Finley Cartwright is the queen of lost causes. That’s why she’s standing on a barstool trying to convince Friday night drinkers to donate money to a failing charity. Hitting on the guy on the next stool wasn’t part of her plan. Still, hot but grumpy venture capitalist Caleb Sherwood might just be her ticket to success. Professional grifter and modern-day Robin Hood, Cal Sherwood is looking for a … looking for a partner for a long con. Sexy Fin, doing her best Marilyn Monroe act for her cause, has the necessary qualifications. By the time he cuts her free, her charity would be thriving, and she’d have helped him charm billions out of arrogant, gullible marks to fund his social justice causes.
But just when he thinks he’s about to pull off the best con ever, his feisty new partner gets the upper hand.
The Confidence Game series is best enjoyed in order.
Reading Order:
Book #1 One Night Wife
Book #2 Fool Me Forever
more
I have said it before and I will say it again, an Ainslie Paton book is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get.
One Night Wife starts with a meet-cute that will have you smiling from ear to ear, and then the games begin.
Finley and Caleb’s story isn’t the usual strangers-meet-in-a-bar story. I adore Finley, and Caleb is all kinds of gorgeous.
I love the grifter storyline, it is smart and witty and not something I have read a lot of. I love the player getting played – or do they?
A modern day play on Robin Hood, One Night Wife played me, had me hooked and lead me on for the long con. And I adored it.
I can’t wait to see what Ms Paton brings us next.
4.25 Stars
Finley and her friend Lenny just started a charity for women. But then her friend’s dad got arrested for fraud and suddenly they didn’t have any money to get started with their Dollars For Daughters thing.
Enter Caleb. He’s part of a huge family of Wall Street con-men and women. They swindle mega-rich a-holes into investing in start-ups and then they take that money and give most of it to people who really need it. Robin Hood Wall Street Cons.
Caleb needs Fin to be his new pretend girlfriend to swindle some important clients. And she needs him to get those mega-rich guys to give a little to her charity too.
The only problem? … Fin is already half in love with Cal. And Cal can’t have that. He can’t bring an outsider into the family business. But he’s realllly tempted!
I really enjoyed this book. It’s beautifully written. It’s smart and fun. It’s interesting to see how they swindle all those people out of their money. All of them deserve to be swindled! That was really funny. And it’s also really sparky & sexy and cute.
But it’s also a bit slow. There’s just too much …. Too many words and too much thinking. I wanted more action and more romance, more talking. Sometimes I caught myself fast-reading through the words until I got to the lines where people talked to each other. Maybe it was weird my mood this weekend, but it wasn’t my kind of writing and storytelling this time. And I usually LOVE Ainslie’s books. I know they can be … different. Wordy. Complicated. But I really adore them. No idea what happened this time. BUT – once I got back from my nap and ate some cake – I couldn’t stop reading! I had to know how those two would get their happily ever after! It’s a really beautiful & interesting and adorable story. Keep on reading – don’t give up!
This was a book that took me unawares on where the story was actually headed, like Ms. Paton’s previous books, it starts out almost fluffy with a great meet cute, an attractive hero and a not so perfect but delightful heroine. But then it veers off a little bit, to more multilayered and well defined characters whose purpose in life suddenly becomes the focal point of the story. One Night Wife deals with the big con and instead of remaining light and fluffy, it gives us a love story with a lot of heavy issues that could happen in real life.
3.5 Stars
Review by Lisa
Late Night Reviewer for Up All Night w/ Books Blog
Ainslie Paton does it again with One Night Wife. What a ride you will be taken on in this story. I absolutely love the story line and the format. Finley, the woman who can’t commit to anything and Cal the professional con man. Put the two together and sparks will fly and heads will spin. But who is actually the one being conned?
Finley, has started up a charity to help other women with her long time best friend. But when their major benefactor can’t donate the funds, Finley takes to the bars to try and raise money. Which leads her to standing on a bar stool trying to convince the Friday night drunks to donate money for her cause.
Cal, just had one of the worst night of his life, but when he see Finley up on a bar stool, he thinks he has found the right person to be his partner in his next con.
Cal putting Finley to the test, “shows” her all the tricks of the trade to help her con billions of dollars from the arrogant, gullible marks. But little does she know that she is also helping Cal out in his master con.
But when things become too close, who will end up on top and who is conning who? OMG READ IT.
As much as I truly loved this story line, I did feel like it was a bit long and drawn out. As a whole I understand the need for the build up and back story. I just felt it was a bit too much.
Overall, this story is very well written and the story flows smoothly. The chemistry is off the charts and I love the connection that grows throughout the story.