Book Review: The Good Wife

Author: Jane Porter
Publication Date: September 3, 2013
Publisher: Berkley Trade
Series: Brennan Sisters # 3

Is it possible to love someone too much?

Always considered the beauty of the family, the youngest Brennan sister, Sarah, remains deeply in love with her husband of ten years. Boone Walker, a professional baseball player, travels almost year-round while Sarah stays home and cares for their two children. Her love for her husband is bottomless—so much so that her sisters say it will end up hurting her.

Living apart most of the time makes life difficult, especially since Sarah often wonders whether Boone is sharing his bed with other women on the road, even though he swears he’s been true to her since his infidelity three years ago. While she wants to be happy and move forward in her life, Sarah constantly fears that Boone will break his promise. Now with Boone facing yet another career change, tension rises between the two, adding more stress to an already turbulent marriage. Emotionally exhausted, Sarah can’t cope with yet another storm. Now, she must either break free from the past and forgive Boone completely, or leave him behind and start anew…

Baking gave her a sense of purpose. Purpose was good. Purpose got her out of bed in the morning. Purpose would get her through the day.

“I know it. And I miss you, too. I’ll be very glad when you’re back home with me, where you belong.”

Sarah needed to turn off her Facebook app on her iPhone and sleep. It was late, nearly midnight, after a very intense day. It felt good to be on Facebook, reading all of her friends’ updates. Made her feel almost normal again. As if life would one day be normal again.

“Just make sure there are lots of Oreos. That’s all I really need.”

I have followed the Brennan Sisters series all the way through and wouldn’t miss a chance to review a book by Jane Porter. As always, she brings dramatic, wholly developed characters and their raw, untethering emotions to the drawing board. This story follows Sarah, the youngest Brennan sister, as she deals with her husband’s infidelity. All Porter’s stories focus on real every day issues, struggles, drama, relationship issues, and most importantly self-discovery. Porter has a way of writing these characters so that they are believable and completely molded by the situations they live through. The Brennan sisters have really came through some hard times and struggles. It speaks mountains for Porter that she can write about these women in the fashion that she does. Just when you think they are never going to see the light of day, they break through out of the darkness.

Sarah was my favorite Brennan sister to watch develop and grow. In my opinion, she is the most damaged and has the most baggage to carry home. My favorite characters to read about are the ones that transform from a weak, scared kitten into a brave, roaring lion or lioness! Sarah definitely fits into this category, and the majority of this book follows her as she struggles to gain control of her own life and stop letting her inner demons have full control. Her husband, Boone, was unfaithful at one point in their marriage and Sarah’s constantly fears that he will cheat again. Her fear and obsession is expected for someone in her shoes, and her character is made all the more believable because of it.

What I love most about Porter’s novels is the fact that we get to see and revisit other characters, such as the other Brennan sisters that we have met in previous books. I love catching up with them and watching them interact with their sister Sarah. In fact, this was my favorite book as far as their interaction goes because Sarah is the youngest, and it is always fascinating to watch siblings protect and comfort the youngest. Their relationship as sisters is nowhere near perfect, but their interactions are sometimes the only warm and inviting things in a world filled with deep struggles and betrayal.

***A copy of this book was provided to me by the publishers at Berkley Trade in exchange for my honest review***