I NEVER read this far ahead but with election news taking over our lives I needed something good and juicy. Oh boy, did this deliver! Meet the Real Hunting Wives of Texas. They are ruthless, conniving, sassy and up to no good. I totally binged this 2021 release and have zero regrets. Phew! What a ride! Do not miss this pool side page turner.

The Hunting Wives is an addictive thriller that grabs you from page one! Sophie O'Neill left behind an envying career and the stressful, competitive life of Chicago to settle down with her husband and young son in a small Texas town where she once lived for a couple of years as a teenager. It seems like she has a perfect life with a beautiful home in an idyllic community. But Sophie realizes that life is now too quiet and predictable and she's feeling bored and restless. Then she meets Margot Banks, a glamorous socialite who is part of an elite clique secretly known as the Hunting Wives. Sophie finds herself completely drawn to Margot and swept into her enigmatic world of late-night target practice and dangerous partying. As Sophie's curiosity gives way to full-blown obsession, she slips farther away from the safety of her loving family and deeper in with these treacherous people. When the body of a teenage girl is discovered in the woods where the Hunting Wives meet, Sophie finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation and her life spiraling out of control. She will do whatever she needs to do to make sure she can come back to her family.

The Hunting Wives by May Cobb is written as if the characters from Big Little Lies and Desperate Housewives moved into the same upscale, twisted neighborhood. These characters would be right at home on the Real Housewives. It’s a gripping, compulsive read filled with wealth, power, and deadly secrets that will make your jaw drop. This sizzling novel is filled with unpredictable twists and unforgettable characters, and is impossible to put down. Put this book on your TBR 2021 list!

Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

4.5 stars

Whew what a wild ride. Sophie O'Neill, her husband and young son leave Chicago and move to Texas. Sophie gets involved with a group of women who have tons of money and questionable morals. Sophie falls deeper into a path of self destruction the more time she spends with the group.

Loved the book while disliking all the women in the Hunting Club. Sophie's husband, son and best friend are extremely likable.

This was a bit of a wild ride that I read in almost a single sitting. Bored with their lives, a group of housewives meet up on Fridays to shoot skeet and drink wine, and sometimes engage in other forms of 'hunting'. Sophie is the newbie of the group, who has developed an obsession with Margot, the group leader. Infidelity is rampant and pretty much all of the characters are horrible people (minus the husband, kid, and best friend). When someone is killed on Margot's land, Sophie finds her life falling apart more and more as her obsession spirals out of control and her new friends turn into her enemies. I had no sympathy for Sophie whatsoever. I felt like she deserved everything that happened to her because she continued to make really dumb choices. This was well-plotted and definitely page-turning, but the numerous page breaks were a little much. Also, the author set this in Mapleton, TX. Which has nothing described in this book and only has about fifty people living there. And Margot's husband is a member of the Piney Woods Country Club, which is in Nacogdoches, about an hour from the real Mapleton. So I don't know why this wasn't just set in a fictional town or at least somewhere that matched its description. Regardless, this book was a lot of fun and I think people who enjoy thrillers will devour this one.

This book reeled me in from the very beginning. Although I had a difficult time actually liking the main characters, specifically Margot and Sophie, I was still deeply invested in their lives, which is a testament to the author's writing ability. I kept finding a few minutes here and a few there in order to read this book. I wasn't 100% expecting the ending, but I think th author did an awesome job of wrapping everything up nicely. I will look for future titles by this writer, and I look forward to sharing this book with others!

The Hunting Wives was un-put-downable, with perfect pacing and a collection of characters I enjoyed loathing. It was thoroughly entertaining and had just a touch of Lifetime drama.

A little racy, but the mystery was good enough to get passed that. I was quite impressed that the author was able to pull the wool over my eyes to the very end, but no spoilers!

The Hunting Wives is an addictive thriller that grabs you from page one! When Sophie gives up her big job in Chicago to move to a small Texas town with her husband and son she soon finds herself bored and begins to focus on a socialite and her friends who like to drink wine and shoot skeet. When a murder occurs, Sophie finds herself entangled in the investigation. A fast moving story that will reel you in!

God help me, I loved it. Mean Girls meets Desperate Housewives melodrama for days. Sophie is an infuriating character- she does all of the things you shouldn’t do and made me want to throw my e-reader across the room a number of times- but I can’t deny this was straight up fun to read. A group of women meet at the glamorous Margots lake house every Friday to participate in their secret “Hunting Wives” games. Sophie is new to town and gets caught up in their drama, to the point where she’s about to lose everything. Things get crazy pretty quickly and I really liked the pacing of the story. There’s not a likable character to be had, but that was part of the fun. This will be huge in 2021.