Member Reviews

This book was pure escapist fun!

Times are stressful, and I have had a few reading slumps lately and this was exactly what I needed.

This story was great and over the top. I loved reading about the lives of these super wealthy, issue-filled women. I loved the mystery of it, the fun and the little twist.. It reminded me of the old Jackie Collins novels from years ago - just pure, well written fun! I would love to read more books like this and will be reading more from this author.

I want to thank the author, the publisher and #netgalley for the ARC which did not impact my review.

Was this review helpful?

This was brilliantly written. There are multiple plot twists and turns. One second the reader thinks she knows what happened, but then the author throws another element to the mystery and the hypothesis changes yet again! It kept me engaged and I finished it within a day!

Was this review helpful?

You. Guys. When I say that I cannot get over the twist, I truly mean it. I was confident that I had the whole book figured out halfway through, but boy was I wrong.

This book gives me serious soap opera/Dead To Me on Netflix/Good Girls vibes and I am here for it.

3 wives as narrators. Dead husbands. Lies. Mimosas. What more could I ask for?? Trust me when I say you won’t regret picking this book up.

Was this review helpful?

Brooke David and her millionaire husband fly to the Bay Area and buy a mansion in an exclusive area so he can be closest to Silicon Valley and his job. While the gossipy real estate agent is showing the house , she tells them that the infamous Georgia St. Claire or “ Black Widow” as the press has dubbed her after two husbands died under questionable circumstances is one of her new neighbors.
Brooke is an author who is struggling to meet her deadline and the idea of Georgia intrigued her.
She gets her opportunity to meet her when another neighbor Erin King introduces herself. Erin is a famous anchor on the news, the head of the HOA and Brookes’ BFF. The two women soon have taken Brooke under their wing and into their confidence. Brooke is soon to marry for the third time and she invites Brooke and her husband to an engagement party on her fiancees yacht but tragedy strikes and once again everyone is asking did the Black Widow claim another victim?
This was such a delightful surprise. I enjoyed the authors previous book “ In Her Shadow” and if you haven’t read it what are you waiting for? A perfect vacation read or for those who keep saying they are in a book slump what should I read? This is it!! Compelling from the first page to the end!
Thank you to #netgalley and #ballantinebooks for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. This is due for publication on July 20th! Be sure to add it to your summer reading list!

Was this review helpful?

This book is publishing on July 20th, a perfect time since once I read the first chapter, I was thinking, beach read! The story isn't one where you need to pay strict attention or miss some vital clue. Erin, Brooke, and Georgia live in the wealthy neighborhood of Presidio Terrace. A place where money can buy anything, except perhaps the truth.
Brooke and her husband have just relocated, but Erin and Georgia have been here for years. All the way back to when Georgia's first husband, then her second husband died. Does she just have the worst luck with marriage or is her nickname, “Black Widow” well deserved. Rumors swirl around her, and the word murderer is used quite often. Maybe her engagement will quiet the grapevine, that is if her fiance lives.
Erin's career and marriage are sinking faster than she can fill the holes in the boat. She isn't sure if either is worth saving, but without them, how can she feel loved and appreciated. Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned, and Erin most definitely will not go down without a fight.
Brooke was an enigma. Married to an older, wealthy man, she is a writer and very curious about what is going on with Erin and Georgia. Maybe a little too interested, but then again, a writer needs the inspiration to write. Three women with secrets and you will need to read The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives to find out if any of them can be trusted.
Just a soapy, fun read that I flew through in a day. Were any of the twists OMG shocking moments? Mostly not, except for one. Some great dialogue and an enjoyable escape to a world that I wouldn't want to live in, but was a fun visit.

Was this review helpful?

This was a bit of a guilty pleasure read and sounds like a soap opera, the lives of the rich, their often unhappy marriages, and murder. The characters were complex but shallow at the same time. I would have liked to see more from the character Brooke, there was not enough detail, there were parts of her section that could have been detailed more and really added to the story. Thank you to the publisher for granting my request to read this book. It was easy to read and I would recommend as a beach read!

Was this review helpful?

his is a hard one to define. Its a good book with a great epilogue. I kind of wish they didn't wait until the epilogue to share a lot of what they did as now I have questions and want to know more! It is a great source material for a soap opera, It is fun, light and with enough skeletons in the closet to keep things interesting. Also we could have many chapters to get to know them and bring new characters in and out. But as a standalone book, the character development was a bit lacking. I still don't understand half of why was done was done, some things really come out of left field. Also there are no redeeming characters here. Sometimes that's fun, and especially in mysteries, everyone cold be flawed and to blame. However here it lead me more to the place of I really don't care about any of them or what happens to them. Small caveat, why is Erin considered a Trophy wife? from what I can gather she's more famous than her husband, and even though he is a doctor, I think a working at all hours, same age, Stanford educated wife should NOT be considered a Trophy wife, especially as a derogatory term that is used here. She is a catch! And if its because she was trying to avoid being replaced by a Trophy wife, then the title and her being a first person account doesn't really add up. SPOILER ALERT (because i need to discuss it with some of you that have read it or who will read it) : I think i never understood the character of Erin or her motivation. what is going on there? all of the book is this whole show about wanting to be a better wife, and acting appalled about her husband cheating, yet she had hired a hit man all along... totally don't get it

Was this review helpful?

Desperate Housewives! Couldn’t put this book down once I started - I only wish i was on the beach! Plot twists abound in this quick page turner! Fun characters, in a luxurious setting makes for great escape
reading! I love a book that keeps you guessing and The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives did just that! Thank you for the advance copy! i will be looking for more from this author in the future!

Was this review helpful?

Well, this was a fun book! The story is told in alternating chapters by the main characters: Brooke, Erin and Georgia. Georgia St. Claire is called the Black Widow because she is known for marrying wealthy men that all have mysterious accidents and die. Erin King is a well-known News Anchor, and Brooke Davies is a mystery writer. All of these ladies live in the elite Presidio Terrace.

The story begins present day with Georgia in a hospital bed after a car accident. The rest of the book tells us what leads up to the accident. If you like, gossip, drama and suspense with a lot of plot twists, I highly recommend this book. It was too good to put down!

Many Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing/Ballantine Books for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Was this review helpful?

“The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives” by Kristin Miller was just the book I needed. Having never read works from this author before, I didn’t know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised I liked this book so much! It was such an interesting and fun read.

The book centers around three female characters (I’m all for girl power!)- Georgia, Erin, and Brooke. What I found particularly compelling about this book is that Miller was able to write authentic characters that didn’t feel contrived. The women were all strong in their own way, while still each having their own weaknesses or blind spots. So, in other words, they read as being REAL.

Georgia and Erin have been best friends for quite some time when then enters their new neighbor Brooke to both their friendship and neighborhood- the exclusive and ritzy Presidio Terrace. While each woman was a trophy wife of sorts, I appreciated the fact that they were so different. Erin was a professional working woman, Georgia twice widowed and then a missing fiancé- gasp!- and Brooke, the most interesting of all to me, a writer and doting wife.

As you get to know these characters, you get to know that they all are hiding their own secrets. The reader gets to go down a trail of discovering and deciding for themselves who each character really is--- who is in the wrong and who is in the right? There is tons of suspense that keeps you wanting to read on. The author was successful in leaving just the right amount of breadcrumbs—enough to foreshadow what was to come, but not so much that every twist is glaringly obvious.

I will definitely look up more of Kristin Miller’s works in the future.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

I have been on a Desperate Housewives kick lately. There's just something about outlandish suburban drama that puts me in a good mood, so when I saw my wish was granted and The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives dropped in my queue, I was thrilled.

When Brooke and her husband move into the elite community of Presidio Terrace, she wants to finish writing her book and be a good wife. But gossip doesn't take long to circulate in PT, so when she learns her neighbor is the infamous Black Widow--whose first two husbands died in mysterious circumstances where she is the presumed killer--and is on the verge of marrying her third husband, Brooke sees inspiration. As their friendship grows, however, a pre-wedding party and an unexpected disappearance sends everything spiraling into doubt.

I loved this book.

From the opulence to the gossip, Miller does an excellent job of creating a high-end community whose main problem is the occupants. They nitpick about door color and grass length one minute and joke about murdering their husbands in the next breath. The women are deliciously vain and loathsome while simultaneously being hilarious and relatable. This feels like an indulgent beach read, scandalous and cinematic and so very readable. I finished this in a single sitting, and I think many readers are going to be engrossed by the webs these characters weave for each other.

The pacing and structure worked well, although I would've liked to see a little more differentiation between character voices. Some of them bled together at times because motives overlapped. This didn't detract from my reading experience, however, and I think anyone who loves Desperate Housewives or Big Little Lies will love this book.

Engrossing and wickedly entertaining, The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives is one you won't want to miss. Out in July, add this to your TBR now.

Thank you to Ballantine and NetGalley for providing an eARC in exchange for honest review consideration.

Was this review helpful?

Excellent book!! Twists and turns around every corner from beginning to end. This was a hard to put down read and I recommend it to everyone.

Was this review helpful?

This was such a fun read! I really liked the premise of the book, and got pulled in right away by the main characters. They were definitely "love to hate them" and I enjoyed the little hints that they would drop regarding the plot. Great story and I liked the ending.

Was this review helpful?

AMAZING!!! Wow. Y’all this book blew me away. I was not expecting the ending at all and these were some of the best characters I have read about in a long time. Incredible writing. Must read!

Was this review helpful?

This novel is like an episode of Desperate Housewives in book form! Brooke Davies is a mystery writer who moves to the insular Presidio Terrace with her much older husband, tech titan Jack. Brooke immediately makes friends with neighbors Erin King and Georgia St. Claire. Erin is a respected TV anchor with a picture-perfect marriage to husband Mason, but there are always secrets lying underneath. Georgia's secrets are a bit more visible - she's nicknamed the Black Widow after her first two husbands die in quick succession. As new drama finds the neighborhood, the women band together to try to uncover the truth.

This was a quick, fun read, and I loved getting to know these three women. If you enjoy books with domestic drama, female friendships, and multiple perspectives, such as Big Little Lies, this is definitely a good choice to pick up. The plot sped along nicely with small twists and turns leading up to the big reveal at the end. Georgia was an especially fun character, reminiscent of Samantha Jones from Sex and the City.

Thank you to Ballantine Books for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?

This book offers just what the title gives us; it's a deliciously wicked look at three wealthy wives who will stop at nothing to get what they want. Brooke is the newest addition to the neighborhood. She's a writer and finds just what she needs in Georgia and Erin's lives. Georgia is planning her third wedding after inheriting her first two husbands' fortunes when they died. Erin has just quit her lucrative studio job to be a stay-at-home housewife, a fact her husband doesn't love. But of course things are never as they seem, and all of their lives spin out of control with some intended and unintended consequences. It doesn't get any juicier than this, so if you're looking for a dishy housewife drama, this is the escape for you!

Was this review helpful?

Loved the characters in this book! And it’s nice to know that even if everything seems perfect on the outside, it’s probably not on the inside! Thanks so much h for allowing me to read this book.

Was this review helpful?

This psychological suspense gave me Desperate Housewives vibes (loved that show!) with scandal, murders, infidelity, and a surface level image of a not so perfect suburban neighborhood. Overall, it was a quick, easy read. I thought it flowed well and the banter was enjoyable. Although I didn't mind reading it, it wasn't a perfect read either. Some situations seemed a little too farfetched to be believable, and in general, the characters were not very likeable. I did enjoy the last few chapters and and the ending was definitely shocking. I would definitely be interested in reading other works by this author.

***Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me an advanced copy of this book!

Was this review helpful?

Ms Miller has done it again! This will keep you on your toes, don't even try to guess because it has so many twists and turns yet all makes sense. Told via the 3 main characters, each chapter has the narrator of that chapter and told via first person, and each has their own voice. Great writing with keeping the constant what's going to happen next going throughout this page turner. Happily recieved an advanced copy from the author and Netgalley to give an honest opinion.

Was this review helpful?

Really enjoyed The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives! Story flowed effortlessly and kept me turning page after page. My first book by Kristin Miller, but will definitely not be my last.
Thank you to netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Was this review helpful?