Suspense/Intrigue
His Other Wife
By Kris Jones
Oct 2, 2008 - 7:54:53 PM

At the outset of Margaret Blake’s HIS OTHER WIFE, Fabio Hetherington has left Roxie Rawson a small fortune in his will. Not unusual, contends Saul, Fabio’s brother and executor of the estate. After all, carefree, irresponsible Fabio had a way with women.

Saul’s mother and Fabio’s wife both demand he discover who this stranger is, about to inherit a fortune from their family. Her name—Roxie—has the sound of a stripper or lap dancer. Saul, dutiful and responsible—the opposite of his brother in every way—sets out to find this Roxie and inform her of her windfall. In doing so, he pokes at a hornets’ nest with repercussions he can’t begin to imagine.

Roxie resides in New Zealand with her eight-year-old son, Josh. She’s just lost her job and is about to leave for a new position in England. She could use the money, but instead of being thrilled at the prospect of receiving ten thousand pounds, she’s horrified any of the Hetheringtons found her. She wants no money, no assistance, no anything from Fabio’s family. Roxie, an abandoned child and product of the foster care programs, became fiercely independent out of necessity. Through hard times she’s made a life for her and her boy as a nurse, not a lap dancer.

Saul understands her life more than Roxie thinks. Growing up in wealth but with a cold, unfeeling mother, he also made his own way in the world. When he later runs into the two transplants in England, he adopts a protective stance with Roxie and develops a strong bond with Josh.

Roxie doesn’t want to, but she grows close to Saul as she sees the way he envelops Josh in his life. But below the surface, trouble pushes its way into the story. Everyone has secrets: Roxie, Saul’s mother and Louisa, Fabio’s widow. Even Fabio. When Saul uncovers them one by one, will anyone end up happy?

I enjoyed HIS OTHER WIFE. The characters felt real to me. I loved Saul and the way he kept after the prickly Roxie. Josh was the perfect child—a little man looking out for his mother yet yearning for the guidance and presence of a man. Roxie’s defensiveness felt true to me, with self-doubt and insecurities from her unstable childhood popping up at the worst times. Roxie’s secret surprised me. Good job Ms. Blake!