Thank you MB Communications/ThrillerbookloversThePulse, #partner, for the advanced copy of Jill Is Not Happy in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Scarlet Suspense
Published: June 10, 2025
Summary:
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.
My thoughts:
Kaira Rouda is a favorite amongst us over at The Pulse – @thrillerbookloversthepulse – & we cannot get enough of her devious characters. This latest book has all buzzing!
Is it possible to love an author just because of the characters she creates? Because that is why I love Kaira Rouda’s books! She always manages to give us the most deliciously unhinged characters & I always look forward to meeting her newest ones!
In Jill Is Not Happy we have such a fun cat & mouse game…one between a husband & wife that takes us on quite the adventure. There are so many twists & turns here that it’s more fun to just sit back & enjoy the ride, rather than try to figure out where this might be headed, at least I found to be the case.
With a dual timeline & dual POV, the author allows us to be in the characters’ minds & feed us just enough information to hook us, while also building suspense & leaving us wanting to know more. And that ending…without spoiling it, I’ll just say it’s satisfying but open enough as to maybe hint there’ll be more???
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