#BookReview: The Young Wives Club by Julie Pennell

the young wives clubSummary:

In Toulouse, Louisiana finding your one true love happens sometime around high school. If you’re lucky, he might be the man you thought he was. But as four friends are about to find out, not every girl has luck on her side in this charming debut novel perfect for fans of The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood and Desperate Housewives. 

Laura Landry’s quarterback husband was her ticket out of Toulouse. But when a devastating football injury sidelines him, they’re forced to move back to the small town she was so desperate to leave. As Brian starts drinking instead of rehabbing his knee, Laura must reevaluate what her future looks like…and if it includes her husband.

For years, Madison Blanchette has been waiting for bad-boy musician Cash Romero to commit to her. When wealthy George Dubois asks her out, she figures she may as well wait in style. Life with George means weekend trips to New Orleans, gourmet meals, and expensive gifts. At first she loves how George’s affection sparks Cash’s jealousy, but when George proposes to Madison, she finds herself torn between two men…

All Claire Thibodeaux wants is to be the perfect wife and mother. If she can do everything right she won’t end up like her mom, a divorced, single parent trying to make ends meet. But when Claire’s husband Gavin, a well-respected local pastor, starts spending late nights at work and less time in their bed, she can’t help but fear that history is about to repeat itself…

Gabrielle Vaughn never thought she’d end up with someone like her fiancé. The son of a prominent congressman, Tony Ford is completely out of her league—which is why she lied to him about everything from having a college degree to the dark truth about her family. She knows she has to come clean, but how do you tell the love of your life that your entire relationship is a lie?

As these young wives come together to help each other through life, love, and heartbreak, they discover that there are no easy answers when it comes to matters of the heart.

Review:

I was instantly intrigued by this story. Not only was the cover freaking adorable, but I don’t read a lot of stories featuring the ages of our main characters – very early twenties – and right now I find that age group still very relatable. On a whole, I could say I loved this book. Snappy writing, interesting plot points, drama and suspense and wonderful friendships. Each woman’s story interested me, each I thought was quite strong. The only niggle that got me was – I felt like at times marriage was not held in high regard. As someone who is a wife, I take marriage quite seriously. There was often times where the terms “break up” was used in regards to a separation or divorce, and when hard times came around, there wasn’t enough emphasis on how to work through the issues, it was just to break up, and that made me really sad.  Definitely everyone has a different situation and each marriage is very different, but once I realized that was a theme of this story, I could no longer I say I loved this story. I still really enjoyed it and perhaps if you don’t think too hard about each of the situations you could love it, but overall it was a good read.

4 stars