Happy and You Know It by Laura Hankin

 

Well hello....mommy club book! What a refreshing book this was. I flew through this entertaining read in less than 24 hours. Not being a mommy myself (except for my adorable dogs) I wasn't sure if this would be a book I would click with. No worries here! If you have a sense of humor, like some entertainment and like a little mystery and frenemy type behavior...this is it!

This book was a snarky adorable look at motherhood struggles, life struggles and fricking funny all wrapped into one. Get this...it opens with a "rich looking" woman running down the streets of NYC in a fur coat in the middle of August..with vomit all down the front of her...with a group of women chasing her...in their heels...wth right??? Don't worry no spoilers here, that is literally from Chapter one.

Whitney created a mommy club for NYC mommies to share and bond with their daily struggles. The club is a great support but often turns into a bit of a competition between the mommies. Whitney has made the club "famous" by splashing their picture perfect mommy moments all over Instagram.

Enter Claire...the hip musician the mommies hire to entertain their babies. Hold up...do people really do this?!! Claire has secrets of her own..why does she flip her you know what when she hears the ever so popular song Idaho Eyes? Can she bond with these mommies?

My favorite character was Amara. Real to life, often questioning how she got herself classified a "mom." I loved her snarky behavior and my heart went out to her as she struggled in her new role.

Surprise!! I didn't expect a bit of a mystery rolled up in this one. There is a mastermind behind the mommy club..yep you heard me! Some twists and turns that completely caught me off guard.

This book was so entertaining. I often felt like I was reading about The Real Housewives of NYC mommy edition! BTW I would watch that show! #guiltypleasure  Rich, poor you all get pooped on the same!

Thank you so much to Berkley for this ARC via Edelweiss. I highly enjoyed it!

The Wife Stalker by Liv Constantine

Hang onto your husbands ladies! Piper is in town! Whew! This was once again another twisty thriller by this dynamic duo. Always on the must read list for me, they did not disappoint yet again. This book kept me up late into the night as I had to know what this sneaky Piper woman was up to next.

The Wife Stalker is just as it sounds...Piper is a woman that knows what she wants when she sees it....a yoga center, a membership to the yacht club, her Alfa Romeo Spider...oh yeah and your husband! When Piper moved into town she decided to start over- new name, new career, new man. All she needs is the new man...oh hey Leo you will do just fine.

Who is this mysterious newcomer? No trace of social media except for her current recent accounts...but what about her past? A glam girl like Piper and noooo trace of her? Hmm seems odd since Piper is all about social media now...what happened? Trust me Joanna has looked and there is.....nothing.

Oh my heart went out to poor Joanna. Just trying to keep the family together. Cooking, cleaning taking care of little Evie and Stelli. Yet Leo seems oblivious to it all, does he even appreciate her efforts?! She has been in Leo's life for years and yet here comes Piper to replace her. OMGGG I despised Piper!!! How dare her try so desperately to take Joanna's place! Is there no shame in her game? Nope! Piper is all out for herself and her sights are set on Leo and his family.

Well just when I thought I saw it all...Liv Constantine throws in that twisted end that left me speechless! I never in a million years saw that coming.

Huge shoutout to HarperCollins for this gorgeous finished copy of The Wife Stalker in exchange for an honest review!

A Good Marriage by Kimberly McCreight

It was a good marriage...until it was not! This book had alot going on in between those pages. A murder, a key party, lawyers, lovers, losers and liars! Whew this book had it all. I was all in from page one.

After attending a key party, a woman is brutally murdered in her home. First off- do key parties really exist? I thought that was something from the 1990's??? No, I am wrong? Okay well I will be first to admit that I am NOT into that. Yet, this made for some great reading material! So this murdered woman was at the so called key party, so who murdered her? Well after digging into this you will see that there were plenty of people with motive. It started out a bit of a slow burn for me, as I got to know all the characters. There were alot of players in this book, which normally I don't enjoy. Yet I did with this book because it just made more suspects!

As I did my super slething and came up with.......nothing...the author kept adding players aka suspects to this game that might want this girl dead. People from her past, secrets were revealed. The author did a great job of developing her characters so we got a feel for each personality. There were some very strong personalities in this group! I mean a bunch of lawyers..who would think it?

I loved that this was a mystery that I was constantly trying to solve..I failed by the way. The author managed to keep me guessing all the way until the end. Then it all came together nicely in the end...well not for the dead woman, but I sure enjoyed it! It almost had a legal thriller type of feel to it because there were so many lawyers...so many..yet it had alot of family/backstory drama as well. While the kids are away at camp, the adults will play! It kept me glued to the pages until the end! This was my first book by this author and I need more!!!!!!

Huge shoutout to HarperCollins for this stunning finished book in exchange for an honest review! You guys rock! I loved it. Thank you for introducing me to another great author.