To Woo a Wife
by Carole Mortimer · 1998
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4.2/5
A wealthy businessman thinks money and seduction will win the widow he wants. Carole Mortimer makes that assumption look foolish, then turns the correction into a satisfying romance.
To Woo a Wife turns a standard billionaire-courtship premise into a brisk, emotionally legible romance with more wit than you might expect.
Carole Mortimer knows exactly what kind of story she is writing here: a glossy, high-velocity category romance built on sexual tension, class friction, and the slow education of a man who thinks his usual tools will suffice. The novel is not subtle, but it is more disciplined than its premise suggests, and it earns real credit for making desire feel like a negotiation rather than a foregone conclusion.
The setup is pure late-1990s Mills & Boon: Jarrett Hunter, wealthy, formidable, and accustomed to getting his way, intends to buy out Abbie Sutherland’s hotel chain; instead, he finds himself confronting a widow who is neither dazzled by money nor flattered by competence. Mortimer uses that opposition well. Abbie is drawn with enough steel to resist becoming merely an obstacle, and Jarrett’s confidence is repeatedly exposed as a kind of illiteracy—he can price assets, but not people. The novel’s first strength is that it understands attraction as something that can complicate power without dissolving it.
Mortimer also has a neat eye for the transactionality of romantic fiction itself. Jarrett enters the story as a man who believes seduction is a form of problem-solving, while Abbie insists—quietly, firmly, and often—to be treated as someone with grief, memory, and agency. That tension gives the book its pulse. The scenes between them are arranged less as grand set pieces than as a series of incremental concessions, small but meaningful recalibrations in language, touch, and expectation. That is where the book lives most convincingly: in the gap between what Jarrett wants to purchase and what Abbie requires him to recognize.
Formally, the novel is lean in a way that suits its genre ambitions. Mortimer wastes little time on decorative detours; she keeps the emotional line taut, and the chapters tend to close on a shift in power or perception. The prose is functional rather than lyrical, yet it has an efficient confidence, especially when it moves through dialogue. There is a pleasure in the directness of the exchanges—the feeling that every sentence is doing one of two jobs: advancing the courtship or exposing a self-protective lie. In a lesser romance, that economy would feel mechanical; here it feels like craft.
My reservation is that the book is also very much a product of its mode, and at times it leans too hard on the asymmetry that it is otherwise trying to interrogate. Jarrett’s wealth and authority are repeatedly eroticized, and while Mortimer gives Abbie sufficient backbone to resist him, the novel still wants the reader to enjoy the fantasy of being relentlessly pursued by a man who can rearrange the world to his preference. That fantasy is the engine of the book, but it can also flatten the emotional stakes; the conflict occasionally feels pre-solved by the genre’s own promise of reconciliation. I wanted a little more abrasion, a little more cost.
Even so, To Woo a Wife succeeds on the terms it sets for itself, and then some. It is a romance about persuasion, but also about correction: Jarrett must learn that money is not intimacy, and Abbie must decide whether vulnerability can be a chosen act rather than a defeat. Mortimer handles that arc with enough clarity and restraint to make the ending feel earned rather than merely required. The result is not a revolutionary novel, but it is a clean, intelligent piece of romantic fiction—one that understands the difference between conquest and connection, and insists on making the former look inadequate.
Key Takeaways
- Class and power
- Grief and agency
- Seduction as labor
Summary
- Jarrett Hunter begins as a classic wealthy alpha hero, intent on acquiring Abbie Sutherland’s hotel business and confident that charm and leverage will carry the day.
- Abbie, a young widow, refuses to be treated as an acquisition; her resistance gives the novel its central tension and moral pressure.
- The romance works best as a series of small recalibrations, where desire is tested against grief, caution, and pride.
- Mortimer’s prose is brisk and efficient, with dialogue doing much of the novel’s emotional labor.
- The book is strongest when it exposes the limits of Jarrett’s power and the insufficiency of seduction as a strategy.
- Its weakness is a reliance on the genre fantasy of total male pursuit, which can soften the conflict it otherwise sharpens.
- Abbie’s agency keeps the novel from becoming pure billionaire wish-fulfillment; she gives the story its conscience.
- Overall, this is polished, readable category romance with enough bite to be more than formula.
Chapter Guide
- Chapter 1: An Unexpected Proposition
- Damian, a powerful and enigmatic businessman, unexpectedly proposes a marriage of convenience to a startled Sarah. Their past, marked by a brief, intense encounter, complicates her immediate rejection.
- Chapter 2: Terms of Engagement
- Sarah, facing financial desperation, reluctantly agrees to Damian's terms, which include a public engagement and a temporary cohabitation. She tries to maintain emotional distance, but his presence is unsettling.
- Chapter 3: Beneath the Surface
- As they navigate social obligations, glimpses of Damian's guarded vulnerability begin to surface, challenging Sarah's preconceived notions of him. She finds herself increasingly drawn to the man behind the ruthless facade.
- Chapter 4: A Tangled Web of Jealousy
- An old flame of Damian's resurfaces, stirring jealousy in Sarah she hadn't anticipated, and forcing her to confront the burgeoning feelings she has for her soon-to-be husband. Damian, in turn, demonstrates a possessiveness that surprises them both.
- Chapter 5: Confessions and Consequences
- A misunderstanding, fueled by past hurts and unspoken feelings, leads to a painful confrontation between Damian and Sarah. Secrets from their shared history are finally brought into the open.
Read the full review at https://reviewerinsight.com/book/69ed5604f2f1713bdeb324dc/to-woo-a-wife