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The Cold Wife (2000)

by Ruth Ann Nordin(Favorite Author)

3.12 of 5 Votes: 4

ISBN

1432726986 (ISBN13: 9781432726980)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Outskirts Press

series

Virginia Historicals

review 1: Oh Lord, I don't even know where to begin with this train wreck. This book was only a buck, so I bought it thinking it'd be a simple historical and mediocre. It was so far from mediocre it's not even funny. This author has several published books on Amazon, so I assumed the writing style would at least be halfway decent. Oh how wrong I was.To summarize the plot briefly: Carrie's dad arranges for her to marry Justin. She's opposed to the arrangment since she doesn't know him and after wedding she asks for an annulment. Justin has been in love with Carrie for about 10 years, but she never had any idea. Anyway, he wins her over and they live happily ever after.Now here is where the spoilers start and they ARE necessary in order to fully explain my aggravation...So the story t... moreakes place somewhere in Virginia in 1894. The year makes this an historical book, but it was so far from historical in the details. They have a kitchen timer that they set to wait for the chocolate chip cookies (which weren't "discovered" until 1930) to bake. Justin said at the beginning that he bought an automobile (even though they weren't available for sell to individuals then). There was a crack in the sidewalk that one of the characters trip on. Justin owns 2 stagecoaches, even though stagecoaches were primarily used in construction of railroads as well travelling across the country; people didn't just own a stagecoach. The assistant personal chef makes pizza daily (even breakfast and dessert pizzas, even though pizza wasn't a food then, at least not outside of New York where there was a HUGE Italian emigrant population. Also, every home and building in town had a telephone. I was just waiting for Carrie to pick up the remote and watch a soap opera on the big screen TV (no, there weren't TV's in the story, but it was so ridiculous that I wouldn't have been surprised...). Those are just the "historical" aspects of the story that bothered me. Then you have the story itself. Carrie's father just went bankrupt so he's leaving town in a matter of days and heading to Oregon. Why Oregon, I have no clue. Carrie and Justin are both 24, yet her dad and his uncle arranged them to marry in like 3 days. There was a line about Justin needing to marry before his 25th birthday in order to receive his inheritance, but then that's never once mentioned again. Carrie is the quintessential spoiled brat and she was one the most annoying heroines I've read. She was a HUGE baby. Literally ran out of the church before the ceremony and her brother had to look her in the bridal suite of the chapel (yeah, because they had bridal suites in chapels then...). So not only is Carrie SERIOUSLY annoying, Justin doesn't seem to have any testicles because he's an overgrown child - the weakest male lead I've EVER read. So several businesses in town suddenly keep going bankrupt, literally overnight, and only about 5 people find this to be the least bit suspicious, even though one man is OBVIOUSLY creating a monopoly. So anyway, Carrie keeps fighting her attraction to Justin and then one night she had a personality transplant and she's now in love with him and all happy about being his wife. They go stay with a client overnight and the client's wife is the crazy cat lady with something like 16 cats and then a dozen birds and these animals all roam their fancy mansion like that's completely normal. Carrie accidentally breaks a vase and the wife turns into a raging lunatic. That whole bit had zero bearing on the story. Then Carrie and Justin decide one night they want to adopt a little boy at the orphanage so they go the next day, sign some papers and leave with the boy. No process or anything on that. Then Carrie and the boy are kidnapped. Before Justin heads out on horseback in search of them, he has time to stop and chat with his uncle about a meeting the uncle has the night. Did I mention this uncle is a 43 year old virgin??? Even back then, that wasn't heard of. He gets to the spot they were last seen and there are two cops searching the empty stagecoach. Justin wants to know what direction Carrie headed off to and one cop says he "believes" the other 3 officers went "that way" and then those two resume their search of the empty stagecoach like all is right with the world. Then Justin goes bankrupt in the blink of an eye because someone stole his money and sabotaged his investments. (it was LITERALLY the blink of an eye) So they have to move out of their house in 3 days and he only has enough money to support them for a month. OH! And before this, Justin is a bachelor, yet he has TWO personal chefs. I could really go on and on, but I think I've made my point. Yes, this was a CHEAP story, but it was SO not worth it to me. If the details don't bother you, you might like the story. Otherwise, read at your own risk...
review 2: I am quickly becoming a fan of Ruth Ann Nordin. This was the 2nd book I have read by this author and once again I loved it.This book is an historical romance and the author was able to transport me to the time and place of the story with no effort at all.The story is about a young woman forced to marry someone she believes to be boring, so that she doesn't get left destitute after her father is bankrupt. Little does she know that the man has loved her since she was 14 years old. Carrie is incredibly annoying to start off with but that is intentional, she doesn't yet realize what this young man is like, and we as the reader do. I got to the point where I wanted to shake her to get some sense into her. But thankfully she soon comes to realize what a wonderful man her husband is and, well you'll just have to read the story for yourself.Although the ending is a happy one, it had a twist that I wasn't expecting. less

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