Customer Reviews

The Most Unsuitable Wife: The Kincaid's (Ballad Romances)

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

 

 

Courtesy of A Romance Review

Drake Kincard must catch a bride before his thirtieth birthday or he will lose his ranch to his uncle, according to his parents' will. Although his cousin, Lex Tremount, is a lawyer and his grandfather, Rob Kincard, is a judge, they are no big help on this matter. What Rob suggests Drake to do is to find a woman and get married during his trip to Pipers Hollow. Drake is not happy with his situation and vows he will marry the most unsuitable virgin he ever finds.

Upon their arrival at Pipers Hollow, Drake and Lex meet Pearl Parker, who is being bullied by three men. Pearl is not like any woman that Drake has ever met. She doesn't back away from the bullies and fries a gun at the men. She is also independent, bossy, good at baking, healing and takes care of anyone who needs help. She has a half sister and a half brother. Her grandmother died not long ago and everyone, except the sheriff, tries to get rid of her and separate her family. Pearl decides to leave town with her family as soon as she can.

The Sheriff, Evan Cummins, of Pipers Hollow is an old friend of Drake's grandfather and they stop by to visit him. Evan is ill and Lex and Drake bring him to Pearl for treatment. When Evan relates Pearl's situation to Drake, he talks to Pearl privately and asks her to marry him. A marriage of convenience seems perfect to solve their purposes but trouble follow Pearl wherever she goes... and endangers her life.

The Most Unsuitable Wife is the first of Ms Clemmon's Kincaid series. The story is well plotted with an unforgettable heroine and a protective hero. Pearl Parker is a wonderful woman who is most admirable and respectable. She dedicates her life in helping and healing people without any reward. Her marriage to Drake seems to be a marriage of convenience but she seems to be the perfect woman for him after all. Drake Kincard wants a wife in order to keep his ranch - but after he marries Pearl, he is not able to leave her as he plans and he cannot but love this special woman.

I surely look forward to seeing what will happen to Sarah and Storm, Pearl's half sister and brother in the upcoming Kincaid books, The Most Unsuitable Husband and The Most Unsuitable Love.

Drake Kincaid faces an ultimatum. Either he marries before he turns thirty, or the ranch he loves will become his worthless uncle's property. When his parents' will specified terms of ownership, Drake was only eighteen and had years ahead of him to find a wife. Now his birthday looms only a few weeks away, and Drake needs a wife. So he decides he will wed the most unsuitable woman he can find. Then he will simply strand her at the family home with his grandfather in town while he resumes his life on the ranch, except for necessary visits to keep his wife breeding, of course. Then he proposes to Pearl Parker, and quickly learns he has vastly underestimated her.

Pearl desperately needs to take her extended family and escape their miserable town in rural Tennessee. She ekes out a living for her sister, brother and "cousin", by selling baked goods and home remedies. Before her death, Pearl's mother taught her the art of concealing a voluptuous body behind rags and beauty behind mild grunge. Drake's shocking proposal offers her and her family salvation, and she gladly accepts. Misfortune, however, dogs their steps back to Texas. Attempts on Pearl's life force some hard truths to the surface, including Drake's growing vulnerability to the woman he married, and her own secret that she fears will cost her Drake forever.

Author Caroline Clemmons captures the harsh cruelty of a distrusting town and lurking danger in THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE. Yet she tempers the meanness with levity, the danger with amusement. Drake confidently assumes that he can dictate terms and have his way, not realizing that his heart and his wife will have other plans. Indeed, the harder he denies his feeling to himself, the more trouble he makes for himself and the more amusing his plight becomes. On the other hand, Pearl's resourcefulness and ingenuity sparkles, yet she still manages to undervalue her own self worth. A delightful read, THE MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE comes highly recommended.

Pearl Parker tugged at my heartstrings and made me smile in The Most Unsuitable Wife by Caroline Clemmons. Drake Kincaid, tall, broadshouldered, supremely confident Texas rancher heats up the story as his desire for strong-willed Pearl grows into admiration and love. The love scene following their marriage of convenience, warmed my heart with the most sensual and poignant scene I've read in a long time. The author enriched the story with not only a backdrop of accurate and colorful historical description, but strong character development. The secondary characters which bring even more entertainment to the story had me laughing out loud as well as gripping the book in suspence. I highly recommend The Most Unsuitable Wife by Caroline Clemmons. With her memorable characters, this romance makes for a delightful, suspenceful, heartwarming read. I can hardly wait for the next book about the Kincaids of Texas.

I have to laugh at the wide range of tastes that can't allow for a writer's vision of a story. Virginal heroine? About time! Now I violently detest the slutty moral attitudes of most females that parade around as "good women". Too many lovers in the woodpile.

Needless to say, in 1878, that period in time it wasn't unusual for wills to make [to us] rediculess provisions for inheritance.

Drake Kincaid, wanted to inherit his ranch with out the proviso of being married before his turns 30. Now Grandpa Kincaid, being a Judge must inforce his son's will.

Drake, being human, wants to retaliate by marrying a most unsuitable woman in protest. His cousin, Lex sees many pitfalls ahead of Drake in his decision to pick on Pearl Parker.

I thought Drake turned out most admirable in his treatment of Pearl and her sister, Sarah and brother Storm. It tickled my fancy as I realized what was going on in this family. I was definitely ready to get away from the contemporary icky females.

The romance between Drake and Pearl was refreshing and I do love it when that male protective instinct kicks in.

Drake's aunt, Lily Stephens, was another kettle of fish. I was looking for a little retaliation there.

Belle's story was right on the mark for that age - so much scuzzball testosterone running around.

Story was excellent - the characters were excellent - had to laugh at a couple of the villians. The pace was good.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED -- DEFINITELY A KEEPER - now onto Sarah's story.

There were too many sex scenes. They made me uncomfortable and I got tired of having to skip pages so many times.

This is my first time to comment on a book, and I am a book a day kind of girl. I had to warn you about the last few chapters. They were so full of misspelled words and broken sentences that I had a very hard time finishing it. I've never had to decipher words in previous books. This one needed a proof reader badly! Overall, it was not a horrible book.

This book is very well written and very enjoyable. It is set in 1880s Texas around the Hill Country. If you like Texas historical romances, you will love this one.

Enjoyed this book tremendously! Reminds us that sometimes we think we are really being spiteful and it works out for good. As my first review, I thank people who don't give me all the details of the book; just one's thoughts about whether it is good or not. I can get a preview of the book from Amazon's site.

I enjoy Western romances and "marriage of convenience" stories. Ms Clemmons' A MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE combines the two and doesn't disappoint. Drake Kincaid needs to marry to secure his inheritance of his ranch and Pearl Parker needs to escape a town that is determined to destroy her family. The romance between the two is believable and the secondary characters, Pearl's half brother and sister are nicely drawn. There's a good balance between action and romance.

Aside from some copy editing problems and typos toward the end of the book, I enjoyed A MOST UNSUITABLE WIFE and look forward to reading more stories from Ms Clemmons.

I am always looking for a good read, and when I find a good author, known or unknown, I can't wait to share my findings with others.

This book started off all right, but somewhere along the way it lost my interest, I'm sad to say. Pearl was too good to be true, Drake's character was ill-defined, and there needed to be better editing and proofing.