A Stranger's Wife [Mass Market Paperback]

Maggie Osborne (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999

Lily Dale is released early from prison under one condition: she must temporarily impersonate the wife of powerful gubernatorial candidate Quinn Westin. Lily is identical to Westin's runaway wife, Miriam. The transformation from convict to society woman goes smoothly and Quinn and Lily find themselves drawn to each other--for real. But as Lily discovers more about her "twin's" disappearance, she wonders if she can trust this man she can't seem to resist.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Setting: Colorado Territory, late 1800s

Sensuality: 7

Lily Dale is no lady. In fact, she's spent the past five years in Yuma Women's Prison for aiding and abetting a holdup. Men have been her downfall her whole life, and when she's unexpectedly paroled from prison her only goal is to return to Missouri and to her 6-year-old daughter. But someone has pulled the strings to get Lily released from jail, and that someone wants a favor in return, namely her cooperation in impersonating another woman for the next seven months. The woman a politician named Kazinsky wants her to impersonate is none other than Marian Westin, the missing wife of Colorado candidate-for-Governor, Quinn Westin. Stunned, Lily refuses but quickly learns that Quinn won't take no for an answer. Compelled to cooperate by both the threat of returning to jail and the promise of a new life for her and her daughter in Europe, Lily reluctantly agrees and begins intensive lessons acting out the role of the mysterious Mrs. Westin. Lily is quickly drawn to Quinn with an overwhelming attraction that is returned by the influential man. Despite the knowledge that Lily must disappear in seven months while Quinn goes on to govern Colorado, the two find themselves giving in to their growing love.

Lily Dale is a woman of courage and conviction, an out-of-the-ordinary heroine--a Maggie Osborne trademark. Quinn Westin is a hero powerful enough to balance Lily's strength and clever enough to value her wisdom. Combine Lily and Quinn with an entertaining plot, a dash of mystery, and plenty of steamy romance, and the result is a novel not to be missed.--Lois Faye Dyer

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605298
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605298
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 0.8 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #630,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice romance with a twist., June 21, 2001

By 

mirope "mirope" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: A Stranger's Wife (Mass Market Paperback)

The initial premise of this novel - that a Colorado politician somehow finds his wife's double in an Arizona prison and persuades her to imitate his mysteriously missing wife during an upcoming campaign - is so implausible that some readers are unlikely to get any further. What were this guy and his cronies doing, holding a beauty pagent in prisons around the country? If you can suspend disbelief a little and get past this initial problem, you're actually going to find a very unusual and sweet romance. I particularly liked the heroine. This was a woman who admittedly made some very poor choices in her life, but she was smart enough to realize her mistakes and take advantage of an opportunity to change her life around. Osborne has some fun with the mystery of the missing wife. The sexual and emotional tension between the two lead characters is well done, and many readers will be surprised by the ending.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!, January 20, 2005

By 

S. Shanholtz (VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Stranger's Wife (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a hopeless romantic & this book just feed those feelings in me. Yes if you pick it apart it is a bit far fetched but if you just read it without doing that it is very enjoyable. I couldn't put it down. I like Cinderella stories & this one keeps you guessing the whole time. It's exciting, surprising, it brings out all your emotions. It's different, maybe the author had to go a bit far fetched to accomplish this but I liked all the different twists & turns this book took.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars she's written much better books, October 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Stranger's Wife (Mass Market Paperback)

I wanted to like this book as well but I just couldn't. It starts off well and you think you're going to get another heroine like Jenny Jones but after the first third of the story the rest just drags. And drags. And drags. A cardboard villian is thrown in then conveniently killed off. The sinister man behind the politician threatens Lily all through the book to get her cooperation then accepts her decision to end the charade with almost no protests. The epilogue is also a big let-down. I would try The Promise of Jenny Jones, The Wives of Bowie Stone, The Brides of Prairie Gold or The Best Man before reading this one.