I am delighted to share my review today for The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen. This is a fabulous psychological thriller that is twisted and full of secrets. This writing duo definitely do make a Golden Couple!

My huge thanks to Anne at Random Things Tours for my spot on the Blog Tour and for the e-copy of this book from Pan MacMillan.

If Avery Chambers can’t fix you in ten sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. She helps people overcome everything, from domineering parents to assault. Her successes almost help her absorb the emptiness she feels since her husband’s death.

Marissa and Mathew Bishop seem like the golden couple until Marissa cheats. She wants to repair things, both because she loves her husband and for the sake of their 8-year-old son. After a friend forwards an article about Avery, Marissa takes a chance on this maverick therapist, who lost her license due to controversial methods. When the Bishops glide through Avery’s door and Marissa reveals her infidelity, all three are set on a collision course. Because the biggest secrets in the room are still hidden, and it’s no longer simply a marriage that’s in danger.

MY REVIEW

I have just read the synopsis for this book and it reminded me what a concise and interesting one it is. It is definitely what attracted me to this book. It implies secrets, not just from the couple but also from the maverick therapist that they go to see. Why would a couple who appear to be a perfect match, or “Golden Couple” need to see a therapist and why choose one that has lost her license?

I really don’t know who to start with for this review, the Bishops or the Therapist. The therapist is Avery Chambers, and yes she does have secrets, she lives alone and she checks around her very carefully. All the why’s will soon become apparent as the story progresses.

The Bishops, Marissa and Matthew have a son. Both parents work, have an affluent lifestyle, they need to have money to pay the fee to see Avery. Their lifestyle is almost choreographed into things that are “Instgramable”, you know the perfectly decorated house with the right decor. Always dressed smartly and holiday in the best locations. So, what is their secret, who has the secret, and are they willing to let their secret be known?

This was a fabulous read and a first for me from this writing duo. This is a domestic thriller that had me hooked. The authors started the story calmly, made the introductions and then came the first meeting for the Bishops and Avery.

From this point on the pacing gradually picks up, details are given and hints of the past are teasingly dropped onto the pages. I soon started to see the dynamics between this golden couple, Matthew so busy with work, meetings and trips with Marissa being the home organiser and also running her own shop, although she does have help from Polly in the shop. A non-stop world of family, business and travel doesn’t always leave much time for husband and wife time.

I really like the character of Avery, she comes across as being a no-nonsense woman, she doesn’t beat around the bush and wants to get to the bottom of the secrets. She is strong enough in herself to decide which people she will take on, it is almost like people have to pass her interview for her to then see them. She has her own treatment plan, 10 steps that are guaranteed to work!

There are some other players who have smaller roles, and rather than spoil it I will leave them to introduce themselves. Let’s see if you work out the liars from the truth-tellers, the cheaters from the good’uns. I thought I had people sussed! That’s all I am saying about me and my pathetic theories.

This is a tense and tight thriller, it is brilliantly paced and it added an exciting addictiveness to it. I needed to know all the details, the juicy bits, the why’s and wherefores. The author’s collaboration is fabulous and the story flows s well. There is some back and forth between characters and also timelines, this fills in details and makes for some incredible jaw-dropping moments. I didn’t see the final few chapters coming, that caught me on the hop.

If you are a fan of a domestic thriller that is tense and teasingly addictive then you really do need to pick up The Golden Couple. It is a cracking read and one I would definitely recommend.

ABOUT THE AUHTORS

Greer Hendricks spent two decades as an editor. Prior to her tenure in book
publishing, she earned her Master’s in journalism from Columbia University. Her
writing has appeared in the New York Times, Allure and Publishers Weekly. Greer
lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.

Sarah Pekkanen is the internationally and USA Today bestselling author of eight
solo novels. A former investigative journalist and feature writer, she has published
her work in The Washington Post, USA Today, and many other publications. She is
the mother of three sons and lives just outside Washington, D.C.

Together, they have written the New York Times bestselling novels The Wife
Between Us, An Anonymous Girl, and You Are Not Alone. The Golden Couple is their
fourth novel.

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