A Happy Marriage presents a twisty psychological thriller centered on Dinah, a Los Angeles homicide detective, and her psychiatrist husband, Joe, whose seemingly perfect union harbors dark secrets. While the multiple points of view offer insight into the characters' hidden lives, some readers may find the narrative's pacing uneven, with certain sections dragging and others rushing through pivotal moments. The plot, though engaging, occasionally leans into predictability, with certain twists being more anticipated than surprising. Despite these shortcomings, the book maintains a certain level of intrigue, making it a passable choice for fans of the genre. Overall, A Happy Marriage provides an entertaining, if somewhat uneven, portrayal of a couple's descent into deception.

What a unique and interesting premise! I did figure out one of the big twists fairly early on, but not all of them which kept me very engaged in the story! I also loved the ending and found it to be extremely satisfying.

I thoroughly enjoyed A Happy Marriage. It was full of suspense, mystery, drama, secrets, lies, and betrayal.
It was a mix of an abduction thriller and a serial killer thriller. I was drawn in immediately, and I couldn't put it down. I read it in one sitting.

I've been a fan of A.R. Torre for a while. The Deanna Madden trilogy is one of my all-time favourites. I love her writing style. Her characters are so unique and intriguing.
Dinah and Joe are a great example of that. I wasn't a huge fan of Joe. He was definitely unique and interesting, just not very likable. Dinah was more personable. She was strong, charismatic, smart, and complex. I liked Jessica too.

Luckily for me, I don't have to wait to read another book from this exceptionally talented author, as I have a few more of her books waiting on my Kindle.

I highly recommend A Happy Marriage.

4 stars from me. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Especially for fans of Jeneva Rose, Jennifer Hillier, and Alice Hunter.

Thanks to Netgalley, Thomas & Mercer, and A.R. Torre for the chance to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So unfortunately this wasn’t my fav by this author. I usually really love her books but this one missed the mark for me sadly.

It just felt like it was missing something can’t quite put my finger on it. I usually expect those twists and this one just didn’t have that punch of twists!

Overall; 3/5 stars

If you picked up this book expecting a wild, unhinged, unputdownable suspense thriller…
Then you picked right!

Let me tell you;

Even though the story takes some truly wild turns and the plot is out there, I was still completely entertained.
Yes, I saw quite a few things coming from the start…
But there were definitely some surprises and twists that caught me off guard—and kept me hooked.

The book is a total breeze to read—fast-paced, chaotic in the best way, and honestly just fun.

That said, it might take you a bit (like it did for me) to keep track of all the characters.


Expect:
Devious people. Unreliable narrators. Weirdos. Unhinged moments. Full-blown psychos. Murders. Lies. Drama.
You get all that and more!

I definitely enjoyed it enough to give it 4 stars.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the complimentary advanced e-copy!

Good domestic thriller, but I can always count on A. R. Torre to provide a good story. A bit “out there”, but very twisty with a satisfying ending.

One of the craziest books I’ve read! My first by this author and definitely not my last! I loved the pov’s we get from the three main characters. Dr. Joe and his wife, Dinah, a detective are a happily married couple. So it appears from the outside. She investigates a woman who died at home. Not sure if it’s a murder or suicide. The lady’s daughter is also missing. She and her rookie officer are trying to find the daughter while trying to find out what happened to Reese. The other person in this story is Dr. Joe. A psychiatrist and also a professor. Joe heads a mental institution where he is trying to rehabilitate his patients through methods not legally allowed, per se. I can’t really give more to the plot as I don’t want to give anything away. Just be known, it’s a crazy, fun ride!

I've read (almost) all of A. R. Torre's novels, and the one thing that brings them together is that I don't remember a damn thing about them as soon as I finish them. That's not necessarily a bad thing. The books are short and easy to binge in a few hours, but there's really nothing about them that separates them from the rest of the pack of generic domestic Kindle Unlimited thrillers. Torre is good at writing. The pages move quick and the pace/twists-and-turns are exciting, but there remains a level of disbelief when going in. This is not normal life. This is a twisted world where people do and say things that normal people wouldn't. Did I like this book? I'm not sure. Will I remember it next week? No. Was I entertained? Yes. Maybe that's enough?

I''m a big fan of Torre's books and usually find them clever and exciting, but this one just didn't work for me. None of the characters seemed like real people and the storyline and situations just didn't make sense. This is about Dinah, a homicide detective in LA married to Joe a psychiatrist. They have a unusual marriage: They do not have sex and sleep in separate beds, Dinah waits on him hand and foot and they have lots of rules to their marriage. They also share an unusual hobby which I won't get into but it doesn't fit in with Dinah''s job. The book starts when Dinah is filling in for another detective and goes to a home of a woman who died under mysterious circumstances. Dinah feels like the woman's poor health was an explanation but another detective on the scene points out that the woman's daughter Jessica appears to be missing.

Jessica wakes up in a windowless room, wearing a diaper and restrained to a bed. She is told she confessed to a crime concerning her mother and she is being evalutated; only as the days go on she realizes this does not appear to be a true hospital and she only sees two people who bring her medicine and protein shakes. There is a creepy factor to this book but some things go unexplained such as Dinah's close relationship with her family while having a hatred for one of her sisters. It was a quick read but too over the top especially the ending. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this ARC in exchange for a review.

A young woman goes to bed after checking on her sick mom, when she wakes she finds herself in a hospital where she is told that she tried to commit suicide after having murdered her mother. Her doctor may or may not be a serial killer and the police officer may or may not know everything. The big question is how will it end? This book is sinister and twisted as all heck. I thank Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 starts.
Super twisty thriller! Such a fun domestic thriller that will keep guessing until the very end!
I love the detective/psychologist dynamic between Dinah and Joe. A murder, a missing woman and some dark humor makes this book a quick and easy read’
Thank you to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review!

I will start by saying that suspense novels are not my usual genre.

Also, I don’t like stories featuring unreliable characters and this one has two, which I wasn’t aware.

I was taken aback by the first few pages and hesitated but I chose to give the book a chance.

In the end, I will agrée with other reviewers that it was really messy and not very believable.

By the hall of the book, I knew where the story was going and did not care much after that.

However, I will say the chapters are very short and I read it within a day.



Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me a complimentary e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Los Angeles homicide detective Dinah Marino may have a complicated relationship with her family, but her psychiatrist husband, Joe, makes her feel safe, secure, and happy. She couldn’t want for a more loving or trusting man. But throughout their ten-year marriage, she’s been keeping a secret from him—a secret she’d take to the grave.

Dr. Joe Marino loves his wife more than anything in this world, but there are things he’s learned to keep close to the chest. When a missing woman tied to his wife’s latest case is admitted to his hospital, doctor-patient confidentiality lands their marriage on some new and uneven ground.

As Dinah digs deeper into her case, tension works its way inside their picture-perfect home. Now the carefully constructed lies between them don’t just simply threaten the delicate balance of their marriage—they could kill.

Loved it from start to finish.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer and Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse for an advance copy of A Happy Marriage.

Dinah and Joe have a great marriage. A homicide detective that often feels haunted by her job, finds safety and security with her doctor husband.  Everything between them is pretty good, minus the fact that Dinah has been keeping a secret from him for a very long time. As it turns out, Joe has some secrets of his own, and when Dinah has a case that starts picking apart the walls they’ve built, things could get really ugly.

I can always count on A.R. Torre to give me something twisted and A Happy Marriage is no exception. This was full of all the things I love- toxic relationships, short chapters, secrets and lies, and some disturbing content.

The way this book starts is so wild and it never slows down. I don’t want to give it away because it’s such a shocking start to a book that going in blind is the best route.

Be prepared to suspend reality. I never see that as a flaw in books, but I know some people do so I want to give fair warning. But after all, aren’t we reading to get out of reality anyway?!

A.R. has become an auto buy for me, I am always excited to see what deranged stories she comes up with next!

Dinah and Joe have the perfect marriage. He’s a psychologist and she’s a detective for LA county. When a girl linked to the case that Dinah is investigating ends up admitted to Joe’s clinic, buried secretes in their marriage start making their way out.

I tore through this one, trying to piece together all of the parts. In the end, I think it was a good read but some of it is a bit bonkers and unbelievable. I would have liked a bit more backstory on some of the characters to better explain their motives. This is my second of this authors, and I think the plots of hers are generally very unique and original, so I’m interested in reading more of Torre’s backlist!

This was a quick and engaging read but nothing about it was very shocking, exciting, or twisty. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and all the secrets involved but I was hoping for a bit more overall, especially when compared to all the other books I’ve read by this author.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Loved this one so much. So addictive from the start, What holds a strong and loving marriage together? Lies and secrets in a novel of twisting psychological suspense. This book left me wanting more, exploring the dark undercurrents of relationships and the lengths people will go to protect their image and their families. The characters are well-developed and complex, making their struggles feel incredibly real. A captivating read that will keep you guessing until the very end!

The story had me hooked right away and I was flipping through the pages like a mad woman, I had my theories lol and while I was correct in some things, I did get some twisty surprises.

Unreliable narrators at every turn. Unlikable characters galore. Loved.

Compelling premise with plenty of secrets and tension, but I struggled to fully buy into the characters’ choices. The dynamic between Dinah and Joe had promise, especially with their tangled professional lives, but some plot elements felt far-fetched. An entertaining, fast-paced thriller—just not one that totally stuck with me.

This was a fast, entertaining read, but definitely one that asked me to suspend a lot of belief. The characters and their choices often felt over the top, with moments that leaned more toward soap opera than psychological realism. The drama kept me turning the pages, but some of the twists felt crafted more for shock than plausibility. If you’re in the mood for something juicy and don’t mind stretching reality, it delivers. Just don’t expect it to feel super grounded.