Happy Wife: A Read with Jenna Pick

NATIONAL BESTSELLER - READ WITH JENNA BOOK CLUB PICK AS FEATURED ON TODAY - 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 one of those delicious, fun summer books that you'll open on the beach and never put down."--Jenna Bush Hager, Read With Jenna

Nora Davies doesn't exactly fit in to Winter Park, Florida, where old-guard Floridians mix with the tax-fleeing coastal elite. Twenty-eight and barely making ends meet working at a country club, Nora feels like she's going nowhere fast. Enter Will Somerset: a prominent forty-six-year-old lawyer, father to a teenage daughter, and recently divorced. The two set Winter Park's social scene agog when they fall in love and marry after a whirlwind Cinderella-style courtship.

But Winter Park is fully upended when Will disappears the morning after a birthday bash Nora throws for him. Going back and forth between Nora and Will's romance and the search in the wake of Will's mysterious disappearance, Nora must answer the question from all angles: Where. Is. Will?

Combining breathless suspense, glittering and juicy social dynamics, and an unforgettable cast of characters, Happy Wife is a clever and subversive novel that explores marriage, wealth, and the secrets that lurk behind closed doors.

Author: Meredith Lavender, Kendall Shores
Publisher: Bantam
Published: 06/24/2025
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 9.60h x 6.30w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9780593974377


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 03/31/2025
Library Journal 04/18/2025 pg. 1
Booklist 05/01/2025 pg. 50

About the Author
Meredith Lavender has spent more than two decades working as a television writer and an executive producer. Most recently, she served as showrunner and executive producer on Max's The Flight Attendant, and she is currently in development on multiple projects with A&E, Paramount+, and more.

Kendall Shores's career spans nearly seventeen years and runs the gamut from grant writing for a nonprofit museum in Orlando to communications consulting and strategy for large organizations.

Lavender and Shores both live in Atlanta with their respective families and possibly too many dogs. If there's such a thing. Happy Wife is their first novel.