Customer Reviews

A Stranger's Wife

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I love a Cinderella story, and Maggie Osbourne has outdone herself with this one. Great characters, great settings, great story . . . I couldn't put it down. Wonderful book!

There is just something about the stories that Ms. Osbourne writes that strikes a chord with me. The Promise of Jenny Jones, and now this story, A Stranger's Wife, are both wonderfully written and tell an interesting story. Quinn and Lily weave a tale that will make you chuckle and frown, smile and want to read more.

Our heroine far outshines our hero in this story, but that's ok because we learn to love them both. Quinn has his own problems, one of his biggest being a moral kind of guy running for politics in the late 1800's. Although Ms. Osbourne tries to shead Quinn as a self-centered, ruthless character, too many bleading heart liberal ideas flow out and ruin this effect. This leads the ending to be not quite as surprising as it could have been otherwise. Lily, on the other hand is a down to earth kind of gal, who is enjoyable to read about. She has spunk and grit, and though life has thrown her a bunch of curveballs, she manages to hit homeruns.

Although I like Ms. Osbourne's writing style, that is probably the only criticism that I have with the story. As an easy reading story, this book is great. I tend to gravitate to books with more intricate plots and lots of details (ie Diana Gabaldon's books) so this was a little TOO light. Even so, don't miss this one!!!!

STORY BRIEF:

Quinn is hellbound to be the first governor of the newly created state of Colorado. His wife Miriam mysteriously runs off/disappears. His campaign manager Paul searches for a woman who looks identical to his wife to take her place. Without his wife, Quinn cannot win voters who expect a family man.

Lily is a rough frontier woman who cusses and drinks whiskey. She's been in prison for five years because her boyfriend talked her into helping him commit a crime. She has a five-year-old daughter who is being raised by her aunt. After Paul sees Lily, he arranges for her to be pardoned. In return he wants her to impersonate Miriam for six months until after the election. He will then give her enough money to raise her child comfortably in Europe. If Lily does not agree, Paul will return her to jail, so she agrees. She learns how to be a lady, changing her speech, manners, and actions.

REVIEWER'S OPINION:

The premise is a little hard to believe - that one would actually search the prisons in different states looking for a look-a-like clone back in the 1800s. Maybe today with the help of plastic surgery one might hope to pull it off. But this is fiction, so I'm willing to go along with it if the rest is entertaining. But the rest was ordinary, with some weaknesses. I liked the transformation of Lily into a lady. I liked the falling in love by Quinn and Lily. There was one nicely done passionate sex scene. I did NOT feel "I wish it would be over," which would have taken it to 2 stars.

The weaknesses were not major, but they existed. Lily jumped to conclusions too quickly, getting mad about some things. There was too much repetitive pondering by Lily, wondering what happened to Miriam, and worrying about what was going on. Quinn's secretiveness did not make sense after a while. The plot didn't win me over. It might have been ok if it was developed differently.

DATA:

Story length: 362 pages. Swearing language: mild, including religious swear words. Sexual language: mild. Number of sex scenes: 3 (one passionate kissing scene, one sex scene, and one sex scene referred to not shown). Total number of sex scene pages: 7. Setting: 1876 to 1881 New Mexico Territory, Colorado Territory, Italy. Copyright: 1999. Genre: historical western romance.

As an avid reader, I read two or three books a week, sometimes I am hard pressed to find original story lines, but this book "A Stranger's Wife" was just what I was looking for!! An original, romantic, super read, that I recommend to anyone who loves historical romance!

Her novels are unlike anyone else's. They are absolutely absorbing, always incredibly different, and the passion she creates is intensely moving without being disgusting.

I liked Lily and I liked her story. I loved the ending, although my complaint is it wrapped up too quickly. Without giving anything away, I'll say I loved how people Lily thought the worst of turned out to be wonderful people in the end. Thoroughly enjoyable and barely put-downable.

I've been reading Maggie Osborne since about 2002 when I discovered SILVER LINING and loved it. From then on I savored each book. I DO, I DO, I DO was another favorite of mine as was BRIDE OF WILLOW CREEK which was a beautiful story with a bit of an annoying child but terribly moving. PROMISE OF JENNY JONES had the most incredible beginning! PRAIRIE MOON was okay, FOXFIRE BRIDE I'm afraid I can't remember too well. My least favorite thus far was probably SHOTGUN WEDDING. I can't believe this author isn't always on the NY TIMES BESTSELLER list!! And why I never heard of her before SILVER LINING?! Thanks to Amazon listmania I discovered Maggie Osborne!! Thanks Amazon!

Maggie Osborne does not write enough books to satisfy my hunger for her storytelling ability. It is one in which you will laugh, cry and stay awake until the last page is read.

Thanks, Maggie!

This book was definitely one of Maggie's best. You truly enjoy her writing AND you learn from it. Her research is interesting, her plots unique and her relationships passionate and desirable. She is incredible.