In Winter Park, Florida, where established families mingle with wealthy newcomers, 28-year-old Nora Davies struggles to make a living as a country club employee and feels out of place. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she falls for and quickly marries Will Somerset, a recently divorced, 46-year-old lawyer and father. Their whirlwind romance and marriage scandalize Winter Park society. However, Will vanishes the morning after Nora's birthday party for him, throwing the community into turmoil. The story alternates between Nora and Will's courtship and the frantic search for him, forcing Nora to confront the central question: Where is Will? "Happy Wife" is a suspenseful and witty novel about marriage, money, and hidden truths, set against a backdrop of high society and featuring memorable characters. Thank you very much to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Happy Wife was a great read! I'll be looking for more books by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores in the future to read!

Nora Davies is the young second wife to successful attorney Will. Living in cliquey, wealthy Winter Park is more than she bargained for, filled with gossipy society ladies that see her as more of a gold digger than a loving wife. Including Will’s ex-wife Constance. When Will disappears in the early hours after his 46th birthday party will Nora be able to convince everyone that she has nothing to do with his disappearance?

I really enjoyed this and read it very quickly. Authors Lavendar and Shores deftly create the enclave of the ultra-rich and imbue Nora with all the struggles of an outsider in a new world. The twists were great and I never guessed the ending which is how I like my thrillers. A fun, exciting read-4.25 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review and feedback.

Nora thinks she found her happily ever after with her older husband will from the glamorous world of winter park, florida.But all of a sudden. Will goes missing right after his birthday party. And everybody is quick to cast.There's suspicions on main girl nora after all, she's just an outsider looking in nora goes to work trying to figure out who or what happened to her husband taking place in real time and they're telling of how they met in their story, this was a very solid good romance


Thank you, nat galley for the arc in exchange of an honest review

I liked this book! I do enjoy reading books that have 2 or more authors. It was not a noticeable shift between pages or chapters, which I have noticed in some other co-written books. I did like the themes and detail of this book!!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complimentary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

I enjoyed this book. I had an idea of the outcome but was totally surprised by the ending! I have not been this surprised by an ending in a long time.

I enjoyed this book and its twists. It was interesting to get a peek into the wealthy Winter Park community and what happens when an outsider marries in.

Worth a read if you like a domestic mystery.

#HappyWife #NetGalley

Winter Park, Florida.

This small Floridian town touts itself as the diamond amongst common rabble. You get a sense of this highfalutin perspective when you join a Winter Park boat tour. I thought they were kidding.

They’re not. When you read this book, you discover that this perspective is all too real. The author’s description of the town, the local museums, is not altogether fictional.

Second wife, younger wife and, some might say, trophy wife thinks she found her happily ever after in Will. But the vicious rich doyennes will be sure she knows her place. It all comes to a head on the night of her husband’s birthday party. The villain was a bit of a surprise but made sense given the breadcrumbs the author dropped along the way. Took some time to get there.

This ARC was provided by the publisher, Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine, via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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.