Jill Is Not Happy

Kaira Rouda

Book cover for Jill Is Not Happy
Book cover for Jill Is Not Happy
Book cover for Jill Is Not Happy
Book cover for Jill Is Not Happy

Jill Is Not Happy

Jill Is Not Happy

Kaira Rouda

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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.

Critical Reviews

Rouda makes Jill a genuinely chilling narrator. . . . Fans of unreliably narrated thrillers will enjoy.-- "Booklist" (5/1/2025 12:00:00 AM)

This is bold and bracing writing, and Rouda is to be celebrated for maintaining suspense and pacing with really only two characters, and their respective maneuvers and manipulations, to follow. Truly great stuff that leaves you in awe of Rouda's talent and daring. Jill may not be happy, but you will be for digging in.--Jon Land "BookTrib" (5/31/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Rouda's new thriller is a perfect summer thriller: a husband and wife road trip that stirs up old secrets and pins the spouses against one another in a dangerous game.-- "CrimeReads"

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

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

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

Rouda spins a dark, deliberately paced tale of matrimonial hell . . . the plot's unanswered questions and Gone Girl-style marital insights hold the reader's interest.-- "Publishers Weekly" (4/11/2025 12:00:00 AM)

Riveting and provocative, fast-paced, dark, and slightly disturbing, you won't be able to put this book down until its jaw-dropping ending. Rouda kept me glued to my seat. Absolutely brilliant. A literary masterpiece.--Kerry Lonsdale, Wall Street Journal bestselling author, on Best Day Ever

Chilling, satisfying suspense...it will cost you sleep as you race through the pages.-- "Good Housekeeping on Best Day Ever"

Perfectly plotted and devilishly dark, Kaira Rouda's Best Day Ever won't let you go until that last page is turned. Entertaining and provocative, I could not put this one down! Genius.--Karma Brown, international bestselling author, on Best Day Ever

One of the most insidious, compulsive books I've read recently. Kaira Rouda has a way of drawing you in with great characters, fast-paced writing, and a story that won't let you go. Brilliant, dark, and dazzling.--Samantha Downing, USA Today bestselling author, on The Next Wife

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. Add another scorned woman and you have the ingredients for one firestorm of a novel...Bring the popcorn for this high-noon of a novel, replete with deliciously snarky dialogue and a satisfying twist-- "Library Journal on The Next Wife"

Kaira Rouda balances the sassiness and wit of Real Housewives with the suspense and excitement of a Hitchcock film, creating a true page-turner that is sharp and fun while still gripping and tension filled. The Next Wife is almost impossible to put down! Brilliant.-- "The Nerd Daily on The Next Wife"

The Next Wife is trademark Kaira Rouda with its deliciously devilish women and inherently ignorant men, but this might be one of her most villainous novels yet. Masterful.-- "BookReporter on The Next Wife"

A carefully crafted domestic and psychological thriller of a novel by [an] author with a genuine flair for originality and the kind of narrative storytelling style that fully engages the reader's attention from first page to last, The Next Wife by Kaira Rouda will prove to be an immediate and enduringly welcome addition to community library collections.-- "Midwest Book Review on The Next Wife"

Smart, surprising, and 100% satisfying. Masterful.--Kimberly Belle on The Favorite Daughter

Intense, creepy and an instant classic. A chilling story, told so well!--J.T. Ellison on The Favorite Daughter

Alfred Hitchcock meets Patricia Highsmith in this masterful novel of psychological suspense. Quietly horrifying, tightly wound and diabolical, The Favorite Daughter is a stunning page-turner.--A.J. Banner on The Favorite Daughter

Original, clever, deftly crafted, and featuring the author's distinctive and narrative driven storytelling style.-- "Midwest Book Review on Beneath the Surface"

A cat-and-mouse psychological thriller of the highest literary standards, that will leave you breathless until the last deviously twisted pages.--A.M. Strong, Amazon bestselling author of Gravewater Lake

An ingenious twist on a noir classic, about the hell that awaits Jack and Jill after they become a 'happy' married couple. Rouda's masterful prose kept me riveted. Brilliant!--Elise Hart Kipness, Amazon bestselling author

Literary psychological suspense at its best. A layered masterpiece full of secrets with a cunning protagonist, twists you won't see coming, and a killer conclusion!--Sonya Sargent-Strong, author of The Last Girl Left

Publishing Information

Publisher: Scarlet
Pub date: 2025-06-10
Length: 256 pages

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