A.R. Torre doesn’t miss! I absolutely devoured this book. The writing style and pacing were perfect for me: fast, sharp, and constantly pulling me deeper into the story. I was hooked from page one and didn’t want to put it down. Torre balances suspense and emotional complexity so well, weaving secrets, lies, and relationship strain into a twisty domestic thriller that hits all the right beats. Don’t miss this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Oh, this book! It was one massive chameleon of a book! Let me tell you why – because at first it confused me, for the first 20% or so of the book I was sitting there with the weirdest frown all over my face and I was confused. What? What am I reading? Is that some romance? Is this going to be some romantic suspense? What is that?
And that, my darling friends, was the book being a chameleon. Turns out, the romance feel in the beginning – it was the book trying to look like something else. Which it wasn’t. it was a super evil, super twisty story about the most unhinged people who are oh so good at pretending to be normal. A chameleon book about chameleon people.

This book was a lot but in a good way. So many characters and most of them you have trouble deciding if you like them or not.

Dinah is a detective and her husband Joe is a psychiatrist. Both have come from complicated families. They both twist things to fit their narratives.

There is a death that Dinah goes to investigate. Is it suicide or is it murder. There is Dinah and Joe’s marriage. Is it love or codependency? There is a girl missing. Did she runaway or was she kidnapped? Something happened in Dinah’s family when she was young that keeps you reading. Joe is he a psychiatrist or a mad scientist?

There is betrayal around every corner. You will think you can trust someone but can you?!? I felt like I would figure out a part but be so far off.

The book keeps you on your toes. Your mind stays working. I don’t feel like any part of the book was slow or lost my interest. It’s a quick read that leaves your mind blown.

Highly recommend for those who love a good mystery.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this book.

A Happy Marriage by A.R. Torre delivers an incredibly satisfying and propulsive thriller experience. From the first page to the last, this book masterfully keeps you on the edge of your seat, thanks to the author's uncanny ability to weave twist after unexpected twist. While the extensive cast of characters presented a slight initial challenge, Torre skillfully navigates multiple perspectives, enriching the narrative with remarkable depth and dimension. Just when you're confident you've unraveled the mystery, a shocking revelation will abruptly shift your understanding, propelling you down yet another suspenseful avenue. The tension is expertly crafted, building consistently to an almost unbearable degree, making this a truly unputdownable read. For readers who crave thrillers that actively challenge their perceptions and keep them relentlessly guessing, A Happy Marriage is an absolute must-read!

My sincere thanks to Thomas & Mercer and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What did I just read?!?! Filled with secrets, lies, and events that had me racing through the book this is for readers that enjoy thrillers that leave them shaking their head in disbelief. Dinah and Joe have a marriage that is enviable. They love each other, make each other happy, enjoy being together and have a nice home plus a remote ranch they visit on the weekends. They tell each other everything, well almost. Dinah is a police detective and Joe is a psychiatrist who teaches and runs a private clinic. Dr. Joe works late hours and Dinah doesn’t ask. When some of Dinah’s missing person cases come under review she worries about her marriage. Will the secrets they are keeping destroy their happy marriage? This is one of those books that I could not stop reading! I did not like Dinah or Joe but I had to learn more about them and the secrets they were keeping. Some of the secrets I figured out and others took me by surprise. All in all this was an enjoyable, quick read that I recommend to thriller readers that want something different.

This was a very engaging thriller. The writing style makes it easy to read.

The beginning of the story pulled me in immediately. Unfortunately for me the story began to fall apart. It unfolded in what felt like a very far fetched way and left lots of strings untied.

The MC are both unlikable though that doesn’t impact the enjoyment of the story.

In many ways it felt like the author could have more fully developed the stories and the characters so that the conclusion would have felt more complete.

If you like thrillers and especially if you like this author then you should give this one a try.

As the waves crash against the Isle of Outliers.....

Don't get me wrong. I am an absolutely true fan of the talented A.R.Torre after having read nine of her novels. I know her writing style and her crazy good techniques. A Happy Marriage didn't quite live up to her unique level. It lacked the polish and covering-all-bases that Torre usually showcases in her novels. Not bad......but not up to par.

Dinah Marino is an overburdened L.A.homicide detective. She's covering the cases of one of her co-workers besides her own. A call comes in about a mailman finding the body of a woman on his route. It seems from the evidence that she's been dead for a while. There's no sign of her twenty year old daughter, Jessica. Jessica works at a coffee cafe. No one has seen her for days. Could she have killed her own mother? Maybe.....

Add to this the fact that Freddie Hodgkins, a police trainee, has been assigned to Dinah. He shadows her like an unwanted dumpster fragrance. Dinah just wants to be left alone with this case to solve. Freddie, like an over exuberant lapdog, sees otherwise.

But what does ground Dinah is her ten year marriage to Joe. Joe is a psychiatrist who teaches classes and runs a clinic. They find solace in one another and they seem to compliment one another to the nth degree. But each of them is holding on to secrets that look to derail this happy marital setting. We'll watch as a single thread is pulled that will definitely unravel this wedded bliss.

A Happy Marriage is still a good read. But it suffers from extremely unlikeable characters who seem to grate against the reader page by page. Ya never want the phrase "So Who Cares?" to enter into your novel. And then there were a lot of dangling strings left to blow in the wind. It starts out so well and then finds itself cornered. But the Epilogue is weirdly good. Check it out. It will definitely be grabbed for a Summer read.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Thomas & Mercer and to the talented A.R.Torre for the opportunity.

Thank you Thomas & Mercer for a digital copy of this book. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Dinah is a detective with LAPD. Her husband, Dr. Joe, was her appointed psychiatrist.

Joe tries to learn everything about his wife by observing and watching her and those around him.

Dinah is called to the discovery of a dead body, and things kick off from there.

Dinah is tasked with filling in for someone on leave, then she has to take a newbie under her wing. Meanwhile, Dr. Joe is giving lectures at the University and working at his clinic.

I spent a lot of time wondering what would happen when Dinah finds out her husband is a killer, (not a spoiler alert, that part is in the first paragraph) because she is so in love with him.

This book was not what I was expecting it to be, but I'm a "wow, that happened" way.

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers and A. R. Torre for an ARC of A Happy Marriage! I know when I’m reading an A. R. Torre book I’m going to get hit blindsided and this didn’t disappoint. It was a lot of build up and then the second half going wait what!? The rest of the time. Many times I thought I knew where it was headed and I thought wrong. The story follows LAPD homicide Detective Dinah Marino and her husband psychiatrist Dr. Joe Marino. There is so much into this story that can’t give too many details away - but they have the most secure loving relationship. Except Dinah has a major secret. Joe may have some secrets too though which include some dead bodies. A woman has gone missing and Dinah is investigating, but the woman turns up in Joe’s facility. This could cause some issues in their work place and marriage. All their secrets are at stake and it may be the end to all of their happiness. You won’t want to miss this new thriller!

We were excited at @thrillerbookloversthepulse to get our hands on an early copy of Torre’s newest release.

A Happy Marriage was fast-paced, twisty and binge-worthy. The unhinged characters were the cherry on top.

I finished this one in just over 24 hours, which almost never happens. It had a similar vibe to Freida McFadden books, which I really enjoyed [3.5 stars rounded up to 4].

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to read this e-ARC!

Read if you like:

✨ Freida McFadden
✨ Majorly unhinged characters
✨ Easy to get into books
✨ Juicy secrets

3.5 stars

Having read all of Torre's books, both under her romance brand and the A.R. Torre moniker, I have to say this story is the first one I've ever been confused on how I feel about it. On the one hand I was so invested, glued to the pages to find out what happens, but at the same time, having a ton of reservations as to whether the story worked for me or not.

Admittedly, there are a lot of twists and turns in it. I like the way Torre structures the story so that she's dropping hints about things in the way she phrases her sentences. She fed us clues drip by drip all the way until the end when everything finally clicked into place. Very genius but at the same time, it didn't have the impact on me I thought I would feel.

The ending felt very anti-climactic to me, like really? That's all we get? I'm being intentionally vague here, so I don't spoil anything, but after all the build up through the whole story, I really expected a mic drop moment at the end and I didn't get it.

As others have mentioned, I thought all three voices were unreliable narrators, and you never knew at any point if what they were saying was true. What was that old commercial? "Is it live or is it Memorex?" That's how I felt most of the time, especially during Jessica and Dinah's chapters. Joe to me just came across as a very cunning psychopath.

I don't know what it is about these psychological thrillers of Torre, but I never like any of the main characters, especially the women. Dinah grated on my nerves quite a bit, especially in her interactions with Freddy, her temporary partner. Jessica I just felt sorry for, and Joe just seemed to fade away at the end. Like I said, I was expecting some last minute "oh em gee!" moment that never came. There were quite a few moments I felt I was expected to suspend belief, things that I cannot imagine would ever be allowed to happen in real life, considering Dinah was an LA police detective. But that is the beauty of storytelling, it is all fiction.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, but as mentioned before, it fell flat for me at the end. I am looking forward to seeing what Torre has in store for us next, she always comes up with the most twisted things!

What is a "happy marriage?" Well, that's obviously different for every couple and when you find out what makes a happy marriage for Dinah and Joe I bet it won't be what you think, lol!

Part murder mystery, part psychological thriller, Dinah is a LAPD homicide detective harboring a bit of resentment towards her family, mainly her mother and sister, Marci. The only family she needs is her husband, Joe, a psychiatrist and teacher who also sees patients at a clinic. After 10 years they are still so in love, putting each other first with a huge emphasis on trust in their relationship. No secrets. Except they do each have secrets and those secrets start to unravel when Dinah is assigned a murder case, with a potentially missing person and that same missing person ends up as a patient at Joe's clinic.

I'm not sure if the narrators are unreliable or just delusional or just withholding info, but things definitely are different behind the scenes versus the front that Dinah and Joe show the world. It's kind of far out, kind of wacky, but still kept me reading, right to the last darkly humorous chapter. Not my favorite book by this author but still page turning, addictive, and slightly unhinged. Definitely not what you expect.

I found this one to be a little confusing at first and I I felt like the ending came up so quickly. I liked the premise but I didn’t find myself engrossed in the story or particularly shocked by any “twists”

I don’t know that I’ll ever recover from the heart palpitations this book gave me! This was quite the adrenal rush that kept me guessing the entire time.

I don’t even want to know what goes on inside A.R. Torre’s mind. She writes the most convoluted thrillers. This was a page turner, and flowed effortlessly. I felt like something funny was going on but I just didn’t know what. The twist was perfection.

𝗠𝘆 𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: 4⭐️
A HAPPY MARRIAGE
🤍𝗚𝗲𝗻𝗿𝗲: thriller
📖 254 pages
𝗘𝗺𝗼𝗷𝗶𝘀: 🕵🏼‍♀️🤫🚔🏥💊😱💍📧💉🥼⛓️‍💥
𝗣𝘂𝗯 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲: 6/24/2025

𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲:
◽️ domestic thrillers
◽️ multiple POV
◽️ unreliable narrator
◽️ short chapters

🤍𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲🤍

Thank you @alessandratorre4 @thomasmerceruk for the #gifted copy!
@thrillerbookloversthepulse is loving this!

She did it again—what a wild, twist filled ride! This thriller hooks you from the opening chapter & doesn’t let go. With short, punchy chapters & multiple POV, it’s impossible not to keep flipping pages. While the plot feels a bit disorienting at first, everything clicks into place in a brilliantly executed way that feels totally worth the wait.

The story is told through 3 unreliable narrators, keeping you constantly guessing about who to believe. Just when you think you have it figured out, a late in the game twist hits like a bombshell & will leave you reeling 😵‍💫 . Fans of MY LOVELY WIFE will devour this one. Don’t miss it—mark your calendars for 6/24/2025!

𝗣𝗹𝗼𝘁: Homicide detective Dinah Marino has built a life of safety & love with her psychiatrist husband, Joe, despite secrets she’s buried deep. Joe adores Dinah, but he’s hiding a dark past of his own—one that includes more than a few corpses. When a missing woman from Dinah’s case turns up at Joe’s hospital, their secrets begin to unravel. As Dinah investigates, the tension creeps into their marriage & home. What they’re hiding from each other may not just destroy their trust—it could turn deadly.

#thrillerlover #thrillerbooks #AHappyMarriage #mystery #psychologicalthriller #thriller #suspense #giftedbooks #kindle #bookaddict #whattoreadnext #botwxbs #bookcollector #booksaremylife #booksonbooks #crimewithaclaw #cozycorner #thepulse

If you are in the mood for an unhinged thriller, look no further! This book is a quick read and super fast paced. It packs a lot into not a lot of pages, so you can really fly through it. I thought the plot of the story was pretty clever, but be prepared to suspend your disbelief for some parts of the story. This book is definitely worth the read.!

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A Perfect Marriage is a fast-paced thriller with plenty of twists, but it sometimes sacrifices depth for shock value. While the plot keeps you guessing, some character motivations felt underdeveloped. I absolutely devoured and loved A Familiar Stranger by A.R. Torre so I was really wanting to love this latest book by her but this one fell short for me.

I usually really enjoy books by A. R. Torre. The Happy Marriage presents an intriguing premise that unfortunately fell short for me. The novel revolves around Dinah Marino, a homicide detective, and her psychiatrist husband, Joe. While the idea of a couple caught in a web of secrets and deception could lead to thrilling plot developments, the execution felt flat and predictable.

Dinah is portrayed as a strong, capable detective, but her constant struggles with her family dynamics and the secret she harbors make her seem more like a caricature rather than a fully developed character. Joe, while initially presented as the perfect husband, becomes increasingly one-dimensional as the story progresses.

The novel's pacing drags in parts, with some scenes feeling unnecessarily drawn out. There are instances where the dialogue lacks the authenticity required to bring the characters to life.

Overall, The Happy Marriage highlights the potential for a compelling narrative but ultimately does not deliver on that promise for me. The novel might resonate with some readers interested in domestic thrillers, but it was just an okay read for me.

#AHappyMarriage #NetGalley @AmazonPub

4 stars

Readers familiar with Torre's work will KNOW that the titular happy marriage is not referencing some charming romance or sappy chick lit. No. This particular marriage is even more disturbing than Torre's experienced readers will already expect.

Dinah and Joe are an apparently respectable couple. She is a homicide detective, and he is a psychiatrist. Obviously, there's a shared interest in darkness and the inner workings of the human mind, but these two take things to unexpected places.

When the novel begins, Dinah is working on a new case. Multiple perspectives are introduced, and this really highlights not only the characterization but also the slow, disturbing unfolding of events and hidden realities.

As is so often the case in these books, the fun is in the journey, so I'll keep that vague, but I will confirm that this is a creepy read. I enjoyed it accordingly!