Customer Reviews

The Mistaken Widow (Harlequin Historical)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Sarah Thorton, pregnant and with no one in the world to turn to, thought fate had smiled kindly upon her when a pair of newlyweds, Stephen and Claire Halliday, took her in while traveling on a train and allowed her to share their berth. During the night, however, there was a terrible accident, and Sarah awoke in a hospital with a broken leg, a newborn son, and the hospital staff calling her Mrs. Halliday. Sarah, penniless and unable to provide for her son or herself, wanted to set things right, but upon seeing the grief of Stephen's brother and mother, she just couldn't do it quite yet. Things snowballed out of control, until she found herself in love with Stephen's older brother - and knowing there could be no future between them because of her lies.

Nicholas Halliday could hardly believe that the somber Claire Halliday was the same person his younger brother Stephen had described in his letters, but she was his brother's widow, and he would take care of her and her son. The only problem was, he didn't expect to have feelings for his brother's wife! He couldn't let his feelings get the best of him because he had a foundry to run, and he was still unsure of Claire's motives for marrying Stephen in the first place. Was she just a gold digger, or had she truly loved his brother? Either way, it was going to spell trouble for him if he couldn?t keep his feelings for her in check.

As usual, Ms. St. John has written another emotionally charged story. The first Harlequin Historical I ever read was 'The Tenderfoot Bride' by Ms. St. John, and I've been hooked on her work ever since then. In this story, the character of Sarah is wonderful - she's desperate to provide a safe place for her son, but torn with guilt at her deception. One really has to wonder what they would do if put into a similar situation. At first, I didn't care too much for Nicholas, because he was always suspicious of Claire/Sarah being a gold digger, so he was rude to her and didn't trust her, but he couldn't fight his feelings of attraction for her. There were times when he let his hair down, though, and he was very tender and gentle, especially with Sarah's baby. In the end, he redeemed himself in my eyes. I won't tell you what happened at the end, but the last 50 pages or so were excellent!

Altogether, this is a lovely book. Once I started reading it, I found it almost impossible to tear myself away from it. Ms. St. John has a wonderful gift when it comes to writing and creating heart-warming characters, and I can't wait to read more of her books!

Cheryl St. John is a top notch writer who fills the pages of her books with genuine characters in heartwrenching situations. She puts her readers right there inside the hearts and heads of her characters, making it impossible not to care what happens to them. The Mistaken Widow was a joy to read. Watching these two people fall in love, in spite of the odds against them, renewed my own faith in love and romance. Not an easy thing to do. Keep it up, Cheryl, and I'll keep on buying.

In Cheryl St. John's newest historical novel, Sarah Thornton finds herself trapped in another woman's identity and isn't quite sure how to escape it. As Claire Halliday she has servants and money, but the deception is eating away at her heart - a heart that finds itself aching for Claire's brother-in-law, Nicholas Halliday. The Mistaken Widow kept me up last night, reading it straight through. CSJ has the ability to not just create realistic characters, but to set their hearts beating and make them as real as any flesh-and-blood people. Sarah and Nicholas are a prime example of what she does best, creating characters that live long after the book is closed. Cheryl's on my must buy list and The Mistaken Widow is an example of why - she tells a story that doesn't just delight you for an evening, it takes up permanent residence in your heart.

Sarah has was disowned by her evil father after she finds out she is pregnant by a man who fled the country when she told him the news. So she ends up on a train heading west to try to make a life for herself and find a job where she can support her bun in the oven. On the train she meets Stephen Halliday and his wife Claire. They help her when her bag is stolen and let her rest in their train car. While she's sleeping there is an accident and when she wakes up everyone thinks she is Stephen's wife. When his brother Nicholas Halliday shows up she has yet to have a chance to explain the situation and his stern persona and the debt to the hospital keeps her from confessing.

The entirety of the book Sarah suffers massive guilt over lying to Nicholas and his kindly mother. She begins to fall in love with their family, specifically Nicholas, but the lie is always hanging over her head.

There are a lot of things to like here, but at the end I got tired of Sarah's self loathing about what she did. Yes, it was really bad to take advantage of the Halliday's guilt over Stephen's death, but she had absolutely no other options and she never seemed to have a moment where she wasn't suffering from guilt.

Despite that, I would have rated this one higher except for my feelings about Nicholas. If you have no problem with mean heroes then read this without question, but for 80% of the book Nicholas is rude and belittling to Sarah and the only time he is nice to her is when he tried to seduce her to "test" her. I wouldn't have a problem with Nicholas' behavior being in reality he was justified to question things, at least to a certain point, my problem is that Sarah managed to fall in love with someone like that. Nicholas is only what I would consider to be genuinely nice to her for the last 10% of the book. If you can deal with a hero continually mistreating a heroine go for it. The story is very well done and I have no problem at all with the plot or characters just this one point. I don't want to read a book about someone so emotionally messed up she can love someone who is never nice to her, and the tiniest scrap of praise is more than she has ever had before. It was obvious that she would have continued to "love" him whether he changed his attitude towards her or not. That just didn't sit well. She never learned to demand to be treated with respect and "Nice Nicolas" never wooed her beyond a handful of pages.

Also Nicholas' determination to "test" her got old after a while too. In the end it doesn't matter why Clarie chose to marry Stephen, the point is they married. If Nicholas had a question about whether or not Sarah's/Claire's baby was fathered by Stephen he should have just asked. I doubt Sarah would have said Stephen was the father of her child and then that issue would be out of the way.

I have read other Cheryl St John books and they were all well written and enjoyable.

The story was quite clever and different from others I've read of this genre, but a few times I found it predictable as extra characters, especially two, were added. I like the way this author writes, but whoever the proof reader of the book was didn't do the best job as I caught a few obvious mistakes without trying to do so.

Desperate measures makes this one a pleasure to read. It's rather lengthy for a Harlequin. A great story about Sarah, who was ruined from society and Nicholas Halliday, who picks up the pieces. A joy to read.

This story was great fun. Knowing this was a take-off on the movie MRS. WINTERBOURNE, I kind of knew where the plot would lead, but the trip there was entertaining and fun. Sarah/Claire is a wonderful heroine, and I could imagine myself in her shoes as the situation steamrolls out of her control and carries her along for the ride. Nicholas is an interesting combination of hot passion and cool reserve, and watching him deal with his feelings for Claire/Sarah is like getting an insight into the male psyche. Again, if you like sweet, fun romance, I recommend this book. You won't be disappointed.

I've never read anything by Cheryl St. John before, though she kept appearing on my "recommended" list on Amazon. So I chose to download this book because it appeared to be different.

The plotline drags on, but what keeps the reader interested is that you can't possibly see a way out of the mess that Sarah is in. She is mistakenly assumed to be the Halliday bride after a train accident. When she argues that she is not a Halliday, the hospital simply doses her with medicine. Her "brother-in-law" Nick arrives with clothing for her and her baby, prepared to take her home with him. Because she has a broken leg and a newborn, she has nowhere else to go and no way to make a living. She tries the truth, but he doesn't listen, so she allows him to assume that she is his sister-in-law, promising herself that she will explain to his mother as soon as she arrives at his home. From there, Sarah is drawn deeper and deeper into her deception until she cannot find a way to tell the truth. At times, she's rather unlikable because after a while, she actually manufactures ways to maintain the deception. Nick castigates himself for feeling an attraction to his brother's widow. How it all turns out is the interesting part; I couldn't see a way out for Sarah, but Ms. St. John manages to resolve the issues in due time.
I liked the book for that reason. It wasn't cookie-cutter, and I couldn't predict what would happen next.

April 1869, Lower New York State and Ohio

This worth-your-time-to-read tale is about desperate measures taken in desperate times and realizing that the sun really does shine after a storm. This sweet story is also about recognizing things might not be as they appear and may actually be a blessing in disguise.

Don't pass up this quick and easy enjoyable read!

Is it okay for Harlequin authors to recycle Hollywood plots without giving credit to the movies they rip off?
And I do mean "movies, plural." I don't know whether Ms. St. John watched the 1950 Barbara Stanwyck film, "No Man Of Her Own," or the rehashed, and much worse, "Mrs. Winterbourne," of our era, but she surely watched one of.them. Same plot, different names.
My suggestion to you is, don't waste your money on this book. Find yourself a copy of the Stanwyck film. The plot isn't any better, and although Ms. Stanwyck is a little old to be playing a young, unwed mother, you still get the chance to witness one of the industry's finest talents at work.
That's more than I can say for the book.