First published 2013
Leslie Anne Greene Carter watches her Atlanta social circle transform as her husband Wesley's friends divorce their first wives for younger women. She becomes known as The Last Original Wife, clinging to a marriage and friendships that no longer serve her. When a series of personal setbacks pushes Leslie to her breaking point, she decides she's finished playing the dutiful spouse to a man who treats her like a burden. Leslie escapes to Charleston, her childhood home, where she stays in her brother's historic house. Walking the cobblestone streets lined with live oaks and palmettos, she remembers the girl who once shared summer kisses on Sullivans Island. Between cocktails and memories of her first love, Leslie begins listening to her own desires for the first time in years. The story unfolds through both Leslie's and Wesley's perspectives as she searches for the authentic life she abandoned and the love she truly deserves.
Genres: romance, literary-fiction, domestic-fiction, contemporary, contemporary-romance, family-drama
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, second-chance-romance
Setting: Atlanta, Charleston, Sullivans Island
Period: contemporary
348 pages · Kindle Edition · William Morrow
Content warnings: emotional-abuse