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The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives
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After a whirlwind overseas romance, down-home girl Claire Stark has moved to her new husband’s hometown, Hunting Hills, Ohio, where the men earn seven figures, the women wear size two, and if everything isn’t absolutely perfect, you’re expected to pretend it is.…But Claire’s having trouble pretending. For one thing, John’s previous girlfriend still lives here—and with all
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Paperback, 368 pages
Published
June 6th 2006
by NAL
(first published 2005)
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There's not a lot of words I can use to sum up this book. But I think I can use a few to give you an idea: A delightful romp. This book is like a Pop-tart: no nutritional value but so darned good, and lots of fun. At the beginning of the book, you can't help but to ask, "Do people actually live like this?" By the end of the book, it just doesn't matter.
The wives of Hunting Hills, a 'burb of Cleveland, OH, certainly know how to live the "well-maintained" life. Their husbands make money hand over ...more
The wives of Hunting Hills, a 'burb of Cleveland, OH, certainly know how to live the "well-maintained" life. Their husbands make money hand over ...more

May 26, 2012
Patty
rated it
liked it
Shelves:
2012,
women-writers,
fiction,
friendship,
humor,
husband-and-wife,
contemporary-fiction,
women-s-books,
marriage,
ohio
This book crossed my desk at work and since I had enjoyed Strohmeyer's Bubbles books, I decided to see what this was like. To start off, it is not like the Bubbles mysteries. These women would not pay any attention to Bubbles.
I will admit I was a bit put off by the designer name dropping and the amount of money that the characters spent. And my book group is nothing like the one the Hunting Hills women apparently belong to. However, after reading a bit, I became interested in the characters and ...more
I will admit I was a bit put off by the designer name dropping and the amount of money that the characters spent. And my book group is nothing like the one the Hunting Hills women apparently belong to. However, after reading a bit, I became interested in the characters and ...more

I finished The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives. This is very much a soap opera but an enjoyable read. Desperate Housewives fans would kie this book. Some of the events in the story are a bit far-fetched, but funny which is why I only gave 3 stars. The scene that involves viagra is hilarious.
I think the main theme of the story is that everyone has secrets in their lives, including the rich. The main character, Marti who was a snob, eventually came down off her perch and befriended Claire who was ...more
I think the main theme of the story is that everyone has secrets in their lives, including the rich. The main character, Marti who was a snob, eventually came down off her perch and befriended Claire who was ...more

Nov 14, 2008
Sabrina
rated it
did not like it
Recommends it for:
not to anyone!
Shelves:
didn-t-finish
Okay, I just can't take it anymore. I like this author but something went terribly wrong with this book. I cannot believe the language and all the sex that is happening in this book. I was getting uncomfortable just reading about what these characters were thinking. How they all thought it was okay to sleep with eachothers husbands and wives as long as they kept it in their little community. What finally broke the camels back was when I find out a character was involved in marital parties where
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I hate to even put this on my list. I really didn't read the whole thing. I went to the library & needed a book for a very spontaneous 5 day trip. I grabbed the first thing I saw that looked interesting...something about Cinderella. Anyway, I thought it was a sequel to this book, so I grabbed this one too even though the cover looked suspicious. I skimmed the first 30 or so pages & that was enough: language, sex, & basically like reading the script to "Desperate Housewives." I don't need to read
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I needed a trashy book break, and so I picked this up. It was entertaining in a rubbernecking a traffic accident kind of way. If this book even remotely portays how this slice of actual women out there behave and what they consider important, wow. I like my side of the fence better. A fun summer beach read.

I liked the story--some of the characters seemed shallow and drove me nuts, most likely because I like STRONG women characters and at times some of them seemed spineless and stuck in their own world. But then too, I can see how characters like these would be that way! In the end I felt like the world righted itself and perhaps the women were changed by it. At least I can hope!

Not on my "have to read over and over again" list, but I finished it. Like I've said before, if I'm going to read about girls being ridicliously catty, at least them be teenagers so they'll be more likely to outgrow it. The entire time I read this, I just wanted to smack some of the characters.
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Reading "The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives" is like watching an episode of "The Real Housewives of.........". It has the drama that you would expect when taking a look at the life of the exuberantly rich and high class, as well as the scandal that comes long with it. The main character, Clair Stark, opens the story up for an outsiders perspective. Her early life was far from the glam and $$$ of the Hunting Hills community and she struggles to follow the "rules" of being a proper Hunting Hills
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I didn't like this as much as Sarah's other books - I kind of found it a hard slog to read. I found I couldn't really warm to any of the characters, except maybe Claire, as she was the least superficial of them all. I prefer Sarah's more comedic efforts, such as the Bubbles series, one of which I am reading now. I know I will finish it a lot quicker than I did this book!
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I tried and tried to find something in this book to like but when it got to the point that I was avoiding reading I knew it was time to admit that I couldn't find any enjoyment in this book. I love the Bubbles series but I won't try any of her other books again.
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I'm not a big fan of chick-lit...but the cover caught my eye, and I do need a change every now and then. This turned out to be a really good book. One that was VERY hard to put down. I stayed up till almost 2 am a couple nights telling myself 'Just one more chapter'.
This story centers around Marti Denton and her friends, who are filthy rich suburban housewives in the exclusive community of Hunting Hills, Ohio. Money is no object to them, and they even have their own set of 'Hunting Hills Rules o ...more
This story centers around Marti Denton and her friends, who are filthy rich suburban housewives in the exclusive community of Hunting Hills, Ohio. Money is no object to them, and they even have their own set of 'Hunting Hills Rules o ...more

The main theme of this book is whether or not one should disregard their morals inorder ti fit into a social norm. However, the social norm of this book, is not the regular nor that we have in a normal society where the range of income amongest the people, vary. In this book all the women in this community have husbands who are CEOs, surgeons and other extremely well off business men. And their way of life is living by the rule that rules are meant to be broken. But when a newly married women mo
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After a whirlwind overseas romance, down-home girl Claire Stark has moved to her new husband's hometown-Hunting Hills, Ohio, where the men earn seven fi gures, the women wear a size two, and if everything isn't absolutely perfect, you're expected to pretend it is.
Claire's having trouble pretending, though. For one thing, John's ex still lives here-and with all the bed-hopping in Hunting Hills, she may not be Claire's only potential rival. Claire also misses her reporting career, but John isn't ...more
Claire's having trouble pretending, though. For one thing, John's ex still lives here-and with all the bed-hopping in Hunting Hills, she may not be Claire's only potential rival. Claire also misses her reporting career, but John isn't ...more

I picked up this title because I was looking for something light and fun to read, this certainly met all of my expectations and then some! As the book started out, I was worried as to whether there would be any substance, the characters were seemingly flat and shallow, but I suppose that is appropriate given the nature of the book. I would liken this book to watching any episode of "Real Housewives" on TV. It was enjoyable, even it at times I found some of it to lack credibility. I think if ther
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This book was wildly entertaining. From the minute I started reading, I just couldn't put it down.
The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives will totally make you laugh and cringe and yell at the stupidity of some of the characters. *cough* Denton. It's definitely not a realistic book though. Or maybe it is. That kind of scares me that there are really people out there like the husbands and wives of Hunting Hills, Ohio. -shudder-
This was a light, fluffy and utterly outrageous book that I'd recommend t ...more
The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives will totally make you laugh and cringe and yell at the stupidity of some of the characters. *cough* Denton. It's definitely not a realistic book though. Or maybe it is. That kind of scares me that there are really people out there like the husbands and wives of Hunting Hills, Ohio. -shudder-
This was a light, fluffy and utterly outrageous book that I'd recommend t ...more

It wasn't the worst book I've ever read, but it wasn't that great. The characters were annoying in their over the top behavior. I read one of the Bubbles books...it was enjoyable. Bubbles was tacky, brash, loud....but you liked her anyway. The characters in this book were shallow, greedy, vapid... and not very likable. The one thing that really bothered me was the whole concept that once you are married you are expected to have numerous affairs. That is sooo not my cup of tea. I will try another
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Great book, excellent writing and a fun story about bored housewives (before it was reality-show-trendy). I do love a good book about a strong woman being thrust into a fish-out-of-water situation. Throw in a jealous ex-girlfriend and a little scandal and you have a page-turner. It’s always fun to see how the other half lives, especially in unlikely places (Ohio???) It was a refreshing break from the thousands of upper east side tales. I liked that the main character was strong and didn’t get su
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2/28/14 - I am in school and I am teaching school and I just wanted something to read that was kind of outlandish and didn't make me think too hard. I saw this on the shelf at the library and in the middle of a VERY cold winter here, this is my "pretend-I'm-sitting-on a-beach-and-reading" book. We'll see if this fits the bill. I'm giving it two stars right now, because that's how I'm guessing I'll feel. It may earn more stars as I go along. Hopefully, it will not earn fewer!
3/11/14 Halfway throu ...more
3/11/14 Halfway throu ...more

Actually I have not completely finished this book, but it was obvious about 30 pages in just what it was. Another story about how multimillionaire wives are all self-centered, shallow, backstabby and sleeping with their friends' husbands. I have read this book so many previous times with different titles written by different authors. But God help me, I enjoy this genre too much, even though I know how trashy it is.
Oh yeah, only three stars because the author laid it on just a little too thick wi ...more
Oh yeah, only three stars because the author laid it on just a little too thick wi ...more

10/29/05 #191
TITLE/AUTHOR: THE SECRET LIVES OF FORTUNATE WIVES by Sarah Strohmeyer
RATING: 4/B
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction, 2005, 347 pgs
COMMENTS: A departure from her Bubbles books, a light read
about life in an elite suburb of Cleveland. The wives
are busy w/ all their appointments and few are happily
married. John Harding marries Claire in Prague and returns
w/ a woman who doesn't fit the mold of the Hunting Hills
wife.
...more
TITLE/AUTHOR: THE SECRET LIVES OF FORTUNATE WIVES by Sarah Strohmeyer
RATING: 4/B
GENRE/PUB DATE/# OF PGS: Fiction, 2005, 347 pgs
COMMENTS: A departure from her Bubbles books, a light read
about life in an elite suburb of Cleveland. The wives
are busy w/ all their appointments and few are happily
married. John Harding marries Claire in Prague and returns
w/ a woman who doesn't fit the mold of the Hunting Hills
wife.
...more

I had a hard time with this book. I thought it was going to be good and juicy and on my toes, just wanting more. But, it wasn't. I had some juice ad gossip, and scandals... but it didn't have the suspense factor. Maybe it was a little predictable. The scandal with Denton reminded me of the OC with Marissa's dad in Season 1. Once I got to the last 1/8th of the book, that's when it actually got interesting. But it took me a while to read - like I said, it didn't have the suspense factor.
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the secret lives of wives reviews | 2 | 5 | Dec 30, 2013 03:28PM |
Sarah Strohmeyer is the award-winning, nationally bestselling author of 18 novels for young adults and adults, including the Bubbles Yablonsky mystery series, SMART GIRLS GET WHAT THEY WANT and THE CINDERELLA PACT, which became the Lifetime Movie, LYING TO BE PERFECT.
Her first mystery, BUBBLES UNBOUND, won the Agatha Award and Romantic TImes Award for Best First Mystery. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY PROPOS ...more
Her first mystery, BUBBLES UNBOUND, won the Agatha Award and Romantic TImes Award for Best First Mystery. THE SLEEPING BEAUTY PROPOS ...more
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