The Other Woman-Joyfully Recommended Read

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	• The Other Woman (Dundee, Idaho, Book 7) Brenda Novak Harlequin, 2006 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 4 reviews view larger image
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The Other Woman-Joyfully Recommended Read

The last year has been pure hell for Elizabeth O'Connell. First she discovers that her husband has been living a double life, with a wife and family in Idaho. To make matters worse she discovers that she is actually his second wife and that their entire life in California has been built on a lie. Just when she thought that she couldn't take anymore, she is totally devastated when her husband cuts all ties with her and rushes home to Dundee determined to try and get his first wife to forgive him. Unable to believe that he could totally abandon her and their children she follows him to Dundee. With the marriage of Elizabeth's brother Isaac to her husband's first wife Reenie (Big Girls Don't Cry Harlequin Super Romance #1296) the next year finds Elizabeth and Reenie forming a family with their children. Now Reenie has tried a little matchmaking, arranging a date between Elizabeth and Carter Hudson. At first Carter and Elizabeth don't like each other, but the more time they spend with each other the more they come to care. However, Carter tragically lost the woman he loved and Elizabeth is determined that she will never be second best again.

The Other Woman touches upon every woman's feelings of rejection. Both Carter and Elizabeth must deal with their pasts before they find a future together. Although The Other Woman can stand alone, I recommend that readers first pick up Reenie's story, Big Girl's Don't Cry (Harlequin Super Romance #1296), as it is not only a great read but also will adds the background to this story. Brenda Novak has written a romance with truly complex relationships that keep the reader turning the pages and keeps them engrossed in the story until the last page.

Melissa
Reviewed for Joyfully Reviewed

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interesting contemporary romance

Elizabeth O'Connell is stunned to learn she is THE OTHER WOMAN as her spouse Keith had another wife Reenie before her that he returned to, abandoning her and their children. Though now divorced for the sake of the children who she believes need a father even a cheating one, she relocates moving to his hometown of Dundee. There she opens up The Chocolaterie Store and raising their two children Mica and Christopher as a single mother.

Friends set up Liz on a blind date with senatorial aide Carter Hudson. She dislikes his ease of talking about her personal mess and his condemnation of her letting Keith get away with his crap. However, Carter does not allow the fact that she has two kids deter him from seeing Liz. She soon sees how kind he is to her children and how much he tries to help her at her shop. Though she vowed never again Liz falls in love with Carter, who reciprocates her feelings, but she wonders if she can trust love after the Keith fiasco.

THE OTHER WOMAN is an interesting contemporary romance starring a likable woman who though upset with her former spouse remains on good terms with him especially for the sake of their children as the character driven story line is kept focused on Liz. Carter is an intriguing protagonist who sounds obnoxious on their first blind date, but proves first opinions can be false as he turns out to be a nice nurturing person. Brenda Novak writes a warm second chance at love starring a deserving female and the man who wants her forever.

Harriet Klausner

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Part of a juicy trilogy

THE OTHER WOMAN by Brenda Novak
May 19, 2006

Rating **** (4 stars)

Here is another book in the "A Dundee, Idaho Book" series. It furthers the story of two women who were unknowingly married to the same man at the same time. In THE OTHER WOMAN, Liz O'Connell is picking up the pieces of her shattered life. She had followed Keith from Los Angeles back to Dundee in order for her children to live closer to their father, but she's now a single woman. Keith had returned to Dundee to pursue his first wife, Reenie, which was a slap in the face for Liz.

The novel opens with Liz on a blind date with Carter Hudson, who is currently working for Reenie's father Senator Garth Holbrook. Unfortunately, the blind date isn't going very well, and the more they talk, the more Liz dislikes Carter. She walks out of the restaurant in a huff, despite the fact that she didn't want to hurt Reenie and the Holbrook's feelings, but there is only so much Liz will take from a man as rude and abrasive as Carter Hudson.

Keith is trying to convince Liz that he still loves her, now that Reenie is married to Isaac, Liz's brother, but Liz knows better. While she keeps their relationship civil for the sake of the children, she will not fall for Keith again. However, Keith, who was determined to woo Reenie back, is now hoping to get back Liz.

In the mean time Liz is opening up a chocolate shop, based on the novel by Joanne Harris, and with Carter's help (he's doing a favor for the Senator), the shop opens up with a bang. However, there is someone trying to sabotage her business, with her shop being vandalized more than once. Liz and Carter by now have an understanding between them: while they rub each other the wrong way, they have a hot chemistry that will not quit, and the two have agreed on a no commitments relationship. The reader will figure out that this relationship is more than just temporary for the both of them, despite their notions that this will only be a fling. Carter comes to Liz's rescue more than once, and with his background he has the tools to find out who the vandals are. What he finds out is not pretty.

To complicate matters more, Liz has a hot boyfriend back in Los Angeles, her tennis coach Dave, a much younger man but someone who had helped her get through many lonely nights. He is still pursuing her despite the distance, but he refuses to move to Dundee, and she will not take her children away from Keith. Between Dave and Carter, she is not sure who is the better man.

Liz and Isaac's father, Gordon, has been living with a secret since his wife and their mother Chloe passed away when Liz was only fourteen. It is a secret that is tearing him up inside, but it is also something that created a rift between him and his children. Gordon has a need to let this secret out, and when it does, it creates an even larger rift. Gordon shows up in Dundee unexpectedly, and does not receive a warm welcome from his two adult children.

This book is a spicy complex soap opera of a novel that kept my interest peaked until the very end. Trying to remember all the various characters and how they fit into the story line was a chore at first, but after a few chapters, however, the characters fell into place and there was no problem keeping up with the plot. The relationship between Carter and Liz was hot and steamy, and the author did a good job demonstrating that! She handled the sex scenes perfectly, leaving enough to the reader's imagination. The children played only a minor role in the story, creating a different feel from some of the other superromances I've read recently. It was definitely not a "family-themed" romance, but was a romance with adult issues running throughout the story.

There is definitely room for more sequels in the DUNDEE, IDAHO series by Brenda Novak. With such a complex set of relationships, the next novel will be sure to be a winner. I enthusiastically recommend THE OTHER WOMAN. - courtesy of Loveromances.

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Life after heartache

Elizabeth O'Connal has been threw more than her share of heartache in her life. After her mother died her father remarried a woman who treated Elizabeth horribly for years. Then when she finds some stability with her husband and two young children she finds out that he had a second family living in another state.

Things are better now for Elizabeth. She is ready to open up a chocolate shop-she is friends with her ex-husbands other wife (who is now her brothers wife.) Then life throws her a loop when she agrees to go out on a blind date with Carter Hudson who has also been dealt some hardships in his life.

Their blind date does not go off as well as many people would have liked which was why a friend suggested that Carter help Elizabeth get the chocolate shop up and running.

While trying to get the chocolate shop up and running Elizabeth has to deal with several things that she never expected, sparks that fly between her and Carter, her father coming to down with news that rocks her world, and someone that is trying to make sure that her chocolate shop is not as successful as it could be.

What happens between Elizabeth and Carter? What news does her father bring? Who trying to wreck her chocolate shop and why? Read The Other Woman.

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