365 books in 365 days Challenge ... book #196

The Lost Wife - Maggie Cox
Mills & Boon Modern
Harlequin UK, 2011
ISBN: 9780263886962





My rating





From the back cover:

"It was good to know he could still get a reaction from her, despite all the muddied water flowing under the bridge between them...
Ailsa’s heart is pounding – she’s totally unprepared for the impact of confronting Jake Larsen’s unforgettable features once more! The only difference is the cruel scar that sears her estranged husband’s cheekbone, somehow enhancing his effortlessly handsome looks and reminding Ailsa of the sorrow that separates them...
Jake had thought he’d be seeing Ailsa for a few minutes – not spending days snowbound in her house with her. But the longer he stays, the more the wife he once lost becomes a woman he’s determined to win..."


Another Modern! I seem to have read quite a few of Maggie Cox's books on this challenge, and I have to say that I find them a little hit and miss... this one, sadly, is a miss.

The heroine Alisa is waiting for her daughter to arrive back from a visit with her father, when Alisa's ex-husbands Jake, the hero, turns up. Jake has come to tell Alisa that their daughter wanted to remain with her grandmother for a little while longer. He is nervous about seeing Alisa as this is the first time they have been face-to-face since their divorce. When a storm forces Jake to remain at Alisa's they are both faced with having to spend time together, despite all the painful memories it brings back. Alisa has never truly gotten over the accident that caused the death of their unborn baby and their relationship to breakdown and being with Jake again brings everything to the surface, which is made worse by Jake's reluctance to talk about it. But it is clear that not only do Jake and Alisa still desire one another fiercely but they also still care for one another.

While this book is very emotional and wrought with tension, I found that it just fell a little short of it's potential. This is a second chance love story, which I am usually a fan of, however this one just didn't seem to work (for me). There's no doubt that the issues that the hero and heroine faced are very heartbreaking and also handled very well by the author. There is some fantastic chemistry between the characters and the majority of the story is well written. Yet, I found it boring at times and incredibly tedious as the hero and heroine kept arguing and rehashing the same thing over and over again.

An emotional emotion, but just a little bit flat.

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