Some beach reads truly captivate you, keeping you up late as you flip through the pages or lose yourself at the pool. However, other summer novels can feel just okay, serving as a decent way to spend an afternoon. That's what I've experienced with these two new debuts.
Goodreads says, "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 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 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."
Nora is a second wife, which means she is pretty much a second-class citizen at affluent Winter Park, Florida, where money and connections rule the town. Her husband, Willi, is a workaholic lawyer who often stays at work for days at a time. Her cold reception around town doesn't help things, but thankfully, next-door neighbor, Este, has taken her in. On the night of her husband's birthday party, Will goes missing. He went to retrieve a sweatshirt for his daughter from the boat after the party was over and never returned. Nora wakes up the next morning to an empty house, but doesn't think much of it as Will often disappears for days at a time during a big trial. However, after she doesn't receive any texts from him and his work colleague hasn't heard from him, things start to look dire. Happy Wife by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores is an average beach read with a touch of mystery.
The best part of Happy Wife is the setting of affluent Winter Park. It's an ultra-rich community where it's always summer. The authors do a good job of bringing this setting to life; however, Nora got old after a while, and I was tired of hearing the nauseating problems of the rich. For example, Nora got Botox and other treatments, as well as a trip to the gym, when her husband was missing because "self-care!" Normal people would be spiraling. I did appreciate the flashbacks to the beginning of her relationship with Will, as that helped develop the characters, but other than that, I felt that this novel lacked suspense and substance. I thought it was going to be a thrilling summer read based on the description, but it really lacked in that department and read more like a mystery/family drama. Happy Wife is perfect for readers who want a soapy summer read with not a lot of depth.
Goodreads says, "Best friends Joni and Ren have been inseparable since childhood. So when Joni moves across the country for her job, the two devise a creative way to stay in they’ll be each other’s plus-ones every year for wedding season, no matter what else is happening in their lives.
It’s a tradition that works, until a line is crossed and the friendship they once thought was forever is ruined.
Now Joni is back at their families’ shared summer home for her sister’s wedding, and she’s determined to make the week perfect, even if it means faking a friendship with Ren—and avoiding the truth of why they have to fake it in the first place. How hard can it be to pretend to be friends with the person who once knew you best?
But as sunny beach days together turn into starry nights, Joni begins to question what her life is without Ren in it. And when the wedding arrives, bringing past heartaches to the surface, she’ll be forced to decide if loving Ren means letting him go, or if theirs is a love story worth fighting for.
Friends to Lovers is a cute debut - perfect for a day at the beach! If you are like me and you love a good friends-to-lovers summer story, this is a good one. I appreciated Blakeley's flashbacks to years prior, as that really developed their relationship, and their chemistry felt genuine. I haven't read many books set on the Oregon Coast, so this was a nice touch, and Blakely brought the beautiful nights and gorgeous scenery to life. I mean, who doesn't love a good summer reunion?
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