The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives

by Sarah Strohmeyer

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 the bed-hopping in Hunting Hills, she may not be Claire’s only potential rival. For another, Claire’s constantly hearing vicious gossip—including rumors about herself. And though she also misses her reporting career, John isn’t thrilled with the idea of her working at the local paper. She might just have to be satisfied mingling with the Hunting Hills moms, who like to borrow their daughters’ Seven jeans and their sons’ Ritalin. That is, until scandal threatens to shatter the stylish facade of this exclusive gated community—and behind the salon highlights and sunlamp tans, true colors start shining through.…

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Adult

368 pages, Paperback

First published September 22, 2005

About the author

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 PROPOSAL was nominated for a prestigious RITA™. Her books have been translated into German, French, Italian, Turkish, Taiwanese and a bunch of others.
BUBBLES REBOOTS - #7 in the Bubbles Yablonsky mystery series - will be published June 26th in Kindle, Nook and Kobo (pre-order now!) It is an homage to her dearly departed high-school friend, Josh Simon. So 10% of the profits will go to organizations he approved: The Cancer Research Institute & Planned Parenthood.

Reviews

[The Book Maven · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 fist, and these women exist to spend it. And it's not just about the outward trappings; there's a whole code of conduct. So, as they are wearing their Gucci and Manolo Blahniks, renovating their kitchens, carting their children to expensive private schools and rushing to meet their life coaches, they must also do certain things: Look, act, be busy, and complain about being busy. Eat voraciously on social occasions and starve yourself after. Spin everything into a positive light. Don't read serious books at your book club. Don't reveal where you got your gorgeous clothes. Make perfection your career. Cosmetic surgery is de rigeur.

And into this atmosphere of perfection walks the newest Hunting Hills wife: Claire, a 40-year-old Amazon from the hills of West Virginia, a well-traveled journalist who has made budgeting and independence a life form. She and her wealthy, intellectual Hunting Hills husband John are madly in love...but as it turns out, Marti, the leader of the Wives, is madly in love with John and has her target trained upon him.

But trouble comes in many forms, and as Claire gets to know these vapid, materialistic wives, she begins to appreciate that not all is as it should be. One husband makes his wife take a walk on the lesbian side; another is a habitual cheater; yet another is robbing his wife, and all of their friends, blind. As Claire gets more and more involved in their lives and ordeals, she somehow becomes one of them, yet also transfigures them into something more.

Best quote: "I don't like when women think. It usually costs me money."

Reminds me of Olivia Goldsmith's Switcheroo in terms of suburban setting, and descriptions of suburban domestic life and scarcely-believable domestic drama.

[Dianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting take on the ultrawealthy in a gated community near Cleveland. I can imagine these so-called "rules" for the wives in the 1950's or earlier. However, I found it a little difficult to imagine that these "rules" apply even in 2005...but then again there are plenty of ultra-rich women who seem to do nothing except look gorgeous and crow over certain purchases.

All the same, this was a fun quick read.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 where Strohmeyer was taking them.

This is not an earth shattering or life changing book. However, for the time I was reading, I found the story well told, the characters fascinating and the ending fun. I cared about some of these women by the end of the book and only good writing got me there. Strohmeyer deserves lots of credit for making the fortunate wives worth caring about.

I recommend this book to women looking for a light, fun read, to readers who like domestic fiction as opposed to romances and to readers of the Bubbles novels since seeing an author's new direction is interesting.

[Kristin Cast · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very "Real Housewives" feeling!!

[Patti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Soap opera that missed its chance to make a statement on so many social issues. Great for the beach.

[Elisabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Blah. 1 1/2 ⭐️ rounded up because apparently I’m feeling generous. The last 20-30 pages couldn’t really redeem the vapid mundanity of the rest.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 new to the group as she had married John, who Marti was secretly in love with. Marti soon realized after a series of events that John loved Claire and she did not have a chance with him no matter how hard she tried to sexually entice him. Marti had know John all her life and missed her chance with him early in her life.

Meanwhile, Marti's husband was having an affair with one of the other wives in the group. Marti was trying to figure out who it was and did not know it was one of her close friends. Did she find out who? You don't know until the end of the book.

[Sabrina · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 husbands watch their wives spend quality time together if you know what I mean. I am very disappointed that I actually spent time on this book. I do not recommend this book to anyone, it was worse than a romance novel. I am very disgusted!

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

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 that kind of stuff, so I returned it to the library, along with the other book by this same author. It was a long drive with no book to read!

[BookMouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Sheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[Laura Skladzinski · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was pure light, trashy chick lit, but I got really into it and kept wanting to read more :) Not a quick read, and I thought too little time was spent on the neat wrap up at the end, but I still enjoyed it.

[Shari Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh. So so for me.
3 stars because I was able to finish.
This was like watching a train wreck.

[Sara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Are these Huntington Hills wives real? Ahhh to be rich. Nothing outstanding about this book. Just trying to read another book by this author. Not my favorite.

[Brittany Ferger · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.7

[MBenzz · Rating 4 out of 5]

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 of Behavior for Wives'. John Harding is the resident bachelor until he returns home from a trip to Prague married to a small-town West Virginia girl (Claire) who he met while there.

From there it's just pages (some quite funny) of Marti scheming with her friends to get Claire out of the picture so Marti can have John all to herself (she's just discovered she's madly in love with him, and not her husband) while pretending to be Claire's friend so they can find out all the juicy little details of the couple's personal life. But then an unexpected turn of events changes Marti's entire world, and it turns out Claire is the only one who can help her. Will she? And what will happen to all of them in the end?

I was very pleased with the ending of this book, and even a little bummed to be finished with it. Even though they're shallow, conceited, and extremely snobbish, this group was a lot of fun to read about. I definitely recommend this if you're looking for a little fluff in between books. And I absolutely look forward to reading more from Ms. Strohmeyer

[Emily Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 wife. Some of these rules include how to look, how to react and even who they and their husbands should have affairs with. This book is like taking the interesting parts of their lives and throwing it all out there at once. You find out all the dirt on the wives, Karen's Lesbian affair and secret pot plants, Lisa and Marti going behind their friends backs while conducting their extra marital activities and even Clair's struggle between her career and her new husbands wishes. On top of everyone's constant mini-dramas, Marti's husband, Denton, is the real drama king when his hobby, lying, bites him in the ass and ruins his, and all of his close friends financial kingdoms. This book is great is you are looking for something to pass the time and not take at all seriously. It was a fast read and I was thoroughly entertained by it.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 moves into this type of lifestyle, she finds it hard to cope with because of the differences in her upbringing. being brought up in a cose knit family, she hated seeing wives cheating on husbands and vis versa. She also hated seeing children being disregarded even when a big mistake was made. But following pursuit is the only way to fit in. After reading this book, i had a discussion with my cousin about what we would do in her situation and we all agreed that i was to morally bound to follow in their footsteps. And he swore that it would be the downfall of me.

[ANTC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Chicklit. Well-written, and there was interesting, somewhat humorous dynamic with all the wealthy housewives. However, it got mundane and boring after a while, and the rushed ending ruined it for me. Authors spend way too much time writing fluff in the middle of the book only to rush the ending...almost as if they're tired of writing.

This book had cheating, but I wouldn't call this a cheating book, since there was technically no cheating between the main couple. Although I really didn't like how the husband's ex flame OW started making out with him, and he didn't stop her until it was interrupted by OW's husband. The husband basically said he got lucky and wouldn't have been able to stop himself from carrying on and was super turned on....so yeah, not great. It wasn't addressed at all either...so it's not looking good for the poor wife in the future and the HEA was tarnished for me because of that.

[carissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 thrilled with the idea of her working at the local paper. She might just have to be satisfied mingling with the Hunting Hills moms, who like to borrow their daughters' Seven jeans and their sons' Ritalin.

That is, until scandal rocks the stylish facade of this exclusive gated community-and behind the salon highlights and sunlamp tans, true colors start shining through

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 there had been fewer characters, Strohmeyer could have gotten a better handle on them and created more depth and realism. The end buttoned up way to cleanly to actually be believable, but that is part of the entertainment value. Overall, not bad, quite entertaining and a recommended beach read. I am looking forward to reading other titles by this author.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Book 48 of 2022 — The Secret Lives of Fortunate Wives by Sarah Strohmeyer

This book has been on my TBR for years. It wasn’t available in a digital version, so I had it on my list but didn’t buy it until I found a reasonable used copy.

I enjoy a good glimpse into the lives of the elite. This follows in the vein of The Right Address where a seeming outsider gets thrust into the upper echelon.

Nothing super out of the ordinary exciting (for this genre) — affairs, divorce, secrets, and scandal. I liked the characters but felt some of them were a bit one-dimensional. It seemed there was very little redemption and that even those who deserved punishment didn’t get it.

A cute read.

3⭐️/5

[Michele · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 book by this author...I do enjoy the Bubbles series.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

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 through returned to library. Should have known better. Oh, well.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 with the shallowness and cluelessness most of the time.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

[Tracy Hovland · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book expecting the same interesting characters and plot as the Bubbles series. I was a little disappointed. The characters were not interesting. They were rich, they cheated on their spouses, the women barely ate anything, etc., etc. Who cares? Claire, the globe trotting humanitarian, even became boring by the end of the book. Maybe a good book for someone who cares about how affluent people live.

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pure and utter fluff. A quick, fun read. I would describe it as a soap opera in book format! It was full of lies, deception, cheating, glitz & glamour and scandal! It served it's purpose as being a total no brainer read.

What was most pleasing though, is that the author still had great characters, and a good plot. It was a tad bit predictable but still had a good twist to it. It kept me turning the pages, wanting to see what happened.

An enjoyable fluff read, for sure. :)

[Ahutton79 · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I really wanted to like this book. I tried to like this book. I LOVE Desperate Housewives so after reading the book cover, I was super excited to start reading. Unfortunately I have to say that I was highly disappointed. I was completely uninvested in the characters and the plot was MIND-NUMBINGLY slow. She could've cut out the entire first half and nothing would've been lost. Honestly, it took me 2 months to force myself to finish it! Wouldn't recommend it. Don't waste your time.