ARC Review: The Unexpected Wife (The 3 Mrs #1) by Jess Michaels
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Series: The 3 Mrs #1
Author: Jess Michaels
Published March 9th 2021 by The Passionate Pen LLC
Goodreads Synopsis
Although Celeste Montgomery was forced into a marriage a year ago, her husband is more often gone than home and she is living a quiet life. Until investigator Owen Gregory shows up at her home to tell her some outrageous news: Her husband has been murdered…and he was also a bigamist, making her the third of three wives.
Owen Gregory was hired to investigate Celeste’s husband, but he never thought it would lead him here, to this beautiful woman whose life he just shattered. Once he determines she couldn’t be the murderer, he asks her to join him in London, in the hopes she can help him solve the crime.
Now they must navigate two other wives, a broken-hearted brother and a duke who keeps poking his nose in as they work to determine who killed Erasmus Montgomery. Not to mention the intense feelings and passionate desires growing between them. But will secrets long held endanger them in ways they never imagined? And will they find a way to save each other before it’s too late?
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
For Celeste Montgomery, discovering that the husband she had been forced to marry against her will was dead, and that she was in fact not even legally married, was both a shock, and something to be overjoyed about. On the one hand, she was free from the hovel he had put her in, and from his lacklustre attentions he put upon her. However, because Erasmus was a bigamist, there's two other wives for her to meet, and the scandal of his bigamy to overcome. Heading to London with Owen Gregory, the investigator who discovered the truth behind Erasmus' deception, Celeste hopes she can find some form of friendship with her fellow wives, and also maybe look more into the chemistry between herself and Owen.
This is the 6th of Jess' books that I've read, and I think it might be my favourite. The whole premise behind the story was fantastic, and learning more about each of the three wives - Celeste, Pippa, and Abigail - was lovely. Celeste had had a difficult childhood, with parents who never cared for her - only for which important family she married into - and then her marriage was horrific, for all the time Erasmus spent with her. He was only after her dowry, and when he got it, he left, but not before taking his conjugal rights so the marriage couldn't be annulled. Now 'widowed' she has some freedom, and being in London with Abigail, Pippa, and Owen, she could explore it further.
You might've thought that because of them all being sort of 'rivals' to Erasmus' affection, that the three wives would hate each other, but rather the situation turns into one of sisterly affection, and I adored seeing them build this friendship together. Like I said, learning about each wife was lovely, and I'm glad that the other two books with follow Pippa and Abigail's own stories. We've already met their love interests too. The Earl of Leighton (Erasmus' elder brother) and the Duke of Gilmore clearly have feelings for the other wives, and I cant wait to see them all have their own happy endings. Celeste and Owen definitely deserved the ending they got, and I really enjoyed the added mystery around what actually happened to Erasmus, and was there a 4th woman there too? The fact that the other books in the series will be released within months of each other is fantastic. This is definitely a series I can't wait to continue.
Dates Read:
February 20, 2020
Rating
4 Stars
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