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Ninety - Day Wife
The Ninety-Day Wife by Emma Goldrick released on May 23, 1997 is available now for purchase.
192 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
About the author
Emma Goldrick
149 books33 followersEmma Goldrick is the penname used by the marriage formed by Emma Elizabeth Jean Sutcliffe, borned 7 February 1923 in Puerto Rico, and Robert N. Goldrick, borned on 22 March 1919 in Massachusetts, USA. They met in Puerto Rico, where married. She was a licensed practical nurse, volunteered with American Red Cross and she taught American Sign Language and he was a career USA military man. Thirty years and 4 children later they retired, and in 1980 they started to write in collaboration, and their first novel was accepted and published in 1983 by Mills & Boon. They continued publishing 40 novels until Robert passed away at 76, in 22 January 1996. After her husband death, she published her last novel and retired. Emma Goldrick passed away at 85, in 20 November 2008.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 6, 2026
This book is delightful. A little confusing sometimes, especially the time setting (it's written in the 1990s but feels like at times the 40s, 50s, or 70s instead), but delightful.
At first I thought that the heroine being thirty-two was a typo, but apparently not. Even though she's just finishing her college degree, the college degree is an arts degree in drama even though she lives in Appalachia and is broke AF and desperately needs a secure, high-paying career job and not something like drama where the only job she has is at the local teaching hospital (in Appalachia? ah well) enacting various ailments for the student doctors. LOL.
The premise of this book is a temp MOC (?) between the H, a single dad of a 9-year-old tomboy from the 1950's, and the h, the aforementioned thirty-two-year-old southern debutante who's gone from riches to rags, is pursuing her degree, and is also divorced, but everyone treats her like a naive child for some reason (also why I thought she was 22 not 32; people keep calling her a girl.)
Heroine lives with her alcoholic Southern Belle mother (in Appalachia? Not really Southern Belle territory, but okay). Heroine's late father owned a pharmacy, maybe a mini-chain of pharmacies? but somehow lost everything before passing a few years prior to the novel. Heroine has many odd jobs while putting herself through university for said drama degree; mom is supposed to be paying the mortgage on their house with the insurance money from Dad's passing, but it turns out she's been using it to buy clothes and ?? for the past year, and they're about to be evicted. (P.S. this is why when my dad passed, we paid off the house with the life insurance immediately. But maybe their was a monthly thing and not a lump sum idk)
H, who is the new administrator head of the hospital as well as a surgeon in his own right, has had run-ins with the h at the hospital, kinda thinks she's cute, and offers her a MOC.
After a few days h comes back with the offer of a 90-day trial MOC, in which she, the H, and his daughter can all decide if they want to continue from there. Because that is a totally reasonable and not insane thing to suggest when involving a vulnerable 9 year old, however tough they may talk. H agrees, and they get married. Like, legally and everything (eye-roll).
Anyway, the level of banter in this book is off the charts and hilarious and that's what makes it delightful. Both parties are bringing a ton of baggage to this marriage, the h arguably more, and her baggage is a bit tonally confusing as it clashes with the generally mostly light-hearted tone throughout. (Her ex-and-late husband was a criminal who got involved with the mafia, regularly beat the crap out of her, and then before attempting to murder her as well. YEAH. He died in prison fortunately.)
So, the heroine keeps getting into shenanigans, there's a cray OW who's a psychologist at the hospital, the H yells at the h for being in her bra and underwear on TV (it's a long story but she was being heroic in the bra and underwear), and they're just working out their relationship and their baggage and all the rough edges but it works somehow.
The daughter though lol. The daughter is a 1940s tomboy kid. She says things like "A lush for a grandmother? I ain't a boy." and "You got a cook in this palace?" and calls all his girlfriends "Blonde Bimbo", even the red-headed heroine. She's a pill, but she's not a 1990s pill lol.
Some of my favorite bits of the book:
Heroine, after her first run-in with the Hero: "I suppose he loved his mother. Most of these big male terrorists have that sort of attachment."
(Heroine's 70 yo mother, about the H and his ""bigness"": "He's SO big. You're too young to understand what that means. A girl your size, your age-you could [handle] him with no trouble at all" lolol
--"You did that on purpose" She snapped. ... "Let me slide down you as if you were a fireman's pole."
--"Yeah. Sexy, wasn't it?"
Anyhow, haven't gotten to the end because it was so hilarious and bizarre and delightful that I had to review it while partly through.
At first I thought that the heroine being thirty-two was a typo, but apparently not. Even though she's just finishing her college degree, the college degree is an arts degree in drama even though she lives in Appalachia and is broke AF and desperately needs a secure, high-paying career job and not something like drama where the only job she has is at the local teaching hospital (in Appalachia? ah well) enacting various ailments for the student doctors. LOL.
The premise of this book is a temp MOC (?) between the H, a single dad of a 9-year-old tomboy from the 1950's, and the h, the aforementioned thirty-two-year-old southern debutante who's gone from riches to rags, is pursuing her degree, and is also divorced, but everyone treats her like a naive child for some reason (also why I thought she was 22 not 32; people keep calling her a girl.)
Heroine lives with her alcoholic Southern Belle mother (in Appalachia? Not really Southern Belle territory, but okay). Heroine's late father owned a pharmacy, maybe a mini-chain of pharmacies? but somehow lost everything before passing a few years prior to the novel. Heroine has many odd jobs while putting herself through university for said drama degree; mom is supposed to be paying the mortgage on their house with the insurance money from Dad's passing, but it turns out she's been using it to buy clothes and ?? for the past year, and they're about to be evicted. (P.S. this is why when my dad passed, we paid off the house with the life insurance immediately. But maybe their was a monthly thing and not a lump sum idk)
H, who is the new administrator head of the hospital as well as a surgeon in his own right, has had run-ins with the h at the hospital, kinda thinks she's cute, and offers her a MOC.
After a few days h comes back with the offer of a 90-day trial MOC, in which she, the H, and his daughter can all decide if they want to continue from there. Because that is a totally reasonable and not insane thing to suggest when involving a vulnerable 9 year old, however tough they may talk. H agrees, and they get married. Like, legally and everything (eye-roll).
Anyway, the level of banter in this book is off the charts and hilarious and that's what makes it delightful. Both parties are bringing a ton of baggage to this marriage, the h arguably more, and her baggage is a bit tonally confusing as it clashes with the generally mostly light-hearted tone throughout. (Her ex-and-late husband was a criminal who got involved with the mafia, regularly beat the crap out of her, and then before attempting to murder her as well. YEAH. He died in prison fortunately.)
So, the heroine keeps getting into shenanigans, there's a cray OW who's a psychologist at the hospital, the H yells at the h for being in her bra and underwear on TV (it's a long story but she was being heroic in the bra and underwear), and they're just working out their relationship and their baggage and all the rough edges but it works somehow.
The daughter though lol. The daughter is a 1940s tomboy kid. She says things like "A lush for a grandmother? I ain't a boy." and "You got a cook in this palace?" and calls all his girlfriends "Blonde Bimbo", even the red-headed heroine. She's a pill, but she's not a 1990s pill lol.
Some of my favorite bits of the book:
Heroine, after her first run-in with the Hero: "I suppose he loved his mother. Most of these big male terrorists have that sort of attachment."
(Heroine's 70 yo mother, about the H and his ""bigness"": "He's SO big. You're too young to understand what that means. A girl your size, your age-you could [handle] him with no trouble at all" lolol
--"You did that on purpose" She snapped. ... "Let me slide down you as if you were a fireman's pole."
--"Yeah. Sexy, wasn't it?"
Anyhow, haven't gotten to the end because it was so hilarious and bizarre and delightful that I had to review it while partly through.
September 22, 2025
Aw I liked it. Very sweet, low angst with a grumpy surgeon in a MoC with a.... whatever the hell she's supposed to be.
February 17, 2013
I read this because it's the one Emma Goldrick wrote in memory of her husband who was her writing partner for many years.
Goldrick has a very distinctive style and some idiomatic speech patterns that must be particular to certain parts of the U.S. I found them quite distracting at times as it often seemed to emphasise a lack of education though I know in my head that talking like a southern belle does not equate to a illiteracy.
The story is of a marriage of convenience between an ex-army surgeon, Harry (Goldricks husband was ex-army) and Laurie a struggling student actress with a tragic past and a mother not dealing with her widowhood.
It was a very sweet story with a lot of interaction with the mother and the heroes daughter Sukie. It came across as very old fashioned in some ways. We do get inside Harry's head a bit but mostly we see Laurie's struggles. A random woman from his past causes problems and these are exacerbated by Laurie's memories of her first unsuccessful marriage.
A nice little read with a fair amount of local history thrown in.
Goldrick has a very distinctive style and some idiomatic speech patterns that must be particular to certain parts of the U.S. I found them quite distracting at times as it often seemed to emphasise a lack of education though I know in my head that talking like a southern belle does not equate to a illiteracy.
The story is of a marriage of convenience between an ex-army surgeon, Harry (Goldricks husband was ex-army) and Laurie a struggling student actress with a tragic past and a mother not dealing with her widowhood.
It was a very sweet story with a lot of interaction with the mother and the heroes daughter Sukie. It came across as very old fashioned in some ways. We do get inside Harry's head a bit but mostly we see Laurie's struggles. A random woman from his past causes problems and these are exacerbated by Laurie's memories of her first unsuccessful marriage.
A nice little read with a fair amount of local history thrown in.
June 4, 2011
A little too old-school for me. He's the new chief of medicine (?) at the teaching hospital where she, an actress nearing graduation, sometimes acts out cases for residents. He's a single father who needs help raising his precocious daughter; she's the "grown up" taking care of her flighty mother since her father died a few years ago. He proposes a marriage of convenience, which she cautiously and regretfully accepts. Hijinks ensue...
July 30, 2011
Very 'screwball-esque' - quite fun at times, in a very old-fashioned way. At other times, details of tragedy in the past are included, but they add an incongruous note rather than a poignant one, as they are brushed over very quickly.
March 8, 2015
a bit weird as far as writing goes, but cute
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews