By Cynthia Solis
“Starter Wife” is a good romance novel, but an even better novel about the importance of friendship.
Award-winning author Bethany Lopez created yet another hit romance novel.
It’s the first of a three-part series belonging to “The Jilted Wives Club” series.
The series follows Whitney, Summer and Margo as they experience everything dating has to offer in their thirties and forties.
Each of them hope to get a second chance at love.
The first novel is about Whitney, a forty-something divorcee who never imagined having to start dating again, at least not until she met Luca at a bar. Luca is a young, smart and seriously gorgeous man who upon seeing Whitney across the room immediately knew he had to have her.
Luca is everything any woman would want in a man, understanding, kind, respectful and willing to do whatever it takes to make his girl happy.
Like any other romance novel, the level of passion between Whitney and Luca is intense.
Life throws them in unexpected ways from the beginning of the book.
Unlike many romance novels,Whitney finds loyalty and support in her two new best friends, Summer and Margo.
The three of them meet after each fled a horrendous support group of women hating their lives because they were divorced.
Margo and Summer meet first and then bump into Whitney— who makes a not-so-subtle run for it.
Although the three of them just met for the first time that day, the chemistry they have would force readers to believe they have known each other for years.
The trio’s personalities are all opposites, which is quite possibly why they get along well.
Whitney is kind and gentle, Summer is energetic and happy all the time and Margo is a power-hungry shark who doesn’t let anyone, or any man in particular, get in the way of her goals.
Although the novel doesn’t detail why Margo is single, it briefly explains what happened to Summer.
The reader can only assume this is because the second installment of “The Jilted Wives Club” is about Summer finding love.
Going back to the romance aspect of the novel, there is nothing too unique about it, but that doesn’t necessarily make it terrible.
Lopez follows the typical rules of creating a romance novel, like the way the couple meets, and how the woman usually turns down the man and for whatever reason the man doesn’t give up.
With the help of fate, they are thrown together way too often.
Then the woman gives the man a chance, there is some conflict, the conflict is resolved and finally they live happily ever after.
“Starter Wife” meets all the requirements of the typical romance novel, making it a great read — especially in time for summer.
The second and third installments of “The Jilted Wives Club” series “Trophy Wife” and “Work Wife,” are to be expected Aug. 30 and Nov. 29 respectively.