Wolves in Chic Clothing

by Carrie Doyle Karasyov, Jill Kargman

In The Right Address , Carrie Karasyov and Jill Kargman seared through the upper crust of New York’s glitterati with wicked glee. In their delicious new novel, Wolves in Chic Clothing , they train their merciless spotlight on the young princes and princesses poised to inherit Park Avenue.

Julia, a hip, downtown salesgirl at Pelham’s jewelry store, finds her social life turned on its head when she is asked to deliver a necklace to the store’s young heiress, Lell Pelham, on Lell’s wedding day. Beguiled by Julia’s earnest cluelessness and her vintage-chic vibe, Lell and her gang adopt Julia, and “Eliza Doolittle” her into passing as the heiress to a family fortune, just for a laugh. Dazed by the whirlwind of trust funds, pedigrees, Cosmopolitans, and penthouses in her new world, Julia is unprepared for the ardent advances of Lell’s husband—or the vicious claws her new “friends” develop when they decide Julia is an ingrate, and demote her from society goddess to penniless cling-on with one well-timed editorial. Suddenly, she must return the borrowed couture clothes and try to remember who she was before the body snatching took place. Hilarious and completely addictive, Wolves in Chic Clothing is a modern-day rags-to-riches-and-back-again fairy tale that will leave fans stamping their Manolo Blahniks for more.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Adult, Audiobook, New York

266 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

Best-selling author Carrie Doyle (Karasyov) is also the author of The Hamptons Murder Mystery Series (as Carrie Doyle.) Her Young Adult mystery, The Murder Game was nominated as the best YA book of 2021 by Suspense Magazine.
Please follow her at Carrie Doyle on Goodreads.
Her latest series is Trouble In Paradise and book two, Something's Guava Give, comes out January 25, 2022!!

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Julia Pearce is a salesgirl in a Manhattan jewelery store who is plucked from obscurity by the socialite whose father owns the jewelers. Lell Pelham is the ultimate it girl. She and her trust funded girlfriends decide to make Julia one of their group. She gets a big promotion and suddenly is jet setting with the creme de la creme of New York society. All this is complicated when Lell's husband falls for Julia.

This is the worst kind of chick lit... unbelievable and predictable at every turn. Every single aspect of this story stretched credibility, and stretched it so far that it wasn't even fun to read. And there's all the usual cliches: the gay best friend, the quiet but perfect guy that the heroine overlooks. I could not stop rolling my eyes as I read. In short: not a good book.

[Leah Rehman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was like an older version of gossip girl, but didn’t really have a plot

[Lorraine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Filled with every chic-lit cliche! Main character: Wholesome girl who doesn't realize how drop-dead gorgeous she is moves to the Big City; quickly gets 'noticed' by her boss, gets a huge unrealistic promotion which allows her to design jewellery, her dream career; she has upstanding morals about relationships yet loves the 'wild' married guy and doesn't notice the great 'good' single guy (rich and good-hearted) standing right in front of her (who is also a cliche); both are caught up with a superficial, materialistic rich crowd but don't really belong; both do 'real' volunteer/charity work, not just the benefit galas like their rich friends.
Actually, it's not much different from that movie with Jennifer Aniston, Jay Mohr and Kevin Bacon.
Predictable climax and ending fit right in there with all the other cliches.
Not worth the time of a discernable reader.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had tried reading this book before in the past and just couldn't get very far into the story. I ended up picking it up from the library again in the hopes I could get through it the second time around. As far as chick lit goes, this is pretty similar to others--predictable, high end name dropping, socialites, etc. I've read better, and a few worse than this. It was still a struggle to get through, as before. Sometimes I got hooked into the story and couldn't put the book down, other times, it was painfully boring and I almost quit reading. Don't expect this book to knock your socks off with surprise twists--this one is very predictable.

[Jessiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the perfect chick-lit book! It has the glamor, drama, luxury, and everything else you would expect and desire from chick-lit. I loved the overall message of the book and the ending was just perfect. I do have to say that the writing at times was a bit cringe and there is a relationship that the protagonist forms (don’t want to spoil) that is even more out of place and cringe, but it doesn’t rob from the goodness of the story. Overall, an excellent light hearted read!

4/5⭐️

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was actually on my list and I found it on the recently returned shelf. Yay! I love it when that happens. Otherwise, this is your typical New York upper-class story where the girls have nothing else to do, but claim lower class girls who have potential but no money to mould them into what they want. Two rich friends are always competing with each other because they don’t have much else to do with their lives. Girl #1’s family owns a Tiffany-type jewellery store and since she got married, now works there. She pulls lower class girl with potential who works on the sales floor up to the offices as her assistant. Girl #2 sees this happening and since she has nothing to do with her day, tries to claim the girl and re-do her. While the two rich girls have excuses for their behaviours (sort of) the lower class girl is just kind of stupid when it comes to what she does with her life and the boys in it. You could spot a mile away who she was going to end up and I’m sorry, but making out with your boss’s new husband, you are just asking for trouble. An ass like that, what do you think he is going to follow? The crush or the money? Like duh! Gay bestie alert! But not as an important character as I would have liked. This book actually took me longer to read then I would have thought.

Grade: C

[Tatia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Your typical chic lit fantasy, girl wants to make it in New York, is invited in by upper society, falls for the wrong guy, cast out by the mean girl, ends up with the right guy and her dreams realized. Nothing really original here and the story wrapped up quite abruptly with a pretty little bow on it.

[Stinkydiver · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably some of the best chic-lit I have read. Though I don't know if that is saying much.

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the build up of the book. I feel the end was too rushed!

[Karen Roberts · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unbearable

I wasn't expecting much from the book, and it didn't deliver much. The characters are so cliched, and the plot is exactly like a thousand other chick lit books

[Sophia Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this after reading a serious book because I needed a palate cleanser, something light and flighty. But this story has the emotional maturity of a 14-year-old.

Meet Julia, a beautiful blonde who dreams of becoming a jewelry designer. She works for an elite jewelry company and catches the attention of the company’s heiress, who’s also the creative director and hires Julia to be her deputy. And no wonder— Julia’s really beautiful and has this special aurora around her, and no man can resist staring at her because she’s so beautiful and did I mention she’s freaking beautiful?!!

When a book has to remind me of a character’s beauty every few pages, it starts making me hate this character. Julia apparently doesn’t just have beauty, she’s also got brains and depth, but you don’t see it in any of the pages; she must hide them very well underneath her physical beauty.

This book reminded me of the Sweet Valley series, in which we are told often that the blonde, blue-green-eyed twins are simply gorgeous but also smart and talented, yet the things they do and say and think even as high schoolers and college students fit into the social clubs of middle schoolers, because the whole series is really geared towards 13-year-olds. Which is precisely the demographic this book is written for.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this only as a break from regular genre, much more cerebral and intense. Found this story ridiculous, immature as if written by an adolescent or valley girl - so much "like" inserted in sentences, all I could think about was what an improper use of simile! Vacuous and superficial, I'm sure there are people like this, I just don't know any of them. The characters were transparent to a fault, which created a sense of wonderment; more of a question to myself as to why am I even giving any time? Not sure who is the audience for this book and others like it? Isn't there already enough trashy stuff on television already - The Housewives of X? To each his own, but not for me.

[Tara Crisan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Restored My Faith

I loved The Right Address. Then I read another book by one of the authors. Can't remember the name but I was disappointed. The story line is pretty predictable. But the biting satire of NYs top one percent is sometimes sharp, sometimes over the top but always amusing and thought provoking about how different people live and how truly whacked out their priorities are. It's also a reminder that no matter what you've done or people say about you, another scandal will surface and all will be forgotten. It also illustrates the danger of caring too much for the opinions of others. Highly recommend it.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fast read with several amusing bits but for the most part, very predictable. It is sad and pathetic just how shallow some people can be. The only one in Lell's band of bitches I could tolerate at all was Hope. She at least displayed compassion though I wished she would stand up to Polly and Lell and tell them where to go. I thought Julia's roomie Douglas was a hoot. Not a lot of substance to this story but if you are looking for mind numbing fluff with some laughs, this should fit the bill.

[Karen Renee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fun, light read. It felt more like a movie script to me, written in scenes. The plot is solid and interesting. The characters were not well rounded. It felt like some sections were added to create a little sympathy for some of the characters but it fell flat. I wanted the main character to either be more naive and unaware or to fought harder against the gamesmanship. The last third of the book felt rushed and clunky. Some of the dialogue was cringy.

I think this could make a good movie.

[Claire · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't have much to say about this book other than how ridiculous people with money can act and think they can get away with it just because they have money and influence. I know this is a work of fiction, but if this is how wealthy socialites act for real, I'll stay in the tax bracket I am currently in to avoid encountering them!

[Lauren Rock · Rating 2 out of 5]

A predictable storyline with all the usual chick lit tropes (gay best friend, falling for the expected guy, etc). The scenarios read as unbelievable and the dialogue had me saying “nobody talks like this” over and over. This gains a point because I am a sucker for a book set in NYC / in the fashion world. I don’t think I’d read another book from this author.

[Jacqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of book got my attention. It cute read 4 different characters all with their own secrets and lives. Let you know that even though some people may look like they got the Divine Life does not mean there life is any better than yours.

[Kristy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is completely silly, has no depth and is completely superficial. It's trying to be like "devil wears prada","the nanny diaries " and even "chasing harry winston" but it has none of the heart.

[S · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.3 stars. Another fun, mindless read by the authors of “The Right Address.”

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun enough read, although predictable. I did not like that the word "retarded" was used several times in the book.

[L.M. Pampuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun, quick read.

[Carlee Neumann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Few scenes to pick and some language- but a good plot and kept my interest. Definitely beach read.

[Jme · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining book - not earth shattering but nice brain candy for a vacation read.

[lola Franco · Rating 2 out of 5]

fun book to read, but not that well written, and very predictable.

entertaining

[Yokasta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es como mirar una comedia romántica de los 2000.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not my favorite book. I wasn’t invested in the characters and the story didn’t completely pull me in. I did like the ending though

[Kristal Royal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was akin to the works of Candace Bushnell. It was okay, but not anything I’d want to read again.

[Micci Quinn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Horrible book.

[Stefanie Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

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