Rating: 
Summary: Stop the Insanity
Review: I've really enjoyed this author's earlier works, but this novel left me flat. The storylines were painfully predictible. There were some jewels hidden in the mire, though it wasn't really worth the effort to find them. I found myself saying please finish and let the pain stop. The stories were contrived and generally unbelievable.
Rating: 
Summary: We are shown good examples of other people's realities
Review: If you're expecting another First Wives Club, like the published reviewers suggest, you won't get it. This book has sadder, more common plights in store for the main characters and their marriages. It takes longer to get justice and revenge, BUT THEY DO! It's just not nearly as entertaining getting there. This was not an escape for me, like First Wives Club was. Rather, this was a wake up call, a glimpse of how it is for women with husbands who are either deadbeats, dealers, or cheaters. And I'm not giving away anything that's not revealed quickly. The book's point is not to discover these things, but rather to solve them. It's a deep book, very thorough. It tells a woman how to fend for herself, even when circumstances and people hinder self-reliance. It's not farfetched, just long.
Rating: 
Summary: revenge fantasies for betrayed women
Review: If you're looking for a thoughtful, intelligent, uplifting book, this isn't it. If you're just looking for some light, mindless reading about women getting revenge on worthless husbands, then you might enjoy this book. In the right frame of mind, it could be funny to read about women doing cruel and illegal things to humiliate and defraud the men they once loved. It could even be therapeutic for women who feel powerless and betrayed. Just check your brains at the door before digging into this one.Young Wives insults our intelligence with a ridiculous and convoluted revenge plot. The author unsuccessfully tries to portray all men as bad, and women as good (except for bimbos who date married men of course). The bitter ex-wife revenge theme from First Wives Club is reworked here without the wit and humor of the earlier book. Despite the obvious efforts of the author, it was hard to sympathize with the wives. The women were just as bad (maybe worse) than the men. The book is insulting to both women and men, showing the worst stereotypes about bitter wives, scheming women, lazy black men, cheating husbands, and mobsters. Young Wives was the last Olivia Goldsmith book I read, and it will remain the last one I will ever read. I started with Bestseller, which was smart and witty, even though many of the characters were one-dimensional. I had fun trying to guess which real-life authors were being lampooned by the author. After that, the quality of the books went steadily downhill. Marrying Mom was light and fun. Fashionably late was pretty good, even though the characters (especially the mother) didn't ring true. Switcheroo was absurdly implausible and silly, but it was a fun read on the beach. I should have stopped there. I actually felt angry after reading this one. After reading several of Goldsmith's books, I can't help but wonder what inspired the author to create some of these characters. If I were a friend or colleague of the author's (or heaven forbid her husband), I would live in fear of disappointing her, lest she play out one of her revenge fantasies on me or write a character in her next book based on my worst traits.
Rating: 
Summary: very enjoyable
Review: Its the kind of story to be expected by Goldsmith, its fast and juicy and extremely interesting. Thats the reason I read her books. I laughed and cried in this book. Isn't that what women find interesting?
Rating:
Summary: Sad, Funny and some ingenuous revenge
Review: Jada, Angie and Michelle are the three heroines in the piece. They are great friends with terrible husbands. But then what would a Goldsmith novel be without "terrible" men. It was sad and funny...the bit about the crazy glue was brilliant! No, not all men are as scummy as the ones found in a Goldsmith novel but hey, this is fiction folks! I enjoy the author's sense of humor and her rich imagination when she plots out the heroines revenge. An enjoyable read.
Rating:
Summary: Come on - this is fiction for women!
Review: OK, first I have to comment on Mr. Mallory's review. Yawn? I'd expect a man to yawn through this book. I, for one, can't keep my eyes opened when the plot of a book is based around the workings of a submarine. The purpose of this book is not to capture the male reader - as a matter of fact, if anything, it is meant to tick them off. And, for what it is - AND IT IS A "GIRL" BOOK - "Young Wives" is very good. It manages to successfully follow the lives of three different women without getting too bogged down in senseless details. The writing is very good, the plot is thought out and executed in a very consistent manner. It's easy reading fiction that walks an almost comical line of outrage that only a woman could understand. So, if you have a problem with this book, it is probably because you basically do not like this type of literary entertainment. If you're looking for a court drama, read John Grisham. If you're looking for good psycho-drama, read Dean Koontz. If you're looking for god-awful, horrible fiction, read Jackie Collins, Danielle Steel or Barbara Taylor-Bradford. But, if you want half-way decent fiction for women (and I stress the words fiction and women!), read Olivia Goldsmith. She's one of the best of her genre. And - if you're a guy, go read Tom Clancy. Or, Zane Grey. You'll be much happier because you'll be reading a book that many a woman will put down after a few chapters rather than yawn through it.
Rating:
Summary: Concept fiction is good, but take this author's agenda away!
Review: Olivia Goldsmith did a great job with _First Wives Club_, and her "concept" fiction -- that is, stuff built up around Hollywood (_Flavor of the Month_), fashion (_Fashionably Late_), or publishing (_The Bestseller_) -- was even better. But the problem is that when she attempts to construct a story without a theme, it ends up with a theme. Repeat after me: "Men are bad. Men are evil. Men are pigs." I'm as feminist as the next woman, but come freaking on. I can only tolerate so much drivel personifying Evil Comes In The Y Chromosome. It's really sad, because her earlier fiction is great. This stuff is pathetic.
Rating:
Summary: Can't go wrong
Review: Olivia Goldsmith is one of my favorite authors. I have read all of her books and love them because she mixes a little drama, everyday life and lots of hilarious moments that anyone can relate too. If you want to try one of her books, I would recommend you start with Marrying Mom. I literally had tears running down my face from laughing so hard. It was wonderful as are all her books. Try them - I am sure you will like them as much as I have.
Rating:
Summary: No one gets revenge like Olivia Goldsmith
Review: Olivia Goldsmiths books are getting to be formulaic-woman wronged, woman gets revenge-but the revenge part is just so much fun! In this novel, the protagonists are three women in their thirties-the young wives of the title. Their husbands have secret lives, cheating drug dealing, and the marriages fall apart. They all get together at a legal clinic for victimized women and the fun begins. Definitely worth reading!
Rating: 
Summary: Mixed Review
Review: Since I am a huge fan of Olivia Goldsmith, I was waiting in great anticipation to read this novel. Although the book is typical in formula/style to her other books, I was disappointed by the tidy ending. The book has a slow start but as anyone who knows the author's style, she is busy building stong character backgrounds. The story peaks but has a quick "tidy" ending. I know it is fiction and the situations these ladies find themselves in are realistic, the ending is not. *sigh*
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