Tag: 1980s

Posted on

#BookReview: Desperate Deadly Widows by Kimberly Belle, Layne Fargo, Cate Holahan, and Vanessa Lillie

Less Romp. More GirlBoss. Set in the aftermath of Young Rich Widows (though with curious timing, as that book was supposed to take place in 1986, this one is supposed to take place in 1987, and yet at least one character has had events happen that would mean this book would need to be in 1988 at minimum), this is less of the borderline comedic romp Young Rich was and far more GirlBoss now as the titular Widows all find themselves in various positions of power and influence themselves. Oh, and there is a complex murder mystery here with even more twists and turns – of more serious, if less life threatening, natures – than the first book.

And this is actually a good thing, as it shows a great deal of growth of our four lead characters even from the first time they show up in this book all the way through the end. The friendships they managed to create through the first book are going to be put to the test in several different ways here, and while there is a decent amount of comedy still left to be had… it is almost more of a Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants / Crossroads (the 2002 movie with Britney Spears) type tale here (and indeed, Spears’ last line in Crossroads could well be the ending line here).

Ultimately this really was quite good and a remarkable follow up to Young Rich Widows… specifically *because* it didn’t follow the exact same type of tale and instead went the direction of showing growth in all aspects, even as it remained true to the core of the tale and stylings of the book that came before. This noted, much like say a Big Fat Greek Wedding or a Mamma Mia, while a second tale works much better than one might expect given where the first tale ended… maybe the series ends here. Or maybe Belle, Fargo, Holahan, and Lillie find a way to continue it one more time that makes sense without being a blatant cash grab. But for me at least, this really does work as a finale to these characters and this world, so we’ll see what happens going forward.

Very much recommended.

This review of Desperate Deadly Widows by Kimberly Belle, Cate Holahan, Vanessa Lillie, and Layne Fargo was originally written on April 8, 2025.

Posted on

#BookReview: Young Rich Widows by Kimberly Belle, Cate Holahan, Vanessa Lillie, and Layne Fargo

Wild NYC 80s Romp. I really can’t say enough great about this book. The fact that I was able to read it at least partially in a not-so-smoke-filled cigar lounge made it even better personally, if only because it made it that much easier to get “in character” as a dude of the era. (Btw, even though I *was* born in the early 80s, my God, to have been able to be a young adult in that era… the 2000s of my own 20s were wild, but I’m pretty sure that era would have been even more fun. 🙂 ) Moving on…

Seriously, this starts out with a bang… nearly literally… and while the action itself doesn’t start picking up as much until at least the 1/4 to 1/3 or so mark (and *really* in the back half, when it becomes almost a different book), here really is quite a bit to enjoy here. The ladies are clearly distinguished characters – likely stemming from likely having one author handle each? – and the initial “come together” scenes are done particularly well given the overall setting and specific events that have taken place to this point. From there, it becomes a somewhat classic tale of people who think they know each other – and largely hate what they know – being forced to work together to achieve some common goal… before shifting from that into a more action/ thriller tale that Michael Bay would have loved to shoot.

The entire “New York, 1980s” setting hits particularly well as well, complete with the strippers and the drugs and the largesse of the lowlifes, and… well, what I was going to say there gets a touch too close to spoilers, so let’s just say that truly everything about this book simply SCREAMS “1980s NYC”, to the level that you begin to suspect that at least some of the authors had to have at least a version of lived experience here. Yes, it is *that* real and *that* visceral, at least in the side of NYC in this period that it chooses to show.

Overall a book that starts slow but picks up steam, one that people who don’t like multiple POV stories should check out anyway, as it is truly well done in this particular instance. You’ll be glad that its sequel is now ready – I know I was, as I was able to finally start my Advance Review Copy edition of the sequel moments after finishing this book – and yes, you really are going to want to start it right away as well.

Very much recommended.

This review of Young Rich Widows by Kimberly Belle, Cate Holahan, Vanessa Lillie, and Layne Fargo was originally written on April 1, 2025.