The Stepmother

by Diana Diamond

Sixty-five-year-old multi-millionaire Steven Armstrong tells his three children that he is going to re-marry. But his new bride isn't the stepmother they have in mind. Charlene "Charlie" Hendricks is his vivacious, thirty-five-year-old personal trainer, the single-mother of a teen-age daughter. To Steven's midlife children, she is nothing but a gold digger…

Days before her wedding, Charlie, training for a triathlon, decides to go for a swim in the Atlantic Ocean. Out of nowhere, a mysterious figure on a speeding Jet Ski shows up, making an attempt on her life. The children head the list of suspects--but which one plotted her death?
Then, after the wedding, a second attack backfires and mistakenly kills her husband, making Charlie a wealthy heiress. Now it is the children who accuse her of murdering their father. Is Charlie a ruthless fortune hunter, or the innocent victim of her husband's greedy heirs?

Genres: Audiobook, Mystery

384 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 2 out of 5]

I would've given the book 3 stars as a fast, fluffy summer read, but for all the bloody typos. This couldn't have gotten past a proofreader. One of the characters even changed names! (And one or two characters changed genders. I assure you that wasn't part of the book.) Also, can we stop calling dessert 'desert?' It makes me think about getting sand in my ice cream. An okay summer read when you have nothing else to do.

[Ari Damoulakis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, please don’t read the book description at all before reading the book or it will totally spoil it.
I’ll write a propper review for you now-now. Simple but quite relaxed book in its way. Yes the story, most of it is not realistic, but I always say there is absolutely no harm relaxing sometimes with an unrealistic story as long as it is quite good, but you will spoil so much if you read the book description, then it is not that mmuch worth reading. Slowish paced read. Some sort of review coming later. But if you don’t read review or book description, think will find book unspoiled. I’m trying to work out if should write review at all or what to p

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable mystery.

[Feral Words · Rating 3 out of 5]

All in all a decent book. I didn't LOVE it and I didn't hate it. I could see several major plot twists coming a mile away but let's be generous and blame that on the fact that I am intuitive and have spent years reading books of this caliber and can see the "warning signs" a million miles away.

Not poorly written. I found myself sad when Stephen died and enjoyed the emotional roller coaster that charlie was on through the duration of the book.

The weakest part for me was the "setting up the children" aspect. For me, it read like it bounced all over the place and you never really suspected any of them for more than a chapter or so before you'd change your mind. Again, that is a credit to her writing but an aspect I didn't really get on board with.

Tara makes me glad that (as of now) I will never have a 14 year old daughter. The misdirection with regards to the chauffeur was brilliant though it never really developed.

There were things to like and things that I didn't like as much. Overall an enjoyable book for a leisurely read.

[Michael crage · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my opinion, this was just an okay book. Obviously someone else thought it was great because Diana Diamond is not an author I know, so I I had to get knowledge of the book by someone else's recommendation. In the book a 65 year old man who was very rich, has a knee replacement. A 35 year old woman becomes his therapist and in charge of his rehabilitation. She would come to his home everyday for a few hours to work with him. Steve Armstrong, the man, falls in love with her and marries her making her the stepmother of his three grown kids all around her age. They are not happy about it since it cuts there inheritance in half and the father has been keeping them afloat in what they do for money. Then Charlie, the therapist, has an attempt on her life. Then a second attempt backfires and kills Steve instead of her. She becomes a wealthy heiress and the step kids accuse Charlie of murdering their father.

[Lupe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this story but I knew the ending and killer well before they were revealed. I was not surprised in the least. However, the main character was relatable. I liked her little Toyota with its older radio!

[Silvertip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read. Hard to put down

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was pretty unbelievable

[John Avlakiotis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Predictable from the very first pages...

[Tomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

Figured it out pretty early. Really predictable and plodding.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Florida, wealthy sixty-five years old Steven Armstrong underwent knee replacement surgery and subsequent therapy. He soon falls in love with his physical therapist thirty-three years old Charlene "Charlie" Hendricks, who raises a young teen Tara by herself. He asks his eldest son Matthew for advice, Matthew then tells his two siblings, Hollywood actor Gary and art show sponsor Trish about their father’s plans. These are 3 children who even in their adult life need their father to keep them solvent, so they don’t really like the idea of him marrying again.

Charlie is surprised when Steven asks her to marry him and is not sure at first but then realizing marrying him would help her daughter, Charlie accepts. However, someone is unhappy with her marrying the self made millionaire and tries to kill Charlie, but they fail. A second attempt ends tragically with Steven dead and the police suspecting the new rich widow. She is unable to sit idly by while suspecting one of her step children is trying to kill her, so she starts a little bit of investigating herself. Charlie then has the help of a detective with questionable methods of investigating as she heads to trial.

I found this story easy to read, but it was not a really exciting story, it just went along.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a great beach read book. I'm not normally a big mystery fan but every once in awhile one will catch my eye and this is one example.

This is the regular story of young woman marries older man with an established family with older children but it seems that somebody is now out to kill the new "stepmother" especially after the husband has been found murdered. The new Stepmother is put on trial for his murder but who is really responsible?

Could it be the young bride who has a young daughter and would love his millions to keep to herself?

Could it be his children who are afraid of losing their million to their new stepmother?

Could it be the new brides ex-boyfriend who wants to blackmail her?

Hmmm......

This keeps you hanging on until the last chapter before you find out who did it.

Grab this book. Grab a beer or a glass of wine. Grab your favorite lawn chair and enjoy.

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book as part of a challenge and my only real requirement was the title of the book. With that being said, this is not my typical type of book to read and besides that, I didn't really get much out of the book. It had a typical storyline: young woman marries older, rich man and then he dies. It then becomes a whodunit with some twists that the reader isn't necessarily expecting which made the book a little better. Unfortunately for this book, it didn't matter that it was from the young woman's point of view so the entire time you assume it isn't her, it still was a typical, somewhat boring story that I wanted to just read faster to confirm my suspicions on who the murderer was.

[Ginny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would have given this book 2.5 stars given the option; however, it was an enjoyable summer read--just not as riveting as I had hoped. I was unable to identify with Charlie Hendricks who agreed to marry 65-year-old Steven Armstrong so that she and her teenage daughter would benefit from his enormous wealth. The downside of this relationship was Steven's 3 adult children who are horrified that the marriage might put an end to their father's generosity. After Stephen is killed accidentally in a plot meant for Charlie, the mystery wraps up with a shocking denouement.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this wasn't even very good at being a light mystery read. I listened to it in the car, and I really should have stopped, but I didn't have time to go to the library and get another book on CD. The story is way too predictable and the end did not surprise me at all (not what I am looking for in a mystery). There are much better choices out there.

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. It was ok but nothing spectacular. Usually I need a bit more from a mystery to really get me into it but it was alright.

[Crystal Ledger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Stupid. i guessed it.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a great piece of literature, but a compelling story. A good who dunnit.

[Jackie Simons]

Read 4/12

[Melissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not a good book, but an acceptable audiobook to kill time during household chores.

[Katrina]

Victim of set-down syndrome.

[Melanie]

Donated 2012