Wives: wedding rings, thin walls

Marriage as the obstacle

What links them is the marriage itself. Somebody has made a promise, and the story is about how quickly it bends. Expect babysitters, realtors, dance instructors and massage appointments, all arranged by a spouse who has no idea what they have just set up.

The best of these use the near miss well: the partner is in the next room, on the phone, or about to walk in. It is less about family taboo and more about cheating, so it feels different from the Taboo shelf even when titles overlap.

Four good front doors

• The Open House: a couple tours their first home, and the realtor keeps getting him alone. 36 tokens to finish.
• Our New Babysitter: the wife hires the sitter and never asks what happens after bedtime. 36 tokens.
• 18 Holes With My Wife's Sister: a golf bet that goes off course, spouses included. 36 tokens.
• Tori's broken vows: an affair that starts in the bridal suite. 10 episodes, 240 tokens.

The first three are cheap and tight. The last is the one for a longer story.

How much is free

All of the series we list here give you 2 free episodes up front. Most of them run 5 episodes, so you see the setup and then pay 36 tokens for the final three. Exceptions exist: The Anniversary Massage has 6 episodes and asks 48, and the twin-led Thanksgiving story asks 90.

The free episodes page collects every free start in the catalogue.

Our read

Wives is one of the more consistent genres, mostly because the premise is simple and the stakes are clear from the first scene. If you only try one, make it The Open House: it has a neat structure and pays off its setup. Fans of ensemble stories should look at Every Wife on Candy Lane too.