Jill Is Not Happy
by Kaira Rouda
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Pub Date Jun 10 2025 | Archive Date May 31 2025
Penzler Publishers | Scarlet
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Description
Some secrets keep a couple together.
If you ask Jill Tingley, she’ll tell you she and her husband Jack are college sweethearts living the dream in Southern California. Wealthy, popular and genetically blessed, theirs is an enviable life, though they’ve grown distant in recent years. Newly empty nesting with their daughter Maggie away at college, Jill suggests a road trip to reconnect.
Jack would rather do anything else than drive to Utah with his wife. He’s only stayed in this marriage because of a shared secret, a tragedy in the past he wanted to keep buried. And for his daughter’s sake. But Jack is finished with the charade of his marriage. He’s filing for divorce as soon as they return, no matter what.
But he doesn’t realize what else Jill is hiding.
So begins a cat-and-mouse road trip as a cunning wife—think Ripley in yoga pants—and a reluctant husband match wits and drive each other to the edge. But everything will be fine. Jill still loves Jack and believes he’s the only one for her. She’ll do anything to keep him. Anything. She always has.
Advance Praise
"Nobody does twisty revenge like Kaira Rouda—and her trademark dark humor and deviously toxic characters are always deliciously entertaining. Fans of Freida McFadden will gobble up this pacey page-turner—and hope that someone like the uniquely unhappy Jill never crosses their paths. Kaira has done it again!" -Hank Phillippi Ryan, USA Today bestselling author
"No one crafts a character quite like Kaira Rouda. In Jill is Not Happy, Rouda brings us Jill Tingley, a wife with a seemingly perfect life—and a sinister agenda. As Jill and her husband embark on a road trip, dark secrets unravel and the journey becomes a wickedly suspenseful game of cat and mouse. Readers will be captivated by Rouda’s signature blend of charm and chilling suspense." -Liv Constantine, New York Times bestselling author of The Next Mrs. Parrish
"Mix one part family dynamics and Rouda’s trademark dark humor, and you get the heady cocktail that is Jill Is Not Happy. A revenge thriller at its best, who knew til death do us part was so literal for some people? A clever spin on the glue that keeps marriages together, I devoured this in one sitting." -Kimberly Belle, USA Today and internationally bestselling author of The Paris Widow
"I love everything Kaira Rouda writes and Jill Is Not Happy is no exception. Jill isn’t just not happy, she’s creepy!" -Robyn Harding, bestselling author of The Haters
"This tightly woven story is evocative and chilling and kept me compulsively reading until the clever, twisty end. You won’t want to miss this deliciously dramatic and suspense-filled thrill ride." -Seraphina Nova Glass, Edgar Award-nominated author of On A Quiet Street
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781613166765 |
| PRICE | $27.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 256 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Samantha D, Reviewer
I was fortunate to receive an early copy of this book and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I finished it. Such twisted fun! I was locked into this revenge thriller from page one and I just know any fan of the genre will eat this story up! Perfect for fans of White Lotus and The Perfect Couple. Kaira Rouda is a master of writing relationship dynamics that are perfect on the surface, terrifying underneath and I cannot wait to read whatever she writes next!
Cindy J, Reviewer
Jack and Jill, college sweethearts, are now married with a college-aged daughter. Lately, Jack has envisioned a new beginning that doesn’t include Jill. Jill envisions reconnecting with her handsome husband on a road trip where they can rewrite their past in order to have a renewed future.
With a trail of deaths and crimes in their wake, both Jack and Jill have incriminating dirt on each other. Both are trying to one-up the other to get their way through scheming and plotting!
The twists and antics are jaw dropping in Kaira Rouda’s latest bingeable novel! This is a truly an entertaining and unhinged read! I enjoyed the multiple timelines and alternating perspectives! It’s hard to like any of the characters but I couldn’t peel my eyes away from them because each trick was dirtier than the previous one and I was anxious to see who prevailed!
Rebecca H, Librarian
Definitely love Kaira Rouda! In this one Jill is married to Jack. They go on a road trip. Jack is done with his wife if only she would get the hint. We learn about their past about a tragedy that happened with a friend and with his parents. Jack wants out of the marriage in fact he has a girlfriend already waiting back home. If only her could get through this trip. Lots of threats, intrigue, and juiciness pursue it’s a cat and mouse to the finish. Will they both survive the trip. Will Jack be able to get out alive. What happens if they get back home. Will Jill’s proof and sabotage and threats be able to keep him wrapped up in her web. And is Jack innocent. We learn that he too has his secrets. I enjoyed this one. It reminded me a lot of the best day ever which was a favorite of mine. I am already looking forward to the next book in the series. There is one… right?
Carrie S, Librarian
𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐞
𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
𝐉𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝,
𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝.
𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐚 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫,
𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫.
𝐈𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐧,
𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐉𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐧.
It was so refreshing to take a break from thrillers where the male is the monster. Jill zeroed in on Jack when they were in college, and she set out to win his heart. She did exactly that, and even though his parents didn't like her, Jack was so in love, none of that mattered.
Until now.
Jack realizes this is far more serious than being trapped in a loveless marriage. Jill has been holding him hostage all these years because she is the keeper of Jack's secret, the one that will ruin in. She documented the misdeed in a notebook, and she's been adding to it all these years; but even worse, she's been up to misdeeds of her own that she flaunts in front of Jack, who is powerless to do anything without ruining himself.
Darkly humorous with a glimpse into the life of a beautiful yet deeply unhappy and dysfunctional couple, JILL IS NOT HAPPY will have you thinking long and hard before saying "I do." I've seen comments about the ending not being satisfying, and I'll say that is if you like your endings wrapped up in a bow, be forewarned. However, I loved how it ended because it fit the themes in the book. Thank you to Scarlet Suspense, Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse, and MBC Publicity for the early copy. This book is expected to publish June 10, 2025.
Anne F, Educator
I adore Rouda's books so went into this with high expectations and was never disappointed! Jack and Jill met in college and are now married with daughter Maggie in college. All seems wonderful--on the surface--as both are hiding deep secrets There's a fire...and a diary....Go in blind but expect to read in one sitting as you can't put it down!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!
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