So. This is a total slow burn and I think works for a lot of reasons. The set up is pretty great. I loved Cal and his whole family's long con. Finley is a great character, and her being pulled into his con in order to help her legitimate non-profit is a great touch. The best part of this book kept reminding me of Jenny Crusie's Welcome to Temptation and Faking It...which is a super high compliment.

The development of the Art of the Con overtook some of the romance for me, but ultimately I did buy it as a slow burn romance. Cal has a reason for trying to stay away from her and she's so heartbroken when she finds out that he's a con artist. For the most part, I liked and believed the development of their emotional connection.

I have super mixed feelings about some things that happen in the end, [spoilers] like was it really necessary for Finley to head to Africa to have her epiphany there? I mean, I get it because of her NGO, but it's really never a good look for a white lady to get woke to the ways of the world in a foreign land, and that whole chapter sort of spiked the book for me, to be honest.

One Night Wife has a story line that will keep you interested all the way until; the very end. This story is truly unique and because of the "What is Happening Next" questions I kept having, I had to get to the end. Fin from the start pulled on my heart strings. She was is need of some help, but lacked the confidence. Cal was just trying to drown his sorrows and Fin was not having any of it.

The adventure these two go through was trying on these characters. When you figure out Cal's back ground and it was a family 'Business", I was wondering how these characters would ever just be Cal and Fin. The story kept me intrigued, but the way it was told was hard to stay with it. It was told from the narrator so to speak, and the characters had their dialogue. I like more stories that is coming from the characters. Overall I liked this book and give it 3 stars.

This book started really well. I was quite interested in the story but it progressed it became boring to me. I couldn't connect with either character, I think there were a lot of emotional repetitions. Overall the book was focused way too much on the professional side than on the romantic side. However, the ending was interesting. So it has a good start and a good ending, with some boring parts in the middle. For me, it's an average read.

Well I didn't expect to learn all about the art of the con in a romance novel but I feel like I did. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to find myself pulling for a con artist like Cal. This is definitely a unique twist on the fake romance trope. It's witty and smart and I spent most of the book with absolutely no clue what was going to happen next. The characters are so well developed and their chemistry and banter are refreshing and fun.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I was given an advanced copy through Net gallery in exchange for an honest review.

This book is a stay-up-all-night-reading kind of story; I couldn’t put it down. The plot moves pretty well, it does get a little clunky at times, but overall is flow nicely. The character development is there but let’s be honest: for a romance book you don’t expect a ton of character development. You want chemistry between the leads and this book has it in spades.

This was a book that took me unawares on where the story was actually headed, like Ms. Paton’s previous books iiy starts out almost fluffy with a great meet cute, an attractive hero and a not perfct heroine. But then it veers off a little bit to more multilayered and in depth characters whose purpose in life suddenly becomes the focal point. One Night Wife deals with the big con and instead of remaining light and fluffy it deals with a lot of heavy issues that would really happen in life. How do you trust that what you feel is real when you’ve been dealing with the con for all your life. Caleb Sherwood robs from rich bastards and gives it to those notable organizations trying to save the world. Clear cut and precise, everything is thrown askew when he meets Finley Cartwright,. Fin has been known to quit at things for most of her life, but her nonprofit charity is something she refuses to give up on. Raising money for charity shouldn’t be this hard. But when she meets Cal and he tells her to get money for her charity she is definitely the star student. When feelings get in the way is it time to give up on the con or can Cal and Fin get their happy ever after? One Night Wife is one book that will definitely grab your attention simply because of it’s uniqueness and lovable characters. It’s a sweer, funny, sexy slow burn romance that would have you rooting for the good guys.

One Night Wife is well written. I enjoyed the plot and the characters. The author is new to me and I anticipate reading more of her books.

I really enjoyed this book. It started off a little slow for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it. I loved the somewhat forbidden attraction that Cal and Fin had for each other. I also loved their conversations. They felt real, mature and meaningful. They build up of sexual tension was perfect and led in to some deliciously steamy moments. I also really liked the original premise for the story. It's unlike anything I've read lately and I'm glad gave it a chance.

One Night Wife by author Ainslie Paton is a slow burning story which jumps at you, gaining your full attention. A read with likeable characters and a spin all its own, that make for a good read.
Review copy received from Entangled Publishing via Netgalley

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 & intersting and adorable story. Keep on reading - don't give up! ☺

Can I swear? Please? %#@@^@^%$ it! This was $#@%ing awesome. So awesome I might have read until 4 am, again. Everything about this book was perfect - I wanted it to be longer only because I wanted to read more but really there was nothing left in the story to tell. Everything was spot on - good tone, quality writing, well paced, no loose ends, amusement, heat, a little bit of annoyance at the idiot male. Great work overall. I especially liked the consistency - the main character starts out shy but desperate and then grows into her own with his tutelage, no back and forth or dithering, just believable progress. There was enough description to make the world believable without making it over the top or missing - no need to go into the art gallery exhibits merely their existence as background. And, above all, it makes me want to read everyone else's story. It's a great jump off to create a storyverse from this with the family members because you can get just enough to be vested in their unique personalities as secondary characters. The parents are so darn sweet I even want to read theirs! Please make this into a series!

Finley Cartwright, has never stuck with anything in her life. Running a charity with her friend she is desperate to finally succeed. That’s why she is standing on a barstool trying to convince patrons to donate to her cause.
Cal Sherwood is a professional conman and CEO of a modern-day Robin Hood company. In need of a new partner to fool wealthy marks he is fascinated by Finley. It’s a win/win situation if they partner up. Finley will receive generous donations and Cal will restore his standing in the company after a disaster the prior con. There’s only two issues, Finley has no idea it’s a con and pretend soon leads to reality in this fake relationship.
While I found the concept intriguing, I found the execution somewhat lacking. While the characters were likable, I just could not connect with the story.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. For more reviews please visit my blog:
http://www.wonderfullyweird88.com/

Ehhhhh....this book felt really awkward for me. It wasn’t bad but I never could really get into it. Cute concept...execution was a little lacking for me.