This is basically a fairy tale about marital dissatisfaction, friendships, and the inner workings of an elite community. All the "good" people end up with good things happening to them; all the "bad" people get some of what's coming to them. It does have a lot of realism in what happens (or can happen) between marital relationships over the years. This is a combination of romance novel and chick-lit. Good, fun story with an ending that you wish could happen for more people in real life. ; ) ( )

Made me feel like I was a MILF in suburbia. Definitely an engrossing novel that has you hooked from start! New favorite author! ( )

After giving Secret Lives Of Husbands and Wives more than 70 pages in which to draw me in, I eventually called uncle. It wasn't that the book was bad, persay, it was just that I was inundated with characters about whom I knew little and cared less.

I'm certainly no stranger to women's fiction and typically enjoy books with gossipy, fun main characters, but I couldn't get into this one. As a narrator, Lyssa was too detached -- and too suspiciously invested in Harry from the start. Beyond that, I predicted the ending and "scandal" from the get-go, then confirmed my suspicions by flipping to the epilogue. And frankly, I'm glad I didn't have to go 300 pages to confirm that.

This was an absolutely delicious book! It was witty and snarky and a total delight to dive into! There's a bit of language, so for some it might not be the right fit. But those instances are few and far between and personally, for me, the humor and fun of this read far outweighed those instances. I honestly couldn't put this one down and read it straight through...grown up summer fun! ( )

This review was initially posted on my blog: http://jewelknits.blogspot.com/2010/07/secret-lives-of-husbands-and-wives-book.h...

First things first - this is my FAVORITE "fun" read so far this year! This book is cool and fun and sexy without being TOO, if you know what I mean!

Lyssa Harper is a likable, everyday mom like us, with a husband that doesn't QUITE meet her expectations, and lately, he hasn't been paying any attention to her in the bedroom either. She is a member of the Paradise Heights Women's League Board, and is next in line for leadership. That is, if she can find a way to get enough cans and non-perishables collected for the Thanksgiving food drive.

The board has a list of what Brooke, Lyssa's BFF, calls "Undesirables" - there's the Activist Mom, the Motorcycle Mom and others. There are also those on the fringe - those working moms who are just so full of guilt from spending time away from their children, and the "work from home" moms. After all, the objective is to marry well enough so that you don't have to work, right? (raspberries to THAT, I say!) Lyssa doesn't QUITE agree with their assessments of others, but she just goes along for the ride and keeps her mouth shut.

When she befriends Harry, she intros him to the board. He ends up fighting off advances (one of which I'd like to tell you about here, but it would be a spoiler, and I hate spoilers - suffice it to say that it involves pink, furry handcuffs! TOO funny!)

Once Harry becomes an "Undesirable", Lyssa decides that he should have guy friends in the neighborhood, so she intros him to Pete the coach, and Cal, the geeky stay-at-home dad. When Lyssa refuses to give up her friendship with Harry to please her friends on the board, SHE becomes an "Undesirable". In a way, this is is a good thing, as it broadens her friendship circle.

Lyssa's husband Ted is jealous of their friendship. DeeDee, Harry's soon-to-be-ex, is fighting to get the house and the kids, and SHE is also jealous of their friendship. The women on the board are whispering that there is "something going on with those two", which is why she ends up booted from the board for conduct unbecoming. And all she is doing is trying to keep her family life together and keep a new friend.

It all makes for a great ride. For me, the ending, while appropriate, kind of fuzzled. It was almost as if the author said, "OK, well, I'm done with the story. Let me wrap it up", and she does, but rather too quickly. In my mind, she truncated what SHOULD have been a pivotal scene in the story. BUT ... this is still a great, fun read! I would definitely recommend it.

Quotes:

To Harry, she's a psycho rapist. To Brooke, she's a friend in need.

The chance to relive our youth through our offspring is a parental perk, particularly if our kids are better at the things we never mastered ourselves.

Where I went wrong was my presumption that the girls could just be friends with Harry, despite the fact that apparently he's a live version of their Mystery Date dreamboat. ( )