One Perfect Couple by Ruth Ware

Good morning, readers! Today I'm a stop on the Random Things tour for Ruth Ware's latest thriller, One Perfect Couple. 

Lyla, a virologist, and Nico, an actor, may seem like and unlikely pair, but for almost three years they've been living together happily. And now Nico has an opportunity to participate in a brand new reality show his agent is certain can launch his career. The catch: it's a couple's competition. 

Lyla is against it at first, but agrees to go along to support Nico. Plus, her current contract project isn't panning out and a couple of weeks off won't hurt. But she's not thrilled about the competition stipulations from the start. The idea is that the "perfect couple" will win through a series of challenges where one loser is kicked off each week. So it could be a "couple" winning. Or it could be just one person. But the pictures they're sent of the resort where the show is filming is breathtaking.

Unfortunately, the contestants aren't there long when a storm hits, leaving them stranded with limited supplies and no electricity. 

Pretty soon, the stress of their situation begins to break them down. And by the time someone is murdered, they've already begun to question who can be trusted. 

I absolutely love that Ruth Ware enjoys throwing her readers off kilter from the very beginning of the story! 

The prologue is a short couple of paragraphs about a man and a woman fighting for their lives. Fighting one another. Told from the woman's POV, but with no hint as to who the two might be. 

What's more, for the first part of the book chapters are intermittently separated by simple entries that include a date, time, and pleas for help. Ware changes this later in the book, further throwing the reader off  of whatever conclusions or guesses they've made thus far about the various who's and the what of the plot. 

Ruth Ware has taken Love Island and thrown in a bit of Survivor and a whole lot of the twists and turns she's known for. 

And you know me, inappropriate reading rec location for maximum atmosphere: an island paradise of course! Or, your backyard with your feet in a kiddie pool if, like me, that's what you've got to work with!

One Perfect Couple is out now in the UK and the US.