I really wanted to love this book, the blurb was great; sounded like my cup of tea. I love domestic thrillers and the MC being a counselor was interesting to me as someone who studied psychology. I was hooked at the start but I feel like the character development just didn't happen, I didn't find anyone likeable and this just ruined the book for me. I felt no feelings towards any of the characters and thus wasn't as interested in the storyline. I'm not sure if it was the writing, or the really long chapters, but I just didn't find this gripping unfortunately... when describing what this book is about, it sounds like it should be one of those "can't put down"books but it's taken me a lot longer than I expected (especially for such a short book) because I wasn't desperate to keep picking it back up.

First of all I’d like to say thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for an advance copy of the is book in exchange for this review.

Sadly this book wasn’t for me, I didn’t find it fast paced enough and I found it very confusing, I often found I read a page and was like what did I just read. So I gave up at around 40%, but just because I didn’t enjoy it doesn’t mean others won’t.

On this occasion I won’t share this review any further as for me this isn’t the right thing to do as I’m sure a lot of hard work went into writing this book.

This book started off very interesting and kept me at the edge of my seat wanting to know what was going to happen next. It was confusing at times due to sudden scene changes that didn't explain how we got there. The main character and narrator, Adele, is an unreliable character, so I can see how this may explain the unreliability in how the story is told. It almost reminded me of the character Joe from You because of the way Adele's inner monologue breaks up her conversations with others. While it felt like there were plot holes, detachment from all the characters, and all of the other characters being insufferable and outlandish, I think that may have been intentional by the author due to everything being from Adele's POV.

Overall, this was an enjoyable psychological thriller. Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

2.5 stars rounded up. I thought some things were super repetitive, the whole story felt all over the place … I actually still don’t fully understand what really happened to any of the characters that were murdered and I caught myself skimming a lot. I can’t say I really even liked any of the characters. I did like that it was a fast paced read with plenty of action from the start.

This one had the potential to be really good, but it fell a little short for me. The storyline was a little predictable, and the main character was insufferable, and hard to connect with. A little out there and unbelievable. Not terrible, but also not what I want in a thriller.

Interesting domestic drama/thriller from Dea Poirier! A marriage counselor who is used to giving advice has her world torn apart when her husband disappears. Following are a few more deaths and lots of threats that you won't know whodunnit until the very end!

Many thnaks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

I totally thought that The Marriage Counselor was going to go in a different direction than Dea Poirier actually took it. I like it when a psych thriller author can do that.
However, there were times when the direction shifts (and yes, that’s plural) made it feel like I was reading an entirely different book – almost like the author couldn’t exactly decide which way the plot should actually go.
That doesn’t mean it wasn’t enjoyable though, because it was. And all of those switches had me turning pages to try and figure out what was going on.
Adele struggles with ghosts of her past, especially her parents who were tv personas. Following in their footsteps in a more practical way, she is the marriage counselor – and has built a steady business. Everything seems fine.
Until it isn’t.
Her husband disappears. She learns there may be more to the accident that claimed her parent’s lives. Her ex-boyfriend is an officer working on her husband’s missing person case. Her husband’s ex-business partner is…angry. Her assistant is angrier.
It all turns into a big mess. But what is really going on with her husband? How many lies has she built her life around? Who is responsible for events that make her feel hunted?
While it mostly works, there are a few things that I think got short shrift. The ex-business partner plotline feels more like a red herring than a legitimate thread. It didn’t feel complete. The same goes for the secrets about her parents. The impact of that was “blink and you’ll miss it” making it feel more like a device than an actual storyline.
The whole arc with her assistant, Emma, felt disjointed to me. I was left wondering how I was really supposed to feel about it…especially in light of the biggest twist of all – literally in the last pages. There are simply a few holes that should have been answered.
But I’m not going to give anything away. You’ll have to read it for yourself to find out what I’m talking about.
In spite of what I mentioned, I did like The Marriage Counselor. There was enough psych to keep the psych thriller aspect, and there’s that aforementioned last-minute twist that had me wondering if I’d read everything the “right” way. It was certainly enough to make me look forward to the next novel by Dea Poirier.

This review was written based on a digital copy of the book from Bookouture.
**For more reviews like it, please visit Fireflies and Free Kicks Fiction Reviews.**

Thankyou netgalley for allowing me to read this book in advance

I'm sad to say this book wasn't for me. I found it really hard to get through and couldn't get past the first 6 chapters.

I felt it very repetitive and it didn't draw me in at all

I’ve always really liked Dea Poirier’s books and when I saw this knew I was adding another book to my TBR. I’m also a fan of her regular Godzilla photoshop efforts (iykyk).

This book was in a lot of ways unputdownable (is that a word because spellcheck is not correcting me). I was sucked in and I may have binge read this and stayed up way too late on a work night to finish it because I had to know what happened. You can read the synopsis and a lot of other reviewers went over the basic plot, I won’t be too redundant but it’s a roller coaster of a whodunnit and what happened. As a reader you feel just off of center and unsure of what’s happening. You want to know what happens next as Adele unwinds the mysteries of who her husband is.

Some of my critiques are for as many questions are answered, there were a few plot points that I think were either rushed or just not revisited (or maybe not revisited enough to my liking). Some characters that proved to be pretty integral really only had a surface level review and sort of parachuted in and out and then lurked out of sight. It made the end feel rushed. I understood and enjoyed the ending, I would have just liked to have seen a few other areas and characters fleshed out more which I think would have made it more engrossing.

Overall, if you like crime fiction and a quick fast paced novel I recommend especially if you like Poirier’s other work.

Please be advised I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

Adele has followed in her parents footsteps as a counselor. Her husband disappears and she discovers things about her husband no wife would want to discover. What has happened to her husband? Is she in danger? Read to find out who can be trusted.

Absolutely kept me wondering. I felt suspicious of pretty much every character in the book. It was a good read, and kept me on my toes., I wouldn't have minded a tad more character development...back story on a few others rather than just the main character., Overall, it kept my interest!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an ARC of this book for an honest review. I have to tell the truth in my opinion I had a hard time getting through this book. It started out like it was going to have real potential but it went downhill soon after. Way too far fetched. I’m sorry I can’t recommend this book.

I really wanted to like this one. It had such a great premise but the execution was just a disaster. It had so many holes and the writing was all over the place. It was a short read and does have suspense so it was easy to fly through. Unfortunately this was a miss for me.

I have to be honest, without going into too much detail I'm afraid I agree with the other reviewers. This book has many plot holes, mistakes and juvenile writing. The dialogue made me cringe with embarrassment. I can't recommend, sorry.
Thanks for the opportunity to try a book from this author.

I hate to write a bad review, but I did not enjoy this one at all. It started promising enough, structuring a plot about a marriage counselor and her missing husband. There was some details of client sessions that seemed like they might come in to play later and the fact that her husband hadn’t shared with his employer that he was married felt like an interesting twist.

In my opinion, it went downhill from there. The narration was confusing. The POV was from the main character Adele, but the details felt inconsistent (one small example being the ongoing commentary about Florida weather). Most of the characters were entirely unlikeable (especially Cameron and Emma, it my opinion). There were developments that felt like they should be relevant (examples being the backstory about Adele’s parents and her hidden trust fund) and it all culminated in a predictable and unsatisfying ending.

I’ll say 2.5 rounded up. With additional character development and plot details, it could’ve been much better.

This was an easy read for me, but not one that kept calling me back every time I had to step away. Perhaps it was my inability to really be under the skin of the main character, or her internal monologue that ran through this a little too invasively. I did skip chunks of it... I think if you are a fan of a very fast read with a decent plot then this book will give you just that. I will definitely read other work by this author, in the hope that perhaps it was just this particular book that did not gel with me.

The plot centers around Adele, a marriage counselor whose husband goes missing. More shocks and surprises slam Adele who discovers she and her husband were more strangers than partners. Great idea, but the execution was confusing and way over my credibility line. As dead bodies stacked up, additional story lines were introduced with little or no explanation. The plot had so many loose ends that it became difficult to follow. The characters actions didn't make sense to me and were very unlikable. The ending didn't add up. I felt there was too much happening when sometimes, less is best. Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for the ARC of The Marriage Counselor.

This book was an average read for me. I never really connected or really cared for the main character. There were times I felt the story sort of jumped around and it was a little confusing. The story never really pulled me in and by the end I really didn't care what happened.


Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the digital arc.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for this eArc copy in return for my honest review.

I have to start out by saying the first part of this book really pulled me in - and I felt like it was going in a great direction. Until, it started jumping around. Going from one paragraph being about one thing to the next being completely off the wall about some other part of the storyline. I felt like it was very confusing. The characters were very blah, the FMC is a counselor and as a person who has worked in the mental health field for over 13 years, it was all just very ridiculous, and made absolutely no sense.

One of the MMC was a police officer and the whole part of the “investigation” and “questioning” was very juvenile and unrealistic.

I really had high hopes for the book, but I feel like it still needs more work, more development of characters, more explanations of why and who did each thing. Because I’m left completely confused.

The plot twists that did happen were way too predictable as well.

Overall I feel like this could be a great book- if there was more added to it- the storyline idea could be good. It just needs more depth to it all.

I will not share my reviews in social media as I don’t feel like that would be appropriate since I did not enjoy the book.

The Marriage Counselor by Dea Poirier was a great read, fast-paced and very enjoyable.

The author pulled me straight into this riveting tale.
Her writing style is easy and engaging.
This book is fast paced and gives twists that keeps the story going strong.
Excellent storytelling.
A totally pulse-pounding psychological thriller with a jaw-dropping twist.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank You NetGalley and Bookouture for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!