The Good Life by Martina ColeMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Time taken to read - 1 day
Pages - 512
Publisher - Headline
Blurb from Goodreads
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE NEVER FREE.
Cain Moran wanted Jenny Riley more than he had ever wanted anyone or anything before in his life. But loving Jenny Riley was the easy part; it was telling his wife he wanted a divorce that was going to be the killer...
Jenny is not just any girl. She cares nothing for Cain's hard-man reputation - she just wants to be with him.
But Cain is not a free man. And he's about to find out that when his wife Caroline said 'til death us do part, she meant it.
When Cain is sentenced to life in prison it seems that Caroline might have got her wish. All Cain and Jenny know is that if their love can survive such separation, then one day they will have a chance at the Good Life together again.
But there are greater trials ahead than either can foresee. They're about to learn the hardest lesson of all:
LIVE THE GOOD LIFE. PAY THE PRICE.
My Review
It has been ages since I read a Martina Cole book and I got this on offer. Jenny is nervous, Cain is getting home after a long stretch in jail and she ponders over things that have come to pass. The book then heads back to the past, when they first met and to present day. Jenny is fairly naive when she meets married man Cain but attraction overcomes them and they begin their journey. Cains wife is not a woman who takes disrespect and plagues their life together, on top of that the dangers of living the life will have consequences for them all.
To be honest, this was very nearly a two star book for me, not because of the story of the writing and I do enjoy how Cole spins a tale. More to do with the massive spoiler right at the beginning of the book. The whole story then goes back to the beginning of the couples lives and builds up to the spoiler but the reader already knows it is coming and there isn't anything new or surprising after that.
There are the usual, bad language, sex, drugs, murder, violence and the relationships and breakdowns of the faces and their associates. However, after reading your opening chapter, there is no big reveal as you are told what has happened. The story is still enjoyable, I just wish someone had pointed out the massive spoiler pre publishing and removed it, it would certainly have added more to the story finding out later. 3/5 for me this time, I have read this author before and will read her again.
This comparison might be a stretch to compare these two books, but I am thinking of something Anthony Trollope did in Barchester Towers.
ReplyDeleteIn it he gave away the resolution to the book early on and explains to the reader that he is doing so in order to avoid distracting with suspense as he wanted the reader to concentrate on other things.
In the case of that book, I found that this strategy worked. Too bad that it did not work here.
I wonder if Cole had similar reasoning.