A Wife Worth Investing In (Penniless Brides of Convenience #2)

Our Review

A WIFE WORTH INVESTING IN is the second book in the PENNILESS BRIDES OF CONVENIENCE series and picked up nicely from the first book, THE EARL’S COUNTESS OF CONVENIENCE. While both books have the characters of the three orphaned sisters and their aunt through marriage who raised them, here they are only mentioned in the story and don’t appear. 

This is youngest sister, Phoebe’s, story and it starts out in Paris in 1828. She definitely doesn’t follow protocol in her working world or her love life and is nothing if not naive. But Phoebe has strength and a backbone when she doesn’t let herself get belittled.

In Paris, she works in a restaurant kitchen where only men are allowed and is always berated by the chef who thinks he’s better than he is. He immerses himself totally into her life. She doesn’t realize he’s after her only for her money. She unexpectedly meets Owen, who is English, while she’s waiting for her chef at a restaurant late one night.

Years pass, but Owen is a man she never has forgotten due to his kindness. When  two years later her circumstances change, she unexpectedly shows up on Owen’s doorstep in London. From there the story definitely takes off. 

Owen proposes a marriage of convenience since he’s not the same man she met previously. Owen is a financial whiz, and Phoebe has dreams of opening her own restaurant. It’s interesting to see how she goes about it with Owen’s support. The story is filled with discussions about food and a good dose of romance.

There are emotional moments when we learn of what happened to each of them in the two years they were apart. The ending takes place a year later in 1832 and gives some closure and wraps up the story, but I was hoping for more. The story ends abruptly. I didn’t realize it until I turned the page in my Nook and saw it was the end. The historical notes provided by the author are always informational, and Ms. Kaye once again didn’t disappoint. 

I look forward to reading the last book in the series, THE TRUTH BEHIND THEIR PRACTICAL MARRIAGE, which is up next for me. Ms. Kaye is one of my favorite authors of historical fiction.  I always look forward to reading her books and seeing what she’ll pen next.