This fast paced, guilty pleasure was like watching The Real Housewives but with much more scandal.

It was addictive and entertaining!

This is a wild mash-up between The Real Housewives of Presidio Terrace and Thelma and Louise, but with quite the twist at the end. A guilty pleasure, the perfect summer read. 3.5/5 stars.


Thanks to NetGalley and RandomHouse - Ballantine Books for a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You'll love these unlikable ladies!
The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives exposes the secrets of an exclusive gated community, where appearances matter. TW: physical abuse

Erin, a news anchor.
Brooke, a young mystery writer..
Georgia, the Black Widow.

These three neighbors seem to have it made in their marriages: the clothes, the cars, the yachts.

When Georgia's fiance disappears and detectives show up, their carefully manicured world unpeels.

What comes next is an action-packed whirl of deception and betrayal.

3.8/5

This is a reality tv-Ish guilty pleasure type of read. Quick synopsis a woman moves into a wealthy neighborhood determined to finish her latest suspense novel with no idea what to write. When she moves in next to a woman whose previous husbands have all died mysteriously, our protagonist knows there is a potential plot line lurking. This was a bit of a slow burn, but I enjoyed the characters and their stepford-esque neighborhood. The way the plot unfolded kept me turning pages and wondering what would come next.

This read is bonkers. I'm still processing the last few twists, which, let me tell ya, are insane.
I thoroughly enjoyed this, but marked it down one star because it's possibly too over the top (and also the news life stuff isn't realistic).

Brooke, Erin, and Georgia are the title wives, living with their rich husbands (in Georgia's case fiancé) in an upscale neighborhood in San Francisco. This book reads like a soap opera. It is sudsy, over the top, and strains believability. The characters aren’t very likable and it’s hard to sympathize with them. But. This book is very entertaining and hard to put down. It doesn’t pretend to be something it isn’t. What it delivers is a page-turning, stay up all night, engrossing story, that has a twist out of left field you won’t see coming. It’s definitely a guilty pleasure type of read. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC.

This soapy, slippery, twisty-turny novel absolutely needs a place in your beach bag. The women of Presidio Terrace are each sitting on a pile of secrets. Some they share, but many they do not. Our story begins with a devastating neighborhood accident. Two people are dead. What are their names? We can guess, but will be taken back in time to six days earlier when a new wife joins the neighborhood. How well will she fit in? What is she hiding behind that trophy wife glamour? You will have to read the book to find out. The action does not wind down until the very last page. Brilliantly plotted and never a dull moment. I am definitely up for another Kristin Miller novel. In Her Shadow looks good.

Thank you to Ballantine Books by Random House and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

A wild and twisty ride! Brooke, a mystery writer married to a tech mogul, is new to the neighborhood. Erin, a news anchor married to a plastic surgeon, and Georgia, the alleged "black widow" welcome her. Georgia's about to marry Robert, who will be her third husband, but then he goes missing in the middle of the night during a pre-wedding party on his yacht. What did Brooke hear and see that night? Georgia's getting threatening notes. What really happened to her first two husbands? This oe suddenly turns about half way through- I actually went back and re-read a couple of pages and yes, the surprise is sprung. Then there's another one. No spoilers from me. I liked this for the women and the commentary on a variety of things (including the news business), as well as the storytelling. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a fast paced and entertaining read.

This was fun!

Three women living lives of privilege! Let the antics begin!

Mystery writer, Brooke Davis and her older husband, Jack, have just moved into a stunning mansion in the Bay area. It is a beautiful area with interesting but doable HOA rules. She is instantly welcomed to the neighborhood by Erin King a news anchor who gave me strong Morning Show vibes. She and her husband, Mason a plastic surgeon live nearby. Soon Brooke is introduced to the infamous, Georgia St. Claire known as the "Black Widow" as both of her husbands died tragically soon after marrying her. The ladies become fast friends and ban together when tragedy hits which has some wondering "has Georgia struck again?"

What a deliciously tangled web we weave ladies. Erin looks put together on the outside but is not happy to be aging. Always noticing younger attractive women. After a meltdown on set, she walks off her job and decides she is going to be a housewife -while also hoping her employer will beg her to come back.

Georgia knows what people say about her and she does not seem to care. She even drops the word "dead" quite a bit. She too is put together and comes off as gregarious and kind but could the rumors about her be true?

Brooke is young but she is not naïve. Plus, these women have given her ideas for her current book!

This was fun and highly entertaining. For women who seem to have it all, they also have a boat load of issues as well! This was like reading a high-octane soap opera! Once the drama ball gets rolling it does not stop! This is a book to not take too seriously. It is over the top and entertaining! Pure escapism reading with a nice twist and shocking end.


Highly entertaining, dramatic and addictive.


Thank you to Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Well, this was certainly a fast read - I finished it in just about a day. The ability to reel me in and get me hooked is one of the biggest qualities I look for in books of this genre (domestic mystery/thrillers), but of course, not the only thing I look for. The other things that I "evaluate" are realism and likeability of the characters (Do I believe them? Could they be real people that are sufficiently complex and not one-dimensional?), the unexpectedness of the plot (Oftentimes, there are twists, but are the twists good? Or are they just there to say that there's a twist? Is it predictable?), and memorability (Am I going to remember this book in 6 months?). On the fast-paced, immediately-got-me-hooked scale, it was great. On the rest of them, not so much.

Let's start with the characters. There's basically three main characters - the eponymous "trophy wives" who live in a swanky, exclusive neighborhood in the Bay Area called Presidio Terrace - and their husbands. The narration is split between Brooke, the youngest of the three, a mystery writer herself, gorgeous and fit and slim, who is married to the CEO and founder of a huge search engine giant, and Erin, a middle-age-ish TV anchor who is married to a fairly awful plastic surgeon. Brooke is a new entrant to the Presidio Terrace community, and quickly befriends Erin and the other real star of the show: Georgia St. Clair, aka the "Black Widow."

Georgia is a gorgeous woman who radiates elegance. But her dark history is that she has been married twice, and both of her husbands died shortly into the marriage. Her first husband "fell down a set of stairs" to his death, and the other one "shot himself." That's the official story, but no one believes it. Even the realtor who sold Brooke and her husband their house spread rumors about Georgia's nickname and the fate of her husbands. Georgia is about to get married to another man, and that's what most of the story revolves around.

The plot is really quite boring. I didn't feel like I knew a lot about any of the characters, especially not Brooke, who is basically personality-less until the very end. With Erin and Georgia, I knew just their basic archetypes, evil rich ladies with a hidden agenda, nothing deeper than that. All of a sudden the action starts and you have no idea who anyone is and what's going on. I guess the point is that you shouldn't know who to trust, but honestly, I didn't feel attached enough to any of them to care. The plot ends up getting fairly predictable, until the end when a bunch of random twists are thrown in to give you a twist, but they're so eyeroll-inducing that they didn't make me leap out of my seat. The big action scene at the end moves so fast that I was utterly confused about what happened and had to go back and read. There are too many people involved, the narrator of the scene is high or drunk, and the action is poorly written - I couldn't comprehend what happened at the supposed climax. Then, after the climax, you find out something else entirely and then the book ends abruptly! Really frustrating.

Overall, not a bad fast thriller, but definitely not memorable, and a bit infuriating at times. Thank you to Random House Publishing / Ballantine Books for the ARC via Netgalley.

3 stars for this light and funny read for about 50%...BUT, then headed off in the wrong direction, in my opinion, for the second half. I was happily thinking 4 stars early on and glad for a fun summer read. I hate to have to say that it got too convoluted and over the top later on...so much that I didn't enjoy it and became easily frustrated with how the plot played out. I did not like any of the characters and too many holes in the story. Reminded me of the tv series Desperate Housewives (in which I did like) and some of it was funny in the beginning. Wish it had remained that way. Later some serious topics enter the story, such as abuse and kidnapping. When I downloaded the book I was thinking it was going to be more campy and light. Perhaps a fun beach read. (it was not)

So...three women, Brooke, Erin, and Georgia live in a fancy neighborhood. I guess they are considered trophy wives, tho Erin does work and Brooke is a writer. Georgia does not work, but, she is not a wife when we first meet her. She has lost two husbands already and is engaged to Robert. Erin is her BFF and they are joined at the hip. Brooke moves in last and becomes friends with the other two rather quickly. She has some secrets she will not want them to know; but, she comes across to them as someone to be jealous of and they are for a while. Everyone is hiding something.

We begin the book knowing that Georgia has been in an accident. We become acquainted with her story. Some joke she is a black widow bc she has already lost two husbands; one by a fall down a flight of stairs in her home while she slept, the other by a gunshot to the head in his home office (at their home.) Lots of suspicions, but everyone loves her! She is beautiful, fun, and the life of the party.

Soon you will find, there is a lot going on here; much more than a few housewives behaving badly. We hear about Robert, her fiance, and how wealthy he is. They are madly in love. They have a party planned just before their wedding on Robert's yacht. Something will happen that night to dear Robert and the rest is the mystery waiting to be solved by you, the reader.

I had to suspend disbelief quite a lot with this one in the last 70%. I don't enjoy doing that. I read this along with some friends in one of my groups and it seems we all felt the same way. I wish I could put in here what I found so annoying but that would be too many spoilers and this book is not out just yet. Comes out later this month (July 2021).

Many thanks to the publisher via NetGalley for a digital copy to read for review.

Thee women of Presidio Terrace in San Fransisco have it all. At least that is what it seems when Brooke Davies, a mystery writer, moves to the gated community with her billionaire husband. But when Brooke starts befriending her neighbors, she is quickly dragged into the crazy lives of Georgia St. Claire and Erin King. Georgia is known for allegedly cashing in on her 2 former husbands' suspicious deaths and Erin is a TV news anchor who suddenly quits her job to attempt to save her marriage. Georgia’s soon to be
husband disappears right before their wedding and she is right in the spotlight as a suspect. Brooke definitely sees and hears enough in this neighborhood to help her get over her writer's block and finish her latest novel.

My Thoughts:
This book had a lot going on with the characters and side plot lines. I enjoyed learning about the wealthy women of Presidio Terrace and their drama. Overall, an entertaining read with a conclusion that wraps the story up nicely.

The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives is set in a prestigious, highly secure neighborhood in the San Francisco Bay area. Those that live there are protected by walls/gates surrounding the neighborhood, which is precisely why they all chose to live there. Enter Brooke - a mystery writer, Erin - a television personality and Georgia. Georgia has been married twice and each time her husband has died suspiciously, now she is about to marry for the 3rd time when her fiance goes missing from the boat where they were having a pre-wedding party. Brooke may have seen/heard something but it is the middle of the night and no one really knows. If they don't find out what happened fast, Georgia is going to be in trouble because this will be the 3rd missing husband.

Wives behaving badly!! Affluence does nothing to help these ladies avoid trouble. The ending was a total surprise for me.

Absolutely zero likable people in this book, which is fine if the story holds up. You have to suspend belief to read anything and everything, but this was a lot. The twist here was a little... "oh, she's not trying to pass this off, is she?" Free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

This book was reading like a 3-star, but the ending?! Wow the twists, the turns, the surprises, oh my! I truly was finding myself thinking it would be a standard thriller, not entirely memorable but fun to read. But then the last 25% or so changed my tune in the best way!

If you like reading about wealthy people and their drama, this book is for you. I loved it. You’ll love it. Pre-order so you can read it on release day NEXT WEEK!

Thank you to netgalley, Ballantine Books, and Kristin Miller for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to LibraryThing and #NetGalley.

A quick read and an interesting plot. It had the vibe of the Housewives shows.

The title says it all. Erin, Georgia and Brooke who are trophy wives, who live in an exclusive gated community in San Francisco. They call Georgia the "black widow" since there are rumors that she killed her first two husbands, and is now getting married for the third time. Erin, is the tv anchor who gets booted out because she stormed out of an on air broadcast, and Brooke, the "new girl" on the block who's a mystery writer.

Just before Georgia's third wedding, her fiancee disappears and yet the rumors start again. A lot happens in the meantime and the truth comes out, not about how her first two husbands died but what happens to her almost husband and what a doozy it was. As always, I would have never "thunk" it or figured it out.

This book had many twists and turns that I did not expect.

The book started off a little slow and had some slow parts along the way, but when the surprises came ---they came through with a bang.

This book kept me interested and entertained.

Brooke and Jack moved into Presido Terrace which was the ritzy neighborhood with some of the finest homes in California.

Brooke was a mystery/thriller writer and used the research that she gained through her writing to her advantage to assist her brother, Danny, with the crimes of murdering Georgia's first two husbands and Robert which was her fiance'.

Georgia (aka - known as "The Black Widow") was married twice before and was getting ready for wedding number 3 - when Danny, (Brooke's brother that had been hired to conduct the murders of her first two husbands ) made a tragic mistake and "kidnapped" Robert - her new husband to be which she truly loved.

Erin and Mason were also residents of Presido Terrace. Erin was a tv anchor. Erin becomes aware of her husband's infidelity with their therapist, Theresa. On the night of Georgia's pre-wedding party Danny was to kidnap Mason but instead kidnaps Robert (Georgia's fiance).

I never expected Brooke to be involved in the "murder rift raft" because she was painted as a "perfect trophy wife" in the beginning.

I would recommend this book to a friend if they are looking for a quick read psychological thriller.

Overall, I would rate the book 3.5 to 4.0 stars.

Thank you NETGALLEY for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

This is a fast, fun beach read. You can probably finish it in a day. You have a bunch unlikeable shallow characters, a mystery, a yacht - what more could you ask for?

Brooke is the new trophy wife on the block. Her neighbors, Georgia (aka the Black Widow) and Erin, bring her into their circle of the rich and the dangerous. Kristin Miller’s suspenseful thriller weaves together the marriages of the three women and their pasts with twists that will surprise and excite you.

From the very first page I was engrossed in this story. I wanted to untangle the web of mystery and danger that these three trophy wives find themselves tangled in, served with a side of mimosas and yacht rides. Thank you Netgalley and Random House – Ballantine for the eARC in exchange for my honest review!

The Sinful Lives Of Trophy Wives is a fantastic roller coaster ride in book form. Kristin Miller has provided readers with a book that will keep readers wondering what's next. This book is written in first person, alternating point of view of the three wives of the story. Not my favorite format but the author made it work in this story. Erin, Brooke and Georgia's story is loaded with drama, bits of humor and lots of suspense. I enjoyed reading this book and look forward to my next book by Kristin Miller. This is a complete book, not a cliff-hanger.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book that I received from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.