Broken Play

False Start #1

by Alison Rhymes, Edward Black (reader), C.J. Bloom (reader)

They have ties that bind.

June grew up in the shadow of her brother and his best friend, Drew McKenna. She stood back while Drew dated his way through high school and college, watching and waiting. Waiting for him to realize he loved her as much as she loved him.

When he did, it was the happiest she’d ever been. Until she found him with another woman only five years after their marriage.

Leaving her husband was a simple decision, but there was no easy way to cut him out of her family.

When June receives a fresh start to her career, she also finds what could be a new lease on love. Reality hits Drew with a vengeance.

He wants her back.
She wants to make him suffer.

Content warnings can be found on the author's website.

Genres: Second Chance, Sports, Sports Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, BDSM

Audio CD

First published June 28, 2022

About the author

Alison lives somewhere in the shadow of a Pacific Northwest Mountain, bordered by the Puget Sound, and not too far from the country roads she grew up on.

When she’s not reading, she can be found avidly reading, traveling with youthful wanderlust, or slowly turning the inside of her home into her own personal houseplant jungle.

Reviews

[Sonia]

Spoilers on the cheating…
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X
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The H loves his wife so so so SOOOOOO much that he can’t bear to do the kinky smex he craves with her… so he seeks tons of OW to do it with instead. Wow. What a dream boat 🤬NOOOOOOT 🙄🙄🙄. Oh. The h never sees another d while he’s with OW. So she’s faithful and celibate.

ETA- the H went bareback with the OW that he has sign a contract so he can do this with. Don’t worry. He has her get STD checks- you know. Cause he wants to make sure his wife doesn’t get anything 🙄😒. He’s so THOUGHTFUL 🤬. He also puts the OW first. Basically, the h is sitting on the back burner while the H is with the OW, defending her #notmytypeofromance

Ohhh… but the H was so sweet. He allows the h to be in an MFM scene… I guess it was his way of paying penance for the year of cheating with OW and going bareback (and not protecting his wife’s health) so swoony 😐

[Esther]

THIS REVIEW CONTAIN SPOILERS AND SAFETY INFO.

Let’s start saying that I am NOT the target audiences of this book. I hate hate hate cheating and I don’t buy (normally) their HEA. I always thing that the cheater should have grovel way more and I am not sure that it’s not going to happen again, normally I think more that the cheated on is going to suffer less when it happens again because they are kinda numb. I don’t know if it makes sense. Long story short I don’t buy this romances.


I wrote a review before reading it with info that I read from other reviews. So I knew what I was getting on and I obviously wasn’t 100% blind. I knew some major spoilers and so far I thought the book was not going to be of my liking but I decided to give it a try because of the reviews talking great things about it. The info it’s at the end. I will update it if something different happens that I thought it didn’t and I will add more info.


Things that I wanted to found in this book.
-Why he cheated? A good reason. If there ever any for doing it…
-Major major major grovel.
-Not celibate heroine. Being sexually satisfied.
-Hero suffering from mistakes.
-Hero kicking ow to the curb and putting h first.
-That he doesn’t love the ow. Pretty please.
-Her family putting her first. And kicking him. Especially her brother that was his bff.
-More grovel. Never enough.
-A heroine that doesn’t jump to his bed just because he is so handsome.
-A heroine with a spine. Kinda the same as the last one.
-Talking about stds before having sex and preferable after she realize he is cheating.
-A public apology.
-I think this book has kinky sex I don’t know how that is going to work with all this baggage. But I hope it focus on the cheating and they don’t jump to bed like nothing.
-She moving on with her life and being happy.
-A hea that I can believe.
-Be 100% sure that he is not going to stray again.

As you guys can read. I was asking a lot. Did I get it?

Let’s start with the first sentence of the book.

Any man who tells you great head isn’t as good as sex, has never had great head. I love sex as much as any man, too much probably, all things considered. There is a certain power that comes with a blowjob, a feeling unlike anything else when a beautiful woman will debase herself, drop to her knees, staring up at you in worship, all while you choke her with your cock.

Obviously this is the ow, Lorelei, giving him a bj. The scene continues like this…

While it feels amazing, it’s not enough to stop the memories that tease my mind back to the first time I looked upon my wife and knew I loved her. The day I knew I would want her to be my wife, take my name, grow old beside me. We were so young then. I was just seventeen. She was two years younger; not old enough to drive a car, but she drove me crazy. June was always flitting around her house when I was hanging out there with Reed, her brother. He’s my best friend, brother more like. June would storm into the room and suck up all my attention, all my oxygen, with her thick mane of mahogany hair and angelic face, always buried in a book. A deep hum of pleasure makes my dick twitch and brings me back to the present. This happens often, nearly every time. My mind reminding me of all the reasons I fell in love with June, bombarding me with scenes while I fuck my way through them. I can’t ever seem to block them out, no matter how I try. Every push, I go deeper. She’s good at this. She can take it. I move my hand to tangle it in the hair at the back of her head and guide her farther down my shaft, nose pressed to my groin, and I hold. Just a few long seconds, just a few stolen breaths, before I pull her back and set a faster pace.

At this point I’m like it’s impossible that he can be redeemed. Well, this is just the beginning.

It all quiets as my abs constrict. Peace as I push the head back away from my cock and spill over the flushed cheeks and pretty, swollen lips. It’s a gorgeous sight, one much needed after the hard game I played tonight and the even harder hits I took. Something like drunken double vision takes over, though I’m completely sober. One eye seeing the sight in front of me, one seeing the innocence of my wife the first time I had her in this position. A few hard blinks wash the sight away. A soft tongue licks me clean, like it’s her job. I guess it kind of is; she knows what I like, how to please me after all this time together. Once she’s done, I run my hand down her head and cup her cheek. She stands and turns to walk into the bathroom. I watch with appreciation as her bare ass bounces away.

So… no condoms.

“Dollface, dinner is here,” I holler into the bathroom, its open door just to my right. “I’m coming. You got cum in my hair, babe. That takes a minute to get out,” she responds. I give a little laugh. I know she hates that shit. “Sorry, next round, I’ll save it all for that tight ass of yours. I know that’s your favorite and I neglected it last time.” She walks out and wraps her lithe nakedness around me, then shoves her hand in my boxers, waking my dick back up. “Mmm, yes, you did.” She pouts. It’s the soft whimpering gasp that stops her hand. A gasp that sounds as loud as a bullet ricocheting several times off metal walls. Right before it lodges in your heart. A gasp that turns my blood cold. I know that sound. I’ve heard it before. It’s the sound my wife makes when she’s scared or hurt. The same sound she made two years ago when we received the call that her dad had perished in an auto accident. The sound she made just over five years ago when she woke up in a hospital bed, terrified, after being attacked by a man who had stalked her relentlessly. It’s the sound that marks every horrific experience of June’s life. The sound she made each time I had to wake her from her nightmares, for months. A sound that would have me rushing to her side, sliding my arms around her. Promising her everything will be okay and that I’ll be by her side as we get her through whatever the problem is.

Yes… I-I don’t even know where to start. He sleeps with ow without protection. Later on he explains that he was careful because he made this ow and others sign and NDA or some kinda of document to make sure they didn’t say anything and with this one she sign that she was on the pill and is not sleeping with others. Rolls eyes. Well, spoiler: she DOESNT GET PREGNANT. Thank God because our h maybe it’s not able to have kids. I will go through that in a moment. Later, he get tested realizing he wasn't that careful. And talked about it with h.
So, she founds him and leave. He follows after her but she catch a taxi before. The paparazzi (obv) take photos of this. The returns to his room and don’t follow her that day because his team leaves the next day. AND the ow spends the night there. They didn’t sleep together but we don’t know why she stayed and what they talked about. What we do know it’s that this stupid guy follows ow the next morning to make sure she catches a taxi and they look at each other and he kissed her forehead. The paparazzis took photos of that too. Where is the heroine? In their home with her brother and his bff packing a bag to leave the next day. He came and for one moment she is kinda numb and is about to give him a bj. And I was like wtf? And she said something like is this what she does for you? The heroine is pretty numb as I said and doesn’t go bitchy until later on (I love that part) she always is worrying about others and about this asshole H and later on she stopped that. So, he stopped her when she is doing something sexually.

So, she remove her ring (his mother’s) and he freak out. She goes to a hotel and they start to go to therapy and to some dates. They kinda has to face some public opinions and issues. He explains that he cheated on her with 4 women. We don’t know exactly when. The first one was a bj that we know (don’t know if something more) he felt very guilty and thought he was going to be caught. All this women were found in a sex club. We don’t know if he used protection with the 3 others. The second one was one that look similar to h some months after. Then the third one was one that didn’t look like h at all and he come any way. And the fourth was Lorelei. They knew each other in college. She was a cheerleader and he was a QB. They slept together and she told him her traumatic childhood. Then she told him that her bf and her had rough sex and he hurt her. This is an important part of the story. This bf is OM, Noah. So after that H thought he was a knight in shiny armor and protect her. And started to have a rivalry with Noah, another player.

Fast forward they found each other a year before h found the affair and they start an affair. No strings. Even tho he was married. They didn’t love each other but obviously he cared for her. Turns out that Ow was the one that proposed to Noah the kinky sex and he didn’t want to do it because he didn’t know how. She went to a party with H to make him jealous and after that he said yes and because he didn’t know how to do it he hurt her and felt awful about it. She told another story to H. All this happened in college. H is now 29.

H has been in love with h since he was 17 and she was 15. Didn’t say or show almost anything having always women in his arms until an stalker attacked her and she almost died. She was 22. He was 24. So 7 years of “pinning”

Let’s go to the attack. She had an stalker that followed her and wanted her but she didn’t want anything. She is a virgin and is waiting for H. So, one day she is attack by him with a knife and he cut her clothes and masturbate and he left her some scars. They found them before something more happened but before leaving he cut her stomach and because of that she may not be able to have kids and it’s more likely she would have miscarriages. She woke up in the hospital and H asked her to marry him. Weeks later they married.

In five years, she was attack. Maybe lose the opportunity to have kids. Have scars in her body and nightmares. 3 years later her dad died in a car accident. A year later her husband starts an affair with ow but has been with others before. So, while she was grieving her dad he was unfaithful. A dad that was a parent figure for him and try to teach him to be honorable and all that. Then the affair goes public and she knows about it. Also, she stopped her career because his was very demanding. SHE HAS GONE THROUGH SO SO SO MUCH. I just want her to be happy.

So, she moves out and starts a job in another state. And she is working with Noah (OM and ex of Lorelei) obv H is not thrilled by this and saw photos of them having dinner together. Get angry and called her. After not contacting with her for days because it’s trying to give her space and to grow (but doesn’t explain to her just did it)

Well, the review is way too long now so long story short, she did some kissing and come for OM after being friend with him and throw herself at him. He denied her but did some stuff. I found great pleasure when H founds she wanted to be f by OM but he denied. So, after talking with therapist and all that, he is doing better. We don’t know exactly because there are not many chapter from his pov. I wish there were more. Especially since the first one is so horrible. He realize OM is a great guy and when h tells him she had a fantasy in which she suck om while H fucks her, he decide to do a threesome (kinda). The OM only comes on her tits while she masturbate him and H fucks her. He also do some oral stuff to h and H and pretty much that’s it.

It’s not a hea. There are still going to therapy and they are working to do better. She sometimes get sad from this but wants to move on. I wish her mom was a little more rough with H and also we don’t really have a resolution with H and h’s brother. I think there is going to be a book about him and h’s bff. Also, I wanted more resolution with ow but again I think it’s going to be a book about OM and ow.

So far I thought I was going to cry more and hate more the H. I hate him but I kinda believe he is not going to cheats again.

The only thing that idk it’s that what would have happened if heroine doesn’t like that kinky sex. If would have been normal after her traumatic events and he should have love her and being loyal to her instead of search for his own needs. The reason why he did what he did it’s he could and he was selfish and didn’t have to work for h or for their marriage. They didn’t date before getting married. He knew he had her.

I forgot to add that he apologize publicly. Kinda. He was doing a football interview and they talked about how he tend to compartmentalize and that that doesn’t help in the game. The rest of the team were having great things happening in their life and that made them play better. He said he was going to be a better QB being a better man and better husband. Also, he said his wife was there and prob giving him a last chance that he didn’t deserves. We don’t know about the things publicly that went down with ow. We know he talked with her after they have been caught because she told him she stopped working in her job because her boss try to have sex with her thinking she was easy. Also, the H is so stupid that after ow calls him relentlessly he answers and told him to stop calling because he wants his wife back and wants to bring her back home. She is in a hotel. Dumbass said the hotel and ow went to talked with h.
Lastly, there is a final confrontation, I wish H was the one to kick her ass but h was the one standing for herself. Here’s the extract.

“What the fuck are you thinking?” “You wouldn’t answer my calls. What was I supposed to do, Drew?” “You were supposed to fuck all the way off. I’m sure I’ve told you this already,” I say when I step up next to my, clearly irate, husband. “I’m not here to talk to you, June.” Her spine straightens as she tries to compose herself. “Oh, honey, I don’t care what your intentions are. You need to leave.” “Lorelai, go,” Drew drawls through terse lips. “Not until you let me explain. Please?” “Nobody wants to hear it. Leave.” Her eyes flash back to me, changing instantly from the sad, pleading ones she used to look at Drew, to white hot rage for me. “Fuck you, June,” she yells, inches from my face. Drew tries to step between us, but my hand automatically pushes him back. This is my fight. And I want it. Badly. “You have everything. Everything! You don’t even deserve it.” She laughs as I stare her down. It’s tinged with hysteria and mockery. It’s the latter that makes me seethe. It’s the direction I know her thoughts are going that makes my fists clench with anger, with all my past pent-up insecurities. I’m ready when she says it. “He’s only with you because he feels sorry for you,” she spits. I swing.

H’s reply…

“That was so fucking hot, Junie. I’m going to make you come harder than you’ve ever come in your life, tonight.” “You fucking better.” I laugh, letting some of the awkward tension rinse away. “And tomorrow morning, before the game, I want you to take me to see our house.”


Let’s continue with their backstory. He is brother’s bff so he knows her for kinda all their live. What do he do? Sleep with ow during HS and college until he decide he wants heroine. 🙃 bro, this Hero is a Zero. I want her to find happiness after everything that she’s been going through but girl let yourself a favor. So, I think at the beginning of the book we discover the cheating. She finds him in a hotel with ow. The talked about it and he says that this has been going through for a year. She removes her rings and he panicked. Bro it’s more important the fking ring that the well being physically and mentally of your wife? Well he didn’t care that much because after this he went to ow to spend the night. Being an asshole and stupid because he is famous and paparazzi caught him kissing ow before accompanying her to a taxi. Also he defends ow instead of wife or something like that. He puts ow before wife. Also I don’t know if they sleep together before h and H get together. But she is someone who is in their life and has been for years. He believes some story that she told him and after being proved is false he doesn’t 100% believe it a first.

He goes to therapy to try to know why he did what he did and why he didn’t communicate with h.

She moves to another state and continues her career that was on pause because of him. Another thing that I hate about this type of thing is that she was “humiliated” on public. Now everyone will know he is a cheater and honestly I feel like the one being humiliated and being show as a dick is him but I will find more difficult to forgive if the whole world knew about my shitty cheating husband and this ow.

She kinda sleeps with OM. There is a OM that is his enemy because a exgf/ mistress talked bad about OM and H believed it. And some reviews says that OM made her feel beautiful and sexy and discover her sexual kinky needs. Hope that means they have hot dirty sex. I’m that petty. It would serve him right. He didn’t communicate with his wife his needs and desires and search for them elsewhere. Now she has found them for the first time with this amazing OM. Kinda wish she would kick him in his ass and leave with OM.

UPDATE: WE HAVE INFO ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED DURING THE NIGHT AFTER h FOUND THEM:
“He stayed with you that night after June found you two together.” “No, not really. I had my own room. When he came back from chasing June, I helped him make phone calls to try to get an earlier flight back. His coach fought him on it. By the time he convinced him, there weren’t any flights left. The more options that failed, the more unsettled he got. Until eventually he shut down. He stopped talking, wouldn’t respond to anything I said. Then he locked himself in the bathroom and screamed like he was dying. I didn’t know what to do. I curled up in a chair, and fell asleep waiting for him to come out,” I say, swallowing down the emotion clogging my throat. I’d never felt anyone’s anguish like that before. I can’t imagine I’ll ever forget it. “I was worried. I’d never seen anyone so distraught. Hours later when I woke up, he was still in there. Talking to himself like she was locked in there with him. It was the saddest thing I’d ever heard. I was ashamed that I was there to bear witness to it.” “You shouldn’t have. That wasn’t for you.” “I know, Noah,” I say, my heated voice now matching his. “But he was the only friend I had, and I couldn’t just leave him like that.” “Friends who fuck.”
H never said ow name, oral, never stay the night, never kissed her, thought about h and said h name...

[Raffaella · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is - 1000000000 stars and all because the author completely failed to understand the mental disorders of both characters.
- the heroine is a co dependent and traumatized person and the hero prays on her knowing how she is
-the hero has a mental disorder. He’s got sexual perversions and he’s addicted to them.
- he knows he’s got this problem and he doesn’t do anything to solve it. He marries the heroine knowing he will be unfaithful so the marriage is not valid. He plans his cheating. This is disgusting.
- we are not dealing with some man with kinky tastes in sex here. This is a disorder.
What’s the difference between a kink and a disorder? A person can like some specific things that are not common having sex, as for example BDSM, objects, threesomes, etc. these are fantasies that are harmless because the person can have very satisfying sex without indulging in them if the partner is not willing to share them. And the person is normal because he can do without them and have a sexual life very satisfying nonetheless.
A sexual disorder is when a person can’t have sex without a specific kind of perversion. He is addicted to it and needs them as a junkie needs his drug. This is the difference.
- the problem arises when the partner is not willing because the person with the disorder is never willing to do without. You have to know that these kind of disorders are very difficult to treat because the person is ok with them. That is, he is happy to be as he is and he doesn’t care if he hurts other people. The only way he can give up his addiction is when it causes severe problems in his life.
Like in this case. When the heroine finds out the hero is forced to give up his addiction but he’s not willing to do it.
He only does it because he would lose his wife and very likely he won’t have a normal life, that is he won’t be accepted by his peers.
- the fact that he cares for ow knowing how this would affect his wife is basically another proof of how selfish and unable to love those people are.
- it takes years to solve those disorders and most of them never really recover.
- the author is not able to understand how bad is his issue and messes up trying to make it a common cheating thing.
Nope. The man will always be a serial cheater because this is part of his personality. He is a mentally unstable person and those people are usually- and he is- a selfish manipulative man who doesn’t care if he hurts people around them.
- the message that you can heal a person with your love is very dangerous and false. You can heal those issues only with therapy and most of the time sadly you can’t.
So stop trying to make it sound those people like normal people who can be good partners and loving husbands. Or wives, because it happens to women too.They can’t.
- the only way for women to deal with this kind of man is: avoid them like the plague. The only people who can deal with those people are therapists.
- I like when books deal with issues but authors must take their time and get information about what they are writing about.
This was really poor. And I hope all women who read it understands how wrong is everything:
- I’m angry and not because of the cheating but because it seems that once again female authors tries to make women accept every kind of cheating even the more twisted and disgusting just because. Stop vilifying women. We are worth more than these disturbed men. Never settle for these kind of abuse because this is what it is. Emotional abuse from a mentally disordered person on a traumatized and weaker one. This is awful.

[Phuong ✯ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mel, i can't believe you introduced me to this garbage excuse of a man that goes by the name Drew McKenna. the betrayal i feel is as bad as when June went to Drew's hotel room and saw him fucking his mistress. 😭

[❥ KAT ❥ Kitty Kats Crazy About Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

[image error] '🅱🆁🅾🅺🅴🅽 🅿🅻🅰🆈' Is a full length, stand alone novel by new to me author 'Alison Rhymes.' Spoken in 'Dual Perspectives.'

Seeing this pop up on my newsfeeds all over the place had me #1clicking as soon as it went live. I knew what I was getting myself into, hoping that all those angsty feels would hit me where it hurt, it had me wanting to see him crawl his way back into June's graces as though she was a queen and he was a mere peasant. I had high expectations for this one.

Sadly that really didn't happen, I wanted the rat bastard (Drew) to crawl on his knees on broken glass, he needed to atone for his cheating ways. This book fired me up and had my blood boiling to no end, I tried putting myself in her shoes and god he got off lightly leaving me with a bad taste in the mouth. I know it's only fiction, but a few gestures does not ring true to the real meaning of forgiveness.

I just expected more. more from our heroine especially, she'd loved him for as long as she could remember, they had gone from zero to married in a flash of an eye, things were good for so many years or so she thought until she caught another woman in his hotel room.

I did initially feel her pain and I wanted to stay in that zone, but we lose that focus and it's moved onto Drew, his needs, his infidelity, this started off really strong but lost that realness quickly.

I wanted to weep, I wanted to hurt, I crave that in this genre, especially where cheating is concerned. So because of that I found it really hard to connect with these characters.

And then we get to a twist where a fantasy is played out, this just seemed to be out of left field and out of character for these two. It didn't really make a hell of a lot of sense and threw me for a sixer.

[Jena]

Cheater H🙄
Another book trying to brain wash women into believing that a cheater deserves a HEA.🙄

Reviewer said he cheated on the wife for over a year with the same woman (wife caught them at a hotel- he chases her, but then goes back to the hotel room and spends the night with the mistress).
He also had ONS with a few others.
- He some times didn’t use a condom with a few ow.
- With his main mistress, he made her sign a contract stating that she had to get tested for std every month, and be on birth control so he could always fuck her bareback. He tells the h the contract was made to protect her..cuz he loves her so much.😂😂

He cheated because he was bored having vanilla sex with the h.


Has MFM scene. ( the loving asshole allowed her to have a threesome with him and the om, where the om doesn’t even fuck her).🙄

The h is a complete doormat, and this was someone’s amazing debut novel.



Self note avoid.

[Rachael · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fuck this book. Fuck this book. Fuck this book. Fuck this book. Fuck this book. Fuck this book. FUCK THIS BOOK.

I actually feel sick to my stomach. 🤢


🚩 H cheated on his wife with FOUR other women, the latest one he’s been doing it for a year.
🚩 After finding her husband getting a bj from the ow (and calling her “baby”), this motherfucker doesn’t even go after his own wife. He stays the night in the hotel room with ow and the next morning sends her off in a cab while kissing her head and being so gentle with her IN PUBLIC (he’s a pro sports player and the media sees it happen). What the fuck is happening?!?!?!
🚩 The amount of times he stuck up for the ow and kept defending her was sickening. He never did that with his wife.
🚩Oh but he makes other women get STD tests done and make sure they’re on birth control so he can raw dog it and has them sign a NDA so you know, to avoid anything that might HURT HIS WIFE like the ow getting pregnant or bringing home a disease. How thoughtful. 🤬
🚩 Once again FUCK THIS BOOK.
🚩 She should’ve fucked Noah with no remorse



“How do you know she can’t be pregnant? How did you know you wouldn’t bring an STD home?” I’m resigned truly to hate him now. I’ve been saying it with no heat behind it. Oh, how I feel it now.

“I know for several reasons,” he responds hesitantly.

“Jesus, Drew. Explain! Quit making me do all the work.”

“I know because I made her sign a contract with clear inclusions. Birth control was one. Monthly testing was another. I also made her sign an NDA. They all had to sign that. I took every precaution to protect you.”

Who even is this man? I can’t believe I married someone who makes women sign NDAs like he’s Christian fucking Grey. “What good is a monthly test? She could pick something up between tests. She could have lied about birth control. Truly protecting me would include not betraying me at all. Besides, you gave me your hotel room number, explicit instructions on how to find you with her! None of that is protection. It’s all betrayal.”



If you like the cheating trope you’ll have a great time with this one.

God damn it I’m so pissed and my stomach is in knots. Fuck Drew. I need something light and fluffy to cleanse my palate after this shit show.

[Beeg Panda · Rating 1 out of 5]

NTS: My fav 4 and 3 star books in this trope: “best redeemed ow now h”:
4 ⭐️Embrace by S.E. Hall I reviewed in 2013 - hope it stands.
3 ⭐️ Sweet Like Poison

‼️SPOILERS‼️ (nts complete review)
As expected, now that book 2 is out, it confirms:
1. the good guy om in this book is actually a sack of shit person
2. the H here is actually more of a cliched cheater than we first read
3. the H won’t share his ow’s damaged past with the h (because it’s not his story to tell even though sharing with his wife would mean so much to her) but it’s quite fine for the ow to know all about the h’s harrowing past
4. the bond between the H and ow has been underplayed by the H to the h




‼️SPOILERS‼️
🏴‍☠️H to h about ow:
“You seem to be under the impression that I was with her all the time. That’s not the case. It was less than a handful of times, over the year.”
🏴‍☠️H to himself about ow:
“A soft tongue licks me clean, like it’s her job. I guess it kind of is; she knows what I like, how to please me after all this time together.”
🏴‍☠️ Me to myself:
🤔🤨🧐

🛍️REVIEW:🛍️
🚦The grovel doesn’t match the hurt.
🚦The punishment doesn’t match the crime.

☠️His wife had JUST caught him with the ow and this is him letting his wife run off while he walks back to the ow:
“Into the arms of a woman who is not my wife, but my relief. A woman I don’t love, but I cherish. A woman who has saved me in some ways, yet is also my greatest downfall.”

🏴‍☠️How’s it that I’m okay with Mateo Morelli 🚨 from Sam Mariano sleeping with Mia and his ow for FOUR years, but I can’t handle this H and his 1 year affair?
🏴‍☠️How’s it that I’m okay with Mateo LOVING the ow, but I can’t handle this H caring for, genuinely laughing & bantering with, making memories with, being genuine with, making a life with this ow. Comforting her, chosing her for a whole YEAR out of ALL the ow he slept with, defending her, worshipping her body (in a way that is unique to them) with his, living out his innermost fantasies with WHILE HXH ARE STILL TOGETHER. Mateo did that ☝🏼too so why isn’t this book working for me?
🏴‍☠️How am I able to deal with the ow being around 24/7/365 with Mateo and Mia, ON PAGE, but am put off every single time this H keeps his ow RELEVANT and PRESENT, yet the ow HAS HARDLY ANY ON PAGE appearance?

🖤It’s because Mateo not ONCE needed to make excuses for his choices. He did what he did and owned it.
🖤Therein lies the difference between a real man and Drew, the H of this book here.

🏴‍☠️Santos Goalie is a sweetheart compared to this H
🏴‍☠️Phil A White Picket Fence Swimming Naked is an angel in comparison to this H

🖤Santos was just downright stupid, is all
🖤Phil's ow meant buggerall to him


🚩🚩🚩🚩The 1st red flag I should’ve picked up on is in this 👇🏼excerpt, but it gave me hope that he would chose the h for the right reasons; that he’d fight for her, focus ALL of himself on her and their broken relationship. Unfortunately, he’s not Mateo so he can’t do that because he values the secrets between himself and the ow more than he values fixing his marriage.
🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩Red flag no 2, same excerpt 👇🏼was a dead giveaway so I wasn’t surprised that the h is the one who relents more, gives more, folds first, works harder to fix them. He didn’t have to do much BECAUSE HE KNEW SHE WOULD FORGIVE HIM BECAUSE THATS HOW SHES WIRED.


🤷‍♀️I lovingly torture myself with reading the cheating trope, but I have never, that I can recall, willingly read a book where the H, with absolute purpose and precision, premeditatedly planned a life totally apart from the one he has with his downtrodden, emotionally needy vanilla wife BECAUSE SHE CANT FULFIL HIS SEXUAL NEEDS. This is what this book is about. Plain and simple.


🧐 No HEA. Perhaps a tentative HFN and it wouldn’t surprise me if they break up in future books. I would like that very much. 🙏🏼


🤣 The ow gets her own book (with the om of this book)🤣
It might work for me because, with mad writing skills, this author could redeem the baseness of the ow’s character as the author has already shown us here that she favours a certain type / calibre of female characters. The auth chose to create the luckless, ill-fated heroine. The one who is spiritually, emotionally, mentally, physically and sexually crushed. If the ow’s character has been forged by the above mentioned then she miiiight just be redeemable.
🤣Actually no, she won’t be.
Not in my eyes, anyway, because the ow gets to move on with the H of this book yet the heroine of this book doesn’t get to move on with her own om. So, no, if the execution is the same it’s not gonna work for me.

⭐️ 1 star /unrated reads are purchased by readers of this trope BECAUSE of the low / lack of rating of the storyline / content.
⭐️ We specifically root out the low rated books…We can’t help ourselves. This author is one of the fold, so to speak, someone on the ground who mixes with folk who know what they want in this trope, so I suspect and hope that she will do well, despite missing the mark (for me) with this book. (Too many threads left hanging, no comeuppance, no grovel, not enough growth, no ride-or-die forever kind of love.)
⭐️ Readers of this particular cheating trope are going to adore this book
⭐️ I accept now, after reading this book, that no matter what readers ask for from authors of “cheating” books, ultimately authors will create a world which suits their OWN idea of the story. It’s their story to tell, their protagonists, their choice of execution even though the auth interacts with readers and knows what they like. Books should be written for the author not for readers, afterall. Artist paint what they need to express not what they consider pleasing to other eyes, so why do we expect differently from authors?


⏰NTS Auth comments in fb regarding the night he stayed with the ow instead of following the h who’s just caught him and ow:
Aug 2022:
🚩“The night in question is addressed in Brutal Play. Whether or not it helps you to see either Drew or Lorelai in a different light... remains to be seen. I will say I was a bit manipulative in how I wrote Broken Play and what I decided to show you. But like how not everyone forgave Drew in the end, I don't expect everyone will forgive Lorelai. She's going to give you her best effort, though. She's going to make you feel.
June 2022: Re: why he stayed:
🚩”I really want to tell that night from Lorelai's point of view. I knew readers would struggle with it, I knew they'd hate Drew for it. And they should. But I just REALLY want to tell it from her side and I can't do that until I write her story. It's asking a lot of readers to have any faith in me when it comes to her, I get it. I do! But she has a story to tell and I'm determined to get it out there somehow.
June 2022: Re: did H sleep with the ow:
🚩 Drew was very much faithful to his wife from the point of being caught. He did not sleep with Lorelai in the hotel that night.

📚📚📚📚📚📚
EXCERPT PUBLISHED BY AUTHOR:
“How long?” I turn back to him as I demand an answer.
Drew swallows hard, so I know the answer is bad before the words even leave his mouth.
“About a year.” It’s a quiet answer, so quiet I almost don’t hear the words that feel like a knife in my spine.
I rush to the sink to make it there before the bile rising expels out of me. A year.
Lorelai. He’s been with her for a year.
Heaving and heaving, I empty myself of the coffee I just drank. I’m not even sure of the last time I ate, so there isn’t much else to rid myself of. I feel Drew’s hands move to gather my hair.
“Do not touch me,” I choke out.
My head is now chanting Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai, in between the ticking of the damn wall clock. I rinse my mouth out with water and wipe my face with a hand towel before I face him again. He looks terrified. Pale skin, red-rimmed eyes show he got little sleep, if any. I would be concerned except... Lorelai, Lorelai, Lorelai. My fists clench, which only makes me aware of the wedding ring I so proudly wear. I gasp for breath, trying to stave off more dry heaves.
“Junie.”
“Stop. Stop calling me that.” My fingers go to the ring. It was Drew’s mother’s, who died when he was too young to remember her well. A ghost his father never got over, and haunted the halls of the house Drew grew up in. Not literally, of course, but her presence lingered all the same. I loved that he wanted me to have it. Now, it feels like a band of fire.
I wiggle it off. His eyes find the movement, and his entire body tenses, his fists clenching tight like mine.
“No. No, put it back.” 🚩🚩🚩🚩Panic surges in his voice as water wells in his eyes. “Put it back on, June,” he commands.
I’m helpless to stop the tears from leaking out of my eyes.
Helpless to so many things, so many emotions.
“One day, I’m going to want the truth and the details. And you will answer every damn thing,” I say through my tears. “But not right now. Right now, I need to get away from you and your stupid, 🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩🚩beautiful face. It’s going to take time to not hate you with every fiber of my being, and you’re going to give me that time.”
I push the ring into his hands, but he fights me on it, trying to push it back on my finger.
“Put it back on, June. Put it back on!”

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love some good groveling and I was definitely in the mood for an emotional story when I started this. But sadly it didn't live up to any expectations I had. There was some groveling, don't get me wrong, but there was nowhere near enough of it. And it actually just made me incredibly annoyed at June because I felt like there wasn't enough fight from her. Instead it felt like the story was mostly just Drew sort of groveling but also trying to down play what he did. 

The emotions were there and June really had me feeling for her character in the beginning. But it quickly died away and turned more to her kind of giving in to Drew. He was the one making the decisions about going to counseling - in a time frame that gave June barely any time to actually figure out how she felt about his betrayal. Then he decided that June needed space, which led to her only being upset because Drew wasn't answering her messages much or reaching out. And the sad part is, in all of those scenes I could sort of see June growing as a character and could see where the story could possibly lead to with that but then it never happened. Those scenes got glossed over and pushed the background and put the focus on Drew being a jealous douche when he learns that June is actually discovering herself and it wasn't with him. 

I think the main thing I got from this book was frustration. And it wasn't even that there was cheating, which is what I know will keep some readers away, it was how the characters handled that that annoyed me so much and honestly made both of them unlovable. I never saw redemption with Drew, especially since SO much of this book was him still defending his mistress, and with June I never saw true growth or even just any scenes where we got to see her strength. 

Overall, this clearly wasn't the book for me. But I do think the emotions were there and can see why a lot of people could end up loving it. 

[Dazzle Me · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cheating is a sensitive topic, and a brave one for an author to tackle, so, my hat is off to this author for braving the subject.

If I read this topic in the romance genre, there needs to be finality and satisfaction for the wronged person. We won’t find that here.

We read in the beginning of the book how the h was betrayed, and see the H caring for the OW. How gentle he was with the OW. He SAYS how much he loves his wife, but I didn’t see it. He didn’t go after her when she caught him cheating. No. He stayed the night with the OW, and treated her like spun sugar the next morning for all the world to see.

The author SHOWED us the H loved the OW. He communicated with her, screwed her, helped her financially, called her doll face, etc.

The author TOLD us the H loved his wife. That’s it. There was nothing there to prove to us that he loved her.

I want to read a ROMANCE where reading the last page I feel so lost in that world and satisfied that all is right again (after my heart is ripped out because the angst hurt me so good!). I didn’t get that between the hero and heroine at all. Now, If the author is trying to convey that it’s a romance between the hero and the other woman, that’s more believable.

The heroine is an idiot. The author makes us believe for two seconds that the heroine is strong. Nope. She’s a doormat. She lets the hero get close to her and kiss her after not even 24 hours have passed since seeing the hero with another woman?

This book is a massive disappointment for me. It had so much promise to be excellent if done right. Instead, it’s the same old ‘The hero is a manwhore and the heroine is too stupid and weak to even tie her own shoes.’ that I’ve read in a lot of other cheating books. There’s nothing about this book that sets itself apart from other cheating books where the guy is a slut and the heroine is a doormat. Same old, same old. 🤷🏽‍♀️

[Lidia's Romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

FOUR STARS

Marriage in Trouble
Second Chance Romance
Sports Hero (NFL-QB)

Dual PoV - June & Drew

Thank you, Malene, for the rec! 😘

What I enjoyed:
✔️ The angst. Right from the get-go. The theme here is infidelity and it created a lot of angst. I couldn't put it down. This is why I enjoy this theme! If done well, of course.
✔️ The groveling by the hero.
✔️ The writing.
✔️ The main characters felt three-dimensional and were likable, even if I didn't always agree with their actions or decisions.
✔️ The ménage scene (MFM) towards the end was HOT; though completely unexpected.
✔️ The HEA. It was convincing.
✔️ Kudos to the author for writing about cheating and not giving a damn about readers who will want to crucify her for daring to. Authors, be bold! There are many of us who do appreciate these angsty romances.

What I didn't like:
✖️ Drew's reason for cheating. First, I should add that the infidelity wasn't a one time thing--Drew was a serial cheater. If I got this right, I think he cheated about 7 times with 3 different women. The last one he saw "less than a handful of times" within a year before getting caught. He sought them out because he had "certain sexual proclivities...binding, spanking, and light breath play." And Drew felt he could never try this with his wife, June, afraid it would only bring back memories of her attack. June had a horribly traumatic experience with a stalker in the past. She was almost raped and had been stabbed, leaving her with scars on her abdomen and neck. For years, she suffered from panic attacks and nightmares. Drew had helped her through it. So I can kind of understand why he was afraid rough sex might trigger her. But here's the thing, it wasn't even all that rough, or particularly kinky. Calling it BDSM is reaching. As it turned out, what actually triggered June was the cheating, not getting spanked during sex. 🤦🏻‍♀️

✖️ June didn't make Drew suffer enough. Why do most authors fail in this area? Is it really that hard to write a heroine with some self-respect? Only one day after she caught him with the other woman, he easily convinced her to go to counseling with him the following day. Seriously? I'd still be fantasizing about cutting off his dick! They immediately started going on dates because it was part of their "homework" between counseling sessions. Ugh, ridiculously too soon. She didn't forgive him right away but she NEVER stopped being at his beck and call. She was always a sure thing for Drew. On several occasions, she was even the desperate and clingy one, not him.

✖️ June's character development. I mean, no matter what she accomplished in her career or how much she blossomed as a person, her happiness still depended on Drew. Even after his betrayal, he still controlled that aspect of her life. It seems he always had, since the years before they married and she pined for him. It was clear from the start she was never going to let him go, and the frustrating part is, he knew it too. She learned to be outspoken but still gave in to him almost every time. Considering the scale of his fuckup, this was disappointing.

[Tessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to win an ARC of this bad boy. I did enjoy this book. June was my favorite character I loved her sass and the smartass comments she threw at Drew. Drew oh man that dude took a good chunk of book to finally pull his head out and start fighting for his wife and learning to communicate. Not sure if he's redeemed or not, jury is still out on that. Noah I loved his and June's friendship and how he lifted her up when she needed it most. So all in all it's a solid debut novel and start to a series. I honestly won't be continuing though because of whats eluded at the ending, it just left a bad taste in my mouth. It is not a trope I like or can read but that's just my personal preference. I do recommend this book to anybody that enjoys a second chance cheating romance. 2.5 stars rounded up

Edit to add: After thinking it over, i had to come back and change my review. I pride myself on being honest and forth coming when it comes to the reviews I leave. There were to many issues not addressed or addressed but not to my satisfaction. I still have a lot of issues with Drew and how protective he was with the OW. I think too much importance was placed on her and her feelings and not those of his wife. I ended it feeling like June came second to the OW. There was to much he wasn't willing to discuss out of respect for the OW which is a big no for me in the cheating books I read. Im not even sure I would say he groveled, just that he got help to better himself but I felt like June did all the reaching out. So, unfortunately it was a miss for me. I am in the minority though so maybe give it a try

Edit #2- Through several different sources I've learned that apparently all of these unanswered questions will be answered in book 2 but from the OW POV. That means this is not a standalone. Im lowering my rating dont market me a standalone with a HEA and then say if you want answers read book 2. That just ticks me off. Also big pet peave dont mess with a previous HEA and apparently what happens in book 2 will make us dislike Drew more. Obviously all this could change since the book isn't out but it has turned me off and I definitely won't be continuing even to find out the answers. Last edit and im out.

[t malik · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was so goddamn hilarious in the worst way possible.
i genuinely could not stop laughing because of how horrible it was and how shitty Drew was. He was so fucking dull and disgusting. But June on the other hand was a firecracker. She had some weak moments(only a few) but most of the time she shut drew up as if muzzling him. The way she truly destroyed him with her words was actually so funny and i loved her for that.

noah and june on the other hand…DAMN. they are the reasons for 2 stars instead of 1. i know this is a romance book so june and drew would’ve ended up together BUT OH GOD I HATE HIM. noah and june are a million times better than his gaslighting self pitying boohoo slimey std infested no grovelling ass. this is one book where i would’ve been 100% ok with the h ending up single and running off into the sunset by herself.

ALSO THE FACT THAT JUNE’S DREAM OF A THREESOME ACTUALLY CAME TRUE WAS SO FUNNY???? i do wish drew’s trashy dick was absent from that threesome, it would’ve been much better. anyways JUNE IS A STAR AND NOAH IS HOT. gonna pretend drew died single with a shriveled dick. this was truly an entertainment.

PS: SHOUTOUT TO MY BESTIE PINKY FOR NOT READING BUT STILL READING THIS WITH ME<3

[Bev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this because once again I saw non "reviews" from people who are slating this book without even reading it. I get many people despise cheating and that is absolutely their right, so one would think that the adult thing would be to avoid it and move on rather than diss a book they haven't read. I just don't get it, I really don't.

And so I find myself not really sure what I feel about this one. I liked the writing, June's strength (till she caved) and the grovel but I really didn't like the MFM scene towards the end. I get that Drew did that to, in his addled brain, give up control and show June he could give her what she wanted/needed, but for me it just did NOT fit the characters or the story.

[Coti · Rating 1 out of 5]

june was the dumbest bitch EVER, tf was wrong with her??!?💀💀

[Malene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Broken Play has tropes that are cat nip to me. Marriage in trouble, cheating and second chance. There’s usually an emotional, angsty redemption arc and Broken Play is no different. After 5 years of marriage June discovers her husband Drew with his mistress who he has been with for a year. I was rubbing my hands together cause this was right up my alley.

What follows is a lot of anger, hurt and self discovery. On both parties. June and Drew share a lot of history so their journey back to trusting and forgiveness was so good. The reader gets a deep insight into both June and Drew’s history and why Drew chose to cheat on his wife who he loves and adores.
June was a fabulous heroine who found her voice and didn’t hold back. Drew had his work cut out for him and he redeemed himself.

It was a fab and intense romance with characters that evolved throughout the story. I liked the side characters especially Leighton, Reed and Noah. There were times the story dragged but nothing to affect my overall experience.
This is Alyson Rhymes debut and I can’t wait to see what see has in store for us readers. I’m definitely impressed and keeping my eyes on her.

[Ilaria &#x1f338; · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not my kind of trope
The hero is introduced to reader while having a BJ by his mistress during an away game and his wife surprises him and in the end she is the one being surprised…..
A little Of Ds, a little kinky, cheating ,sex scene with OW a threesome.
A MFM
Not my kind of book no thanks
Also because the chemistry is MIA And the smut times were meh.
Should I pinpoint the self absolving rubbish for cheating 🤢
She is virgin at 23 .Was or wasn’t his a king of super virile stud? And they were in love since years .., again this bulls@€t of the holy wife and wh@res disgusting
And ….
😷🏥🩺💉
He goes bareback every time he finds willing partner 🤢
He is a narcissistic immature child She is unsalvageable
Really bad to me

[Tmstprc · Rating 3 out of 5]

ETA... bumping it to 3 stars, I felt guilty giving it 2, new author and all...

Oh, I wanted to like this. Honestly, it’s a well written debut romance.

My mistake? I went into it blind, chose not to read any of the reviews.

First issue, it’s a surprise BDSM, not my thing, but it’s an important plot line. It’s his justification for cheating. He doesn’t think she can handle his “needs”.

Second issue, he doesn’t cut off the OW immediately. Don’t get me wrong he ignores her, but he doesn’t block her. At times he appears more sensitive to her needs than his wife’s. He doesn’t see her for the villainess she is. And, if the end of the book is set up for the next, I can already say the OM deserves better.

Third issue, too much of the story is from her POV. We need to see him during his individual counseling sessions. We need to see him broken and lost, afraid he’s ruined his and her lives. We’re told about these sessions, but as readers we need to see them.

Fourth and final issue? It’s got a semi love triangle thing going on, with a sexless sleepover 😑. The MFM at the end of the story is overkill. I get it’s supposed to be the heroine’s fantasy, but it feels a little forced in the end.

The author does a good job hitting some of what needs to be done… separation, therapy, strong family and friend support, she works on finding herself, an evil OW, an enticing OM. The forgiveness and redemption process gets a bit lost in the busyness of the story.

2 I may have come to the end of my cheating romance run stars

[Capt. · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is written by the author as a love letter to all the male cheating trash. Yuck.

The author romanticizes cheating and how the old adage “Once a cheater always a cheater” is not true. And her example is Drew. HAHAHAHAHAHA. Jesus Christ, Drew is a fuckin despicable and horrible character. His chapters were few and so it seems like he has no remorse AT ALL at what he has done.

I also absolutely hate and despise authors who do not give their FMC a chance to have sexual relations to other people like what the hell??! They want them to be virginal, pure, saints, what a loaded misogynistic BS.

BUT when I compare it to other books that has cheating and a cheating trash as the MMC, Drew is in the least of those garbages.

[Jenifer Briggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't usually read cheating books, but sometimes I'm feeling masochistic enough to want all the pain and angst, so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. Plus I believe Alison here is a newbie author so that made me even more excited. But I've gotta be honest: I fuckin hated Drew. And more so, I've never hated a character more but still ended up giving the book five stars, so this is a first for me. All the stars end up going to June for rising like a phoneix and SLAYING that dumbass. And Noah. My sweet Noah who needs his own book like yesterday.

So let's start with Drew: aka the man who made me want to go find the prickliest cactus just so he could go sit on it. Look, nothing enrages me like cheating, but what really mashes my tatoes? HE CHEATS BECAUSE HIS WIFE IS PRECIOUS AND HE CANT DO THE DIRTY THINGS HE WANTS WITH HER. Ugh. That warranted all the shouty caps, believe me. There's nothing more cliché than the Madonna and the whore complex, and he even ADMITTED to their therapist that even knowing June's reaction and how much pain he brought her, he would STILL DO IT. Ugh, this motherfucker needs to take his overinflated ass and yeet clear the fuck off. Plus not only has his girlfriend (because yes Drew, that's what she was) been a part of their lives for years, but even after June catches him, he STILL spends the night with her. And because he's a big time football player, the paparazzi catches him kissing her and placing her in a taxi. This man is just so repulsive. Then he had the audacity to be surprised when June didn't want to be with him. Ugh.

June, my amazing warrior, has been through SO much already in her life, and I hated how the man she always loved never treated her the way he should. She had a stalker in college and has the physical scars from him all across her body, and she's worked so hard to heal and overcome the trauma from that. And how does she get repaid? Yeah, her knight and shining armor doesn't think twice about dicking down someone else, and he uses her attack as another reason why he can't have kinky sex with her. And the kicker? That's the kind of sex she wants. So after all of this, she decides to dive back into the career (that she left behind to really be a champion for Drew. Ugh, this fucker keeps getting worse.) And what makes me laugh with glee? Her coanchor is now going to be the one man Drew hates more than anyone. *Hyena cackle* Noah is such a freaking sweetheart, and doesn't deserve an ounce of his hate. His girlfriend/mistress twisted the story back in college that he hurt her, and ever since Drew has hated him. But with our June here, he sees what Drew refuses to and truly cultivates her confidence and makes her feel sexy again, which she lost because of her dear husband. The connection they have is instant and beautiful, and I really wanted them to run off into the sunset and leave Drew behind forever.

Another thing that really broke my heart for June is the fact that she's loved Drew her whole life. Her brother is his best friend, so it's always been Drew for her. And I felt her intense love for him even if I thought he was the scum of the earth, and I never once felt that was truly reciprocated. Even when we get his POV, Drew is constantly shocked by how cruel and bitter June has become with him -- like dude, look in the freaking mirror. And he sees her really embrace her strength and he's in awe of her which is all well and good, but its just too little too late for me . All the truths and heartbreaks that come out due to his philandering ways just makes him beyond redemption for me. I'm happy that June was able to move on and forgive, and became the woman she always wanted to be, but I'll never forgive him.🤷‍♀️

And more thing to add for the Drew hate club; he constantly stuck up for his side piece over his wife. Just the audacity of this man. I literally cannot.

All that aside, this author writes BEAUTIFULLY. Seriously, even though I couldn't stand Drew, I couldn't stop reading this book to see how everything would turn out. You know an author has serious talent when that's the case.

I so hope our author here continues this series and gives us more of both Noah, and the romance I know is coming with June's brother and best friend. I cannot wait!!

Despite the grievances I have with Drew, this is such a beautiful book, and im truly excited to read more from this author!

**I received an ARC of this book and these are my honest opinions **

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars


I don’t know where I saw this book recommended, but when I saw it on sale on Audible, I picked it up. Color me surprised when I started it… I think this is one of those books you will love or hate. Honestly, it didn’t work for me. I probably should have dnf’d, but I liked the author’s writing, and I was intrigued to see if the author could justify why the hero did what he did. Drew… they could never make me like you. I would try this author again, but only if I read the blurb/some reviews first to ensure the book wasn’t like this one.

Audio book source: Audible
Story Rating: 2 stars
Narrators: CJ Bloom & Edward Black
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Romance
Length: 9h 28m

[NMmomof4]

DNF @ 30ish% (I had started skimming)

I got a good bit farther than the sample but I couldn't do it. I like the messy romances and I was looking forward to the angst that goes along with it, but I couldn't find anything likable about the H. The h wasn't much better. I just couldn't go on because it wasn't the angst that I was looking for that is underlined with hope...honestly I was kind of disgusted (which doesn't really happen to me since I don't have many triggers), but I'm definitely disappointed

[Lu Bielefeld · Rating 1 out of 5]

1 ⭐- Ugh! Didn't like it - triggers - pet peeve!
=====================================
He cheats with ow during a year and with others in ONS.

[Pisces · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just because I can

[Jessen Reads Romance · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cheating in a romance is never going to be my thing. That's not to say that some haven't worked for me in the past. This isn't one of them. I know a few friends who really loved how the heroine, June, handled her cheating husband and his betrayal, but I saw it differently.

Without spoiling anything, I don't think that the author gave June enough time to find herself as a person. At one point she tells her brother (best friend of her husband) that her whole life has really revolved around Drew. She pined after him when she was young, they never dated and went straight to married, he was her first, and his career always came before hers. They barely know each other, but we are supposed to believe that they are in love and it's an epic kind of love.

Almost immediately after catching him cheating, she is more worried about salvaging their friendship since her family is basically his as well. He doesn't even have to push really hard to make her give him another shot, immediately setting up an appointment with a marriage counselor the next day.

June never gets a chance to breathe because he's always there, saying that he loves her, that she doesn't understand, blah blah blah. She always, always caves to reassure him.

Does Drew deserve to be redeemed? Absolutely not. I'll elaborate more with spoilers. I only ever saw his character as selfish and manipulative. Never once was I convinced his actions were enough to earn back her trust and love.

The two stars that I gave this book are for Noah. He was hands down the best part of this story. He was a better therapist than the one Drew hired and was always on June's side. Noah was the only one ALL about June.

**SPOILERS**

Really, Drew screwed himself in my eyes from the very beginning by immediately going back to his mistress, Lorelai, after June caught them together in a hotel room. He stays the night with her even though they don't have sex again. Drew very publicly gets her a taxi in the morning and kisses her forehead goodbye for all the world to see, and the tabloids get the money shot. What a selfish idiot.

You can't tell me that he was more worried about June in that moment. His life was crashing down around him and the person that he turns to is his mistress that he later claims means nothing and is just a friend. He publicly shames his wife by not even trying to hide the fact that another woman obviously spent the night with him. It's all "woe is me" and "the love of my life got hurt" but he keeps hurting her. Going as far as keeping in touch with Lorelai and updating her on what's going on with June. Selfish, selfish.

But Lorelai is his "friend". She knows things about him that he's never told his wife. He can't possibly cut her out of his life. He'll just keep being friends with Lorelai while freaking out on June when she takes off her ring and tells him their sex life was lackluster. More on that in a minute.

When June lets all her feelings spill out, telling him about himself as he rightly deserves his response is to say that she's gotten "mean" and "can you drop the attitude". Are you kidding me? He's a big man-baby who thinks about himself first and his wife last.

I absolutely loathed the Madonna-Whore complex that was the conflict of this story. Drew can't see June as anything other than the pure, virginal wife because she had a stalker in college who attacked her. He can't possibly sully her with spanking and a rough fucking. No, no, no. That's what mistresses are for. In fact, Lorelai wasn't the only one. For most of their marriage, he was getting a little on the side. It doesn't matter how often, but he sought out others because he didn't want to even approach a conversation with his wife about what she was comfortable with in the bedroom. Gag.

And wouldn't you know, all of his kinks just so happen to be her kinks, but he never asked. So now June is exploring her sexual preferences with the help of Noah - who she absolutely should have run off into the sunset with - and Drew is the beneficiary of this sexual awakening. Now his meek, covered-up wife has turned into a vixen. If June would have made this transformation for herself and not because she wanted to prove that she's always been what he needs, I could have respected her more. She needed to get far away from him and he needed to really, really grovel.

Ghosting her for a week and then presenting her with divorce papers with an oh-so-sacrificial settlement of more than half his salary was not a grand gesture. It was manipulation. He knew that she would freak out. Knew that she wouldn't sign it because she's always wanted him since she was young. Instead, it leads her to these houses that Drew apparently bought years ago... that just so happen to be in the same city she has run away to. He thought she would enjoy renovating them (basically her dream)... after he was done with his career.

Why couldn't she have renovated them while he was playing football? It's head-scratching. No, this is the hammer disguised as a carrot to reel her back in and forgive him for cheating for years. I don't even think they were separated for a full two months.

So he never changes, grows, or grovels. She becomes exactly what he needs because, coincidentally, that's who she was always meant to be and didn't know it. And Lorelai shows her true colors, making Drew look even more like an idiot. But alas, June loves him. Good luck with that.

Noah deserves better and it's not Lorelai. No matter how sad and messed up her past was, I can't ever like her or what she did to Noah, Drew, and June.

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is so beautiful. It’s awful the cheating thing but the author knows how to work through this and write this book for us.
It’s worth the reading.

[Natasha is a Book Junkie · Rating 5 out of 5]

“With or without him, who will I be after it’s all over?”

I can’t remember the last time a book shook me so deeply and so personally from the very first page, let alone for it to take days, even weeks, to fully process all the emotions coursing through me, yet this book did just that. Tackling one of the most challenging tropes in Romance—cheating—this is the kind of story that pushes the rosy-coloured glasses right off your nose and forces you to truly understand the characters’ perspectives, while silencing your own preconceived notions and judgements. The lead characters are married and we meet them at the very moment when one of them is caught in adultery. What follows is an emotional, at times painfully raw tale of two people who find themselves having to not only re-examine what they thought they knew about each other, but also of themselves and of their own needs and wants. It’s a story of forgiveness and redemption as much as it is a story of self-discovery and growth, and every bit of it is done just right. Without glorifying or trivialising cheating in any way, Alison Rhymes shows that she is not afraid to get her hands dirty when it comes to exploring sensitive or complex topics in relationships, doing so carefully and thoughtfully. She will twist you up and wring you out, make you question everything you hold to be true about life, love, and happily-ever-afters, which is made all the more impressive by the fact that this is a debut novel.

Continue reading this review...



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[Jenny Lovez Bookz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this based off it being a debut novel for this author. I really enjoyed the writing and the story flowed naturally. It kept my attention from the beginning and was very easy to read. Honestly this didn't read like a debut with the angst and raw emotion she put into it. That scene towards the end was super hot too, I'm not mad at it! I'm also hoping we get Leighton & Reed's story

In terms of the story itself, we know from the get go it involves cheating so ofcourse not everyone is going to enjoy it. I don't have a problem with cheating trope but I did have some issues with the way certain things played out. The reasons for Drew cheating were pretty shitty. To me, it came across as more of a sex addiction. It's not like June was denying him in any way. And how terrible that he was involved in an affair with someone he's known and was involved with back in college. To me that was probably the saddest part. The level of intimacy he had with Lorelei and for June to see that was so heartbreaking. There was definitely too much of a connection there and I don't know how I could get past that if I were in June's shoes. Clearly Lorelei has always wanted more with Drew.

I wanted more groveling in this, being a cheating trope and all. It was more of them working on eachother to come out of the situation as stronger individuals, which isn't a bad thing but I think every reader would've liked Drew to suffer more. Would he have stopped had he never gotten caught? I can't say that I believe he would've.

[✩ layla ✩]

Update: This has now moved from my ‘maybe’ shelf to my ‘not for me’ shelf. The author hinted that the heroine wasn’t celibate, but of course she is. However, there’s a MFM scene (involving the heroine and hero with another man) so maybe the author thought that would make up for the hero cheating for so long 🙄 but this has put me off this author for good. Not a fan of authors who mislead/lie in order to get people to read their books. There’s plenty of people out there who would eat this up (hence the 5 star ARC reviews 😆) so there’s no need to resort to bullshit like that.

And the hero was unredeemable. He cheated for a year (no condoms with OW) and his reasons for cheating were seriously lame. He was also more concerned with the woman he cheated with than his wife 🙄 For the life of me, I don’t understand why ‘authors’ write such shitty, weak heroines (aka doormats). I don’t know people like this in real life so it makes no sense to me.

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

If the heroine is celibate, then this is not for me. Loyalty has to work both ways. And if only one is, then I can't get behind the HEA. But if she hooks up with someone else (and it can't be bad/mediocre sex because that's ridiculous since he didn't have that), it evens the playing field for me and maybe it will salvage the fact that the hero sounds like a weak AF pussy (though, probably not).

[Athena Que Será, Será · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tags: bdsm, betrayal, brothers-best-friend, catches-him-in-the-act, cheating-hero, doormat_heroine, hero-hurts-heroine, hero-married-to-heroine, kink, manwhore-philanderer, ow-drama, read, rivals-like-same-girl, second-chance, sharing, troubled-marriage, unlikable-hero, unlikable-heroine, virgin-heroine, waste-of-time, weak-hero, weak-heroine
Nope! Not my cuppa! I loathed the doormat, weak h and the H who cheated on her with multiple women and one-steady fuck buddy 😠. He even fucked the ow without protection eeewwww.... 🤮!
I would've liked this book if the h had some dignity and self respect and divorced his whoring ass 😤.