Addictive!!!

You are drawn in from first page an action love story which is my new favourite book loved it thank you Miss Bybee. x

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Loved it!

I was not disappointed even though I knew what would happen. I love the way Catherine writes and of course the book was excellently narrated by Emma Wilder.

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I just can't get enough of Catherine Bybee's books

I just can't get enough of Catherine Bybee's books. With each series, we meet more determined and feisty female characters and the overprotective men they fall for. Each story enables me to switch off from reality and just sit back and savour a bit of wonderfully written romance with a healthy dash of danger and intrigue.

The First Wives Club comprises Lori Cumberland, the Alliance divorce attorney, Trina Petrov, recently widowed after her arranged marriage collapsed when her husband committed suicide, Avery Grant, the flirty and confident member of the group who is recently divorced and enjoying the high life of being wealthy and single, and lastly Shannon Wentworth, the former first lady of California, who, despite having an arranged marriage, fell in love with her husband who sadly couldn't wait to divorce her.

Fool Me Once follows Lori and the other three members of the First Wives Club as they head off on a cruise to support an emotionally broken Trina. With Lori assuming a cruise would solve their problems in the press and with Shannen, in particular, being well-known in California, a trip around the Mediterranean should be just what everyone needs. Things quickly start to escalate though when it is revealed that Trina has inherited her mother-in-law's fortune as well as her late husband's wealth and with a determined Russian ex-father-in-law out for revenge, the quartet finds themselves in need of a bodyguard, or two, or three.

When Lori arrives on the ship she immediately attracts the attention of Reed Barlow. Seemingly sailing alone, he quickly latches onto the group of single women, alongside some other interesting male characters. What Lori doesn't know if that Reed is a PI and he has been paid to find dirt on Shannen and her ex-husband by a political rival. Despite having a job to do, Reed falls fast and hard for Lori and the duo spend most of their time together. With Reed still trying to understand the background connecting the four women, he knows that he if he wants to keep Lori in his arms, he will have to be careful with what he reveals to his client.

With Lori in the dark about Reed's real job, she happily continues into a relationship with Reed when they return back in the US. With the dangers around Trina escalating though, it's not long before Reed finds himself in an impossible situation, thanks to the mysterious women on the ship, Sasha. When his back is placed firmly against the wall he knows he will have to come clean to Lori but will she forgive him?

As I've said before, the writing, storytelling and overall ambience of this author's books are 100% en pointe for me. Each book always feels different despite overlapping themes and story commonalities. I can become thoroughly absorbed in Catherine Bybee's books in the blink of an eye and before I know it, another book has ended and I'm reaching for the next instalment as fast as I can click onto Amazon. The Audible books make these stories even more special though. There are some really talented narrators portraying all of the characters and they deserve a lot of praise for bringing the books to life in such a rewarding way.

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The life and near death of PI

First class story and interesting and enjoyable enough to read in the day. Looking forward to the development of this new series. Ms Bybee is a top class entertainer. Top class narration by Emma Wilder

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sloppy research behind this book

i enjoyed the story, but some of the research is lazy. The cruise locations and order don't make much sense in light of the geography of Europe. Just look at the map.

Overall, the story was fun.

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Not sure if this series should continue

I think Ms Bybee has taken this series as far as it should go. What started as a unique formula (arranged platonic marriages for the very wealthy) has now become a caricature, and the casual way in which the characters flitted between luxury cruises, private jets, and assorted mansions, accompanied by the obligatory body guards, has become a bit grating.

The H and h were difficult to connect to, as we learnt very little about their lives prior to them meeting. Even now, having finished the book, I feel I know very little about them. I also did not warm to either of them: Lawyer h revealed confidential business details to a man she knew so little about that even her own brother expressed concern, while the H spied upon her, and bugged her home, while encouraging her to care about him and trust him. He even kept secret the knowledge that she was being followed, knowing there was a possibility the person concerned had harmful intentions. Even when their relationship was getting serious, he was still using his involvement in her life to get better access to the “dirt” his client was looking for. Why did he not just quit the job due to conflict of interest?

The book did improve vastly once the H’s activities were revealed, and the last few chapters were good, but the ending left threads of the story unresolved, no doubt as a set-up for future books but that, along with the lack of explanations about other characters, does mean that a reader would struggle if they had not read previous books in this series.

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Fun and surprising

This seems like a fun and diverting series. All the characters are familiar but still nothing was what it seemed. I'll certainly check out book 2.

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