3.5/5!

Sophie O’Neill has left behind an envy-inspiring career and the stressful, competitive life of big city Chicago to settle down with her husband and young son in a small Texas town. This is everything Sophie has been dreaming of: a beautiful home in an idyllic rural community where she can focus on family. She soon realizes that life is now too quiet and Sophie’s feeling bored and restless. When she meets Margot Banks, an alluring socialite who is part of an elite clique secretly known as the Hunting Wives, Sophie finds herself entranced. She’s willing to do anything to be a part of Margot’s world and soon finds her curiosity spiraling into a full-blown obsession that lands her as a suspect in the murder of a local teenage girl.

THE HUNTING WIVES is nothing short of dramatic, shocking fun! If you’re in search of a fast-paced and entertaining read where you’re willing to suspend your belief a bit for some dramatic fun, then this one's for you!

I didn’t walk into THE HUNTING WIVES looking for anything but a suburban wives behaving badly story and that’s exactly what I got! There’s a lot to hate on in this book and by that I mean the characters. They’re all just a complete hot mess and overly self-centered...you know the type, you watch them on reality TV. There’s too much money and too many hours to fill with booze and mischief in this group, but dang it if it isn’t wildly entertaining. Throw in a bit of murder to the mix and this is just what I want to escape from reality a bit. It’s not a book that’s going to live in my mind for years to come, but it’s a great read for some summer fluff!

🎧: I listened to this one on audio and instantly felt connected to the narrator and book. I’m not sure if I would have been nearly as entertained if I had picked up the physical copy, but the audio was just what I needed for my commute!

“The Hunting Wives” by May Cobb follows Sophie O’Neill as she leaves her fast paced Chicago lifestyle to create a more laidback Texas lifestyle with her family. As she settles in to this new world, she begins to feel her old restless habits kicking back in. She starts to feel drawn to socialite Margot Banks and her friends. Margot seems like a fun, rich woman, but there’s more to her world than it seems and much of it could become dangerous. When a teenage girl is found murdered on Margot’s land, Sophie finds herself at the center of the investigation, as everything spins out of control.

This book was fast paced and thrilling. Margot and her friends are wild and reckless, so when tragedy strikes, it’s no surprise. The toxic way the group handles their friendship builds suspicions everywhere when someone is found dead. Sophie being the newcomer seems to have the least motive, but as the evidence stacks up, police focus in on her.

The thing I liked the most in this book was the twists and turns to discover the truth. While I guessed who did it before the end of the book, the way everything fell together was interesting and set the stage for a tension-filled showdown. Cobb creates an amazing ending scene that I was still thinking about the next day.

While mainly thrill and mystery, this book did bring some steam. It was a little too much for me, and I don’t think it necessarily furthered the plot, but if you like steamy reads, this might be a good pick for you.

In the end, I gave this book 3 stars. Overall, it was a pretty good thrill ride, there were just a few elements that didn’t do it for me.

Thanks to Berkley Publishing Group and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Sophie O'Neill is anxious to fit in amongst the Texas elite. Specifically Margot Banks's group.

She follows Margot online way before she has a chance to meet her. And then, surprisingly, when they do finally meet, Margot invites her to go shooting.

Every Friday, Margot and her friends get together to drink and shoot skeet. And sometimes they go hunting afterwards. Not hunting game in the traditional sense. Hunting for young men they can flirt with. And sometimes more.

But when a dead body turns up on Margot's property, Sophie's world is turned upside down. Now it's up to her to find out who is responsible, or she could find herself facing murder charges!

May Cobb's latest is like a combination of Real Housewives meets Girls Gone Wild.

Sophie and her husband have moved from the big city to a small Texas town in hopes it'll be a better environment to raise their son. They spend weekends at the farmer's market. Sophie has a garden that takes a lot of attention. And they have barbecues with one of Sophie's childhood friends on the regular.

But Sophie has been closely following Margot Banks's every move. She's even tried to force their paths to cross on a few occasions. And when it finally happens, she's determined they're going to be friends.

Sophie is obsessed with Margot. So much so that she's pretty much willing to do anything the queen bee says. And that's where Sophie starts to get in trouble.

I can't say that Sophie is a main character I particularly liked. She's pretty determined to follow a path that the reader outright knows will be her downfall from the very beginning. And not only does she follow that path, she's pretty wasted the whole time she's on it. Some A+ decision making there.

The Hunting Wives is a quick read. One it's hard to turn away from as Sophie's life becomes a train wreck of epic proportions.

May Cobb had the potential for a fun thriller, but it just didn't work. Quite literally all of the characters were unlikable an irritating. The twists were obvious and the by the time I finished the book I felt like I had wasted my time.

This one started slow for me but finished with a bang. I did not see where the mystery was heading, therefore every turn of events the story took was surprising. I did find myself getting frustrated with the main character's decisions from time to time, but overall this was a very enjoyable mystery.
Read in May.

Definitely a dark and tempting domestic thriller. While I found myself hating almost everyone at one point or another, I definitely could not put this down.

This book is essentially about rich bored housewives who form a club where they cheat on their husbands.

There were so many things that bothered me about this book. I know thrillers normally require a suspension of disbelief, but there is a certain limit to that. Middle-aged women having sex with high school boys and no one battling an eyelid about it grossed me out. I mean, there is more outrage about the guy being a friend's son rather than being barely legal.

There is not one character that you'd like to root for in this entire book (I have seen people mention the adorable husband, but I didn't think so). Multiple things have been added to the storyline just to increase the shock value, most of which seem like an afterthought. I generally don't give books less than three stars (I just DNF it before that point), but I wanted to see if an explosive ending made the book so hyped. Sadly, I was wrong.

I’m curious to hear everyone’s opinion on this one. I wanted to like it, but it just wasn’t for me. I had a hard time looking past the inappropriate relationships, drinking as an excuse for bad behavior, and a self-aware protagonist who continually makes poor choices despite knowing the inevitable consequences. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQDzJ13LVR6/?utm_medium=copy_link

The Hunting Wives is a phenomenal thriller about an elite clique of socialites called the Hunting Wives and what happens when a teenage girl's body is found in the woods where the group meets. Each of the ladies has her secrets and the story is filled with plenty of twists. Think Desperate Housewives, except darker! This story is primed for book clubs. Highly recommended to readers who enjoy Big Little Lies or twisted women's fiction.

I really like the premise of this one. Wives behaving badly are always cringe fun.

It's definitely a plot that makes it very hard to like any of the characters, so you're pretty unsure who to root for, who to side with with - and you can honestly point your fingers at everyone because they are all just sooooo bad.

But this one started off sooooo slow and had some much unnecessary backstory that I could only really find the last 1/4 of it holding my attention. I don't really think much of anything happened until about 60% into the book. At that point - it does become fun, and I really liked how twisted and scandalous the wives were and how hard it was to pinpoint "the bad guy" - but it just took way too long to get there!

I think this is a debut (?) so I'm definitely excited for book two and to see how this author improves!

This was a wild ride of a book! I saw it described as Desperate Housewives, but with guns and that was a spot on description. Juicy, provocative, tense, and perfectly paced, I devoured these pages eager to know the ending. A great book to stick in your beach bag!

This new to me author is now going on my list of authors to read!!,, The Hunting Wives is a very addictive fast pace read…couldn’t wait to find out which wive did what?!?!? Loved everything about this book from start to finish! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

💄Give me some mamas behaving badly…sucks me in every time.
💄 Despite this being mostly about wives there is some steam 🔥 and it comes in a few forms 😉
💄This is a great binge read, short chapters, and a whodunnit. I really enjoyed it!
My only grievance:
💄 I like wine and drinking with my girlfriends as much as anyone but there was way too much drinking and driving. It is 2021 and we have Uber, Lyft, etc.

Thanks Netgalley and Berkley for my digital copy to review!

Read this one for in person book club because it was based in our hometown - did not work for me or anyone.

I tried with this one, several times and while I loved the concept, I just couldn't connect with it. However many of my co bloggers have loved it. I don't believe it is the Authors fault at all. Just a case of me being the wrong reader.

Gave me Real Housewives vibes and that's what really drew me to this book. I didn't like any of the characters( & HATED the main character), BUT BUT BUT this book was fast-paced, entertaining with all the drama between the "hunting wives", and loved the plot twists! definitely would recommend!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I thought for sure I had #thehuntingwives figured out, so imagine my surprise at the unexpected ending!

Sophie moves back to Texas with her husband Graham and son Jack, and she quickly finds herself swept up in the drama of the local rich wives. When a young teenager is found dead, Sophie is put to the test.

Thank you to @netgalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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I do enjoy a good thriller and was intrigued by the synopsis for this one, about 30 and 40 something year old privileged women and a murder. However, I found the main character so unlikeable it detracted from the story itself for me. I didn’t get her obsession with Margot - it was so stalkery and odd - especially when it came at the expense of her family, especially her son.
I appreciated how fast paced this one was and that it kept me guessing, but overall it was not for me.

Seriously intense and dramatic suspense spread throughout The Hunting Wives...to the point where I was not sure who the killer was throughout most of the book! Spicy secrets spill over into the lives of a group of ladies of wealth and influence... more like a Bad Girls gone wrong tale! Or maybe Desperate Housewives with a mean streak?

A fun night at the lake house turns into a nightmare where there are too many suspects and at least one of them is guilty of murder. Sweet Sophie, our main character is one of the suspects...but did she do it or have motive? Who had the opportunity and the motive....that is one of the trickiest questions...

I enjoyed the writing...crisp, clear characters with all their flaws and sordid secrets... combined with a plot that really kept me guessing!! Well done May Cobb!

Thank you to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing and author May Cobb for this temporary, advanced review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are mine and mine alone.

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@BerkleyPublishing

Sophie O’Neill left behind her busy life in Chicago to move to the Texas small town, where she went to high school, with her husband and toddler son. Soon after, she becomes obsessed with the socialite Margot Banks. Margot is gorgeous and seems to have it all. One day, Margot invites Sophie to join her small group of friends, called the Hunting Wives, at her lake house. They like to drink and do target practice with shotguns. However, they get up to other secret wild and dangerous activities. When a body is found on the lake house property, Sophie ends up being one of the main suspects. Sophie has to save herself as her life spins out of control.

This was such an intense thriller. It had short chapters, which I always find makes me read the book faster. There were so many twists and unexpected events that I couldn’t predict where the story was going. I was completely surprised at the ending. I thought I had figured out what was happening but I was wrong. I love it when a story can surprise me like that.

There were some very intense and potentially triggering scenes. There were instances of alcohol abuse, drugging someone, and having affairs. There were also mentions of suicide and abortions. These things made the story very intense and dramatic, but these scenes could be triggering to some readers.

The Hunting Wives was an intense and surprising thriller!

Thank you Berkley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.