I received a ARC of this upcoming novel, due out in June, through NetGalley.

This is a missing person mystery. The missing person is a very wealthy 46-year-old lawyer. He vanishes immediately after a big birthday bash. The principal character in this novel is Nora, the lawyer’s trophy wife. Nora is not perfect, but she is easily the most appealing character in this book. She is not the cunning gold digger a reader might expect.

The story goes back and forth on two timelines, the events preceding the birthday party and the days that pass after Nora’s husband disappears. Things move rather slowly in this book. numerous characters are introduced once it becomes apparent to the reader that foul play is involved. There was nothing especially interesting about any of these characters and the resolution of the mystery was rather ho hum, matter-of-fact.

From the very first page, this book draws you into its world with engaging prose, well-developed characters, and a compelling narrative. The author's storytelling is confident and immersive, weaving together themes that resonate long after the final chapter.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the advanced reader copy.

This book just didn't do it for me. I found myself bored with almost all the characters and therefore was uninterested in what happened to Will and whether Nora was involved or not.

It all started with swimming lessons at the club. Nora is hardly making rent and food, as she trades her dreams of a non-profit marketing career for a part-time job at the children's museum and a weekend gig cleaning up poolside and teaching rich kids to swim. The club is in the ritzy Winter Park, Florida, home to over the top wealth and snotty homeowners. When 28 year old Nora cleans up the mess made by one of the teens who was sneaking alcoholic drinks, she has to call Mia's dad to come pick her up. She escorts Mia through the service entrance to the parking lot to find the flashiest sports car, holding Mia's divorced dad, who is gorgeous but nice, and she feels the tingle. So did Will, apparently, since he asks her out for dinner the next time he sees her, and they start "a thing." All too quickly, the thing turns into a marriage proposal.
Unfortunately, Nora does not fit in with the country club set, of which Will's partner is a prime example. Fritz lends class and old money to their law firm, while Will basically does all the work , and they are wildly successful. Constance, the first wife, dumped Will years ago, but you would never know it the way she tries to pull rank on Nora, every chance she gets. Her best friend, Gianna is Fritz's wife, and they led a very nasty group of wealthy women in a campaign to make Nora's life a horrible and sad one. The only ones keeping Nora afloat are her arriviste next-door neighbors who were California transplants and didn't buy into nasty games of one-upmanship. As Will starts showing Nora his workaholic side and gives up on demonstrating how much he loves her, she feels alone, and unloved. After a bad fight, Will realized that he might lose his new wife, and made up with her, and she decides to throw him a birthday party to celebrate their reconciliation and maybe figure out how to fit in better. The party was a success, and they were just about to begin their own after party, when Will gets a call from Mia to rescue her sweatshirt from their boat...she never sees him again.
The mystery of who murdered Will becomes the focus of the novel. Not only does Nora lose the love of her life, but all newspapers, television, and social media find an easy target in the young beautiful second wife who will inherit a large fortune. But she didn't do it...or did she? The authors paint a great picture of a life you might envy if you didn't have all the facts. Nora must grow up quickly to avoid being swept away by the folks with money and status while learning to stand on her own two feet and giving up being Will's pampered pet. Hope for the best, expect the worst.

While predictable, this was a good read and kept my interest.

I would like to thank NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my honest review.

This slow burn mystery/domestic thriller is told in “before” & “after” chapters. With a “rich people behaving badly” plot, it had me hooked from the start. Unreliable characters had me assuming the worst of the wrong people. Loved this one! Hits shelves on June 24!
*Thank you Netgalley and Random House for this advanced reader copy.

Nora is the much-younger second wife to attorney Will, a golden boy in the social set of tony Winter Park, FL. Will’s first wife is still very much a part of the ruling elite in their small town, making Nora’s ability to fit in difficult…until she meets neighbor Este who quickly becomes her best friend and lifeline in the shark-infested waters of Winter Park society. When Will is murdered, Nora becomes the primary suspect and she undertakes her own investigation to find the real culprit and prove her innocence. What she learns is that Will was on the verge of exposing widespread fraud and corruption that would ruin the lives of some of the people closest to him, giving them the motive and opportunity to kill him.

I didn’t always like Nora’s character or buy her as an amateur sleuth, but I did enjoy this murder mystery set on the warm, wealthy Florida coast.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House – Ballantine for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This a fun and entertaining beach read about rich people behaving badly.

Este was my favorite character.

Rounding up to 4 stars.

I just didn't like this book. I had a hard time connecting with the characters and storyline.

I was just left underwhelmed.

Happy Wife is an exciting mystery that reads in reverse since you discover someone is missing in the first chapter but then as the book continues it becomes more involved as the mystery becomes more deadly and a surprising ending but quite satisfying for almost all concerned. Recommend you read it for reading pleasure.

Rich people being horrible - decent murder mystery that kept me hooked. A glimpse into modern day Palm Royale

Twenty-something newlywed Nora has just married a rich older man and gets absorbed into his glamorous world in Winter Park, Florida. Then, he goes missing and she must figure out what happened to him before she becomes the target of the investigation. Read it if you like light mysteries with rich people behaving badly.

The ending was a bit predictable, with one slightly implausible detail, but overall, I enjoyed the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This book will be a great beach summer read! I kept wanting to continue turning the page to see if my suspicions of the murderer were correct, which turns out they weren't after all. My favorite character was definitely Este with her no-BS-tell-it-to-you-straight personality. I kinda wish the relationship between Nora and Marcus would've been developed a bit more at the end. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

Nora is trying to win over her new husband’s judgmental and obscenely wealthy friends by throwing him a fabulous birthday party. Everything seems to be going well until Will is nowhere to be found the next morning.

This was mysterious and entertaining. In addition to the central mystery, this was an interesting exploration of a marriage with an age gap and class gap. Nora is a compelling character and I kept turning the pages to see how the story would unfold.

Thank you to Random House Ballantine and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

In Happy Wife, Nora, marries Mr. Perfect, Will Somerset. The marriage launches her into a world of wealth and privilege, but also lies and malice from the other wives in Will's social circle. When Will goes missing, Nora learns the true depths of their hatred. It sounds heavy, but it is actually a sweet story that goes between the present and past when Nora and Will are first falling in love. I really liked Nora and her friend Este. I didn't love the casual approval of drug use and I felt like I kind of never fully knew Nora and I wanted to understand her a little better. Overall, great beach read kind of book that will suck you in from the start! Thank you NetGalley for letting me read an advance copy of this book!

I liked Nora. She isn't your typical protagonist in a situation such as this but I rooted for her. I also questioned her multiple times. It made for an interesting story. She was a party of one for the most part when dealing with people outside of her immediate family. It led to an entertaining domestic psychological thriller. I wish some outcomes would have been different but then that wouldn't make it what it was, right? I'll recommend it. It is an easy and fast read.
Thank you tothe publishers for an eARC through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. I'll bump it up to 4 stars.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC. This is a really great boss. Enjoyed the plot and the characters. Will read more books by this Author.

Happy Wife was entertaining and I enjoyed never quite being sure what was truly going on with most of the characters. The story was not quite predictable and ultimately satisfying overall.

twistiy thriller with interesting vibes, although the ultimate killer is perfectly in that murderer goldilocks zone which might make it feel predictgable. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

This was a great read. I loved the descriptions of Winter Park, Florida. I loved the younger wife/rich older man troupe. The characters are fun and I enjoyed going on the journey with Nora to find out what happened to her missing husband. This is a great thriller with twists and and a well developed story.