Thank youNetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for honest review. Unfortunately I DNF'D this book halfway through due to the flat pacing and character development. I had really high hopes for this book as someone who is a thriller fan but I just couldn't seem to get into the plot.

Quick fast paced suspense. Wealthy man dies — the young new wife is to blame.. I liked the storyline but some of the characters (the wife’s bestie especially) annoyed me .
Cute summer read with a tad of suspense.

Happy Wife delivers a gripping domestic thriller that peels back the layers of privilege, marriage, and identity in a community where appearances are everything—and secrets are deadly.

Nora seems to have it all: a handsome, high-powered lawyer husband, Will; a stunning home in Winter Garden’s most exclusive neighborhood; and a life that many would envy. But Nora is far from accepted. As a younger woman and a relative outsider, she constantly battles the judgment of her husband’s peers and the frosty disapproval of his ex-wife, Constance—who clearly hasn’t moved on.

On the night of Will’s 46th birthday party, a seemingly minor errand—retrieving something from his boat—ends in his mysterious disappearance. As suspicion quickly turns toward Nora, she’s left reeling, desperate to uncover the truth behind her husband’s vanishing and the web of secrets surrounding their lives.

With twists and turns expertly woven throughout, Happy Wife is a compelling story of suspicion, loyalty, and the cost of keeping up appearances. The ending delivers a satisfying punch, tying up the mystery with finesse while still leaving room for reflection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine for the advanced reader copy.

Wow—this ended up being a 5-star read for me! It took about 50% of the book for me to be fully hooked, but once I was in, it became completely unputdownable. For perspective: I took about four days to get through the first half, and only a day and a half to devour the second half—and that was during a busy stretch of family events, so that’s really saying something. There came a point where I simply had to have my answers.

I really enjoyed the quick chapters and the dual timelines of past and present. Each timeline added depth and perspective to the other until they perfectly converged into a bittersweet, satisfying, and emotionally touching ending. I thought the plot was tight and clever—no filler, nothing that felt unnecessary. Every scene served a purpose, and I found the author’s writing style to be witty, readable, and incredibly balanced—sometimes funny or scathing, other times deeply emotional and heartfelt.

This book is classified as a mystery/thriller/suspense, which it absolutely is, but I want to highlight the other layers that were such a happy surprise. Underneath the murder mystery is a deeply relatable, incredibly human narrator: Nora. She’s 28, from a blue-collar background, and married to a wealthy, older, successful lawyer in a community full of, as Tay would say, “vipers dressed in empaths’ clothing.” She’s relatable because she’s flawed. Nora loves her husband—you feel that—but the relationship is written so realistically. It’s not all romance and happiness. They have issues. Her feelings are complicated. Their behavior is real: sometimes heartwarming, sometimes painful, sometimes funny, sometimes suspect. The full range of emotions is there, just like life, just like real people.

My heart broke for Nora, but my heart also soared for Nora.

In terms of the thriller element—this fully delivered. I was never 100% sure who my main suspect should be. I felt guilty for suspecting some characters, while others seemed too obvious to actually be guilty. I was kept guessing, doubting, theorizing, and suspicious of everyone until the very end.
This was a great mystery with a nuanced, well-crafted plot and a satisfying ending—but it was also more than that. It was a reflection on marriage, grief, wealth, and the quiet tragedies we all carry. I recommend it to any reader, regardless of genre preferences.
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SPOILERS BELOW
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“I’ll miss you forever, hot lawyer man” sent me spiraling. Like, full sobbing. Will deserved so much better. It was so hard to read about how he and Nora had finally made it through such a rough patch, reconciling with this hopeful, loving outlook for the future—only for that to happen to him that same night. Heartbreaking. Nora had just been wondering where life would take them next on that last boat ride, and now she’ll never know. Now she has to find herself alone. I felt her grief through the pages.

Some quotes I loved:
“God, I remember when I first learned ‘bimini’ meant ‘boat awning.’ The glossary of terms I have had to download just to keep up in this town. Rich people are crazy. So is DNA evidence, it turns out.”
🔥 BURN!

“The club wasn’t my favorite place to eat. It was teeming with a little Lily Pulitzer mafia of women who all disapproved of me.”
A literal nightmare. And I passionately hate Lily Pulitzer, so this really hit for me.

“Are you in this? Did something happen? Are we talking about a murder weapon buried somewhere that we need to go make disappear? Maybe it was all just an accident. Something went too far in a heated moment? Just tell me and I’ll get a shovel and a convertible and we’ll ride off into the sunset and no one has to know.”
This is one of many moments where I felt so guilty for suspecting Este!! And can I just say: the best friend being named Este has got to be a nod to “No Body, No Crime” by Taylor Swift. Especially with all the boating references in this book. I’m choosing to believe the parallels were intentional. Este? Boats? Murder? Cheating husbands? Hello!

Fritz – what an asshole. Easily hated from the start.

Final thoughts: That epilogue wrecked me. Nora realizing that Will pretended the phone call was about Mia’s hoodie—rather than Gianna and the real danger—in order to avoid spoiling their night and risking a fight? And doing it just to keep the peace because they had finally made it to a good place, because he wanted a “happy wife, happy life”? Absolutely gut-wrenching. We know he meant well, but it ultimately cost him his life and left Nora to pick up the pieces. The way she aches, wishing he’d told her—wishing she could’ve gone with him, had one last fight, changed something—is devastating. Those “if onlys” of life will haunt you. And I loved Nora’s theory that Will planted evidence on his own body so justice would be served. I’m choosing to believe that’s exactly what he did—and I will not be taking alternate interpretations at this time.

Nora is working as a swim instructor at a Florida country club when she meets Will, a hot lawyer dad who is newly divorced. In a whirlwind romance, they elope and she’s thrown into the rich, elite suburbs as a second wife. With his ex-wife still running in the same circles, she’s not making it easy for Nora to assimilate. When Will goes missing, Nora is a suspect as she and a few friends try their hardest to find out what really happened.

This book was so fun! Crime thriller meets country club suburbia, you’ll hold your breath with Nora as she fights to find Will and fight to save herself from the country club mean girls determined to run her out.
Things aren’t always what they seem.

Happy Wife is the perfect beach read! When a rich lawyer goes missing who else could be suspected, but the young second wife? This story takes place in a one percent town where everyone is connected and has a motive. One part mystery and one part love story I love how it jumped around!

What a wonderful debut. HAPPY WIFE is a fast paced story that kept me engaged and entertained. There are some great twists which surprised me. I would recommend this book.


Many thanks for my gifted copy.

This was a fast-paced book, centered on Nora, who is hoping to increase her standing in the community after marrying a much older and wealthy man named Will. She is under pressure to gain some respect from Will's inner circle by throwing him a birthday party, which goes well until Will seemingly disappears after. While the entire book is told from Nora's POV, it alternates between the present timeline and various times within their romance that led up to this point.

Nora is a believable character, though the whole romance might make you suspend your disbelief a bit. I liked the way we got to know her better through the events of the past, though I do wish we could have gotten to know Will a bit better too from those flashback chapters. There was also something about them only having been together for a year that didn't quite sit right with me- it felt like it should have been longer. The mystery in the book moves quickly, though there were definitely things that came up at the end that I thought could have been solved earlier. I appreciated the authors giving us a choice of red herrings as we tried to figure out what was going on with Will. The end of the book was a little abrupt, but I thought it worked with the rest of the story.

Overall, fast read with a decent mystery, though not sure how much it will stand out after I move on to other books. Worth a read, though. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was hooked from the beginning. The MCs are really enjoyable. The plot is full of twists and turns and definitely has summer vibes. I love a book with secrets and this novel definitely had some juicy ones. Thank you to the authors, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC of Happy Wife.

The only reasons why this book didn’t get a 5th star from me was the fact that it was very heavy on the Florida wealth multiple times throughout which seemed a little unnecessary and the relationship between Nora and Marcus was a little off for me. But those factors in no way deter me from sharing it with others and reading this again in the future and 🫶🏻

Add this to your vacation TBR! Happy Wife is a fun, twisty ride full of messy characters, country club drama, and red-flag relationships you can’t look away from.

Nora, a 28-year-old working at a bougie Florida club, suddenly marries an older lawyer—then he vanishes after his birthday party. From there, it’s secrets, gossip, and plot twists galore.

It slows down a bit toward the end, but overall it’s an easy, entertaining read perfect for poolside or beach days.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for the ARC!

I inhaled this book! It was so fun and twisty and suspenseful and perfect for summer!

It had short chapters, a current timeline and a past timeline, a very likeable FMC, and lots of rich, secretive characters. The atmosphere and the plot had me so INVESTED.

This comes out at the end of the month, and you’ll need this on your summer tbr, because this is the perfect beach read!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫/5

Loved this drama crime book. Excellent characters you could see in real life. Way too much money, but it’s ok to dream. Overall, writing was good. Couldn’t wait to read this book.
Thanks to author, publisher and netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest feedback. Twisty domestic suspense that was juicy and kept me engaged. Fast read.

I actually loved this one- very gone girl, but kind of easy to get the twist early on. There were a few things that threw me off and made it interesting. There are multiple timelines adding to the mystery, and I actually really loved the main character. This one was a super fast read and was well written.

2.5 stars

Main Characters:
-- Nora – 28 years old, married to Will for less than a year, they met at the country club where Nora worked when she helped Will’s daughter Mia, has not been accepted as a part of the wealthy community in which they live
-- Will – 46 years old, wealthy attorney, well-loved in the community, father to Mia, owns a law firm with Fritz
-- Este – Nora’s best friend, married to Beau, lives next door to Nora and Will, also not very accepted in their community but she doesn’t care what other residents think of her
-- Autumn – event planner for high-end events, Nora hired her to plan Will’s birthday party
-- Fritz – Will’s law partner, he and Will went to law school together and inherited Fritz’s father’s firm
-- Constance – Will’s ex-wife, does not like Nora, has lost her “standing” in the community since divorcing Will
-- Marcus – local chef, owns a restaurant, good friends with Este and Beau

This story starts well. As it begins, Nora plays hostess to her first social event as Will’s wife, having hired the local event planner to organize a party for Will’s 46th birthday. The party doesn’t go off perfectly. Someone spills red wine on Nora’s white dress. Will and his business partner Fritz are overheard arguing.

By the end of the night, Will and Nora head to bed happy when Will gets a call from his 14-year-old Mia. She left her favorite sweatshirt on the boat at the dock. Can Will get it for her? Will tells Nora to head up to bed and that he’ll be right back, and she falls asleep before he returns.

The next morning, Nora assumes Will left for work early. When she doesn’t hear from him for a couple of days, she’s angry that Will didn’t have the courtesy to let her know but assumes that he is again embroiled in work. It’s not until Fritz shows up at their home to complain that Will missed an important meeting that Nora realizes something is wrong.

Nora narrates the whole story, beginning with the night of the party, flashing back to meeting Will and the development of their relationship, and taking us through the investigation into Will’s disappearance. There is actually a lot to like about this story.

Will is relatively recently divorced. He meets Nora under not-so-ideal circumstances when Mia gets into a bit of trouble at the country club. He seems a little unsure how to pursue Nora, but there is clearly an attraction. I really enjoyed the flirtation between Will and Nora–even after they marry. They’re still pretty much newlyweds the night of the party.

“So how does it feel to be forty-six?”
“You mean officially closer to fifty than forty? Will you still love me when I’m fifty-six?”
“Of course”
“If my hair goes gray?”
“Salt and pepper hair? Sexy.”
“What if I start getting little white hairs in my ears?” he continues.
I feign disgust, pretending to gag. “Oh, ick. You really know how to flirt with a girl.”
He turns toward me, amused. “I didn’t know we were flirting.”
“Well, we’re certainly not now.”

I also like that there are a lot of characters who could be suspects. The authors did a great job creating suspicion over the course of the narration. As we learn more about Nora and Will’s relationship, we discover the cracks between the two of them as well as issues in other relationships with people outside of their marriage. I made a number of assumptions that were very wrong, which is really what I want in a thriller or suspense novel. I want to be surprised at the end.

That said, what really knocks the rating down for me is the pace of the story and some pieces of the investigation that I find hard to believe. In terms of pacing, again, it starts well. We know about 10% into the book that Will’s absence is suspicious. The back and forth between Will and Nora’s past and present helps build suspense…to a point.

I found myself about halfway through the book thinking it was just taking too long. Nora mentions early on in the book that Will regularly would disappear for days at a time, staying in a hotel buried in work. It makes it feel like Nora and Will have been together for several years at least, but it turns out they haven’t even been married for a year after a short courtship. How does she know what’s “regular” when they haven’t really been together that long? In fact, when Nora describes Will’s focus on work, she’s always walking by his home office. She never mentions him not being home for days at a time.

Almost every flashback reminds us what an outsider Nora is in the high-profile community. If the authors had opted to just change the timeframe completely, I think it would not have felt so drawn out. Start with the party and Will’s disappearance, shift to Will and Nora’s first meeting up to the present day, and then continue the story after the disappearance. I think this would have laid the groundwork better.

Because the book is only from Nora’s point of view, we don’t see anything related to the investigation unless it directly involves Nora. That drags things out a bit as well. A dual point of view might work better here. Maybe some of the backstory could have been from Will’s perspective. And I definitely feel like some of the investigation could have been told from the detective’s perspective without spoiling the mystery of what happened.

Finally, the resolution comes so close to the end of the book that it feels rushed. And without spoiling anything, I’ll just say the pieces of evidence that solve the mystery seem like things that would have come up a lot earlier in the investigation. It’s almost like they are included at the end just to create suspicion on multiple people that wouldn’t be suspicious if they were brought to light sooner. That feels like a bit of a cop-out to me, and the book overall is a miss. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Winter Park, Florida is the condensed setting of this mystery of a disappeared husband and how the wealthy cover the truth of nasty situations. Winter Park as a small wealthy community in the middle of the state is a nice zag from the usual Florida settings on the wealthy east coast. Nora Davies is an outsider and the new young wife of a wealthy lawyer who disappears. The elites suspect her of foul play and she is determined to figure out the truth. There are some mystery tropes to work through such as being stalked by a car, a corrupt police officer and a jealous ex-wife. There are some moments of hard-to-believe-they-are-doing-this when Nora and her best friend blow off steam with lattes, pilates and lots of wine. What really happens is a fine mystery but readers have to soldier through some silliness to get the result. Overall, Nora is a likeable character who we end up hoping she finds her best solution.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

-Murder
-Social Dynamics
-Wealth
-New Wife
-Florida

I ❤️ this book!

No spoilers here!

Nora Somerset went from being a swim instructor at the local country club to the new wife of Will, a charismatic and ultrawealthy lawyer in his mid-40s. Nora is in love with Will which makes navigating the sometimes difficult upper class and the obnoxious ex-wife and her difficulty moving on worth it.

After Nora throws Will “the party of the year” for his birthday, Will has gone missing and as time goes on and foul play is suspected both the ex-wife and the new wife are second guessing each others involvement. What happened to Will?

I know what happended to Will and I absolutely loved the big twist at the end - but you need to read this great novel to find out too! 

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhouse for this digital ARC! I absolutely loved it and I highly recommend this novel! Pre-order it in your carts now! Publication date: June 24th

Nora is the younger second wife of wealthy lawyer Will living a posh gated community in Florida. While dealing with the social politics of being the second wife in their social circle and trying to fix the cracks in her marriage Will goes missing. I liked this book it was a quick and entertaining read and kept me guessing about what would happen next. I think the character of Nora was well written and I liked her a lot more than I was expecting to going in. This as a 3/3.5 star read for me. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for honest review.

This was a nice fast paced thriller that kept me guessing the whole time. Really enjoyed the friendship between Nora and Este.
The other rich friendships tend to be fake theirs was real. Perfect summer thriller to read. Thank you to Ballantine and Netgalley for this ARC.

Even though all of Winter Park (Esme and Beau excluded) speculated on the happiness of Will and Nora's marriage due to the age discrepancy and her being the second wife, I truly believed that they were in love. Yes, there was opulence and Nora appreciated that she could go into a grocery store and buy whatever she wanted, but they both just wanted to be together. That is why they went to a bar for their first date. Why Nora treasured the paper straw that Hot Mean Lawyer put on her finger. I also thoroughly enjoyed the banter between herself, Esme and Beau. It was absolutely hilarious. Due to an unfortunate turn of events that changed Nora's life forever, she was determined to find out who did it and why. How Will was connected to Dean. Why Fritz and Will's relationship turned fractious and Will started working longer and longer hours. Will's lawyerly instincts won at the end as to determine who performed this terrible crime and why. The epilogue really tied everything together and Nora remained strong and ready to pursue her next steps in life. As she said, it would have been what Will wanted.