Willow

Foster Girls #4

by GroveltoHEA

Willow and Decker Masen were married two days before Willow discovered he'd courted her and married her strictly to fulfill the stipulations in his father's will.
Then, he sent her to live away from him, promising her a divorce in three years with a big payout.
She doesn't want his money.
Then Decker comes back for his wife.
Before he even knows there's a tiny reason to come back.
But can he put the broken pieces of her heart back together?

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Second Chance, M F Romance, Contemporary

ebook

Published August 1, 2022

About the author

Wattpad author

Reviews

[Cheesecake · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is the last of the Foster Girls series, but is kind of a prequel to her Fae series. We are introduced to the female protagonists in that series when Willow moves to Harbor's End to get away from Decker, her ahole husband of one day.

Decker tricks Willow into marrying him to fulfill the requirements of his father's will. He thinks lying to her and using her will be fine because he will be giving her a bucket load of money in exchange. But he doesn't actually tell her any of this till AFTER the wedding AND after he takes her virginity on the wedding night. Then he tells her that she has to move out and it will be a marriage in name only for 3 years when he will divorce her and pay her off. In the mean time here's a sweet little beach front cottage just outside of Harbor's Edge where you can live with a black AMEX card for company.

Of course what he doesn't foresee is Willow having gotten pregnant on their frisky wedding night. And he doesn't foresee that he's already fallen for her.

He already has a lot to make up for. But of course he has also screwed the pooch literally and her name is Nurie. The skanky 'back stabbing friend with benefits' that he's been with off an on for the last 8 years. He was schtupping Nurie the whole time he was platonically dating Willow.

So almost right away Decker feels remorse and plans to see Willow but Willow has flown the coop. She leaves almost right away and starts a new life in Harbor's Edge.

I quite enjoyed this. The side characters are fun and the grovelling was long and well done.

safety is problematic but not bad.
He was sleeping with Nurie while wooing Willow. He hadn't planned to ever have sex with Willow but couldn't keep his hands off her on their wedding night. He never has sex with Nurie again after that but I still felt like he had coodies until some time had passed and he'd been forced to be celibate.
Willow was a virgin and doesn't date others during the book.
Willow does tell him about the baby but didn't even know herself until half way through the story.
I like that this author doesn't resort to the h having noodle knees in his sexy presence, to get them into bed again. No sex before forgiveness. As it should be!
Nurie gets her comeuppance. She's a cartoonish evil OW that was fun to hate. And the author explains that he kept having sex with her over the years to piss off his ahole father and because he had some self loathing too.

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

The ending was wonderful. But honestly the revenge things he did to his ex lover and his friend were just unbelievable. I liked what he did to her but honestly it could never happen really. Did she deserve it? Absolutely. She was vile. But it just didn't seem believable. But he really was sorry. I really wanted to know if he had sex with the skank after he consummated the marriage. It doesn't say but I wondered. That would have helped me accept his apology. That was hard to read but I am glad I read the warnings before and knew he had cheated so I wouldn't cry. I will never like that premise due to personal reasons but I have read quite a few from this author and its almost like I'm gorging on it so I become immune or something. Lol. I will never be immune but now i m going to take a break from all the angst and read about something else. But I'll be Back!

[honeybee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Willow is the stupidest one among all of Foster Girls. I SAID WHAT I SAID.

The dude literally court her for 3 months while still fucking other women regularly and get married to her to claim his company because of the will. And never did STD tests. And he fucked her like 14 times for the first two night on their wedding, until the mistress come and this girl just realise what a bullshit all this. Dexter is the most disgusting character ever in all groveltohea books, on the same level as Merrick. Manwhores and disgusting.

And the way he handle the mistress? Its sooo bad. She threatened Willow, but never did anything. You know what this dude do to her? He tattoos all of her body with "SLUT BITCH ETC" and she have to live her whole fkin life like that. WHAT AN ABSOLUTE DISGUSTING PIECE OF SHIT. You damanged a person permanently for something she haven't do? Just put her inside the damn hospital forever instead. She was forced to prostitute herself with all of her body tattoos including her fkin face! Lets be honest, its the most horrible thing someone can do to someone else. The mistress doesnt even do anything, just threatened her! Ugh i cant. DEXTER, MERRICK AND MALIK ARE THE WORSE CHARACTERS AMONG ALL GROVELTOHEA BOOKS.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 ⭐⭐⭐ - OK or decent reads
=========================

Decker is the author's worst hero. I didn't like him and not even with a bleach bath and a complete examination for sexually transmitted diseases would I touch him.

[Izzie d · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is posted on Wattpad and can be read free there.
Please be aware in all these books the Hero messes up in varying degrees from saying something very disloyal to full out cheating, each story is different.

Just to clarify in this story the Hero does have sex with other women after meeting and possibly after their marriage, though that's vague.

https://www.wattpad.com/user/GroveltoHEA

Note from the author.

Here's what you'll get with my stories:
A strong h.
An H who messes up (never the h!) with either cheating (and I consider kissing OW cheating) or some other betrayal.
An H who gets his a$$ handed to him for said mess up.
An H doing the grovel to HEA! (Always, always, always have to have an HEA between the H and h, but the H has to really work for it.)
And, in cases of nasty OW...karma will be stopping by to say hello.

What you'll never get:
An h moving on to another man in a serious way.
The h having revenge s3x (it's just not going to happen).
The h and OW becoming friends (that is also never going to happen).

The Hero is one messed up guy. He has a toxic relationship with a woman, on/off for 8 years. His father was violent and messed him up through childhood.
His father dies and to get his own back he completes the terms of the will so he can inherit his father's company by marrying the heroine, Willow.
She thinks it's real but after the wedding night he sets her up living away from him for 3 years until they can divorce and he can carry on with his on/off toxic ex.

There are no intimate details other than the Hero and heroine but he has slept with random women when they were together, 'courting', not having sex with the heroine until his wedding night.
It's pretty brutal.

HEA. Eventually.

[Danny Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this one the least of the bunch. Couldn't really get into either character. They bored me to tears to be honest. The ow drama was lacking. I'm always hoping for a smackdown between the h and ow, but it never happened here because the h's are always pregnant. Which got old here in the last book. Decker was a hypocrite for tattooing CHEATER, and other words on the ow before sending her to Russia. He was also a cheater. He had a sad back story, but I wasn't feeling very sympathetic.

Overall I enjoyed this series, but it follows the exact set-up almost with each character.

[Van · Rating 2 out of 5]

So disappointed
There’s no grovel at all… just a pregnancy surprise, a trope that I hate more and more every day!!!
Child abuse is always an excuse for cheating and lying in romance books… bufffggggg

[Ꭿຖᥲ·♡ ྀི · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75✯

-2nd (and 3rd) chance
-dual POV
-insta love for Willow... Decker, I wouldn't say he felt insta lust when he met her, but he felt a strong connection, he felt intrigued by her
-Willow (25) was a virgin, Decker was a hoe
-Decker used Willow to meet the stipulations of his father's will, he needed to get married to maintain control of his company and he 'chose' her (she found out the truth 2 days after the wedding)
-they dated for 3 months before they got married, during that time he continued to fuck his fuck buddy Nurie (they'd been on and off for 8 years), he also fucked other women
-it wasn't very clear but I think he stopped sleeping with Nurie after marrying Willow
-Decker had a fucked up childhood, his father used to beat his mom, until one day he killed her in front of him when he was 8... the day after his mom's funeral he became his father's punching bag, this lasted for years, when he was 14 he was finally big and strong enough to defend himself... he started fucking every available hole because he knew his father would hate it, so obviously he kept doing it, when he was in college he met Nurie, she also had a fucked up past like him, he felt 'safe' with her because she understood how messed up he was, he said being with her was never good, it was tense and painful was it was 'normal'... when his father met her he hated her so Decker kept her around... he admitted to Willow that he was relieved when his father's will prevented him from marrying Nurie, he told her that he didn't know anything different until he met her, but, he was so fucked up that he kept fucking Nurie after meeting Willow because he knew how much his father hated Nurie, he was trying to avoid letting his father control him even after his death, he told Willow that it was never about her, that he did it to get back at his asshole father
-while Willow and Decker were dating they didn't have sex, every time he started feeling more towards Willow he'd leave her and call Nurie or other women to have a 'fuck session', he wasn't planning on sleeping with Willow but on their wedding night he couldn't resist her anymore and took her virginity
-Decker's plan was to marry Willow and then send her to another house, he was going to take care of all her expenses and then divorce her after 3 years but after sending Willow away he realized that he'd fucked up, a few weeks later he went to see her and that's when the groveling started...
-surprise baby
-Decker had groveled for around 7 months when Willow decided to give him anther chance
-after Decker married Willow he broke things off with Nurie but the evil bitch was not about to let him go so easily, after Willow gave Decker a second chance Nurie went to see her and told her a bunch of lies which caused another separation (Decker also messed up again, he lied to Willow but he was trying to protect her from Nurie), they were apart for almost 2 months
-I thought the groveling was satisfying and I liked the way Decker dealt with Nurie and his friend, he definitely avenged Willow 🤭
-the epilogue was good (10 years later, married with 5 kids) but I feel like it focused too much on the sisters, I wish there had been more interaction between Decker and Willow
--------------------

"Send someone else to look for her. I'm done watching you destroy the best fucking thing that ever happened to you." "You forget yourself," I said warningly. "I don't need your money, Deck. Not even sure I want your friendship, the way you been acting. You had the sweetest girl I've ever seen, and you shredded her up so you could keep a fucking viper. You know what Nurie is; you know what Willow is. I wish you every bit of misery that bitch is going to bring you. Couldn't happen to a more deserving man." Then Hatch stalked out of my office and I was left with the knowledge that he spoke the absolute truth. I'd sent away the best thing that'd ever happened to me.

*****************************************************

Guilt is a new, unwelcome emotion. From the moment I started this with Willow, I hadn't felt right, except when I was with her, ironically. Where Nurie was drama and passion and seething emotions, Willow was calm, serenity and happiness. She was innocence and purity, untouched by the harshness of the world despite having grown up in foster care. Miraculous. Nurie wanted and demanded, looking for ways to fuck with my mind. Willow enjoyed and never, not once, asked for anything. She brought me peace.

*****************************************************

Did I honestly think it would lessen her pain if she knew the reasons behind my actions? I knew I was fucked up. The years of abuse, the need to not let my father win had driven me from the first time he'd hit me. Looking back, every single relationship I'd had with a woman had been unhealthy and aimed at getting back at him.

*****************************************************

I took off the ring for the first time since she'd slid it onto my finger and looked at it closely. Something was engraved on the inside. I peered at it. 'In your eyes, I found home.' Stunned, I realized why she wanted this ring back. Even more than the words I love you, this statement told me how deeply she felt for me. One night when we'd been talking, she told me what her mother had promised her, how someday she'd find home in a man. Guilt stabbed me like a knife in the heart. I'd made her believe she'd found home, made her think she'd found her forever. Just like my father, I'd damaged another person without a thought as to the pain I was inflicting. Pain didn't have to be delivered just with fists. I didn't deserve Willow.

*****************************************************

"I want you," he said simply. "You had me. And then you threw me away." His eyes met mine. "I did. It was the biggest mistake of my life, one I'll do anything to fix." "What you did can't be fixed." "Right now, anything out of my mouth is just going to be noise to you. You'll never know how sorry I am for what I did to you, how I treated you. But I'm going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you." "Until you go back to Nurie." "Again, you're not going to believe me, but I made it clear to Nurie that she and I were done. Forever."

*****************************************************

"You shattered me. There's no way all of those pieces can be put back together. Especially not by you." His hand came gently to my jaw and turned my face back to his. "You found home in my eyes, Willow. That's worth fighting for." Shit! Shitshitshit! I could feel the blush taking over my entire body. Damn the rotten bastard. He looked at me and stood. "Get ready, Willow." "For what?" "I'm coming for you, and I won't stop until we both get what we want." "I want you to leave me alone." With a shake of his head, he grinned. "You want me to be your home, and, sweetheart, that's all I want to be."

*****************************************************

I hate that my actions and behavior cost me your eyes. I loved the way you'd look at me, your brown eyes so bright and loving and so fucking beautiful I couldn't believe one woman could contain so much sweetness. And I killed that, recognizing your looks for the gift they were and still not being good enough to do the right thing and make myself worthy of you. You never look me in the eyes now. You barely look in my direction. I know I deserve that, but it still destroys me.

*****************************************************

I used to think nothing could hurt as much as my father's fists. Then I lost you.

*****************************************************

"Sweetheart, I'm so fucking happy we're going to have a baby it isn't even funny. And I know exactly why you didn't want to tell me, so I'm not going to stress you out right now by talking about it. What I am going to do is make sure that you take it easy, get everything you need so you and the baby are safe, and watch over you two like a hawk. And you aren't going to say jack shit about it. We clear?"

*****************************************************

Although I wanted to place the sole blame for this on Nurie, I knew, deep down where I didn't want to go, this was all on me. From the moment I'd set my sights on Willow, won her pure love, I'd been playing a game until I suddenly wasn't and it became real. Willow became a person, not a means to an end; she became the woman I loved, not the woman I married for the sake of keeping my company.

*****************************************************

I'm hoping your trust can be repaired. I want to prove to you that I will never again lie to you, not even to protect you. Those are just words to you at this point, but I promise I will prove they are true if you'll give me the time. You own me, heart and soul, body and mind, Willow. I'm sorry for all the ways I've hurt you, more than I can express, more than you'll ever know.

*****************************************************

I've done a shit job of showing you that I love you. I know that and it makes me ashamed. You are the perfect woman for me. You engraved it on my ring, but the truth is, my Willow, that it was in you that I found home, for the first time in my life. I'm sorry I didn't treasure that like I should have, but I will spend the rest of my life treasuring the person you are, either as my wife or as the woman I'll always love.

*****************************************************

"I'm going to try my hardest to be the best father in the world for you, son," I heard Decker's low, deep voice making promises to our boy, who was cradled in his arms. "I promise I'll never hurt you or your mom, and I'll never raise a hand to either of you. I may screw up in other ways, but never like that, I swear it. I'm going to let you know every single day how much I love you and how happy I am that you're my son. You will never doubt that. And you will see me treat your mom right every single day and I'll show you how to cherish the woman you love."

[Nidhi Bhatt · Rating 1 out of 5]

In defense of the story, I couldn't get over Willow's betrayal of Elizabeth so I just viewed her as annoying the whole time, and Decker wasn't much better. But without those humps, no one writes a better grovel.

[Susan (susayq ~) · Rating 4 out of 5]

2ND READING - He was still a jerk at the beginning of the story who didn't learn his lesson well enough so he messed up a second time.

1ST READING - Decker was a total jerk at first.

[Fleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️ 3.8

I almost threw the towel in when she caved way too quickly the first time. I couldn’t believe this author was finishing things up so easily. Then that little bombshell happened and we got the second round of “he hurt me” and I saw why it was playing out like this.

Willow was an ok character. Lovely and nice.
Him? Well, I had issues with him. Especially when he started throwing his weight around, throwing his money, pushing himself into her life, being there. And she just let it happen. She let him walk with her. Be there when buying a dog. Running with her. She was so passive with certain things. She gave an inch and he took a mile, and that bugged me.

[Dilsa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I finished the other three books in the series, and while they were all pretty similar, they flowed nicely and the characters did things that were more forgivable, so it was easy to get on board with their actions. But this one… wow. The male lead does something completely unforgivable, yet the story still revolves around the heroine being pregnant, dealing with hormones, and all that. Honestly, I feel this book could have been handled differently compared to the others—it just didn’t land for me the same way.

Also, while OW was terrible, I’m not sure she deserved that much punishment. I would have preferred if it were the “hero” who faced the consequences instead.

[Lara Bayfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again another good plot all set around the 4th and final foster girl Willow. Decker does treat her appallingly and I like that a couple of members of his staff defy him and stick up for her. I like how Decker realised his previous relationships had been toxic and stem from his childhood. My only slight criticism was the dealing with nurie and the bodyguard was far fetched, as was all the brother in laws becoming part of romes mc biker gang but still enjoyable.

[Nyla Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

5⭐️

This book ate down and it was the perfect book to end the foster girls!! Deck definitely had some groveling to do! And I loved that for him & willow. Nurie is a POS & the security guard is beyond stupid .. but the punishments, personally I could have lived the rest of my days without knowing any of that! Also, love the hatch appearances & the birth moments, men are cute when they are worried!

[Prac Agrl · Rating 2 out of 5]

H and h both were ok
H was intense
i still feel the romance and the love between them should have had more story time.
I love when evil women get comeuppance specially by the H but over here (i am not advocating for the OW) i do see the punishment meted by H was harsh as he was also an equal partner in her instigations.
He could have helped her get the requisite help.

[Dre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think this is my least fave of all of this author's work I've read so far. Willow came across as an actual child to me. I know she was young and was supposed to be very innocent, but it kinda creeped me out cuz I just kept thinking of her as a kid not an adult woman. I'm hoping there's a Hatch/Harmony story coming or maybe it's already written and I just haven't found it on Wattpad yet.

[artsandgrace *ೃ༄ · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I hate cheating with every bit of my soul, the grovel in this one was top tier. But still there’s cheating. Ugh. He didn’t do it in front of her (like a certain asshole hockey player) but what the fuck Decker

[Janeen Simpkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decker was a major idiot and still kept secrets even if thought was for a good reason it wasn’t when trust had been not just broken but smashed to pieces.

[Eliana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old books

[Shawna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Men can fuck up in a story and be redeemable, but honestly this one was really too far. It’s a whole no from me.

[Aayah Papaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still hate that guy

[Crista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book on a per chapter app.

The ‘preview’ of this book I read in a promotion of this book was not in the book at all. It was an ok story, I feel he could have groveled a lot more, let’s face it he was cheating on her the whole time they were dating and then constantly lied to her through the marriage repair portion of the book. I didn’t read the other sisters books in the series but am curious enough to add them to my tbr.

[Cat Ciolko-Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this captivating romance novel, we follow the tumultuous love story of Decker and Willow — a tale that begins with instant attraction and spirals into heartbreak before finding its way back to love.

Decker falls for Willow the moment he sees her at a bar, and their romance blossoms quickly. Despite their deepening feelings, they decide to abstain from sex until their wedding night, a choice that adds a layer of emotional intimacy to their relationship. Eventually, they marry — but the fairy tale unravels almost immediately.

Just two days after their wedding, Decker's mistress reappears, shattering Willow’s world. In a brutal confession, Decker reveals that he married Willow not for love, but to secure his inheritance, as his father’s will prohibited him from marrying his mistress. To make matters worse, Decker coldly instructs Willow to move to a designated house in another town, agreeing to a three-year marriage before they part ways.

Crushed and betrayed, Willow refuses to be a pawn in Decker’s scheme. She abandons the life they built together, leaving behind the credit cards, wedding rings, and their home. Determined to reclaim her independence, she moves away, finds new employment, and builds a circle of supportive friendships.

When Decker discovers her disappearance, he's forced to confront the painful truth: Willow means far more to him than he ever admitted. His dark past may have driven him to push her away, but the agony of losing her outweighs any secret he sought to keep hidden. The ultimate realization strikes him — he never truly loved his mistress; his heart has always belonged to his wife.

What follows is a heartfelt journey of redemption, as Decker embarks on a mission to win back Willow's trust and love. But the road to forgiveness is anything but easy. Willow’s newfound strength and independence demand that Decker prove himself worthy — especially when he learns they're expecting a child.

I absolutely loved how Willow refused to be a victim. Her resilience and courage shone through, and it was deeply satisfying to watch Decker work relentlessly to earn back her love and respect. The emotional depth, the raw heartbreak, and the gradual path to healing made this a truly compelling read.

If you enjoy stories of second chances, emotional growth, and fierce heroines, this book is definitely for you.

[Star · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5
Lacks of grovel

[Athena Que Será, Será · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tags: betrayal, cheating-hero, damaged-broken_hero, grovel-remorseful, hero-has-mistress, hero-hurts-heroine, hero-married-to-heroine, heroine-leaves, manwhore-philanderer, ow-drama, read, rich-hero, troubled-marriage, virgin-heroine, wattpad-mania

[wench · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually she should have been allowed to shoot him.