---
product_id: 36792857
title: "The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak."
price: "€ 38.29"
currency: EUR
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 9
url: https://www.desertcart.hr/products/36792857-the-secret-wife-love-guilt-heartbreak
store_origin: HR
region: Croatia
---

# The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.

**Price:** € 38.29
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

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- **What is this?** The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.
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## Description

desertcart.com: The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak.: 9780008102142: Paul, Gill: Books

Review: A dual story about the Romanov family during WWI and a modern woman researching her family history. - I love dual stories, especially when they're linked to the past that has a bit of history that actually happened. This author does an amazing job meshing the past with the present. There were a couple chapters that I found were very slow moving near the beginning but the rest of the book picks up from there. I'm only mentioning it so if you think the same thing, don't give up on the book, it does get really good. Once I finished, it made me want to research the Romanov family. Great read, recommend it!
Review: High-end romance nove;l, well-researched story that blends factual history with romantic fantasy - Generally, I avoid romance novels for a variety of reasons---mostly because they are a little cheesy and steeped in soap-operatic cliches. I made an exception for The Secret Wife, though, because I read the sample section and it drew me in very quickly. I love a captivating book in which I become absorbed for days. I had a hunch The Secret Wife would be a novel like that, so I downloaded it. I confess I became terribly absorbed, reading straight through for hours on end (my favorite reading experience). It's very well-written and, as I learned from the afterword, quite well researched, historically. I fullly admit real-life missing persons mysteries are ripe picks for exploration by imaginative authors, and they can make an excellent read. So I can see why the execution of the royal Romanov family, with no remains found for eight decades, and more years until DNA science advanced enough to provide likely identification, would be a natural; for an author like Gill Paul, whose writing typically intertwines delicious speculation with historical fact. That's why I call this a high-end romance novel; it's much more sophisticated, both in style and in researched facts, than a typical romance novel. The Secret Wife did disappoint in places for using stale soap opera devices that I feel cheapen a seriously written book. Such devices include a character coming back from the dead, and the obligatory rape scenes. That aside, I think the book succeeds overall and I give it high marks for the blending of fiction and historical fact, and the two timelines that interweave until they meet at the story's climax, then proceed, arm-in-arm to the story's conclusion. The very last scene in the book made me shake my head in disapproval for being far-fetched and suffocatingly soapy; I think it would have done far better to end with the conclusion of the chapter just before it. Instead, it reminds me too much of the proverbial guests who are charming and entertaining, then overstay their welcome, nearly ruining the whole evening. Despite this flaw, I can recommend this book whole-heartedly, especially to fans of historical fiction. It's one of the better ones I've come across in my reading travels.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #153,578 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #334 in 20th Century Historical Romance (Books) #1,172 in Historical British & Irish Literature #6,243 in Literary Fiction (Books) |
| Customer Reviews | 4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars (51,466) |
| Dimensions  | 0.9 x 5 x 7.7 inches |
| Edition  | Illustrated |
| ISBN-10  | 0008102147 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0008102142 |
| Item Weight  | 11.2 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 416 pages |
| Publication date  | November 8, 2016 |
| Publisher  | Avon |

## Images

![The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/818OnVM21aL.jpg)
![The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. - Image 2](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51rR5DpEstL.jpg)
![The Secret Wife: Love. Guilt. Heartbreak. - Image 3](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51AkVSc2sXL.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ A dual story about the Romanov family during WWI and a modern woman researching her family history.
*by L***E on September 6, 2025*

I love dual stories, especially when they're linked to the past that has a bit of history that actually happened. This author does an amazing job meshing the past with the present. There were a couple chapters that I found were very slow moving near the beginning but the rest of the book picks up from there. I'm only mentioning it so if you think the same thing, don't give up on the book, it does get really good. Once I finished, it made me want to research the Romanov family. Great read, recommend it!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ High-end romance nove;l, well-researched story that blends factual history with romantic fantasy
*by N***R on April 25, 2017*

Generally, I avoid romance novels for a variety of reasons---mostly because they are a little cheesy and steeped in soap-operatic cliches. I made an exception for The Secret Wife, though, because I read the sample section and it drew me in very quickly. I love a captivating book in which I become absorbed for days. I had a hunch The Secret Wife would be a novel like that, so I downloaded it. I confess I became terribly absorbed, reading straight through for hours on end (my favorite reading experience). It's very well-written and, as I learned from the afterword, quite well researched, historically. I fullly admit real-life missing persons mysteries are ripe picks for exploration by imaginative authors, and they can make an excellent read. So I can see why the execution of the royal Romanov family, with no remains found for eight decades, and more years until DNA science advanced enough to provide likely identification, would be a natural; for an author like Gill Paul, whose writing typically intertwines delicious speculation with historical fact. That's why I call this a high-end romance novel; it's much more sophisticated, both in style and in researched facts, than a typical romance novel. The Secret Wife did disappoint in places for using stale soap opera devices that I feel cheapen a seriously written book. Such devices include a character coming back from the dead, and the obligatory rape scenes. That aside, I think the book succeeds overall and I give it high marks for the blending of fiction and historical fact, and the two timelines that interweave until they meet at the story's climax, then proceed, arm-in-arm to the story's conclusion. The very last scene in the book made me shake my head in disapproval for being far-fetched and suffocatingly soapy; I think it would have done far better to end with the conclusion of the chapter just before it. Instead, it reminds me too much of the proverbial guests who are charming and entertaining, then overstay their welcome, nearly ruining the whole evening. Despite this flaw, I can recommend this book whole-heartedly, especially to fans of historical fiction. It's one of the better ones I've come across in my reading travels.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Really enjoyed reading this book
*by J***R on July 8, 2017*

The Secret Wife is a brilliant historical fiction romance that kept me up and reading way past my bedtime! It is the fascinating story of what could have happened, had one of the Romanov’s children managed to escape their captors and flee Russia. I love how the author used several real characters and events as the basis for her characters and plot line, then created an alternative reality that seemed truly authentic. The politics, struggles between social classes and daily life in Russia during the 1900s are also well described and interesting. This novel must have been a joy to research and the author’s diligence to details and astute observations about this turbulent time lends credibility to her story. There is a mystery in the past and present that needs to be solved. Only in the final chapters are the connections between the two eras and story lines united. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen next, the author proved me wrong. I really enjoyed reading this book and highly recommend it to historical fiction buffs.

## Frequently Bought Together

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*Store origin: HR*
*Last updated: 2026-03-09*