The Perfect Wife [Hardcover]

Victoria Alexander (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: LESCO Books (1996)
• ASIN: B0014D435A
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,368,881 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

New York Times bestselling author Victoria Alexander was an award winning television reporter until she discovered fiction was much more fun than real life. She turned to writing full time and is still shocked it worked out.

Since the publication of her first book in 1995, she has written twenty-four full length novels and six novellas. The Perfect Wife--originally published in 1996 and reissued in March 2008--hit #1 on the New York Times list. Sixteen of her books are bestsellers hitting the New York Times, USA Today and/or Publishers Weekly bestseller lists. With books translated into a dozen different languages she has readers around the world and has twice been nominated for Romance's Writers of America prestigious RITA award. In 2009 she was given a Career Achievement Award from RT Bookclub and was named Historical Storyteller of the year in 2003. In 2008 she was the keynote speaker for the Romance Writers of American annual conference in San Francisco. Victoria credits much of her writing success to her experiences as a reporter.

Her years as a broadcast journalist were spent in two radically different areas of the country: Nebraska and West Virginia. In West Virginia, she covered both natural and manmade disasters. She was on the scene when a power plant construction accident in a small town left 52 men dead. She once spent the night on a mountain waiting to learn of the fate of coal miners trapped in a mine collapse. Victoria was producing a newscast when her husband (who worked at the same television station) and several other journalists were held hostage by a disturbed Vietnam veteran. In Nebraska, she reported on the farm crisis and watched people lose land that had been in their families for generations. She covered the story that was the basis of the movie BOYS DON'T CRY and once acted as the link between police and a gunman who had barricaded himself in his home. Her investigative work exposed the trucking of New York City garbage to a small town dump in rural Nebraska.

During her journalism career, Victoria covered every president from Ford to Clinton. She knows firsthand what it feels like to be surrounded by rising floodwaters and inside a burning building. She's interviewed movie stars including Kevin Costner, ridden an elephant and flown in a governor's helicopter. She's covered a national political convention and Pope John Paul II's historic visit to Denver as well as small town festivals celebrating everything from walnuts to Glen Miller. Her work was honored by numerous organizations including the Associated Press who called a feature about a firefighter's school "story telling genius". It was the encouragement she needed to turn from news to fiction. She's never looked back.

Victoria is a former president of the Omaha Press Club and in 2009 was named an OPC Face on the Barroom Floor. A caricature portrait of her joined previous faces including presidents, sports figures and politicians in a tradition that began in 1971.

Victoria claims her love of romance and journalism is to due to the influence of her favorite comic book character: Lois Lane, a terrific reporter and a great heroine who pursued Superman with an unwavering determination. And why not? He was extremely well drawn.

Victoria grew up traveling the world as an Air Force brat. Today, she lives in Omaha, Nebraska with her husband, a son in college and a daughter working in film.

Victoria had two bearded collies, Sam and Louie (named from characters in one of her books). Sam, the best dog in the world for 13 ½ years, passed away in September 2010. Louie has now taken on the position of loyal companion and is doing a fine job even though he doesn't understand that kitchen counter surfing is not allowed!

They live in a house under constant renovation and the accompanying parade of men in tool belts. And never ending chaos. Victoria laughs a great deal--she has to.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Hasn't Aged Well, March 17, 2008

By 

E. A. Montgomery (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Perfect Wife (Mass Market Paperback)

I thought this was a rewritten reprint, but I can't see where it's been revised. Victoria Alexander is much better than this work represents. There are glimmers of what makes her so popular, but The Perfect Wife is a mess overall. If you're looking for a historical novel featuring Egypt, keep looking. While the main characters, their families, their enemies and their friends do all pop off to Egypt as if it were no more trouble than dashing down to the corner store for a pack of smokes, Egypt itself is not a character. It provides some local ethnic types to briefly imperil the ladies, and that's about all it does. This is the sort of romance that, marketed in the 80's, would use the word 'madcap' to describe the heroine. She is interesting - despite making little internal logical sense, she is capable and independent overall. But when she loses her temper she does ridiculous things without making any effort to extricate herself when cooler heads prevail. And she loses her temper easily. Which makes one wonder how she got her reputation as placid and boring. The hero has a lot of guilt over his failure to raise his son. He ruminates on it every so often but that's as far as it goes. His son seems to have no issues with it, he never discusses it with anyone, it changes none of his actions, he just mulls it over when there's a slow spot in the action. Most of The Perfect Wife is taken up by characters moving around in a melodrama while having completely different internal lives. It's like they are actors considering what to purchase for dinner on the way home from the theater then dropping back into character to toss out a few lines when the spotlight hits them. The novel is cluttered, the characters are inconsistent and inexplicable, and the plot is ultimately unrewarding. But there is just enough there to remind you that yes, you're not crazy, the author is better than this.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars She's not the woman he thought he married., March 10, 2002

By 

B. S. Andrews "barbiesa" (Toledo, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Perfect Wife (Leisure historical romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

Sabrina has spent the past 10 years as a very proper matron raising a daughter alone. In truth, she is trying to wipe out her scandalous past as a daring smuggler for the sake of her daughter's marriage prospects. Suddenly facing financial reverses at a time when she desperately needs a dowry for her daughter, Sabrina jumps at the chance to go treasure hunting in Egypt. Not understanding what is happening, her daughter Belinda turns to her fiancé for help, and he in turn pleads with his father to intercede.

An absentee father, the Earl of Wyldewood has been feeling guilty about his past relationship with his son. The endless pursuit of pleasure has left him somewhat jaded and cynical, and he has thought about remarrying, if for nothing more than to have a chatelaine and hostess for his home. When the sparks fly between the earl and Sabrina, he impulsively decides to ask her to marry him. She seems to be a perfectly proper society matron, and the attraction between them is an added bonus.

Unfortunately, she seems to be leaving for an extended trip, and the earl decides to accompany her as a protector. Of course, when their children learn that their parents have taken off together for Egypt, they persuade an aunt to accompany them in hot pursuit. The earl, after all, is a known rake, and certainly cannot be trusted alone with a woman for an extended period.

Sabrina impulsively marries the earl on board the ship, then discovers that he has the power to destroy her if he discovers the secret of her smuggler-past. She loves him, but fears that he will reject her when he discovers how very far from proper she truly is. Not being blind or stupid, the earl realizes rather quickly that Sabrina is in reality a very feisty and spirited lady, and he finds himself entranced rather than repelled. Still, there is something she isn't telling him...something in the past she has shared with the handsome American ship captain. And he determines to stick with her until he discovers what it is.

I really feel this book would be better if it included a more vivid description of Sabrina's days as a smuggler and her run-in with the earl, then a government agent. As it is, those scenes are vague, and the motivation for the earl's fierce determination to catch her just isn't clear to me. If she had been an agent for the French or some such thing, I could understand his dilemma...but smuggling just isn't in the same league as treason.

Other than that, I truly enjoyed the book and would love to find out what happened between Matt and Wynne, since their liaison was not resolved.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, Funny, Sensual --- Loved it!, June 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Perfect Wife (Leisure historical romance) (Mass Market Paperback)

I liked the spontaneous way Nicholas was willing to take off on a trip at the last minute to and as yet to be discovered location just to follow Sabrina.

The book was witty, fun and carried off an unusual plot for a historical romance. I enjoyed the side characters finding romance, too.

As the first reviewer said, I wish the motivation were a little clearer, but the story was so fun to read that I look forward to future books from Victoria Alexander.