Story for the Week
Warning…warning…another ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review below. 😉 You can scroll right to it if you really want to, but I hope you’ll read my post before you do. 😁
Let’s face it. Not every book can be a 5-star read, and I will admit that I’ve read some doozies in the past. I really disliked the last three books in Stephen King’s Dark Tower series…like, vehemently disliked, and he’s been a favorite author my entire life. I gave 1 star to a dystopian novel that one of my friend’s kids had to read for middle school a number of years ago.
Then there was the time I almost didn’t finish a book about a woman who discovers she’s pregnant by her husband on the same day that her divorce is finalized. I wrote a 1-star review that I posted on Goodreads, and that was a turning point for me. This particular book has 3½ stars on Amazon, and 60% of the reviews are either 4 or 5 stars. As I was looking at the other Goodreads reviews, I saw one that made me reconsider. This particular reviewer said she couldn’t get into the story at first, but it started to turn around for her the longer she read.
That was the moment I realized that it really wasn’t fair for me to write a full-blown review, or even give a rating, to a book I hadn’t bothered to finish. I equated it to a teacher grading a 10-question test and giving a student an F because the first two answers were incorrect. What if the student made two mistakes and aced the rest of the test? Likewise, what if the beginning of a book drags or it just takes time to develop and the end is really amazing? From that point, I made a conscious decision that I would only review books that I finished.
With that in mind, there are times that I’ll be halfway through a book and know I’m going to give it 1 star, and I intentionally finish to ensure I can post the negative review.😬 Hey, all’s fair in love and reading. And I do find it really difficult to not finish a book, but I did quit the one I started just after the one I reviewed below. I read the first two chapters and just knew I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the end. I mean…two chapters. It was an enemies-to-lovers romance, but the characters at least have to be a little likeable, and I didn’t like either of them. Why torture myself, right?
For what it’s worth, I did eventually finish the book I reviewed on Goodreads, and I still stand by the 1-star review.😏
The review in this post is my second 5-star read of the year—my third if you round up the 4½-star. And yes, I’m aware we’re only three weeks into the year. I am a reader after all. While I was thinking about this review, I realized just how many 4- and 5-star books I’ve read recently. I knew when I started blogging that I would inevitably review books I didn’t enjoy, and I was (and am still) committed to providing those reviews. But the fact of the matter is that, of the 15 books I’ve read in the last year, only four ranked fewer than 4 stars for me. One of those was 3 stars, which is still okay in my opinion.
Typically, I read way more than 15 books in a year, but the last couple of years have been challenging for my family. Maybe I’ve just been lucky, but I’m so glad that the books I have devoted my time to have been totally worth it. I feel like I’m back into a groove considering I’ve finished in three weeks what it took me two-and-a-half months to read last year. 😮
I finished the book below in five days. I do work for a living, or I probably would have finished sooner. It doesn’t release for another six-and-a-half weeks, but I suggest pre-ordering it now so you can start reading it immediately when it’s delivered…and so you don’t forget.
I’m certain there will be 1- and 2-star reviews in the future, but for now, you’ll have to settle for this. I hope it’s not too much of a burden. 🤣
Book Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5 Stars for The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen
320 pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Publication Date: March 8, 2022
I received an advance copy of this title from NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press.
Publisher’s Description
If Avery Chambers can’t fix you in 10 sessions, she won’t take you on as a client. Her successes are phenomenal—she helps people overcome everything from domineering parents to assault—and almost absorb the emptiness she sometimes 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.
************
Main Characters:
- Avery Chambers – a therapy “consultant,” since she lost her license. A magazine article about her controversial method of therapy creates a bit of a boon of new clients
- Marissa Bishop – stay-at-home mom to eight-year-old Bennett, cheats on her husband and takes him to Avery in an effort to save their marriage
- Matthew Bishop – Marissa’s husband, partner at a law firm, a bit of an uninvolved father
I have said it before, and I will say it again: Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen are a power couple when it comes to telling a tale. This is my third book from the two of them, and I will seek out their titles time and time again. They have mastered the art of the twist, which always comes at the end of part two, and it’s never a twist I see coming. Never.
Told from two perspectives, this title covers Avery’s point of view, told in the first person, and Marissa’s point of view, told in the third. We meet some of Avery’s clients, learn enough about her past to understand why she lost her license, as well as follow some challenges she has with a whistleblower incident. From Marissa’s perspective, there are private school committees, snobby mothers, and a huge secret she’s keeping about the cheating incident. Marissa sought out Avery because of a magazine article, but that’s not the only reason she and Matthew end up at Avery’s office in particular.
I don’t want to give anything away. As I said, Hendricks and Pekkanen have perfected the twist. This is the third time with them that I reached the end of part two and literally dropped my mouth open and said, “No!” out loud. 😮 There are enough secondary characters in this story that pretty much anything can happen. Let’s just say that Avery’s life and the Bishops’ life collide in a spectacular way, and part three is where all hell breaks loose.
Trust me on this…you don’t want to skip this one. It’s available now for pre-order…so go…go now…pre-order now. You’ll be happy that you did.
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