THE SECRET WIFE by Carrie Weaver, McGuire #1, Rating: B

Maggie McGuire gets abandoned by her race-car driving husband, Eric, with a 9-month old son and bills to pay. At a breaking point she sets off from Arizona and drives cross country to encounter the man who abandoned them. Only things don't go quite how she plans. Not only does she find out why Eric doubted her son was his, but she finds out she's not the only - current - Mrs. Eric McGuire. When Eric turns up dead, however, Maggie's scene when she first came into town makes her a suspect.

Eric's older half-brother (same mother, different fathers) is used to cleaning up Eric's messes. He had no doubt Maggie was just another scammer, looking for a payout from the McGuire family. There was no way Maggie's son was Eric's. To keep an eye on her and to ensure she doesn't leave town while the investigation into Eric's murder takes place, J.D. takes Maggie and her son home with him.

J.D. finds himself growing closer not just to the infant who couldn't be his nephew, but the boy's mother as well. And finds it increasingly hard to throw her in with the other scammers and con artists trying to get a buck out of them. Mixed in with all of this is J.D. and Eric's grandmother, causing havoc with Maggie in ways that leave Maggie wondering if she's going to lose her son.

THE SECRET WIFE is my second read by Carrie Weaver and I enjoyed it as much as FOUR LITTLE PROBLEMS. I enjoyed watching J.D. and Maggie get closer and will seek out the second McGuire book about Eric's other wife, Nancy. I rate this one a B, enjoyable but not one I'd pick up again or feel bad about passing onto someone else.

©Susan Falk and phantomroses.com