“Perfect Life” is one of those books that became really popular in recent years – rich people behaving badly. For an unexplained reason, I’m drawn to the subject, and the atmosphere where a country club type community, very polished on its surface, turns out to be a pond with a piranha hunting the pretty gold fish.
Winter Park, Florida, is such a community, and this is where a young couple, Este and Beau, chose to live after growing tired of constant travel and staying in luxury hotels around the world. Beau is a successful businessman who, thanks to his innovative software company, has made a fortune. He met Este first at a professional level when her boss’s company tried to acquire his; eventually, Este was fired, but even though it was a devastating change for her, as she imagined her life moving up the corporate ladder, a charming, rich, and very loving husband turned out to be a very alluring option. However, now Beau is charged with murder, and Este is not sure if she should trust him, especially after finding some incriminating evidence.
This is the sequel to a very successful “Happy Wife”, set in the same community. I think it would be more enjoyable to follow “Perfect Life” after reading the first novel, although the new book can certainly be read as a standalone. Still, after finishing “Perfect Life”, I ordered the previous book, thinking that, for example, Este and Nora’s friendship plus Nora’s past could use more explanation.
“Perfect Life” was an enjoyable read, nothing ground-breaking, but certainly a good summer read if you’re looking for some escape reading, with underlying drama, men with money, and women in pretty summer clothes who don’t ever seem to be sweating or rushing somewhere. Unless they’re solving a murder.
PERFECT LIFE by Meredith Lavender and Kendall Shores, published by Ballantine Bantam, 2026
Infinite Books 
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