The Third Wife

Rating:
Summary: exciting romantic suspense
Review: Her stepfather stuns seventeen year old Anna Langtry when he chooses her as THE THIRD WIFE of his brother. Though polygamy is outlawed in the country, the remote True Life Latter Day Saints think otherwise leaving Anna with the choice of wedding a much older man to beget his children or fleeing into the night. Anna chooses escape.

Anna works diligently and fifteen years later is a successful Probation Officer in Denver. One of her clients is confessed embezzler Joe Mackenzie just released from prison after a four-year stay. Joe insists he was innocent and confessed as a means of shortening his sentence. He plans to find the true culprit. Though he mistrusts the judicial system, he cannot stop Anna from helping him with his endeavor as she shockingly believes him in spite of his hardened cynicism. However, when Anna agreed to help Joe, she never expected a return to the community she fled as a teenage spouse.

As expected from highly regarded Jasmine Cresswell, THE THIRD WIFE is an exciting romantic suspense tale that once it gets into gear never slows down. The plot simmers slowly at first as the audience meets the lead characters, but once the action begins, the novel moves at a rapid clip until the conclusion. Joe is an interesting individual who reluctantly remains an idealist though his exterior seems harder than a diamond. Anna is a wonderful heroine who makes something of her self in spite of the odds, but readers will question her involvement in Joe's quest. THE THIRD WIFE is a first rate book that sub-genre fans will find pleasurable.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: exciting romantic suspense
Review: Her stepfather stuns seventeen year old Anna Langtry when he chooses her as THE THIRD WIFE of his brother. Though polygamy is outlawed in the country, the remote True Life Latter Day Saints think otherwise leaving Anna with the choice of wedding a much older man to beget his children or fleeing into the night. Anna chooses escape.

Anna works diligently and fifteen years later is a successful Probation Officer in Denver. One of her clients is confessed embezzler Joe Mackenzie just released from prison after a four-year stay. Joe insists he was innocent and confessed as a means of shortening his sentence. He plans to find the true culprit. Though he mistrusts the judicial system, he cannot stop Anna from helping him with his endeavor as she shockingly believes him in spite of his hardened cynicism. However, when Anna agreed to help Joe, she never expected a return to the community she fled as a teenage spouse.

As expected from highly regarded Jasmine Cresswell, THE THIRD WIFE is an exciting romantic suspense tale that once it gets into gear never slows down. The plot simmers slowly at first as the audience meets the lead characters, but once the action begins, the novel moves at a rapid clip until the conclusion. Joe is an interesting individual who reluctantly remains an idealist though his exterior seems harder than a diamond. Anna is a wonderful heroine who makes something of her self in spite of the odds, but readers will question her involvement in Joe's quest. THE THIRD WIFE is a first rate book that sub-genre fans will find pleasurable.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: Cult as a backdrop made for interesting reading!
Review: I personally liked the backstory here with the cult of the polygymous Mormon sect . This combined with our heroine's profession as a Federal parole officer meant this was a romantic suspense book with some twists and turns I had not seen before.
The hero and his reaction to the treatment he received and how he was framed was great- very real feeling. His anger and the hardness, mistrust and isolation came across stong.

OUr heroine is somewhat disillusioned by the time we re-meet her after the intro where she is running off from her wedding. She wants to see the best- and is conned by a con- and it is hard for her to believe our hero really is innocent. Her reluctance is another aspect of this story that lends conviction to its telling.

Plenty of ups , downs, twists and turns- not a bad way to spend a cold winter night!

Rating:
Summary: Slow Cresendo but Great Finish
Review: I'm a great fan of Jasmine Cresswell. But Third Wife was a book that I almost didn't finish. Her previous was very suspenseful and got to the point right away. Third Wife had a very slow plot development. I know it was about finding out who frame Joe and helping the heroine deal with the past and her feelings for Joe. But it took so long getting there. But the ending was fantastic. So for that reason alone GET THE BOOK.

Rating:
Summary: Memorable romantic suspense -- Highly recommended
Review: Seventeen-year-old Anna Langtry steals her groom's car on their wedding night, fleeing southwestern Colorado forever. She was Caleb Welks' third wife, in a small town of Alana Springs where members of True Life Later Day saints practice polygamy. The marriage was arranged by her step-father with her mother's approval, and no one in her small community would have supported her flight. With only $420 and a determination to survive she heads toward death or freedom.

Fifteen years later Anna has become a parole officer, maintaining her optimistic nature even while dealing with the dregs of society. On a morning already gone woefully wrong, Joe Mackenzie offends Anna from the moment he enters her office. She suspects his attitude has nothing to do with fear or humiliation, but with learning how to hid every trace of emotion in a bid for survival. He had been paroled after serving four years of his six year sentence for embezzlement. Anna expects the usual story of being misunderstood and innocent. She does not expect to come to believe it. Moreover, she never expects Joe to lead her life full circle, back to the world she left behind.

Author Jasmine Cresswell weaves a stunning tale of betrayal and subterfuge in THE THIRD WIFE. Anna's background will prove fascinating to readers, and Cresswell's explanation for the motivation for women to remain within such a restrictive environment is surprisingly gentle. Anna comes to accept that some women choose that lifestyle, even though her own rebelliousness could never tolerate such a choice. Joe's enigmatic personality teases the readers as we long for the explanation we know is coming. And even as readers become suspicious of the connections that bind Anna and Joe, the marvelous details and subtle plot twists result in a stunning denouncement. Some readers may feel that the pacing is a bit slow initially, but those readers who enjoy the subtle weaving of a master craftsman will savor the building tension. A remarkable read that remain long after the last page is turned, THE THIRD WIFE comes highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing exciting
Review: This was boring and slow moving. I had a hard time getting through it. The most interesting developments were in the last 1/3 of the book so I was glad I stuck it out.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing exciting
Review: This was boring and slow moving. I had a hard time getting through it. The most interesting developments were in the last 1/3 of the book so I was glad I stuck it out.