Book review 📖

📜Young Rich Widows
✍️Vanessa Lillie; Layne Fargo; Cate Holahan; Kimberly Belle
📠Sourcebooks Landmark
📚Mystery/Thriller, Fiction
🗓️Pub date: April 2, 2024

⭐️⭐️⭐️

✨Thank you @NetGalley and @bookmarked for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

✨In 1985, a private jet carrying four law firm partners crashes over New York City, leaving their wives with no spouses and lots of questions.

✨Justine, Camille, Meredith, and Krystle all have their own backstories and try to deal with the aftermath of the crash.

✨Initially the crash is ruled an accident, but soon things shift. A large sum of cash went down with the plane, and the partners weren’t supposed to be in New York that day.

✨Full of 80’s glam, thick scunciis, big hair, and neon windbreakers, this is a fun blast-from-the-past read. I felt like there were too many main characters. It was confusing and hard at times to keep track of who’s who, especially since some of their love lives intersected.

#netgalley #youngrichwidows #vanessalillie #laynefargo #cateholahan #kimberlybelle #sourcebookslandmark #springreleases #advancedreadercopy #arc #bookreview #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #ivegotbooks #killmewithwords #idratherbereading #thrillerfiction

When a private plane full of partners from a law firm goes down, you'd assume their widows would inherit some pretty life insurance amounts... not four million dollars worth of problems...

Young Rich Widows takes place in the 80s and the setting helps the story feel not so "over the top" - you've got lawyers making possibly shady deals, mobsters taking care of their territory, and hitmen working for who again? It's seriously a wild ride - I loved the widow's coming together, putting aside their differences and working together, and solving a big mystery in the midst of their grief.
My biggest qualm without giving anything away? The person who was helping the bad guys... that was disappointing and felt unnecessary!!! The authors could have given us any other big surprise and I bet I could have gotten on board with it.
This one came out in 2022 as an Audible original and I'm tempted to give it a listen to see how the narration compares to reading!


Thank you, NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

3.5 stars. Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book as an ARC. This is a fast moving thriller set in a city that I have fond memories of: Providence, RI. The book takes place in the 1980's. Four women who are all involved with partners at a law firm find themselves suddenly widowed. The story picks up from there. While the plot can skew a little ridiculous at times, it is still a fun read. I actually think this would make a great show for Netflix or Hulu. If you are looking for a silly thriller that is an easy read- this is the one to try!

I have waited FOREVER for this book to be released in print and it did not disappoint! I am not an audible reader but, after reading this one, I can see why it was released that way. Filled with quirky characters who found themselves in impossible and completely over the top situations and all the 1980’s references, this was a FUN read and I imagine it was so much fun to listen to it being narrated. This will make a great beach read this summer! Thank you Netgalley, Sourcebooks Landmark and the authors for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book will be available for purchase on April 2, 2024

Thanks to @netgalley for the eArc of this book. It was solidly entertaining told from various perspectives. It completely reminded me of an 80’s mob movie.

The four sole partners of a law firm died in a plane crash. Their deaths were initially thought to be a tragic accident. However, things weren’t adding up for the four grieving widows and they set out to uncover the truth together.

Young Rich Widows was such a fun, fast-paced popcorn thriller! It was jam-packed with mind-boggling twists and turns, and incredibly addicting. This book required me to suspend any and all disbelief to really sink my teeth into it but, that was part of the charm. It was written by four authors but, was seamlessly done. I truly could not tell where one author left off and another started. I loved the underlying themes of parental love and friendship, which helped me to feel more connected to the plot. My only small critique was that there were a lot of characters and it took me some time to get a handle on them all. All in all, I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend checking it out!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for the opportunity to read this ARC!

This was a bit more over-the-top than I was expecting, with soap opera-type characters. It was amusing, but not really my cup of tea. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A private plane crashes with the four principal partners of a law firm on board. Unbeknownst to their widows, the partners had put up one million dollars each of personal collateral into a huge real estate deal to build a new mall – money that seems to have burned up in the plane crash. As the widows find out what their partners were up to (including ties to the mafia!), the mall deal is looking shadier by the minute. The widows don’t get along to put it mildly, but they have to band together to find their way out of this mess.

This book is such a romp! This campy thriller has it all: there’s murder, there’s mayhem, there’s the mob, there are wolves (yes, wolves!) and of course, there are the widows! Each of the four widows is a bad ass woman in her own right, and when they come together, the results are electric. Their snappy insults and catfighting are a hoot, and the scenarios that they got themselves tangled up in were so entertaining! Oh, and did I mention it’s set in 1985? The 80s vibes are so spot on I could practically smell the aerosol Aqua Net hair spray! Such a fun read!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for providing me an advance copy of this book.

3 stars

Readers who are drawn in by some of the known authors' names here may be surprised (pleasantly, in some cases) to find themselves smack in the middle of a *campy* '80s mystery that'll give the target audience nostalgia for the time of the inimitable Kevyn Aucoin and have them practically smelling the unmistakable tang of Aqua Net in the process.

The four main characters, penned by four separate authors, are joined by the simultaneous deaths of their four husbands, who are partners in a Providence, RI law firm. While the severity of the first scene hints at mystery/thriller, and those elements do play an inarguable role throughout the novel, it's really the time period and the over-the-top nature of these characters that end up the joint focal point.

In the end note, readers learn that the authors were inspired by '80s camp like _Married to the Mob_ and _The First Wives Club_, and to me, this is the ideal way to market this book and exactly what readers should be expecting (though, transparently, maybe a little less humorous at times) when they pick up this read. This is an entertaining enough genre bender, and while it could absolutely pack more thrills and opportunities to engage, it's a fun read for the right audience.

I was so excited to receive this collaboration between Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Vanessa Lillie and Cate Holahan as an ARC. However, unfortunately this audiobook was full of women objectification. The four main characters were so boring. Even when they are running for their life they find the time to bother with designer clothes details and fancy alcohol. This novel feels like a work of high school student, basics are in, no depth present. No complexity. I enjoyed the narrator choice

I listened to the audio of this one while reading along. It was so good. This book was just the right one at the right time for me. The audio was like watching a movie with four somewhat funny yet serious women. Four who couldn't possibly be any more different. Yet they worked. The narrators were perfect. Dina Pearlman, Karissa Vacker, Helen Laser, Ariel Blake, I'm not sure who was who but they were all just perfection.

After losing their husbands and significant other four widows have to learn to get along and work together to survive. What they have to do is nothing either of them ever thought they would face. A mobster wants his money and he's determined that they have it and need to bring it to him or else...

You meet each of these women and get to know them very well. Their ups and downs. Their strengths and weaknesses. What they are willing to do and go through for themselves and each other. Even though one is having an affair with another's husband, she's married too. One is a stripper. One is a bit older and helped her husband start the law firm. Can they put aside their differences and work together? Or will someone lose everything. Possibly her life?

Just when you think all is going to be ok you are faced with another twist. While there is much in this book to keep you on edge there is a lot of laughter also. I laughed so hard in parts and even cried in a couple of parts. This book was so well rounded. It had it all. Drama. Family. Thrills. Love. Acceptance. Friendship and even a death or two.

These authors did such a good job writing this book. It was in my opinion perfectly done.

Thank you #NetGalley, #KimberlyBelle, #VanessaLillie, #LayneFargo, #CateHolahan, #SourcebooksLandmark, for this ARC. This is my own true thoughts about this book.

Five huge stars. Grab it as soon as it's up for sale. It's so worth it.

When I saw this book I had to have it! It’s packed with four different authors that are all powerhouses in the thriller genre. I knew this book couldn’t disappoint and it didn’t!

YOUNG RICH WIDOWS is different for me because it takes place is 1985 so not something present day. It centers on four widows that are forced together after their husbands are killed in a plane crash. The mystery really surrounds the death of their spouses, where they worked, and some crooked business dealings.

These women were snarky, sharp, and solid. Each author wrote a characters chapter and it was done SO WELL. The group of wives was diverse. They were all so different! With the mystery surrounding the husbands, the law firm, and the wild characters of these women, I dare you not to enjoy this and laugh a little. Well, a lot!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC!

4 authors join together to give readers a unique story of a plane crash that kills the four partners in a law firm with mob connections. There's some mystery around the crash that will leave the widows.....four women with nothing in common....investigating on their own. Since the widows have no idea how to investigate a possible murder, there are several comedic aspects to the story. As they stumble through the investigation, they will find strength in their differences and determination to figure out the why and who before someone else must die.

Not exactly what I was expecting. A little over the top and somewhat difficult to read/follow, in that it seemed disjointed. I was, however, intrigued enough to persevere to the end. I wanted to find out how things wrapped up for the 4 widows.
Thank You to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Landmark for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan and Vanessa Lillie join forces in YOUNG RICH WIDOWS.

After all of the law partners are killed in a small plane crash, their wives must come together to find out who is after them and why someone is looking for $4 million. Murder, mayhem, money and the mob leave Justine, now a single mother to a young child, Camille, arm candy to one of the founding members, Krystle, who is in desperate mode for her scumbag son to inherit and Meredith, former stripper, who just lost the secret love of her life.

As the women put the pieces together, they are being followed and someone is making threats about what could happen to their children, if the money isn’t found. What were the partners up to exactly?

While I have enjoyed some of the books the authors have written individually, this collaboration just did not do it for me. That’s not to say that it wasn’t a good story, but it left me feeling only mildly interested. I think I’ll just stick to their individual novels.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own, and given voluntarily..

A fun, campy thriller set in the 1980's. 4 lawyers go down in a plane over the ocean. 4 widows are left to figure out what happened. Add in the mob and piles of cash and things get crazy!

I really loved that this was set in the 80s! It was fun with all the big hair and bright makeup. I could practically see the shoulder pads in their outfits 😂. This book is a thriller to the core but is also about developing female friendships.

The coolest thing about this book is that it's a collaboration between 4 authors! Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan and Vanessa Lillie! Each wrote one of the four widows and it was brilliant! It book flowed well and all the characters worked well together.

Overall it was fun, funny at times and worth a read!

Good quick read. Four women married to lawyers who decisions turn their worlds upside down in minutes. The wives put aside their differences to come out on top.

This was such a fun book! I loved the mob aspect and I loved that all the women started as enemies and slowly became friends. They were there for each other through it all!

When the four partners in a law firm die in a plane crash, their wives/girlfriends are left to deal with the pieces. Enter missing money, forged documents, the Mob, and general 1980's debauchery.
Told from the perspectives of the four remaining wives, they must go to radical lengths to secure their safety after their late husbands' shady deals.

This book was completely ridiculous but could be fun. I could tell it was written by multiple writers, which in some ways made the different perspectives stand out, but also made it feel disjointed. I didn't love the writing or the plotlines, but it was good campy fun. If you like popcorn thrillers, put this one on your list.

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance copy for review.

goodness this one was fun and enthralling and interesting, and the widows were such a fun set of people to have! tysm for the arc.