The First Ten Focus Group Feedback for Memoirs of the Senator's Wife
Because Memoirs of the Senator's Wife was Book of the Day, some of our most trusted members have carefully looked over the cover, the description, and other aspects of this book as a part of purchase-intent focus group. We then asked each participant in the focus group if they planned to buy and read the book, and why they planned to buy and read the book or not. Their answer to that question and reasons are displayed below. We call this awesome feature The First Ten Focus Group.
Keep in mind, the responses from the members are not reviews. This is purchase-intent focus group which means the participants are people who have NOT yet bought or read your book. A purchase-intent focus group is an important and extremely useful marketing tool for any product, not just books. For other products, you might walk on the street and show people an item in a package and poll them about whether they would buy if or $X or not. These kind of focus groups are one of the ways big marketing companies find the ideal price points for products and test the effectiveness of different packaging. The focus group can help you identify your market so you how to target ads of your book, and it can (but may not) provide you new useful info about your "packaging" (e.g. your book cover, your book synopsis on Amazon, etc.). The point of the focus group comments is to give you information from people who have not bought or read your book about why they plan to buy your book which will help you in marketing the book. These are not reviews or critiques of your book because they are not from people have read the book. This is a marketing tool, not reviews. The trick of book marketing and book advertising is that you have to convince people who have not read your book yet that your book is worth buying and reading. For marketing, it doesn't matter much if people love your book after reading it if you cannot convince potential buyers before they read it that they will love it.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable. This is because we only poll about 20 or so readers, and all readers have to say "no" to almost all books. Over a million books are published each year. Even a very active reader cannot come close to even reading 1% of books out there.
This is also why publishing books is such a tough industry.
va2016
The cover and the title are indicative of the theme of the book. There are 18 Amazon customer ratings. The story that I read in the Amazon summary of the book is not very interesting, so I would have skipped sampling the book if not for the First Ten program. As I sampled through the book, I found the narration describing the interaction between Estella and her mother Renee. As I didn't like the writing style, I am not going to read this book in full. I found the sample professionally edited. There are no grammatical or mechanical errors. I didn't like anything specifically about the book. I don't have any suggestions for improvement. Although I didn't find any OBC reviews of the book, my decision to not to read the book in full is based on my own sampling.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 4:19 am by va2016.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jennifer Donovan Smith
The cover made me think this was a contemporary romance novel. It has the style often used by writers of the billionaire romance trope. I wouldn’t have sampled it because I do not like that type of book. However, I was actually really surprised to find that this book is set in the 1950s. This image would have been considered extremely racy in that era. I don’t think the cover is appropriate to the content of the story.
The synopsis is was piqued my interest. There is no official Online Book Club review of this book, which was disappointing, but did not affect my feelings toward the book.
The scene in the prologue was an attention-grabber, but the entire first chapter felt dull. There was a lot of background information that I presume will not have relevance to the story later that could have been omitted. There were also numerous errors, especially with punctuation. A wrong word was used in the following sentence: “Divorce were extremely rare.” Either “divorce” needs to be plural or “was” should replace “were.” As there were numerous errors and the first chapter was not very intriguing, I won’t be reading the whole book.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 3:15 am by Jennifer Donovan Smith.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Vickie Noel
I would certainly have read this book, with or without the first ten program. The looks of it, from the title to its cover, spell intrigue, suspense, and drama! I wasn't disappointed at all when reading the sample. I liked that each chapter had a title. I loved reading about Estella and her mama Renee's relationship. I loved how practical and prayerful Renee was, especially her method of writing (manifesting) whatever she prayed for on a piece of paper and placing it on the Bible page that applied to her request. I don't really believe that this is what makes the prayers work, but somehow, it is an exhibition of deep faith and trust which is quite encouraging. Concerning the fact that Xavier raped that Estella, I was puzzled as to why Renee would consider the option of Estella being married to the same violent man who had unabashedly raped her, just because they were poor and no one else would want to marry her. I love how Estella channeled her thoughts to her unborn child who she'd already named "Marie," deciding that she would be her new purpose in life. "She would make the best world for her and never put her in harm's way." This is a beautiful book that I can't fault in any way, so I have no recommendations for improvement. It was professionally edited. The only errors I saw were: First, the absence of a period to demarcate the sentences, "Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the "heartbroken" Renee He was a sucker for women in distress." Second, quoted speech which began with a small letter in, "Mama added: "the first mathematicians were seamstresses..." She elaborated on her family history..." These are really minute errors that do not affect the quality of this book. I did not see an OBC review on it, but my decision to read further is unwavering.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 3:14 am by Vickie Noel.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Catherine Hsu
If I had not read the sample I would not have read the book as I did not think it was my genre. After reading the sample, I have not changed my mind for the same reason. I also found an error in the writing so perhaps some editing is needed: "In horror, she sees them exiting the flame-filled house; the flames consuming them from head to toe." The second sentence after the semicolon is a fragment. However, I still appreciate that they started the prologue with such an intense scene of waking up to a burning house. I did not read an official review but that did not affect my decision.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 2:19 am by Catherine Hsu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Lorraine De Vos
I would have chosen to sample this book based on the cover and title. It suggests that saucy secrets are kept within the pages. The first ten pages were intriguing and definitely left me wanting more. Estella’s childhood was difficult and her emotional response of being emotionless when dealing with her mother was extremely sad for me. I am curious to see how her life turns out, so I will definitely be adding this book to my reading list. I was disappointed that there was no official OnlineBookClub review, as I always like to read about my peers’ insights on the books. The book does appear to be professionally edited, as I did not notice any errors. I have no recommendations for improvements.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 1:30 am by Lorraine De Vos.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Annelore Trujillo
I would not have sampled this book based on the genre, blurb, cover and title. I don’t read historical fiction very often, and the 1950s isn’t an era I’m interested in reading about. There also wasn’t an OBC review. I very rarely buy books without a review. After reading the first ten pages, I won’t be finishing this book. I actually thought the way the background of Estella was told was a little confusing. It talked about her father dying then went back and talked about how her mother married him in the first place. However, it had never said his name before this section, and I thought it almost talked about him as if he were a completely different person. It took me a while to realize that Richard was Estella’s dad and the background was just a little out of order. It continues talking about her background in chapter 2, and by this point I had lost interest even though it is getting closer to the actual story with her meeting her future husband. I also noticed errors. For example, “divorce were rare” should be “divorce was rare.” This told me the book was not professionally edited. There wasn’t anything specific I liked so far.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 1:25 am by Annelore Trujillo.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Howlan
The cover is neat and alluring. The synopsis is an entirely accurate description of the book. The first ten pages were quite decent. The sample features Estelle and her mother, Renee, who, after the death of Estelle's father, moved to New York. The first ten pages also feature Xavier Cyrus, as he is attracted to Estelle and rapes her. The rest of the sample describes Estelle dealing with the rape through meditation and other things as she learns that she is pregnant. The first ten pages describe Estelle's fate as she comes to terms with Xavier. The narration is fluent and easy to understand. I would have appreciated more humor in the dialogues, which should be improved to ease the tone of the book. However, I am not considering buying this book as I am not interested in the story. The synopsis failed to interest me much as I do not enjoy reading dark romance. So, I am not going to buy and read the rest of the book. No typos were noticed in the first ten pages. The Official Review is absent, and it did not affect my judgment of the book as the Amazon reviews were quite clear.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 1:15 am by Howlan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
AvidBibliophile
The cover art feels boldly suggestive, but professionally rendered in both layout and design. The Amazon product description provides an adequate plot summary with plenty of salaciously titillating teasers and innuendos. As the prologue began, I was surprised to read about weird dreams, burning houses, "smoking corpses" and spewing vomit in 1921, but then the storyline immediately jumped 20 years ahead to drunk drivers, dead fathers, abusive husbands, and moody moms. While the first 10 pages introduced plenty of characters and situations, none of them were trophy wives, sexy sidepieces, or senators. This book appears to have been professionally edited. While there is no currently published OBC review to peruse, the 18 currently posted Amazon user ratings offer quite a varied sampling of impressions and perceptions. I did also watch the promotional YouTube video for additional insight, and it offered a complimentary viewpoint to the novel, albeit one more focused on attractive actors and scandalous affairs. Since I have little interest in stories about congressmen, politics, the D.C. social scene, infidelity, or magical sexual rituals, I will be passing on this one, but it does seem to span quite a few decades of American history.
First Ten review added on March 31, 2020, at 1:08 am by AvidBibliophile.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Chelsy Scherba
I’m not a fan of romance because of the sexual content. I will pass on this book for that reason alone, but I do like the concept of a woman marrying a wealthy political figure and her relationship with secret service. The review was fairly positive, but did let me know there are things in the book I wouldn’t enjoy, so I appreciate the reviewer’s honesty. The image on the cover is pretty cool, and this book is a number one bestseller, so I’m sure it’s good for fans of the genre. I’m not much into politics either. I did catch an error, there’s a missed period here after ‘Renee’, “ “heartbroken” Renee He...”, Otherwise the book looks professionally edited. I do like the author’s attention to backstory with Renee escaping her abusive husband with her daughter Renee. Still, I’m not going to purchase this book for personal reasons.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 11:36 pm by Chelsy Scherba.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Ekta Kumari
The storyline revolves around a dark romance. It involves a politician, Xavier Cyrus and his wife, Estella. Both of them meet during college and get married. However, Xavier becomes abusive, and that takes a toll on their marriage. Estella ends up falling for a Secret Service Agent, Michael. The storyline explores the outcome of this forbidden romance and with whom Estella chooses to be with. Besides the romance, the book also encompasses themes of politics and history. I liked the premise but wouldn't have read the book as I'm not into reading romance or historical fiction. Though, I did like sampling the book. The thing I liked the most while sampling is the plot setting by the author. The book details everything about Estella's childhood and her family. This helped me understand her character better, and it also offered a better look into her struggles as an impoverished girl. I also like that the story builds up at a slower pace, describing every character. Plus, the scenes are vivid. Only improvement I would recommend is getting another round of editing as I found at least two errors in the portion I sampled. One error is in this sentence, "Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the “heartbroken” Renee." This sentence misses a period at the end of it. As for reading the book further, I don't think I'll read the whole book as I'm not very much into the central themes. I didn't see an official review for this book. And that doesn't impact my decision to not read it any further.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 10:43 pm by Ekta Kumari.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
ritah
Based on the cover and title, I would have sampled the book out of curiosity. I didn't see an official review for this novel. While sampling the book, I did not find any errors or see any areas that needed improving. I could understand Estella's conflict; the guilt she felt towards her mother while she missed/longed for her dad. I liked the author's writing style; I found myself continuously turning pages, which is why I will be reading the rest of the book.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 7:40 pm by ritah.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Nerea
Estella is a beautiful young lady from a humble background. She’s caught in between two young men, Xavier and Josh, who show interest in her striking beauty. Xavier seems to be a playboy with no good intention for Estella. Josh, on the other hand, cares and respects Estella. The story sounds engaging and exciting, but I don’t think I’ll continue with the story to the end because I got discouraged by what Xavier did to Estella, he sexually abused her. So sad. The cover and the title of the book didn’t bring out clearly what the book portrays. I thought the book would be more about marital issues and politics. There wasn’t any editorial review published at Online Book Club, which could have detailed the book’s description. I did not find any typos/errors nor profane references. The story is a page-turner, but the fainthearted may wish to skip the book due to the scenes that depict graphic references.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 4:32 pm by Nerea.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
gen_g
Based on the cover and title, this seems interesting, as I would really like to hear a female perspective of politics, and I would have sampled the book. I have not come across an OBC review of this book, but I would still have sampled it. After sampling it for First Ten, there are a couple of errors present. At 6% in the sample, there is a missing comma to indicate the separation of independent clauses: "...win this war(,) and there won't be...". I have marked this down as an error, even though I understand that these commas are subjective, because of the inconsistencies that I have found. In other words, the sample does include commas placed in sentences to separate independent clauses in certain cases. An example of when the comma has been inserted is at 0% in the sample: "She awakens to the smell and sight of smoke billowing in her bedroom and is suddenly aware that her home is on fire, and she must rescue her family". I would suggest more editing. Still, I appreciate how the author has described how the characters were like via their actions instead of info-dumping. For example, we learn that Estella cried for months when her father died from a car accident, proving that she loved her dad very much, even if he was abusing her mom (his wife). Estella was happy for her mom that she (the mom) no longer had to suffer, but Estella still did miss the time she and her father spent together by the lake fishing and talking. However, due to the errors present (which are slightly distracting), I will not be buying the book today.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 1:07 pm by gen_g.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Cristina Chifane
If it hadn't been for the first ten program, I wouldn't have sampled this book because I'm not interested in reading dark romances. Both the title and cover are appropriate for the genre, but they don't appeal to me. Since the book seems to focus on the forbidden love affair between a politician's wife and a Secret Service agent, I find the plot rather predictable. There are no editorial reviews on Amazon, and the customer reviews range from 1 to 5 stars. An official OBC review could have helped me understand the plot and the characters much better. In terms of editing, I noticed some punctuation errors like an extra comma ("[...] with the word "love" over his name [...]" - 19% of Sample) or a missing period ("Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the "heartbroken" Renee(.) - 19% of Sample".) I didn't like the graphic description of Estella's rape in the pages I've read. I think the author could have been more careful with the editing and could have eliminated the brutal images of the physical assault. I won't be adding this book to my reading list.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 12:59 pm by Cristina Chifane.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Maria Esposito
I knew I would not be interested in the book before I sampled it. Neither the cover nor the title caught my interest. While I like historical fiction, I prefer stories where women take an active part in the events, and are not merely cast as lovers. Reading the first ten pages did not make me change my mind: although the author's writing style is engaging, I am simply not interested in the storyline. The book seems to be well-written and professionally edited, since I came across no errors. There was nothing I particularly appreciated, or that I thought should be improved. I did not come across an official review on Online Book Club, but that had no influence over my lack of interest in the book.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 11:05 am by Maria Esposito.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Leyla Ann
Sampling the first ten pages helped me confirm my first impression based on the book cover, title, genre, blurb, editorial reviews, and customer reviews. To be honest, I didn't even need the latter to form a good opinion of this book as I liked the story ever since I read the first page, but I still think an official review is needed to develop a better idea of it before diving in.
I was quite intrigued by the dark tint this romance-themed story has, especially the forbidden element, although I didn't like how religious the main character and her mother were. Therefore, if anything could be improved, it would be the last point because it made the story sound a little bit, if not overly superstitious, which might not be up to the taste of most. I also found a few grammatical errors like "Divorce were extremely rare." and "But I don't know whether if Xavier", so I think this book may need another round of editing.
I may add that I won't buy this book as I'm afraid that grammatical errors do hinder my enjoyment when it comes to reading no matter how much I love the story.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 9:03 am by Leyla Ann.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sanju Lali
It was clearly evident from the cover and the title that this book is a memoir of a woman who is the wife of a senator. However, every woman has a different story depending on her background and the circumstances she faced. Therefore, I was not sure whether or not to buy this book without reading the official review. Unfortunately, I did not find any official review of this book. Moreover, it could have helped me decide whether or not to buy this book. After all, I trust the official review so much. However, I read the sample of this book. After reading the first ten pages, I found that this book was professionally edited as I did not notice any grammatical or typing errors. The only thing l liked the most in this book is the glimpse of America during the early nineteenth century and the depiction of the level of hardship the women faced during those days with an example of Estella's mother. However, the narrative appeared jumping from event to event rather quickly and leaving a lot of things to guess by myself. There was very little information about Estella's father. Suddenly I read that he succumbed to his injuries that he got due to an accident. I suggest the author give more details if possible so that the reader like me can invest in the story. After looking at all these aspects, I decided not to purchase and read this book today, but I will wait until the author comes out with something to make my reading experience pleasurable.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 7:43 am by Sanju Lali.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Jeremie Mondejar
The cover photo simply depicts romantic gesture. While sampling the book, I found the narrative a bit interesting. I assumed Estella was the main protagonist. I believe that Estella's marriage to Xavier was by force. Later, she's having an affair with another man, which made me think of her betrayal. I like the bonding of Estella with her mother named Renee. For improvements, the backstory must be clearly stated who is the husband of Renee. In 1921, Renee's house was on fire, she and her daughter were the only survivors. For almost two decades later, Renee's husband died again. I am confused and I convinced myself that Renee had three husbands because she married again to Nick. I notice no period in this sentence, "Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the heartbroken Renee" on location 19 of the sample. I didn't see any OBC review of this book. I will not read the rest of the book because of the explicit scenes mentioned in the blurb.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 6:43 am by Jeremie Mondejar.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kristy Khem
The cover design, title, genre, and blurb were intriguing. I was certain that this would be a great book. Based on these parameters, I would have chosen this book to read. However, the mixed Amazon reviews shrunk my confidence. Additionally, I didn’t see an official book review on Onlinebookclub.org which further made me question whether I would enjoy it. I read the sample as part of the First Ten program. The book mainly focused on Mama Renee and her daughter, Estella. After her husband died, Mama Renee took a liking to Estella’s uncle, knowing that he would help them out of poverty. He took them to New York. When his ambitious plans fell through, Mama Renee married another man who later developed Alzheimer's. I liked Mama Renee’s character. She always had a way to make men fall for her and her daughter. She had a special perfume, she knew how to care for long hair which men subconsciously liked, and she knew of ways that merged prayer and manifesting to attract love. I liked reading about Estella’s teenaged life, but the story shocked me when Estella was raped by Xavier and became pregnant. I was even more shocked when she found out that her mother had written her and Xavier’s name along with ‘marriage and love’ and placed it in the bible. It seems like Mama Renee used occult methods to secure a future for Estella through a marriage with Xavier who came from a wealthy family. I really enjoy reading about occult stories so I would enjoy reading about this mother-daughter duo. I saw a couple of errors in the sample. One example is where the names “Margaret” and “Margret” were used when referring to the same character. Despite this, I will buy and read this book. It is quite intriguing!
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 4:15 am by Kristy Khem.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
SurroundedByBooks
I liked the cover. I thought it coupled well with the blurb. I wouldn't normally sample this book because I don't enjoy dark romance books. The first ten pages were edited fine, but as you might expect, I didn't like the bathroom scene. I can't fathom how that would lead to a relationship with Xavier, but it's not a storyline I'm interested in following.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 3:22 am by SurroundedByBooks.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Alice Heritage
This isn't a book I would have sampled on my own because I don't normally read historical fiction featuring romance. I also won't buy it today as there was a lot of exposition at the beginning. The book appears to have been professionally edited; I just noticed a missing period between "Renee" and "He" here: ' "... the heartbroken Renee He was a sucker" '. I liked the beginning where the protagonist had a mysterious dream, and the fire made for a thrilling opening. However, the backstory that followed was more expository and complex, and I wasn't sure what the significance of all the characters was. Perhaps the book could be improved by revealing more of the backstory in detailed scenes. There was no OBC review; that might have been helpful in indicating how things panned out, but I was able to make a decision based on the sample.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 3:14 am by Alice Heritage.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Aditi Sapate
I would not have chosen to read this book based on the title, cover and genre, as when it comes to history, I prefer reading non-fiction as opposed to fiction. The absence of an official OnlineBookClub review further left me clueless about this book. While sampling the book, however, I really enjoyed reading the strong character developments of Renee and Estella. I also found Estella to be a really likeable character when she turned down Xavier's proposal for a private study date. Although I haven't understood what the story is about yet, I would like to continue reading this book. The sample did not contain any grammatical errors.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 2:44 am by Aditi Sapate.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Verna Coy
Had I not sampled this book through the First Ten program, I would not have chosen it because the cover doesn’t appeal to me. For this reason, I don’t intend to buy and read the whole book today. Reading the first ten pages didn’t change my initial ideas about the book. It opened with a dramatic scene of a house fire, which was unexpected. Based on what I read, the book does not seem professionally edited. I noticed missing punctuation such as at location 18% of the sample “Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the “heartbroken” Renee[.] He was a sucker for women in distress.”What I like most about what I read was the way the author communicated how characters negative elements can influence generations. I know that readers who like novels with a bit of drama will enjoy this book. Aside from proofreaders for minor errors, I could see no need for improvement in what I read. I didn’t see and Official Online Book Club review, but that didn’t change my views of the book.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 2:39 am by Verna Coy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Shrabastee Chakraborty
The cover or the title did not appeal to me. In the absence of an official OBC review, I relied on the blurb to get a summary of the contents. The first ten pages were without editing issues. The prologue shows a family of four torn in front of our eyes, as a devastating fire kills off the man and his elder son. The actual story shows Estella's life, her abusive father's death and how that impacts her family. I am not going to suggest any improvement for the book itself, as the writing is catchy. However, I did not like the premise I gleaned from the blurb and won't be reading this.
First Ten review added on March 30, 2020, at 12:38 am by Shrabastee Chakraborty.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kaitlyn Canedy
I chose to read the sample because of the gold seal on the cover. If it is award-winning, why not give it a try? I liked how it can relate to me well, despite my dislike for politically based books. The plot is interesting, as an unhappy spouse is looking for the freedom of an unconditional relationship. I want to know what happens next, so I will be reading it. I did not see any grammatical errors in the sample at all. I could not find anything to improve, nor could I find anything to dislike. Unfortunately, there is no official OnlineBookClub review for Memoirs of the Senator's Wife and it is such a shame. I thought that this book would have had one, based on what I know about it. Despite this, it did not bother me as I loved what I read so far and I cannot wait to read more.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 11:41 pm by Kaitlyn Canedy.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
evraealtana
I don't care at all for romance novels, so I wouldn't have chosen this one for myself. There was no official OBC review, but I really doubt that a review, no matter how glowing, could have enticed me to read a romance. The first ten pages were not painful, as most romance novels are, but I could tell that I wouldn't enjoy the rest. I liked Estella as a character and thought she had a "rich" (no pun intended) background, though I haven't seen much of her personality yet. Renee seemed pretty stereotypical, so I didn't care for her as much. I was actually more interested in the "ghost story"/horror scene in the prologue, though I couldn't figure out how that related to the rest of the book. I will not continue reading, though that is due to no fault of the author's. I noted two errors: a missing period at the end of the sentence "Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the 'heartbroken' Renee"; and a period in place of a question mark at the end of "Would you like to come to my room for a study date."
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 10:02 pm by evraealtana.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Mbrooks2518
The plot of this book does not interest me at all, so I would not have read the sample without The First Ten. The first ten pages did not interest me much either, so I am not going to buy the book. I did like the book's opening. The prologue was very intriguing as I wondered how it connected to Estella and the rest of the plot.
I found one editing error on page 9 that said, "the few times that she had met Estella's Uncle Jim he had appeared to be smitten by her beauty, charm, and grace." There should be a comma after "Jim." Besides this error, nothing needs to be improved. The lack of an official review did not affect my opinion.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 9:58 pm by Mbrooks2518.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
HRichards
I normally wouldn't have picked this book up as the summary didn't really appeal to me. Having read the sample I won't be continuing on with the book since I really didn't find it that interesting. The sample deals with an introduction where a woman witnesses her house burning down and people inside dying in the 1920s. Then the action moves to Estella, a young girl who finds out her father has died in a car accident 20 years after the incident in the prologue. The writing is fine and I didn't notice any grammar errors. The author seems to be a good writer, and those who like dramatic books might like this one. I was not really interested in the plot at all. I have read no other reviews for this book.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 8:58 pm by HRichards.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Scerakor
From the cover, blurb, and description of this book, I wouldn’t have read it. I'm not a big fan of romance novels. After reading the first ten pages I didn’t change my mind and therefore will not be buying and reading the rest of this book. As far as romance novels go, during the sample I read, I liked the build-up that was being put together early on. This was especially apparent when our main character meets Xavier from behind the lunch counter. That being said, I'm just not interested enough in this genre to read and buy it. I didn’t see anything specific that I would have wanted to change within the sample that I read, but it did seem well written and edited. The lack of an official review did not affect my decision at all.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 8:31 pm by Scerakor.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Juliet+1
Based on the title, cover, blurb, and several reviews, I didn't think I would enjoy reading "Memoirs of the Senator's Wife." It's billed as a romance, and I don't usually like romance stories. Reading the first ten pages didn't change my mind. These pages were entirely devoted to a lengthy backstory, with far too many characters introduced. It was confusing and not particularly interesting although the writing and editing were fine, no typos that I could see. Perhaps the book improves later, but I will not be reading any more of it.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 8:10 pm by Juliet+1.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Lee
I did not see a review for this book. Had I not read the Amazon blurb or the sample pages, I might have given this book a try because I really enjoy romance and this book presents well. The cover is very interesting. That said, I won't be finishing reading this book because I hate stories with infidelity; and, however justified the infidelity may be spun in the book, it's still there along with abuse. Furthermore, grammatical tenses are used inconsistently. I did not like how sections were written in present tense (even though the incidents occurred many decades ago), then, with no warning whatsoever, it would jump to past tense. Even though there were not lots of typos, the inconsistent use of tenses suggests that the book has not been professionally edited.
I will say that the prologue is very attention-grabbing. I liked how evocative it was, despite being written in the present tense. But seriously: this is an event that supposedly took place 90 years ago. It would have sounded so much better had it been written in past tense. If you can get past the infidelity and the inconsistent tenses, you might enjoy the book if you like dark romances. I'll be taking a pass on this one due to the abuse and infidelity.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 8:07 pm by Laura Lee.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Brenda Creech
I was not interested in this book when I saw the title or the cover. Since there was no official review to read I read multiple comments by others. I am not interested in dark romance. I enjoy a nice, calm romance between two people who meet and get to know each other. I can't even fathom a relationship that is forced due to rape! After reading the first ten pages I knew I would not be reading the rest of the book. I found only a couple of misspelled words leaving me to believe the book was professionally edited. Otherwise, I did not notice anything that needed improving.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 7:29 pm by Brenda Creech.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
MsH2k
Historical fiction is a broad genre. I would have read the blurb even if I had not been part of this program. From the cover, it was hard to get a feel for the historical component. It seemed to have a romance element. I did not notice any grammatical errors in the sample pages, but I found it hard to keep track of the characters because they weren’t introduced clearly. For example, at loc 124, it says “Richard Myrtle had been behind on the mortgage of their small farm,” but, up to that point, I had no idea who Richard Myrtle was. Estella’s surname had not been mentioned, and the previous paragraph was about Estella’s friend Sadie’s family, so it could have been Sadie’s dad. It would have been helpful to have had some of the background information that followed that paragraph beforehand. I wasted time going back to see if I missed either that first or last name in the earlier pages. I do not have any other suggestions for improvement. The story has some intrigue, but I will not buy it because of the dark romance and magic aspects. I did not see a featured OnlineBookClub review of this book.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 7:10 pm by MsH2k.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Theresa Moffitt
I was not drawn to the cover or title of this book. From the cover art and title reminds me of a soap opera. This leads me to believe it would not be the type of book I would enjoy reading. I haven’t read an Online Bookclub Review is this book yet. I haven’t read a customer review of this book yet. I haven’t searched to determine whether these types of reviews exist, but I haven’t seen any. The first ten pages were well-written and interesting. It begins with a prologue that describes in great detail a recurring nightmare the character has been experiencing in which she wakes up to her house on fire and must work quickly in an attempt to save her family. I didn’t see anything the author needed to approve upon. The first ten pages kept me entertained. I didn’t see any errors on the first ten pages, so I believe the book was professionally edited. I enjoyed reading the first ten pages and would like to finish reading this book.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 6:56 pm by Theresa Moffitt.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
Emy Katherine
Although the cover caught my attention, I would not have read the book without The First Ten program. As I am not fond of historical romance novels, I did not change my mind after reading the sample. Undoubtedly, the lack of an official OnlineBookClub review did not influence my decision. The story follows the journey of a senator's wife named Estella, who does not love her unfaithful, abusive husband and only stays with him for her kid's sake. However, her life gets more complicated when she falls in love with a Secret Service agent named Michael. Although I enjoyed both the engaging dialogues and the author's descriptive writing style, I honestly had a hard time reading the sample because of a graphic rape scene included in the third chapter. For this reason, I will not read the rest of the book. I would also suggest another round of editing. As I found some distracting errors throughout the sample, I am not sure the book was properly edited. For example, it should be written, "Divorce was extremely rare" instead of "Divorce were extremely rare." (location 115 of 489 • 23%) Also, there should be a period after "Renee" in the following sentence: "Uncle Jim fell madly in love with the “heartbroken” Renee He was a sucker for women in distress." (location 149 of 489 • 30%) Another example, there should not be a comma after "family" in the following sentence: "He tried to distance himself from his family, and rarely returned home." (location 137 of 489 • 28%)
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 6:01 pm by Emy Katherine.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
cpru68
Without being a part of the online book club, I probably wouldn’t have read the sample pages based on the title, cover or blurb because it appears to be a politically based book that may involve an extramarital affair, and this is not something that would interest me. After reading the first ten pages about a fire that seems to be set by a hate group, and then jumping ahead quite a few years to two other characters, I was not really interested. When I saw that a review was not available to give more insight to it, that solidified my decision not to read the book. I rely on the reviewer’s notes in regard to how much profanity and sexual situations a book contains, and without a review, I am not comfortable finishing it.
I didn’t see any errors in spelling, punctuation or grammar in the first ten, so it seems to have been professionally edited. The only thing I saw that was odd was the size of the font on the first page. I couldn’t figure out why it was bigger than the rest going forward. I couldn’t tell if that was purposefully done or not. Other than that, I have no suggestions to make for improvement.
On a positive note, I think the cover will lure in readers who enjoy politics and scandal.
I appreciate the opportunity to have read the first ten pages and will send it out on my social media for others to look into.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 5:28 pm by cpru68.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Kelyn
If I had not been a member of this program, it is highly unlikely that the cover, title, genre, or author would have brought my attention to this book. Although I like romance novels, I tend toward the paranormal. The cover, coupled with the title, suggests more of a modern romance with an unappealing (to me) ‘vamp’ feel (and not the paranormal kind). The novel can be loosely categorized as Romance, at least in part, so the genre might have brought my attention to it. The author is unknown to me, so that would not have affected my decision. The mention of magic in the blurb did catch my attention, making me think that perhaps there was more to this book than met the eye and possibly it might be more in my favored genre than I first thought. The customer reviews were mostly positive with a few distinct disagreements. This had me right back to doubtful about reading the book. Unfortunately, I could not find a review identified as being from this program. It would have held more weight than the others in helping me decide about the book. The first couple of chapters in the sample, frankly, had me falling asleep. It did pick up after that when Xavier started stalking Estella and ended up raping her. Although I thought it less than believable that Estella’s mother and her priest would recommend that she marry her rapist, I loved the revelation that Renee uses magic in conjunction with the bible and God to ‘manifest’ what she desires. The rather bold concept of mixing magic with Christianity raised my opinion of both the author and the book considerably. In the end, however, the book seemed to lean too much toward ‘societal romance’ and away from the paranormal for my taste. Somewhat regretfully, I decided not to finish reading it. Also, the book did not appear to have been professionally edited. There were errors in punctuation and wording in the sample. One of these was: “But what if he doesn’t take us back with him?” she stated sadly, concerned about her mama’s small gamble that was all the money they had. – “…small gamble that was all the money they had.” is incorrectly worded. It could be written correctly as either of the following: “… small gamble. That was all the money they had. OR “…small gamble with all the money they had.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 5:07 pm by Kelyn.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
mary-annef
I'm not a fan of historical romances, so nothing about the Memoirs of the Senator's Wife by S. M. Ford appealed to me.
However, with the genre in mind, the cover and blurb were appropriate. The reviews were decidedly mixed. The few one-star ones that referred to poorly edited work would have put me off if even if I did like the genre. The sample that I read didn't have any errors, though. The prose flowed well, but the author didn't appear to adjust his story-telling for the period. A rape scene involving a woman's drink being spiked and her asking the rapist to use a condom – in 1948? There didn't seem to be an Official OnlineBookClub review.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 3:37 pm by mary-annef.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Sarah_Khan
At first glance, I would not have picked this up without the First Ten program because the cover looks like an erotica. The title and cover seem generic for this genre. I did not notice any editing mistakes. I was not a fan of the fact that the story is written in third-person. The title includes the word memoir so I was expecting a more intimate insight into Estella's mind. The third-person narration created a disconnect, I felt like I was just reading facts. It was hard to feel sympathy for Renee when she loses her husband. I also felt like the plot was jumping around too fast. For these reasons and the fact that the Amazon blurb mentions magic sexual rituals, I will not be reading the rest. I did not see any OBC review, which was unfortunate. My suggestion to the author is to have this book undergo another round of editing to help make the story flow better.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 3:31 pm by Sarah_Khan.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Nikolas Farmakis
This is a historical fiction novel on romance, illegal affairs, and politics. I would not have read the book based on the title, the cover, or the genre, as I do not like romance novels. I will not read the book, as I found it unoriginal, cliche, and I do not like romance novels. The book was professionally edited, as I did not notice an error in the sample I read. What I liked most in the sample I read was the fact that it contained drama, tension, and suspense, which engaged the reader in the story. To improve, the writer should make the book more original and creative, while it would be good if there were less romantic elements, which distract the reader from the main plot of the story. The book did not have an Official OnlineBookClub review, which did not affect my opinion.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 2:47 pm by Nikolas Farmakis.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Twylla
I would NOT have chosen this book to sample this book based on the cover. It looks like a romance novel, but once I read the sample on Amazon, I was very interested in the content. It is more of a political thriller.
I will purchase this book and read it. I would buy this book because the story is very interesting.
This book is professionally edited and well written.
My favorite thing about the book is the youtube video associated with it. What a good idea!
I don’t have any ideas for improvement. It looks good as is.
The book does not have an Official OnlineBookClub review but there has to be a first one! The Amazon reviews were good.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 2:40 pm by Twylla.
Do you plan to read the whole book? Yes!
María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda
From the cover of the book, I thought this was an erotic novel. I found the blurb confusing. I like the idea of a story that spans through history, but the mention of an "ancient Secret Society's magic sexual rituals" seems too out there for me. The book has mixed reviews and I wasn't sufficiently convinced by the plot to buy it based on first impressions.
I liked the first ten pages. Not enough to buy the novel, but I think there are some praise-worthy assets. The dark and mysterious opening about the dream is a well-used narrative tool to hook the reader. I liked that the way Renee acts and what she finds important (her daughter's appearance, for example) is congruent with the time period and the values reinforced back then. The mixed feeling Estella has towards her father are realistic, too. I was intrigued by the mix of what could be called "pagan" rituals with the use of the Bible to attract Uncle Jim's love. However, there were also things I disliked. To name one, the description of Renee was frivolous and superficial, in my opinion. I don't know if the author is a male or a females but the description seemed flat.
The book is not well edited. I'll quote just the first mistake I found: "Divorce were extremely rare" (position 121). The verb and the noun should both be either plural or singular.
An official review could've changed my mind because there were interesting things in the first ten pages, just not enough to convince me to finish the novel.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 2:34 pm by María Andrea Fernández Sepúlveda.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Juliana_Isabella
I wouldn't have chosen this book because I don't usually read historical fiction, and I was confused as to why there was no review posted on the "Book of the Day" page. I didn't find any errors in the first ten pages, and I liked the characterization of little Estella. However, I think the author could have interwoven the backstory more subtly instead of jumping into background information after the death of Estella's father. I lost interest during this part, so I won't finish the book.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 2:34 pm by Juliana_Isabella.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Laura Ungureanu
The cover, the title, and the Amazon description weren't convincing for me. It didn't sound like something I would like to read. It would've been nice to consult an OBC review first. However, I enjoyed the sample. Michelle Renee Lachapell often dreamt of a blue star. One particular night, she wakes up from the smell of smoke. Her house is burning and her husband and oldest son don't make it out alive. Then the perspective changes to Estella being upset with the commands her mama Renee gives her. The sample was adrenaline-filled, and the pace was fast. I didn't find any grammar errors. Although I liked the sample, the plot still doesn't sound good to me, so I won't continue reading this.
First Ten review added on March 29, 2020, at 2:29 pm by Laura Ungureanu.
Do you plan to read the whole book? No
Total ~ 18%
Memoirs of the Senator's Wife earned a score of 18%.
In other words, out of the top-level reviewers who read at least the first 10 pages of this book, 18% plan to read the whole book.
IMPORTANT: Any score over 10% is considered very good. And any score above 0% is acceptable.
Over a million books are published each year. Any given person could not even read .0001% of the books out there. This means readers have to be very selective. Even taking the time to look over reviews and blurbs, let alone read samples, is more time than most readers can afford for most books. The First Ten is a powerful focus group that addresses those issues. It creates a helpful tool for authors, publishers, and other readers.
Go to main Bookshelves page for Memoirs of the Senator's Wife
