THE RIGHT WIFE by Beverly Barton

All I can say is wow.  It went from pillar to post with this book and I could not fully grasp how quickly the story escalated.  When I thought it was over, another situation was slammed into my face that left me reeling.  Let me explain.

Margaret Campbell is a vibrant young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders.  After her mother's death, Margaret had to become the mother to both her younger brother and sister and times got especially rough when her father dies years later.

Not knowing what to do, Margaret was grateful when her mother's brother decided to take the three of them in. Margaret was overjoyed that she can keep her promise to her father and get a better life for her siblings but things don't go according to her plan and it's all Aaron Stone's fault.

Aaron Stone is on a mission, a mission to find a wife.  Not just any wife, the right wife (get it). After saving Margaret, her siblings and her colored servant at the train station, Aaron cannot get her out of his mind. Now every time he closes his eyes, it's Margaret that come to his mind instead of instead of the widow he has been courting and Aaron knows that Margaret is not the one to help overcome the shadows surrounding his birth.

Not wanting Margaret as a wife but not willing to give her up either, he can ruin her reputation by just being next to her, but he just cannot bring himself to care enough to stop. 

With her reputation ruined, Margaret must know leave her very strict Christian home in order to not "taint" her family with her shame.  Aaron does not want to let her go but is not willing to do the right thing either.

The both of them are at an impasse when an unexpected evil arises that will kill them all, if the evil is not caught in time.  With all this madness going around, would Aaron choose happiness over the feeling of fitting in or would he realize to late that letting Margaret go would be the biggest mistake in his life, especially in doing so he becomes what he despises the most. 

Beverly Barton had a nice idea, but it was very predictable.  A hotheaded girl, meets a mysterious stranger and I thought, okay, I know how this story is going to end.  And I was right, it ended exactly as I thought it would have, sure there were some surprises installed, like the shooting and the rape and.......can't give away too much now can I.

I read it too the end but I was not excited about the book and it did not leave me thinking about it when I was finished, I more felt relief.  Other than that, it was an okay read and I despised Aaron, he was very selfish and very, very, very, unfair..