A review by jenreadsromance
One Night Wife by Ainslie Paton

3.0

So. This is a total slow burn and I think works for a lot of reasons. The set up is pretty great. I loved Cal and his whole family's long con. Finley is a great character, and her being pulled into his con in order to help her legitimate non-profit is a great touch. The best part of this book kept reminding me of Jenny Crusie's Welcome to Temptation and Faking It...which is a super high compliment.

The development of the Art of the Con overtook some of the romance for me, but ultimately I did buy it as a slow burn romance. Cal has a reason for trying to stay away from her and she's so heartbroken when she finds out that he's a con artist. For the most part, I liked and believed the development of their emotional connection.

I have super mixed feelings about some things that happen in the end

Spoiler

like was it really necessary for Finley to head to Africa to have her epiphany there? I mean, I get it because of her NGO, but it's really never a good look for a white lady to get woke to the ways of the world in a foreign land,

and that whole chapter sort of spiked the book for me, to be honest.