Title: The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives

Author: Kristin Miller

Publisher: Ballantine Books 2021

Genre: Fiction

Pages: 274

Rating: 3/5 stars

Reading Challenges: 

Mystery writer Brooke Davies is the new wife on the block. Her tech-billionaire husband, Jack, twenty-two years her senior, whisked her to the Bay Area via private jet and purchased a modest mansion on the same day. He demands perfection, and before now, Brooke has had no problem playing the role of a doting housewife. But as she befriends other wives on the street and spends considerable time away from Jack, he worries if he doesn’t control Brooke’s every move, she will reveal the truth behind their “perfect” marriage.

Erin King, famed news anchor and chair of the community board, is no stranger to maintaining an image—though being married to a plastic surgeon helps. But the skyrocketing success of her career has worn her love life thin, and her professional ambitions have pushed Mason away. Quitting her job is a Hail Mary attempt at keeping him interested, to steer him away from finding a young trophy wife. But is it enough, and is Mason truly the man she thought he was?

Georgia St. Claire allegedly cashed in on the deaths of her first two husbands, earning her the nickname “Black Widow”—and the stares and whispers of her curious neighbors. Rumored to have murdered both men for their fortunes, she claims to have found true love in her third marriage, yet her mysterious, captivating allure keeps everyone guessing. Then a tragic accident forces the residents of Presidio Terrace to ask: Has Georgia struck again? And what is she really capable of doing to protect her secrets?

I grabbed this one hoping for some great soapy neighborhood scandals. For about the first half of the book, that’s what I got. And then secrets start to get revealed and it turns much more serious and confusing. I felt like it turned into a thriller all of a sudden and I was a bit taken aback. And then the “coincidences” and twists started to come and I was bored very quickly. The ending was a bit of a convoluted mess. Definitely not my cup of tea at all.

Next up on the TBR pile: