The Misplaced Husband
Series: The De Petras Saga #1
Author: Emily E.K. Murdoch
Published April 26th 2022 by Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.

Goodreads Synopsis
Opal de Petras knew it was a mistake to marry the man she fell in love with at first sight.

Welcome to book 1 in The de Petras Saga from USA Today Bestselling Author Emily E K Murdoch!

Three children later, she’s abandoned by her husband and is tempted to look elsewhere for love. But as the matriarch of her family and the one responsible for their reputations, she must try to keep the de Petras family respectable.

So when on the very day that her husband Jasper is declared dead - and she is declared a widow - he suddenly appears back in her life, right before she is about to take a lover, he has a lot of questions to answer…

Jasper de Petras knew there was no option but to abandon his family when the threatening letters started arriving – but after receiving paperwork that announces his death, it’s time to return home. Unsure whether the danger is past and determined to make Opal fall in love - and marry him - again, could it all fall apart before he’s able to convince her?

At the beginning of the de Petras Saga, join Opal and Jasper as they discover just how strong the bonds of love are – and what it takes to break them.
Goodreads

Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher. This in no way impacted on my view.

After her husband was 'misplaced' years ago, Opal de Petras finds herself finally granted a death certificate, and she can look elsewhere for love as a widow. However, during the event she's hosting to commemorate the occasion, Jasper de Petras turns up, very much not dead, and wanting to be welcomed back with open arms. Jasper left for a very good reason, but didn't take the time to explain that to Opal, or the children, so he has a hard job trying to reconcile and gain forgiveness. 

Well, this book was okay. I requested it ages ago, forgot about it, and it was only when I was sent the link for book 3 that I realised I needed to go back and read the start of the series. I'm going to say that this was definitely a good book for setting up the series - which looks to be quite a long one - and it explained some aspects of the de Petras family which were strange to say the least. To start off with, I never really warmed to either of the main characters. Opal was too much for me, and though I really felt for her, and her suffering after Jasper left her with the children, when she was so in love, I still found her annoying. Jasper wasn't as bad. He was in the wrong for leaving, but he definitely made up for it, and had an extremely good reason for leaving. So many plot points were made and left in this book, such as Opal's brother, her niece, why Coral is so obsessed with money, etc., which I haven't seen explored much - or if at all - in the next two books. All in all, an okay book, but nothing to write home about.

Dates Read:
July 16-17, 2022

Rating
3 Stars