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Tree Climbing for Beginners
You know that story of the cheating husband who leaves his faithful and long-suffering wife with the kids while he goes off to play Ken to a much younger Barbie?
Yeah, this isn’t that story…
Oh, someone leaves but it’s the faithful and long-suffering wife.
Meet Helen Dudley, she is a writer (of what exactly we’ll get into later), daughter of a photographer and granddaughter of an artist. She is a creative woman, raised by creative women so of course when her husband came to her with a cliché’d situation, she figured it was time for a rewrite.
When her husband came to her with the news he was cheating and leaving her for his new love, she flipped the script and got out the door before he could get the first piece of clothing in his suitcase. Leaving her husband, Harold, wondering… what just happened?
If you want to know what happens, you’ll have to read the book. Tree Climbing for Beginners is a tale of what happens when life doesn’t go according to plan.
Yeah, this isn’t that story…
Oh, someone leaves but it’s the faithful and long-suffering wife.
Meet Helen Dudley, she is a writer (of what exactly we’ll get into later), daughter of a photographer and granddaughter of an artist. She is a creative woman, raised by creative women so of course when her husband came to her with a cliché’d situation, she figured it was time for a rewrite.
When her husband came to her with the news he was cheating and leaving her for his new love, she flipped the script and got out the door before he could get the first piece of clothing in his suitcase. Leaving her husband, Harold, wondering… what just happened?
If you want to know what happens, you’ll have to read the book. Tree Climbing for Beginners is a tale of what happens when life doesn’t go according to plan.
481 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2014
179 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Joyia Marie
10 books17 followersBorn and raised in central Texas, Joyia Marie still lives there enjoying the Texas heat as well as commenting on the residents and what they do. She is a free-lance writer of internet content as well as a novelist. Her books feature strong women and the men who love and appreciate them…eventually.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
July 3, 2021
4 ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Liked it!
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I found this book on a list of one of my goodreads friends and got interested because our heroine is different from so many others in the same situation.
I confess that I am fed up with heroines who accept everything and are real doormats.
I read a book with a similar plot called "Leaving Sophie Dean" by Alexandra Whitaker, which I also liked and recommend.
Our heroine was looking for a normal and stable life, but not always conforming to the ordinary leads us to a good result.
A boring, normal husband, twin sons, house in the suburbs and normality.
All of this leads us to interesting characters and a story with various points of view, including the husband's mistress.
I liked the heroine's attitude and everything that came out of the decisions she made.
Deep down the husband felt inferior and intimidated by the heroine's vibrant personality and intelligence.
It was a good read, I was really having trouble concentrating and being interested in a book and this story hooked me.
Our heroine was lucky and her life was upgraded in all aspects.
It didn't take 5 stars because the husband was not punished enough. I would love to see him completely fucked. But he realized that he made a mistake and would have to live with it.
==================
S
P
O
I
L
E
R
.
.
.
I found this book on a list of one of my goodreads friends and got interested because our heroine is different from so many others in the same situation.
I confess that I am fed up with heroines who accept everything and are real doormats.
I read a book with a similar plot called "Leaving Sophie Dean" by Alexandra Whitaker, which I also liked and recommend.
Our heroine was looking for a normal and stable life, but not always conforming to the ordinary leads us to a good result.
A boring, normal husband, twin sons, house in the suburbs and normality.
All of this leads us to interesting characters and a story with various points of view, including the husband's mistress.
I liked the heroine's attitude and everything that came out of the decisions she made.
Deep down the husband felt inferior and intimidated by the heroine's vibrant personality and intelligence.
It was a good read, I was really having trouble concentrating and being interested in a book and this story hooked me.
Our heroine was lucky and her life was upgraded in all aspects.
It didn't take 5 stars because the husband was not punished enough. I would love to see him completely fucked. But he realized that he made a mistake and would have to live with it.
Harold could have his other woman, I couldn’t care less. If she thought Speedy Gonzales was the best she could do in bed, then she was welcome to him.
“Oh, I get it you were going to leave me here with the kids while you go off and play house with your girlfriend. Pick up the kids on the weekend, buy them lots of stuff they don’t need and drop them off for me to do the heavy lifting of school and activities?
As far as Jillian, on what planet do you think your mistress’ wants and desires are going to affect my decisions? If Jillian doesn’t do children, then she really shouldn’t have gotten involved with a man who had two.
“Okay, okay,” she assured herself at least part of the plan went right. Helen was out of the picture, but Jillian hadn’t figured on her leaving her two brats behind. What kind of woman did that?
Jillian Reynolds was a gold digger and proud of it. She came from a long line of gold diggers and frankly thought women who worked or got married for love were suckers.
Finally, one night she caught Harold alone in his office after his assistant had left for the day. Jillian slipped into his office, slipped off her dress and very soon, Harold was slipping into her.
I was going to make Harold's life hell or as much of a hell as I could without affecting the twins.
Jillian was less than enthused when he had to cancel one of their trysts for one of the kids’ activities but on that, he wouldn’t budge.
He saw Jillian every day at work and almost every night.
Funny how Jillian’s perfume seemed to get stronger the longer they spent together.
“Rumors about you and that little blond girl in sales,” his father said when Harold said nothing.
“Son, if the rumors are true, that blond girl isn’t worth your family. Your wife is worth ten of her even with that writing business. She’s kept a nice home and given you two great children. Don’t throw that away for the pleasures of the flesh,” his father said flushing on the last.
Oh, let’s be honest. I knew Harold was having an affair. Good grief, he was coming home smelling like a French bordello, but I decided not to confront him. I was determined to maintain our ‘happy’ home for the kids’ sake and I was determined to break my family curse of single motherhood.
...will say this much for the little cheater, he’s loyal to a fault. Since he started doing Jillian, he hasn’t done me.
Then he’d make his nightly phone call to tell Helen he was working late before following Jillian back to her apartment for a long evening of dinner and sex.
Jillian had some moves that would make a porn star envious. Harold moaned as his cock hardened.
“But, Mother, I love Jillian and I want to marry her. She makes me happy and I think I make her happy,”
Helen had it all, she thought resentfully. The man, the money and everybody liked her better than they did Jillian. They might pretend to accept her for the baby’s sake or Harold’s sake, but bottom line, she would always be known as a home wrecker. A woman of low morals who didn’t have the decency to keep her fingers out of other people’s marriages.
Harold felt like he was punched in the gut and wondered again, how he had ever been so stupid to lose such a wonderful woman.
July 4, 2022
This was a kick in the pants. This one is for all the readers that despair over doormats that take the cheaters back once they’ve had their fun.
The heroine is a take no prisoners, practical woman who ditches Harold, her cheating husband, the minute he tells her he has a new woman in his life. She does the unthinkable and leaves him and her twins behind. I had a hard time with her leaving the kids behind, but given her rationale in the long term it makes sense, but only in a fictional world.
The twins, especially the daughter, was more than a chip off the maternal block. In fact she downright scares her father, and has the bimbo girlfriend sized up immediately.
Tonya was looking at Jillian as if she was wondering what her head would look like mounted on a wall.
The OW comes from a long line of gold diggers and is pretty funny. She’s horrified that the heroine hasn’t followed the party line and stayed home with the kids and lick her wounds.
Jillian looked at the sleeping Harold and promised to be the best wife and mother she knew how. If possible, she would make Harold happy until the day they divorced…
The heroine’s new man kicks in very early and must have HP Greek tycoon ancestry somewhere as he figures some man must be funding her and her little red convertible. Please stop with this authors everywhere as I refuse to believe that men actually think this crap. He snaps out of it, but it’s a good thing he’s pretty as I could never warm up to him after that.
Not a pefect book, but an incredibly entertaining and refreshing approach to the whole cheating issue that runs rampant through Romanceland. The author needs a proofreader last week. It’s not Marylynn Monroe, numerous spelling errors, mixed up pronouns and one sentence actually started with a comma.
The heroine is a take no prisoners, practical woman who ditches Harold, her cheating husband, the minute he tells her he has a new woman in his life. She does the unthinkable and leaves him and her twins behind. I had a hard time with her leaving the kids behind, but given her rationale in the long term it makes sense, but only in a fictional world.
The twins, especially the daughter, was more than a chip off the maternal block. In fact she downright scares her father, and has the bimbo girlfriend sized up immediately.
Tonya was looking at Jillian as if she was wondering what her head would look like mounted on a wall.
The OW comes from a long line of gold diggers and is pretty funny. She’s horrified that the heroine hasn’t followed the party line and stayed home with the kids and lick her wounds.
Jillian looked at the sleeping Harold and promised to be the best wife and mother she knew how. If possible, she would make Harold happy until the day they divorced…
The heroine’s new man kicks in very early and must have HP Greek tycoon ancestry somewhere as he figures some man must be funding her and her little red convertible. Please stop with this authors everywhere as I refuse to believe that men actually think this crap. He snaps out of it, but it’s a good thing he’s pretty as I could never warm up to him after that.
Not a pefect book, but an incredibly entertaining and refreshing approach to the whole cheating issue that runs rampant through Romanceland. The author needs a proofreader last week. It’s not Marylynn Monroe, numerous spelling errors, mixed up pronouns and one sentence actually started with a comma.
September 27, 2024
I AM SO BUMMED! I HAD SUCH HIGH HOPES FOR THIS BOOK. BUT I HAD SO MANY ISSUES WITH THIS 😩
2⭐️⭐️for her leaving the ex and getting a new man. We need more of this. Too bad the rest didn’t work for me.
♥️I love this trope! Wife leaves cheating douchbag husband and finds a better hotter man who worships the ground she walks on. ‼️But I need the ex and his skank to get their comeuppance. I need the ex to REGRET his affair and see ALL THAT HE LOST. And unfortunately we don’t get that here.
DO YOU WANT TO READ A BOOK WHERE THE VILE CHEATING HUSBAND AND THE DIRTY WHORE OF A MISTRESS GET A HEA? Well then this book is for you.
😅 Helen’s husband of 14yrs is cheating on her.
When he tells her he is leaving her and their twin teenage kids she says…. Oh no I raised them for 12 years without you now you and your new side piece can take over for a while.
‼️I’m gonna just break this down in bullet point because I want to rant big time and there was just to much that I hated to unpack here.
-Wife leaves cheating husband after he tell her he is in love with mistress. - sad 😢 but ok so far so good 👍🏻 we have got this!
-Oh but wait! She wanted to stay w the cheater for the sake of the kids for years and only left after HE wanted a divorce….. 🤯🤯🤯🤯 ummm ok I’m gonna try to understand you girl.
-Wife moves out and leaves kids to the husband so he can take care of them. First out of spite but then she decides it what’s best for her kids. She believed that the husband would run off and be more absent and she wanted he kids to have their dad…..🤔 ok ok I’m still with you.
-Wife moves into a loft where she meets the H ♥️ in yeah he is hot and young with loads of muscles …..😨but wait he is damaged and very jaded….
-The Hero-
He’s judgmental
He is kinda a ass
He is extremely harsh on the h and her ability to have money or success without the help of a man.
He’s JADED AS FUCK. He recently had a GF that he was about to purpose to only to find out she was married. He loved her wanted to marry her just months ago. He goes ON AND ON about this ex for most of the book. He painted a portrait of her (that he keeps!).
And before that he was a manwhore. So yeah he was a GEM! ……..Oh wait up🤚🏻 umm we don’t need a H that is gonna push the h away. She needs a man who will worship her and pursue her support her and well… has less fucking baggage! WTF 🤯
-H starts construction on the h loft ( cause he is a contractor) while she is working to file for divorce and deal with all the fall out…. Getting her shit together 💪🏻 I’m down with that.
-Husband call his kids creepy cause they are twins and has ZERO relationship with them….. 😳 and the h thinks leaving her kids w him a good idea? Ooook
-Husband has zero remorse for cheating only getting caught. I don’t think he even really loved the h.
‼️Wife had lots of sex before him and tried to show him stuff and tried to have a great sex life w husband. He refused 🤯 cause he was embarrassed so they had horrid sex for 14yrs. Then the mistress comes along and shows him all the tricks his wife tried to and he is in heaven. 🤬He says he can now show the wife a trick or two🤮. Yet he could have had that all along with his wife!….. ok ok I’m trying to keep my cool here but this guy is a fucking douche 😤
-Kids have ZERO reaction the their dad cheating and shoving the mistress in their face less than a WEEK after the wife leaves …. Ummm 🤨 ok zombie 🧟♀️ kids I mean they are 12 what 12 year old doesn’t have a reaction? ….. yeah ok
-Infact in a matter of weeks the daughter becomes BFF with the mistress and the wife encourages this! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
‼️Now this is a gold digging whore who purposefully targeted her husband and tried to blackmail the h. And she is encouraging her kids to be friends with this bitch!? …. Ok your loosing me here 😵💫
-The wife is the mastermind here. She gets the divorce. Tells husband to marry OW and be a great dad to her kids while he has custody. The wife and him become amazing co parents and friends. And the OW becomes a great step mom! 🤯…. ON WHAT FUCKING PLANET 🌎 DO I WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!? None that’s what no fucking planet! 🤚🏻 get out of here.
-So during all this the h is a smut author and keeps her identity a secret. The whole book we hear about how NOONE knows she is this rich successful smut author (someone’s very self important) In the end we find out that EVERYONE…. I mean EVERYONE knew. …..what!? 🤨 So that was pointless.
-So the h gives up her husband and kids and just hands them over on a silver platter for the mistress? All for the sake of her kids? So they have a dad? 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
-Oh and in the end we know the H is younger then the h BUT THEY NEVER DISCUSSED IT!? So we don’t even know the age difference!!! 😡‼️🤯
💩So in the end….
-The husband married the blackmailing mistress
-Mistress signed a prenup but it didn’t matter cause she was a great step mom. Pregnant and falling in love with the cheating husband.
-The kids are so happy cause they have a giant happy family.
-The ex husband and h have a great relationship now as friends and coparents.
-The h and H are engaged and having a baby of their own.
AND THE ICING ON THE CAKE?
-The h is the FUCKING MAID OF HONOR at the ex husband’s wedding. Yup you heard me she is the maid of honor to the blackmailing gold digging whore that stole her husband. A mere 5 MONTHS after the divorce!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯
OH AND IF THAT ISNT ENOUGH.. SHE BUYS THEM A 1WEEK HONEYMOON!!!!!!!!!!
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
WTF!? NO JUST FUCKING NO TO THIS SHIT. No woman is this much of a fucking Saint! No woman!!!! You hear me NO WOMAN!
‼️I’m not even going to go into the fact that this was 300pg to long! There was so much unnecessary info about side characters and side characters side characters. It was brutal. So much inner monologue. Wasted filler that didn’t add to the story.
😡I HATED that we spent 75-80% of the book hearing about how vile the mistress is and how she planned this only for the h to feel sorry for and even is happy that her daughter and the the skank are spending so much time together and getting along! She want the skank to marry and be good for her husband and kids!!!! What!?
‼️The Husband/CHEATING EX‼️
-He very plain looking -tall, thin and balding
-Average
-Spoiled only child w wealthy parents
-Never had to work for anything
-Was an absentee father and husband
-Works for his parents company
-Admits his wife was out of his league
-He tells OW he loves her
-He obvi got caught up w a young bombshell that he normally would never have gotten
-Cheating for 6 month
-He wouldn’t explore sex with his wife when she wanted to but does w the mistress and then gets dick drunk on her because of it!
-It’s very clear that Harold doesn���t love his family. He was wanting to dump them for greener pastures…. Need I say more about how much this man doesn’t deserve a HEA
Let me tell you how this should have ended….
1- the H wouldn’t have had so much fucking jaded history that we had to hear about over and over. He would have met the h been all about her and no other woman would have existed for him. He would worship her and forever be grateful for her cheating husband.
2-We would see the h and H have an amazing life. Married with a new baby and one big happy family with her kids that love the H. Her kids would still see love their father but never be ok with what he did.
3-The ex husband got herpes from the OW, regretted his cheating cause he realized how amazing the h was and how much he loves her and how much of a moron he was to cheat on her. He lives in regret forever watching her and her new man be happy w his kids while he is miserable and never finds love again.
-The mistress gets her comeuppance for being a gold digger and ends up poor and haggard and miserable in another town far away from the h.
😡ON WHAT PLANET DO THE MISTRESS AND THE CHEATING HUSBAND GET A HEA!? Oh helll nooooo! I want them to be miserable and suffer.!
💭 POV:
Multiple POV
Wife Helen - first person
Everyone else is 3rd person.
Harold- the cheater
Jillian -the gold digging mistress
Aiden -the jaded H
❤️🔥 Sex & Burn Rate:
Clean closed door
🌓 Push/Pull:
Yes H and h push each other away cause she is married and the H has trauma from his ex and the h wants to be divorced first.
☠️ OW/OM Drama:
Yes
Obvi her husbands mistress
The H ex come up a lot in his POV and she shows up at the end and tries to talk to the H. The h shits it down
🤮 OW/OM Sex / Fluid or DNA Exchange:
No cause it’s off page
🤬 Cheating:
Yes husband cheats for 6 months
👰🏼♀️ Virgins:
None
⛈️Separation/ 3rd Act Breakup:
None they h and H are not together till like 85%
🌈Epilogue:
No
🥂HEA:
I guess if you can call it that
❌My opinion is just that… MY OPINION.❌
I know we all get passionate about our favorite reads and characters but we should respect each opinions a thoughts. ~Thank you
2⭐️⭐️for her leaving the ex and getting a new man. We need more of this. Too bad the rest didn’t work for me.
♥️I love this trope! Wife leaves cheating douchbag husband and finds a better hotter man who worships the ground she walks on. ‼️But I need the ex and his skank to get their comeuppance. I need the ex to REGRET his affair and see ALL THAT HE LOST. And unfortunately we don’t get that here.
DO YOU WANT TO READ A BOOK WHERE THE VILE CHEATING HUSBAND AND THE DIRTY WHORE OF A MISTRESS GET A HEA? Well then this book is for you.
😅 Helen’s husband of 14yrs is cheating on her.
When he tells her he is leaving her and their twin teenage kids she says…. Oh no I raised them for 12 years without you now you and your new side piece can take over for a while.
‼️I’m gonna just break this down in bullet point because I want to rant big time and there was just to much that I hated to unpack here.
-Wife leaves cheating husband after he tell her he is in love with mistress. - sad 😢 but ok so far so good 👍🏻 we have got this!
-Oh but wait! She wanted to stay w the cheater for the sake of the kids for years and only left after HE wanted a divorce….. 🤯🤯🤯🤯 ummm ok I’m gonna try to understand you girl.
-Wife moves out and leaves kids to the husband so he can take care of them. First out of spite but then she decides it what’s best for her kids. She believed that the husband would run off and be more absent and she wanted he kids to have their dad…..🤔 ok ok I’m still with you.
-Wife moves into a loft where she meets the H ♥️ in yeah he is hot and young with loads of muscles …..😨but wait he is damaged and very jaded….
-The Hero-
He’s judgmental
He is kinda a ass
He is extremely harsh on the h and her ability to have money or success without the help of a man.
He’s JADED AS FUCK. He recently had a GF that he was about to purpose to only to find out she was married. He loved her wanted to marry her just months ago. He goes ON AND ON about this ex for most of the book. He painted a portrait of her (that he keeps!).
And before that he was a manwhore. So yeah he was a GEM! ……..Oh wait up🤚🏻 umm we don’t need a H that is gonna push the h away. She needs a man who will worship her and pursue her support her and well… has less fucking baggage! WTF 🤯
-H starts construction on the h loft ( cause he is a contractor) while she is working to file for divorce and deal with all the fall out…. Getting her shit together 💪🏻 I’m down with that.
-Husband call his kids creepy cause they are twins and has ZERO relationship with them….. 😳 and the h thinks leaving her kids w him a good idea? Ooook
-Husband has zero remorse for cheating only getting caught. I don’t think he even really loved the h.
‼️Wife had lots of sex before him and tried to show him stuff and tried to have a great sex life w husband. He refused 🤯 cause he was embarrassed so they had horrid sex for 14yrs. Then the mistress comes along and shows him all the tricks his wife tried to and he is in heaven. 🤬He says he can now show the wife a trick or two🤮. Yet he could have had that all along with his wife!….. ok ok I’m trying to keep my cool here but this guy is a fucking douche 😤
-Kids have ZERO reaction the their dad cheating and shoving the mistress in their face less than a WEEK after the wife leaves …. Ummm 🤨 ok zombie 🧟♀️ kids I mean they are 12 what 12 year old doesn’t have a reaction? ….. yeah ok
-Infact in a matter of weeks the daughter becomes BFF with the mistress and the wife encourages this! 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
‼️Now this is a gold digging whore who purposefully targeted her husband and tried to blackmail the h. And she is encouraging her kids to be friends with this bitch!? …. Ok your loosing me here 😵💫
-The wife is the mastermind here. She gets the divorce. Tells husband to marry OW and be a great dad to her kids while he has custody. The wife and him become amazing co parents and friends. And the OW becomes a great step mom! 🤯…. ON WHAT FUCKING PLANET 🌎 DO I WANT THIS TO HAPPEN!? None that’s what no fucking planet! 🤚🏻 get out of here.
-So during all this the h is a smut author and keeps her identity a secret. The whole book we hear about how NOONE knows she is this rich successful smut author (someone’s very self important) In the end we find out that EVERYONE…. I mean EVERYONE knew. …..what!? 🤨 So that was pointless.
-So the h gives up her husband and kids and just hands them over on a silver platter for the mistress? All for the sake of her kids? So they have a dad? 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
-Oh and in the end we know the H is younger then the h BUT THEY NEVER DISCUSSED IT!? So we don’t even know the age difference!!! 😡‼️🤯
💩So in the end….
-The husband married the blackmailing mistress
-Mistress signed a prenup but it didn’t matter cause she was a great step mom. Pregnant and falling in love with the cheating husband.
-The kids are so happy cause they have a giant happy family.
-The ex husband and h have a great relationship now as friends and coparents.
-The h and H are engaged and having a baby of their own.
AND THE ICING ON THE CAKE?
-The h is the FUCKING MAID OF HONOR at the ex husband’s wedding. Yup you heard me she is the maid of honor to the blackmailing gold digging whore that stole her husband. A mere 5 MONTHS after the divorce!!!!!! 🤯🤯🤯
OH AND IF THAT ISNT ENOUGH.. SHE BUYS THEM A 1WEEK HONEYMOON!!!!!!!!!!
🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯
WTF!? NO JUST FUCKING NO TO THIS SHIT. No woman is this much of a fucking Saint! No woman!!!! You hear me NO WOMAN!
‼️I’m not even going to go into the fact that this was 300pg to long! There was so much unnecessary info about side characters and side characters side characters. It was brutal. So much inner monologue. Wasted filler that didn’t add to the story.
😡I HATED that we spent 75-80% of the book hearing about how vile the mistress is and how she planned this only for the h to feel sorry for and even is happy that her daughter and the the skank are spending so much time together and getting along! She want the skank to marry and be good for her husband and kids!!!! What!?
‼️The Husband/CHEATING EX‼️
-He very plain looking -tall, thin and balding
-Average
-Spoiled only child w wealthy parents
-Never had to work for anything
-Was an absentee father and husband
-Works for his parents company
-Admits his wife was out of his league
-He tells OW he loves her
-He obvi got caught up w a young bombshell that he normally would never have gotten
-Cheating for 6 month
-He wouldn’t explore sex with his wife when she wanted to but does w the mistress and then gets dick drunk on her because of it!
-It’s very clear that Harold doesn���t love his family. He was wanting to dump them for greener pastures…. Need I say more about how much this man doesn’t deserve a HEA
Let me tell you how this should have ended….
1- the H wouldn’t have had so much fucking jaded history that we had to hear about over and over. He would have met the h been all about her and no other woman would have existed for him. He would worship her and forever be grateful for her cheating husband.
2-We would see the h and H have an amazing life. Married with a new baby and one big happy family with her kids that love the H. Her kids would still see love their father but never be ok with what he did.
3-The ex husband got herpes from the OW, regretted his cheating cause he realized how amazing the h was and how much he loves her and how much of a moron he was to cheat on her. He lives in regret forever watching her and her new man be happy w his kids while he is miserable and never finds love again.
-The mistress gets her comeuppance for being a gold digger and ends up poor and haggard and miserable in another town far away from the h.
😡ON WHAT PLANET DO THE MISTRESS AND THE CHEATING HUSBAND GET A HEA!? Oh helll nooooo! I want them to be miserable and suffer.!
💭 POV:
Multiple POV
Wife Helen - first person
Everyone else is 3rd person.
Harold- the cheater
Jillian -the gold digging mistress
Aiden -the jaded H
❤️🔥 Sex & Burn Rate:
Clean closed door
🌓 Push/Pull:
Yes H and h push each other away cause she is married and the H has trauma from his ex and the h wants to be divorced first.
☠️ OW/OM Drama:
Yes
Obvi her husbands mistress
The H ex come up a lot in his POV and she shows up at the end and tries to talk to the H. The h shits it down
🤮 OW/OM Sex / Fluid or DNA Exchange:
No cause it’s off page
🤬 Cheating:
Yes husband cheats for 6 months
👰🏼♀️ Virgins:
None
⛈️Separation/ 3rd Act Breakup:
None they h and H are not together till like 85%
🌈Epilogue:
No
🥂HEA:
I guess if you can call it that
❌My opinion is just that… MY OPINION.❌
I know we all get passionate about our favorite reads and characters but we should respect each opinions a thoughts. ~Thank you
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
avoid
July 8, 2022Self note avoid.
Cheating H.
A lot of reviewers loved the fact that the h left the kids with the H, so he would be stuck with them.
I low key felt really uncomfortable reading that, because children should never be used for revenge. I wish the author had used another trope to show how strong the h was. Reading peoples spoilers just made me feel bad for the poor unwanted kids.
Cheating H.
A lot of reviewers loved the fact that the h left the kids with the H, so he would be stuck with them.
I low key felt really uncomfortable reading that, because children should never be used for revenge. I wish the author had used another trope to show how strong the h was. Reading peoples spoilers just made me feel bad for the poor unwanted kids.
December 17, 2021
3.5*This was refreshing! When her husband told her that he cheated, she didn't act like a doormat. Instead, she packed her bags and left, leaving him with their pre-teenage children. He was shocked because his new girlfriend didn't want children and he was so sure that she will want the kids and she will care for them, not him.
I liked how she found a new love but I had trouble understanding why she stayed with her husband for so long-she knew he cheated even before he confessed, she didn't love him anymore, so why? not for the children, because she was the one to leave the children behind.
I did not like how in the end she became friends with the OW, and how she was present at his ex-wedding.
I liked how she found a new love but I had trouble understanding why she stayed with her husband for so long-she knew he cheated even before he confessed, she didn't love him anymore, so why? not for the children, because she was the one to leave the children behind.
I did not like how in the end she became friends with the OW, and how she was present at his ex-wedding.
September 26, 2021
I enjoyed the turning of tables on the H and am grateful the children were fine with everything.
March 21, 2023
Okay I was surprised why this book about a cheating husband, a gold digging bleach blond and an erotic romance author w her construction worker/owner/PAINTER hunk was named this.. like no one actually climbed a tree.. but there was tree climbing.
Right until the end of first chapter i was in the process of getting an ick but then Helen cleared up she's not a bad mom. I never hated Helen for any of her decisions and she was cool. Harold was a fucking idiot. I felt sorry for Jillian but she brought this all on herself except her mother. Loved aiden. He was the flawless hero. This could've been any romance but the fact that we see everyone's pov made it so much better. We heard their povs and determined why they are the way they are.
We saw that Harold didn't have two braincells to rub together until someone lent him one then a lightbulb will go off. He didn't learn about her hair colour until his daughter pointed out. He didn't learn about her real age until his wife pointed out and maybe he'll never find out she'd trapped him since no one came out and outright told him so.
Jillian thought she was perfectly fine in her methods and way of life. I thought she'd clear up her act but nope. How would she fix herself until she realises she's wrong. I was holding out for her but the entitlement when she pouted about the fact that Helen's parents didn't take picture of her wedding but would take pictures of Helen's wedding i was just like.. you can't fix this bitch.
I will leave Helen and Aiden. I liked them so it's difficult for me to write positive things.
Harold's parents were disappointing until the end when Gwendolyn showed Jillian her place and Helen hers. I know these kind of women who'd bitch about whoever was in certain position and when they leave they'd be buddy buddy with the former and bitch about the new person. I don't care how she treats Jillian really.
RAPHAEL WAS THE BEST I can't believe this book was written when everybody had such cookie cutter gay bestfriend with no personality. Raphael was so fleshed out and interesting. A Marine turned hair stylist who searched and rescued in South American jungle but also was the best hair stylist, a shoulder to cry on and a great uncle. And he didn't end up with the only other gay character in the book. He's friends with him but they're not together. Can you imagine? I couldn't i was so pleasantly surprised. I can write more really.
The last few chapters really helped me understand what's settling and what being content in a relationship feels like. There wasn't one kind thought in Harold's or Jillian's pov towards each other just.. okay we're stuck we'll do it blah blah but in Aiden and Helen's pov you can see they're happy, they're content and they're excited and they're in love. They're not trying to justify they're union, they're just expressing they're love.
Anyway i picked it up after doing a little reread of Leaving Sophie Dean by Alexandra Whittaker and while i liked some aspects of it more overall i think my favourite is this one. I got my romance and the karma. All is well.
Right until the end of first chapter i was in the process of getting an ick but then Helen cleared up she's not a bad mom. I never hated Helen for any of her decisions and she was cool. Harold was a fucking idiot. I felt sorry for Jillian but she brought this all on herself except her mother. Loved aiden. He was the flawless hero. This could've been any romance but the fact that we see everyone's pov made it so much better. We heard their povs and determined why they are the way they are.
We saw that Harold didn't have two braincells to rub together until someone lent him one then a lightbulb will go off. He didn't learn about her hair colour until his daughter pointed out. He didn't learn about her real age until his wife pointed out and maybe he'll never find out she'd trapped him since no one came out and outright told him so.
Jillian thought she was perfectly fine in her methods and way of life. I thought she'd clear up her act but nope. How would she fix herself until she realises she's wrong. I was holding out for her but the entitlement when she pouted about the fact that Helen's parents didn't take picture of her wedding but would take pictures of Helen's wedding i was just like.. you can't fix this bitch.
I will leave Helen and Aiden. I liked them so it's difficult for me to write positive things.
Harold's parents were disappointing until the end when Gwendolyn showed Jillian her place and Helen hers. I know these kind of women who'd bitch about whoever was in certain position and when they leave they'd be buddy buddy with the former and bitch about the new person. I don't care how she treats Jillian really.
RAPHAEL WAS THE BEST I can't believe this book was written when everybody had such cookie cutter gay bestfriend with no personality. Raphael was so fleshed out and interesting. A Marine turned hair stylist who searched and rescued in South American jungle but also was the best hair stylist, a shoulder to cry on and a great uncle. And he didn't end up with the only other gay character in the book. He's friends with him but they're not together. Can you imagine? I couldn't i was so pleasantly surprised. I can write more really.
The last few chapters really helped me understand what's settling and what being content in a relationship feels like. There wasn't one kind thought in Harold's or Jillian's pov towards each other just.. okay we're stuck we'll do it blah blah but in Aiden and Helen's pov you can see they're happy, they're content and they're excited and they're in love. They're not trying to justify they're union, they're just expressing they're love.
Anyway i picked it up after doing a little reread of Leaving Sophie Dean by Alexandra Whittaker and while i liked some aspects of it more overall i think my favourite is this one. I got my romance and the karma. All is well.
August 4, 2022
Different cheating story. Interesting and at least she’s not a doormat.
Read
October 21, 2025DNF at 35%. Didn't like the direction the book was going. Read more spoilers and yeah, this a definite hell no.
May 7, 2016
A K/U Book.
This is a refreshing take on a familial theme. I was relieved when the wife turned out not to
be the normal crying, whining woman that just can't seem to move on.
Helen is a mother to 12yr old twins Tanya and Tony and wife to Harold for 14 years. One night
Harold decides to tell his wife that he is leaving her for a twenty something woman. Instead of
having the normal reaction that one would expect, Helen decided that it's time for her to live a life
other than that of a wife and mother. She grabs a suitcase and starts to pack. When Harold realizes
that it's not his clothing that she is packing but hers, he thinks that she is bluffing when she says
that she is leaving and that he can take care of the kids from now on.
Harold has no idea what he is doing when it comes to being a father because he had neglected his
responsibilities for the past 12 years. When Helen doesn't return the next morning to take the kids
to school, Harold starts to realize just how serious she is and that her leaving throws a wrench in his
plans to live with his mistress.
This is an Amazing Story and I love how strong the heroine is.
This is a refreshing take on a familial theme. I was relieved when the wife turned out not to
be the normal crying, whining woman that just can't seem to move on.
Helen is a mother to 12yr old twins Tanya and Tony and wife to Harold for 14 years. One night
Harold decides to tell his wife that he is leaving her for a twenty something woman. Instead of
having the normal reaction that one would expect, Helen decided that it's time for her to live a life
other than that of a wife and mother. She grabs a suitcase and starts to pack. When Harold realizes
that it's not his clothing that she is packing but hers, he thinks that she is bluffing when she says
that she is leaving and that he can take care of the kids from now on.
Harold has no idea what he is doing when it comes to being a father because he had neglected his
responsibilities for the past 12 years. When Helen doesn't return the next morning to take the kids
to school, Harold starts to realize just how serious she is and that her leaving throws a wrench in his
plans to live with his mistress.
This is an Amazing Story and I love how strong the heroine is.
October 22, 2021
Too much inner dialogue and not one steamy scene?!
Okay so this is a double edge sword for me... Although I absolutely loved the heroin the plot and the story there was way too much into dialog you could have cut about an hour out of the book if not more and it wouldn't have hurt a bit. Then you have The catch 22 that the heroin is This world or noun erotic romance novelist, yet there is not a sex scene In this book? It alludes too It say And then once we got behind closed doors I really showed him. I mean really that's the best you can do? I'm not saying that there needs to be all heat and steamy scenes in a book sometime there's way too much of that and not enough story but this was all story and none of it. So I gave this 3 stars because although I had so many issues with it I did like the overall story I do think that If you took the story Put some actual heat into it and someone who wasn't trying to write 2 hours worth of internal dialog that did nothing to help the story then it would have been 10 stars.
Okay so this is a double edge sword for me... Although I absolutely loved the heroin the plot and the story there was way too much into dialog you could have cut about an hour out of the book if not more and it wouldn't have hurt a bit. Then you have The catch 22 that the heroin is This world or noun erotic romance novelist, yet there is not a sex scene In this book? It alludes too It say And then once we got behind closed doors I really showed him. I mean really that's the best you can do? I'm not saying that there needs to be all heat and steamy scenes in a book sometime there's way too much of that and not enough story but this was all story and none of it. So I gave this 3 stars because although I had so many issues with it I did like the overall story I do think that If you took the story Put some actual heat into it and someone who wasn't trying to write 2 hours worth of internal dialog that did nothing to help the story then it would have been 10 stars.
April 9, 2015
I love a book that engages my minds eye and imagination. This book was so real and so well written it did both. I know I've read a good book when I don't want to end.
May 31, 2017
This book needs an editor.
October 4, 2025
3 stars
Sooo lonnnnnmg. Just wanted to get to the end of it.
It was pretty good in the beginning. I liked Helen just took charge once Harold said he wanted to leave her and left before he could. I liked her secret life and the fact she had her own loft and money from being a secret erotic book author. I liked how her relationship developed with Aiden, her hot younger neighbor.
BUT the whole resolution with Jillian, the OW was a bit off putting. Helen was so forgiving and the kids accepted Jillian in the end. I dunno- it was too hallmark movie.
The effect of Helen taking charge in the beginning was diluted by all the love and forgiveness in the end. AND the fact that Harold seemed to have an HEA too. I was grossed out by the description of Harold’s large member and how good he was in the bedroom. Although I must say Jillian and her prenup agreement was a nice touch.
Sorry for not loving this. I just wanted him to suffer a bit more. And to have less happiness for the bad guys in the end. Is that too much to ask?!
Sooo lonnnnnmg. Just wanted to get to the end of it.
It was pretty good in the beginning. I liked Helen just took charge once Harold said he wanted to leave her and left before he could. I liked her secret life and the fact she had her own loft and money from being a secret erotic book author. I liked how her relationship developed with Aiden, her hot younger neighbor.
BUT the whole resolution with Jillian, the OW was a bit off putting. Helen was so forgiving and the kids accepted Jillian in the end. I dunno- it was too hallmark movie.
The effect of Helen taking charge in the beginning was diluted by all the love and forgiveness in the end. AND the fact that Harold seemed to have an HEA too. I was grossed out by the description of Harold’s large member and how good he was in the bedroom. Although I must say Jillian and her prenup agreement was a nice touch.
Sorry for not loving this. I just wanted him to suffer a bit more. And to have less happiness for the bad guys in the end. Is that too much to ask?!
May 28, 2023
3.5-4 stars. A bit quirky in the style of writing, but amusing and relatable, although definitely in dire need of an editor. Helen pulls the wool over Harold by leaving first so that he’s stuck with the kids instead of traipsing off with his mistress like he had originally planned. I don't know if I was actually hoping for reconciliation at first, but it became immediately apparent that Helen downgraded when she married Harold. There's varying POVs in this one and actually Harold and Jillian's perspectives were the most fascinating because they are so ridiculous. There’s plenty of entertainment value with Helen’s tactics and the variety of character personalities, I adored her best friend and hair stylist Rafael. I was reeled in for the vast majority of the story until I got closer to the end, where it plateaued a bit in the momentum. I can appreciate a story where the wronged heroine gets her true happy ending and the others are stuck with the consequences of their choices.
March 2, 2025
I don't understand the great reviews for this one.
I just could not connect or empathize with the h despite all that she goes through - because her reactions and actions were not relatable for me.
Yes, she gets out, and starts living a life that's 'larger' than her previous one, gets herself a hunky man -- but it was all so off and outlandish. The author just drops her backstory that's a tad ott, and the reader is like - then what was she doing with that skinny whiny loser for so many years? He was so beneath her all this time. She is suddenly this alpha female who was being strangely submissive in her marriage.
I DON'T LIKE cheaters getting redeemed and then getting a HEA!!!
And everyone being this one big happy family.
Blech!
I just could not connect or empathize with the h despite all that she goes through - because her reactions and actions were not relatable for me.
Yes, she gets out, and starts living a life that's 'larger' than her previous one, gets herself a hunky man -- but it was all so off and outlandish. The author just drops her backstory that's a tad ott, and the reader is like - then what was she doing with that skinny whiny loser for so many years? He was so beneath her all this time. She is suddenly this alpha female who was being strangely submissive in her marriage.
I DON'T LIKE cheaters getting redeemed and then getting a HEA!!!
And everyone being this one big happy family.
Blech!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 2, 2025
I was hooked on Tree Climbing For Beginners from the very first word. I’ve been on a huge marriage/cheating binge lately so this book was recommended to me through Amazon. Similar to stories I’ve been reading. I’d saw good reviews and wanted to give it a try.
I LOVED that this was different from what I have currently read.
Helen didn’t cry and beg her husband Harold when he announced he was leaving her for younger Jillian with whom he had been having an affair with. No instead Helen packed her own bags and moved out, leaving him to deal with their kids. For 12 years he had been an absent father. The fun parent when it suited him. Now he wanted to abandon ship? Not on Helen’s watch! She had grown up with a runaway father and didn’t want that for her twins Tonya and Tony. Harold had begged her for children while Helen had been reluctant to have kids. Now she was making sure he wouldn’t forget about them in favour of his mistress.
I swear Helen reacted how I would if my husband chose to leave me or cheated on me. I wouldn’t get sad. I would be mad! I’m not big on tears. I’m more a person who if you hurt me, I’ll get even. So I was totally Team Helen. She held Harold accountable for his actions. She forced him to step up as a parent. And Helen refused to let Harold get away with his behaviour. Good on Helen! It pissed me off everyone assumed she should have the kids just because she’s the mother. Harold had a part in their creation too. Why couldn’t he be the primary parent after she had done it for years? The judgement from those around Helen really grated me. She was doing things her way to make sure her kids had a permanent father in their life. But if she hadn’t, Harold would have bolted with Jillian. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
I also really like how Helen and the women in her family weren’t your typical PTA mothers. Not that there is anything wrong with that. As an independent , artistic, free spirit… I got how they all struggled with their maternal sides and the desire for freedom too. But there was no denying that the Dudley women would do anything for their kids. Mama bears protecting their cubs.
I did like how we got Helen’s, Harold’s, Jillian’s and Aiden’s POV. Each had their own part to play after the aftermath of a marriage and family breakdown and rebuild.
The only thing missing in this book for me was the children. I would have liked to get to know Tonya and Tony more. I would have liked to see them interact with their parents and their parents new partners. All these people fighting over these kids and we really didn’t get to spend any time with them. We never got to see them meet over interact with Aiden, their new Mum’s boyfriend. All these people making decisions for these kids thinking they know best… but no one once asked the kids what they wanted. I felt like that should have been a big factor here?! Their world had been rocked.
Also I didn’t really buy into Aiden and Helen’s romance. I mean pretty much the day after she leaves her husband she meets the man of her dreams? I thought it was strange she could date Aiden but not sleep with him while she was going through a divorce? For the sake of her kids she said. I get what she was trying to do but wouldn’t everyone, kids included, would assume you are already sleeping together if your dating him? Lol
I don’t know. I just… I felt like Aiden and Helen’s romance was a little too lust at first sight. For the majority of their courtship they really didn’t know anything about each other but were convinced the other was THE ONE? How?
I found the beginning of the book stronger than the middle or the ending. While there was some grammar issues… I found the author very talented. I did find the story got bogged down along the way. My enthusiasm waned halfway through because the characters overthought everything and would go on these long, off shoot thought processes that weren’t necessary. Especially Helen. She would get asked a question then mentally go all over the place until she answered but as a reader I had completely forgotten the question or what was going on in the present.
Sometimes the story could be very repetitive too. What happened in one POV would be redone in someone else’s POV. I don’t know how many times were were told good old Grandma Gert shot her husband when he cheated. Or that Harold was terrified of everyone is his life especially his creepy twins as he thought of them.
Also there were some loose threads for me. Did Harold every find out Helen was a millionaire or where her loft is? Or that her Grandma Gert’s paintings were worth a fortune? I guess it didn’t matter.
Overall great book and I will definitely check out Joyia Marie’s other novels too.
I LOVED that this was different from what I have currently read.
Helen didn’t cry and beg her husband Harold when he announced he was leaving her for younger Jillian with whom he had been having an affair with. No instead Helen packed her own bags and moved out, leaving him to deal with their kids. For 12 years he had been an absent father. The fun parent when it suited him. Now he wanted to abandon ship? Not on Helen’s watch! She had grown up with a runaway father and didn’t want that for her twins Tonya and Tony. Harold had begged her for children while Helen had been reluctant to have kids. Now she was making sure he wouldn’t forget about them in favour of his mistress.
I swear Helen reacted how I would if my husband chose to leave me or cheated on me. I wouldn’t get sad. I would be mad! I’m not big on tears. I’m more a person who if you hurt me, I’ll get even. So I was totally Team Helen. She held Harold accountable for his actions. She forced him to step up as a parent. And Helen refused to let Harold get away with his behaviour. Good on Helen! It pissed me off everyone assumed she should have the kids just because she’s the mother. Harold had a part in their creation too. Why couldn’t he be the primary parent after she had done it for years? The judgement from those around Helen really grated me. She was doing things her way to make sure her kids had a permanent father in their life. But if she hadn’t, Harold would have bolted with Jillian. No ifs, ands or buts about it.
I also really like how Helen and the women in her family weren’t your typical PTA mothers. Not that there is anything wrong with that. As an independent , artistic, free spirit… I got how they all struggled with their maternal sides and the desire for freedom too. But there was no denying that the Dudley women would do anything for their kids. Mama bears protecting their cubs.
I did like how we got Helen’s, Harold’s, Jillian’s and Aiden’s POV. Each had their own part to play after the aftermath of a marriage and family breakdown and rebuild.
The only thing missing in this book for me was the children. I would have liked to get to know Tonya and Tony more. I would have liked to see them interact with their parents and their parents new partners. All these people fighting over these kids and we really didn’t get to spend any time with them. We never got to see them meet over interact with Aiden, their new Mum’s boyfriend. All these people making decisions for these kids thinking they know best… but no one once asked the kids what they wanted. I felt like that should have been a big factor here?! Their world had been rocked.
Also I didn’t really buy into Aiden and Helen’s romance. I mean pretty much the day after she leaves her husband she meets the man of her dreams? I thought it was strange she could date Aiden but not sleep with him while she was going through a divorce? For the sake of her kids she said. I get what she was trying to do but wouldn’t everyone, kids included, would assume you are already sleeping together if your dating him? Lol
I don’t know. I just… I felt like Aiden and Helen’s romance was a little too lust at first sight. For the majority of their courtship they really didn’t know anything about each other but were convinced the other was THE ONE? How?
I found the beginning of the book stronger than the middle or the ending. While there was some grammar issues… I found the author very talented. I did find the story got bogged down along the way. My enthusiasm waned halfway through because the characters overthought everything and would go on these long, off shoot thought processes that weren’t necessary. Especially Helen. She would get asked a question then mentally go all over the place until she answered but as a reader I had completely forgotten the question or what was going on in the present.
Sometimes the story could be very repetitive too. What happened in one POV would be redone in someone else’s POV. I don’t know how many times were were told good old Grandma Gert shot her husband when he cheated. Or that Harold was terrified of everyone is his life especially his creepy twins as he thought of them.
Also there were some loose threads for me. Did Harold every find out Helen was a millionaire or where her loft is? Or that her Grandma Gert’s paintings were worth a fortune? I guess it didn’t matter.
Overall great book and I will definitely check out Joyia Marie’s other novels too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 18, 2018
Interesting story.
SPOILER....
Even though the cliche cheating husband and "I am in love with" start of the story with a twist, h walking out on him rather than him on her, the story became interesting. I understand why she left her kids in his full custody and sort of applaud her for that but I feel kind of disappointed too. Her decision came of as she didnt really love her kids which we later find out is not true but I didnt get a strong vibe of love from her for her kids. They were her kids so yeah she loved them but she reminded me of cheater bastards from other novels who selfishly leave their kids to have another chance in love with a new "love" interest. Like those so called heroes she too continued to have them on weekends and what not and eventually co-parent with her ex. She did end up winning me over somewhat with her decision towards the end but still it was a bittersweet win. Like it was mentioned many times in the story "who does that... what kind of mother leaves her kids....". Maybe it is the cliche thinking that is stopping me applauding her decision so openly. Maybe if she really didnt love her kids I would have taken her decision better.
Anyhow it is obvious that she didnt love her husband by the time he dropped the bomb on her. And kudos to her for preempting what he was doing to do and in doing so foiled his plan. OW was as expected not a likable character ad it was interesting ot see her POV and her journey to her HEA with the h ex-husband. After swallowing the bitter pill and understanding her decision of leaving the kids behind I felt proud of how h handled everything starting from walking out on her husband to standing as bride's made on his wedding with OW to giving them the house as wedding gift. She was an upstanding woman with good and clear thoughts.
I loved Aiden, OM, with whom h ended up with. Glad to see her getting her HEA with him with a baby of their own on the way. I mean after being married to that man who was her husband who had no idea where her loft was, i mean really? What kind of man was he! It was so good to see him standing at the altar regretting his decisions (cheating on his lovely and competent) and squirming see his very much pregnant home wrecker walking towards him. It was good to see him finally seeing how messed up his relationship had been wit his kids and his wife.
I laughed out loud so many times when almost every important person of interest who the real identity of the erotic novelist, our h who thought that she was successful in keeping it a secret because of her kids. For a minute I was so afraid about the turn of events when OW got the wind of her secret but thankfully she happened to have some conscience and our h managed to manipulate her.
It is interesting to see how we treat and take for-grated people in our lives when we have easy assess to them but truly come to value them when we lose them.
SPOILER....
Even though the cliche cheating husband and "I am in love with" start of the story with a twist, h walking out on him rather than him on her, the story became interesting. I understand why she left her kids in his full custody and sort of applaud her for that but I feel kind of disappointed too. Her decision came of as she didnt really love her kids which we later find out is not true but I didnt get a strong vibe of love from her for her kids. They were her kids so yeah she loved them but she reminded me of cheater bastards from other novels who selfishly leave their kids to have another chance in love with a new "love" interest. Like those so called heroes she too continued to have them on weekends and what not and eventually co-parent with her ex. She did end up winning me over somewhat with her decision towards the end but still it was a bittersweet win. Like it was mentioned many times in the story "who does that... what kind of mother leaves her kids....". Maybe it is the cliche thinking that is stopping me applauding her decision so openly. Maybe if she really didnt love her kids I would have taken her decision better.
Anyhow it is obvious that she didnt love her husband by the time he dropped the bomb on her. And kudos to her for preempting what he was doing to do and in doing so foiled his plan. OW was as expected not a likable character ad it was interesting ot see her POV and her journey to her HEA with the h ex-husband. After swallowing the bitter pill and understanding her decision of leaving the kids behind I felt proud of how h handled everything starting from walking out on her husband to standing as bride's made on his wedding with OW to giving them the house as wedding gift. She was an upstanding woman with good and clear thoughts.
I loved Aiden, OM, with whom h ended up with. Glad to see her getting her HEA with him with a baby of their own on the way. I mean after being married to that man who was her husband who had no idea where her loft was, i mean really? What kind of man was he! It was so good to see him standing at the altar regretting his decisions (cheating on his lovely and competent) and squirming see his very much pregnant home wrecker walking towards him. It was good to see him finally seeing how messed up his relationship had been wit his kids and his wife.
I laughed out loud so many times when almost every important person of interest who the real identity of the erotic novelist, our h who thought that she was successful in keeping it a secret because of her kids. For a minute I was so afraid about the turn of events when OW got the wind of her secret but thankfully she happened to have some conscience and our h managed to manipulate her.
It is interesting to see how we treat and take for-grated people in our lives when we have easy assess to them but truly come to value them when we lose them.
November 27, 2024
Part of me wants to rate this book lower, while part of me wants to rate it higher. It was mostly a 5 star read until maybe the last 20%. Then it dropped significantly.
I loved the IDEA and premise of the book which I can see many others didn't. There's a lot that the author could have done to improve the book though. For one, there's a lot of filler that really adds nothing to the book. It could have been either A. Much better filling in the blanks or establishing Helen's relationship with Aiden or B. Been much shorter. It's not the easiest read because of the grammar and editing mistakes but it's not terrible either. There's also a TON of weird diatribes out Helen's "Famous but weird women" in their family (artists) who somehow manage to be strong women but run off or shoot their crazy cheating husbands.
Helen is a secretly famous romance erotica writer using a pen name. Because she knows how harshly the outside world judges "smut" she doesn't let anyone see her face or know her real name because she's the mother of twins, a boy and a girl, 12 years old.
One day her husband of 14 years, Harold comes home and tells her he's leaving her for a younger, hotter bimbo and he wants a divorce. He's practically giddy about it. Helen snaps and starts packing basically saying bulllllllshit. You aren't leaving and riding off into the sunset, I am. She packs and leaves to her loft, which she always kept since pre-marriage to Harold for a writing escape and occasional mommy needs a break breakdowns.
Harold is stunned and shocked and super worried because his young, hot, nympho girlfriend Jillian "doesn't do kids".
Now I'm NOT going to write a long diatribe like I usually do. Essentially, Helen tries to divorce Harold without him taking her writing money (she never hid it, he just always dismissed it as a little hobby and thinks she makes no money), offers to give him custody of the twins with FULL visitation rights for her and basically tires to be a boss bitch and allow herself to be happy without being a full time wife and mother.
Here's where people (and I) slightly have problems with the book. Helen essentially wants to force Harold, who is actually a good but VERY absent father, to have a relationship with his own kids that he desperately begged Helen to have because she never had a father and she feels he'll regret it.
I see reviews saying she abandoned the kids with a POS father but was he really? Absent, yes. Dangerous? Abusive? Not in the slightest. If anything she forced him to step up and form a better relationship with the kids. AND she left them with a full time housekeeper/nanny they have had since birth in a 5 bedroom house. These kids were FINE. She was also willing at literally ANY freaking time, to snatch her kids right back up. She didn't want them to move out of the house, take them away from friends, family and Mrs. Gunderson (hilarious character!!)
I actually thought it was kind of refreshing to see a cheating book where they cheater just doesn't get to run away and shack up blissful in their little affair bubble.
The side characters were flipping hilarious. Raphael and Mrs. Gunderson being my favorites. I loved that she had a big support team and I loved that along with some side eyeing about her choices she wasn't lectured or told what to do, just supported. Even the in laws (Harold's parents) were hilarious.
The husband Harold is disgusting and weak. Although I LOVED having Helen, Aiden, Harold and Jillian's POV, Harold's were probably the worst. It was like reading a 14 year old boy discovering porn for the first time. If anything, by the end I figured instead of Jillian cheating on him in the future he'd probably cheat on her if there was anyone willing to jump his skinny old pasty ass.
The two biggest parts or problems I had with the story were:
A. The unlikely to be plot of the story and how it progressed. It was really unnatural and not at all believable. Helen just walks out, has a loft ready, is a secret millionaire, has a lawyer within seconds and has a super hot almost instant in love with her rich contractor next door that will remodel her entire loft for her oh and happens to also be an artist type who knows who her famous grandmother and mother are. I think she cries once but beyond that it's just boom, boom, boom all falls into place in a nice neat bundle.
Aiden (her new man) and Helen's relationship is so stilted and not genuine in anyway. They stay away from each other and the "crazy chemistry" until she's divorced so they're both not cheaters (I mean kind of liked this part) but then they're together, exchanging I love yous, married and pregnant at the end? (She's freaking 40!!! and spent half the book saying she'd never get married again, she's a free spirit blah). You get to see WAY more of Harold and Jillian's relationship develop and to be honest, it was fucking annoying.
I wanted to spin my head around like what the what just happened? For someone writing a book about HELEN moving on and being happy about the divorce, there's almost ZERO effort put into her moving on with Aiden.
B. The second part that made it drop significantly was Helen's whiplash attitude towards Jillian. We learn Jillian is a man-eater gold-digger and proud of it. In fact her whole family are " professional gold-diggers". She gets a job with Harold, sees him, goes after him hardcore and bam hooks him.
She lies about her background, her age, her hair color and eventually gets pregnant on purpose. She's a blackmailer, a liar, a cheat and a skank. And the author eventually has Helen sort of take Jillian under her wing (under the excuse that Harold needs a "manager" and Jillian can "manage" him because Helen doesn't want him) and treats her WAY TOO WELL for a gold digging tramp. She lifts her ban on her friends hair salon, she gives her money, she is in their MOTHER FLUFFING WEDDING because Jillian has no family or friends, she sends them on a honeymoon and she pays off their house for them.
WHHHHHHAAAAAT!!!!!!
Hell to the motherfucking no. There's being a reasonable responsible adult in admitting that you no longer want your husband and probably haven't loved him in a long time, wanting to be respectful because you are a blended family and will be raising two kids together for the next 6 years and being a freaking doorknob.
Harold is already rich on his own. He's the heir to a multi million dollar company and is Vice President. Why in the fuck would he even need his EX wife to pay off his house and pay for his fucking honeymoon? And feeling sorry for Jillian because she was basically raised to be a future slut is one thing but she's also (you can see her POV) a greedy, conniving, spoiled fake bitch and getting ZERO comeuppance ruined the ending.
I wanted at LEAST to see her waiting at home with Harold's kids (like Helen did) and him coming home smelling of another woman's perfume for 6 months (like Helen did).
The author took a strong independent take no shit free spirit woman and made her bend over to far she could kiss her own ass. Give me a break.
I loved the IDEA and premise of the book which I can see many others didn't. There's a lot that the author could have done to improve the book though. For one, there's a lot of filler that really adds nothing to the book. It could have been either A. Much better filling in the blanks or establishing Helen's relationship with Aiden or B. Been much shorter. It's not the easiest read because of the grammar and editing mistakes but it's not terrible either. There's also a TON of weird diatribes out Helen's "Famous but weird women" in their family (artists) who somehow manage to be strong women but run off or shoot their crazy cheating husbands.
Helen is a secretly famous romance erotica writer using a pen name. Because she knows how harshly the outside world judges "smut" she doesn't let anyone see her face or know her real name because she's the mother of twins, a boy and a girl, 12 years old.
One day her husband of 14 years, Harold comes home and tells her he's leaving her for a younger, hotter bimbo and he wants a divorce. He's practically giddy about it. Helen snaps and starts packing basically saying bulllllllshit. You aren't leaving and riding off into the sunset, I am. She packs and leaves to her loft, which she always kept since pre-marriage to Harold for a writing escape and occasional mommy needs a break breakdowns.
Harold is stunned and shocked and super worried because his young, hot, nympho girlfriend Jillian "doesn't do kids".
Now I'm NOT going to write a long diatribe like I usually do. Essentially, Helen tries to divorce Harold without him taking her writing money (she never hid it, he just always dismissed it as a little hobby and thinks she makes no money), offers to give him custody of the twins with FULL visitation rights for her and basically tires to be a boss bitch and allow herself to be happy without being a full time wife and mother.
Here's where people (and I) slightly have problems with the book. Helen essentially wants to force Harold, who is actually a good but VERY absent father, to have a relationship with his own kids that he desperately begged Helen to have because she never had a father and she feels he'll regret it.
I see reviews saying she abandoned the kids with a POS father but was he really? Absent, yes. Dangerous? Abusive? Not in the slightest. If anything she forced him to step up and form a better relationship with the kids. AND she left them with a full time housekeeper/nanny they have had since birth in a 5 bedroom house. These kids were FINE. She was also willing at literally ANY freaking time, to snatch her kids right back up. She didn't want them to move out of the house, take them away from friends, family and Mrs. Gunderson (hilarious character!!)
I actually thought it was kind of refreshing to see a cheating book where they cheater just doesn't get to run away and shack up blissful in their little affair bubble.
The side characters were flipping hilarious. Raphael and Mrs. Gunderson being my favorites. I loved that she had a big support team and I loved that along with some side eyeing about her choices she wasn't lectured or told what to do, just supported. Even the in laws (Harold's parents) were hilarious.
The husband Harold is disgusting and weak. Although I LOVED having Helen, Aiden, Harold and Jillian's POV, Harold's were probably the worst. It was like reading a 14 year old boy discovering porn for the first time. If anything, by the end I figured instead of Jillian cheating on him in the future he'd probably cheat on her if there was anyone willing to jump his skinny old pasty ass.
The two biggest parts or problems I had with the story were:
A. The unlikely to be plot of the story and how it progressed. It was really unnatural and not at all believable. Helen just walks out, has a loft ready, is a secret millionaire, has a lawyer within seconds and has a super hot almost instant in love with her rich contractor next door that will remodel her entire loft for her oh and happens to also be an artist type who knows who her famous grandmother and mother are. I think she cries once but beyond that it's just boom, boom, boom all falls into place in a nice neat bundle.
Aiden (her new man) and Helen's relationship is so stilted and not genuine in anyway. They stay away from each other and the "crazy chemistry" until she's divorced so they're both not cheaters (I mean kind of liked this part) but then they're together, exchanging I love yous, married and pregnant at the end? (She's freaking 40!!! and spent half the book saying she'd never get married again, she's a free spirit blah). You get to see WAY more of Harold and Jillian's relationship develop and to be honest, it was fucking annoying.
I wanted to spin my head around like what the what just happened? For someone writing a book about HELEN moving on and being happy about the divorce, there's almost ZERO effort put into her moving on with Aiden.
B. The second part that made it drop significantly was Helen's whiplash attitude towards Jillian. We learn Jillian is a man-eater gold-digger and proud of it. In fact her whole family are " professional gold-diggers". She gets a job with Harold, sees him, goes after him hardcore and bam hooks him.
She lies about her background, her age, her hair color and eventually gets pregnant on purpose. She's a blackmailer, a liar, a cheat and a skank. And the author eventually has Helen sort of take Jillian under her wing (under the excuse that Harold needs a "manager" and Jillian can "manage" him because Helen doesn't want him) and treats her WAY TOO WELL for a gold digging tramp. She lifts her ban on her friends hair salon, she gives her money, she is in their MOTHER FLUFFING WEDDING because Jillian has no family or friends, she sends them on a honeymoon and she pays off their house for them.
WHHHHHHAAAAAT!!!!!!
Hell to the motherfucking no. There's being a reasonable responsible adult in admitting that you no longer want your husband and probably haven't loved him in a long time, wanting to be respectful because you are a blended family and will be raising two kids together for the next 6 years and being a freaking doorknob.
Harold is already rich on his own. He's the heir to a multi million dollar company and is Vice President. Why in the fuck would he even need his EX wife to pay off his house and pay for his fucking honeymoon? And feeling sorry for Jillian because she was basically raised to be a future slut is one thing but she's also (you can see her POV) a greedy, conniving, spoiled fake bitch and getting ZERO comeuppance ruined the ending.
I wanted at LEAST to see her waiting at home with Harold's kids (like Helen did) and him coming home smelling of another woman's perfume for 6 months (like Helen did).
The author took a strong independent take no shit free spirit woman and made her bend over to far she could kiss her own ass. Give me a break.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2016
In four words - I enjoyed this thoroughly.
Helen Dudley is married to Harold and they have a set of 12 year old twins. Helen writes, Harold works for his father's paper company. It sounds like a match made in heaven, doesn't it?
But Harold has an affair with the bleached blonde, 22 year old Jillian who works in the sales department of his office...and Helen finds out.
Does she kick him out?
Well...no.
Helen is a different kind of woman and she leaves, heading off to her loft where she goes to write and she doesn't take the kids with her.
She meets Aiden, the handsome construction worker who lives in the loft across from her and contracts him to re-do her space.
Things are going swimmingly, but Harold has not signed and returned the divorce papers...the divorce HE wanted.
That's when the fur starts to fly...there's the case of the purloined jump drive...Helen's pen name and the associated fame and fortune of it, and well...it steamrollers along from there.
Wait til you meet the character of Raphael. I wish I had a Raphael.
I'm not usually one for "chick lit" but I liked this a lot, and it kept me reading to find out what would happen next. Read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
Helen Dudley is married to Harold and they have a set of 12 year old twins. Helen writes, Harold works for his father's paper company. It sounds like a match made in heaven, doesn't it?
But Harold has an affair with the bleached blonde, 22 year old Jillian who works in the sales department of his office...and Helen finds out.
Does she kick him out?
Well...no.
Helen is a different kind of woman and she leaves, heading off to her loft where she goes to write and she doesn't take the kids with her.
She meets Aiden, the handsome construction worker who lives in the loft across from her and contracts him to re-do her space.
Things are going swimmingly, but Harold has not signed and returned the divorce papers...the divorce HE wanted.
That's when the fur starts to fly...there's the case of the purloined jump drive...Helen's pen name and the associated fame and fortune of it, and well...it steamrollers along from there.
Wait til you meet the character of Raphael. I wish I had a Raphael.
I'm not usually one for "chick lit" but I liked this a lot, and it kept me reading to find out what would happen next. Read it. I don't think you'll be disappointed.
October 10, 2021
Yet another review as I go, but less complaining than usual.
Just finished chapter 10 and I love every inch of these characters. (well, not Jillian but that's just to be expected)
A gem of a quote for y'all:
"I think Aunt Josephine’s muse is depressed and would benefit
from a bracing round of ECT, electro-convulsive therapy, but what are you going
to do?"
Aunt Josephine's muse must be related to mine.
Poor Aiden, it must be exhausting to be so damn presumptuous all the time. Unfortunately the typos seem to be getting more frequent.
Well that was fun. The ending was a little sappy for my taste and Helen is truly a better woman than I could ever be. Wish we could have gotten to know the twins better because I have never met a set of twins that didn't raise hell in one way or another. And no, being slightly unnerving is not remotely what I mean. Maybe it's a raising thing, can't say I ever met anyone who was raised in that kind of environment. Yep, probably a money thing. Speaking of money, this badly needed another go round with an editor. Perhaps unfair but I do expect more out of a book with an author as a main character.
Just finished chapter 10 and I love every inch of these characters. (well, not Jillian but that's just to be expected)
A gem of a quote for y'all:
"I think Aunt Josephine’s muse is depressed and would benefit
from a bracing round of ECT, electro-convulsive therapy, but what are you going
to do?"
Aunt Josephine's muse must be related to mine.
Poor Aiden, it must be exhausting to be so damn presumptuous all the time. Unfortunately the typos seem to be getting more frequent.
Well that was fun. The ending was a little sappy for my taste and Helen is truly a better woman than I could ever be. Wish we could have gotten to know the twins better because I have never met a set of twins that didn't raise hell in one way or another. And no, being slightly unnerving is not remotely what I mean. Maybe it's a raising thing, can't say I ever met anyone who was raised in that kind of environment. Yep, probably a money thing. Speaking of money, this badly needed another go round with an editor. Perhaps unfair but I do expect more out of a book with an author as a main character.
November 10, 2020
Enjoyable
Ok first off Harold is such an unappealing name 😂 Helen not so bad but not great either. Aiden and Jillian seemed better. Those names didn’t put me off reading the book tho. There were a few minor typos but not enough to put me of reading.
At first when Helen decided to stay celibate until after her divorce was final was supper annoying. She did nothing wrong yet she took the moral high ground. I sort of got that Helen wanted to give herself completely to aiden and with that I found it easier to come to terms with.
I thought I would hate that Helen forgave Harold and guided Jillian. But I get it. Her main concern were the kids. I didn’t get it ay first but I liked the direction. In the end Harold was stupid and regretted giving up on his wife for his child bride. I’m glad Helen found what she was looking for in aiden. I felt as tho Harold and Jillian wouldn’t last long lol. Helen got everything she was better off
Ok first off Harold is such an unappealing name 😂 Helen not so bad but not great either. Aiden and Jillian seemed better. Those names didn’t put me off reading the book tho. There were a few minor typos but not enough to put me of reading.
At first when Helen decided to stay celibate until after her divorce was final was supper annoying. She did nothing wrong yet she took the moral high ground. I sort of got that Helen wanted to give herself completely to aiden and with that I found it easier to come to terms with.
I thought I would hate that Helen forgave Harold and guided Jillian. But I get it. Her main concern were the kids. I didn’t get it ay first but I liked the direction. In the end Harold was stupid and regretted giving up on his wife for his child bride. I’m glad Helen found what she was looking for in aiden. I felt as tho Harold and Jillian wouldn’t last long lol. Helen got everything she was better off
February 27, 2022
Good storytelling but
horrible writing. My God, this book is a grammatical nightmare. It's clear the author is a talented storyteller, but her writing skills are incredibly lacking. I'm not sure what the poor comma has ever done to her, but the misuse and abuse she whelds over it is probably considered cruel and unusual punishment by all 50 states.
The story itself was great, and it made me laugh out loud more than once. If the author found a good editor, or even a friend/acquaintance who can proofread and has a working understanding of punctuation, I would easily give this book 4 or more stars. Who doesn't love a strong heroine and a weak ex who gets exactly what he deserves?
Overall, I would recommend this book with the caveat that editing is nonexistent and the author overused the incorrect phrase "could care less" instead of "couldn't care less".
horrible writing. My God, this book is a grammatical nightmare. It's clear the author is a talented storyteller, but her writing skills are incredibly lacking. I'm not sure what the poor comma has ever done to her, but the misuse and abuse she whelds over it is probably considered cruel and unusual punishment by all 50 states.
The story itself was great, and it made me laugh out loud more than once. If the author found a good editor, or even a friend/acquaintance who can proofread and has a working understanding of punctuation, I would easily give this book 4 or more stars. Who doesn't love a strong heroine and a weak ex who gets exactly what he deserves?
Overall, I would recommend this book with the caveat that editing is nonexistent and the author overused the incorrect phrase "could care less" instead of "couldn't care less".
November 27, 2023
The story was different and I appreciated that.
However, this book needs a heavy edit. It also needs to be like 30% shorter. I skipped probably half of this book and didn’t feel like I missed anything important to the story.
Everything was too convenient. Like… the FMC already has a secret job raking in the dough and a secret house, her new neighbor is hot and instantly falls for her, everything at the end tied up perfectly with everyone pregnant and happy, etc. I wanted ow to dump the husband and leave him single and pathetically miserable.
However, this book needs a heavy edit. It also needs to be like 30% shorter. I skipped probably half of this book and didn’t feel like I missed anything important to the story.
Everything was too convenient. Like… the FMC already has a secret job raking in the dough and a secret house, her new neighbor is hot and instantly falls for her, everything at the end tied up perfectly with everyone pregnant and happy, etc. I wanted ow to dump the husband and leave him single and pathetically miserable.
September 10, 2024
Well this was different. There’s so much humor in it that I laughed all the time. It’s about the usual stinky cheating husband who cheats on his wife of more than a decade with a younger model and he leaves his wife for her. What is different in this book that made me love it?
First, she doesn’t go back with the cheater and ends with a real hero.
Second, she acts unpredictably and differently.
Third, the final feeling is that she was more determined to end their marriage than he ever was, even when he was into ow. And this is a first. Usually heroines who are cheated on are hurt, betrayed, they suffer, they pine, this one didn’t bat a lid.
I loved her, she was my goddess.
She is a famous writers of erotic books, she is the daughter and the niece of artists, she is very eclectic and smart. She has millions, much more than her average husband. She married him because, after a peculiar childhood with a nomadic mother and no father, she wanted a normal family. It is perceived that she somehow settled with him, that she had so much better before him, artists, great sex, adventure, but she settled because she wanted a family, not the man himself. The husband is an average man, not too handsome and not too adventurous in bed, she names him speedy Gonzales in bed, which is far from a compliment. There’s not much love lost between them and the impression is that she loves him even less than he loves her. But she’s a faithful woman, who loves her family and her weird children, two amazing twins that she basically raised by herself since her husband was always away doing something else. She knows he’s been cheating on her, but she thinks he will end the affair sooner or later, she doesn’t care for him but she’s ready to stay married for her children. She’s enough satisfied with her career, and her writing. Mind, she’s a very practical and sensible woman, not a airhead. When her husband tells her he wants a separation because he loves another woman she does the unthinkable. She leaves him and her children. Now it’s his turn to be a father, and since for 12 years she’s been a mother to them while he was doing his shit, now he will be a full time father in their own home, new floozy or not. The man is astonished, but we only can blame his dumb slow brain since he married such a wonderful and smart woman, he should have known better. She doesn’t rave and rant, she doesn’t recriminate, she doesn’t leave with her children, she doesn’t say a world. And she’s out of the life that we know was too tight and suffocating for her, a life she wanted but when she had it, it was not as she expected. She goes and live in her loft, and there she meets the hero, a younger and hotter man, and guess what, he’s a contractor, a decorator, but also an artist on his own. So they easily fall in love with each other while she balance her new life and files for divorce without even asking for a penny, she wants her children to live with their father because she knows that he’s a poor kind of man, the man who would surely forget about his children while he lives his best life with his new girlfriend. She wants them to have what she never had, and she wants them to live with him, no matter if this means they will have to live with bimbo 2.0. Everyone is amazing here, except her husband and his bimbo. I laughed time and again. I laughed when his parents won’t accept his new girlfriend, and they make her sign a prenup where she basically is trapped in a marriage with the aging man or else she would lose everything, included the child she’s expecting. I loved that the idiot husband realized very soon that he didn’t want his new bimbo anymore and tries to win his wife back, sorry not sorry, she doesn’t even think about it. I love how he is trapped by her with a child, smashing his dream of traveling in exotic destination, savage sex at all hours, and he’s resignes to be a daddy of a new child and of his twins too, because the heroine leaves them with him and his parents threatens to dump his sorry ass and fire him from his job, and in the end he’s forced to marry ow and feeling already tired of her, and of her brown mousy hair, thinking he will ask her to revert to her blond self because people are asking why he ever choose her instead of the heroine. The heroine walks away with his new man, surprisingly pregnant herself, and happy as she never was before. She was really too much for the ex husband, he’s a mediocre man without any force, while she ate him for breakfast, he never stood a chance with her. Ow is a blond bimbo, typical gold digger who thinks she won the lottery but finds herself trapped in a marriage with an aging man with two spooky children and the heroines blessing, since the latter found her easier to manipulate and for this reason she agreed to her marrying her ex. And the twins, well, never laughed so hard as with the two creatures, the girl was really a clone of her mother, too smart to be true, and her father is really afraid of her, while the son is in his own world, silently communicating with his twin and spooking the father even more.
Well, I liked it, no I really enjoyed it. Even when the idiot married ow, even when the heroine seemed too good for those two cheaters, we know she’s the mastermind behind everything, and she’s doing everything exactly as she wants it, and in the end she’s the winner and they’re only doing what she allowed them to do.
First, she doesn’t go back with the cheater and ends with a real hero.
Second, she acts unpredictably and differently.
Third, the final feeling is that she was more determined to end their marriage than he ever was, even when he was into ow. And this is a first. Usually heroines who are cheated on are hurt, betrayed, they suffer, they pine, this one didn’t bat a lid.
I loved her, she was my goddess.
She is a famous writers of erotic books, she is the daughter and the niece of artists, she is very eclectic and smart. She has millions, much more than her average husband. She married him because, after a peculiar childhood with a nomadic mother and no father, she wanted a normal family. It is perceived that she somehow settled with him, that she had so much better before him, artists, great sex, adventure, but she settled because she wanted a family, not the man himself. The husband is an average man, not too handsome and not too adventurous in bed, she names him speedy Gonzales in bed, which is far from a compliment. There’s not much love lost between them and the impression is that she loves him even less than he loves her. But she’s a faithful woman, who loves her family and her weird children, two amazing twins that she basically raised by herself since her husband was always away doing something else. She knows he’s been cheating on her, but she thinks he will end the affair sooner or later, she doesn’t care for him but she’s ready to stay married for her children. She’s enough satisfied with her career, and her writing. Mind, she’s a very practical and sensible woman, not a airhead. When her husband tells her he wants a separation because he loves another woman she does the unthinkable. She leaves him and her children. Now it’s his turn to be a father, and since for 12 years she’s been a mother to them while he was doing his shit, now he will be a full time father in their own home, new floozy or not. The man is astonished, but we only can blame his dumb slow brain since he married such a wonderful and smart woman, he should have known better. She doesn’t rave and rant, she doesn’t recriminate, she doesn’t leave with her children, she doesn’t say a world. And she’s out of the life that we know was too tight and suffocating for her, a life she wanted but when she had it, it was not as she expected. She goes and live in her loft, and there she meets the hero, a younger and hotter man, and guess what, he’s a contractor, a decorator, but also an artist on his own. So they easily fall in love with each other while she balance her new life and files for divorce without even asking for a penny, she wants her children to live with their father because she knows that he’s a poor kind of man, the man who would surely forget about his children while he lives his best life with his new girlfriend. She wants them to have what she never had, and she wants them to live with him, no matter if this means they will have to live with bimbo 2.0. Everyone is amazing here, except her husband and his bimbo. I laughed time and again. I laughed when his parents won’t accept his new girlfriend, and they make her sign a prenup where she basically is trapped in a marriage with the aging man or else she would lose everything, included the child she’s expecting. I loved that the idiot husband realized very soon that he didn’t want his new bimbo anymore and tries to win his wife back, sorry not sorry, she doesn’t even think about it. I love how he is trapped by her with a child, smashing his dream of traveling in exotic destination, savage sex at all hours, and he’s resignes to be a daddy of a new child and of his twins too, because the heroine leaves them with him and his parents threatens to dump his sorry ass and fire him from his job, and in the end he’s forced to marry ow and feeling already tired of her, and of her brown mousy hair, thinking he will ask her to revert to her blond self because people are asking why he ever choose her instead of the heroine. The heroine walks away with his new man, surprisingly pregnant herself, and happy as she never was before. She was really too much for the ex husband, he’s a mediocre man without any force, while she ate him for breakfast, he never stood a chance with her. Ow is a blond bimbo, typical gold digger who thinks she won the lottery but finds herself trapped in a marriage with an aging man with two spooky children and the heroines blessing, since the latter found her easier to manipulate and for this reason she agreed to her marrying her ex. And the twins, well, never laughed so hard as with the two creatures, the girl was really a clone of her mother, too smart to be true, and her father is really afraid of her, while the son is in his own world, silently communicating with his twin and spooking the father even more.
Well, I liked it, no I really enjoyed it. Even when the idiot married ow, even when the heroine seemed too good for those two cheaters, we know she’s the mastermind behind everything, and she’s doing everything exactly as she wants it, and in the end she’s the winner and they’re only doing what she allowed them to do.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 11, 2016
I really enjoyed this story. I would have given it 3.5 stars but I had to deduct a whole star for poor editing. It was mostly the use of wrong words and punctuation marks in the wrong places. It was so irritating because there were so many mistakes. These multiple errors took me out of the story. Ms. Marie please re-edit this book!
September 29, 2018
Loved it!!
My first book I've read of Joyie Marie's and I think I'm now a life long fan...
Love this book, it took a dark difficult subject and put a twist in it that I truly enjoyed! Love the fact the Helen was so strong but also soft when needed.
I recommend this book to everyone!
My first book I've read of Joyie Marie's and I think I'm now a life long fan...
Love this book, it took a dark difficult subject and put a twist in it that I truly enjoyed! Love the fact the Helen was so strong but also soft when needed.
I recommend this book to everyone!
September 1, 2021
Where was the editor?
Cute story, good characters, but the constant misuse of commas, grammatical errors, wrong words and spelling errors were so distracting it was barely readable.
Cute story, good characters, but the constant misuse of commas, grammatical errors, wrong words and spelling errors were so distracting it was barely readable.
January 6, 2022
This book was awesome!
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