His Wife's Secretary: A Husband's Betrayal

by Elise Camden

Contains on-page cheating.
A gut-punch moment that will leave you reeling, a husband on his knees, begging for forgiveness, and a wife whose pride demands more.
Lena Sutton thought she had it all—until her husband, David, betrayed her with her own secretary, shattering her world.
David Sutton knows he's made the worst mistake of his life. He's willing to grovel, serve, and sacrifice to prove he's worthy of being Lena's husband. But can love survive betrayal? And how can Lena trust him again without betraying herself?

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

326 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 11, 2024

Reviews

[Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Handsome couple, David and Lena, married for love.
Years later, they had a nice house, good jobs, and a loving relationship.
Lena was very much in love with her husband and so was he with her.
Lena had a high powered job in which was dedicated.
David supported her in her ambition but deep down he resented Lena's extreme dedication to her job.
Lena was a high achiever and David felt not good enough in comparison.

Lena had a huge workload and would often work after hours, leaving David alone feeling less than, left out, and lonely.

In the last year, Lena had Natalia as a secretary.
She was younger, poised, beautiful and qualified.
The book actually started with a scene in Lena's office.
David came in to ask his wife out to lunch.
Lena had a huge workload, so she declined.
She felt guilty, so she urged him to take her secretary out instead, and l thought what?
You don't encourage your husband and gorgeous, young secretary to go out to lunch together.
Ever! No matter how much you trust your husband, and she did trust him.
That's a big NO NO! And stupid, and naive!
Later Natalia called Lena to tell her that she wasn't feeling well, she was taking the rest of the day off.
She was staying in bed...

Lately Lena noticed that there was something holding David back. His gaze was distant, was preoccupied, and sometimes rejected her in bed.

The couple celebrated their wedding anniversary with their friends.
David said something that made Lena uneasy.
"This may be our anniversary dinner, but the real marriage is between Lena and her job. I am just her bit on the side. "
That night David and Lena made beautiful love!

Italy had been their plan for so long, the trip they always talked about, but never made time for.
The next day Lena asked her boss for a time off.
That night she was going to tell David about their upcoming holiday in Italy.

But while Lena was working on an account, she'd noticed a few discrepancies that shouldn't be there.
The only one who had access to her passwords was her secretary.
It looked like someone was trying to sabotage her.

Lena decided to stay back in order to fix the irregularities.
She sent a message to David. She would be back home after 10 pm.

But it wasn't meant to happen this way, as there was an unexpected system update.
Lena left for home neglecting to inform David.
As she entered the house, she heard strange sounds.
She opened their bedroom door:
'The room was filled with harsh sounds, the slap of skin, heavy breaths, and the muted groan of the bed frame. Lena watched as her husband and her secretary continued their cruel betrayal, completely unaware of her presence. '

For Lena, the scene was a desecration of everything she had thought she and her husband had for years. She was watching the wreckage of her marriage. The love, the trust had shattered and crumpled.
Lena walked away.
He ran after her. "Let me explain..."
She fled...
This scene happened at 10%.
Does anyone think that there's any possibility that David can ever redeem himself?
Would any woman ever forgive him and take him back after what this heroine had witnessed?

[Danny Lea · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Not for me. Don't care for the writing. It was repetitive and went on and on in their inner monologues. Could have been 100 pages shorter. That's how repetitive it was. This has on page cheating, but I wasn't as mad at the H as I thought I would be. The h is the bread winner of the couple and perfect. Just perfect. Not so. David the H is a beta and uncomfortable with wife's success feeling lonely and left out. Now here's the thing. I would NEVER encourage my husband to have lunch with my secretary because I'm so busy I can't take the time. That's exactly what the h Lena did. Encouraging them to become friends. Come on ladies. You and I both know that's the wrong lane to go down.There's trust and then there's idiocy. The h is a great business woman, but obviously lacks self preservation 🤷. She denied having lunch, dinner with her husband multiple times to become successful. Staying until 10 pm. Even before the secretary started messing with her work life. Look I get it. She loves her job, and her hubby should be understanding, but she's in a committed marriage. She pushed her wedding anniversary and even their honeymoon back so she could work. Even when they're about to divorce they had yet to take their honeymoon because of Lena's work-life. Am I the only one that thinks that's inconsiderate? They've been married for 4 yrs I think. The H should have found his tiny balls and said something. If the author was trying to get me to feel emotion for this successfully working woman she failed miserably. BUT that still doesn't give her husband the right to step out on her. He should have had a conversation with her to tell her how he was feeling. And come to find out he was a target of her evil secretary trying to become her and taking over the h's job. The husband was just a means to an end for the secretary and she took full advantage of a lonely man who was having his masculinity questioned. I didn't like the language being used. Calling men stupid fools who have no brains and being pathetic. No thanks. I may read cheating books with grovel, but this one lost it's mark. I also got sick of her saying all the time "I'm Lena Sutton. I am woman. Hear me roar!" Basically. Yeah, no.

[Lidia's Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 Stars

Rounding up because I appreciate when an author is brave enough to tackle a difficult theme like cheating in a second chance romance. I'm a sucker for these angsty stories.

Please check out Sue's review. Based on my reading experience, this review is pretty spot-on, and it's also the reason I decided to read the book.

My thoughts?
I really enjoyed it. I couldn't put it down (reading slump momentarily gone). Despite it having lots of inner monologues and rather redundant ones, it actually worked for me. Normally, I would be complaining about these issues, but here, they weren't a problem. Every single line, every emotional thought, was satisfying. The story as a whole surpassed my expectations.

Lena's reactions and decisions had me rooting for her. She definitely wasn't a doormat or a weakling. She was unlike most FMCs in similar books. Lena rocked. I wanted to stand up and applaud her (I did in my mind). And even though she was strong, it didn't minimize the angsty feels.

David proved himself, also unlike many other MMCs in cheating/betrayal books. He didn't just grovel spectacularly, he redeemed himself. I'm talking about fiction here, not reality (not about what I would do), and the author sold it to me.

Another rarity worth mentioning: the secondary characters did not guilt-trip her into forgiving him. In fact, everyone took her side and put him in his place, blaming him entirely for his actions, going as far as shunning him. This even includes his own best friend who suckerpunched him *LOL* It was freaking awesome.

It's a complex story, and every reader will feel differently, but in the end, I was convinced these two characters deserved their HEA. Not a perfect story but a winner, nonetheless. Kudos for the gender role reversal and creative twist in the book title—love it!

***QUOTES***

Forgiving a cheating spouse was breaking the rules. It was betraying every woman who had ever been lied to, dismissed, or undervalued. It was letting down the sisterhood.

She had always played by the rules, fought for her place in the world, and refused to let anyone diminish her. Forgiveness wasn’t in the manual. Not for something like this. Not for a betrayal so profound it had shaken her to her core.

Her anger flared again, this time directed inward. How could she even consider forgiving him? What kind of woman did that make her? Weak? Foolish? Naive? And yet, wasn’t it just as foolish to cling to the rules of pride, to deny herself the possibility of something she still wanted deep down?

“I’m not that man,” he said, his voice trembling with intensity. “I am entirely changed. I am the one who betrayed you, yes, but the man you would be taking back has been reborn by pain. I hate who I was. For you, and for me, I have changed into a better man. For you, Lena.”

[Jen ♥]

Cheating. Why did I do this myself? 😭 The anger, frustration, and heartburn are soooo not worth it.

Idk what got into me, because ewww, you could never make me touch a cheating book, but here we are.

If you expect a grovel, there's none of that here. I mean, the guy messed up big time, not just once but multiple times. He cheated on his wife with her own secretary; the title says it all.

Anyway, he did a few things for her to make up for his stupidity, and I think this is his version of groveling??? I mean, all he felt was sorry and disgust for himself. He was basically an insecure manchild all throughout this book. He's pathetic, and that's all he is, really.

He hadn’t just betrayed Lena’s trust; he’d betrayed the foundation of their marriage, everything they’d built together. And for what? A fleeting moment of feeling wanted? A shallow escape from his own inadequacies? His insecurities weren’t Lena’s fault or Natalia’s influence—they were his alone. The truth pressed down on him, leaving him breathless with regret.

Not saying it was all his fault; the FMC contributed to their problems too. She's a workaholic and career-driven. She had no time for her husband, and obviously that's not an excuse to cheat. But I just want tbf that she had her own shortcomings as well.

“Oh, so you were lonely. Poor David. Your wife was working too much, so you just had to find someone else to stroke your ego.”

“So you cheated on me because you felt inadequate? That’s supposed to make it better?”

As for the cheating, it was on page, and there were some flashbacks as well. Ngl, they really made me dry heave because yuck! 🤮

Overall, it was written very well. But the best version of HEA for this would be the MCs going their separate ways. 🤷‍♀️


==========

Spoiler. Cheating scene @ 10% mark:


She pushed open the door and the illusion shattered in an instant. The scene before her was undeniable.

David. And Natalia.

They were moving together unmistakably.

The room was filled with harsh sounds—the slap of skin, heavy breaths, and the muted groan of the bed frame. Lena watched as her husband and her secretary continued their cruel betrayal, completely unaware of her presence.

Lena couldn’t draw breath as she stood frozen in the doorway, the scene before her hammering into her like a physical blow. Her mind screamed at her to look away, to leave, to save herself from the onslaught of pain and rage surging through her veins.

But her feet stayed rooted, her eyes locked on the sight of her husband moving against Natalia, each motion an ugly, violent shredding of the life they’d built together.

The details seared themselves into her—the sheen of sweat on David’s back, Natalia’s long nails digging into his shoulders, their bodies colliding with reckless abandon. There was nothing soft about it, nothing careful. Just need, raw and physical. David was groaning as he pumped his hips. It was a desecration of everything Lena had thought they shared.

Natalia’s head turned first, her eyes meeting Lena’s. For a heartbeat, there was shock—just a flicker—before it was swallowed by something else. Calm. Calculated. As if she wasn’t caught in the middle of an unforgivable act, but merely surprised to see Lena standing there, watching.

There was no shame, no apology in her gaze, only a quiet, defiance.

Then David turned. Their eyes met and her husband’s expression twisted. Horror flooded his features, and he jerked back as though he’d been physically struck. He scrambled for the sheets, pulling himself out of Natalia. Lena caught a glimpse of his cock, still hard inside the condom he was wearing.

She could feel a searing pain in her chest, the sharp knife of betrayal slicing through her, leaving her hollow and burning all at once. The room blurred at the edges, but the scene in front of her stayed in sharp, brutal focus. She felt oddly disconnected from the scene. She was an outsider now, watching the wreckage of her marriage unfold before her eyes. As if she was no longer a part of this room, no longer a part of their lives.

[ThEAnGrYrEaDeR55 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like the book but I think it fell really flat. 2.5 stars

The role reversals were pretty awesome. The author is amazing at making you feel every emotion of a troubled marriage, cheating and the loom of divorce. However, that was also the biggest problem with the book. There was a WHOLE lot of telling and not remotely enough showing. There’s also too many details about certain aspects and quite a few aspects just left vague and unexplained so the reader, at least I, were filling in the blanks without knowing what the author was trying to convey. It’s VERY introspective.

I felt like 45% of the book was inner dialogue. I'm sure I'm exaggerating but from maybe 30 to 70% the main characters don't talk to *almost anyone else* or each other it's all thoughts and feelings internally.

We have out FMC Lena- a very successful businesswoman who is a very well known and rising star in her field. (What field? We are never really told. How old? Who knows). She’s very happily married to David (how long? unknown), loves her career, has wonderful friends and an amazing secretary Natalia whom she trusts and adores. Her biggest flaw is putting her career first. She’s very driven and is 100% married to her job first. Her husband even jokes it's her career, then him.

We have the MMC David, Lena’s husband, who seems to be an adoring husband but the reader can also see cracks when he’s on the other side of the marriage in that his wife is super successful and doesn’t always have time for him. We are shown that sometimes she works late, misses dates, can’t leave to meet him for lunch in the middle of the day. She tends to put off dinners, vacations and anniversaries. They have also always wanted to go to Italy but haven’t yet because Lena won't take time off.

Lena is becoming increasingly aware that she needs to make more time for David. He’s seemed down, off or more hurt lately and she feels super guilty. She initiates sex between them and tries to show David that she still loves him after all these years. She also secretly plans to take 3 weeks off and surprise him with a trip to Italy.

In addition Lena has noticed a few things off at work and for a small moment suspects Natalia but immediately dismisses it. She's SO trusting there's even a scene where she tells David to take Natalia out to lunch one day when she couldn't go. (Rolling my eyes). That day Natalia gets sick and doesn't come back to work after lunch.

Soon after that day, she tells David she’s staying late but due to a computer issue ends up leaving work early. She walks in on David and Natalia fucking in their bed. She’s shocked, hurt, devastated. Real gut punch. David looks shocked and guilty, Natalia is smug and laughing.

Lena goes to a hotel. David calls her all night. Lena goes to work the next day, fires Natalia, then gets the shock of her life when SHE’s fired because Natalia sabotaged her work and made it looks like she was screwing up accounts (despite her being a loyal worker for like decades?).

We go into the typical spiral. Lena is shocked, lost, hurt and betrayed. The two people and the two things she felt made HER who she is, her job and her husband, are both brutally ripped away from her at the same time. The author does a great job of making you FEEL Lena's betrayal.

David is the cliché cheater at first like why would she leave me and just walk out? Why isn't she listening? Why won't she hear my excuses? It didn’t mean anything and she ignored me! It must be her fault! (We also see the affair lasted a while… weeks? Months? Unknown but long enough that it happened multiple times)

Then the book takes kind of a weird turn. We are shown that Natalia basically went after David on purpose (duh) and messed up Lena’s job just because she didn’t like how “perfect” Lena was. She didn’t even like David but just wanted to prove how “pathetic” he was and how easily he caved simply because she paid him a little bit of attention because all men are pathetic. She hates Lena but wants to be Lena? But why? To what purpose? Jealousy? Ego? Never get a clear answer. Guess she just felt like it.

David realizes he is basically a Beta and slept with Natalia to stroke his ego. His wife was “too successful” and neglected him so he cheated to feel good about himself as man. He then turns into this pathetic worm of a person and essentially stops eating, sleeping, doing well at work and turns all this guilt, hate and self-loathing inward. There’s literally *CHAPTERS* of him reflecting on what a POS he is and how Lena is the best thing that will ever exist and he should basically die without her.

Every interaction with him with anyone after that- his coworkers, the OW (who berates him at his job), Lena, their mutual friends, the lawyers, etc. is akin to a beaten dog. He's always got his shoulders curled in, speaks softly, cries, loses weight, has bags under his eyes. You start to feel bad for him because he's just that pathetic. * I didn't want to feel bad for him! *

Lena at first, is the fiery betrayed woman who goes cold and scorched earth. She won’t let David talk or explain and while she's still stumbling around a bit lost she’s a strong woman who will NOT let Natalia or David ruin the core of who she is. She has very supportive friends (mostly one couple) and is determined to move on without David. She'll go onto bigger and better things with her career instead of being loyal to people that didn’t deserve it. You do feel for Lena and how badly she was betrayed. But her one emotion is mostly anger. Deservedly but it's too one dimensional after awhile.

This is about 70% of the book.

They’re going through divorce, David is in permanent reflection, Lena thinks she did NOTHING wrong, they’re selling the house and Lena is taking a trip to Italy by herself before starting a new job. David in a desperate move of reaching out has written out suggestions, ideas and basically a trip itinerary for her on all the things they were going to do together in Italy.

Despite her conviction, Lena realizes she MISSES David while she's in Italy and that he should be there with her. She abruptly decides that she’s going to fight for him. She starts texting and calling him during her trip.

What the fucking fuck?! Whiplash much?

When Lena returns, she also finds out that part of the reason she got a settlement and apology from her old job (after finding out she was innocent) was because David testified at the investigative hearing admitting he slept with Natalia, had an affair and that’s how she got access to Lena’s work documents. In addition, David also had a new place ready for her to move into because the real estate called David about a new house for Lena (instead of calling Lena) so he rents it for her, furnishes and decorates it so she comes back to a peaceful place to land.

Nearing the conclusion, David applies for a job as Lena’s secretary. He says even after divorce it would bring him joy and comfort to be the one to help her manage her life (as he did behind the scenes their entire marriage).

Lena has decided she still loves him and wants David back but is a RAGING C-U-N-T because she feels like she’s letting down “the sisterhood” and no one takes back a betrayer. (Uhh what?!)

“I know it’s not,” he admitted, his gaze unwavering. “But I also know I can do it. I’ve done it before, in a way. Organizing your schedule, managing your workload, handling the details so you could focus on what mattered most—those were things I loved doing for you.” Her chest tightened at his words, but she didn’t let it show.

“You were my partner,” she said. “That’s different.”

Lena is still a boss bitch. David is now her secretary bitch. He is essentially her lapdog, he likes it, she likes it. It works for them. They make love one night and she tells him he’s moving in with her and supposedly HFN because I can’t believe in a happy ending for these two.

Could you imagine if these roles were opposite? Hardworking husband who forgets birthdays, anniversaries and is married to his job comes home to ignored wife whose been having an affair with his coworker. He turns cold as ice, divorces her, splits everything, goes on their dream vacation. Wife practically goes comatose with regret, looks like a zombie then to win him back becomes his secretary so she can take care of him the rest of his life?

Yeah. It does not work in this book either. I desperately wanted to root for David to find someone ambitious but that gives two shits about him enough to come home occasionally and I wanted Lena to find someone who gets that her career will always come first and knows how to balance that with her for a true partnership. This ended up being very one sided. The OW seems to just vanish into thin air after a very brief confrontation with no satisfying conclusion either.

I also HATE unanswered questions. The timeline is frustrating. How long were they married? How long was the affair? How old are these people? How did he have Natalia in his house overnight if Lena came home every night? Why did he frequently pass out after sex and allow her into his wife’s office? Why was the affair seemingly, mostly at the house he shared with his wife? WHY did Natalia hate Lena and try to destroy her life? Why did Natalia suffer no consequences for the embezzling/work crap? Why didn’t they file a restraining order? how did she know where Lena was staying and how did she just keep popping up randomly? How long were they separated? What are they going to do about relationship challenges and how to balance work/life equally in the future? What about kids?

Fell short of potential but not a regrettable read. I was entertained but exasperated.

[Sue Miz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not for everyone
And I've been craving a good betrayal/ grovel

And I loved it
Didn't expect to
Thought it's going to be a rage read but it wasn't

And hats off for the double twist of "secretary" in the title (you'll get it when you read)

⚠️ On page tsheeting
♀️ strong FMC no BBS (maybe a little at the end)
♂️ an MMC who you'd h8 at first but then you'll fall for him again
🧎‍♂️grovel with actions and internal remorse
👩‍💻OW drama but not too much
🔞 mild spice scenes
👍 double POV
4 🌟🌟🌟🌟

Blurb

Lena is a very successful businesswoman. She is very driven and hardworking. Her husband David is feeling insecure and neglectful. Instead of communicating with her, he sheets with her secretary Natalie
Lena immediately leaves and

The whole book is David being remorseful and redeeming himself
Lena does not falter

.
.
.
.
.
You could consider this for spoilers

What I liked 👍

The friend support: everyone sided with Lena even David's friends

David's actions: he was a bit @$$holy in the beginning but immediately understood that he is the only one to blame and started redeeming himself

The grovel: was very realistic
🔅He shunned the OW
🔅Took responsibility for his actions
🔅Called himself out on Lena's work to save her reputation
🔅Planned her trip to Italy
🔅Destroyed the bed she did the deed on
🔅Sold the house
🔅Gave her another house
🔅Offered help in her new career
🔅Did not push for a second chance, just that he be with her

Lena
I loved her
Strong woman. Knows her worth. Did not wallow. Did not shut down. Did not show weakness. Stood up to OW

She fxked up when she encouraged the husband and sexretary going out to lunch
But hey! She's only human

I wished she had some bedroom action with OM, but for some reason it did not feel right for her to do it


What I did not like (or felt indifferent about)

The book is definetly character driven. There were a lot of internal monologuing and reflections
You get both their thoughts OVER AND OVER sometimes I got bored


⚡️My reflection⚡️

Tscheeting is a big no for me. If my partner did that I would never take him back even if he is the best man in the world and hung the moon. There will always be doubt in the back of my mind.
Will he do it again?
Why did he look at her like this?
He's late, is he with someone?
It won't be fair for me or him

That's why i love reading a good $&eating redemption book

[Chronic Chihuahua · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was Expecting More Than Just Feelin Bad

I dunno, maybe we Neosocialists are made of different stuff to Neoconservatives and Neoliberals but he gets to centre himself in his toxic choices, a lot.

Honestly, I don't care how he views himself after repeatedly, over and over, with sneaky planning and vitriolic lying, had the emotional ability to get a hard on, put on a condom, and then orgasm inside another person, repeatedly.

Really gets to feel ashamed to quickly, before we get to address that the body is the organ of emotion, we are already at his temper tantrum.

Ugh.

She wanted him after seeing him inside and then hard for, another woman.

And thats it.

All she cares about is that he picked her, over the other woman.

Wow.

Thats sorta pathetic.

No, sorry, thats really pathetic.

But then, I do love laughing to myself that women tell themselves the body isn't the organ of emotion, the heart is.

That he "fucks them" and "makes love to you" but the performance is cute.

As always, there's no authentic healing, no attempt to treat the memories like intrusive thoughts, that they are a reason to be excited and not anxious.

But then, my partner wouldn't get hard for another woman.

Hes emotionally invested in me.

It really gets on my nerves that he performs that she would want the house.

Like I know she snaps at him but he knew what he was doing. It was a deliberate choice to fuck his mistress inside his wifes safe space.

Behaving like David is a toddler, if only his mama bear had given him more attention he wouldn't have repeatedly fucked someone else.

Its kinda pathetic watching her make herself pathetic, because she felt pathetic for longing for something her body thought was there.

Not sure where he built trust or anything here, got to constantly centre his feelings and love bomb her.

The story was more how Natalia led the toddlers on.

I was under the illusion they were adults.

[LaBlue]

Honestly, I didn’t like this book. It was absolutely well written and had excellent pacing and no grammar issues that I can think of. What I didn’t like was the FMC. I was all in with the FMC on being betrayed by her husband and her trusted secretary, both people close to her. And the author wrote a wonderful betrayal reveal scene, where you feel the FMC’s shock and numbness of the events as they unfolded. I was all in with the FMC when she walked out and didn’t give the turds the time of day.

However, what the author never wrote was that the FMC was 50% responsible for the breakdown of her marriage. I am in no way saying anything she did or didn’t do is an excuse or a validation for anyone to cheat. Absolutely NOT. But I am saying based on how this story is written, the FMC was neglectful of her husband’s feelings, of her part in her marriage where she has to give time, effort and attention to her relationship. The FMC also contributed to the failure of her marriage by encouraging her husband/MMC to spend time ALONE with the OW. Like, are you stupid or what?!? Men only need an opportunity, women mostly need reason. In this scenario, the MMC and the OW had both.

Married or dating people everywhere, hear me(!), lol, do not EVER encourage your partner to spend alone time with someone else, because you are “too busy” to be present as you know you should.

Geez, anyway, the MMC was a stalkery simp for the entirety of this book, which got old real quick for me. The FMC was strong up until the point where she whined the entire time she was on vacation, about how her husband/MMC should have been there with her as it was “their” dream to be there together. That was a slap in the face to her cheating husband/MMC that I originally approved of until I started to feel bad for the crybaby MMC. I mean he wasn’t THAT bad but it was close.

Either way, the MMC GROVELED his ass off in this book while the FMC played the victim all while still constantly thinking about her job. Honestly, the MMC said it in the beginning of the story, that the real marriage was with the FMC and her JOB, and I infinity percent agree with that. The entire book was more about the FMC and her job and her work ethic and her integrity, and 95% less about fixing the marriage. They were separated up until like the 95% mark where the MMC becomes her employee, just to be near enough to sniff the FMC’s used air! It was a bit much on the level of settling for scraps the MMC did in this book. I just felt bad for him. Which I hate feeling lol.

There was no therapy, which is fine as nowadays authors use too much therapy jargon to get characters where they want them to go instead of the characters working it out themselves together. There was no breakdown of events as to how the affair played out. We know it was for a few weeks but not how long exactly. We don’t know how the MMC felt about the OW other than that he didn’t really want her. She was just a replacement of his wife for him. We also never get an understanding of how he was having “pass out” worthy sex with the OW but he never had that with his wife. Like seriously give me a break with his delusional level of “love” for his neglectful wife. I don’t believe for one second that if the sex was so intense with OW, that he was still all that in love with his wife. But that’s just me. We don’t know what other goals this couple has other than the FMC’s career, the trip to Italy, or new homes. Do they want kids? How would that work with the FMC being a workaholic and her enslavement of her husband/MMC to his wife? The whole story is onesided. All about the FMC and her ambitions and her plans. Literally the MMC is a prop in the FMC’s perfect life.

The FMC had blame to accept too and we don’t get any mention of that. She just felt abused and betrayed and then it was work, work, work and more work. Seriously how she has the time, energy or desire to have a spouse let alone friends wasn’t shown anywhere on page. The FMC’s career was her primary focus this whole book, while the MMC had value as he did everything to support her in her ambitions. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that, however as her workaholic behavior was what lead to her marriage failing. And since nothing was done on the FMC’s part to correct her issues and be better in her relationship, then just because the MMC debased himself by becoming her 24/7 employee, I fail to see how it won’t happen again that the MMC is neglected and starts to feel unworthy unwanted and lost again? I doubt he’ll cheat again with how much he begged for her toe nail clippings just to be with the FMC in any way. I exaggerate on the clippings, lol, but he was that desperate to settle for less than nothing in this book.

Look, I want the betrayal and the gut punch moments in my books. I want a strong FMC or one who becomes stronger. But I don’t want the MMC to turn into a diminished sad sack just happy to be around. I want the new relationship to be stronger with BOTH characters accepting their shortcomings and both working to be better for each other as well as themselves. I also want for them to do the work TOGETHER, which is the whole point of me reading romance. Otherwise I can read women’s chick lit fiction and get all the “woman power, hear me roar”, nonsense from a different genre of books. So again the book is good, I just didn’t like it. I also won’t ever read this again as it was at best pg13 on the smexy times. So very boring when there’s no sex in detail and not even in romantic prose, ugh. Good luck.

[Camille · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5🌟 for how the marriage-in-trouble sausage is made. If you are a marital strife rubber necker, this might be for you. This starts out with the caught in the act cheating incident the blurb describes and continues with every single effing emotion that either party can possibly feel in the aftermath.

What I liked:
I liked the writing.
The h kicks his ass to the curb for a minute while she figures things out.
The H takes responsibility for his actions after trying to blame it on his loneliness stemming from being the spouse of his over-achieving wife.
The h HEMS AND FREAKING HAWS about what to do with the H. Her emotions are messy and she misses him despite his awful actions. That felt real to me. She feels guilty about not wanted to cut him entirely out of her life.
She has great friends who have her back. We should all be so lucky.

What I didn’t like:
The OW was soooooo OTT. Plus, how did our sharp h miss those signs?
The H was SUCH a beta. Heavens to Betsy.
The word “secretary” is a little Old Skool, isn’t it?
The affair aftermath autopsy grew more than a little old to me. I think this book could have been edited quite a bit.

Overall, I read all the way to the end and was waffling between 3-3.5 stars. I settled on 3.5 and rounded up.

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Trigger Warnings: Cheating (on-page)

I HATE cheating, but sometimes I’m craving angst and wonder if the husband will redeem himself. If anyone cheated IRL, I don’t think I could ever forgive them. But when I read these books, I wonder if the husband is worthy of the wife’s forgiveness. You go through the heartbreak, the betrayal, the angst, and the journey to forgiveness. I think the grovel was okay, the husband’s betrayal is unforgivable but I can’t see the FMC Lena being happy without the MMC David. I do think the grovel could have gone for much longer (I wanted the grovel to go on for years). I didn’t like that we don’t get details about the timeline of the cheating. The writing was addicting but it did have a lot of repetitive paragraphs. Like the mentions of heels clicking on the ground, walking away with your head held high, asking why this is happening over and over on the same page. I admired Lena’s strength, and the book had me crying. This book was mainly inner monologues which I hate, but it was short and fast. There could have had more interactions between the MMC and FMC. Despite me hating cheating, this was entertaining.

Natalia might have taken her office, her job, and even her husband, but she would never have what truly mattered—Lena’s integrity, her resilience, her strength. Those belonged to Lena, and they could be shared but not stolen.

Lena has a demanding job that takes her away from her husband David. She can feel the distance in her marriage. Then she walks in on David with her secretary and her life crumbles. David wants to make things right but he knows there is no way to come back from this.

Now for spoilers


I’m not sure how long Lena has been married to David but they have been together for years. Lena is career driven, she has a very busy job that keeps her from her husband. David has been supportive but Lena notices a rift in her marriage. She has a secretary named Natalia who is young and competent, Lena is trying to get her promoted because she admires her work ethic. David visits Lena asking her out to lunch but Lena says she has too much work, promising for dinner next week. David is disappointed but since Lena feels bad, she gives him her credit card and tells him to get lunch with Natalia. She wants David and Natalia to get along since they are both important to her. When they are walking away, David is about to put his hand on Natalia’s back and stops himself. Lena thinks that it’s cuz he does it out of habit with her. Natalia says she isn’t feeling well and Lena texts David to let him know she will be late and he doesn’t respond. It’s clear that Natalia and David are together at this time, ew. When Lena gets home late, David is texting someone. Lena kisses him and he says that they should get rest. When Natalia comes the next day, she makes a sly comment that had my blood boiling.

“I ended up spending all afternoon in bed,” Natalia admitted wryly, stepping in with a stack of reports. She gave Lena a warm smile. “It was exactly what my body needed,” she said.
Ew I hate her

David schedules a meet up with their friends for their anniversary. Emily is Lena’s best friend and Gavin is her husband. Ryan is David’s best friend, they all cheers to Lena and David’s marriage. But David makes a comment saying he feels Lena is married to her job rather than him and Lena feels guilty. Their friends mention Lena and David’s dream to visit Italy and Lena decides to ask for time off. When David and Lena go to bed, they have emotional sex. Lena asks her boss Jeff for time off, he says yes and Lena is excited to tell David. Lena is in charge of an important project. She notices mistakes that she didn’t make on a document. Lena thinks it might be Natalia and starts fixing it, texting David that she will be late. Natalia leaves for the day but Lena’s computer requires an update so she leaves early too. She comes home to find Natalia and David having sex, it was fucking disgusting. Natalia shows no shame in being caught while David gets up, Lena sees a condom. David goes after Lena saying he wants to explain but she leaves for a hotel. She breaks down in the hotel and goes to work the next day. It’s so disgusting since David fucked Lena the day before and probably did this many times. Lena fires Natalia, saying that she is unprofessional and untrustworthy. Natalia makes snide comments about it not being her fault that Lena’s marriage was broken, that she didn’t even have to try. Then Lena is called into Jeff’s office, they found discrepancies on the project she was working on. It was clearly cuz of Natalia and Natalia is present for the meeting. Jeff says that Natalia will be taking over Lena’s role. They need to do an investigation but Lena has to be put on leave. Lena says that she will leave but he will find out he is wrong. Nasty ass Natalia was so smug but Lena tries to leave with pride. But David comes in and embarrasses her, he begs her to speak. Lena tells him this isn’t the place but everyone is looking at them. David has the audacity to say that Lena owes him the time and Lena leaves.


Lena packs her things from her house and takes important documents. She plans to find a new job with her networking, she contacts lawyers to deal with her job and divorce. Jeff and Lena meet with lawyers and Jeff says that Lena can leave quietly and it won’t ruin her reputation. Or she can fight back with a lawyer and everyone will know what happened. It isn’t fair for Lena not to fight back, but everyone will know about this. So she decides to leave quietly and let them investigate. It was disgusting how they easily replaced her with Natalia, her office was now Natalia’s, she stole Lena’s life. Meanwhile, David is angry that Lena won’t answer his calls. I was so disgusted at his entitlement, he thought that Lena should have given him time. Natalia visits him with wine acting like nothing happened but David says she ruined his life. I hate this girl but she isn’t to blame so she tells him off, David shouldn’t have cheated.

“I ruined your marriage?” she repeated, her tone laced with incredulity. “I didn’t ruin your marriage, David. You did. I was simply an interested third party. Don’t pretend you’re some victim.”

Lena meets Emily and tells her what happened. Emily tells Gavin so when David, Ryan and Gavin meet to play basketball, Gavin is pushing David around on court. I loved Gavin and Ryan for calling David out for what he did. David was victimizing himself and thinking that Lena was the reason he cheated. I’ve noticed so many cheaters blame their partners for their actions. David thought that if Lena made time for him, he wouldn’t have cheated. How she made him feel lonely and put her work first, which pissed me off.

And now here he was, locked out of her life, vilified without so much as a chance to explain himself. It wasn’t fair. He’d made a mistake, sure, but wasn’t a marriage supposed to weather that? Wasn’t Lena supposed to fight for them, like he was trying to now?
Fucking idiot

When Ryan found out David cheated, he punched David. He said that Lena didn’t deserve this. Ryan put some sense into David’s head.

“What I know is that you don’t destroy your marriage because you feel sorry for yourself. You don’t cheat, David. You sure as hell don’t humiliate your wife by doing it with someone from her world.”

And when he said this I loved it
“You think you’re the victim here? You think Lena’s job made you cheat? No, David. That was your choice. You decided to throw away your marriage, and now you’re blaming her for it? That’s pathetic.”

Ryan was a great friend, he calls David out on his bullshit but he is also there for him. After this conversation, David knew he was tryna blame Lena to make himself feel better. Everyday he tries to call Lena to talk but she doesn’t answer. Lena is trying to move forward, but when David calls her, she answers, and he says he is sorry. Lena says nothing he says will fix this. She meets with a lawyer for the divorce and they discuss how to divide assets. David joins in on the meetings for mediation. In each meeting, David watches Lena who is cool and detached. She barely looks at him and tries to move forward with the divorce. He says that Lena deserves to take more from their joint and retirement savings since she earns more. Lena thought he would fight for more but David was resigned and defeated. He offers to let her keep the house but Lena says she doesn’t want the house, she is disgusted since he cheated on their bed. David realizes that the house is tainted and goes to his bedroom, he breaks the bed frame and destroys the bed. David wants to be a better man, he wants to win Lena back. But Ryan tells him that he should just focus on being a better man whether Lena takes him back or not.

“If you’re serious about loving her, about making this right, then you do the work whether she takes you back or not. You don’t do it for a reward, David. You do it because it’s the right thing to do.”
YUS Ryan

Lena’s company realized that Lena wasn’t the one who caused the issues, it was Natalia. Natalia used Lena’s login details and purposefully messed up shit to sabotage Lena. They need to investigate David to find out the details of how. David feels like shit since he realized he let Natalia into his home. Not only did he cheat, he cheated in their home. When David goes in for the investigation, he tells them that he will only cooperate if they write an apology to Lena and if they compensate her for everything. He feels so much guilt since Lena didn’t tell him she lost her job and shut him out. Once they agree, he has a document with details of his affair with Natalia (I really wish we could’ve read this). They ask how Natalia had access to Lena’s home computer. David shamefully says that he was passed out cuz of activities so Natalia was free to walk around, everyone is disgusted by him. David was drawn to Natalia since she was like Lena. He craved attention when Lena was drowning in work and Natalia was there. Natalia would say she wouldn’t leave David if he was her husband. Natalia would show up to their house for work materials and one day she kissed him. Instead of stopping it, David continued the kiss and they ended up on Lena and David’s bed. It’s so fucking disgusting, how many times has Lena slept in the bed that David and Natalia had sex on? Did this guy clean the sheets? Did he fuck Lena the same days he fucked Natalia? How long was the affair going on for? David found a thrill in being with Natalia and validation since Lena wasn’t giving him attention. Natalia was lounging around Lena’s house like it was hers, she was sitting on Lena’s countertop making out with David. David would delete their texts and they would sneak around to have the affair.


Lena and David have to meet to give a house tour but Lena says she is going to Italy. David is shocked, this was a dream they had for years. He had no idea that Lena took time off to go there with him. What gets me is David never spoke to Lena about his concerns, I’m sure Lena would have made a change if he talked to her. David owns up, saying he fucked up and there’s nothing he can do to take it back. When Lena goes to do a house tour when David isn’t around, she finds out he is living in the guest room. She is shocked to find their bedroom completely destroyed. David says Lena did nothing to deserve this. He fucked up because he is insecure and thought she deserved better. Lena calls bullshit on it, saying she can’t do this. David feels so much regret, barely sleeps, and loses weight. Lena meets him before a house tour and David says he is sorry for everything. He drops to his knees when Lena says nothing he does will make this better. She told the mediator that there is no chance of reconciling. In each meeting, David realizes he might have lost Lena forever. He dreamed about visiting Italy with Lena and is usually the organizer in their relationship. So he finds the best places to visit in Italy and makes an itinerary for Lena. He knows this shit is stressful for her and wanted to take care of her even if he wasn’t there. He sends it to Lena saying he wants her to have a good time. Natalia comes to Lena’s hotel, she lost her job because of the whole screwup at work and Lena says it’s her fault. Lena says that she worked hard for her position but Natalia just wanted a shortcut. Natalia tries to taunt Lena about David but Lena walks away. David shows up at her hotel lobby and tries to talk to Lena but she says that she needs peace away from him. Eventually she leaves for her trip after having multiple meetings with David about the division of assets. On her trip to Italy, David feels empty since he isn’t there with her. Natalia shows up to David’s workplace saying that it is his fault her life is ruined. She embarrasses him in front of his coworkers while he asks her to do this somewhere private. Someone asks if he cheated on Lena and he doesn’t say anything. Everyone at his workplace judges him and finds him disgusting. David realized this is no different from what he did to Lena at her workplace, karma is a bitch. While Lena is on her trip, she keeps thinking about David. She goes to some of the places that David recommended. But she went to some places on her own to take ownership of the trip.


Lena calls David and cries, saying she misses him but he broke them. David feels so much disgust for himself, saying he is sorry but he will always love her. David gets a call from Lena’s realtor by accident, who says that she has Lena’s apartment ready for viewing. David says he can look at it for Lena since he knows what she likes. The realtor plans to contact Lena but David says he can take care of it. I was a bit wary about this but it seems to be a good gesture in the end, Lena was happy. He unpacked Lena’s stuff so that everything was ready for her. While Lena is in Italy, she takes pictures and sends it to David which gives David hope. I wonder if David would’ve continued to cheat if Lena didn’t catch him. He probably would, the way he described the affair was gross. It seems like his affair was a bit emotional since Natalia filled the gaps he felt were missing with Lena. He easily got rid of her when he was caught. It seems their relationship was more physical but they did text and talk, ugh I hate them. On the trip, Lena realized she packed her ring and she missed David. She wanted him in her life but she wondered if it would be weak to take him back. So when she goes back, Emily tells her that David set her apartment up. Lena gets job offers and one company lets her choose her secretary. Lena is given the severance pay and apology letter from her old company. Jeff calls her saying that they messed up but Lena doesn’t want to go back when he offers. Jeff says that David is the reason she got the severance pay and apology letter. She starts going through resumes for secretary applications and David comes with a housewarming gift. Lena asks why he is there and when David says just to give a gift, Lena says this doesn’t change anything. David sees that Lena is struggling with a bunch of applications. He used to be the one to sort through her work if they were home. He offers to sort through the resumes since he knows what she wants. David is focused on being useful to Lena. Lena gets emotional so David says he is sorry for everything, but sorry won’t fix what he broke.


David realized that a secretary position is something he would love doing. He found a purpose whenever he helped Lena and made her life easier. Lena is surprised when David shows up for the interview. She says this is unprofessional and he can’t win her back like this. But she already talked to Emily and Gavin about giving David another chance. If Lena finds happiness being with David, fine. But I hate him still, he had sex with the OW multiple times and on their bed at that. But I did like some of the grovelling, he did things without Lena knowing and didn’t expect praise. Lena says she will give him the job. But she says this job is professional and if he fucks up, she will fire him. She says that this doesn’t mean she forgives him. She asks him what happens if he finds something else and he says this is his dream job. He says he will earn her trust back. I know that he could easily take advantage of being her secretary but hopefully this guy learned his lesson. Lena can’t concentrate on work since David is there. When he comes up to her, she says she can’t do this, that it is hard being around him after everything. David falls to his knees and hugs her while saying that he misses her and wishes he can take it all back. She says she feels weak to forgive him but he says to do what she wants in her heart. Easy for him to say, but Lena knows that this might make her look pathetic. They go home together and end up having sex. Lena orders him to move in with her. They go to their mediation and say that they aren’t getting divorced. Natalia meets Lena, not sure why, and tries to say Lena’s life is sad but Lena says her life is better and to never contact her again. In the epilogue, they found a new house and are moving in. David organized her calender, he says he loves her and she says it back. While I hate David for what he did, the grovel was okay but not satisfying. I wish there was a moment where David saw Lena thinking of dating other men, he didn’t suffer enough imo. Their intimacy came quick, I wish Lena hesitated since she remembered him with Natalia. I would never be able to unsee a partner cheating, especially cuz they got together after a coupla months. I would be angrier if we saw more details of the affair. The text messages or conversations between David and Natalia, especially when she was over at his house. Lena and David never had a transparent conversation about how long the affair was or how it affected Lena. I always go by the phrase once a cheater, always a cheater. But sometimes, with books like these, you just hope it doesn’t happen again. I swear David, if you hurt Lena again, she better leave your ass.


Stay safe folks!

[Serialbookstarter:Marla · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay I gave in and read this one because I was desperate for a good angsty cheating book. This had on page cheating but the cia scene was blah because of the way the h reacted. When she saw Them in her bed —She just turned and walked away refusing to let the cheaters see a reaction. Then she shut down all communication for weeks. If you want the reader to catch all the angsty emotion then your characters have to show some! I would have went over to my bed and first bashed the H in the head with something then snatched the cheating secretary out of MY bed by the hair then beat the crap out of her and chased her with a knife out of MY dream house. Then I. Probably would have grabbed all Of the beta H’s clothes and thrown them Out on the front lawn and set them on fire. Next I would have went to the office and told my boss that my secretary was a lying cheating skank. Instead the h says nothing about all that when it’s clear she’s been set up to take the fall for a discrepancy on one of her accounts. By saying nothing she loses her job and the secretary gets it. I would have raised some hell in that office that I was working 100 hours a week in. It didn’t make sense how after there’s been a settlement with her company regarding the discrepancy that THEN they decide to investigate— obviously this was just to drive the plot along but it was illogical. Cut the book by 100 pages make the h more angry and make the beta H more alpha and you
Would have had a better read.

[Smiler The Avid Reader · Rating 2 out of 5]

Missed the mark.

Too introspective. We get all the thoughts but no actual ‘doing’. Barely any dialogue. I really wanted to like the book as it started out strong.
How can anyone reconcile when they’ve barely spoken!!!???

As with the previous book by the same author there was no real hashing it out….just a load of inner thoughts, regrets and emotions. Where was the dialogue? The wife didn’t ask any questions….again!!!

She barely knew any details but forgave him because she loves him, like she knew his inner thoughts….how?

Such a shame because I liked the fmc and her being the bread winner. Also I liked the fact that the blame was put entirely on the husband. Just because someone works a lot doesn’t mean you get to have an affair…you communicate your feelings, not fall into the first woman who strokes your ego!

I want the author to write more cheating books as they show such promise…..there just needs to be actual real dialogue and interactions and full disclosure between the main characters to get to the HEA.

[Tmstprc · Rating 3 out of 5]

More like 2 stars but I’m rounding up as I liked that there’s a bit of a gender flip.

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have many thoughts...and they're not good ones. About the heroine.

Probably going to write a proper review for this one when I'm in the right headspace.

[Misha]

HARD PASS

I've skimmed it and I think the MMC, David, is super ewwww. I can't settle and read this. I don't want them to reconciliate. I want him to get kicked in the balls.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

this made me rage a lot but i love when a man is humbled and boy did it

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was ok

Just felt a little drawn out with the same thing being said over and over. Glad they got their HEA though.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

The betrayal was painful. She literally walks in on him having sex with her secretary in their bed. Then come to find out, it wasn't the first time. He'd been inviting the OW over to their house during Lena's long hours, and it had happened multiple times, though I don't remember seeing exactly how many times or how long the affair went on. I did end up skimming a few parts because this just got really repetitive, so maybe I missed that. While not an excuse for his cheating, I do wish her own behavior had also been addressed. She did push him to the back burner a lot. She put work ahead of her husband repeatedly, and that was wrong. Again, it does not excuse his cheating, but I do think he deserved to have an apology for that.

I did like how David learned that not only was he scum for cheating, but the OW used him and her time at his house to sabotage Lena's career enough that she's forced to resign. He did a lot of apologizing but also used his actions to make amends without throwing that in Lena's face. She finds out the things he did for her from other people. I do buy their reconciliation, but it's so hard to come back from cheating on your spouse, especially in your own home. This was still a tough one. I don't think I could have forgiven any of that personally, but that's one reason I like reading these books.

One other thing I wish we'd seen more of was finding out exactly what repercussions Natalia (OW) faced. I assume she was fired, but we don't really get to hear exactly what happened there.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 stars 🌟


So this is a marriage in trouble books where the husband cheats on his wife, who he proclaims is his whole work with her secretary, who seduced him in order to bring the fmc down a few pegs. The fmc is confident with a successful career and what she thought was a strong marriage.

The mmc didn't realize he was a pawn in the secretary's plan to ruin the fmcs career by setting her up for fraud plus ruin her relationship. All she had to do is flirt with the mmc and boom..he's in his own bed with the other woman under him, not a care in the world..not even caring thst his wife could come home and catch them doing the naked tango in their bed

Well he's erong..the wife comes home and catches them. Then she's forced to resign a day later when the secretary ow screws her over with reports she sent from the fmcs home computer that she just hopped on after the husband was asleep.

Was I happy to see the wife not accept the husbands empty pleases for forgiveness and get out of dodge, away from all the tainted furniture in her house ( tainted by the mmc sleeping with the owner on them)?

Yes..I didn't think reconciliation should have been a cake walk for him? He has to earn back her trust.

[BrownAyez · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars rounded up to four. This was my first story by Elise Camden, but I will look for more!

I really appreciated the way cheating was handled in this book. How the emotions run the gamut and there are no right and wrongs based on individual circumstances. Also really liked the way we could see character development. We as readers were involved in it rather than just told it happened.

What I couldn’t get past was the FMC making her husband her personal secretary. (Yes, I would feel the same if it was the MMC making his wife a secretary.) Maybe I’m too old but that would be absolutely forbidden anywhere I have worked. Had to suspend disbelief to make this story come together and don’t think it was necessary for the story. I mean except for being the title of the book and all 😂🤷🏼‍♀️

[Frederick Nunez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bis wife’s secretary: a husband’s betrayal

The storyline was very interesting and heartbreaking, it focus on a married couple that were unable to trust each other, after the husband was caught cheating. I enjoyed the husband’s redemption and his relationship to recapture his wife’s love.

[TheBookishWife · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was alright...a LOT of repetition, so it dragged. I eat up a good cheating hubs book, like a fat kid at an all you can eat ice cream social. Didn't like the lack of true comeuppance for ow, Natalia. I did like the grovel fest by repentant hubby. All in all, this was just okay.

[Elyvia (eliv_bookstagram) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's a lot of repetition, it's somewhat distracting. But I think this is the most adequate grovel in a cheating romance book I have ever read and tolerated. The FMC was angry for the whole book and let the MMC grovel his way to her forgiveness. He gives her everything and I cannot think of any way he could grovel more, I mean he's literally on his knees. I was bawling my eyes out for them, it was heartbreaking but has satisfying ending.

⚠️Cheating on page and flashback

[Duetro]

I think this may have at least partially been written by AI. The writing started feeling repetitive and I tried to put my finger on it.

Chapter 7:
The door closed behind her, and David stood there, the silence pressing in around him like a crushing weight.

Chapter 13:
David sat alone in the dim light of the living room, the silence of the house pressing down on him like a weight.

Chapter 15:
David sat on the edge of the bed, the silence of the house pressing in around him.

Chapter 29:
David sat alone in the quiet of his now half-empty living room, the emptiness pressing in on him.

The last three are all the first sentence of their respective chapters. We get it, this man is PRESSED and his home is SILENT.

"Pressing down" comes up a lot more (ex. "Even here, surrounded by the routine of his day-to-day, he couldn't shake the hollow ache pressing down on him.") but I put the above examples together since they're so structurally and thematically similar. I'd say the majority of this book has the same sentence structure of 'independent clause, comma, dependent clause.'

To be fair this is maybe just quirks of a new writer, but the structure of the story was a little weird in certain parts to me as well. Continuity issues like Lena firing Natalia, Natalia leaving, and then in the next scene Natalia in a meeting with Lena's boss to get Lena put on administrative leave. Or with a lot of David's chapters, it's just weirdly nebulous introspection where he's sitting at home for like three separate chapters just remembering stuff and thinking about Lena.

I started skimming at around the halfway point so I'll refrain from rating it though. Oh and one last thought I had that has nothing to do with the AI stuff was the slightly homoerotic tone to some of Natalia's ravings about Lena, but I'll eat my shoe if the two of them get together at the end of this. Just stuff like:

"It was never about you, David. You were a means to an end. It was always about Lena." ... Natalia's eyes flashed, her lips curling into a sneer. "Pathetic doesn't even begin to cover it. You had everything -- your wife is brilliant, successful, respected by everyone. And you threw it all away?"

God, just kiss already. This book should've actually been about Natalia's struggles with her sexuality and confusing her want of Lena with wanting what Lena has.

[Mandyloves2read · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was actually really good . I’m becoming obsessed with the cheating trope and this one was definitely a challenge. I cried I laughed and then wanted to hurt someone lol I wanted to choke slam the OW and nut punch the MMC lol then cried some more my heart just ached with the MFC I could totally relate to what she was going through been there done that I have the T-shirt to prove it 😂😭

[lu · Rating 1 out of 5]

idk who was more stupid… actually they all are.

[Jill Stewart]

It's possible to feel sorry for David and still not want him to be Lena's choice. In fact, I was really hoping he wouldn't be.

Neither of them go to counseling.

[Bookish.Midnight. and. black · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rage read
Hated the ending
Spoiler

She forgives the cheater 😑😑😑

[BAG of Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

David - unknown age, unknown occupation. Something corporate.

Lena - unknown age, unknown occupation, something corporate and financial, dealing with numbers and spreadsheets.

They have been married for an unknown number of years. No children.

Lena is a workaholic. She works so many hours that she comes home at 9PM on a good day. David and Lena seem to spend no time together. They have been talking about an anniversary trip to Italy. But she has never taken a day off work, so the trip has been postponed for YEARS. She notices that David is getting a little annoyed when they talk about this trip they're never going to take. So she finally asks for two weeks off, but of course not right away, not until after the current project is finished. Her boss tells her she can take it now, the team can handle the project. She declines. Work is the most important thing to her.

David feels lonely, of course. Lena's secretary, Natalia, notices and makes her move. She acts understanding. She listens. She acts like she cares. Lena comes home one evening to them having sex in the marital bed.

She's upset that he ruined the life they were building together. Together? When were they ever together? She was building her own career, not "together."

It's not ok for him to cheat, but if he had asked her to cut back on work hours to compromise to make the marriage work . . . let's be honest, she would never have done that. They'd end up divorced one way or the other. IMO. I feel sympathy for her being cheated on but I don't feel sympathy for her ending up divorced. I think that was inevitable.

The next morning, Lena tells Natalia she's fired. Instead of leaving the building, Natalia goes to their boss and accuses Lena of turning in some messed up spreadsheets. That's all the company needs to put Lena on administrative leave and give the project to Natalia. Which made no sense, because Natalia is just a secretary. But whatever. A few days or weeks later, the company asks Lena to resign, and in exchange she'll have no allegation of wrongdoing in her employment record. She agrees, because she needs to be able to find a new job, since she's decided to get divorced. She feels betrayed because she somehow believed that corporations feel loyalty to their employees. Whatever.

Lena had left her house immediately and moved into a hotel, so David hasn't spoken to her, and has no idea Lena lost her job.

Natalia shows up at David's house, trying to spend the night with him again, but he tells her to fuck off.

One day, David gets a call from an investigator hired by Lena's former employer, investigating Natalia for corporate sabotage or something. That's how David learned Lena lost her job. The investigator tells him the suspicious activities came from Lena's home computer. Ah, now you're getting it, I hope. Natalia initiated the affair to gain access to Lena's house, so she could use her home computer.

[Hmm · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF at 95%. This book wasn’t particularly long but the excessive use of repetitive introspection dragged. Most chapters there’s no real plot development just the husband (David) going on about how worthless he is with the occasional side character chiming in to agree. Then the wife (Lena) going back and forth over whether she can ever go back to him without hurting her girl boss-hood. There’s no actual steps towards reconciliation until about the 95% at which point I was too exhausted to continue.

To be clear to any prospective readers THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE. Not by any stretch of the imagination, there is maybe 2% of the book that could be considered romance? The rest is just a pretty miserable separation.

I think the mistake the author made is trying to create this role reversal without considering the implications of this new power dynamic. High-earning, workaholic husband never has time for his wife, neglects her, pushes back their dream vacation multiple years in a row because he’s ’just too busy for her’, foists her onto his secretary to deal with when he flakes on their lunch dates, and uses her as a glorified personal assistant who manages all her diaries, books their vacations, manages all the bills and paperwork for their house etc with barely any acknowledgement. Eventually on one of the lunch dates he chucks his wife into with his secretary, he seduces her and they have an affair. The wife then spends 90% of the book lamenting how worthless she is and begging for scraps from the husband that never paid her any mind anyways. Which culminates in her lowering herself to begging to serve as his secretary given that she’s been doing that for free their entire marriage anyways and considers serving him her ‘life’s purpose’. The husband does nothing to reform his behaviour, no self-reflection whatsoever and it is only after the wife becomes his servant (officially this time) that he deigns to consider forgiving her.

Oh wait - the genders are reversed so it’s all okay. It’s not.

Yes obviously David was wrong for cheating and the on-page scene was damn near unforgivable. But the author chose to create this weird power dynamic and emphasises that Lena neglected him for years. And yet the author never resolves this, in fact she reinforces it with that fucked up ‘becoming her secretary’ plot line.

TLDR; David was far too pathetic, Lena was far too unrepentant, And the separation dragged on far too long (>90%) for this to be called a romance novel.