I love a good romance thriller and stumbled upon one recently from Erica Spindler called The First Wife. These type of books normally would not catch my attention but a lot of the action takes place in Louisiana mostly on the Northshore area. I tell you, those people across the lake are freaky!
The basic (and I mean basic) premise is a young woman marries a man she barely knows while she is on vacation on an island to get over the death of a beloved family member. Bailey Browne dreamed of a knight in shining armor swooping in to rescue her and her mother. As she grew older, those dreams transformed, becoming ones of a mysterious stranger who swept her off her feet and whisked her away from her ordinary existence; then, suddenly, there he was (what a coincidence).
Despite the ten-year difference in their ages and her working-class upbringing and his of privilege, Logan Abbott and Bailey fall deeply in love. Marriage quickly follows. Here goes the opposites attract scenario.
When Logan brings her home to his horse farm in Louisiana, a magnificent estate on ninety wooded acres, things go a little awry. A tragic family history Bailey knew nothing about surfaces, along with whisperings about the disappearance of his first wife and rumors about women from the area who have gone missing, and when another woman disappears, all signs point to her husband’s involvement. Lesson learned: never marry someone you only knew for a week! I mean who does that?
Although I hate to admit it, I quite enjoyed this book. Spindler moves the storyline along quite well setting up a tidy little mystery. You do have to suspend belief a little. Baily’s character, through all her announcements of independence and strength, still comes across as the victim, so the novel does tend to be a little too much damsel-in-distress-waiting-on-a-man-to-save-her.
But I am a sucker for a good Lifetime thriller movie and this does read like one. As cheesy as the plot may be, the novel did keep me intrigued from the beginning with fun characters and a satisfying storyline. So if you are looking for a quick read over the holidays do try The First Wife. For more information on Erica’s books, go to www.ericaspindler.com.
