Nora is a trophy wife. She married newly divorced lawyer Will Somerset after a quick courtship and now finds herself at the very bottom of the social ladder in Winter Park, Florida. Hoping to make a positive impression on local society, she throws an expensive, exclusive birthday party for Will. After the party ends, he gets a late phone call and leaves. He is not seen again. Now as the authors alternate Nora and Will’s love affair with the search for the missing man, we see Nora’s desperation and frustration with both the police and Will’s friends. She suspects what is behind his disappearance and risks her own safety to investigate,

Happy Wive is full of delightful characters: her neighbor Este, Will’s pompous law partner Fritz and the horrible socialites of Winter Park. Satire combines with mystery to make this a 5 star read.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Meredith Lavender
and Kendall Shores.

I loved this. One of the best thrillers I’ve read in a while.

I enjoyed the telling of the stories through a before and after. Nora was an excellent narrator and star of the story. She was easy to be sympathetic for, and her perspective of the town where she lived was fun to read.

The side characters were great and really well written. Este was hilarious and all the rich women were so fun to hate.

The mystery was very well written and the unraveling of it was done really well. I liked that I suspected everyone and that I couldn’t figure anything out.

Would definitely recommend and would read more from the author(s).

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for an advanced copy of this book.

I really enjoyed this book especially after needing a palate cleanser from another book. I was very happy with the ending of the book and I felt as though I was in the book. I loved the character development and the plot.

Nora is throwing her husband, Will, a birthday party to attempt to fit in to her new life. She's the second wife of a very well off lawyer and society has not accepted her. So throws a giant bash and everyone shows up. Late that night after the party the and right before they are to go to bed, Will gets a text from his teenage daughter that are left her sweatshirt on their boat and he goes out to get it. Nora falls asleep before he returns and he's gone when she wakes up late the next morning. Before she know it, she's being blamed for his death and it's up to her to figure out who did it. A fun read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for providing this book, with my honest review below.

I loved the mystery in Happy Wife along with Nora, the not so quintessential trophy wife. From the start we get a feel for how the residents of Winter Park Florida have looked down on her for her marriage to a rich older man, Will, and when he goes missing she feels the heat and suspicion. Complete with his ex wife throwing her under the bus and Will’s law partner and his wife being less than friendly, I was cheering for Nora to find Will and find a way to get revenge. Sadly Will’s not coming back anytime soon, but due to flashbacks to how Nora met him and their relationship he wasn’t lost as a character and her relationship with him helped draw a picture of a young woman devastated and understandably eager to find the real culprit.

This had a solid twist along with some great mystery around which character would have wanted Will gone, but the relatable writing and Nora herself was what had me sincerely invested. I wish this could be a series, but if we only get Happy Wife I’m still content, as I believe other readers will be.

The suspense here is everything. It had me glued to the pages, each chapter more intense than the last. It’s a sharp, emotional, twisted look at marriage and the lies that can lurk in even the most picture-perfect lives. The twists and the tension are done so well, and by the end, I was left stunned. If you love a smart, suspenseful read with deep character dynamics and plenty of secrets, Happy Wife is one you won’t want to miss.

A super quick story that started off as a slow burn for me but ultimately had me racing to the end. I needed to know what the outcome was going to be. The writing in this book is excellent, so I'd suggest that to book clubs. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

My rating: 3.5 rounded up to 4 stars.

Nora Davies thought she had found her happily-ever-after when she married Will Somerset, a wealthy, established lawyer twenty years her senior. Plucked from a life of barely scraping by in Winter Park’s elite shadows, Nora seemed to have stepped into a fairytale—but fairytales have their villains. When Will mysteriously vanishes the morning after his birthday celebration, Nora is thrust into a nightmare: not only must she unravel the truth behind his disappearance, but she also has to defend herself against a community eager to see her as the guilty party.

On the surface, Happy Wife glimmers with the glamour and intrigue of a high-society thriller, exposing the sharp edges of wealth and privilege. Beneath the designer veneers and manicured lawns of Winter Park, secrets fester, and the façade of perfection crumbles. The story alternates between Nora’s whirlwind romance with Will and the present-day search for him, keeping the reader toggling between the allure of her newfound life and the growing tension of its unraveling.

While the premise is engaging, the execution doesn’t entirely hold up under scrutiny. The mystery aspect, though twisty, felt predictable at times, and the social commentary on wealth and status, while valid, came across as heavy-handed. The repetitive descriptions of Nora’s ostracization and the disdain of her affluent neighbors made certain sections drag, diminishing the suspense.

Nora herself is a mixed bag as a protagonist. Her vulnerability is compelling, and her determination to clear her name makes her someone you want to root for. Yet, her decisions often lack the depth you’d expect from someone in her precarious position. The supporting characters, particularly the snobbish Winter Park residents, veer dangerously close to caricatures, making it hard to fully invest in their interactions or motives.

The pacing starts slow, but the second half picks up momentum, delivering a series of revelations that, while not wholly surprising, are satisfying enough to keep you reading. The exploration of marriage as a complex institution, particularly when power dynamics and societal pressures are at play, adds some depth, but it’s not explored as deeply as it could have been.

Ultimately, Happy Wife is a decent, fast-paced mystery that shines more for its glittery setting and surface drama than for its deeper substance. While it won’t stand out among the greats in the genre, it provides an entertaining, if not entirely memorable, escape into a world where wealth and deception collide.

Thank you to NetGalley and the Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine | Bantam for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars! Ooh this was delicious and twisty. Loved every min of this one. Thanks netgalley & the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

I LOVED this book! It was a bit slow in the beginning but then boom I was hooked!! I finished it in one sitting! My first by this author but will not be my last!!

This was a fantastic novel, it had that element that I was looking for and enjoyed the overall feel of this type of book. I thought the mystery element worked with the overall feel of this plot. The characters were everything that I was looking for and enjoyed the how realistic they were. Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores has a great writing style and am excited for more.

Ironically (seeing that the husband is missing in the first couple of chapters) this book had a slow start. It took a while for me to get into it, but it was a quick read with good twists. Overall enjoyable read.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

“A young woman must find her missing husband and prove her innocence in this twisty, unputdownable novel set in an ultrawealthy Florida community where looks can kill.”

Happy Wife is a mystery/thriller which follows Nora in her journey of finding out what happened to her missing husband. This book was a very quick and solid read that i enjoyed.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Winter Park isn't a place to make noise or stick out. So when Nora Davies marries Will Somerset in a whirlwind romance - the gossip flies. Nora is quite a bit younger and doesn't necessary have a career or a calling or even a plan. But Will loves her and that's all that matters. This all comes to a screeching halt when Will disappears after his big birthday blow out.

At first Nora assumes he is working. But hours pass and she realizes she had better sound the alarm. A great thriller with plenty of twists and Pretty Woman kind of vibes! #randomhouse #Happywife #meredithlavender #kendallshores

(3.5 rounded up) I sped through this, a mystery about a woman whose husband goes missing and she becomes the prime suspect in his disappearance. Nora marries into wealth and is treated with suspicion and snobbery in the upscale community of Winter Park, Florida. Then, her decades-older husband disappears, and the mistreatment by the people around her is ratcheted up. This was a quick read with a lot of twists, and something to say about the ultra wealthy, even if the point feels a little forced at times. Social dynamics are a big part of this story and it just felt a little repetitive. I did the mystery aspect to this and I liked following Nora, the main character. This is good at being what it is a- a mystery with something to say.