Just The Nicest Couple: The nail-biting new thriller for 2023 from the New York Times bestselling author of Local Woman Missing

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These utterances throw the couples together when Lily, taking a walk through the local park to get some fresh air and exercise, runs into Jake and they share an uncomfortable conversation. Lily is shaken by their interaction but even more shaken throughout the week when Nina tells her that Jake has not been home for days. She knows she was the last person to see him, alive or dead. It is time for Lily to come clean about what really happened in the park. However, there is much more than meets the eye to Lily and Christian, who everyone believes to be just the nicest couple. There is movement on the ground before me. The sound that comes with it is something heathen and raging, and some part of me knows that if I don’t go now, I may never leave this place alive.

As the story progresses, it becomes apparent that Lily’s stated version of her interactions with Jake may not have been fully accurate and truthful. Meanwhile, Christian’s questionable decision-making escalates, heightening the danger in which he and Lily find themselves. Nina gradually discovers that her perceptions of her relationships with those most important to her were severely flawed, and her life will never play out the way she once thought it would. Rich with detail and a mounting, almost suffocating sense of dread, Just the Nicest Couple is a dark and twisted exploration of loyalty, family, and how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love." —Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here Thank you to the author Mary Kubica, publishers Park Row and Harper Collins, and Edelweiss, for an advance digital copy of JUST THE NICEST COUPLE. Whereas I felt Nina was a sympathetic character. Not only is she dealing with the disappearance of her husband but her mother is very ill. It’s been a struggle trying to balance carrying for her mother while also dealing with her extremely needy husband. Also, one of the couples in the book was pathetic and irritating. (Who talks to each other like that?)The following version of the novel was used to create this study guide: Kubica, Mary. Just the Nicest Couple. Park Row, January 10, 2023. Kindle. Kubica says she always loved to write but did not set out to draft thrillers. Rather, she found her way to the genre by accident after writing in a variety of other styles, primarily general women’s fiction. But she knew something was missing because she repeatedly found herself bored with her own manuscripts before she finished them. She began penning thrillers “totally by accident.” The Good Girl was meant to be a love story, but she decided to add some mystery elements, having no idea that the story would end up being “so dark and twisty.” She loved where the writing took her and knew immediately that she had found her niche. Basically, Lily feels she did something, Christian goes all wild trying to protect her, Jake is missing, and Nina freaks out, because they fought before he disappeared. Who is telling the truth--anyone, everyone? Christian irritated me with his impulsive doltish ways, Nina needed to stand up for herself, and even Lily got to me after a while. And Jake seemed to have no redeeming qualities and could stay missing for all I cared. One of the twists was a pretty decent surprise; the other one not so much. An odd read overall. 3 stars.

Rich with detail and a mounting, almost suffocating sense of dread, Just the Nicest Couple is a dark and twisted exploration of loyalty, family, and how far we’ll go to protect the ones we love. - Andrea Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of We Were Never Here Fascinating, right?! That's paraphrased because I don't feel like trying to find the passage in my audiobook, but I'm only slightly exaggerating. She does this over and over again. The pace of the book was good, but these descriptions would bog things down and I'd be muttering to myself, "Okay, Nina is opening a letter - we all know how that is done, so can we get ON with it?!" The last chapter of Nina's, she says that she can't call the cops on her mother and have her spend what's left of her life in jail. Then the next chapter is Christian, and he's commenting that Nina's mother just got out of jail on compassionate leave. Did I miss a chapter? Why did Nina change her mind? Nina struggles with the idea of becoming a mother herself. Prior to Jake’s disappearance, she thought it would eventually happen, but now she’s not sure, especially with how volatile her relationship is with Jake. VerdictI’ve read some of Mary Kubica’s other thrillers and I really like how she approaches her stories. They’re well-written, engaging and oftentimes quite surprising. That was definitely the case with Just the Nicest Couple. What’s the Story About Do you want to know the reasons? If you don’t, stop reading. Oh come on, didn’t I make you a little intrigued? It’s been a while since I’ve read a thriller! I tend to start off the year with a thriller or two. It’s a good switch from the more serious literary stories. Lily and Christian Scott are a happily married couple expecting their first child. She’s a high school algebra teacher and he’s a market research analyst, living comfortably but nervous about her high risk pregnancy. Their world gets turned upside down, though, when Lily shares a disturbing encounter with Jake Hayes, the husband of her friend and fellow teacher Nina. Lily was determined to put the incident behind her until she learned that day that Jake never returned home the night before. Nina thinks he’s still miffed about their own argument; Lily’s not so sure. When Jake fails to return after several days, she and Christian go down a perilous path in an effort to protect themselves.