Help Wanted: Wife
Author: Cara Bristol
Reviewer: Sophia Rose
Rating: B+
What I’m Talking About:
Not long after the events of the first book, Escape Clause, two secondary characters from that book discover that they, too, have a need for a match-making service with an escape clause. Cara Bristol delighted me with her light sci-fi romance series introduction, and I was eager to take up the next book in the series.
Help Wanted: Wife is the second book and works best read after the first book when the series world is explained in detail and the characters are all introduced. This begins a new standalone romance pair, but updates on the situation for the earlier pair and the alien world in general.
I’m not sure how much time passes between the two stories, but enough time that the disease ravaging the Caradonia people has an antidote so has been stopped from killing them off- a month too late for the hero’s wife, unfortunately. Additionally, the time has come that the aid for new business’ program that the hero used to start up a bakery is coming to an end, and he has to re-establish his bakery into a new and permanent location which leads to his search for worthy bakery staff anywhere and that includes the Cosmic Mates matchmaking program.
Larth was a sweet man and good friend to the heroine in the first book. His situation was sad because his beloved wife was one of the victims of the terrible disease. In this story, we learn that she passed on and he’s struggling with his grief. He wants to carry on her legacy and make a success of her bakery dream so that’s how he ends up in a marriage of convenience with Prudence.
Pru’s desperate to get out of her small village and far from her cheating ex who didn’t tell her he was with someone else until five minutes before their wedding. Too much pity and stares from those who know have her eager to take this alien baker up on his need for a wife in name only who can help him open his business and work it with him.
I was wary of this book because Larth was a favorite and his wife had only died months before. Sure enough this pair combust with attraction and, as they work side by side in mutual admiration, they also catch feelings. Because Pru’s feelings came with resentfulness and jealousy of the dead wife- which she acknowledges is all sorts of wrong and acknowledges that Larth has a right to his grief and wanting to honor his dead wife’s memory, I saw the plot going exactly where I was worried it would. I ended up with mixed feelings about Pru even while I felt Cara Bristol wrote her faithfully and well. It was normal for a woman who was falling for a man to want his full love and loyalty.
But, they figured it out. Their timing on jumping into the physical side and the forced proximity made the inevitable happen. However, they were both very mature about what broke down between them and worked it out without a ton of angst and big mistakes so I finished this one liking them both and with a big smile on my face.
Interesting to note that the series will continue, but leave Cardonia behind for another alien situation and matchmaking needs. I am all eagerness for when the next release comes.
I’m going to recommend this book/series to those who like cozy sci-fi romances (if its not a thing, it is now). These are light, spicy, and quick reads, but don’t stint on the world and character development.
My Rating: B+
Sophia Rose
About the Book:
They have nothing to lose except their hearts.
The only thing keeping widower Larth from succumbing to grief is running the fledgling bakery founded by his late wife. He intends to make the business the biggest, best bakery in all of Caradonia. But he can’t do it alone. Unable to find affordable help, he turns to Cosmic Mates and advertises for a wife in-name-only. It’s a half-baked idea, and he can’t imagine why anyone would accept the position, but he’s desperate. He can’t let his late wife’s dream fail!
After her childhood sweetheart jilts her for another woman on their wedding day, Prudence McKenna is certain she’ll never trust or love again. Worse, everyone in her small village knows the sordid details. When she spots a Cosmic Mates help wanted ad, it seems like the perfect solution to escape the personal and public humiliation. Sure, the position is for a wife, but alien Larth promises it will be a marriage of convenience, a business arrangement. He needs someone to help in his bakery. She has bakery experience. It’s just what she needs.
But what starts out on a business footing soon gets…complicated. The human beauty stirs Larth’s affection, passion…and guilt. Prudence is falling for the handsome alien man but fears he’s still in love with his dead wife.
Will it take a message from beyond to settle the heartaches of the past and grant them a second chance for love?
Release Date: August 12, 2024
Publisher: Cara Bristol
Series: Cosmic Mates #2
Genre: Sci-Fi Romance
Format(s): paperback (181 pages), e-book
Book Source: Author
Purchase Info:
Amazon (affiliate link)