Takeout comes. I convince Lily to come sit on the couch with me, where we both fit. We watch TV and, as we do, I ask her about her day and she asks me about mine. She’s quieter than usual tonight. I do most of the talking. I’m a market research analyst, while Lily teaches high school algebra. We met in college over of our shared love of math. When we tell people that, it makes them laugh. We’re math nerds. I remember that Mary Kubica was a teacher before she became a writer, and as someone works in education, too, that added an extra layer of authenticity to this story from the very beginning. This is a story of a deep betrayal, and how far people will go to hide the truth. It’s also about how the people you thought were friends can turn on a dime and become your most bitter enemy. Don’t miss Mary Kubica’s chilling upcoming novel, She’s Not Sorry, where an ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient’s frightening past…

Book Genre: Adult, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Crime, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Thriller Lily doesn’t answer directly. Instead she says, “I didn’t hear you come up the stairs. I thought you were still downstairs.” Walking into their living room, he sees in an instant that his gut was right. Lily finally divulges the whole truth: that she believes she was the last person to see Jake before he disappeared. Together, they agree that this should be kept between the two of them. No one, especially Nina, should learn what she knows.

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First of all, I am a big Mary Kubica fan but this is far from my favourite book of hers. I’m not keen on the way it’s written with very short, rather staccato sentences as it feels so basic from such a good author. There is irrelevant detail, repetition and some statements that frankly, make my eyes roll. 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. Meanwhile, Nina has discovered that Jake’s gun is missing from their safe. She also has found a traffic violation issued to her mother the day Jake disappeared, a violation that is suspicious since her mother claims she cannot see well enough to drive. Nina searches her mother’s house and finds Jake’s gun in the trunk of her mother’s car. Her mother finds Nina with the gun and tries to explain that she saw how unhappy Jake was making Nina. Nina’s mother believes she did Nina a favor by killing Jake. She believes Nina should be grateful to her. Nina acts as if she is not going to turn her mother in to the police. 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. Jake Hayes is missing. Jake’s wife Nina thinks it’s due to a fight the couple had and confesses as much to her coworker Lily. Lily however may have been the last person to see Jake and confesses to her husband Christian. Christian only wants to protect Lily and their unborn child Lily is carrying so he knows Nina cannot find out the truth.

Eight months later, Nina’s mother has been released from jail, where she was being held on the murder conviction, because she is dying of breast cancer. Lily and Christian are separated. They share custody of their daughter, Bella. Christian might be open to reconciliation when he reveals that one day he will surprise Lily and accept her invitation to stay for dinner when he meets her for her week with Bella. I know that lots of people have really liked this one, but if you like logic and characters that behave rationally, then this is not the book for you. Overall, I enjoyed the story as it kept me engaged and I vacillated between Jake being dead or alive, Lily being culpable or not, or someone else being involved. I developed quite a few theories before I settled into one. I came close but still missed the mark. This was a very entertaining story, even though I found some of the things Christian did a bit of a stretch. Everything else, including the audio performance, worked for me. 3.5 stars I felt like Nina was very vague about it, and kept expecting that there was going to be some big reveal about what she and Jake were fighting about that would make for a surprise ending (and that would have made it a better book in my opinion!) but that never happened. Did she ever definitively say that it was the same fight about her spending too much time with her mother?The next day, the body is positively identified as Jake. He died via a gunshot wound, though, not blunt force trauma. The Reveal:

Don't miss Mary Kubica's chilling upcoming novel, She's Not Sorry, where an ICU nurse accidentally uncovers a patient's frightening past... Christian and Lily are expecting their first child. This pregnancy is met with stress after having three miscarriages. Christian is a doting and loving husband. He will do anything to make sure this pregnancy reaches full term. Or would you prefer playing a fun game? Take a shot every time Lily’s teenie tiny petite body type is mentioned . . . 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.Some readers have enjoyed this one, but as you can tell, it was not for me. This will be my last by Kubica. The waitress brings our coffee. She puts the mugs on the table with a sugar bowl and little pot of cream. I add cream and sugar and taste the coffee to make sure it is to my liking, blowing on the coffee first so I don't burn myself. Some of Mary Kubica's books have been better than others and, unfortunately, "Just the Nicest Couple" is not one of Mary Kubica's better books. Lily Scott and Nina Hayes have been good friends ever since Nina was assigned as Lily’s mentor when she began teaching at the same high school. What started as a mentor-mentee relationship soon developed into a terrific, fulfilling friendship as Lily learned about the ins and outs of high school students (spoiler: teenage girls can be mean to you no matter your age or status) and began to carve a niche for herself as one of the youngest, prettiest teachers. Since then, they’ve shared drinks and gossiped at staff events, hosted one another and their husbands for dinners, and confided in one another about not just teaching woes, but their marital and fertility issues as well.