The Next Wife

The Next Wife

What happens when two women are fighting over the same man? What happens when one is the first wife and the other is the second one? EventCo is the company that is owned by John and his first wife Kate working side by side each day even after the divorce. The war between the wives is just starting and the result will shock you but first the beginning. Tish is the second wife and she managed to steal John from Kate. Things heat up when they company IPO is finally completed and out there and things in the company change with Tish trying to take control over Kate and leaving both her and Ashlyn out in the cold. She plots and manages to take John away for a quiet weekend not knowing that his primary goal was to finally rid himself of her and go back to Kate. But Tish is smart and sees through the dark veil placed in front of her and the result will change everyone’s life. Events is successful, and the corporation is celebrating the IBO when you can feel the tension in the air between Kate and Tish. Tish is four years older than Ashlyn and at first they seem to get along but not any longer. Tish waits until the champagne is poured and then takes the exhausted and tired John to a quiet weekend in Telluride, but the ending is not like that of a happy one in a movie. John is not up to himself and at times seems out of sorts. Drinks and meals are prepared by Tish even though she had preferred having them catered or going to a restaurant, but John has a heart attack, and you wonder by her reaction if she did not put something in his drink and cause his death. Tish has the upper hand and insists that John wanted to be cremated and we final that is not true when Kate has his wishes on paper and the plot his wanted in the cemetery where she was to be buried too. Added in things in the company change and the dynamics will no longer be the same.

Kate and Ashlyn are finally bonding, and Ashlyn makes a final trip to Tish’s house to clean out her stuff. She always accuses her of killing her father and things get out of control. Tish thinks she now has the upper hand hoping to rid herself of both Kate and Ashlyn and run the company on her own.

When Kate presents along with her lawyer, Bob the will leaving John’s shares in the company to his daughter, a dangerous twist happens has Tish calls on her Uncle George to come rescue her and present what she claims is a new will that John had written up before he died leaving the company to her and Kate taking the shares from Ashlyn and leaving her nothing.

Things get tense and Kate decides to act against Tish and Tish thinks she has it all figured out, but the result wills hock you. Threats are made against Ashlyn by Tish who sabotaged her car, and she gets hurt. Kate has her own brand of justice as Tish thinks her fake will  stand up in court but even her uncle George deserts her in the end. Ashlyn has her father’s phone and the text messages between him her Kate. Thinking they might become a family again, but the truth is yet to be revealed. Confrontations when Tish tries to enter the office and gets moved out of John’s office in a rage but not before someone left her a threatening note, but no one seems to believe anything she says. The novel is told from three points of view that of Kate, Tish and Ashlyn each one recounting their own take or views on what happened, what they think should happen and where the company will go since John is gone. But you can feel the anger within Kate as she relates or states at times that she is angry with what John did to her and marrying his assistant and possibly taking down the company they both created. The papers got a hold of the story and the hope that the investors do not pull out leads Kate to do something drastic and Ashlyn is right behind her. Tish thinks she is in control and will get the shares that belong to Ashlyn. Kate is smart and she knows that her company is being ripped part by fake news but in the end she knows what must be done and how. Tish has no stated position in the company or in the new will. Sandra, Kate’s assistant knows what must be done and she has the eyes and ears of the police chief on her side too. Tish thinks she has it under control, but the result will shock you when the truth behind John’s death comes full circle and is revealed. Kate and Tish meet, and money is the agenda as Tish  wants to get paid off to leave and feels she deserves whatever she wants. Learning that all her homes belong to Ashlyn or Kate and nothing is hers leaves her wondering what to do next until she agrees to meet with Kate and sign an agreement for money. A meeting that will change it all for one of them and give it all to the other. Just who really killed John and how? What happened to Tish when she met with Kate? One life is hanging in the balance and one is going to get it all. Tish Nelson is tough, but Kate Nelson is smarter as author Kaira Rouda takes both Tish and Kate down dangerous paths, leaves us wondering what one’s future might be as revenge becomes more powerful than loyalty and love and it just might not be the greatest accomplishment to become the NEXT WIFE. Characters that are diverse yet the same in many ways with traits that are both good and flawed as you get inside the minds and actions of Tish, Kate and Ashlyn. In the end you the reader will decide who is guilty and who is innocent and who is the victim of circumstances. Corporate wars yield odd alliances and foes.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews