REVIEW:

Let me point out the obvious. This book’s title is The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives. If I’ve come across a better name this year, I don’t know what it is. And if you hear that title and are confused about what type of story lurks beneath the book’s fabulous cover, then I’ve got some CDs I’d like you to rewind for me.

How much you will end up enjoying it will depend on how much you like soapy shows like “The Real Housewives of (Who Cares)”, “Desperate Housewives,” “Melrose Place,” and I’ll even toss in “Knots Landing” for the people in the back. It’s campy. It’s twisty. It’s fun.

It’s a book I liked better than the characters within it. And if you find a title with such snap, crackle and pop as irresistible as I do, there’s a good chance you’ll like it too.

My thanks to the author and Ballantine Books for providing me with an advance copy to review via NetGalley. The Sinful Lives of Trophy Wives is now available for your beach-reading pleasure!

PUBLISHER SYNOPSIS:

Meet the trophy wives of Presidio Terrace, San Francisco's most exclusive - and most deadly - neighborhood in this shrewd, darkly compelling novel from the New York Times bestselling author of In Her Shadow.

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?