His Friend's Wife

by Janice Kay Johnson

Obsessed with another man's wife

Jake Radovich had tried to be a good friend during Don Talbot's illness. He'd provided a shoulder for Clare, Don's beautiful new wife, to cry on; he'd been a surrogate uncle to Don's young son. Jake wasn't fooling himself about his motives, though--Don was his friend, but Jake was in love with Don's wife. And Don knew it. Did Clare?

Now Don is dead--but the passions and resentments friendship once held in check are still alive. And about to flare out of control ....

296 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1995

About the author

Janice Kay Johnson is the author of over a hundred books for children and adults. Her first four published romance novels were coauthored with her mother, also a writer who has since published mysteries and children's books on her own. These were "sweet" romance novels, the author hastens to add; she isn't sure they'd have felt comfortable coauthoring passionate love scenes!

Janice graduated from Whitman College with a B.A. in history and then received a master's degree in library science from the University of Washington. She was a branch librarian for a public library system until she began selling her own writing.

She has written six novels for young adults and one picture book for the read-aloud crowd. Rosamund was the outgrowth of all those hours spent reading to her own daughters, and of her passion for growing old roses. Two more of her favorite books were historical novels she wrote for Tor/Forge. The research was pure indulgence for someone who set out intending to be a historian!

Janice is divorced and has raised her two daughters in a small, rural town north of Seattle, Washington. She's an active volunteer and board member for Purrfect Pals, a no-kill cat shelter, and foster kittens often enliven a household that already includes a few more cats than she wants to admit to!

Janice loves writing books about both love and family — about the way generations connect and the power our earliest experiences have on us throughout life. Her Superromance novels are frequent finalists for Romance Writers of America RITA® awards. Along with her books for Harlequin, Janice has written the Cape Trouble series of romantic suspense novels, and is about to launch a new series, Desperation Creek, set in rural eastern Oregon.

Reviews

[Sharon Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is part of a book set or series, called Safe Haven from Harlequin Romances. These were all written in the 1990's, and His Friend's Wife tells the romance, if you can call it that, of Clare Talbot and Jake Radovich. Really, though, IMHO, (in my humble opinion) it's more of a history of their relationship to each other, leading up to an eventual proclamation of love. It deals with her late husband, Don Talbot, who had schizophrenia, and who was fascinated with fire, back when all three of them were high school age. Fast forward to present day (or at least the 1990's, lol), and the very small community in which Clare is living, with her stepson Mike, is experiencing suspected arson in several homes and businesses. The story weaves in and out between flashbacks, as Jake moves back to town, after having been gone for many years. I thought this was a pretty good book, but like I mentioned earlier, it felt more like a mystery or intrigue novel than an out and out romance that you would expect from a Harlequin Romance. It was still a rather interesting book, and really kept me reading at the climax of the book, which was nearly the end. I thought it was a decent book, but perhaps a bit lacking in the romance department, although the couple of sex scenes that were in there were fairly spicy. You'll enjoy this well enough if you like romantic intrigue.