The Unexpected Wife by Jess Michaels

Tracy’s rating: 3.5/4 of 5 stars

Series: The Three Mrs #1

Release Date: March 9, 2021

When investigator Owen Gregory tracks down Celeste Montgomery at her parent’s home, the last thing she expected to hear was that the husband she hasn’t seen in six months is dead! But unfortunately, that was not all Owen had to share, not only was Erasmus Montgomery dead, but he was murdered and if that was not bad enough, she learns he was also a bigamist and as the third Mrs. Erasmus Montgomery, her marriage wasn’t valid!

Owen quickly determines that Celeste didn’t murder Erasmus and admires her intelligence and quiet beauty, so much so that he asks her to join him in London to help with the investigation. A proposition she quickly agrees to. They travel to London where she meets Abigail and Phillipa “Pippa”; the other “Mrs. Montgomerys” and they immediately form a bond. She also meets Erasmus’ brother, the Earl of Leighton, and the man who hired Owen, the Duke of Gilmore. She quickly settles in and is eager to help Owen find the killer and clear her new friend’s names from the suspect list.

Celeste and Owen work together and soon give in to the attraction that has been brewing since they met, it is clear that they harbor deeper feelings, but before they can even consider a future, they will need to find out who killed Erasmus!

This was a well-written, fast-paced story with a wonderful cast of characters and a well-plotted mystery. This book is the first in a new series and there is a lot of set-up for the future installments, but that didn’t detract from Owen and Celeste’s romance at all. The story has a fantastic hero, great secondary characters, steamy love scenes, lies, secrets, betrayal, and will surprise you with some shocking twists and turns before Owen and Celeste get their HEA. This was a great book, but sadly I was disappointed when Celeste overreacts to a perceived betrayal and then proceeds to become a complete hypocrite – it was short-lived and quickly resolved, it didn’t ruin the book, but, in my opinion, it marred the story. Overall, this was a great start to a new series that I am looking forward to reading and would be happy to recommend.

*I am voluntarily leaving a review for an eARC that I requested and was provided to me by the publisher. All opinions are my own *