Second Guessing


Romance - Contemporary
294 Pages
Reviewed on 04/23/2018
Buy on Amazon

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Author Biography

Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a fulltime basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before she began Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical work of fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary. Her latest book is Miranda Writes, a contemporary novel with a legal twist. Watch for it 9/8/22!

For more information, please visit her on Facebook and at GailOlmsted.com.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

Second Guessing is a contemporary romance novel written by Gail Ward Olmsted. Jill Griffin deserved more than just being considered a rock widow, didn’t she? She was, after all, a Grammy-winning songwriter, and her recent and growing feelings for pop star Ben Fein was something she had not expected to experience again. Jill had loved her rock legend husband, Jamie Sheridan, deeply and wholeheartedly, and she was devastated by his untimely demise. Their marriage wasn’t always the best of all possible worlds for Jill, however, as Jamie liked to have his women on the side; something his wife had always tried not to think about. Things were different with Ben. He was kind and sensitive, and she felt that her long-ingrained issues over trust and self-esteem were finally resolving themselves. But there would be, inevitably, those who sought to throw a monkey wrench or three into their fairy tale romance. Some made a big deal over the disparity in Jill's and Ben’s ages; others seemed to feel Jill should remain the grieving rock widow. Could this romance survive the paparazzi, the relatives, the critics and the stalkers?

Gail Ward Olmsted’s contemporary romance novel, Second Guessing, follows the romance of Ben Fein and Jill Griffin as Jill works on the live tribute concert being set up two years after her husband’s accidental death. Olmstead’s perceptive eye examines the effect of Jill’s new romance on her daughter, Carly, and Jaime’s twin brother, Alex. She also takes perfect aim at the sexist concept that any age discrepancy between romantic partners need have the man be older than the woman -- as Jill and Ben’s romance eloquently disproves. I liked the touch of suspense that Ben’s stalker provides along the way, and the countdown to the live concert subtly and nicely involves the reader in the event as it’s prepared and actually happens. Second Guessing is a feel-good musical romance marvelously set in New York City, and it seriously rocks. It’s most highly recommended.