Jack Dawson and Maggie Moran divorced thirteen years ago when his job and the city life were not what Maggie wanted for herself or their son, Ben, any longer. The dangers of Jack’s job as a cop, kept Maggie living in fear that every time would be the last whenever he walked out the door. Fast forward thirteen years later, Maggie and Ben have been living in Whistlers Bend, Montana, where Maggie has taken care of the family ranch and Ben is graduating from high school. Jack and his parents arrive in Whistlers Bend for the graduation and Jack finds out exactly what Maggie endured during their years of marriage as she looks for cattle rustlers.

Someone has stolen Andy, Maggie’s beloved buffalo and she’s determined to find out who it was. If she doesn’t get Andy back, she could lose the ranch and that just can’t happen. She won’t allow it. Nor will she allow Jack to drop back into her life and try and take care of things for her. She’s been doing just fine on her own for thirteen years and all she wants is for him to return to his own life.

But Jack has other ideas. As he sees the danger around Maggie, he realizes everything he put her through, and finds himself more in love with her than ever. The divorce never stopped him from loving her. Jack realizes just what A Fabulous Wife Maggie was, and is. Now, if only he can show her that it doesn’t matter if they live together or apart, they need and want one another and time does heal old wounds. Can Jack show Maggie that they were meant to be?

Dianne Castell writes a fun and joyful story about life in your forties. Jack and Maggie make an electrifying couple who are just meant to be together. Maggie is stubborn, weary of all the hard work she’s endured running the ranch, yet has a lot of determination in her, to keep her life as it is. She might still love Jack, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that they should be together in her opinion. However the case may be, she can’t resist her ex-husband’s arms around her and the connection they have always shared. Her heart won’t allow her to resist him.

Ms. Castell pens this story with a sure-hand. Maggie and Jack come to life within the pages, and their family and friends around them do as well. Ben is very much a mix of both of his parents. We see a lot of them in him and he was a charismatic part of the story. We also get a bit of a secondary romance, as Maggie’s father, Henry, also finds a new love. Two wonderful additions to this story were Maggie’s best friends, Barbara Jean and Dixie. Both these ladies were a riot and added a lot of splash to this story. I can’t wait to read their stories in the sequels to this series.

Dianne Castell shows that life after forty can be just as exciting as love in your twenties. A Fabulous Wife is a fantastic story of love finding you when you least expect it, and in Jack and Maggie’s case, that second chances do come along, and you should grab onto them and not let go. This is an author on my auto-buy list and I look forward to reading more of her work.

Reviewed by Tracey West for The Road to Romance

August 16, 2005