The Last Original Wife

Author: Dorothea Benton Frank
Goodreads Rating: 3.72
Pages: 368
Format: Finished Copy provided for a blog tour for TLC Tours

Leslie Anne Greene Carter is the last original wife among her husband's group of cronies. They've all traded in their first wives-the middle-aged women they long ago promised to love and cherish 'til death did them part-for riper peaches: younger . . . blonder . . . more enhanced models.
Leslie is proud of her status and the longevity of her marriage. Sure the spark isn't quite as bright and sometimes takes a little longer to flame. And it wouldn't be too much to ask if her husband paid just an itty bit more attention to her desires. But there's something to be said for a comfortable and deeply familiar relationship. Or at least she thinks until the day, out golfing with her husband and his friends, she slips into a manhole. And nobody realizes that she's gone.
That one misstep opens Leslie's eyes to the sham her perfect life has become. No longer will she be invisible. No longer will she accept being taken for granted. With the healing powers of South Carolina's lush white beaches, candy-colored sunsets, and fiesty and funny residents, Leslie is going to transform herself and reclaim the strong, vibrant, sexy woman she was meant to be.
The Last Original Wife is classic Dorothea Benton Frank: an intoxicating tale of friendship and love that is as refreshing as a soothing breeze across a golden lowcountry marsh and as invigorating as a dip in cool, salty waters on a sizzling South Carolina summer day.

 I was a little hesitant to start this book. I wasn't really into the first book of hers I had read, but this book was much better than I had expected. The plot sounded really interesting, seeing how life can be when you get so far into marriage. There is so much written about young love and the infatuation about that, but then there is this uglier side of marriage and getting old that I at least don't see too much of.

The problem that I had with the first book I read by her was that I hated the characters. The way that they acted was a little strange. They were total extremes, like Wes wasn't just a bad guy, he was awful, and Les seemed like an angel the entire time. He did things like forget about her and ignore her while she literally lay in a pothole with a broken arm in a foreign country.

And then Les was someone that you could feel compassion for, but was constantly the goodie goodie. Even when she decided to rip her kids a new one, she was the one that as in the right. I felt like there was really no depth to the characters as they rehashed their sides of the story. Les was clearly taken advantage of and she let herself and Wes was a total bully. There were no two ways about it.

I actually enjoyed this story though as much as I am dragging my feet about it. I felt sympathetic for Les and didn't like Wes, he felt entitled and like Les was only there to serve him which was infuriating. He had no respect for his wife and it was down right degrading at some parts. The fact that he thought sleeping with hookers in Atlantic City was okay was awful. 

I felt into the story, even though I had problems with the characters, I wanted to know how it was going to resolve itself. All in all, I think I would be willing to check out another book by Frank. As a side note, today is the release date, so be sure to drop by the store and check it out!

The Courts Decision: