Loving Him

by Kate O'Riordan

Connie and Matt Wilson, once childhood sweethearts, have worked hard to achieve their dreams—their gracious London home, their 3 beloved sons, and a stable, trusting marriage. When they go to Rome for a romantic weekend, they enjoy a break all married couples dream of—exploring, eating, making love. But on their last day, Matt tells Connie that he is not coming home with her. She returns to London—and their three sons—alone. Loving Him is the story of what happens when the love of your life bumps into the love of his life—the one before you, the one he never got over. Secure, happy, unquestioning—a random encounter sets off a chain of events that turns a woman’s existence from blissful domesticity to dangerous obsession.

Genres: Irish Literature

342 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2005

Reviews

[Mary Lou · Rating 3 out of 5]

Matt and Connie have a good marriage, they complement one another perfectly as far as their friends are concerned. But while on a weekend break in Rome something totally unexpected happens to put it at risk.
Loving Him is well written in an informal style. The word that eventually came to me to describe it was honest, honest writing and an honest, if sometimes painful examination of their twenty-year relationship. It was difficult to sympathise with any of the main characters but as the conclusion was worked through, respect for all of them was established.

[Miette]

Just didn't grab me enough to spend my time on this one. And from a quick skim of the ending, I think I would have been very disappointed/annoyed by the scenario.

[Ilva · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skumjš stāsts par ģimeni, laulību, mīlestību un pagātnes varu pār cilvēkiem. Negaidīts pavērsiens beigās, kas visam pēkšņi liek izskatīties pavisam savādāk.

[LindyLouMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A new author to me and I have no idea how this book came into my hands. It has been on my bookshelves though since 2006, which is when I registered it at Bookcrossing. I imagine it joined Mt TBR because it is partly set in Rome and it will be no surprise to those of you who know me that I love all things Italian.

Kate O'Riordan was the author of four previous novels prior to the publication of this one in 2005, to my surprise she seems to have had nothing in the way of novels published since then. Having discovered this fact I was therefore not really surprised that this title does not seem to be very well known, with only one other review appearing on Amazon prior to mine.

If you are in a secure and happy relationship this novel may well make you wonder if your other half has any past loves lurking as 'Loving Him' is all about what happens when the love of your life, unexpectedly meets his first love again.

The protagonists of the story Matt and Connie Wilson are in Rome for a romantic weekend, when Matt unexpectedly announces that he is not returning to London with her. It turns out that despite three sons and a marriage that appears to work well, the past is a very strong draw. Connie's peaceful domestic life is turned upside down by her growing obsession with Greta, the woman from the past.

When Matt decides to stay in Rome, he tries to analyse the reasons why he does so, but he was unable to come up with a single reason. At the time I believed this but by the time you have finished the book you will come to realise that Connie is not after all the innocent party. Well I did not think so. Besides the three main characters already mentioned there is another, Mary a family friend whose role within the family set-up I found very strange. In fact her behaviour is also obsessive in the way she reacts to the dramas going on within her friends marriage.

An ok read and I would say it is worth reading if it comes your way and you are a fan of intense relationship novels.

For a fuller review and author details
http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspo...

[Amelia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book sat on my shelves for close to 2 years. I picked it up at a warehouse book sale and somehow it got shoved to the back of my overburdened Billy bookcase. I only just found it a few weeks ago during my first ever book inventory, which when concluded, discovered that I own 437 fiction books++.

I don’t know why I decided to buy this book back then. The truth is I shouldn’t have – the subject matter was described adequately in the book sleeve and it wasn’t a subject matter that I like to read about but sometimes I think I do things that I know will hurt me just so it hurts me.

I think I left it unread for as long as I did because on a subconscious level, I anticipated my response once I finished reading.

This was the first book in my entire life which I threw in the dustbin after I read the last word on the last page. It made me want to take a match to it too.

Some people would say that the book must’ve been written extremely well for my reaction to be so extreme. Grudgingly, I admit that yes, it was. But it was the subject matter that really got to me. Like the title implies, it is about a woman who loves a man and what the man does with that love.

Just typing this makes me go all grrr…

But half an hour after I introduced book to bin, I got up, reached into the bin, wiped the book and returned it with the the other books. I cannot throw any book away no matter how much I loathed its insides.

[Roula Yasin · Rating 4 out of 5]

complexite du couple et des crises dans un couple. Connie a recupere Matt apres que Greta l'a quitte. Deja elle la haissait tt en l'admirant. Des annees plus tard, Matt et Connie ont fonde un foyer, ont 3 enfants et apres un voyage a Rome, Matt revoit Greta qui a perdu son fils et decide de rester avec elle. Connie va se battre pour garder son mari mais pas en se battant avec Greta, mais en acceptant la realite que Matt aiment les 2 differemment et a un sentiment d'inacheve avec Greta, et lui permet de vivre cette relation, comptant sur son ethique pour qu'il revienne et montre son respect envers son mari et meme Greta et accorde son pardon a son mari avant meme de connaitre son choix, p-e par culpabilite pr ce qu'elle avait fait a Greta dans sa jeunesse, Greta qui ne la voyait meme pas. Toute le subtilite des sentiments d'un homme entre 2femmes. De plus la meileure amie de Connie, mal aimee par sa mere qui vit sa vie et sa securite par procuration a travers la vie familiale de Connie.

[Tina86 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is really sad and i feel for any woman or man out there that has loved someone who was actually in love with someone else. Heart breaking, frustrating and funny at times i do recommend this book to those who enjoy reading serious romance novels.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

O’Riordan is interested in how people, particularly women, cope with different kinds of grief. In this novel Connie deals with her husband’s rediscovery of a childhood love. This is an easy read. I enjoyed O’Riordan’s empathy for her characters and her exploration of relationships.

[Preet · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is something else. It made me angry and sad and even made me cry. It's a powerful book.

[Adri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not worthy of 4 stars but definitely more than 3. It was interesting and took twists and turns which were unexpected. Worth the read.