This was my first book by this author and while it was a fairly good book with a couple of great twists, it didn’t really do it for me. I found myself feeling a bit bored at some points in the story.

The writing was well done and while I am sure it will keep a lot of people totally intrigued the whole way through, sadly I am not one of those readers.

The story itself was not bad but it was just a tad far fetched in my opinion. The characters were very easy to dislike. The ending was OK. No big wow factor for me but I will say I was quite satisfied.

Would I recommend this book? Sure, but there are other books I would recommend before this one.

Thank you to the author, Bookouture and NetGalley for allowing me to read the ARC in return for an honest review.

. #TheMarriageCounselor #NetGalley #Bookouture #DeaPoirier

I just finished reading The Marriage Counselor and all I can say is "WOW!" I loved the amount of twists throughout the entire book, but the ending was absolutely the best part! The characters were so well written, that at times I felt like they were real. I cannot wait to read more by Dea Poirier!

The Marriage Counselor centers round Adele whose husband Patrick goes missing. While investigating his disappearance, she discovers he's been living a double-life and uncovers lie after lie. In the background, a journalist is looking into Adele's parents who were celebrity couples therapists and whether allegations against them are linked to Patrick's disappearance.

The book is written from a first person point of view and early on we discover that Adele is an unreliable narrator which I usually love. However in this instance I was left feeling confused and therefore quite underwhelmed by the ending of the book. Furthermore I found Adele's inner monologue very repetitive and found myself getting bored and skim reading large chunks of the book.

I found that the plot became quite predictable and therefore the plot twists didn't hold any kind of shock value for me. The characters felt one dimensional and I felt largely indifferent towards them and what happened to them.

Overall, this book wasn't for me as I found it too confusing and despite having finished the book, I'm still not entirely sure what happened to Patrick.

I really liked the background of Adele’s life and the backstory of her career choice.

The ending of this book was great but everything leading up to it felt all over the place. I may have gone into it with too high expectations. The twists and turns weren’t as shocking as I expected and the story telling wasn’t as gripping as I’d have liked.

I loved the premise although ot does set an expectation which the book didn't love up to and it also gives away a lot of the plot. I wanted to love it but I just couldn't get into it. I felt it dragged and ended up skimming some parts which just kept going on and on and on unnecessarily. It's quite predictable and there are a lot of plot holes and some dodgy editing whoch hopefully will be fixed before release. It's certainly not the worst but it's nothing to wrote home about and I think most people will end it with too many questions

Firstly, thank you to Netgallery, Bookature and Dea Poirier for the ARC of this book in return for an honest review.

This is the first book I’ve read from this authors and it won’t be the last! This book totally gripped me from the first page to the last, suspicious of everyone and everything, it was good I read it in a day! A tense, faced paced thriller that will keep you up at night.

The twist at the end was so clever that I was left thinking about it for days after. Dea Poirier definitely should be on everyones shelf!

The story revolves around Adele a marriage counselor, who's life get's turned upside down when her husband Patrick goes missing.

I loved the premise of this book and wanted to know what was going on, that was why I kept reading it.

I struggled a lot with this book, I didn't like the main character Adele and felt like some points were over laboured with long chapters, I prefer shorter snappier chapters that keep the plot moving. I'd figured out most of the story early on.

Thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for the ARC.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty good! I will say that the tagline on the front of the book did affect the way I thought about the narrator, Adele, from the start. I feel like without it, I would have been more surprised by some of the plot twists. I did enjoy the cast of characters and how easy it was to suspect all of them of doing something nefarious, and I liked how the final plot twist of the book was one I didn't see coming until it happened.

Overall, this had a good plot and I liked that there were a large number of questionable characters. A solidly written book with some good surprises!

This was a page turner. I finished it in 1.5 days, and the ending was in fact a shocking twist. I didn’t see that coming. For thriller fans, this is a suspenseful and interesting read though I do have a few questions about some plot items that didn’t make total sense. A lot of things like plot holes never get explained. Spoiler: This book does not have a happy ending, though most thrillers don’t so I reckon those who choose to read it based on genre preference already know what they’re getting into.
Overall my biggest sadness for the book was not being able to like even one character- they were all a mess. And I felt confused most of the time, not just because of suspense/ mystery element, but because things weren’t always well explained. Interesting read overall.

I was teetering between 3 and 4 stars for this for several reasons. First of all, I loved the concept of this and thought it was going to play out very differently than it did, so part of my dislike for some of this is probably due to my own expectations. That being said, there were several plot holes and some things either didn't make sense or weren't explained fully so I was left wondering and very confused. It almost felt as if there should be a sequel to explain things, which shouldn't be necessary in these types of domestic thrillers. After you read this, you will not know who did what or the motives behind it. I'm still not entirely sure what happened or why. I was also expecting this to be more of a thriller but it just felt like a convoluted mystery. The major plot twist was easily predictable and I rarely can predict the twists. This was disappointing. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I’m not sure what to make of “The Marriage Counselor” by Dec Poirier. It’s a mystery … and a thriller … and a who done it … and why did that person do it. So, for those items, it checks the boxes. However, from a good start it just ended up leaving me with so many questions unanswered. I cannot say that I liked any of the characters, which didn’t really help. Adele is the main character who seems to have it together, but in reality not. She’s got secrets - but I’m not sure what those secrets were, though they kept being mentioned throughout the book. Her husband, Patrick, is a piece of work - from mistresses to stealing money. Lucas, Patrick’s former friend/business partner, ends up threatening Adele to repay him due to Patrick’s stealing - and in front of a cop (really?). Emma, Adele’s receptionist, is yet another piece of work, and I’m not quite sure why Adele kept her around (especially since a previous receptionist was mentioned who Adele preferred). There’s also Ella, Adele’s friend a lawyer - and Tara, Adele’s best friend. Oh - and Cameron - Adele’s ex-boyfriend, now cop involved in the investigation. There are a lot of deaths, there’s a question of Adele’s parents’ deaths (and another mystery), and then some of Adele’s patients also have pasts that get mentioned. As I said, I was really confused - and with no one trustworthy, it was difficult to know what to believe (if it was to believed) and then puzzling things together. I think this might’ve been a good plot idea, but in the end it just didn’t work for me (sadly). 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

A standalone thriller, The Marriage Counselor by Dea Poirier is a twisty surprise of a novel. Adele is a marriage counselor, like that of her parents who were killed in a car accident. Whilst waiting for her next client, Adele is visited by a police officer who informs her that her husband of seven years is missing. Adele is further shocked to learn her husband’s work didn’t know he was married and he had been on two weeks’ leave, despite heading off each day to work. So begins a tale of secrets and nothing being as it seems, as Adele’s life disintegrates and the body count rises. If you like dark twisty psychological thrillers, then this enjoyable three-and-a-half-star read rating tale is for you. Unfortunately, the ending was not unexpected. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given. With thanks to Bookouture and the author for an uncorrected proof copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given.

This book had a lot of potential but I didn’t love it.

Their was a few editing mistakes and the writing and plot was choppy. The twist at the end was good but predictable.
Not bad but the book could have been better

Thanks to NetGalley and bookouture for the ARC of this book

Firstly I would like to thank Bookoture Audio and the author Dea Poirier for access to the marriage counselor.

The review I am going to make is an honest review regardless of the access I received for this book. It should be noted I was not paid for this review and ensure honesty in all my reviews.

about a marriage counselor who’s husband has gone missing. But weirdly as the police are involved you learn people in her husbands life, like his co-workers do not know he is married but what is the truth!

The ending I still had unanswered questions but the storyline did keep pace throughout and kept me engaged.

The only reason this story caught my attention is the title, but finding that the story does not even center around her job as a therapist, but rather this other storyline with her family and the disappearance of her spouse. I feel misguided by the title and was annoyed that the story took a different path. It was rather slow moving and not very entertaining, leaving a mystery of clues with no background. It does not address what the nature of her marriage was, why he would leave her penniless, and what does this have to do with her own parents' death.. It took a lot of patience to get through the story and not sure I felt it was worth the while to do so.

When Adele finds out her husband Patrick is missing. Then she is shocked to find out he has been having affairs. Next a women he has been seeing is dead. Of course she would be the prime suspect. The strangest part is all his coworkers never knew he was married.

She is a professional! How could she have known about her husband! As she starts to unravel her life Cameron comes into her life and helps Adele.

This novel is full of many twists, lies and unexpected scenarios which makes it so juicy. Is it possible Adele knows more than she is revealing? Did she know about his true identity? This was my first book by this author and I will be looking for more.

I love Dea Poirier as an author and I previously read and enjoyed her Carlerwood cases series which I also very much recommend.
The tittle "The Marriage Counselor" intrigues me very much as very good friends of mine used their services before (without much success sadly) and a fellow school governor was also a professional marriage counselor.
The book is written from the counselor's POV Adele and it was the right way about it as it immerges you totally in the storyline.
Really good and believable plotline: a marriage counselor finding out after the mysterious disappearance of her husband that her own marriage is not was she believed it was. I really enjoyed this storyline with much humour when relating the counselling aspect of her work. The mystery plot thickens more and more through the book to the point the only thing you know is that nothing is ever what it seems.
The finale is splendid and I was delighted with myself that I saw it coming... Really really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it....

Edge of your seat thriller kept me reading late into the night.Kept me guessing but I was shocked by the final twist.#netgalley #bookouture

A life of lies and manipulation….

A husband missing, secrets and lies uncovered, but how much of it is known, manufactured?

In this new book by Dea, she delivers a mystery that will have you wondering where the next revelation is going to come from, no one is as they seem, questioning every character, for every little thing I thought was a little off about a character I was trying to think of scenarios in my head of what was really going on, who was responsible for each death, each incident that was happening.

A tale of a woman scorned, trained to read people but unable to read the people she is closest too, a sense of feeling the last 10 years of a life was a lie, and what would she do when overwhelmed by a crippling sense of not being enough for the one you love? A story full of manipulation and lies and what you would do to be with the one you love, this book will have you turning the pages to the very end hoping to find out what really happened, but not everything will be tied up in a nice neat bow, be prepared that this book will leave you with questions unanswered.

This book didn’t deliver for me as all the other books by Dea. I won’t give any spoilers but I was left to wonder the extent of secrets that Emma the assistant must know, Cameron threw up a very red flag for me with a statement he makes, and for how well Adele seems to be able to read him, she missed the signs.

This book was such an enjoyable read and a great twist right at the very end of the book. Great cliffhanger