A reliable wife, by Robert Goolrick

On a snowy afternoon in Wisconsin, Ralph Truitt waits for the train that will bring his mail order bride to him. A rich man in his fifties, Ralph has spent the last twenty years doing penance for mistakes commited in his youth, but his impending marriage is due to more than the desire for company in the long, maddening Wisconsin winter.
Catherine Land, Ralph's bride, has her own agenda, and it doesn't involve everlasting happiness with her new groom. They're both united, and separated, by Antonio, Ralph's first wife's son, who cherishes a virulent hatred for Ralph.
This is not a novel characterized for its complex plot or fast action; quite the opposite. The plot is very simple, and though it has a couple of twists, it resembles too much "Original Sin", the movie with Angelina Jolie and Antonio Banderas.
As for the fast paced action... snail's pace action is more likely. Events happen, dragged by days and days of details and characters' introspection.
I had high expectations, and I really didn't enjoy this book so much. Catherine is a complex character, and she steals the show from page 1. She's also the only one who changes and grows in the book. Truitt and Antonio seemed one-dimensional in comparison...
Actually, I didn't dislike the book because of the characters or the cliched plot; it was the continuos repetition that drove me crazy.