Second-Best Bride by Sara Wood

Second-Best Bride by Sara Wood


My rating: 3 of 5 stars
The whole storyline of this book can be summed up in two lines:

"He loves me. He loves me not."
"She loves me. She loves me not."

Interestingly, most of the book takes place on the morning of the wedding between Claire and Luke, who goes by the nickname of Trader. Claire gets a massive case of cold feet, when she comes to realize that Luke doesn't seem to love her. It doesn't help that she has a so-called friend telling her things that feed into her insecurity about Luke's feelings for her.

And then there's the fact that she finds out that Trader is blackmailing her father. She think's Trader is after her dowry from her father. Is Trader a fortune hunter? But then, Trader does things that seem so devoted and shows he has feelings for her. What's a girl to do? Her father is leaning on her to marry Trader, to bail his butt out for his illegal activities. Is she willing to marry a man who doesn't love her to save a father who wasn't there for her, who cheated and ran out of her mother?

It's hard to figure out how Trader feels for Claire for some parts of the book. He's hard towards her in some moments, and loving in others. Is he hurt at her rejection and lack of belief in him? Does he think she's the gold digger? Things are not helped by his childhood friend, Phoenix, who's very possessive of him. And she's gorgeous and sophisticated in a way that Claire never will be.

This is one of those books where you are constantly trying to figure out what the hero's motives are. And what's the deal with Phoenix? I didn't trust her from the beginning. I'm glad that Claire wized up and realized that Phoenix didn't have good intentions.

This was not bad for a "Saturday morning in bed" read. Quick and involving. I like the others I've read by Sara Wood more. Still, it's a solid three star read.

View all my reviews >>