In Too Deep by Mary Connealy

After the death of her abusive and wicked husband, Audra Gilliland is determined to become independent and assertive.  She agrees to a marriage of convenience with Ethan Kincaid as a way to protect herself, her two daughters, and to get out of her new married step-daughter's home.  Audra desperately wants to be able to stand up for herself. After all, she does not care what her husband thinks about it. Ethan does not have high hopes for the marriage other than to have a wife who can cook, clean and live amicably with him.  Surprisingly to both Ethan and Audra, affection begins to grow quickly. However, before they can see what this fondness will lead to, they must each deal with lingering remnants of their past lives.

In Too Deep by Mary Connealy is the second book of the Kincaid Brides series. I haven't read the first one, but this one gave enough background information that I easily understood what was going on after a few chapters.  To be honest, I found the back story and ongoing drama caused by Audra's previous husband (a situation presumably addressed in the first book and in the forthcoming third book) more interesting than the love story between Ethan and Audra.  Audra's character was well-developed and authentic. However, Ethan's character was a little flat and somewhat unbelievable to me.  I will not mention the exact details because that would lead to spoilers, but most of the time he is presented as reasonably intelligent and talented and then other times he is unbelieveably naive.  I know that people and characters are multi-faceted, but the naivety was not cohesive with the rest of his character.

This is one of those books that I recommend renting from the library before buying.  Some readers will probably love it, but I don't see myself ever reading it again.

Click here to read an excerpt from In Too Deep by Mary Connealy.



Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers as part of their blogger review program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising."