Lucio and Janie

Body #2

by GroveltoHEA

Ginevra Di Paolo was betrayed by her husband, Lucio Feroce, on their wedding night, so she disappeared.
For five years.
Now, he's found her and he's back to claim her.
He was expecting a sweet, submissive wife.
Instead, he got...Janie.

Genres: Second Chance, Contemporary Romance, Enemies To Lovers, Dark Romance, Mafia Romance, M F Romance, Forced Proximity

ebook

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

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Reviews

[Paula (in & out) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This one does have cheating. On their wedding night Hero brings OW home and f***s her. Heroine is left devastated and angry. There are no scenes of the act. We are just told that he had sex with her and kicked her out of his bed, home & life the next morning (which is still icky for me because he actually allowed her to sleep with him all night and that means, they had sex more then once).

The only reason why I even read and rated it as I did is only for the heroine. I was here for her - and only her because she was kick-ass. After hubby betrayed her, she didn't stay and take his shite. She gave it back by leaving him in the dust for 5 years, breaking into the courthouse and burning their marriage license so that it couldn't be filed and therefore marriage no more, placing her rings under a truck so that he could track them many states away, blocking any OW from f*****g him in the 5 years separation (yes, he tried to have sex with many OW on the 1st year she was gone but no one would have sex with him(!) 😁 and then she spent all the years apart throwing away her virginity & f*****g many OM and having fun with it!

Once Hero finds her, he gets to see who his wife is and it was awesome. Especially loved the scene where she kicks his ass & he finds out that she lost her virginity and had great sex with others. Lol.

Anyway, it was a good read. It kept me entertained and while Hero did show a good amount of regret for what he did, the fact still remains that he did cheat and he would have continued to cheat if not for heroine cockblocking him. He said he brought the OW home to "teach her a lesson" because she wanted a small wedding instead of a big fancy one that he needed. She went behind his back, hence for the "lesson". In the end though, it was he who got the lesson - and then some!

Some other highlights for anyone interested, Heroine & her girlfriends become vigilantes to take down a ring of traffickers under Hero's nose. The OW was one of those that got her ass killed by heroine. 🥳

Hero is regretful here as all of them are and the grovel is okay but I am a reader who never forgives cheating of any kind, for any reason. So while I liked how he transformed into a decent husband by the end of it and he was very supportive, protective and treated her as a partner, it didn't unfortunately leave me any less happy with him by the end then when I started, soooo 🤷‍♀️.

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Amazing!
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Wattpad

[Laura]

Listen... 😭 I love this author so much that I've been binge-reading all of her books for the past week and a half. I've finished everything that's completed but I haven't touched the sexually cheating ones because I just can't stomach them. Tonight I got so desperate for something I haven't already read that I tried a sexually cheating one and I got the heebie-jeebies just from skimming the cheating scene. I can't do it. If I were forced to read a sexually cheating book but I got to pick the author, it would hands-down be GroveltoHEA because they have solid writing and I trust that they can make the guy suffer properly before bringing it all around to a HEA. But since I'm not being forced, I'm outta here. I'm gonna have to dip back into the stockpile and re-read or just force myself to stay away until they've completed more works. I'll be fine. 😭

[Miki’s⚠️ Safety Reviews & Rants⚠️ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Janie is an amazing character
Hated that she got a cheated POS she deserved way better.
There is no coming back from cheating
Unfortunately this book is really important to this mafia world and her other books so I skipped over the cheating and relationship stuff and read the plot and world building so I could move on in The series

[Cheesecake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was almost done the story before I realized that Ginerva/Janie was the crazy friend from Tenn and Lark. The one who likes to take people for a ride with a shovel in the trunk ; )

Turns out she's been on the run for 5 years from Lucio the disappointing husband of a few hours.
Lucio was 23 at the time and Ginerva was 17ish. He barely knew her and decided to teach her a lesson for something unimportant. He brings a ho-bag to the house on the wedding night and spends the night with the ho instead of his wife.
Ginerva though has too much pride to stand for that and now she has a broken heart because she had hoped to play happy family with Lucio. I don't think she loved him at the time, more the idea of him.
Still it sucked but she fled using the skills her father taught her.
She reinvents herself as Janie.
Lucio tracks her down 5 years later, now that he is the head of 'The Body' as they call the mafia in the book. There's lots of other stuff going on in the story including a secret vigilante group.
SO it kept my interest even after I knew Lucio would be forgiven.
Ginerva is pretty stubborn, so Lucio really has to prove he's changed.
There's also a side romance/marriage-in-trouble that plays out towards the end where the story would have started to get a little boring otherwise.
I felt Lucio did redeem himself and it was all very sweet by the end.
Janie was a fun character. She's pretty OTT special snowflake but fun.

Safety is good after the initial not-good bit ; )
Lucio did have sex with Chiara, the tramp he brought home on his wedding night. But then told her to hit the road the next morning. Don't worry, Ginerva made sure she got her just desserts heh-heh. Then he didn't have sex again till he and Ginerva get back together. Of course Ginerva and her friends might have had something to do with that, ha ha. Ginerva lost her virginity to some stranger from a bar. She has other brief flings but nobody really turns her crank like Lucio of course. Still I really appreciated that the author not only DIDN'T make her still a virgin, but gave her a decent sexual life away from the Lucio. Yeah!
There is violence but it's left more ambiguous. Nothing too visceral.

[Paige · Rating 3 out of 5]

So let me get this straight. Janie’s dad dies and she’s so beside herself that she requests a small intimate wedding because she’s GRIEVING and this makes Lucio so mad that he doesn’t get his extravagant wedding that he brings this other woman to their bed on their wedding night. Him and this woman tease Janie about her inexperience, then they sleep together, the woman STAYS THE NIGHT and cuddles with him. He kicks her out the next morning thinking now that Janie has learned her lesson they will have a great marriage after that. He finds Janie gone (rightfully so) and then a year after she’s gone he proceeds to try and sleep with MULTIPLE woman. But Janie is out there behind the scenes and he’s not able to score with these woman, not for lack of trying. And then when he finds Janie he forces her to come home to be a sweet little wife!!! Oh my word some of these male characters are just so awful. Granted his grovel was better than a lot of the other guys but DAMN!! All these stars are for Janie because she’s so badass.

I knew going into this it was a cheating book but the reasoning behind it and the things that happened after were so childish!!

[Izzie d]

WIP....incomplete

He does cheat on their wedding night.

[Sherron · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Preeti ♥︎ Her Bookshelves · Rating 4 out of 5]

Been a while ...
But absolutely adored this h - and her (papa's) rules.
I think we should all print out and frame these rules!

She's the quiet one and so ppl mistake her to be meek but she has a solid spine of steel.
And killer skills - like literally!
The h/ H are engaged. Her father is killed, and she requests the mob boss for a small City Hall wedding instead of the usual big Mafia bash.
The H is p*ssed that she went behind his back.
And he also sees her unemotional-ness as a sign of callouss coldness.
So, he brings in his mistress and f**ks her in his bedroom, on their wedding night.
Meanwhile the h vanishes that same night...

Five years later, he finds her and brings her home.
She was living under the protection of an MC, the prez an old mob acquaintance etc.
We learn the H knew of her hiding place but left her there, as he had an ascendancy fight on his hands.

The present -
He goes to bring her back but it's more of a learning experience for him.
He has inferred that there's more to her than what he originally thought, but he's still in for big surprises.
That his wife is a force to reckon with ... certainly not someone to be messed with - ever.
His grovel is acceptably good.

They also have traitors, moles and traffickers to deal with.

[Aarann · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was ridiculously fun. Janie's antics made me giggle (and in the following book, Nico and Cosi's story, Nico's descriptions of Janie as rabid made me laugh out loud). I did wish that for a character described as such a well trained bad-ass, we had some idea that she could actually get the best of Lucio sometimes. After a while, he seemed to predict everything she was going to do without any explanation. (Speaking of explanations, were we ever told what Janie's secret ability was? The whip? Her ability to escape?) I did like what for most books would have been the third act break-up though. The sweet "I don't want to leave you," she whispers when she thinks he is sleeping was so cute in a book that mostly featured fighting.

I'm not sure I'd put this one in the cheating category, although Lucio was for sure an ass in his actions and me not calling it cheating should never diminish that. They barely knew each other when he cheated and yeah, she had expectations and was grieving her father so him kicking her out on their wedding night for a mistress was Absolute King Choad behavior and he 100% deserved to be raked over the coals for it, but I am not sure I'd call it cheating, despite the marriage certificate (for me, cheating requires a bit more emotional connection rather than just the physical act of sex while married to someone else on paper). That said, it was a total disrespectful dick move against an 18 year old who was grieving her father and entering into a new marriage that Janie absolutely did not deserve, so I was okay with all the work he had to put in.

All in all, pretty satisfying, despite some logistical issues, and I immediately picked up Nico and Cosi's story right after.

[Debbie DiFiore]

I was fascinated by him.and her in the book about Orion but there is just no way I can read about cheating. On either side! But good for her she definitely showed him.

[Eliana]

Cosi storyline grabbed me more than this couple drama, i fear. I'm including anxious to read her book that isn't available yet.

[Ꭿຖᥲ·♡ ྀི · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5✯

-2nd chance
-dual POV
-marriage of convenience
-slow burn
-Lucio was a hoe
-Lucio was 21 and Janie was 16 when they met, they got married 2 years later
-Lucio fucked OW (off page) on their wedding night (at this point he didn't have any feelings for Janie, Janie thought she was in love with him but years later she realized that she'd had a naïve girlish love for him that wasn't based on anything real, they also hadn't really known each other -she only saw him like 8 times before their wedding day-)
-after Lucio told Janie that he was going to have the OW for their wedding night, she disappeared (the next morning after Lucio fucked the OW he told her to get out of his house, that they were done for good, he then went to look for Janie, he was hoping she'd learned her lesson and was ready to apologize to him and recognize his authority over her 😒, if she was, he'd allowed her to move into his room and they could officially begin their lives as husband and wife, he had no idea who he was dealing with though 😏)
-Janie and Lucio were apart for 5 years (he found her a year after she left but because his uncle wanted to kill her he kept pretending to not know where she was, he was also relieved to know that Butcher (from The Fae Book 3: Butcher and Raine) was watching over her)
-during the 5 years they were apart Janie lost her virginity to another man, she also slept with multiple men but it was all casual, Lucio tried to fuck several OW's the first year after Janie disappeared but in the end he never fucked any of them because unbeknownst to him, Janie and her group of girlfriends had cock-blocked him 🤭 (I loved how angry he got when Janie told him that she was no longer a virgin 😆)
-why did Lucio cheat? - he wanted a big wedding because he was planning on overthrow his uncle and needed to show his power, Janie had just lost her father and was mourning him so she went to see Lucio's uncle, she asked him if they could have a small wedding and he agreed because her father had saved him, so Lucio fucked the OW to teach Janie a lesson 🙄 he did it so she'd never bypass him again and go to his uncle who was an evil volatile man... he said he'd acted based on the way he'd been raised, the old ways were pounded into him figuratively and literally...
-while they were apart Janie -with the help of her friends- killed numerous mistresses who were involved in human trafficking (there were descriptive scenes of torture)
-I haaaateeee slow burn but I think in this case it worked, it would've been harder to read this if Lucio had slept with the OW while being in love with Janie
-I thought the groveling was good, Lucio was really immature and cocky in the beginning, he was especially douchey when he reconnected with Janie so it was interesting to see him grow as a person, it was nice seeing him show his vulnerable side to Janie and I loved that he treated her as his equal in front of the Body (mafia), he even asked her to run meetings with all the Body Heads which was unheard of in their world... Janie was an awesome character, normally I'd dislike a heroine like her but she never annoyed me, not even once, that rarely happens, I've actually loved her since she appeared in "Tenn and Lark" so I couldn't wait to read her story (I also can't wait to read Cosi and Nico's story, I hope she makes him suffer)
-the epilogue was good but could've been better - several years later, they're married and have a baby
*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"This is my room, " Lucio explained. "Not yours. You're not to come in here ever. I'll come to your room when I want you. You're in the east wing." "Well, I thought you'd want me in here since it's our wedding night." My voice came out snippier than I wanted. He reached a hand out and pulled a redhead over to stand next to him. She'd obviously been standing in the hallway, just outside of the doorway, out of my line of sight. Cheap trash, I thought with contempt... "I have Chiara for our wedding night. I'm not interested in amateur hour with you at this time." Then he pressed an open-mouthed kiss to her lips, and looked back at me, daring me to say a word, daring me to not be a well-bred, submissive, obedient girl of the Body. That kiss had been nothing like the one he'd pressed to my lips earlier. Mine had been like pee-wee football and hers had been like the Super Bowl.

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

"I'm a little concerned your face is so red, Lucio. Should we do some deep breathing for a minute? Breathe in...two...three...four. Now release..." "Quit messing with me, Ginevra. Tell me the motherfucking truth right now! " "Lucio, it doesn't really matter nowadays. I'm really good with role playing, and if you want to do an innocent virgin scene, I'm totally on board. I'll swoon when you whip out your throbbing dick and then gasp as I timidly wonder out loud how in the world your ginormous manhood will ever fit through the door of my tiny house of virtue. I'll even say ouch if you want, maybe squeeze out some tears you can wipe tenderly away before you declare your never-ending love for me."

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

"You gave what was mine to another man?" I thought he'd yell it, but his voice was lethally soft. "I'll take stupid things men from another century say for five hundred, Alex." "Ginevra!" he thundered. There we go. That was what I wanted. Total loss of control. "Or possibly hypocritical, double standards for a thousand." "That's enough!" he shouted. "Lucio, first, you do realize this isn't the eighteen hundreds, right? Second of all, I'm in the prime of my life and you seriously thought I'd pine away for you with my legs tightly closed, getting all flustered at the thought of you maybe, possibly someday finding me and deflowering me as I coo and blush? But, if it makes you feel better, to honor our wedding night that wasn't, I always made sure to have an anniversary fuck to recall that special, special night that you spent with Chiara instead of me. How is Chiara, by the way?" I smiled huge and gave him a little wink. "You had no right!" he yelled at me. "No right to sleep with another man --" "Uh, men." "What?" he hissed. "Men. Plural," I clarified. "As in, more than one." The duh was implied. "There was more than one?"

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

"Has something happened?" I guessed. His head whipped up at that, his eyes pinning me in place. "Yes, Janie, something happened. I found you in the middle of nowhere with a gun trained on you because you've been trying to take down a trafficking ring. You've been working on this on your own for five years, Janie. Five fucking years. Had you told me, had you come to me, we could have put all of the Body's resources into taking this ring down. Cleaned it up. But you didn't. You didn't come to me to ask for my help." In three strides, he was right in front of me, looking down into my upturned face, his brown eyes filled with violent storms. "And you didn't ask me for help because I made it so you couldn't. You couldn't come to me because of what I'd done to you, because of the way I treated you. Because I hurt you, Ginevra, because I was so busy teaching you a motherfucking lesson that you didn't deserve to be taught, because my needs mattered more than your pain and grief for your papa, you couldn't come to the one man you should have been able to ask for help. Me. Both as your husband and as the Head of the Body, I let you down in every way I could and the repercussions were astronomical and you almost paid the price for that tonight."

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

"Can you ever forgive me, Ginevra?" Wasn't that the question? "Could you forgive me? Could you forgive me bringing another man into our home on our wedding night and telling you to go away? Could you forgive me for fucking another man on our wedding night? Could you?" "I'd kill him," Lucio said evenly, his eyes steady on mine. "But I could forgive you for anything, Ginevra." Impossible as it seemed, Lucio was telling the truth on that, and it felt like my heart stuttered in my chest. "What you did hurt me, Lucio. Not just a little hurt, but the kind of hurt that's buried in your skin and you can't get it out no matter how hard you try." He just watched me. Waiting. Not apologizing again because he already had and that was astounding in itself because this was a man who believed apologies didn't really change anything.

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

I'd stolen the possibility of a husband and a family she'd needed from her. With one brief, heartless act, I'd devastated my young, grieving bride. I should have been there for her, and I hadn't been. I would give up being Head if I could go back and handle our wedding night the way I should have, with compassion and care. I would have protected my bride instead of slapping her down.

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

"You'd agree to a divorce?" "If that's what you want." "You'd divorce me and let me go?" "I'd divorce you...but I'd work my ass off to win you back. No blood-signed Note of Promise between a sixteen-year-old-girl and a twenty-one year old man this time. Just two adults, one who knows exactly what he wants and knows he'd never do anything to hurt his woman again or jeopardize his relationship with her." "You said you'd never divorce me." What the hell was going on with my mouth? This was so unexpected I was beginning to sound like a broken record. "If it was up to me, I wouldn't. But this is the latest in a long line of lessons you've been teaching me, Ginevra." "Lessons?" Why couldn't I speak full and complete sentences? Why was the unexpectedness of this conversation robbing me of all brain function? "Lessons," he affirmed, then started ticking them off. "There's much more to her than meets the eye. Be aware of what's going on around you, especially if it's right under your nose. Never underestimate anyone, but especially not her. A bold, brave spirit doesn't mean she can't be hurt. Take everything you were taught about women and throw it all away because she's teaching you an entirely new reality. Treat her with respect and care. Learn how to love her the way she needs. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board for a reason."

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

"But more than what I hope for the Body is what I hope for us. Just you and me, our private lives. I want to be married to my best friend, my lover, my partner in everything. Maybe we have children, maybe we don't, but if we do, it's because we both want a family and not because I need an heir to someday take over as Head." He pressed a kiss to my lips, a gentle, sweet one that seemed so out of character for the rough-around-the-edges man he was. "Dario taught me that love made a man weak, Janie. That a woman made you soft and took away your edge. But he was wrong because all you've done is made me better and stronger."

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

"The thing is, Lucio, we could get divorced. For a long time I thought I wanted a divorce, especially since you said you wouldn't give me one. I thought I needed one because of what you'd done on our wedding night. But then I really started thinking that I wasn't the same person I was that night at all. I was different. And...if I could be different, maybe you could be, too. I don't have the monopoly on change." I'd never seen Lucio so still. "And I thought our marriage is kind of like we are. Imperfect, filled with pain at the start, betrayal, but underneath all of it is something worth salvaging because of the people we've become. If you were the same man you were back then, no way in hell I'd go there again. But I don't believe you are. I know you would never cheat on me again because that's not you anymore." "Never," he said, and it was a vow. "We've both seen and done a lot of horrible things, Lucio. We know life can be ugly. But we also know that's not all there is to it. So I'm ready to move forward together if you are." "I'm all in, little ghost. This is what I want for all of the Body children, Ginevra. And for us. The chance to fall in love and choose. And I choose you because you rule my heart."

[Athena Que Será, Será · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tags: age-gaaap, cheating-hero, cheating-mafia-romance, cruel-cruel-hero, damaged-broken_hero, damaged-broken_heroine, dark-romance, hero-hurts-heroine, hero-married-to-heroine, heroine-leaves, mafia-cartel-romance, marriage-arranged, older-hero-younger-heroine, over-the-years, ow-drama, read, second-chance, strong-fmc-heroine, troubled-marriage, unforgiving-heroine, wattpad-mania

[Kala A · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one actually grew on me. I hate all of Lynn's other cheating stories since her writing the other MMC's grovel for physically cheating (kissing, fucking, emotional) is utterly deficient (Merrick, Quest, Tenn, Mason, and fucking GUY) but I feel like the grovel for Lucio was not only LONG LASTING but utterly and completely genuine.

His POV's are utterly chef's kiss as we watch his character develop. His first few chapters are so irritating you may want to throw him into traffic but he really does the internal work to become an amazing partner.

Please be warned there is on page cheating and next morning scene with OW and MMC.
Details:
Whore Chiara and Lucio have been fucking for a while (he's not exclusive with women and only uses them as a receptacle for his cock BIG MANWHORE ALERT ) but Chiara is his preferred human flesh-light/whore and their affair together was occurring from before Janie&Lucio's arranged marriage and Lucio was ordered to propose to Janie (she was 16, he was 20)

Lucio and Janie have been arranged to be married by his boss Dario and they don't know each other at all beyond when Dario buys a ring and shoves it in Lucio's hand and orders him to propose to unite their "body" families [***body is the criminal organization i.e "head of body" is quite literally the head like Capo de tutti Capi in Mafia terms]

There is absolutely no cheating after the wedding night and ABSOLUTELY none when he realizes he has developed feelings for his arranged wife. Also: He IS COMPLTELY celibate during their 5 YEAR separation and she is NOT. Girlie pop has multiple partners and had a TIME learning about her sexuality. 😌

The wedding night is the last time that Lucio has sex until his HEA with Janie/Ginverva.

Safety:
Virgin h (only in the beginning of the story but she has A LOT OF SEXUAL PARTNERS DURING THEIR SEPARATION
Manwhore H (HAS BEEN CELIBATE FOR THEIR ENTIRE 5 YEAR SEPARATION)
-he did try to hook up with a few OW during their separation until it's revealed why that didn't go through
-Romantic feelings and romantic connection doesn't occur for MCs until after the separation
❗️❗️❗️CHEATING ALERT (On page sex scene with OW Chiara) ❗️❗️❗️
-OW is dealt with and is unalived so yay!
-FMC was NOT celibate during separation and was with many others and lost her virginity to someone else so that she wouldn't have to give it away to her cheating husband. She does NOT romantically move on from the H though. She was into casual sex
-lots of violence
-Human trafficking is HUGE part of the unfolding of the story
-HEAVY OWD
HEA
2 epilogues were amazing and can't wait to read about Cosi leaving Nico's ass. I hate him already.


5/5 I did NOT expect giving this full marks to be on my bingo card for 2024 but GtHEA surprised the hell outta me. This was a great story and I feel like the HEA was earned and deserved. Please consider the trigger warning for cheating bc it actually made me want to vomit a few times reading about how the cheating happened.

[Haylee]

Yup so I read my first cheating (actual sex with OW) book and I must say I wasn’t impressed. I don’t know who hurt me to make me read this 😫 I actually think I hate myself alittle more now that I finished this one. The first one was so good and it had no cheating 😞 there’s eventually going to be a third one and I’m interested to know how that’s going to go as we get to see the couple in this book.



💜First person/Multi POV
💜ML cheats on FMC on wedding night(not on page)
💜FMC not celibate during separation
💜ML is celibate but not by choice*


*ML tries several times to sleep with OW during separation but FMC is able to stop every attempt. He’s just sooo dedicated to her. Willing to risk it all by looking for the FMC in OWs vaginas. She must be in there somewhere right 🥹🫣😂🤮 and this sorry excuse for a man has the AUDACITY to get mad at her because she was no longer a virgin, that was HIS right to have her 😂😂😂





I think I was holding out hope that he only pretended to sleep with the OW. Sadly not the case. To make matters worse, the next morning he wakes up to the OW curled around him. So not only does he cheat on the FMC on their wedding night with the OW but the OW also gets a nice little cuddle 🤮

AND to make matters even worse, he immediately kicks the OW out saying he won’t be needing her services anymore because he intends to be a faithful husband from now on 🤮😤 think you missed the mark there buddy!

AND….AND he goes to the guest room (where he so ‘sweetly’ told the FMC that’s where she belongs and wouldn’t be sleeping with him) and discovers she isn’t there. His FIRST thought is that she’s probably downstairs making him and his whore breakfast to make up for being unreasonable last night 🤮🤮

When she ran away she should have stayed away. When he finally finds her she should have told him to go off himself and his nasty dick.

He blames his cheating on his upbringing because of course 🙄 he needed to ‘teach her a lesson’, that’s why he did it. He PURPOSELY did it to hurt her. He knew she would be devastated but he didn’t give a crap.

[Nikki ღ Navareus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I ADORED the angst in the first Body story, but this story was even better for me, despite the lack of angstiness that the first story was steeped in. Janie was a fucking firecracker. She was strong and resilient, and I loved what she did with her life for the next 5 years after Lucio horribly destroyed her on her wedding night.

I LOVED everything about Janie's circle of friends, the loyalty they had to each other, and the way they took care of the skanky evil garbage.

Cosi's part of the story was fantastic too. I really hope she's getting her own story. I can tell it will be angsty AF, with a huge serving of grovel by her idiot husband. I want to see the entire play by play of everything that went down with that skeevy slut step sister of hers.

And lastly, I thrived on Lucio's and Janie's relationship. It was fun watching Janie's feelings for Lucio turn from true hate to true love. Lucio was THE PERFECT hero, and I adored how they turned The Body around and made it completely awesome by the end. This author never ceases to amaze me. This story and its originality was all truly amazing.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great writing and story telling. 3.5 stars

There is cheating CHEATING in this book and I knew that going in (so not the reason for my rating).

Janie, the FMC was fricking amazing, but I really wish she would have taken the divorce route. Lucio cheated on her on their wedding night (he brought a mistress home. Apparently he wanted to teach Janie a lesson not to disobey him). It devastated Janie where she ran away that very night and hid away for 5 years (her disappearance really freaked Lucio out though because at the time their boss was this ruthless, beyond crazy SOB psychopath, which was a huge understatement BTW. And Lucio thought the boss had something to do with Janie's disappearance.)

Anyway, Lucio really hurt Janie as THAT married man and he should have had to pursue Janie as a single unmarried man, like no strings attached, start fresh type thing. Glad she lost her v-card during the 5 years she was gone, which really pissed Lucio off. He said they were long overdue for their wedding night and she told his a$$ she was not a virgin anymore. Lucio lost it, talking about she had no right to do that (BOY PLEASE! He can f-off with that thinking) HAHA. Janie was tough and strong - she didn't let up on him for a while because she couldn't get over his cheating (which was why I thought she would have divorced Lucio). I do believe Lucio changed and was remorseful, and he truly loved and cared for Janie, but his groveling was too weak and it wasn't enough for me.

[honeybee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I DONT REMEMBER WHY I STILL DONT RATE THIS????

JANIE IS THE BEST CHARACTER EVER IN ALL OF GROVELTOHEA BOOKS ✋️ she's strong, independent and doesn't take man shit. And she love digging HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA
I think Janie is everybody's girl, we always gonna love her. Not Lucio, he's an asshole that bring other women into their bed on wedding night. Janie doesn't get mad, she just dissappear HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH SERVE YOU RIGHT!

[Lesli · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't say enough how great this book was. Janie is the Queen. These stories are standalone, but it seems like a lot of this authors books are interconnected. I have been reading them all out of order, but now that I know of the connections I will read them again in the future. If you want a story that has perfected the mans grovel then you have found it with this author.

[Danny Lea · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok. On Wattpad it said the story was ongoing so I'll hold off to completely review. There's cheating and he does grovel. Janie isn't a doormat and proceeds to run after the cheating and lives 5 yrs by herself before her husband comes and gets her. Best thing was she didn't stay a virgin and had multiple partners and he was pissed. Serves him right.

[BAG of Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really fantastic second chance story! Awesome grovel, OMG!

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this one! Janie is my absolute favorite 🤣 😍

[TheBookishWife · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[olivia V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad, I don't care that Janie was a bit of super speshal snowflake, i was here for it. I liked alll her girls. Plus she had a healthy sex life when Lucio couldn't haha made me laugh. I didn't care for him, he did sort of redeem himself but I never liked his character at all, I hated him from the beginning and that never really went away. I didn't ship them whatsover.

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

This story is absolutely amazing — a gripping blend of romance, suspense, and transformation that will have you turning pages long into the night. I found myself going through it multiple times, each reading revealing new layers of emotion and intrigue.

At the heart of the story is Janie, a woman whose life takes a drastic turn just before her wedding to Lucio. Tragedy strikes when her father is murdered, casting a somber shadow over what was meant to be a joyful occasion. Refusing to rely solely on Lucio, she takes matters into her own hands and directly approaches his boss, arranging a simple, understated ceremony in light of her father’s death. This moment speaks volumes about Janie's strength and independence — she’s not a passive player in her own story.

The drama intensifies on their wedding night. Lucio, in a stunning act of insensitivity, brings another woman into their bedroom before swiftly sending her away. His thoughtless actions ignite a spark of defiance in Janie, and by morning, she is gone — vanishing without a trace, leaving Lucio bewildered. It’s at this point that he realizes there is far more to Janie than he ever anticipated.

What follows is a thrilling five-year separation. During this time, Lucio works relentlessly, preparing himself to seize control after the overthrow of his boss. His goal is clear — to build a better, more powerful organization — but his heart remains fixed on Janie. When he finally returns, ready to claim both his position and his wife, the real battle begins. Janie is no longer the woman he once knew, and Lucio finds himself having to grovel, facing the consequences of his past actions while striving to prove his worth.

This story isn’t just about love — it’s about power, redemption, and the fierce will of two people fighting for control, both over their own lives and their relationship. The dynamic between Janie and Lucio is electric, full of tension and undeniable chemistry.

I highly recommend reading this story as part of The Body series. It’s a captivating addition that masterfully balances romance with action, heartbreak with hope. Prepare to be hooked from the first page to the last.

[Nyla Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chileeee .. this read .. Janie .. Lucio .. well NEW Lucio .. a must read of this authors discography like genuinely!!

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

Janie made this book for me. She was tough and didn't take any crap from Lucio, even when he tried to teach her a lesson by sleeping with someone else on their wedding night. What a jerk!