The Happy Wife was such a great suspense book about marriage and its secrets. It was the perfect summer read and couldn’t put it down.

This is a solid contemporary mystery set in an opulent Florida community. The ending was pretty predictable but I appreciated the fast pace and the easy writing style. There was no unbelievable Mission Impossible like slight of characters. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

This was a really interesting book, alternating between the days after Will's disappearance, and the time while his relationship with Norw was building. Lots of layers here, with his business partners, the ex wife, the age gap, Nora not really fitting into Winter Park society, and her best friend.
There was a lot of build up and then the resolution seemed kind of quick, but I enjoyed the storytelling.

This has been a fun summer read!! It had twists and turns and great characters!! There were pieces missing though to keep me fully engaged.

Happy Wife was such a great read. I haven’t read anything by Meredith Lavender or Kendall Shores before, but after this, I’d definitely pick up more of their books. The story was fast-paced, twisty, and full of drama in all the best ways.

I loved how it moved between Nora and Will’s whirlwind romance and the tense search after his disappearance. The setting in an ultra-wealthy Florida community added so much to the story—the glitz, the gossip, and the secrets lurking behind perfect facades. Nora was such an interesting character to follow, especially as you start to wonder who she can really trust.

The suspense kept me turning the pages, and I enjoyed the mix of mystery and juicy social dynamics. It was entertaining from start to finish, and I didn’t want to put it down.

This book had me hooked from the beginning. It is exactly the kind of thriller I enjoy-full of mystery and suspense, but low on the ick factor (no blood or gore). I flew through this book because I so wanted to know how it would end. All in all, this was a fun, entertaining summer read! Would definitely recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read and review.

I really liked this book! It was as the perfect balance of fiction and thriller for me. I thought it wasn’t too predictable and it kept me second guessing myself the entire time. Overall, I will definitely recommend this book.

This is my first Meredith Lavender book, she had me hooked from chapter 1. It's a quick read, set in the affluent town of Winter Park, Florida, newlywed Nora Davies is still trying to find her place after marrying Will, a prominent attorney nearly twenty years her senior. She is struggling to fit in with the country club women. The neighborhood gossip mill insists she married for money, and when Will disappears after leaving his own forty-sixth birthday party for a “quick errand,” the whispers only intensify. This only adds fuel to the fire of gossip.

Told in alternating chapters that weave together Nora and Will’s whirlwind romance with the tense present-day search for him, this is a sharp, compulsively readable tale of wealth, marriage, age gaps, secrets, and the delicious drama of the privileged behaving badly. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy.

When Nora meets Will after stepping up to help his daughter, her whole life changes. When he goes missing one night, she must dig into the glitz and glamour of Winter Park in order to solve the mystery.

The atmospheric setting was a fun backdrop for this whodunnit. I enjoyed Nora’s outsider perspective on the wealth and opulence of Winter Park. The mystery hooked me from the start and kept me tearing through the pages until I got answers. This was a great debut and I look forward to more from this author team!

Thank you to Random House for providing a free ARC for review via NetGalley.

Happy Wife was a recent Read With Jenna book club pick, and I decided to take it along on our recent summer vacation. It ended up being a good choice for that setting because it was easy to pick up and put back down without losing track of the story.

The book alternates between Nora and Will’s whirlwind romance and the tense search after Will’s sudden disappearance. I liked the vivid Winter Park, Florida backdrop and the peek into the gossip and politics of this social scene. The mix of mystery and society drama kept me curious about where it was heading and it made for an easy beach read.

For me, the biggest downfall was that the pacing was uneven. Some of the backstory moved a little too slowly, and I wanted more connection to Nora as a character. Still, the blend of suspense, sharp social details, and plenty of secrets made this a fun, quick read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced copy.

💍𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗙𝗘💍
𝔱𝔥𝔯𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔢𝔯
𝙿𝚞𝚋 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚎: 𝙹𝚞𝚗𝚎 𝟸𝟺, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟻
🎧📘𝖱𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝖺𝗌 𝖺 𝗁𝗒𝖻𝗋𝗂𝖽 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽 𝖺𝗎𝖽𝗂𝗈 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾
🤩𝕄𝕪 𝕣𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘: 𝟛.𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤! ★★★✮

🤏𝚃𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚢 𝚝𝚒𝚍𝚋𝚒𝚝...A young woman must find her missing husband & prove her innocence…

🌸𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢...This one delivers the perfect amount of drama & suspense to keep you turning the pages. 👏The Florida setting ☀️was a total vibe & made for such a fun summer thriller read. 🌴I am happy I read it but I can’t remember much of it now. Love the cover! 💕

𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ★ ★ ★ ★
𝗔𝗥𝗖 𝗥𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗘𝗪:

SHEEESH. I devoured this book in one entire sitting. When I say that I loved this book, I LOVED IT. This is the perfect summer read (I read this on vacation) and such a fast paced thriller and it will keep you turning those pages and guessing what’s coming up next. The writing is wonderful, the characters are well written and strong and the amount of secrets, lies and questionable rich people…you’ll be questions lots of things, nothing is as it seems. I will simply leave you with this…put it on your TBR, get comfortable and read this one, you wont regret it!

𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗣𝗘𝗦: Fast Paced, Parties, Summer Vibes, Secrets & Lies, Suspenseful, Thriller, Mysterious, Rich People, Nothing Is As It Seems

Large thank you to our Author, NetGalley as well as Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam

A fast read with some twisty little chapters. I like a fictitious rich & famous murder plotline & this was a pretty engaging story. I was rooting for Nora but also slightly annoyed by her repetitive "outsider" status. I did figure out the murderer long before Nora wised up, but still enjoyed it overall. A quick summer beach read.

A young, naive, broke woman becomes the second wife to a rich lawyer who comes complete with a daughter, a clingy and psychotic ex-wife, and a skeezy business partner. Their whirlwind romance turns too quickly to marriage and this happy wife struggles to fit in with the crowd where she is met with a “you don’t belong here” attitude from the ex-wife’s friends. When her husband disappears and she’s suspected of being involved, our FMC takes matters into her own hands, with the help of some new friends, to solve the crime.

This dual timeline, rich-husband/poor-wife, disappearance mystery was an okay read. 2.5 stars rounded up. He works too much, she is lonely. They have problems. He disappears. Everyone suspects the wife. Suddenly there are private investigators and murder and never once is a separate lawyer contacted. I struggled to connect with the characters and the ending… well I don’t want to spoil it for anyone reading my review, but it was the most bizarre “hint”/explanation. And there is a total lack of grief through this whole thing - it’s very transactional and lacking any emotional pull.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group, Ballantine for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Nora is struggling to make ends meet. She’s 28 years old, working two jobs and living with her mother. Then she meets Will, a well to do, older attorney. Will is divorced with one teenaged daughter. Nora and Will fall in love and marry but all is not well in their lives. Will is quickly caught up in problems with his law firm and his law partner. Nora is not welcomed by the other wives in Winter Park Florida. Nora throws a lavish party for Will’s birthday. After everyone has left, Will goes down to their dock on a pretense. Nora falls asleep waiting for him. Will never returns. Nora, of course, is the prime suspect in his disappearance. As Nora begins to feel railroaded, she takes it upon herself to figure out what happened to Will. I liked this book. The characters were well defined. The story goes back and forth between before the party and after the party. The ending does have a twist. It kept me interested all the way to the end.

A good summer reading pick and a Jenna book of the month pick.

Positives:
A fast paced mystery
I enjoyed when books are set in the land of the ultra rich people behaving badly
Good plot twists
Good beach read

Negatives:
I enjoyed it while reading it, but ultimately I think the plot will not be one that sticks with me for long.

I really enjoyed this fast-paced novel and the juxtaposition of the privileged world of Winter Park with the darkness and secrets lurking beneath its facade. Nora’s voice felt sharp and real, and I loved the tight pacing. Definitely would recommend!

This was my favorite summer read! Just like summer I hated it being over when I got to the end! Read it!!!!

Thank you Random House Publishing and Ballantine for a copy of this book! This one truly had me guessing until right at the end, I couldn't figure out the real killer! I loved the vibes in Winter Park, the elite and how Nora just was still her own person and didn't care what they thought about her. Will was a hard one to figure out, but the time jumps back and forth helped piece it all together a bit. I really loved her best friend Este. Definite Gone Girl vibes! This one had a pub date of June 24th!

Happy Wife completely exceeded my expectations! This twisty domestic suspense kept me guessing from start to finish—I never saw that ending coming. The pacing was spot-on, and the tension built in all the right places.

Nora was such a compelling main character—bright, sharp, and surprisingly funny. I loved following her through every turn of this story. Lavender and Shores did a great job blending emotional depth with suspense, and I flew through the pages.

I highly recommend it to fans of layered characters, unreliable narratives, and jaw-dropping finales.