A Wife Worth Investing In

A Wife Worth Investing In is the second book in author Marguerite Kaye’s “Penniless Brides of Convenience” series and her 50th book with Harlequin/Mills & Boon. Congratulations to Ms. Kaye on a fabulous accomplishment! This story focuses on Phoebe one of the twin sisters that we met in the first book in this series. Although this is second of a four book series, you could easily read this story as a stand-alone. But I highly recommend you read the previous book! :-) Phoebe Brannagh in the last book was known for her love of cooking. In this story, Phoebe has left to Paris to fulfill her dream of being a chef. She spends two long years working hard to move up in a male-dominated world, only to end up working with a chef who takes advantage of her and crushes her dreams. Owen Harrington is a new character to us. He’s a young man visiting Paris and avoiding the commitment his late father had made on his behalf. Although he plans on honoring it, he plans on taking two years to be alone and do as he pleases, excited by the endless possibilities to explore. I really liked Phoebe and Owen from their first meeting in a Paris Café. They both are starting on a new chapter in their lives and excited for all the possibilities that await them. Phoebe’s zest for life has Owen captivated and admiring her attitude and both are drawn to each other. But circumstances at the time have them going their separate ways, agreeing to meet up in two years time to compare how far they succeeded in their dreams. Our story then skips forward to two years later. After losing everything, Phoebe is back in London desperate to stand on her own two feet again. She decides to visit Owen in London since he didn’t show up at the scheduled meeting in Paris, hoping that at least he succeeded where she failed. But Owen is not the man he was in Paris. An accident has left him physically and mentally scarred. When Phoebe ends up on Owen’s doorstep with her broken dreams in tatters, he offers a marriage of convenience, to benefit them both and to help her accomplish her dream. Oh my, be still my beating heart, Owen was just a fabulous hero! He’s given up on himself and truly is just a shell of a man. Helping Phoebe gives him a purpose in his life again. As these two try to get Phoebe’s business up and running and Owen starts to come back to life, ignoring their feeling towards each other become more and more difficult. Phoebe is a vibrant, funny & determined young woman, but yet there’s also a vulnerable, insecure side she doesn’t show to anyone. I liked these two as a couple and was rooting for them to admit their true feeling for each other. Owen’s health was a major issue to deal with as he recovers mentally and physically. I think Ms. Kaye did a fabulous job of handling Owen’s illness. It’s not an easy subject to tackle, but it was done extremely well and I applaud her for not sugar coating over it and making it just magically disappear. Ms. Kaye took me by surprise with Phoebe & Owen’s story, not what I was expecting at all. Their romance didn't have a straight and easy path but seeing this couple together, I’m so glad their paths crossed and true love won out! This was such a fabulous story from a wonderful author & I can’t recommend it enough!