couple in the middle of some issues.
Lily and Christian seem to be so sweet and full of love for each other. However, something shady might be going on. When Jack goes missing, at first, no one is not really concerned except for his job. Nina thinks he has left her, but he should be coming back soon. As our story unfolds, more than just him is missing; something fishy might be happening involving Lily and Christian. I did like how the author had the man missing this time and not a woman, so that was a nice change-up. I did wonder why Lily didn't go to the police at first, and then as we got towards the end, it all made sense. Christian, as a character, is a bit creepy. He watches his wife sleep? Like, really, who does that? He seems a bit too protective, and I think he may have serial killer tendencies.
With Nina trying to find her husband, she seems to be receiving flowers, and someone is following her. Okay, this is very interesting. I didn't really understand this being in the story only because it had just started to happen. Why didn't it happen before? You know, it is just weird; also *spoiler alert* who put the tracker on the car? I am still lost on this one.