What do you think?
Rate this book
The Third Wife
On her wedding night, seventeen-year-old Anna Langtry stole her husband's car and fled into the darkness, racing toward freedom. She felt on desperation to escape the nightmare of her Colorado home - an isolated rural community that condoned her forced polygamous marriage to become one man's third wife.
Fifteen years later, Anna is working as a federal probation officer in Denver. A fighter for the underdog, even she cannot escape the cynicism of her profession. She doesn't expect much from her newest parolee, just the usual sob story about being innocent and misunderstood. But Joe Mackenzie is different.
A white-collar criminal convicted of embezzlement, Joe is tough, quiet, determined...and innocent. Now he's looking for justice. And he's about to pull Anna into his world, one that will lead her back to the past she'd left behind - one that will reach out to ensnare them both in it's dangerous secrets and deadly schemes, where the passion between them is threatened by the grim reach of murder.
392 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
10 people are currently reading
153 people want to read
About the author
Jasmine Cresswell
115 books54 followersBorn in England, Jasmine Cresswell now divides her time between her winter home in Sarasota, Florida and her summer home in Evergreen, Colorado. Jasmine has been writing since 1975 and has published over 50 novels, with 9 million copies of her books in print.
Jasmine served for two years as the editor of the Romance Writer's Report. She also served as president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is a founder and former president of Novelists, Inc. She received the Colorado Authors' League Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year and the Romance Writers of America Golden Rose Award. Her books also have received numerous Romantic Times certificates of excellence.
Experienced as a public speaker, Jasmine has conducted college seminars and addressed many writers' conferences. Interviews and profiles have appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and Jasmine considers herself a veteran of talk shows and news broadcasts.
Married to Malcolm Candlish, whom she met while she was working for the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Jasmine and her husband have lived all over the world. She has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in history and philosophy from Melbourne University, a second degree in history from Macquarie University, as well as a Masters Degree in history and archival administration from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Jasmine served for two years as the editor of the Romance Writer's Report. She also served as president of Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers, and is a founder and former president of Novelists, Inc. She received the Colorado Authors' League Award for Best Paperback Novel of the Year and the Romance Writers of America Golden Rose Award. Her books also have received numerous Romantic Times certificates of excellence.
Experienced as a public speaker, Jasmine has conducted college seminars and addressed many writers' conferences. Interviews and profiles have appeared in newspapers throughout the country, and Jasmine considers herself a veteran of talk shows and news broadcasts.
Married to Malcolm Candlish, whom she met while she was working for the British Embassy in Rio de Janeiro, Jasmine and her husband have lived all over the world. She has a Bachelor's Degree with a double major in history and philosophy from Melbourne University, a second degree in history from Macquarie University, as well as a Masters Degree in history and archival administration from Case Western Reserve University in Ohio.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 13, 2023
You know I was rooting for this book but I can't believe it wrapped back round to a happy ending lol
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 19, 2014
Expected more fluff; happily, a bit deeper! Forced polygamy, parole officer, ex-cons, crooked big shots/cops.... and the bonus of a personality-plus kitty. Typical plot predictability saved by a couple surprises.
July 5, 2022
On her wedding night, seventeen-year-old Anna Langtry stole her husband's car and fled into the darkness, racing toward freedom. She felt on desperation to escape the nightmare of her Colorado home - an isolated rural community that condoned her forced polygamous marriage to become one man's third wife.
Fifteen years later, Anna is working as a federal probation officer in Denver. A fighter for the underdog, even she cannot escape the cynicism of her profession. She doesn't expect much from her newest parolee, just the usual sob story about being innocent and misunderstood. But Joe Mackenzie is different.
A white-collar criminal convicted of embezzlement, Joe is tough, quiet, determined...and innocent. Now he's looking for justice. And he's about to pull Anna into his world, one that will lead her back to the past she'd left behind - one that will reach out to ensnare them both in it's dangerous secrets and deadly schemes, where the passion between them is threatened by the grim reach of murder.
Heather's Notes
Not a bad book, there were some holes in the plot, but they were not huge and could be overlooked. I did wish there had been more explanation at the end of the book. Still I liked Joe and Anna and enjoyed getting to know them. The plot was what had a few holes but overall not bad.
Fifteen years later, Anna is working as a federal probation officer in Denver. A fighter for the underdog, even she cannot escape the cynicism of her profession. She doesn't expect much from her newest parolee, just the usual sob story about being innocent and misunderstood. But Joe Mackenzie is different.
A white-collar criminal convicted of embezzlement, Joe is tough, quiet, determined...and innocent. Now he's looking for justice. And he's about to pull Anna into his world, one that will lead her back to the past she'd left behind - one that will reach out to ensnare them both in it's dangerous secrets and deadly schemes, where the passion between them is threatened by the grim reach of murder.
Heather's Notes
Not a bad book, there were some holes in the plot, but they were not huge and could be overlooked. I did wish there had been more explanation at the end of the book. Still I liked Joe and Anna and enjoyed getting to know them. The plot was what had a few holes but overall not bad.
May 24, 2017
Polygamy, illegal drugs, a 17yr old runaway girl being forced by her "church" to become a third wife, and a guy set up by his rich fiance and her her father to coverup their illegal side business. A very interesting read that reminded me a lot of the things we are seeing in the news theses days. If you like intrigue you will like this book.
July 5, 2018
This grabbed me from the first! It was my first experience with this author and everything in it made me want to read more. Loved the suspense, the characters. Everything about this book made me want to read it again and again!
September 25, 2018
This is a good book. I found it difficult to really get into at first. Once she made it away, I enjoyed reading it more. I didn’t particularly like the way parts of the story were skipped over and revealed in the past tense, like when Joe got shot in the parking garage. Great story, though.
February 19, 2019
Held my interest throughout most of the book. Got a bit repetitive at times. Typical love story/mystery plot, good story line.
December 5, 2024
Not my typical read. Overall did enjoy the plot! Towards the end there were some moments that felt too rushed/didnt make sense. More a 3.5 instead of a 4 but not a 3 either
January 19, 2026
Veramente una bella lettura.
4.5 stelle
4.5 stelle
March 24, 2012
Creswell has written a really interesting novel here full of twists and turns and some very interesting characters.
The story follows Anna, a parole officer who has escaped a previous life as part of a polygamous religious group. She is settled in her new life until her new paroled, Joe McKenzie, a convicted embezzler, drags Anna into his life and back to her past.
There were points in this novel where I thought the plot was going to be really predictable. However Creswell throws little twists right until the last so it is never quite clear what will happen. The characters within the novel are engaging from the outset. The novel begins in the past on Annas wedding day to her polygamous husband, and it is here that the insight into her life is created an continues to develop through the early chapters. It is not until the last third of the novel that the plot begins to come together, and until this point, Creswell develops her characters brilliantly.
This was a great book that I really enjoyed reading, and I will look out for other Cresswell novels in the future.
The story follows Anna, a parole officer who has escaped a previous life as part of a polygamous religious group. She is settled in her new life until her new paroled, Joe McKenzie, a convicted embezzler, drags Anna into his life and back to her past.
There were points in this novel where I thought the plot was going to be really predictable. However Creswell throws little twists right until the last so it is never quite clear what will happen. The characters within the novel are engaging from the outset. The novel begins in the past on Annas wedding day to her polygamous husband, and it is here that the insight into her life is created an continues to develop through the early chapters. It is not until the last third of the novel that the plot begins to come together, and until this point, Creswell develops her characters brilliantly.
This was a great book that I really enjoyed reading, and I will look out for other Cresswell novels in the future.
January 26, 2009
This is the story of Anna, whose mother arranged a marriage for her when she was 17, to her step-uncle who belonged to a branch of the Morman's who still have multiple wives. She conceived on her wedding night, as well as stole his car and managed to disappear. The story takes up 14 years later when she is a successful parole officer doing an intake on a new client whose pastt collides with her world.---A fascinating story.
November 29, 2011
Polygamy and a parole officer. This book was not what I expected, and I don't usually read this type of book, but this one was really good and recommended to me. Hard to believe this type of world exists, in America no less, but I'm sure to some extent this was pretty realistic. Really a good book.
April 4, 2009
I honestly thought this book would be better than it was. There was something missing in this book, that I could not put my finger on.
The book was just ok.
The book was just ok.
August 20, 2009
Very good book! Lots of action and suspense. Several surprising twists. Highly recommend this book.
April 13, 2011
Interestingly twisted tale of a parole officer who finds her past intwined with that of one of her parolees. Good, but Jasmine Cresswell can do better.
Read
February 9, 2019Exceptionally good
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews