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With or Without You
'A captivating new novel by the bestselling author' SUNDAY EXPRESSThis summer’s a heart-warming romantic comedy, perfect for fans of Lucy Diamond and Carole Matthews.Four adults.One moment that will change everything. Martha is a happily married mum-of-two. But when she discovers that her adoring husband Jamie has been having an affair she begins to question everything she thought she knew about love. Charlie is Hollywood’s latest success story. Having focused on his career after his actress ex-wife Liv left him for another man years earlier, taking their child with him, he has all but turned his back on love. That is, until he meets Martha, and their shared experiences of betrayal brings them closer together. Jamie is devastated. Wracked with guilt after risking his marriage, he struggles to convince wife Martha not to leave him and swears he’ll change. But as he sees her getting ever closer to moviestar Charlie, he fears he may have lost her already. Liv is falling apart. Her ex-husband Charlie’s career is on the rise and she’s beginning to wonder if leaving him all those years ago was the biggest mistake she ever made. But now Charlie appears to be falling for Martha, has Liz lost her second chance?'Fraught with heart-wrenching dialogue and the glamorous backdrops of LA and London, this is a romance with pace' THE LADY Praise for HELEN 'The kind of book beach holidays were made for' Red'As bubbly as a glass of wedding champagne' Cosmopolitan'Great good fun' woman&home 'Helen Warner knows what makes women tick. We loved her scarily believable tale of heartache and infidelity' Bella 'This is a racy read' Sunday Mirror
417 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
April 16, 2022
I’m on a twisted cheating trope merry-go-round from my FB book group, and I need to get off. This one was pretty good, and for the first time ever I almost felt bad for the cheating, guilty SOB who is a sobbing, guilt ridden mess for most of the book.
The main romance is between the SOB’s wife and a British actor that experienced his own martial betrayal. Redemption abounds for more than one character. There was a twist at the end that almost made me toss my computer, but it all worked out.
Underlying everything is the title. Here’s a young and surprisingy handsome Bono.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujNeH...
The main romance is between the SOB’s wife and a British actor that experienced his own martial betrayal. Redemption abounds for more than one character. There was a twist at the end that almost made me toss my computer, but it all worked out.
Underlying everything is the title. Here’s a young and surprisingy handsome Bono.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujNeH...
July 2, 2014
I rushed to buy the electronic version of this book because I became a big fan of Helen Warner (HW) after reading her other novel, RSVP. Also, after reading another book that annoyed me because a cheating husband “got away easily” (Jennifer Smith’s The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight), I was interested to see how HW will handle the character of a cheating husband.
Like in RSVP, HW’s strength is how she writes her characters - she doesn’t make them one-dimensional but instead humanizes them by showing both their good and bad sides. I was pleasantly surprised as to how, in the beginning, I was ready to hate Jamie, the cheating husband. However, as the novel unfolds, I found myself sympathising with him and agreeing with the assessment of one of the other characters : he was just a “good guy” who made a terrible mistake, was truly sorry for it and was trying hard to make amends for it.
Martha, the wronged wife, began as someone I could totally sympathise with, but as the story progressed, I started becoming annoyed by her “I’m-the-martyr” attitude. The speed she becomes instantly attracted to and become emotionally dependent with the actor, Charlie, seemed a bit fast. While Jamie was trying to redeem himself, she spent most of the book whining and yearning for Charlie, but showing off that she was such a good wife/mother for sticking with Jamie for the sake of the children and not sleeping with Charlie (at least in the beginning). This pissed me off. Granted she was justified to be really angry with Jamie, the fact remains that she herself was having an emotional affair with Charlie. For someone angry for the betrayal and dishonesty of her husband, she herself was being dishonest by staying with her husband when she would rather be with someone else. My point is, why then didn’t she just make a clean break when it seemed unlikely she would ever get over Jamie’s betrayal? (I mean it showed, despite Jamie’s efforts, she didn’t seem to respond to them at all, and truly make the effort to reconcile.) Why use the children as an excuse and prolong the inevitable?
Apologies for the SPOILER, but I have to say it to express my review honestly...
I suppose in the end, this is why I didn’t like the book so much. To me, I didn’t feel that Martha really had an “agonizing” decision to whom she would end up being with. Martha choosing between Charlie and Jamie was like trying to pick the winner in a race between a well maintained Ferrari versus a beat-up VW Beetle. Charlie was just too perfect – successful handsome actor who was supposedly always faithful to his spouse who dumped him for another actor and who remained friendly to his ex-wife despite what she did and was also a great Dad. Wow! On the other end is Jamie who is a Mr. Mom, a great Dad but has no career, completely dependent on his wife financially and had an affair with a tramp. Seriously, the contrast between these two men was so staggering that it made me wonder - what if Jamie didn’t have an affair? Isn’t it highly probable (given how quickly she became attracted to Charlie) that it could have been her who could have been unfaithful to Jamie and would have dumped Jamie for Charlie? On the other hand, it also made me wonder, what if Charlie wasn’t so perfect? What if he wasn’t a successful actor? What if he was just an “average Joe”? What if he was also like a Jamie who made a similar mistake? Who would Martha choose or would she actually choose someone?
I suppose what I’m getting at is that for a book advertised as a woman trying to make a decision between two men, I would have preferred a “fairer race”, not where the other guy seemed to have ALL the “goods”.
The big twist in the end - I know a lot of readers thought the ending of the book was great because of the great big sacrifice Jamie did. In fairness, I did like it in the sense that it drove home the point that overall, Jamie is a really nice guy who just made a terrible mistake. On the other hand, I disliked it more because it was again another dishonest act. I just didn’t see the point of him doing it, because the only thing it did was to make himself look worse in front of his wife and daughter and verify their fears that he would just cheat again (even though he didn’t). Would it have been so difficult for him to have had an honest conversation with his wife and make a clean break? Seriously, if I was the daughter and I learned what he did, I would have been more pissed. I would have appreciated more the truth that my parents broke up because my Dad really did something stupid and despite his efforts of trying to make up for it, my Mom couldn’t forgive him for it and found love with someone else.
Will I recommend this book? Honestly, I would rather point readers to HW’s other books, RSVP and IOU. As a married mother of two young children, I am getting fed up reading one chick-lit (or even young adult) after another that always seem to have characters with cheating spouses and marriages breaking down because of them. Seriously, after reading a lot of these books, I’m beginning to wonder why bother getting married at all?!
Like in RSVP, HW’s strength is how she writes her characters - she doesn’t make them one-dimensional but instead humanizes them by showing both their good and bad sides. I was pleasantly surprised as to how, in the beginning, I was ready to hate Jamie, the cheating husband. However, as the novel unfolds, I found myself sympathising with him and agreeing with the assessment of one of the other characters : he was just a “good guy” who made a terrible mistake, was truly sorry for it and was trying hard to make amends for it.
Martha, the wronged wife, began as someone I could totally sympathise with, but as the story progressed, I started becoming annoyed by her “I’m-the-martyr” attitude. The speed she becomes instantly attracted to and become emotionally dependent with the actor, Charlie, seemed a bit fast. While Jamie was trying to redeem himself, she spent most of the book whining and yearning for Charlie, but showing off that she was such a good wife/mother for sticking with Jamie for the sake of the children and not sleeping with Charlie (at least in the beginning). This pissed me off. Granted she was justified to be really angry with Jamie, the fact remains that she herself was having an emotional affair with Charlie. For someone angry for the betrayal and dishonesty of her husband, she herself was being dishonest by staying with her husband when she would rather be with someone else. My point is, why then didn’t she just make a clean break when it seemed unlikely she would ever get over Jamie’s betrayal? (I mean it showed, despite Jamie’s efforts, she didn’t seem to respond to them at all, and truly make the effort to reconcile.) Why use the children as an excuse and prolong the inevitable?
Apologies for the SPOILER, but I have to say it to express my review honestly...
I suppose in the end, this is why I didn’t like the book so much. To me, I didn’t feel that Martha really had an “agonizing” decision to whom she would end up being with. Martha choosing between Charlie and Jamie was like trying to pick the winner in a race between a well maintained Ferrari versus a beat-up VW Beetle. Charlie was just too perfect – successful handsome actor who was supposedly always faithful to his spouse who dumped him for another actor and who remained friendly to his ex-wife despite what she did and was also a great Dad. Wow! On the other end is Jamie who is a Mr. Mom, a great Dad but has no career, completely dependent on his wife financially and had an affair with a tramp. Seriously, the contrast between these two men was so staggering that it made me wonder - what if Jamie didn’t have an affair? Isn’t it highly probable (given how quickly she became attracted to Charlie) that it could have been her who could have been unfaithful to Jamie and would have dumped Jamie for Charlie? On the other hand, it also made me wonder, what if Charlie wasn’t so perfect? What if he wasn’t a successful actor? What if he was just an “average Joe”? What if he was also like a Jamie who made a similar mistake? Who would Martha choose or would she actually choose someone?
I suppose what I’m getting at is that for a book advertised as a woman trying to make a decision between two men, I would have preferred a “fairer race”, not where the other guy seemed to have ALL the “goods”.
The big twist in the end - I know a lot of readers thought the ending of the book was great because of the great big sacrifice Jamie did. In fairness, I did like it in the sense that it drove home the point that overall, Jamie is a really nice guy who just made a terrible mistake. On the other hand, I disliked it more because it was again another dishonest act. I just didn’t see the point of him doing it, because the only thing it did was to make himself look worse in front of his wife and daughter and verify their fears that he would just cheat again (even though he didn’t). Would it have been so difficult for him to have had an honest conversation with his wife and make a clean break? Seriously, if I was the daughter and I learned what he did, I would have been more pissed. I would have appreciated more the truth that my parents broke up because my Dad really did something stupid and despite his efforts of trying to make up for it, my Mom couldn’t forgive him for it and found love with someone else.
Will I recommend this book? Honestly, I would rather point readers to HW’s other books, RSVP and IOU. As a married mother of two young children, I am getting fed up reading one chick-lit (or even young adult) after another that always seem to have characters with cheating spouses and marriages breaking down because of them. Seriously, after reading a lot of these books, I’m beginning to wonder why bother getting married at all?!
April 14, 2021
Spoilers ahead.
I LOVED this one. Just loved it. The h's reaction and struggle were probably the most realistic feeling to me (read: the most like I think my own would be in a situation like this, maybe?!) that I could imagine. So many cheating books portray the h as forgiving, let's move right along, nothing to see here kinds of gals. NOPE. I just don't buy it. Our author shows our h struggling with questions, flashes of the photos (gag. Just threw up a bit), her anger, and her guilt at potentially tearing her family apart. She feels a lot of pressure to forgive and move along, and for some time, she goes through the motions - therapy, distancing herself from the OM who clearly feels strongly for her and for whom she has similar longings. But her love for Jamie, her perfect husband, is broken. She really just can't get past it and so locks a piece of herself away.
Speaking of Jamie...This H just couldn't justify his 6-month long fling with somebody that meant nothing to him. And the photos?! Well now. There's no way our h could unsee those, could she?! I found myself yelling at my Kindle trying to understand how his selfish, panicky, clinging and groveling could sway our miserable, angry h whose head was swimming with graphic images of hubs having sex with a strange woman. She was just awash with emotions: sorrow, guilt, anger, disgust, confusion.
And Charlie...could there have been a better OM for the circumstances? Swoony, dependable, non-cheating survivor of a very public past infidelity offered his support, sturdy shoulder, and eventual love.
Pretty much everybody gets a happy-ish ending. Jamie redeems himself just a tad at the end. And we get to cheer on our h for getting to the other side of this.
Loved, loved, loved this cheating book! Looking forward to reading more of this author's work.
I LOVED this one. Just loved it. The h's reaction and struggle were probably the most realistic feeling to me (read: the most like I think my own would be in a situation like this, maybe?!) that I could imagine. So many cheating books portray the h as forgiving, let's move right along, nothing to see here kinds of gals. NOPE. I just don't buy it. Our author shows our h struggling with questions, flashes of the photos (gag. Just threw up a bit), her anger, and her guilt at potentially tearing her family apart. She feels a lot of pressure to forgive and move along, and for some time, she goes through the motions - therapy, distancing herself from the OM who clearly feels strongly for her and for whom she has similar longings. But her love for Jamie, her perfect husband, is broken. She really just can't get past it and so locks a piece of herself away.
Speaking of Jamie...This H just couldn't justify his 6-month long fling with somebody that meant nothing to him. And the photos?! Well now. There's no way our h could unsee those, could she?! I found myself yelling at my Kindle trying to understand how his selfish, panicky, clinging and groveling could sway our miserable, angry h whose head was swimming with graphic images of hubs having sex with a strange woman. She was just awash with emotions: sorrow, guilt, anger, disgust, confusion.
And Charlie...could there have been a better OM for the circumstances? Swoony, dependable, non-cheating survivor of a very public past infidelity offered his support, sturdy shoulder, and eventual love.
Pretty much everybody gets a happy-ish ending. Jamie redeems himself just a tad at the end. And we get to cheer on our h for getting to the other side of this.
Loved, loved, loved this cheating book! Looking forward to reading more of this author's work.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 22, 2016
I really had a hard time understanding this book, I really could not condone any of these characters behaviours, the only people who didn't deserve any of these adulterous adults were the children, they were the adults and the parents were the children throughout this story. Not my favourite by a long shot.
July 1, 2021
From the synopsis, you know that this book will be about cheating so for those who hate it, don't even start because it has LOADS of it.
Other reviews give a detailed summary of the story so I won't repeat what has already been well done.
My opinion on the book:
The angst is definitely there.
The way Martha finds out makes me want to puke too.
The author, Helen Warner, is really good. I don't know if she's been cheated on but the emotional process she describes for Martha is right on point. The physical reaction Martha has when she finds out (vomiting) is very strong and you hurt for her. She slaps and claws at Jaime. Then, she refuses to speak to him for a long time. Even when they start talking again, she struggles and remains cold and distant at times, then she would burst in rage. Martha enters a small depression and then tries to make her marriage work by going to a counsellor. She doesn't miraculously forgives him. The love slowly fades from her eyes and she admits she often feels hate for Jaime. If you've been cheated on, you'll definitely relate to her.
Martha falls for Charlie quite fast. But I can understand that. She had a strong connection with him from their first interview, then she was completely shattered by the discovery of her husband's cheating. Charlie was there to comfort her. He's sexy, caring, sweet and he's a super rich actor. How could she not fall for him? It's not right that she slept with Charlie before divorcing Jaime though and she cheated on him emotionally. But honestly, I can't even blame her.
We also get Jaime's POV.
Other reviews give a detailed summary of the story so I won't repeat what has already been well done.
My opinion on the book:
The angst is definitely there.
The way Martha finds out makes me want to puke too.
The author, Helen Warner, is really good. I don't know if she's been cheated on but the emotional process she describes for Martha is right on point. The physical reaction Martha has when she finds out (vomiting) is very strong and you hurt for her. She slaps and claws at Jaime. Then, she refuses to speak to him for a long time. Even when they start talking again, she struggles and remains cold and distant at times, then she would burst in rage. Martha enters a small depression and then tries to make her marriage work by going to a counsellor. She doesn't miraculously forgives him. The love slowly fades from her eyes and she admits she often feels hate for Jaime. If you've been cheated on, you'll definitely relate to her.
Martha falls for Charlie quite fast. But I can understand that. She had a strong connection with him from their first interview, then she was completely shattered by the discovery of her husband's cheating. Charlie was there to comfort her. He's sexy, caring, sweet and he's a super rich actor. How could she not fall for him? It's not right that she slept with Charlie before divorcing Jaime though and she cheated on him emotionally. But honestly, I can't even blame her.
We also get Jaime's POV.
February 4, 2014
This would make a really good beach read. It is an easy to read drama about successful celebrity interviewer Martha who finds out that her gorgeous husband Jamie, who has always been her rock as he is the one who has stayed at home to look after their two children, has betrayed her in the worst possible way. Reeling from the pain she accepts an assignment to interview Hollywood heartthrob Charlie Simmons. The story switches between the UK and Hollywood and you really feel for Martha in her situation. I found it very easy to empathise with her, almost as if I was sitting in the same room listening to her pouring her heart out to me. Things get complicated when it becomes apparent that Martha and Charlie have a strong attraction – will she throw caution to the wind and follow her heart or will she try and repair her broken marriage?
On the whole I really enjoyed the read with just a couple of reservations. I did get a bit fed up listening to Jamie, who spent the most part of the read begging for forgiveness and promising to make things up to Martha. It got a little repetitive unfortunately. My other main gripe is the “saga of the dress” at the start of the book. Whilst it made quite funny reading, I really doubt whether any woman would have gone out without noticing the problem with her dress!
That having been said it is an enjoyable read, which flows nicely with a good set of characters. It kept my interest well as I just wanted to know what would happen in the end. I really enjoyed the way the author rounded it all off, with a few little surprises tucked up her sleeve.
On the whole I really enjoyed the read with just a couple of reservations. I did get a bit fed up listening to Jamie, who spent the most part of the read begging for forgiveness and promising to make things up to Martha. It got a little repetitive unfortunately. My other main gripe is the “saga of the dress” at the start of the book. Whilst it made quite funny reading, I really doubt whether any woman would have gone out without noticing the problem with her dress!
That having been said it is an enjoyable read, which flows nicely with a good set of characters. It kept my interest well as I just wanted to know what would happen in the end. I really enjoyed the way the author rounded it all off, with a few little surprises tucked up her sleeve.
October 6, 2022
Re read 10\05\22
May 18, 2024
mum books are so fucking entertaining wow
skimmed
July 22, 2023Skimmed -- this is a book where the husband cheats and the heroine moves on. I prefer the drama of cheating recovery and marriage reconciliation, so this was already not my cup of tea. After the initial cheating angst, I lost interest.
The cheating husband in this case was super beta and pathetic: stay at home dad raising the kids while the heroine is the breadwinner; he's a great dad and very sweet, but ended up having a six month affair and bad sex with an overweight random older woman just to feel less emasculated. His beloved mom had also died in the same year.
Honestly, the husband's cheating was redeemable to me all considering, and we got his POV so we know how much he loves the heroine, how miserable he is afterwards (at one point he is literally suicidal), and how bad the sex with the OW was compared to the heroine. Like the OW truly meant nothing to him, and I believed his reasons and that he would never do it again. He also groveled a tonnn and was crying like a blubbering fool.
With that being said...he was so pathetic that he just became unattractive to me as a character, and I wouldn't have wanted the heroine to be with him even before his cheating...so suffice to say, I didn't mind that the heroine chose OM.
What I DIDN'T like though...is how at the end...it's hinted that the cheating husband (Jamie) will end up with the OM/hero's (Charlie) cheating ex wife. So at the end, it'll its like one big swap of partners...ugh, I hate that.
The cheating husband in this case was super beta and pathetic: stay at home dad raising the kids while the heroine is the breadwinner; he's a great dad and very sweet, but ended up having a six month affair and bad sex with an overweight random older woman just to feel less emasculated. His beloved mom had also died in the same year.
Honestly, the husband's cheating was redeemable to me all considering, and we got his POV so we know how much he loves the heroine, how miserable he is afterwards (at one point he is literally suicidal), and how bad the sex with the OW was compared to the heroine. Like the OW truly meant nothing to him, and I believed his reasons and that he would never do it again. He also groveled a tonnn and was crying like a blubbering fool.
With that being said...he was so pathetic that he just became unattractive to me as a character, and I wouldn't have wanted the heroine to be with him even before his cheating...so suffice to say, I didn't mind that the heroine chose OM.
What I DIDN'T like though...is how at the end...it's hinted that the cheating husband (Jamie) will end up with the OM/hero's (Charlie) cheating ex wife. So at the end, it'll its like one big swap of partners...ugh, I hate that.
July 17, 2018
4.5 stars! This book was a real surprise! I've never read Helen Warner before, but I'm so glad I picked this book up out of the blue! I've owned it for years! I'm also glad to report, the blurb which is what first caught my attention years and years ago is spot on!
What I love most about this book is that it takes topics that are often seen as black and white and shows something we may miss, an alternative perspective if you will. It doesn't excuse the actions or excuse them but show them in-depth. I found myself being sympathetic for characters I had really liked at the beginning of the book and liking those I hadn't.
This is a British novel, so it glosses over things that might have been a bit more in depth if they were say in an American novel, but that still suits the story. I can't help but want to know more, especially about what came after for some of the characters, in particular the exes...all of them.
I will definitely be checking out Helen Warner's books. Thankfully she has quite a backlist to read!
What I love most about this book is that it takes topics that are often seen as black and white and shows something we may miss, an alternative perspective if you will. It doesn't excuse the actions or excuse them but show them in-depth. I found myself being sympathetic for characters I had really liked at the beginning of the book and liking those I hadn't.
This is a British novel, so it glosses over things that might have been a bit more in depth if they were say in an American novel, but that still suits the story. I can't help but want to know more, especially about what came after for some of the characters, in particular the exes...all of them.
I will definitely be checking out Helen Warner's books. Thankfully she has quite a backlist to read!
March 9, 2021
H and h are married with two kids
H is a house husband and is cheating on h with some granny, his affair partner has a sagging skin compare to h tight skin, this is his comparison as to why he did that, other than he has a great free time.
heroine found some porn picture of H and OW on his computer, its a picture of kamasutra of H and OW.
H grovels a lot, but h trust is gone and is falling in love with an actor OM she has worked as a biographer. OM console the h as he was in the same position before with his kid mama.
They tried to stay together until the almost end but the h is no longer in love with H, but the cheater H is still is. Since h and actor OM are kind of thingy, messages, following the OM on internet etc, H let go of the h by making the h see his email with some message from OW (fake account created by him).
The epilogue was heart breaking for H. He intend to have a suicide because his kids wont talk to him anymore. OM and h are pregnant, OM announced it on tv accepting an acting award while the H is watching.
That's all i remember
H is a house husband and is cheating on h with some granny, his affair partner has a sagging skin compare to h tight skin, this is his comparison as to why he did that, other than he has a great free time.
heroine found some porn picture of H and OW on his computer, its a picture of kamasutra of H and OW.
H grovels a lot, but h trust is gone and is falling in love with an actor OM she has worked as a biographer. OM console the h as he was in the same position before with his kid mama.
They tried to stay together until the almost end but the h is no longer in love with H, but the cheater H is still is. Since h and actor OM are kind of thingy, messages, following the OM on internet etc, H let go of the h by making the h see his email with some message from OW (fake account created by him).
The epilogue was heart breaking for H. He intend to have a suicide because his kids wont talk to him anymore. OM and h are pregnant, OM announced it on tv accepting an acting award while the H is watching.
That's all i remember
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 22, 2016
Oh dear, this book did make me laugh - I haven't read anything so cheesy in a long time! I couldn't resist reading out lines like "Life is hard, but love is harder" to my husband and we'd both collapse into giggles! Having said that, it was still an enjoyable quick read.
April 14, 2018
Betrayal, infidelity, can a partner ever get over this.
July 22, 2014
Somewhat ambivalent about the ending. Without revealing what happened to martha and jamie the author made it too easy for them. It was hard for me as the reader to truly believe or accept how the story ended. I'm still brewing and processing it. In fact I felt myself being very irritating by martha towards the end of the story despite she was the one who was cheated on. As much as what jamie did was unforgivable, but there was a small exchange between her and jamie wherein jamie made a comment about being a stay at home dad (I don't remember exactly where in the book) but she totally minimized or undermined his contribution to the family...the fact she refused to look at herself and take some oweness of how the marriage went just left me wanting to root for jamie. It takes one to cheat to destroy a marriage but it takes two to contribute to a demise of a marriage.
December 7, 2022
As a fan of cheating hero / marriage in crisis stories I go back and read this book whenever I am feeling like I've read a few books that are lacking the necessary grovel. This book has fantastic grovel to the point where you start to feel bad for the cheating husband. I really felt the husband was apologetic for his actions, but I think this is a great lesson that love is to be respected, treasured and not taken advantage of. You can't say you love someone, treat them otherwise, and expect them to come back for seconds. The h did begrudgingly come back for seconds but only for the sake of the kids and not because she still loved him, which was a fact he was aware of and the final nail in the coffin. At the end of the day the husband was sorry, showed he was sorry, but it wasn't enough for her to fall back in love with him and while still sad it was also oddly satisfying.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2017
Great page turners really loved all the different characters..... my only disappointment was in the last section of the book I felt some characters behaved in a way I didn't think they would have .... over all fantastic read will be checking more of the authors books out
June 3, 2018
Good women’s fiction book. The ending surprised me in a good way.
June 11, 2019
Didnt finish, utter tripe
March 31, 2020
What a lovely easy to read love story. Exactly what I needed during these surreal times we face. The characters were adorable and it was a very easy read I didn’t want to put down.
April 16, 2024
Two couples at different times - one cheats on the other. Different outcomes. The cheated on husband meets the cheated on wife, and they form a friendship. The story is very angsty, extremely emotional, there are no evil characters, just people who make selfish mistakes and live to regret them. They show remorse, go to counseling, admit they're wrongs... no gaslighting or blaming the other spouse for their actions. But could you still forgive ? Especially if you were so happy beforehand? .........................................................................................................................................................................
TOTAL PLOT SPOILERS ..................................................................................................................................
English family, mid 30s, 2 or 3 kids, happy couple; wife goes to work, dad stays at home because he couldn't get his career going. They seem very happy. One day, the wife checks the camera she gave to her husband for his hobby, and then she sees graphic photos of him with an older woman. And I mean !! graphic !! She is devastated and confronts him. He is devastated, because in his pea-brain it was just sex, no emotional bonds - so it's not cheating. But now he sees his wife's pain/ and it all crashed down on him. He could loose everything. How could he be so stupid? He begs for forgiveness, but that will be difficult when he tells her it's been going on for six months. The wife is a reporter for a local newspaper, and she has a gig in London interviewing and up and coming actor. She barely makes it to the interview, where she promptly breaks down crying. The actor understands, his wife cheated on him with a handsome younger actor and then took his young son to LA to live with this other actor. It left the older actor heart-broken. They spend 2 days talking and eating and talking, about his life but also about her family situation. In those 2 days they grow close. Meanwhile, kids at home see photos of mum with famous actor and think she must be cheating on dad!! They are very upset. To complicate matters, the actor invites the wife to LA, to get away from her situation and finish the interview with him. He is going to LA for movie auditions, but also to visit his young son living with his ex-wife. She goes home and tells her family that she's traveling for work and promises her husband and kids that nothing is going on with the actor, it's just a job. So she flies with actor to LA, where they spend time at his ex-wife's house. The MFC is sleeping for almost 16 hours, and the ex-wife is drinking heavily because she suspects her second husband of cheating on her - yes, she is aware of the karma coming her way. She apologies to the actor for hurting him and taking their son away from him, and she worries with her drinking that he will try to take their son away now. The wife wakes up and they all have a very awkward breakfast. In the next few days, both women are grieving the possible end of their respective marriages, and the actor is fighting his attraction to the emotionally distraught reporter. Meanwhile the husband back in England is doing everything he can to clean the house, talk to his MIL, take care of the kids, face the wrath of wife's friends, and call his wife many times to beg forgiveness, "please don't break up our family, I'll never do it again'. There is alot of emotional pain and torment in all these characters, including the kids reactions to their parents' turmoil. What's going to happen now? Ha, I'll leave it there before FB puts me in jail for "posting overly long messages". The husband makes a desperate trip to LA. He finds the actor's ex-wife's house. Then the ex-wife realizes that her son has escaped to try and find his father ( actor and wife are having a rendezvous at a hotel, I think, fuzzy on this part ). So the husband who is very good with kids helps to find the lost little boy and brings him back to his mother's house. It's very sad and awkward. They share with each other how it feels to be the cheater, to have hurt someone they loved. They bond over this sadness. Eventually the husband finds his wife ( with actor ). They spouses have a very awkward angry and sad conversation. Despite her intense reaction and feeling for the actor, the MFC recognizes that she cannot rearrange her kids' lives. She owes it to her family to at least to rebuild the family unit. She returns to her family in England, while the actor stays in LA to help ex-wife and son through her divorce. Ex-wife goes to rehab I think, while actor spends summer in Wales with his family and son. The reconciliation for the English family is superficially happy over the months, but something in the wife is broken. They go to counseling, the husband finds part-time work in his field, they have happy times with the kids, but privately she is distraught. She reaches out to the actor, but he tells her he cannot be friends with her, there is too much feeling. She sadly agrees. Then her eldest daughter finds evidence that is was her father that cheated, and she is thoroughly disgusted. She tells her mom, I'm on your side, if you like that actor, go get him. The husband overhears his wife's conversation with - I think the actor's ex-wife, they've strangely become friends. The husband realizes it does not matter how sorry he is, how remorseful, how he knows he will never do it again, but none of that matters... his wife is miserable. He does something strange. He pretends to cheat again. This infuriates his wife and children, he takes the blame, the split and eventually the kids forgive the dad. The wife becomes and ex-wife, and she and the actor fall in love, get married ( told in epilogue ); the now ex-husband is watching his ex-wife stand by the actor at an awards ceremony in LA, noticing how beautiful she is, regretting that he was stupid enough to lose her. The actor's ex-wife rings his door, and they hug and kiss hello.
TOTAL PLOT SPOILERS ..................................................................................................................................
English family, mid 30s, 2 or 3 kids, happy couple; wife goes to work, dad stays at home because he couldn't get his career going. They seem very happy. One day, the wife checks the camera she gave to her husband for his hobby, and then she sees graphic photos of him with an older woman. And I mean !! graphic !! She is devastated and confronts him. He is devastated, because in his pea-brain it was just sex, no emotional bonds - so it's not cheating. But now he sees his wife's pain/ and it all crashed down on him. He could loose everything. How could he be so stupid? He begs for forgiveness, but that will be difficult when he tells her it's been going on for six months. The wife is a reporter for a local newspaper, and she has a gig in London interviewing and up and coming actor. She barely makes it to the interview, where she promptly breaks down crying. The actor understands, his wife cheated on him with a handsome younger actor and then took his young son to LA to live with this other actor. It left the older actor heart-broken. They spend 2 days talking and eating and talking, about his life but also about her family situation. In those 2 days they grow close. Meanwhile, kids at home see photos of mum with famous actor and think she must be cheating on dad!! They are very upset. To complicate matters, the actor invites the wife to LA, to get away from her situation and finish the interview with him. He is going to LA for movie auditions, but also to visit his young son living with his ex-wife. She goes home and tells her family that she's traveling for work and promises her husband and kids that nothing is going on with the actor, it's just a job. So she flies with actor to LA, where they spend time at his ex-wife's house. The MFC is sleeping for almost 16 hours, and the ex-wife is drinking heavily because she suspects her second husband of cheating on her - yes, she is aware of the karma coming her way. She apologies to the actor for hurting him and taking their son away from him, and she worries with her drinking that he will try to take their son away now. The wife wakes up and they all have a very awkward breakfast. In the next few days, both women are grieving the possible end of their respective marriages, and the actor is fighting his attraction to the emotionally distraught reporter. Meanwhile the husband back in England is doing everything he can to clean the house, talk to his MIL, take care of the kids, face the wrath of wife's friends, and call his wife many times to beg forgiveness, "please don't break up our family, I'll never do it again'. There is alot of emotional pain and torment in all these characters, including the kids reactions to their parents' turmoil. What's going to happen now? Ha, I'll leave it there before FB puts me in jail for "posting overly long messages". The husband makes a desperate trip to LA. He finds the actor's ex-wife's house. Then the ex-wife realizes that her son has escaped to try and find his father ( actor and wife are having a rendezvous at a hotel, I think, fuzzy on this part ). So the husband who is very good with kids helps to find the lost little boy and brings him back to his mother's house. It's very sad and awkward. They share with each other how it feels to be the cheater, to have hurt someone they loved. They bond over this sadness. Eventually the husband finds his wife ( with actor ). They spouses have a very awkward angry and sad conversation. Despite her intense reaction and feeling for the actor, the MFC recognizes that she cannot rearrange her kids' lives. She owes it to her family to at least to rebuild the family unit. She returns to her family in England, while the actor stays in LA to help ex-wife and son through her divorce. Ex-wife goes to rehab I think, while actor spends summer in Wales with his family and son. The reconciliation for the English family is superficially happy over the months, but something in the wife is broken. They go to counseling, the husband finds part-time work in his field, they have happy times with the kids, but privately she is distraught. She reaches out to the actor, but he tells her he cannot be friends with her, there is too much feeling. She sadly agrees. Then her eldest daughter finds evidence that is was her father that cheated, and she is thoroughly disgusted. She tells her mom, I'm on your side, if you like that actor, go get him. The husband overhears his wife's conversation with - I think the actor's ex-wife, they've strangely become friends. The husband realizes it does not matter how sorry he is, how remorseful, how he knows he will never do it again, but none of that matters... his wife is miserable. He does something strange. He pretends to cheat again. This infuriates his wife and children, he takes the blame, the split and eventually the kids forgive the dad. The wife becomes and ex-wife, and she and the actor fall in love, get married ( told in epilogue ); the now ex-husband is watching his ex-wife stand by the actor at an awards ceremony in LA, noticing how beautiful she is, regretting that he was stupid enough to lose her. The actor's ex-wife rings his door, and they hug and kiss hello.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 5, 2021
If one were to be cheated on, this is the book that lays out the most ideal fallouts from it. It's as if the author sat down and thought through a dream recovery process of infidelity - zero gaslighting, other woman will never be a problem, 100% admission of fault, a grovel fest and a Hollywood A lister chasing after you.
1) Husband feels immediate remorse
2) Husand had never given his address or phone number and only communicated via email with other woman who was not prettier or more in shape or anything more positive than the heroine
3) heroine is looked after by Hollywood's biggest A list star
4) Husband owns up to heroine's best friend
5) Husband owns up to mother in law
6) Husband chases after heroine to win her back
7) Hollywood's A list star begins to fall in love with heroine
8) Husband owns up to all of his mistakes and never blames or gaslights
9) Husband goes to counselling with h
10) h and Hollywood A lister spend a night together and realise their chemistry is off the charts but h returns to Husband because of kids
(Ending spoiler ahead)
10) Husband finds out that h is only back with him because of kids and loves Hollywood A lister and so gives up h so that she can be with Hollywood star
1) Husband feels immediate remorse
2) Husand had never given his address or phone number and only communicated via email with other woman who was not prettier or more in shape or anything more positive than the heroine
3) heroine is looked after by Hollywood's biggest A list star
4) Husband owns up to heroine's best friend
5) Husband owns up to mother in law
6) Husband chases after heroine to win her back
7) Hollywood's A list star begins to fall in love with heroine
8) Husband owns up to all of his mistakes and never blames or gaslights
9) Husband goes to counselling with h
10) h and Hollywood A lister spend a night together and realise their chemistry is off the charts but h returns to Husband because of kids
(Ending spoiler ahead)
10) Husband finds out that h is only back with him because of kids and loves Hollywood A lister and so gives up h so that she can be with Hollywood star
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2022
🚨🙌🚨
The ending is a deviation from the usual cheating scenario in that
The ending is a deviation from the usual cheating scenario in that
April 18, 2023
So this book sounded GREAT. And it was BUT i didn’t like the writing style. I’ve read a book similar like this and it had the same style. I got the same vibes. Around 545% i just decided to skip to the end cause i wanted to see what happened.
My reviews from the parts i DID read? Jamie is selfish. I grew tired of him easily especially in the beginning. There was no ease into his indiscretions. Just… “I Love my wife. Ahh peace at home i can have uninterrupted time with my mistress”. Uhhh… That was a DRASTIC change… Cause the previous pages he was saying how much he loved his life…
Mayra… I just didn’t vibe with her. Disliked her from the beginning. There was just no connection with her. I felt for her betrayal… but there was pretty much nothing after that.
Besides that… Eh. The ending made me mad. One redemption from Jamie didn’t make me like him. I honestly believed he did the right thing with his goodbye letter… just to find out it wasn’t true…
My reviews from the parts i DID read? Jamie is selfish. I grew tired of him easily especially in the beginning. There was no ease into his indiscretions. Just… “I Love my wife. Ahh peace at home i can have uninterrupted time with my mistress”. Uhhh… That was a DRASTIC change… Cause the previous pages he was saying how much he loved his life…
Mayra… I just didn’t vibe with her. Disliked her from the beginning. There was just no connection with her. I felt for her betrayal… but there was pretty much nothing after that.
Besides that… Eh. The ending made me mad. One redemption from Jamie didn’t make me like him. I honestly believed he did the right thing with his goodbye letter… just to find out it wasn’t true…
May 9, 2024
1. I found this book pretty unrealistic.
a. There is no way the courts would have allowed Liz to move 4000 miles away and take Felix away from his father, especially since Charlie had been his main caregiver up until then.
b. I really can’t see Charlie and Martha being comfortable staying at Liz and Danny’s house when they came to LA.
c. I also can’t see Martha and Charlie being so sympathetic to Liz when Danny dumped her.
I DNF about halfway through because both of Charlie and Jamie were just too beta and whiny for me.
a. There is no way the courts would have allowed Liz to move 4000 miles away and take Felix away from his father, especially since Charlie had been his main caregiver up until then.
b. I really can’t see Charlie and Martha being comfortable staying at Liz and Danny’s house when they came to LA.
c. I also can’t see Martha and Charlie being so sympathetic to Liz when Danny dumped her.
I DNF about halfway through because both of Charlie and Jamie were just too beta and whiny for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 27, 2021
I very randomly picked up this book one day as I needed a book to read during an unexpected solo coffee shop date. I liked the blurb and thought it sounded typical romance so I grabbed it, having no idea what to expect.
For the most part, it was completely what I expected - classic romance. However, there was a few plot twists that I wasn't expecting and I really enjoyed, especially the ending (those last two pages!). I thoroughly enjoyed this and I am very glad I picked it up.
For the most part, it was completely what I expected - classic romance. However, there was a few plot twists that I wasn't expecting and I really enjoyed, especially the ending (those last two pages!). I thoroughly enjoyed this and I am very glad I picked it up.
April 22, 2024
I enjoyed this. I don’t think I’ve ever read a book where I felt so bad for a cheater as I did for Jamie. Poor Jamie. He had the perfect life and ruined it spectacularly and it wasn’t even for a good reason. Martha was never able to get over it which is totally acceptable. I felt it was hypocritical of Martha having an emotional affair with Charlie though, since at least in Jamie’s case he felt nothing for the OW. But then again if Jamie didn’t cheat in the first place, Martha wouldn’t have opened her heart to someone else. Also Charlie who had everything and seemingly has the world at his feet but his personal life sucked until he met Martha. I liked the ending though and hope at least his relationship with Liv works out better.
May 18, 2020
This was the second Helen Warner book I have read and I loved it! I don’t want to give too much away but the characters are so relatable and it really gives a good insight into the wider implications that having an affair can have.
I knocked a star off because I feel it ended pretty abruptly and would have loved a bit more of a slower more fulfilled ending. But would also settle for a sequel?
All in all a great book that gives you the opportunity to forget your own problems and focus on someone else’s life for a while!
I knocked a star off because I feel it ended pretty abruptly and would have loved a bit more of a slower more fulfilled ending. But would also settle for a sequel?
All in all a great book that gives you the opportunity to forget your own problems and focus on someone else’s life for a while!
July 14, 2020
I really liked this book. I was a bit sceptical at first as I am not normally a romance book person, but this once pleasantly surprised me.
The only thing I would say is that it became a little bit predictable as the story went on, and the order of who's POV we were on became a little confusing.
However, all in all I loved it.
The only thing I would say is that it became a little bit predictable as the story went on, and the order of who's POV we were on became a little confusing.
However, all in all I loved it.
August 8, 2020
I usually love this type of "marriage in trouble" story, but this one made me sad. The author did a good job with making the characters feel real, no one is without faults. That said, I was surprised how bad I felt for the cheating husband. In the end, I think this should have gone a different way.
3.5 Stars
3.5 Stars
October 14, 2021
This was unexpected how lovely it was. I wasnt sure who oi was rooting for, Jamie or Charlie. There was no one character who you could have called evil.
You could see all their faults but still feel for them.
Awesome book
You could see all their faults but still feel for them.
Awesome book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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