A romance with one of the main characters being a divorce attorney involved in marriages for hire? This doesn't sound like a premise that should work but Catherine Bybee has written another winner! The Alliance crafts marriages between two parties for a certain length of time & compensation. Lori writes the prenup, the contract & deals with the divorce. She also tries to comfort the women if things don't go as planned. She takes three of the women on a cruise to relax & let go after two of them are divorced & the third ends up a widow. Trouble seems to find them onboard & follows them home.

Lori has met the perfect man & the chemistry is intense. Reed is hot enough to make her forget her decision not to get involved. However, Reed has his secrets & as events begin to unfold, he's torn between keeping his secrets & protecting Lori. If he tells her he's a private investigator, she'll want to know more than he can tell her & he'll lose her for keeping a lie. Can Reed walk the thin line? Can Lori protect herself & the three women? Can Reed & Lori find a way to make their relationship work?

Catherine Bybee has a way of writing romances with a twist that showcase the power & individuality of women. The characters are all believable & three dimensional. Lori comes across as bossy & jaded but as a reader, I was able to identify with her & become engaged in the story. Ms. Bybee was able to completely illustrate the corner that Reed had managed to work himself into & the way he was able to justify his actions in warning Lori's partner in Alliance. I can't wait for the next book!

What an excitement to discover a new series by Catherine Bybee. It is not only an event but a real joy as well.
This first opus is a little fast paced or with a lot of action (maybe a little bit too much ?)
I want to know about the other First Wives !

Lori Cumberland has worked hard to get to where she is in her life, but it seems someone is determined to bring her career as a divorce attorney crashing down. However, with the help of powerful friends, Lori isn't about to surrender so easily, not if it means selling out the people she's helped as an attorney. But when Reed Barlow -- the man she's falling for -- reveals the secret he's keeping, will Lori be able to forgive him or will her second chance at happy ever after be destroyed as the danger she faces closes in?

Ms. Bybee has such amazing talent when it comes to writing contemporary romance with a touch of suspense and second chance romances, and this book proves it. Really, everything about this story -- the beguiling main characters, the wonderful blend of intense moments and playful banter that made this story an absolute page turner; and the challenging obstacles this hero and heroine face on their journey to happy ever after -- had me hooked and determined to discover how things would turn out between Lori and Reed. Would they get their second chance at love?

The way this story started had me liking the heroine and the secondary characters immediately, and I loved what they're up to because who doesn't like a celebration. However, it was right at the end of the first chapter where this story really takes off, because of what Lori needs to do to help a friend in need. Will her methods work? Moreover, the heroine is resilient, courageous and I liked how determined she was to help her friends. I also liked how she stood up for herself when it came to the danger. No way will she be intimidated. Yet, what I liked most about the heroine was the decisions she made when it came to the hero and her future with helping one of the secondary characters with a new venture; and her determination to help her friends, especially since they're going through a lot with divorces and enemies that are determined to learn the women's secrets.

While the hero, I could sympathize with him when it came to his back story and understand why he finds it hard to trust people. How could people he should have been able to trust betray him like they did? Furthermore, Reed is confident and I liked how determined he was to succeed in his mission of learning anything he can when it comes to Lori and her friends. Will he get the information he needs? I also liked how protective he was of the heroine and that he would do whatever it takes to help her when it came to the people determined to make Lori's life difficult. Yet, what I liked most of all about the hero is his determination to win Lori over, even though it's not easy when -- at first -- she's more concerned about her friends than having fun with a man.

Overall, Ms. Bybee has penned a fantastic and sizzling read in this book where the chemistry between this pair was powerful; the romance was very passionate and did justice to this couple's intense chemistry; and the ending had me concerned for one of the main characters and one of the secondary ones. Will they be all right? Yet, what I loved about the ending is how things turned out for the hero and heroine, as Reed was willing to do whatever it takes to win Lori back after what he did, which is proven by what he does to get Lori to hopefully listen to him. However, it was the epilogue that wrapped this story up perfectly, as it helped answer those burning questions that remained unanswered such as what Reed was going to do in the future when it came to a career and discovering who hired the person helping Lori and Reed from the shadows. I would recommend Fool Me Once by Catherine Bybee, if you enjoy second chance romances, contemporary romances with a touch of suspense, or books by authors Marina Adair, Erin Nicholas, Bella Andre and Stacy Finz.

Lori, a divorce attorney, has a pretty unusual job. You see, Lori and her friend have an agency called the Alliance, the idea of this agency is that it creates fake marriages for the rich and famous, every marriage has an expiry date and both parties enter knowing that, at the end of the day the richer party pays the other and the marriage is dissolved, kinda like a job. Reed, the H, has been hired to dig dirt on one of the couple , he gets close to Lori in order to unearth those secrets.

At first I was intrigued but after a couple of pages, not so much. These characters made this arrangement willingly, why should I care when one of them has a panic attack or when people take advantage, you entered with you eyes open, get over yourself. They are richer than they ever were but they kept whinging.

Reed and Lori's romance was non-existent, they became intimate soon after they met and that was it, I couldn't feel the emotional connection, no matter how the author tried to make it seem they had one. I was bored by the time they had their confrontation and had to skim through the rest.

Fool Me Once is the first installment in the First Wives series by Catherine Bybee. I have to confess I was one of those people Catherine talked about that wishes there were more days in the week when it came to the Weekday Brides series. I LOVED that series and now we have a spin-off which is great!! I have loved everything I've read by Ms. Bybee and just known even before I pick it up that it's going to be GREAT!

Thank you to Montlake Romance, NetGalley and Ms. Bybee for the ARC of this great book in exchange for an honest review.

The new series, First Wives Club is a hit! She is continuing her romance series where Weekday Bridges left off. This book is about Alliance’s divorce attorney Lori Cumberland. Divorcee Lori knows how to protect the women who use Alliance and is immune to men. Then she meets Reed Barlow and despite her fighting it, fall in love with him. But when events begin to happen and her life in in danger, she finds not everything she thought about Reed are what they appear. This book has it all and is a must read!

Lori works with women to help them after their secret “arranged” marriages end. Unknown to her, Lori is being followed by a private investigator, Reed, who is trying to figure out what is going on with her clientele. This is an exciting suspenseful romance.

This first book in a new series is packed with friendship and laughter between women friends, along with mystery and romance. There is also a harder edge to the story with elements of kidnap and threat, betrayal and death. An ideal combination in a compelling read.

Alliance Divorce attorney Lori Cumberland is, herself, a divorcee, so she can talk the talk and walk the walk of her clients; her exclusive, match-made, prenupped, and divorced clients. When she takes 3 of them on a girl’s getaway – two who were recently divorced and one whose husband killed himself within a year of marriage, she plans to have a fun filled, stress-less week aboard a luxury cruise ship.

Since this is a Catherine ByBee book, that’s not gonna happen.

The ladies meet a group of men on the boat, one man in particular who captures Lori’s eye and lust – Reed Barlow. Reed attaches himself to the girl’s group easily,
and all the women like him, enough to talk without censuring themselves around him – something they should be doing. Even Lori drops her guard with him.
After the cruise, Reed continues the affair he started on the boat with Lori and she begins to think he may just be the man to finally crack through to her protected heart.

But Reed isn’t what he seems.

Throw in a Russian oil magnate hell bent on eliminating one of Lori’s clients, a former First lady to a Governor she’s still in love with, and the entire Alliance crew from ByBee’s Weekday bridal series, and Fool Me Once turns into a chock-filled story that I devoured in one afternoon because I simply did not want to, nor could, put down until I go to the last page!

Fool me Once was Lori’s story, and I’m hoping that her three clients in the book have their own books coming!

5 more than well deserved stars for one of my favorite, go-to authors. Thank you, Netgalley and Montlake, for letting me read an arc of this story for an honest opinion. My honest opinion? Go buy this book the moment it’s released!

I'm not going to regurgitate the blurb. You read it, so you get the gist of the book. I'm going to just hit the high and low lights as I saw them.

I liked the plot, Lori the divorce attorney who works along with her friend Sam. One arranges, the other handles the pre-nups and the divorces. They even celebrate the divorce by throwing a party and inviting the previous now ex wives. When there's an incident and one of the not divorced women need a little get away, Lori who also does post divorce "follow up care" rounds up a few ladies and off they go to Europe for a cruise. Tidy little business. I could see the perks in that. It's plausible.

Reed meets the ladies while on a cruise in Europe, Lori is his target, hard to believe and she falls for him, even harder to believe. But she does. There were a few signs, she just missed them. We find out he's a PI and he's taken in by the rest of the ladies as well, so they feel comfortable sharing with him. It's nothing deep or personal and they are protective of one of the girls due to her circumstance.
The plot was filled with intrigue and suspense, good guys and bad guys, including women looked the same and hard to tell who was wearing what hat. With good reason.

I had a couple of issues with the way the story rolled out. It shot out of the gate then dropped into an abyss and moved at a snails pace for the mid portion of the book. There were too many dialogues with too many high maintenance women with high libidos that also slowed down the story and didn't add a single thing to it. Men dropped in and out of the story (on the cruise) and again not needed.
Meanwhile it seems that Lori is being targeted for some reason yet her partner is what? Yes she was aware. Meanwhile Reed still hasn't milked whatever info he's trying to get out of her and now he's trying to protect her, because of the threats made against her by an angry family member. Reed is too busy juggling his own agenda too. Sooner or later you have to know that his deception is going to come to light and Lori is going to take the brunt of it. The last 20 percent of the book the rubber hits the road and things come to a head, in every way possible. My last and final peeve was Sam's reaction to her "beta testing." That so rubbed me the wrong way. Lori, much to smart to fall for that bs and much to short of a memory and forgiving.

Realizing this is Book 1 and perhaps trying to place all the main characters in place could have been the reason, but it was a rough one to get through. But I can also add if you're a Catherine fan and read the first series; dive head first into this one. I think the series holds promise.
I gave this 3.5 stars but rounded it up to 4 for the sake of numerics.

**arc from NetGalley and Publisher in exchange for a fair review**

A spinoff from the Weekday Brides series Fool Me Once is the first in the First Wives series and it was excellent!
We visit with some old friends from the Weekday Brides Series and although it is a spinoff under no circumstance should you think you have to read Weekday Brides if you haven't.
Lori Cumberland is a divorce attorney working on divorces of temporary marriages for Alliance. When it's decided a cruise is in order for a particular group of Alliance clients Lori cruises along.
Meeting Reed on board and falling for him was the last thing cynical Lori thinks will happen. She not only falls for him but his deceit.
Reed had a job to do but falling for Lori isn't part of it. Wanting to keep the women and most importantly Lori safe from someone other than his client his investigating finds him in the middle of a dangerous situation.
I really enjoyed reading the camaraderie of the women and of the entire Alliance team. I wanted to be their friends or work for Alliance!
This book is funny, it's romantic, it's suspenseful.
I've read many books by Catherine Bybee but believe this is her best.

**Advanced copy provided by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review**

This is the first book in the First Wives Series and it was wonderful meeting up with some of the characters from the Weekday Brides books. I can't thank Catherine Bybee enough for bringing these characters back to us, along with some new ones I hope to continue to see.

There is a lot of friendship and laughter shown in this book, along with mystery and romance. It is nice having women friends working together to help each other out. Secrets being kept, both bad and good.

There is no way to describe this book without ruining it for you, so grab a copy for yourself and expect to be up reading all night long!

I voluntarily reviewed an Advanced Reader Copy of this book on NetGalley.

What a great read Fool Me Once was from the First Wives Series. I absolutely loved the Weekday Brides Series and was looking forward to interacting with these characters again. Catherine did not disappoint.

We are introduced to Lori Cumberland a divorce attorney who represents the clients of Alliance. Alliance is a discreet company that arranges temporary marriages for the rich and famous. So why wouldn’t her motto be- Love is grand, but divorce is a hundred grand. She is asked to join The only goal is new friendships and to have fun!

On the first day of the cruise we meet Reed Barlow, private investigator, lots of charm and attitude. He was hired to get dirt on one of the ladies of the group. Reed decides the best way to do this is by getting cozy with Lori and hanging out with her group of friends.

Reed is not the only one looking for information. Lori could end up in danger and he does not like it. It seems that it was not just a ship board fling but something more. Can Lori forgive him for the deceit or has he lost his opportunity to find love?

This new series is a great continuation of the weekday brides series. Fool Me Once not only includes the expected romance, but mystery as well. I look forward to the remaining books in the series!

As a huge fan of Catherine Bybee’s The Weekday Brides series, her name always captures my full attention when I see she has a new release headed my way. Seriously, if you haven’t checked into those books, I highly suggest you get right on it. I enjoyed each and every one. The First Wives series, which starts with Fool Me Once, appears to be a spin-off of that series.

Now is where things are about to get complicated and maybe even confusing, my fellow romance book-loving friends. You see, though I liked the first series I just mentioned, I just couldn’t endear myself to the plights of the three “first wives” cast-off sub-characters presented here. On top of that, the storyline itself was overly drawn out with too many side plots/conversations that stole time away from the main couple’s spotlight/romance. We are told there is danger afoot but it all unraveled at a snail’s pace, as did the non-relationship of Lori and Reed. Sure, they started being intimate, but I didn’t really feel they had a strong enough love connection to be a main couple I felt compelled to root for. They didn’t stand out among the pages or storyline. They were just there along with a large cast of other characters.

So as not to fool you even once, let me also share with you something I noticed the synopsis does not point out here. The marriages divorce attorney Lori, the heroine, is so masterful at dissolving and dismantling are premeditated and carefully calculated long before the words “I do” are spoken. You see, neither party “do not” mean the vows they pledge. In fact, contracts are drawn up putting a marital death sentence with a specific date of expiration that is signed/sealed/delivered by both bride and groom long before the fake engagement ring comes out of the Tiffany box. If you’ve read The Weekday Brides series, you are already aware of this pre-established concept.

Apparently, the rich and famous live not just a different lifestyle, folks, but by a different set of marital beliefs/conduct from most of society, which they obviously feel is wrong or they wouldn’t bother trying to hide it. Marriage is for manipulation to fullfill some plot or scheme that the one holding/controlling the most moola/mucho dinero (whatever you want to call it) can afford to buy a disposable spouse but still want to keep it a hush-hush, dirty little secret. You’ll have to decide for yourself how well that sets with your romantic heart.

Lori is part of a carefully orchestrated team that gets exceedingly rich off catering to what some will likely feel makes a mockery of marriage. Again, I found it difficult to feel sympathy for these women who married for excessive amounts of money in the first place then have panic attacks worrying what people will think of them. Loyal Lori feels it is her job to hold their hand and do whatever it takes to help them breathe through their insecurities, vulnerabilities, and infamous celebrity status should they get busted/exposed by the media.

Sure, The Weekday Bride series had a similar theme, but somehow it just felt different. Maybe I simply tolerated it better because it was in smaller doses. Those books stayed focused on one romantic plot the whole time. Maybe it was because the bride or groom to be wasn’t looking to be part of this questionable business. Just know this time around it wasn’t the same for me.

As a private investigator, Reed, the hero, is right there in the manipulative mix of things representing a client that isn’t likely going to bode well for Lori and her gal pals, who are insanely rich clients. The plot thickens when others not happy with them are up to mayhem, as well. Honestly, so many people kept popping up I found myself caring even less who was planning to do what to whom.

At 30%, I was frustrated and restless at the back and forth subplots that really weren’t going anywhere. By 50%, I definitely felt it was taking too l-o-n-g for this romantic storyline to unfold. Simply put, I lost interest. My Kindle fast forwarding forefinger was getting quite the workout, folks. From that point on, I felt like I was skimming through it not to see three little words (I love you), but only two..“The End”.

Maybe the next book will be better for me. I can’t help shake the feeling what should have been filler content became more the focal point of what could have been a great romantic storyline.

Title: Fool Me Once, Series: First Wives (Book 1), Author: Catherine Bybee, Pages: 350, stand-alone but part of a series, author I usually like, a couple VERY steamy scenes, marriage/divorce for hire theme, Private investigator hero, lawyer heroine, wasn’t as good as I had hoped, too many sub-characters/subplots, one perilous situation.

(This review is based on advanced reader copy provided via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. There was no compensation provided to the reviewer, nor is there any affiliation between the reviewer and author/publisher/NetGalley.)

**Advanced copy provided by NetGalley and the Publisher in exchange for an honest review**

In the first installment in the Weekday Bride series spinoff, First Wives series, we get a glimpse of some of our past faves and meet some new characters! We got a glimpse of Lori in the first series as she's the attorney for Alliance. She has been asked to help out the brides who are transitioning out of their contracts and the end of their “arranged marriages”. She herself is a divorcee and that left her feeling very bitter about love and any new relationship. The last things she expects when she and the other ladies head out on a cruise is to find herself attracted to a man but that's exactly what happens when she meets Reed Barlow (a PI that may have ulterior motives). Was their meeting a coincidence?

This book has everything the first series had: friendships, strong women, romance, suspense, and more. It sucks you right in from the very beginning! A terrific start to the new series and I cant' wait to see what lies ahead!

A good story. Good characters and the plot was interesting.

This was a really fun read. Catherine Bybee is expanding on her series of books about Alliance, an elite service that matches men who want a temporary marriage and the women they marry. This new spinoff series is about the a group of three wives who didn’t find a HEA in their marriage and now are trying to find love and happiness after their divorces. This first book centers on Lori Cumberland, the divorce lawyer for Alliance, who has gathered together three women who need a break after having their temporary marriages end. So her solution is to take them on a getaway cruise in Spain.

While there she encounters sexy Reed Barlow, a PI who investigating one of the ex-wives. He romances Lori in hopes of finding out more and also because he’s really attracted to her. Mix in the efforts of one Russian mobster bad guy after one of the women and a secret agent woman, Sasha, who is more talented than all secret agents put together.

I couldn’t put this down. It was the right mix of romance, sex, suspense, and humor. It is original if you can just suspend disbelief that there are enough of these multi-millionaire men in need of temporary marriages to fuel a very expensive matchmaking service.

I can’t wait to read the stories of the other three women in this book and I hope that Sasha will get her own romance and a worthy match.

I was given a free ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting spin off to the Weekday Bride Series. We are introduced to the First Wives Club which is compromised of the ladies who were former clients of Alliance, as well as the fierce attorney, Lori Cumberland.

The foundation laid out in this inaugural book ensures this new series will be filled with love, suspense and hilarity among this group of women. Lori was a great mama hen to these ladies who needed to chill a little, relax and have a good time. ENTER Reed Barlow- sexy fellow cruiser- or at least we think??

Loved their chemistry and how Lori questioned her vulnerability to Reed. Reed questions what his mission with this group truly is and soon there is as much drama and suspense as there is fun and flirtation.

Looking forward to what is sure to be another great series by Catherine Bybee.

I was confused. I didn't know what was going on and I gave up.