The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

Hello everyone. I hope your day is going well.

Would you ever cheat on your spouse?  I wouldn't.  Let's face it, I'm too lazy.  First, there is all the prep, the scrubbing and shaving, the makeup and clothes.  Then the actual act, the "ow, not there" or "get off my hair."  Then there is the hiding it and the eventual guilt.  I'm a huge feeler of guilt, half the time for stuff I didn't even do.  Yep, an affair just seems exhausting.  When my husband makes a totally male comment about some girl, I tell him "ahhh go ahead but make sure she cooks dinner before she leaves, and a load of laundry wouldn't hurt."  Honestly, I'm starting to think my attitude toward affairs should be on stage in the Catskills.  (look up Concord hotel)

I recently read The Golden Couple by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.  This is maybe my fourth book by the dynamic duo and it fits right in with their twisty thriller resume.  This is the story of a wealthy couple, Marissa and Matthew.  At first you believe they have the perfect, fairytale life.  As so often is the case with psychological thrillers, things are not what they seem. Marissa has had an affair and wants to inform her husband of her infidelity.  Marissa wants to do this in the presence of another, specifically a counselor.  Hmmm.  Why must another person be a witness to such a sensitive issue?  The therapist, Avery, has some rather unconventional methods and has, in fact, recently lost her license.  As the trio work through the issues of being unfaithful more secrets are brought to the surface, some that should have stayed hidden.

This book is exactly what you expect from Hendricks and Pekkanen, twisty, shocking, intense, and a page turner.  What else is there to say?  As usual, a great read.

The First Mistake by Sandie Jones

Hello everyone.

You know, the internet is a weird thing. Okay, maybe not for you youngsters ('youngsters', I sound like my grandparents) let me rephrase...the internet is a weird thing if you didn't grow up with it. Don't get me wrong, when hubby and I are having that once a week discussion about someone he sees on tv and thinks it is an actor that it obviously isn't, the internet backs me up, proving him wrong. You'd think he'd listen to his darling wife, but alas NO! Besides being an instant source of discussion winning gotcha moments, the internet is also a meeting place. Now that I'm hearing tacky fake porno jazz in my head I'll clarify not THAT kind of meeting place. Let's face it, I just used the word "youngster",  online hookup time for me has long passed. I am talking about connecting with people from your past.

This week I spoke with a life-long friend, someone I lived next door to from the time I was 3 until moving out after college. It has been delightful, I can't believe how old her kids are and how beautiful! I last saw her children when they were babies and they are now adults. It's like that when you reconnect with people from school, isn't it? You haven't seen each other for years, the personality is the same, but how could they have been married and divorced or even have grandchildren. We were just in chemistry last Thursday, how on earth did this happen. That's the thing with the passage of time, you feel the same inside. It seems like you should still be hurrying so you don't miss the school bus , but the reality is that you have a mortgage, kids that are counting down the days until their next Disney World vacation, and a lawn that magically grows out of control overnight. Thankfully, when you realize that this bizarre passage of time has been happening, you discover the same has been going on with your friends. You are not alone, your friends are pulling their back when putting on their bra too! Pass the ice pack please!

I recently read The First Mistake by Sandie Jones. Last year I read her book, The Other Woman and loved it. When I received an advanced copy of the new story I was thrilled. The First Mistake is about ordinary life.  A woman, Alice, has lost her first husband and has remarried, Nathan. She has a best friend, Beth, they have been through everything together. When Alice starts noticing some odd things going on with Nathan she, like any of us would, turns to her friend for support. This book asks the question what do you do when you start to doubt your friend, your rock. Is everything real or are you making a big deal out of nothing? Do you crumble or fight back? I think what makes these types of thrillers so creepy is that they are, for the most part, normal situations. It seems to hit harder when it is actually something that could happen. A thriller set on some purple planet with an evil green monkey is a lot less likely to seep into your dreams as it doesn't really exist.  Sandie Jones has produced another solid, well written, rapidly paced thriller, with a plot even more involved and twisty than The Other Woman.

This book would be a great one to read on vacation, certainly interesting enough to hold your attention but not too taxing. Perhaps you should read it with a friend. Don't blame me if you look at each other suspiciously afterward.