Thanks so much to the publisher and to NetGalley for giving me access to this book. Great suspenseful book. I love this genre. I will be suggesting this author to our patrons who love this type of book. Thanks for the opportunity to review this book.

Unfortunately, I didn't like the predictable characters at all. That threw me off this one straight away. Thank you for the early access though!

Rouda's Best Day Ever is an immersive story, examining a marriage in a tension-packed twenty-four-hours. Rouda makes a reader question all those seemingly perfect people we encounter. A winner!

Wow! What a dark psychological thriller Best Day Ever is. The perfect couple on a 24-hour holiday planned by the husband with a complaint wife in tow until the sociopath meets a stumbling block. This book is full of suspense in spite of the "King Paul" atmosphere and leads to a much anticipated but surprising ending. Well worth the wait.

Paul Strom has the perfect life; a successful career, a beautiful wife, two healthy sons, and a large house in a wealthy neighborhood. He is of course the perfect husband that has planned the best day ever for him and his wife, Mia, away from the kids at their second home. Not everything is at it seems and as Paul’s carefully made plans are ruined we see there is more to this marriage than appearances lead us to believe. I didn’t really enjoy this as much as I wanted to. I don’t mind that Paul is an unlikable character, I just wish he wasn’t so predictable. The plot was predictable, the twist was predictable, and this made for a difficult read.

Catching up my my feedback and this one was unforgettable. Long after you read it, this book will stick with you!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book and to be an early reader via NetGalley! However, I will not be writing a review for this title at this time, as my reading preferences have since changed somewhat. In the event that I decide to review the book in the future, I will make sure to purchase a copy for myself or borrow it from a library. Once again, thank you so much for providing me with early access to this title. I truly appreciate it. Please feel free to contact me with any follow-up questions or concerns.

Thank you to NetGallery, Graydon House, and the author Kaira Rouda for the copy of this book, Best Day Ever. I gave this book 3 stars.
I started to read this book two years ago and I just could not get into the story or connect to Paul. I considered by giving the the story second chance, I might see the couple in a different light. Though the book was easy to read the plot was predictable, not breezy and funny as I had expected. The book progressed slowly, during Paul’s drive, a result of the fact he was more in love with his wonderful ideas than sharing or caring. I am from the area described in the book so I knew that would be a plus, but the slow car ride was madding. Paul is a classic narcissist, often vain and selfish. The drive from their home to the lake house was long and the dialogue seemed boring and repetitive. The suspense must have been how Mia was atracted to Paul, as everyone likes Mai. This is not a perfect marriage as Paul seems to think, I found this to be a tragic situation for Mia. The Best Day Ever, was one of the highly rated books of the year but, Best Day Ever, was not my type of humor or story.

Traveling With T’s Thoughts:

I almost gave up on Best Day Ever because of Paul. He’s hard to take (and that is putting it mildly). But at some point in the story, he became appealing- not in any redeeming way, but more in “this is going to be a train wreck someone pass the me popcorn”way.

Oh Paul. If only you were as smart, as talented, as perfect as you thought you were.



What I liked:

How the interactions between Mia and Paul evolve over the day. Oh Paul, if you hadn’t been so caught up in giving Mia the best day ever… well, you’ll just have to read 🙂

The covers (both paperback and hardcover!) Gorgeous and edgy!

What I liked:

How the interactions between Mia and Paul evolve over the day. Oh Paul, if you hadn’t been so caught up in giving Mia the best day ever… well, you’ll just have to read 🙂

The covers (both paperback and hardcover!) Gorgeous and edgy!



Bottom line: While I guessed where Kaira Rouda was headed with some of her story, Paul did a good job of keeping my attention as I watched his carefully constructed house of cards fall all around him.

I got this from NetGalley early and read it in July. I was hooked by my recent fitful interest in psychological thrillers – Gone Girl, The Girl on the Train, Luckiest Girl Alive. The last one doesn’t quite fit the thriller mode, but it has some of the psychological elements and twists of a thriller. Even though Best Day Ever didn’t have the ubiquitous “Girl” in the title, I was willing to give it a chance. It did end being twisty, unfortunately, not just in the plot itself but my reaction to it .

Best Day Ever is narrated by Paul Strom, who is traveling up to his summer house on the lake near Columbus, OH with his wife Mia, determined to make up for their strained marriage with the “best day ever.” At first Paul comes off as a rather irritating narrator; he’s relentlessly, bizarrely jaunty in the face of many annoyances and challenges he encounters, large and small. The pacing of the book struck me as weird, as well; we were already 25% in when I realized that they hadn’t even gotten to the lake yet.

Halfway through, though, there were some revelations that explained Paul’s demeanor better and I started to think the book was smarter than I’d previously judged it. Then the last quarter absolutely ruined it for me. I’ll spoiler tag this since I really can’t talk about it without giving the entire plot away.

Spoiler (Spoiler): Hide

Paul is a sociopath who is actually taking Mia up to the lake to kill her; he’s been poisoning her slowly but it’s taking too much time and he’s eager to be free of her, have access to her family money and settle down with his younger mistress. Paul’s general rottenness had already come through his “unreliable narrator” facade, loud and clear, and so the fact that he actually wanted Mia dead wasn’t really much of a twist (he’s previously dropped many unsubtle hints about the demise of his parents in a carbon monoxide “accident”).
I actually thought that the twist might be that Mia planned to kill *him*. But no, the twist was that Mia was onto him all along and knew he was trying to poison her. So she, with the help of her friend/fledgling love interest, Buck, who is their neighbor on the lake, set in motion a plan to neutralize Paul. Buck just happens to be a retired security hotshot. What makes no sense (NO SENSE! NONE!) is that they decide on a plan that 1) involves Mia spending a fair amount of time alone with Paul, a man that they know is trying to kill her and 2) that they choose to let Paul go on his merry way with no consequences for trying to kill his wife; they just want him out of Mia and their sons’ lives. It was so dumb, and inexplicable, that it ruined the book for me. END SPOILER.

Grade, due to spoilery stuff and only leavened by the readibility of the story: D.

A page-turning domestic thriller with a seemingly perfect couple and an unreliable narrator who throws everything into question. Once you start you won't be able to put this down!

Really like this for the first 75% of the book, especially since it took place in an area that I've been to a ton in the summers as well. But I think it wrapped up a little too neatly, UNLESS there is a sequel coming (which I hope there is). I liked how the book was told over a quick 24 hour timeline, it was a fun, fast read. And as a side note, whoever designed the simple but stunningly compelling cover art is a genius as it really caught my eye and made me picked this book up in the first place

“I taught myself how to imitate the look people have when they are feeling sad, for example. The corners of the mouth droop, the eyes fill with water.”

Such a twisted, dark story! It is the perfect blend of psychological suspense and really dark humor. Highly recommend the audio book, the narrators are fantastic! This is the kind of thriller that really comes alive in audio.

Despite the perky title, and the narrator Paul's repetition that this will be "the best day ever", you just KNOW that in fact, the day is going to turn very, very dark. Paul is the perfect husband with a great job, beautiful wife Mia and two sons, and now the best day ever planned at a lake house with Mia.

Told from the point of view of Paul, we slowly get a picture of the real Paul on the car ride to their vacation house at the lake. Small details emerge about their marriage and his work life and eventually we see that in fact, all is not at is seems with this picture-perfect life.

“There’s a difference between not expressing things and not feeling them. Remember me, Poker-face Paul? It’s a blessing and a curse. I’m a guy. It’s how we are, genetically. You know, hard on the outside, soft on the inside. The delay, honey, is all in your pretty little head.”

The author has a wicked sense of humor and I loved being inside Paul's very demented mind. He can justify literally anything. The audio book narrator added the perfect tone to Paul's thoughts and it doesn't take very long to see that Mia should be very, very afraid of her husband. Set in just 24 hours, this sharp thriller is a fast-paced tour-de-force into the mind of a sociopath and narcissist. Paul sees how others react, but he truly cannot feel any real emotion other than anger when things don't go his way.

'The Best Day Ever' is the perfect summertime beach read. It is wickedly entertaining! Loved this one and can’t wait to read Kaira Rouda’s new thriller.

This book pulled off something very unique for me...it was suspenseful and humorous at the same time. The main character is very self-absorbed. The extent of this and details of his life are slowly revealed as the story progresses. The tension continues to ramp up as we discover more about this character and his life. I listened to the audiobook version and it was well done and an enjoyable ride.

It's unfortunate that I have already read so many books like this. It just didn't contain anything that hasn't already been done. I knew from page 1 what this book was about and how it would end. If you're going to write domestic noir then at least surprise me a little. I can draw my own conclusions without you explaining every single thing that's happening! Geez. The best thing about this book is the length; I read the whole thing in one sitting.

Best book ever...well no, but very close. This is a book that I was able to read without putting down. It made me want to know what was next, what else could this man believe about himself. To say that he was a character that was unlikable, doesn't even begin to describe him. Best ending ever...not even close. In my opinion the author should have let us at chapter 31 and forgot about the one year later epilogue.
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I'm sorry, I saw that ending coming to be honest and I think that might have ruined it a bit for me. But Rouda's writing was immaculate.

I read this book is one day. I tore through it and couldn't wait to find out what happened. I would definitely read one of Ms. Rouda's books again and I look forward to seeing what she does next.

Where do I start? I really enjoyed everything about Best Day Ever.

The book is narrated by Paul, the husband. It takes place in one day. Paul is taking his wife for a getaway to their summer home. He is planning the Best Day Ever for her.

We quickly figure out that Paul has issues. Just how big his issues are is only slowly revealed. He's a domineering husband--one that requires his wife to stay home with the kids, cook his dinners, and run his household. So even though they seem to have a perfect marriage--two kids, lots of money--all is not what it seems.

I don't want to say too much about what happens. As Paul narrates his innermost thoughts, we get to learn about his past and really just what makes him tick. I couldn't put Best Day Ever down. Which is really strange, because if you ask me what actually happens in the book -- well -- not much. But as I read, I just couldn't wait to see how this was all going to turn out. What did Paul have planned for his wife? Rouda subtly ramps up the tension just by letting us in this guy's head.

The ending was stunning and unexpected.

Okay. That's it. I'll say no more -- except -- if you enjoy a good "their marriage is not what it seems" thriller, read this one right now. Also appropriate for mature teens who enjoy the genre.

Creepy and unnerving and unpleasant and I didn't ENJOY it but I didn't hate it. Sooooo, there's that.