I will say that the book kept my attention — it’s definitely a page-turner, with loads of drama happening all the time. This book follows Sophie, her obsession with her dazzling new friend Margot, and their time spent as the “hunting wives.” It’s both a juicy, gossipy drama and a murder mystery, and I found myself racing to the end to find out what happened.

But this book... was not for me. So many awful characters doing awful things. Basically the entire book is cheating, thinking about cheating, and drinking. Plus some murder. I’m sure that some might be more into it, but it wasn’t my cup of tea!

Also, the writing was generally good but there were a few instances of figurative language that just baffled me. Like the “oak tree’s chubby toddler arms” and when “loneliness sat like a hippo parked on my chest.” ?!?!?! I appreciate the originality, but think some of the odder similes could have been edited out.

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing Group for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review! (I promise I won’t always be this brutal!)

Sophie O'Neill left her busy life back in Chicago and traded it in for a slow and quiet life with her husband and son in a rural Texas town. While Sophie wanted to live at a slower pace, she soon finds herself bored and restless. Then she meets Margo Banks and her life changes. Margo is a beautiful, rich woman with a seemingly perfect life. Sophie gets wrapped up in Margo's world and soon her life goes from boring to full of excitement, well, if you think being investigated for the murder is exciting.

This book was an absolute roller coaster of a ride! Sophie was an incredibly unreliable narrator and the choices she made caused me to audibly gasp, growl and roll my eyes many times. I went from wanting to slap her to wanting to hug her so many times that I was getting dizzy!

I was really interested in picking this one up because I heard it described as Mean Girls, but if the girls were in their late thirties mixed with The Heathers. It absolutely lived up to those descriptions. Something I really enjoyed about the story was that there was enough time spent on building the connections with the characters before the drama ensued. As a reader, it was very nice to get to see the connections between the characters and their normal lives before everything blew up! While the story was definitely over the top and not always the most plausible, it did not bother me at all. It was so fast paced and entertaining! It was also SCANDELOUS and steamy at times! I felt like I was watching a TV drama.

The characters themselves could have used a bit more development. I wanted to learn more about each woman and her past and her motivations for being the way that they were, but I feel like the lack of this also did not hinder the story much because it made everything feel even more secretive. There were also small parts of the plot that I felt like I still had questions I was looking for answers to or where things felt like they were just dropped (keeping this spoiler free so I can't give details).

Overall, this was a wicked fun ride of a book. It is pretty rare that I make any noise while reading a book, but there were some twists in this story that absolutely made me audibly gasp! I absolutely recommend it for those who enjoy books where a character becomes obsessed with another character (basically like a stalker!), middle aged moms doing scandalous things, some steamy scenes, and a whole lot of drama, then you need to pick this up!


My review is not live on my Instagram profile until May 18th as part of the blog tour.

This review will also be published on Barnes N' Noble, Books a Million and Amazon on pub day.

How do I review The Hunting Wives? It's absolutely compelling and was almost impossible to put down. Author May Cobb held nothing back as she wrote this story, creating one of the most unlikable main characters I've ever read, if not the most unlikable. I struggled almost right away with continuing the book as my frustration with anti-heroine Sophie grew into anxiety with me calling her every name I could think of.

Everything about The Hunting Wives is uncomfortable with an ending that left me unsatisfied. There's great build-up to the main event and a handful of red herrings that definitely kept me guessing, but Sophie was so far from being redeemable that the rushed ending fell flat.

3 stars

This book is like the perfect summer cocktail - it goes down smooth and packs a punch!

Sophie, her husband Graham and young son Jack have just moved from Chicago to Mapleton, the small affluent Texas town where she went to high school. After leaving her magazine editor job behind to live a simpler life blogging ("I fancy myself a sort of 'Pioneer Woman' without all the cast iron, a sort of everywoman's Gwyneth Paltrow, without all the eye-rolling nonsense"), Sophie finds herself bored and obsessed with local socialite Margot Banks. When Margot invites her to join her exclusive club, The Hunting Wives, Sophie is all in for late-night shooting and a whole lot of partying. But the women in the group are not at all what they seem and when a dead body turns up, their secrets may all come to light.

A total page-turner, this housewives behaving badly story is sexy, snarky and scandalously fun. Gossip, blackmail, murder, infidelity... you name the juicy soap plot and this book has it. The mystery was a bigger part of the plot than I expected but it takes lots of turns I didn't expect and kept me guessing until the end. Cobb's writing is wonderfully acerbic and she perfectly captures the nuance of the competitiveness and one-upmanship (womanship?) that can come with female friendships. There aren't many likable characters but that's the point - these are people you'll either love to hate or just plain hate but either way, you won't be able to get enough of them.

If you're looking for a twisty, addictive summer read, look no further,

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for a copy to review.

In an ironic twist, I try not to read a lot of reviews before I dive into a book, so I can go in fresh and unbiased. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for this book, I had heard rumblings about this one being... less-than-stellar. So I wasn't super excited to read it and went in with fairly low expectations. The good news is, it exceeded my expectations! After a pretty slow start (the first few chapters drag a lot and have nothing really happening), it started to pick up and I got more into the story. We have an unstable MC with an obsession with a seemingly perfect woman, Margot, despite having her own seemingly perfect life. But being put in Margot's orbit sends her into a world of dangerous women...

While the plot is new, and there were twists and turns, the book as a whole did not feel new or fresh. It felt like every other domestic thriller aimed at women. I could have just as easily been reading The Hunting Party or The Last Mrs. Parrish--which had better pacing. I didn't hate this book with the force some others seem to (though I'll agree, the representation of bisexuality in this one is done in a somewhat problematic way), but it's just not at the top of my list to recommend to friends.

Thank you to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3 stars - 6/10

What a crazy read! From start to finish this was a fun read. It was a slow burn story but those are some of my favorite. Set in a small Texas town, Graham and Sophie have plans for a quiet life to raise their son. Enter Margot, loads of alcohol and a very unique club. When someone is murdered, Sophie is uncertain as to who she can trust when she's pulled into the murder investigation. What unfolds is a mean girl drama storyline that I found myself binge reading. Again.. what a crazy slow burn but dang! So good!

It's salacious, it's sordid, it's true! But, it's also a page-turning, gripping thriller. I went into it having read the reviews that mention grown women consorting with teenage boys. To her credit, the author does make a point to mention that Brad and his friend are of legal age. I wasn't as scandalized as some readers were, but it might be because I was prepared for something worse.

That's not to say that this is an innocent read. It is REALLY spicy, with some steamy sex scenes and lots of sexual innuendo, especially between the two friends (Margo and our main character). Yes - the scenes between Margo and Jill's son will make you uncomfortable. However with a plot that stands apart from the flock thrillers-wise, this will be an easy, fun one to book talk and recommend. The Margo character was so horrible and opaque that I was on my toes the whole time in expectation of what sort of manipulative move she'd pull next. I will admit that I saw the twist coming...but not until juuuust before it hit! I also really liked that these women in their late thirties were painted unquestionably very much as sex symbols, almost sex goddesses. That's kind of rare, and there's no reason why except for our culture's ridiculous youth obsession.

And lastly not once did I roll my eyes at how contrived it all is, which usually happens at least once every time I read a thriller! And I read a lot of thrillers, so that's saying a lot :).

Fun beach reading for people not easily scandalized. Different, sexy, fun!

This was definitely an entertaining read. I flew through it and read it in two sittings. I thought the author set the scenes really well and I could vividly picture everything that was described. I loved that part of her writing and my only complaint is that at first, the timeline was hard to grasp/felt choppy. The story is super captivating, fast paced, and held my attention until the end — BUT I didn’t like a single character (except Graham he deserves better).

Now, for the negatives... I felt dirty and gross reading this because I had to endure Sophie’s lustful thoughts. Basically, she is unhappy with her monotonous “happy housewife” life and needs more. The Cancer sign in me is fiercely loyal and it made me want to throw the book reading about what Sophie was thinking and doing behind her poor husband’s back. Plus, there are some questionable relationships here. Forty year old women messing around with high school boys is not cool and I can’t imagine how this book would be taken if it were the other way around. The last thing I’m not crazy about is the ending. I loved the whodunit/mystery solving part, but I feel like the aftermath was rushed and a few relationships weren’t totally wrapped up.

With that said, I did enjoy this book and how unputdownable it was. The strong feelings I had toward these characters is surely a testament to Cobb’s writing and I will definitely be keeping this author on my radar. I'd still recommend this book but not without mentioning that it's a zero on the morality scale.

Thanks so much to Net Galley and Berkley for the earc in exchange for my honest review!

This book had me HOOKED! While the drama between Sophie and the other ladies in town was off the charts, and sometimes a tad stressful, it did make for a very enjoyable and page-turning read. It kept me guessing up until the last bit about what really happened in Mapleton, TX, and who was really to blame. This would make the perfect summer read, at the beach or just on a staycation. Full of drama and lies, secrets and suspicion, you won't want to put it down either!

Sophie, Sophie, Sophie, how you have frustrated me these past few days!

Boredom can have you making real stupid decisions, which is the case with Sophie. See, Sophie moved back to a small town in Texas from Chicago because she wanted a slower paced life. A life where she can stay at home with her baby Jack while working on her blog and her vegetable garden. A life where she can give her undivided attention to her hubby and baby and live her perfect life. But is this really what she wants though? She finds herself becoming bored quite often which results in her becoming obsessed with the town Socialite, Margot. She wants to be friends with Margot and be in her inner circle, well mission accomplished. One day she runs into Margot and her pack of friends at an event and much to her surprise ends up chatting it up with them and gets invited to the Hunting Wives club. This club is just a fancy name for girl’s night with a twist. Every Friday night they meet at Margot’s lake house and let off some steam with some target shooting and some drinking. Well, lots of drinking. What ensues is just a trail of lies, betrayals and framing.

Margot is keeping a secret which Sophie one day discovers and her life becomes a whirlwind of bad decisions after bad decisions. This is the part of the novel which almost had me throwing the Kindle across the room. Sophie has everything she ever wished for, but she becomes so obsessed with Margot that this clouds her judgement for the better part of the story. Now she is part of a murder mystery and is at risk of losing her perfect life.

While I loved the story in itself the writing kept pulling me out of the experience. There is a description for every little thing going on in the room. I really don’t care if Jill is holding her glass at a 90 degree angle while Margot blinks and Sophie inhales a deep breath. Of course I'm exaggerating but you get the gist. Some of these descriptions were so unnecessary and long that it tampered with my enjoyment of what was actually happening. I did enjoy the way the story wrapped up, not the most amazing reveal but not the worst either. If I’m being completely honest I feel like the ending was a bit rushed and in a way I was ok with it because of my need for the descriptions and Sophie’s decisions to come to a close. Nonetheless, the story was entertaining and I highly recommend it to lovers of the whodunit trope.

This one is kind of hard to rate. I’d give it 3.5 if I could, but I’m rounding down because of the fact that I can’t say that I loved it. That being said, it is definitely a page turner and I can see it being a hit this summer as a beach read.
Sophie and Graham decide that they want to leave the busy hustle and bustle of Chicago and move back to the only town from her unstable childhood that Sophie felt safe and stable in. Once they get settled in, Sophie meets an exclusive group of women at a charity event and is instantly pulled under by the group’s leader, Margot. They bring her into the group, where she finds that these supposedly perfect little wives are far less than that, but it doesn’t stop her from becoming obsessed with Margot and in the process, puts her own picture perfect family life in jeopardy. Margot’s world of glamour and guns seems too good to be true, especially when someone is found dead.
If you’re a fan of the real housewives and the likes, filled with rich women and loads of drama, you’re going to love this book!
Thanks to Berkley and Netgalley for this eArc in exchange for my review.

Sophie O’Neill is relatively new to town. Together with her husband and son, she’s left the hustle and bustle of Chicago, returning to the quiet, small town in Texas where she once lived.

Although Sophie likes a lot about her new life, she can’t seem to squash this feeling of boredom that consumes her days. The part of her that still craves excitement finds out about a local socialite named Margot Banks. From afar, Sophie trails Margot’s every move, obsessed with becoming part of her inner circle.

Then one day, she gets her chance.

Margot and her friends invite Sophie to their Friday night hunting club. The first rule of the hunting club is you don’t talk about the hunting club, or more importantly, anything that happens the night of their “hunts”. As Sophie dives deeper into their world, she’s equal parts mortified and fascinated by Margot and all she has to offer.

Then a body is found. Before she knows it, her involvement with the group takes a sinister turn. Can she pry herself away before it’s too late?

The Hunting Wives is a fun, wild ride that pushes the bored housewife trope to new limits. I was hooked early on as this is a quick reading page turner. I will say that while this story was immersive, it was also one where it was hard to root for anyone. I know Sophie is supposed to be the one to feel bad for, but she does some pretty deplorable things throughout and is painted as pretty weak in character over and over. If I feel bad for anyone it’s her husband Graham who is the silent tortured soul.

Big thanks to @netgalley and @berkleypub for providing me with an advanced copy for review. Definitely grab a copy when this book comes out next week!

This sexy, funny and surprisingly smart thriller follows a hot mess of a housewife as her inclusion into her new home’s in-crowd finds her tangled up in murder and lies. Sophie O’Neill thought that turning her back on her fast-paced life as a magazine editor in Chicago in order to be a mommy blogger in small town East Texas was a good idea. Nourished by her own lack of stable upbringing and encouraged by the pervasive cultural lie surrounding domestic bliss perpetuated in our modern era by social media influencers, her fantasy of satisfying suburban living focused almost exclusively on her son and husband soon fades into a restless dissatisfaction that she doesn’t know how to properly interrogate:

QUOTE
This was my idea, I remind myself. I used to sit in the noisy offices of the magazine’s headquarters, parked in my tiny cubicle as cars whirred past the glass window and daydream about this. Daydream about a life with less exhaust, more nature, more time. Slowed-down meals with Jack and Graham. Being there for Jack at every stage of his childhood. Making Shrinky Dinks together on Friday nights, burrowing into the sofa with a metal bowl of popcorn to watch movies. Having time for these things instead of being overworked, overscheduled, our lives soldier-marched by a frenzied whip on our necks.

[S]o why isn’t all this enough?
END QUOTE

Bored by the lack of intellectual challenge and the sameness of her limited social circle, Sophie soon becomes fascinated by Margot Banks, the beautiful, sophisticated socialite whom Sophie’s only friend in Mapleton warns her off of. According to earth mother Erin, Margot is “not a nice person.” But after Sophie finally finagles her way into Margot’s notice, she finds herself powerless to resist the older woman’s invitation to join her charmed circle of Hunting Wives, a small group of women who gather at Margot’s lakeside house every Friday night to drink, shoot skeet and behave badly.

Soon, drinking with the girls turns into road trips to out-of-the-way bars and clubs where several of the other wives get frisky with strange men. Margot makes the rules but she’s also the one most likely to break them. Sophie is utterly fascinated, even as she knows she shouldn’t be lying to her husband about her whereabouts or drinking so much she’s barely able to function on the Saturday mornings that are supposed to be about farmer’s market visits and fun meals with her family. But wherever Margot goes, Sophie feels compelled to follow. She’s obsessed with Margot, and has been for quite a while:

QUOTE
I found myself looking forward to checking Facebook to try and catch posts she was tagged in. And thinking about her more and more, wondering about her life, which seemed so much bigger than my own. And yes, digging her name out of the phone book and locating her house. It wasn’t envy, though; I didn’t want to be her.

It was so much more than that. I wanted to be <i>near</i> her. For her to notice me, too. The idea of it took my breath away. It became powerful and even consuming.
END QUOTE

Being near Margot doesn’t detract from the mystique: if anything, it only fuels Sophie’s obsession, to the point where she’ll risk her husband and her entire blog-perfect lifestyle to get even closer. But when a teenage girl is found shot to death in the same area where the Hunting Wives shoot for sport, and the evidence points to Sophie as the killer, Sophie has to decide whether risking her actual life is worth being part of this deadly in-crowd.

I was totally caught off-guard by the solid murder mystery here, due in large part to how sucked in I was by Sophie’s welter of emotions and the high drama surrounding her. Deeply flawed but highly relatable, Sophie’s struggle to make sense of her conflicting emotions propels her and the reader through this twisty, salacious narrative. No one is really what they seem (and I’m probably in the minority in thinking that Graham sucks for using his kid to punish his spouse) and no one is particularly generous or kind, but these are all believably awful people doing the best they can when beaten down by an American dream that tells them that wanting more than their painfully dull lives is an ungrateful affront to the status quo. If only their impulses could be channeled into productivity and empathy! But then books like these wouldn’t feel so realistic and relevant, I suppose, on top of being so wildly entertaining.

So, I've finished this book in one sitting and my reaction was - WHAT THE HECK?! What a wild, entertaining, delicious and scandalous thriller! This story centers around Sophie who recently moved to a small community in Texas called Mapleton with her family. Sophie is pretty obsessed with Margot, the Queen Bee in the community, and was thrilled when she is invited to Margot's elite clique known as the Hunting Wives, where they will have their weekly late night target practice and wild parties. Sophie finally feels accepted and is happy with her busy social life, until a body of a girl is discovered. She suddenly finds herself embroiled in the murder investigation of this girl and her world begins to fall apart.

This was my first book by this author and it did not disappoint! I loved how fast-paced it was and the suspense just kept me turning the pages. I love flawed characters and let me tell you, there is not one likable one in this story. I loved it!

The first half of the book was more about their friendships, shenanigans and yes, drama. How I love them! The second half of the story was about the murder and investigation which was good! I loved the mystery and although I kind of figured out the whodunnit, it did not deter my enjoyment of this story!

Overall, this was one highly addictive read and a spicy thriller! If you enjoy books like The Girls Are All So Nice Here, you'd enjoy this too!


Pub. Date: May 18th, 2021

***Thank you Berkley Publishing Group, author May Cobb and NetGalley for this gifted reading copy.***

This book was so compulsively readable. I absolutely love reading about rich people, and rich people behaving badly is all the better.

The Hunting Wives are the epitome of love-to-hate characters. They're undeniably awful people, cheating on their husbands, sleeping with teens, and driving under the influence in pretty much every scene. They're grown-up mean girls and a trainwreck (or car crash...) waiting to happen, but I couldn't put this book down.

I've seen almost every review saying that they finished this book in a day or two, and I am in the same boat. I couldn't get enough of these awful women, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen to them!

My one issue with this book was with these adult women hitting on seventeen-year-old boys. (Minor spoilers ahead)

If the genders were reversed, I'm sure this book would get absolutely trashed. I definitely don't think it's okay for adults to seduce children. I was lucky enough to get to chat with the author about this, though (thanks @vlanigan.f.off.im.reading!), and she explained it really well. She chose seventeen on purpose to underscore how awful the Hunting Wives are, and to up the contention between the mother of these boys and the woman the boy was in a relationship with. Seventeen is the age of consent in Texas, but young enough to still be icky. I hope I explained that right, because I'm paraphrasing what the author said!

Thank you Berkley Pub for my copy of The Hunting Wives in exchange for my honest review.

Well this was a FUN read. Think: Desperate Housewives but better. Lots of steam and scandal in this unputdownable book. It was a fun "popcorn" thriller filled with drama. I devoured this in one sitting and loved how the author keeps you guessing throughout this unpredictable story! I really enjoyed this one and liked the fresh take the author went with this premise.

This book is sure to create A LOT of buzz this summer. Full review will be posted to my blog on pub day.

I was given a copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. I think this book will be popular amongst lovers of psychological thrillers, the writing lacked substance in my opinion.

3.5 stars!
Sophie and her husband, Graham, move from Chicago to the quiet town of Mapleton, Texas for a change in pace and lifestyle for their son, Jack. Sophie quickly becomes obsessed with Margot, a wealthy socialite that seems to be the most popular woman in Mapleton. When Margot invites Sophie to start hanging out with her group of friends, Sophie can’t believe it. She becomes immersed in the world of the 4 friends who are all suburban queens. The more she is around Margot, the bigger her crush becomes. Her life gets turned upside down when a local girl is found dead and Sophie is entangled in Margot’s web.

This novel was just gossipy fun. The tension was palpable in this cat and mouse game between Margot and all of the other women. There were some great twists I did not see coming near the end. I found the first half to be a lot stronger than the second half. I found myself dragging it out when I flew through the first half in one sitting. I think a lot of it had to do with the fact that I ended up so irritated with some of the characters. Sophie was driving me nuts with all of her drinking and driving. They also consumed so much alcohol I felt like it was almost unnecessary repetition to keep reading that they were having a glass of wine or five. It was just assumed for me at that point. I solidly just liked this one!

I hated every single one of these characters except for Erin and Jack. Graham redeemed himself at the end. The rest of the characters were reprehensible and terrible. They were like a train wreck that you couldn't look away from! If you are in the mood for some dysfunctional characters that do some truly awful shit, then look no further. That said, I flew through this book in a single day. I probably would have rated this higher if I had found any of the characters relatable, but it was at least entertaining. I would read from the author again.

Wow! This is all the pearl-clutching, hair-teasing, skeet-shooting fun you could want in a thriller!

The Hunting Wives is a must read thriller if you enjoyed the show Desperate Housewives. These women in this book were all so wild. It’s amazing what money and boredom can make people do.

Sophie moves back to an idyllic Texas town from Chicago to get a break from it all. She got so much more than she bargained for when she comes across Margot. Her obsession with Margot was so sick and juicy. Sophie would do anything to fit in with Margot and her troupe of friends...anything...

I don’t want to give any spoilers, but the twists in this book were satisfying. It’s like the Goldilocks of thrillers. Not too predictable. Not to shocking. Just right.

Definitely pick up The Hunting Wives on May 18th if you’re looking for a thriller that’s different than the typical “the husband did it” drama.