I love Diana Diamond and thought I had read everything by this author. As I was searching along Amazon, I discovered I had somehow missed The First Wife. I got it from my library and read it Friday night and this morning/afternoon while enjoying the pleasant weather. While not my favorite book, it was still an enjoyable read and I give it a B.
Inside cover:
Jane Warren swore she'd never marry again. Sure age isn't a problem. Neither are her looks. Heaven knows that plenty of perfectly respectable men who would consider themselves lucky to end up with someone like her. Then again, the last perfectly respecatable man to end up with her- her ex-husband- ended their marriage, not to mention Jane's belief in happy endings...
But she just can't muster the cynicism to resist William Andrews- a dashing, debonair widower with two children of his own. Soon Jane's doing what she swore she'd never do; marching down the aisle, promising to have, hold, serve, and protect, till death do them part. But why does Andrew seem so obsessed with his dead wife? And why do the children seem to hate Jane so passionately?
As Jane struggles to understand the nature of the powerful hold Andrew's ffirst wife still exerts over the husband and children she left behind, her day-to-day life grows increasingly more dangerous. During a family outing, she is suddenly thrown violently from her horse. Did someone deliberately spook the horse? As she takes a midnight swim, the mechanical drome over the pool closes on her. Did it short-circuit, or was it sabotage? Are these just coincidences, or are the stakes and risks getting higher the closer Jane gets to the truth? Someone would clearly like to see her follow the first Mrs. Andrews to the grave. Why?
Jane was a difficult person to feel any sympathy for, as throughout a large amount of the book, she is trying to decide whether or not she loves William even though she is planning on marrying her. William is a very rich man, and I am sure that played a part in her reasoning, right? A lot of the book was spent with Jane talking to herself and there was a lot of telling instead of showing. Though most of the book is told through Jane's eyes, at some points the point of view was flipped half way through a paragraph which was a bit confusing. With all of that being said, the story and the suspense was well done and held me into the story.
Up next is another library book. In my email today, I just saw I have yet another library book to be picked up tomorrow. Oh my, I am not sure if I am ever going to get these finished. With that being said, I am going to hop off of the computer and get started on the next book. I hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and a relaxing Sunday. Happy Reading everyone!
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1 comment:
I am glad you enjoyed this one even despite its flaws. The shift in point view like that seems a bit odd.
Although perhaps not quite the same thing, but it brought to mind a situation I ran into a couple of years ago. I wish I could remember the book now, but there was one I'd been reading and enjoying and all of a sudden the author went from first person to third and then back again. It was only that one chapter that was out of place. I read books the have mulitiple view points all the time, but usually not so obvious in the attempt to move the plot along like that one was.
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