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Sin & Redemption #1
Mercy Lake
With one reckless act and a rushed confession, I knew my life was never going to be the same.
I was having a baby with a woman who was not my wife.
I would do anything to keep my love, to have her stay with me. But how does one forgive the unforgivable?
Mercy Lake is a second chance, betrayal romance, with a HEA. It is the first book in the Sin & Redemption interconnected novella series.
I was having a baby with a woman who was not my wife.
I would do anything to keep my love, to have her stay with me. But how does one forgive the unforgivable?
Mercy Lake is a second chance, betrayal romance, with a HEA. It is the first book in the Sin & Redemption interconnected novella series.
194 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 29, 2025
501 people are currently reading
250 people want to read
About the author
V. Brown
6 books76 followersV. Brown is an avid reader whose wild imagination could not be contained. She soon fell in love with writing, creating worlds where anything is possible.
Emergency nurse by day and writer of all things dark and steamy by night, you can usually find V sitting on her back porch with a cup of tea and a good book, surrounded by Australian wildlife. Her husband, daughters and pet chicken named Shadow are always close by.
Emergency nurse by day and writer of all things dark and steamy by night, you can usually find V sitting on her back porch with a cup of tea and a good book, surrounded by Australian wildlife. Her husband, daughters and pet chicken named Shadow are always close by.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
October 13, 2025
Another author who thinks SA against a man is ok and calls it cheating. No thanks. Do better. And don't come at me with your BS discussion. I will disagree with you until the end.
August 24, 2025
This was lame. I don’t consider it cheating. The H was helping out his wife’s best friend by putting together IKEA furniture at the wife’s request. —The ow played him with wine. He fell asleep and the OW jumps on his dick. He woke up and called his wife’s name then realized it was the ow . She rides him 2 pumps and he shoves her off onto the floor. The ow claims she got pregnant. The fmc won’t even hear him out. We have this OW who is able to mastermind changing paternity results. It’s too far fetched. Later- 4 years—
Yea the dreaded time jump that fixes everything—the mcs get back together. There’s alot of book filler about future books. Save it.—I don’t want to wade through all of that .
Yea the dreaded time jump that fixes everything—the mcs get back together. There’s alot of book filler about future books. Save it.—I don’t want to wade through all of that .
August 26, 2025
Me: Betrayal, NOT cheating.
Author:
Wattpad = cheating
Amazon UK & US = betrayal
The book itself = “betrayal (considered cheating by some)”
h - Alexis
H - Owen
cow - Everly
om - Leonardo
5 ⭐️s:
- best ow comeuppance
- best H character growth
- best H atonement + redemption
- best H grovel
- best realistic reconciliation timeframe
- unrushed ending
Context:
Author:
Wattpad = cheating
Amazon UK & US = betrayal
The book itself = “betrayal (considered cheating by some)”
h - Alexis
H - Owen
cow - Everly
om - Leonardo
5 ⭐️s:
- best ow comeuppance
- best H character growth
- best H atonement + redemption
- best H grovel
- best realistic reconciliation timeframe
- unrushed ending
Context:
June 24, 2025
Spoilers
Ugh. I enjoy a good marriage in trouble story but I am NOT a fan of the author always making the wife, the woman always having to sleep around to validate herself. It's ok to have a main lead female who associates sex with emotions for another person and the thought of someone else on a whim isn't right. I'm not a fan where a series will have interconnecting characters who all have slept together. Not my thing. I read a similar book with almost the same storyline just the other day. Almost exactly the same with a few tweaks. A flimsy excuse that makes the cheating not quite cheating, then the dumb female goes off the charts and doesn't stick around to have a roaring fight, then gets he divorce only 6 months later, sleeps with a guy and has a kid (that really didn't add to the story and now has to be dragged into another story) and then finds out the truth about what happened and opps I guess I should have stuck around. This could have been a great story where we see them actually trying to work through this day by day and not years later and unnecessary drama. Not a fan.
Ugh. I enjoy a good marriage in trouble story but I am NOT a fan of the author always making the wife, the woman always having to sleep around to validate herself. It's ok to have a main lead female who associates sex with emotions for another person and the thought of someone else on a whim isn't right. I'm not a fan where a series will have interconnecting characters who all have slept together. Not my thing. I read a similar book with almost the same storyline just the other day. Almost exactly the same with a few tweaks. A flimsy excuse that makes the cheating not quite cheating, then the dumb female goes off the charts and doesn't stick around to have a roaring fight, then gets he divorce only 6 months later, sleeps with a guy and has a kid (that really didn't add to the story and now has to be dragged into another story) and then finds out the truth about what happened and opps I guess I should have stuck around. This could have been a great story where we see them actually trying to work through this day by day and not years later and unnecessary drama. Not a fan.
Want to read
June 5, 2025another book where fmc has a child with om, thank you sir this is my favorite trope lmao
October 14, 2025
The Hero is sexually assaulted. This isn't a cheating story.
August 31, 2025
WTF was that. Alexis was not a likeable character and the 2nd epilogue was fucked up
May 30, 2025
This book was an emotional roller coaster ride from page one. Seeing it from both POV you just want to scream into the abyss. How one persons actions can ruin so many lives.
How two people can both be hurt in such significant ways by the way they each handle that trauma.
Check the TW on this one, but if you’re in the mood to have your heart ripped out glued back together with the tears of the villain of the story this one is for you.
Thank you V Brown for the ARC opportunity 🙏
How two people can both be hurt in such significant ways by the way they each handle that trauma.
Check the TW on this one, but if you’re in the mood to have your heart ripped out glued back together with the tears of the villain of the story this one is for you.
Thank you V Brown for the ARC opportunity 🙏
September 21, 2025
Disappointing
This was more of Perceived betrayal rather than actual cheating.
The fact that the H was SA'd and this aspect wasn't at the forefront of this story was a let down. Instead the focus is on the h and her healing when in actuality what happened to her was a small part of the situation.
The grovelling should have come from the h, not the assault victim whose life was ruined.
This was more of Perceived betrayal rather than actual cheating.
The fact that the H was SA'd and this aspect wasn't at the forefront of this story was a let down. Instead the focus is on the h and her healing when in actuality what happened to her was a small part of the situation.
The grovelling should have come from the h, not the assault victim whose life was ruined.
January 30, 2026
2.5 stars
Mercy Lake is a messy little novella that left me more frustrated than moved. The breakdown of Owen and Alexis’s marriage didn't really read as cheating, but a painful misunderstanding after Owen is taken advantage of while impaired. Alexis walking away without giving him a chance to explain, and only circling back four years later for answers, made the whole situation hard to fully get on board with.
The writing style also just wasn’t for me, which made it harder to stay connected. On top of that, the second epilogue set six years later oddly felt more like a cliff hanger than a sense of closure. I can see what the author was aiming for, but overall this didn’t quite work for me.
Mercy Lake is a messy little novella that left me more frustrated than moved. The breakdown of Owen and Alexis’s marriage didn't really read as cheating, but a painful misunderstanding after Owen is taken advantage of while impaired. Alexis walking away without giving him a chance to explain, and only circling back four years later for answers, made the whole situation hard to fully get on board with.
The writing style also just wasn’t for me, which made it harder to stay connected. On top of that, the second epilogue set six years later oddly felt more like a cliff hanger than a sense of closure. I can see what the author was aiming for, but overall this didn’t quite work for me.
November 25, 2025
Yeah so this book is questionable cheating.
Originally started on wattpad, then published.
Basically h and H are happily married. Her bff (OW) needs help moving, so H helps her out. The have dinner at her place after and he has too much wine and passes out. Wakes up to OW riding him, initially lets it happen for a second till he realizes it’s not h, freaks out ands runs away.
He doesn’t tell h for like a month. He starts acting distant out of guilt. OW ends up pregnant and threatens to tell h everything, he says he wants to tell her. She gives him like a week, obviously he doesn’t admit to anything, so OW comes to h’s house (her BFF btw) and drops the bomb. h is devastated, she never saw this coming. Basically kicks him out and refuses to talk to him. She doesn’t want the details after he admits it’s true and the baby is his.
Now this is really shaky and there were tons of people fighting on wattpad about whether he actually cheated or was just a victim. The story had the events from his POV, where he points out that OW was very flirty all day and he was uncomfortable. Despite this he agrees to dinner with just her at her place, where he has more wine than he should. Plus wine is known to knock him out. So yeah despite sensing her intentions were off he still continued spending time alone with her that night.
She flat out assaults him there’s no question about that. But the issue is how he handled it after the fact. He knew this would destroy his wife but still hid it for more than a month for his own sake and it made him look so much guiltier. Plus the way he let her find out was just traumatizing. Not only that he was with her BFF but that they’re having a baby? Plus he planned to be involved in the baby’s life and still wanted her to be his wife. They had planned to start trying soon too. It’s just cruel to ask a woman to endure that. He undoubtedly sucks for all this because the events after were in his control and he chose to do what was best for him.
Anyway, h refuses to talk with/see him. Divorces him and skips town to live with her sister. She drunkenly has ONS with hot, older OM who is sad about losing the love of his life to his own best friend. This leads to her conceiving her son. Baby daddy isn’t involved in their lives though. She lived with sister while raising him for like 5/6 years.
She visits town because dad is sick. She decided to stay to give son stability and help her parents. H works in healthcare so they run into each other again. He is shocked and sad to learn she has a son. But he ends up coaching h’s son’s soccer team. His nephew is also on the team and becomes instant besties with h’s son. She’s a little jealous cause all the moms talk about him and hit on him.
Everyone begs her to hear him out so she does. He tells her OW isn’t in his life. She was already pregnant and set him up to get him to take the fall and be the dad. The other guy wasn’t involved at the time. She went into labor really early and the other guy shows up and she admits everything was a lie. I have SO MANY issues with this little explanation.
1. OW and her mom fake paternity test showing H to be the father hence why be believes it’s his child initially.
2. We see the “cheating” from his unconscious POV and we know it’s like three pumps and he doesn’t even finish.
3. He’s in the medical field and he isn’t even a little skeptical about the authenticity of this pregnancy? He has to understand basic reproductive science. Getting pregnant with pre-cum is RARE.
4. He isn’t even the littlest bit skeptical of this woman’s intentions at this point? Not even when she basically got him drunk and assaulted him? He’s not questioning her motives even a little? This supposedly accomplished man?
5. He just takes her word for it when she shows him her paternity test? He doesn’t doubt this backstabbing bitch enough to get his own independent test? He moves like such an idiot, it’s hard to buy that he’s a smart, hot doctor or whatever.
Anyways he pursues legal action against OW, gets her and her mother fired. She ends up in jail. The military dad gets custody of OW’s daughter. He becomes town golden boy again.
During separation, he stays celibate. She was with her child’s father once. They work it out and get back together. The grovel is whatever. Partially because he’s mad she didn’t hear him out (he had his chance and let OW do the talking, but go off big boy), and because well he’s kind of victim too so how much can he really apologize for being assaulted? Author set him up as a victim so h had to forgive him by default. Plus she completely skirts around his willingness to make the questionable decisions that landed him in that compromising situation in the first place. And of course her minions cling to its assault, not cheating. Without any consideration for the lies he spun to keep his wife in the dark.
The ending is them attending a medical convention together and one of the speakers is the mystery father of h’s child. They’re supposed to get their own book.
Originally started on wattpad, then published.
Basically h and H are happily married. Her bff (OW) needs help moving, so H helps her out. The have dinner at her place after and he has too much wine and passes out. Wakes up to OW riding him, initially lets it happen for a second till he realizes it’s not h, freaks out ands runs away.
He doesn’t tell h for like a month. He starts acting distant out of guilt. OW ends up pregnant and threatens to tell h everything, he says he wants to tell her. She gives him like a week, obviously he doesn’t admit to anything, so OW comes to h’s house (her BFF btw) and drops the bomb. h is devastated, she never saw this coming. Basically kicks him out and refuses to talk to him. She doesn’t want the details after he admits it’s true and the baby is his.
Now this is really shaky and there were tons of people fighting on wattpad about whether he actually cheated or was just a victim. The story had the events from his POV, where he points out that OW was very flirty all day and he was uncomfortable. Despite this he agrees to dinner with just her at her place, where he has more wine than he should. Plus wine is known to knock him out. So yeah despite sensing her intentions were off he still continued spending time alone with her that night.
She flat out assaults him there’s no question about that. But the issue is how he handled it after the fact. He knew this would destroy his wife but still hid it for more than a month for his own sake and it made him look so much guiltier. Plus the way he let her find out was just traumatizing. Not only that he was with her BFF but that they’re having a baby? Plus he planned to be involved in the baby’s life and still wanted her to be his wife. They had planned to start trying soon too. It’s just cruel to ask a woman to endure that. He undoubtedly sucks for all this because the events after were in his control and he chose to do what was best for him.
Anyway, h refuses to talk with/see him. Divorces him and skips town to live with her sister. She drunkenly has ONS with hot, older OM who is sad about losing the love of his life to his own best friend. This leads to her conceiving her son. Baby daddy isn’t involved in their lives though. She lived with sister while raising him for like 5/6 years.
She visits town because dad is sick. She decided to stay to give son stability and help her parents. H works in healthcare so they run into each other again. He is shocked and sad to learn she has a son. But he ends up coaching h’s son’s soccer team. His nephew is also on the team and becomes instant besties with h’s son. She’s a little jealous cause all the moms talk about him and hit on him.
Everyone begs her to hear him out so she does. He tells her OW isn’t in his life. She was already pregnant and set him up to get him to take the fall and be the dad. The other guy wasn’t involved at the time. She went into labor really early and the other guy shows up and she admits everything was a lie. I have SO MANY issues with this little explanation.
1. OW and her mom fake paternity test showing H to be the father hence why be believes it’s his child initially.
2. We see the “cheating” from his unconscious POV and we know it’s like three pumps and he doesn’t even finish.
3. He’s in the medical field and he isn’t even a little skeptical about the authenticity of this pregnancy? He has to understand basic reproductive science. Getting pregnant with pre-cum is RARE.
4. He isn’t even the littlest bit skeptical of this woman’s intentions at this point? Not even when she basically got him drunk and assaulted him? He’s not questioning her motives even a little? This supposedly accomplished man?
5. He just takes her word for it when she shows him her paternity test? He doesn’t doubt this backstabbing bitch enough to get his own independent test? He moves like such an idiot, it’s hard to buy that he’s a smart, hot doctor or whatever.
Anyways he pursues legal action against OW, gets her and her mother fired. She ends up in jail. The military dad gets custody of OW’s daughter. He becomes town golden boy again.
During separation, he stays celibate. She was with her child’s father once. They work it out and get back together. The grovel is whatever. Partially because he’s mad she didn’t hear him out (he had his chance and let OW do the talking, but go off big boy), and because well he’s kind of victim too so how much can he really apologize for being assaulted? Author set him up as a victim so h had to forgive him by default. Plus she completely skirts around his willingness to make the questionable decisions that landed him in that compromising situation in the first place. And of course her minions cling to its assault, not cheating. Without any consideration for the lies he spun to keep his wife in the dark.
The ending is them attending a medical convention together and one of the speakers is the mystery father of h’s child. They’re supposed to get their own book.
May 30, 2025
i picked this book for the angst from the snippet of the first chapter posted on Instagram and well, it kinda did deliver the angst? The story is so fast paced that you get to stew in nothing - everything keeps happening at the speed of the bullet train and as a reader it was very difficult to take in the intensity of the feelings and angst when the narrative was running like that.
also, the book would be 50 pages if people just talked. in the first half Alexis refuses to talk or listen and when she is ready, her parents refuse to talk and ask her to ask owen instead and when owen talks, he skips the 'i thought she was you' thingy ( Although I don't understand why it was so important when he had already said that he had a moment of clarity when he knew it wasn't alexis).
in the end, I would say if you want to read a fact paced angsty book with a little melodramatic plot, go for it. its under 200 pages and i finished it in a few hours!
also, the book would be 50 pages if people just talked. in the first half Alexis refuses to talk or listen and when she is ready, her parents refuse to talk and ask her to ask owen instead and when owen talks, he skips the 'i thought she was you' thingy ( Although I don't understand why it was so important when he had already said that he had a moment of clarity when he knew it wasn't alexis).
in the end, I would say if you want to read a fact paced angsty book with a little melodramatic plot, go for it. its under 200 pages and i finished it in a few hours!
May 24, 2025
I loved Owen and Alexis's story! It was heartbreaking at the beginning but watching her fall in love with him again was so good!
December 2, 2025
Dnf
Spoiler****
Couldn't get past FMC reactions, she never speaks to him about anything that happens. Then when years later she finally discovers he was SA she and him both still blame him because he falter for a second before he literally pushed her away. If this were reversed this would never fly, the mere suggestion that a woman would be held responsible for an SA because she, while heavily intoxicated, didnt immediately try and stop it would be met with outrage. This is no different, he did nothing wrong. The FMC abandons him when he needed her, gets pregnant by ONS and then has the audacity to still need time to forgive him?!?!?! Nope.
I wish he had told her the truth, she feels remorse and then he moves onto to someone who deserves him.
Spoiler****
Couldn't get past FMC reactions, she never speaks to him about anything that happens. Then when years later she finally discovers he was SA she and him both still blame him because he falter for a second before he literally pushed her away. If this were reversed this would never fly, the mere suggestion that a woman would be held responsible for an SA because she, while heavily intoxicated, didnt immediately try and stop it would be met with outrage. This is no different, he did nothing wrong. The FMC abandons him when he needed her, gets pregnant by ONS and then has the audacity to still need time to forgive him?!?!?! Nope.
I wish he had told her the truth, she feels remorse and then he moves onto to someone who deserves him.
May 29, 2025
It was good.
There are a lot of spoilers and triggers so if you don’t want to know, just don’t go on with the review.
Triggers: rape, child with op.
Hero and heroine are happily married, no issue.
So when the heroine bff confronts the hero in front of her and tells her she’s preggo with his child, it’s havoc.
Because it’s true.
The heroine is shattered, she trusted her husband and her friend, and they betrayed her in the worst way possible.
Basically the hero confesses that a couple of months before, the heroine asked him to help her bff with some works in her house. He barely knew her, but accepted anyway.
He helped her, they talked and they had some drinks afterwards.
He got so drunk that lost his consciousness.
He woke up thinking he was making love with his wife, while it was ow riding him. He stopped after a couple of seconds, and threw ow away.
They decided not to say anything, but ow found out she was preggo.
The hero begs and apologizes, he never wanted ow and he never saw her again.
The heroine decides to divorce him and leave town.
The hero tries to be supportive during ow pregnancy, but there’s never anything between him and ow.
He tries anything to win the heroine back but she only wants a divorce.
At the end of her pregnancy he finds out she was already pregnant and was trying to foist another man’s kid on him, because he’s a good and reliable guy but now the father is back and wants the child. The heroine and her sister move to another town.
She hooks up with some charming stranger and guess what, she gets pregnant too.
Some year later she has to go back to her hometown and she meets the hero again.
She doesn’t know anything about him since she blocked him everywhere and never wanted to know about him anymore.
She really cut him out.
So it’s surprise time for both.
The hero reveals he spiraled after learning about ow betrayal, and he sent her to jail, while he went through depression for years.
He never moved on.
He also tells her the truth about what happened to him that day.
He was totally drunk and ow jumped on him while he was not conscious, he stopped after a couple of seconds when he realized ow was not the heroine and he didn’t come, but he thought it was enough to get ow pregnant.
Ow also faked dna paternity test.
He felt guilty, so he didn’t tell anything to the heroine and that was his mistake.
It’s a rape.
I don’t even want to hear people debating it because to assault a person while unconscious with evil purposes, it’s rape. He didn’t give his consent and he stopped when he realize what was happening.
He didn’t stop immediately but no, I don’t blame him at all, he was drunk and fuzzy, not totally capable of understanding the reality so he was reacting to a physical stimulus induced by another person. It could have been anyone else, even a man, and he would have reacted anyway.
He stopped after a few seconds, which makes him brave and strong, not weak.
I don’t like people blaming anyone who is assaulted without consent, and I don’t want to hear excuses. Maybe he shouldn’t have drunk that much, because he made himself vulnerable but he trusted the heroine and thought his bff was trustworthy too, so he drank in what he though was a protected and safe environment.
And anyway it’s awful to blame the victim, and the hero was a designated victim of an evil woman.
The heroine eventually forgives his lie, because that was what he was guilty of, I think that, had he been truthful and confessed what happened, she would have helped him and would have confronted ow.
But he was afraid he would lose her, so he lost her anyway.
He had to accept that what he did had consequences, because the heroine had a child from another man, and he lost years without her.
He was also celibate while she wasn’t of course.
I appreciated this different kind of story, where the heroine tries to move on and has a nice life without the hero and the hero pines and tries to know everything about her.
I liked that she totally ghosted and cut him out, while he tried to know everything about her, but was not able to find her.
I liked that she didn’t plan to be back with him.
I liked that she had a very nice sex with another man, a kind and charming stranger.
I liked that the heroine eventually forgives had to raise another man’s kid.
I didn’t like that he was so nice to ow when she was pregnant and tried to be there for her even if they were never together.
This is something I never like and understand and I don’t think a man is a good person if he plays dad to the woman that took advantage of him while drunk and ruined his marriage.
I respect and defend the right of a man who didn’t want children to avoid any contact with the child and the mother of his child, even if he’s forced to give alimony.
Because let’s be honest, it’s only the woman that decides and has all the powers about children.
And if a man says he doesn’t want the child, especially in situations where he’s tricked and trapped, he should not be forced to be a father.
But they always are.
And in real life, let me tell you this, men don’t react well to be forced into unwanted pregnancies.
Even those who are willing participant to the act, but maybe they were told it was safe, and they made it clear they didn’t want kids, they are never that willing to help, be there during scans, help before the kid is born. They often give just a financial aid, and maybe after the child has born they start coping. No judgement here, especially since it’s the woman that always decides if she will keep the child or not, and it’s ok, but she should also be the one to bear the consequences if the father doesn’t agree.
Men in similar situations are angry, hurt, they always reject something they don’t feel as a person yet. They don’t feel like it’s their choice.
It’s human.
So I didn’t like that the hero, realizing the heroine was lost to him, decided to be a model of good father to a child that basically was the cause of his failed marriage. This is not him being good, this is him being foolish and weak.
Just stay away and give her the money since she didn’t want to end the pregnancy, but she is not entitled to anything else, not his time, not his care, not emotional support.
Hers is the decision, hers is the weight of it.
Sadly this doesn’t happen, and he’s suddenly the patient, gentle and caring idiot ow thought he would be.
So after all I wasn’t even feeling that sorry that she tricked him, even if I can’t ever condone his rape.
I know I’m being unpopular but why keep writing about men that are that oh so happy to be father of a kid they never wanted and that caused only pain and hurt?
Is it realistic?
Is it fair?
No, it’s not and I don’t feel that he’s a better man because he behaves like the doting father, I think he’s betraying the heroine all over again.
Sue me.
But anyway the story is good, another new author from wattpad that is able to write emotional, interesting and angsty stories.
There are a lot of spoilers and triggers so if you don’t want to know, just don’t go on with the review.
Triggers: rape, child with op.
Hero and heroine are happily married, no issue.
So when the heroine bff confronts the hero in front of her and tells her she’s preggo with his child, it’s havoc.
Because it’s true.
The heroine is shattered, she trusted her husband and her friend, and they betrayed her in the worst way possible.
Basically the hero confesses that a couple of months before, the heroine asked him to help her bff with some works in her house. He barely knew her, but accepted anyway.
He helped her, they talked and they had some drinks afterwards.
He got so drunk that lost his consciousness.
He woke up thinking he was making love with his wife, while it was ow riding him. He stopped after a couple of seconds, and threw ow away.
They decided not to say anything, but ow found out she was preggo.
The hero begs and apologizes, he never wanted ow and he never saw her again.
The heroine decides to divorce him and leave town.
The hero tries to be supportive during ow pregnancy, but there’s never anything between him and ow.
He tries anything to win the heroine back but she only wants a divorce.
At the end of her pregnancy he finds out she was already pregnant and was trying to foist another man’s kid on him, because he’s a good and reliable guy but now the father is back and wants the child. The heroine and her sister move to another town.
She hooks up with some charming stranger and guess what, she gets pregnant too.
Some year later she has to go back to her hometown and she meets the hero again.
She doesn’t know anything about him since she blocked him everywhere and never wanted to know about him anymore.
She really cut him out.
So it’s surprise time for both.
The hero reveals he spiraled after learning about ow betrayal, and he sent her to jail, while he went through depression for years.
He never moved on.
He also tells her the truth about what happened to him that day.
He was totally drunk and ow jumped on him while he was not conscious, he stopped after a couple of seconds when he realized ow was not the heroine and he didn’t come, but he thought it was enough to get ow pregnant.
Ow also faked dna paternity test.
He felt guilty, so he didn’t tell anything to the heroine and that was his mistake.
It’s a rape.
I don’t even want to hear people debating it because to assault a person while unconscious with evil purposes, it’s rape. He didn’t give his consent and he stopped when he realize what was happening.
He didn’t stop immediately but no, I don’t blame him at all, he was drunk and fuzzy, not totally capable of understanding the reality so he was reacting to a physical stimulus induced by another person. It could have been anyone else, even a man, and he would have reacted anyway.
He stopped after a few seconds, which makes him brave and strong, not weak.
I don’t like people blaming anyone who is assaulted without consent, and I don’t want to hear excuses. Maybe he shouldn’t have drunk that much, because he made himself vulnerable but he trusted the heroine and thought his bff was trustworthy too, so he drank in what he though was a protected and safe environment.
And anyway it’s awful to blame the victim, and the hero was a designated victim of an evil woman.
The heroine eventually forgives his lie, because that was what he was guilty of, I think that, had he been truthful and confessed what happened, she would have helped him and would have confronted ow.
But he was afraid he would lose her, so he lost her anyway.
He had to accept that what he did had consequences, because the heroine had a child from another man, and he lost years without her.
He was also celibate while she wasn’t of course.
I appreciated this different kind of story, where the heroine tries to move on and has a nice life without the hero and the hero pines and tries to know everything about her.
I liked that she totally ghosted and cut him out, while he tried to know everything about her, but was not able to find her.
I liked that she didn’t plan to be back with him.
I liked that she had a very nice sex with another man, a kind and charming stranger.
I liked that the heroine eventually forgives had to raise another man’s kid.
I didn’t like that he was so nice to ow when she was pregnant and tried to be there for her even if they were never together.
This is something I never like and understand and I don’t think a man is a good person if he plays dad to the woman that took advantage of him while drunk and ruined his marriage.
I respect and defend the right of a man who didn’t want children to avoid any contact with the child and the mother of his child, even if he’s forced to give alimony.
Because let’s be honest, it’s only the woman that decides and has all the powers about children.
And if a man says he doesn’t want the child, especially in situations where he’s tricked and trapped, he should not be forced to be a father.
But they always are.
And in real life, let me tell you this, men don’t react well to be forced into unwanted pregnancies.
Even those who are willing participant to the act, but maybe they were told it was safe, and they made it clear they didn’t want kids, they are never that willing to help, be there during scans, help before the kid is born. They often give just a financial aid, and maybe after the child has born they start coping. No judgement here, especially since it’s the woman that always decides if she will keep the child or not, and it’s ok, but she should also be the one to bear the consequences if the father doesn’t agree.
Men in similar situations are angry, hurt, they always reject something they don’t feel as a person yet. They don’t feel like it’s their choice.
It’s human.
So I didn’t like that the hero, realizing the heroine was lost to him, decided to be a model of good father to a child that basically was the cause of his failed marriage. This is not him being good, this is him being foolish and weak.
Just stay away and give her the money since she didn’t want to end the pregnancy, but she is not entitled to anything else, not his time, not his care, not emotional support.
Hers is the decision, hers is the weight of it.
Sadly this doesn’t happen, and he’s suddenly the patient, gentle and caring idiot ow thought he would be.
So after all I wasn’t even feeling that sorry that she tricked him, even if I can’t ever condone his rape.
I know I’m being unpopular but why keep writing about men that are that oh so happy to be father of a kid they never wanted and that caused only pain and hurt?
Is it realistic?
Is it fair?
No, it’s not and I don’t feel that he’s a better man because he behaves like the doting father, I think he’s betraying the heroine all over again.
Sue me.
But anyway the story is good, another new author from wattpad that is able to write emotional, interesting and angsty stories.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 30, 2025
Mercy Lake
This is a new to me author, but I know she is set to do a collaboration with some of my favorite new authors.(Kris m Davey, EJ Knight, Raegan Salander, and Mackenzie Madden)
This story was reccomended and I was able to read it right before it was taken off of Wattpad( I have since bought it). I like how she dared to do some different things with this story. This story had me raging(at the betrayal), crying(over love lost), laughing(at the sisters), cheering(at the downfall of evil doers), and sighing happily(over second chances) by the end.
Ok, so this story does contain cheating, however, the cheating part is to be debated.(I will get to that in the spoiler section)…BUT how the H handles the cheating afterwards is, in my opinion, the betrayal.
���Spoilers ahead🛑….If you do not want spoilers do not read anymore…If you read spoilers then just know I can’t capture the beauty and prose of the story as many details are left out. so still read the book!
This is the story of Owen and Alexis. They were high school sweethearts, and then married. They were each other’s firsts, including heartbreak. Everyone could see that they were each other’s endgame. She is a nurse and he a physiotherapist. Alexis asked Owen to help her bff Everly move. He really didn’t know Everly well, but it is his wife’s bff, and he loves his wife. One month later Everly shows up pregnant, and Owen is the father. The betrayal hits Alexis hard, and she leaves the small town to go live with her sister…no discussion, no looking back.
Betrayal alert: The fact that he didn’t tell Alexis immediately what happened and the circumstances around it, was the bigger betrayal in this book.
They get divorced. His name has been stricken from family conversations and she has no desire to know how he is getting on with Everly and their child. She rarely visits home, and the parents know that he is a moot topic. Once their divorce is final she finds herself in a bar, and an attractive man sensing her pain(he has pain of his own) proposes a one night stand. No names. No strings. It was one night, but it was the whole night 😜! The h ends up pregnant and gives birth to a son. Fast forward 4 1/2 years, the h and her sister head back home as their dad has suffered a stroke. It so happens that her ex, working at the hospital, bumps into her cute 3 year old son, then he sees her for the first time since the day she left. He still loves her…but what about Everly and their child? Well let’s just say they are no longer in the picture. Ok, I am enclosing this in spoilers, I highly recommend not to read it, go in blind on this.
The rest of the story I am going to leave out a lot as I have said so much already. Owen and Alexis are forced near each other as he is her dad’s therapist. She moves back home with her son, and Owen is close with his brother’s son. He ends up coaching a peewee soccer team and her son is on the team. He bonds with Austin. They fall back in love(they never were out of love just bruised for a while) Everly makes an appearance and Alexis deals with it beautifully. It also clears up the last of her hesitancy with Owen. Her and Owen go all in. The last epilogue shows them 11 years in the future at a medical conference. Austin is 11 and there are 2 more children in the mix. The guest speaker, a handsome older man looks very familiar, very, very familiar indeed……Don’t worry! This story has a beautiful conclusion, but the author does leave us a tidbit of a future story she has started on Patreon (latter to be released on kindle I am sure)
This was an excellent second chance story and had me running to check out the author’s other offerings. Currently reading Alexis sister’s story on Patreon, but when finished it will be released to Kindle. I like that the author tried some different things with the cheating trope. Her h was basically celibate except for the 1x as was the H. The H got to avenge some wrong doing. The H had to accept a child that was not his, as opposed to the h who always has to suck it up and deal. The h got the whole story and ended up doling out some of her own justice to the ow. It was just a well written story all around.
This is a new to me author, but I know she is set to do a collaboration with some of my favorite new authors.(Kris m Davey, EJ Knight, Raegan Salander, and Mackenzie Madden)
This story was reccomended and I was able to read it right before it was taken off of Wattpad( I have since bought it). I like how she dared to do some different things with this story. This story had me raging(at the betrayal), crying(over love lost), laughing(at the sisters), cheering(at the downfall of evil doers), and sighing happily(over second chances) by the end.
Ok, so this story does contain cheating, however, the cheating part is to be debated.(I will get to that in the spoiler section)…BUT how the H handles the cheating afterwards is, in my opinion, the betrayal.
���Spoilers ahead🛑….If you do not want spoilers do not read anymore…If you read spoilers then just know I can’t capture the beauty and prose of the story as many details are left out. so still read the book!
This is the story of Owen and Alexis. They were high school sweethearts, and then married. They were each other’s firsts, including heartbreak. Everyone could see that they were each other’s endgame. She is a nurse and he a physiotherapist. Alexis asked Owen to help her bff Everly move. He really didn’t know Everly well, but it is his wife’s bff, and he loves his wife. One month later Everly shows up pregnant, and Owen is the father. The betrayal hits Alexis hard, and she leaves the small town to go live with her sister…no discussion, no looking back.
Betrayal alert: The fact that he didn’t tell Alexis immediately what happened and the circumstances around it, was the bigger betrayal in this book.
They get divorced. His name has been stricken from family conversations and she has no desire to know how he is getting on with Everly and their child. She rarely visits home, and the parents know that he is a moot topic. Once their divorce is final she finds herself in a bar, and an attractive man sensing her pain(he has pain of his own) proposes a one night stand. No names. No strings. It was one night, but it was the whole night 😜! The h ends up pregnant and gives birth to a son. Fast forward 4 1/2 years, the h and her sister head back home as their dad has suffered a stroke. It so happens that her ex, working at the hospital, bumps into her cute 3 year old son, then he sees her for the first time since the day she left. He still loves her…but what about Everly and their child? Well let’s just say they are no longer in the picture. Ok, I am enclosing this in spoilers, I highly recommend not to read it, go in blind on this.
The rest of the story I am going to leave out a lot as I have said so much already. Owen and Alexis are forced near each other as he is her dad’s therapist. She moves back home with her son, and Owen is close with his brother’s son. He ends up coaching a peewee soccer team and her son is on the team. He bonds with Austin. They fall back in love(they never were out of love just bruised for a while) Everly makes an appearance and Alexis deals with it beautifully. It also clears up the last of her hesitancy with Owen. Her and Owen go all in. The last epilogue shows them 11 years in the future at a medical conference. Austin is 11 and there are 2 more children in the mix. The guest speaker, a handsome older man looks very familiar, very, very familiar indeed……Don’t worry! This story has a beautiful conclusion, but the author does leave us a tidbit of a future story she has started on Patreon (latter to be released on kindle I am sure)
This was an excellent second chance story and had me running to check out the author’s other offerings. Currently reading Alexis sister’s story on Patreon, but when finished it will be released to Kindle. I like that the author tried some different things with the cheating trope. Her h was basically celibate except for the 1x as was the H. The H got to avenge some wrong doing. The H had to accept a child that was not his, as opposed to the h who always has to suck it up and deal. The h got the whole story and ended up doling out some of her own justice to the ow. It was just a well written story all around.
August 10, 2025
The other reviews of this make me feel crazy.
Why is this series called sin & redemption when the sin from the MMC is that he got sexually assaulted/raped by the FMC's awful best friend and didn't know how to process or how to tell his wife? The fact that the author classifies this as "betrayal (considered cheating by some)" is disgusting. Just as a reminder to everyone, if you’re blackout drunk (not to mention thinking you’re with your wife) and barely coherent and literally asleep… you can’t consent to shit. I don’t want to see him grovel to anyone. I want the best friend to get arrested and the main characters to get therapy and heal together. But, years lost because of lack of communication from the FMC. Frustrating.
Also, what is up with that epilogue? Not lovin that.
Why is this series called sin & redemption when the sin from the MMC is that he got sexually assaulted/raped by the FMC's awful best friend and didn't know how to process or how to tell his wife? The fact that the author classifies this as "betrayal (considered cheating by some)" is disgusting. Just as a reminder to everyone, if you’re blackout drunk (not to mention thinking you’re with your wife) and barely coherent and literally asleep… you can’t consent to shit. I don’t want to see him grovel to anyone. I want the best friend to get arrested and the main characters to get therapy and heal together. But, years lost because of lack of communication from the FMC. Frustrating.
Also, what is up with that epilogue? Not lovin that.
June 19, 2025
only good thing in this book was that fmc had sex with om had his child even if it was only one time and that it will always serve as a reminder to the mmc that how much he fucked up.
June 15, 2025
This is the story of Owen and Alexis. They were high school sweethearts, and then married. They were each other’s firsts, including heartbreak. Everyone could see that they were each other’s endgame.
She is a nurse and he a physiotherapist.
Alexis asked Owen to help her BFF Everly move. He really didn’t know Everly well, but it is his wife’s BFF, and he loves his wife.
One month later Everly shows up pregnant, and Owen is the father.
The betrayal hits Alexis hard, and she leaves the small town to go live with her sister… no discussion, no looking back.
Basically, Owen got drunk. Everly kept plying him with alcohol. He ended up falling asleep on the couch. He woke up feeling aroused. Everly was on her hands and knees giving him a blow job. He called her Alexis and asked her to hop on board. She did and he went with it, and then he snapped out of it and threw her to the ground and left. He did take a minute to decide if to stop this— I blame this on him being drunk and half asleep. Almost a dream state. He should have let his wife know right away. He didn’t even finish the act.
He did not initiate sexual relations with Everly — she took advantage.
The fact that he didn’t tell Alexis immediately what happened, and the circumstances around it, was the bigger betrayal in this book.
They get divorced. His name is stricken from family conversations. Alexis has no desire to know how he is getting on with Everly and their child.
She rarely visits home, and the parents know that Owen is a moot topic.
Once the divorce is final, she finds herself in a bar. An attractive man sensing her pain proposes a one-night stand — no names, no strings.
It was one night… but it was the whole night! 😜
She ends up pregnant and gives birth to a son.
Fast forward 4½ years:
Alexis and her sister head back home as their dad has suffered a stroke.
Her ex, Owen, is working at the hospital as a physio and bumps into her cute 3-year-old son — sees her for the first time since the day she left.
He still loves her… but what about Everly and their child? Well, they are no longer in the picture.
More details:
(Owen did right by Everly — went to all the appointments.)
Everly was pushing for a relationship — even bringing up the night they “made love.”
But it was really two pumps, and he literally dumped her on the ground while getting sick.
He supported baby appointments, helped her with baby things, but never had a relationship with her and was disgusted by her.
Then:
Everly goes into labor a month early!!
There is a mystery man hanging around — you can guess where this is going.
She was pregnant before she went after Owen, because she was afraid she would be alone. She was jealous of Alexis and Owen and wanted security. She got him drunk. It was also helpful that her mom worked at a paternity testing site, so she could get altered results.
Owen goes off the rails — revenge on his mind.
He got Everly sent to jail (for tampering, not sexual assault).
The mom left town and the real baby daddy ran off with the child (a little girl) while Everly sat in jail. Justice was served.
Owen has been celibate all these years!
Owen and Alexis are forced near each other — he is her dad’s therapist. She moves back home with her son. Owen is close with his brother’s son — he ends up coaching a peewee soccer team, and Alexis’s son is on the team. He bonds with Austin. They fall back in love (they were never out of love — just bruised for a while).
Everly makes an appearance — Alexis deals with it beautifully. This clears up the last of her hesitancy with Owen. They go all in.
Epilogue:
Shows them 11 years in the future at a medical conference. Austin is 11 and there are two more children in the mix.
A guest speaker — a handsome older man — looks very familiar… you can guess who it is, Austin’s real dad.
She is a nurse and he a physiotherapist.
Alexis asked Owen to help her BFF Everly move. He really didn’t know Everly well, but it is his wife’s BFF, and he loves his wife.
One month later Everly shows up pregnant, and Owen is the father.
The betrayal hits Alexis hard, and she leaves the small town to go live with her sister… no discussion, no looking back.
Basically, Owen got drunk. Everly kept plying him with alcohol. He ended up falling asleep on the couch. He woke up feeling aroused. Everly was on her hands and knees giving him a blow job. He called her Alexis and asked her to hop on board. She did and he went with it, and then he snapped out of it and threw her to the ground and left. He did take a minute to decide if to stop this— I blame this on him being drunk and half asleep. Almost a dream state. He should have let his wife know right away. He didn’t even finish the act.
He did not initiate sexual relations with Everly — she took advantage.
The fact that he didn’t tell Alexis immediately what happened, and the circumstances around it, was the bigger betrayal in this book.
They get divorced. His name is stricken from family conversations. Alexis has no desire to know how he is getting on with Everly and their child.
She rarely visits home, and the parents know that Owen is a moot topic.
Once the divorce is final, she finds herself in a bar. An attractive man sensing her pain proposes a one-night stand — no names, no strings.
It was one night… but it was the whole night! 😜
She ends up pregnant and gives birth to a son.
Fast forward 4½ years:
Alexis and her sister head back home as their dad has suffered a stroke.
Her ex, Owen, is working at the hospital as a physio and bumps into her cute 3-year-old son — sees her for the first time since the day she left.
He still loves her… but what about Everly and their child? Well, they are no longer in the picture.
More details:
(Owen did right by Everly — went to all the appointments.)
Everly was pushing for a relationship — even bringing up the night they “made love.”
But it was really two pumps, and he literally dumped her on the ground while getting sick.
He supported baby appointments, helped her with baby things, but never had a relationship with her and was disgusted by her.
Then:
Everly goes into labor a month early!!
There is a mystery man hanging around — you can guess where this is going.
She was pregnant before she went after Owen, because she was afraid she would be alone. She was jealous of Alexis and Owen and wanted security. She got him drunk. It was also helpful that her mom worked at a paternity testing site, so she could get altered results.
Owen goes off the rails — revenge on his mind.
He got Everly sent to jail (for tampering, not sexual assault).
The mom left town and the real baby daddy ran off with the child (a little girl) while Everly sat in jail. Justice was served.
Owen has been celibate all these years!
Owen and Alexis are forced near each other — he is her dad’s therapist. She moves back home with her son. Owen is close with his brother’s son — he ends up coaching a peewee soccer team, and Alexis’s son is on the team. He bonds with Austin. They fall back in love (they were never out of love — just bruised for a while).
Everly makes an appearance — Alexis deals with it beautifully. This clears up the last of her hesitancy with Owen. They go all in.
Epilogue:
Shows them 11 years in the future at a medical conference. Austin is 11 and there are two more children in the mix.
A guest speaker — a handsome older man — looks very familiar… you can guess who it is, Austin’s real dad.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2026
Check your triggers! SA involved
I'm giving a lower rating simply for not having these warnings upfront, ahead of time, BEFORE downloading the book and clicking the link to open warnings. One of the other books in the series brought me to this author but when I realized it was a series, I decided to start at the top even though they are standalones. If I knew this trigger upfront I would've just started with the book I came for.
This was a fast paced novella, which I didn't mind, but I also didn't connect as much with the characters as I have with other novellas. Maybe if it were a full book with more build up and character development? I'm not going to write off this author yet. It was a different book that got me here so I'll go read that and see how I feel then.
Spoilers...
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IDK if I'd call it cheating.. It was on-page, P in V but he was not fully coherent and therefore SA'd. He called out his wife's name thinking it was her. OW took him and hopped on. One pump and his upper brain rebooted. It took a minute for it to come online and he realized it's OW, not wife. He takes the next pump knowing it before he finally acts, throws her off and scrambled out of there. What happens next is where I believe is the betrayal. He doesn't tell his wife and she finds out when the OW drops the bomb. I get that he probably didn't see it as SA at the time so he didn't want to confess. After all the trauma they do work their way back to each other with an HEA. Now there is a teeny bit of an adjacent cliffhanger that doesn't affect their HEA but does get me wondering how this character comes back into the fold.
I'm giving a lower rating simply for not having these warnings upfront, ahead of time, BEFORE downloading the book and clicking the link to open warnings. One of the other books in the series brought me to this author but when I realized it was a series, I decided to start at the top even though they are standalones. If I knew this trigger upfront I would've just started with the book I came for.
This was a fast paced novella, which I didn't mind, but I also didn't connect as much with the characters as I have with other novellas. Maybe if it were a full book with more build up and character development? I'm not going to write off this author yet. It was a different book that got me here so I'll go read that and see how I feel then.
Spoilers...
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IDK if I'd call it cheating.. It was on-page, P in V but he was not fully coherent and therefore SA'd. He called out his wife's name thinking it was her. OW took him and hopped on. One pump and his upper brain rebooted. It took a minute for it to come online and he realized it's OW, not wife. He takes the next pump knowing it before he finally acts, throws her off and scrambled out of there. What happens next is where I believe is the betrayal. He doesn't tell his wife and she finds out when the OW drops the bomb. I get that he probably didn't see it as SA at the time so he didn't want to confess. After all the trauma they do work their way back to each other with an HEA. Now there is a teeny bit of an adjacent cliffhanger that doesn't affect their HEA but does get me wondering how this character comes back into the fold.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 8, 2025
Some potential spoilers 👇
Honestly I quite liked this one!! I love when the FMC swiftly and savagely cuts the MMC out of her life and leaves him a sobbing mess on the floor. Which is exactly what happens here lol I loved that she made him wait years and years until he got a chance for redemption and that she wasn’t celibate the whole time
Also love how savage the MMC is with the OW. She was the worstttttttt!!! The MMC’s cheating wasn’t SO bad that I felt that he didn’t have any chance of redemption. I think the fact that he thought it was Alexis at first and was so drunk he couldn’t have consented initially helped. I did feel bad for how easily he fell into Everly’s trap but he sure was stupid as fuck to let her continue even thought it was like 2 seconds. AND he kept the secret for a month 😭
I think how the MMC treats the OW after the fallout majorly determines their forgiveable-ness for me. Like if he isn’t immediately repulsed by their presence and makes it known to everyone then I don’t want him 😂😂 that’s why it was so satisfying when Owen told Everly straight up to her face that he would never love her and that he hopes she will never be happy LOL
anyway. This was a highly satisfying cheating/second chance story. Love that Alexis didn’t stand for any bullshit and love how much Owen grovelled and waited in misery 💯
The only thing for me was the ending? The last sentence was so confusing?! What did she mean her life would never be the same and that she had endless possibilities?? Like why would seeing her baby daddy make her think that. Can anyone explain 😭
Honestly I quite liked this one!! I love when the FMC swiftly and savagely cuts the MMC out of her life and leaves him a sobbing mess on the floor. Which is exactly what happens here lol I loved that she made him wait years and years until he got a chance for redemption and that she wasn’t celibate the whole time
Also love how savage the MMC is with the OW. She was the worstttttttt!!! The MMC’s cheating wasn’t SO bad that I felt that he didn’t have any chance of redemption. I think the fact that he thought it was Alexis at first and was so drunk he couldn’t have consented initially helped. I did feel bad for how easily he fell into Everly’s trap but he sure was stupid as fuck to let her continue even thought it was like 2 seconds. AND he kept the secret for a month 😭
I think how the MMC treats the OW after the fallout majorly determines their forgiveable-ness for me. Like if he isn’t immediately repulsed by their presence and makes it known to everyone then I don’t want him 😂😂 that’s why it was so satisfying when Owen told Everly straight up to her face that he would never love her and that he hopes she will never be happy LOL
anyway. This was a highly satisfying cheating/second chance story. Love that Alexis didn’t stand for any bullshit and love how much Owen grovelled and waited in misery 💯
The only thing for me was the ending? The last sentence was so confusing?! What did she mean her life would never be the same and that she had endless possibilities?? Like why would seeing her baby daddy make her think that. Can anyone explain 😭
Read
August 10, 2025this was exactly what i thought it was ? idk what the author meant by saying it's not what it seems when it literally is .
unfortunately this infact has on page cheating , he woke up to ow giving him a BJ, he thought it was his wife but when she went to ride him and he saw that she was another woman he didn't shove her off right away, due to the fact that he was in " intense pleasure" DESPITE knowing that it was not his wife.
“It’s hard to reconcile… I could easily use Everly as an excuse, but her shitty actions don’t cancel out my own.”I was fully aware, cognitive and in control of my actions. At that point, I still … We still—”
“You still continued … to fuck her,” I said, defeated.
Owen shook his head. “When I got my shit together, I ran out of there straight away. I didn’t even… I didn’t come.”
“Like that’s supposed to mean anything!” I spat.
Shit, shit, shit. This isn’t the way it was supposed to go.
but instead of telling his wife that he fucked her bff and knocked her, he lied for a month until the ow decided to barge in and tell he ow claims he got her pregnant, wife leaves, turns out the baby wasn't his, he stays celibate and a few years later he works it out with his wife.
motherfucker also had the audacity to be angry at her for leaving and not talking to him after he cheated like is he stupid???
edit: i hate that i was convinced to reread this but at least i got more info
safety:
obviously this has on page cheating
and fmc gets pregnant by another man while seperated from the mmc
unfortunately this infact has on page cheating , he woke up to ow giving him a BJ, he thought it was his wife but when she went to ride him and he saw that she was another woman he didn't shove her off right away, due to the fact that he was in " intense pleasure" DESPITE knowing that it was not his wife.
“It’s hard to reconcile… I could easily use Everly as an excuse, but her shitty actions don’t cancel out my own.”I was fully aware, cognitive and in control of my actions. At that point, I still … We still—”
“You still continued … to fuck her,” I said, defeated.
Owen shook his head. “When I got my shit together, I ran out of there straight away. I didn’t even… I didn’t come.”
“Like that’s supposed to mean anything!” I spat.
Shit, shit, shit. This isn’t the way it was supposed to go.
but instead of telling his wife that he fucked her bff and knocked her, he lied for a month until the ow decided to barge in and tell he ow claims he got her pregnant, wife leaves, turns out the baby wasn't his, he stays celibate and a few years later he works it out with his wife.
motherfucker also had the audacity to be angry at her for leaving and not talking to him after he cheated like is he stupid???
edit: i hate that i was convinced to reread this but at least i got more info
safety:
obviously this has on page cheating
and fmc gets pregnant by another man while seperated from the mmc
July 2, 2025
3.5 stars Read for the angst, but it wasn't quite as angsty as I was expecting. I don't condone Owen lying by omission about not wanting to have kids and also about the "cheating". I hate that he didn't just talk to Alexis the next day an tell her the truth. I'm not actually sure I consider this cheating since he was actually raped. Alexis's best friend knew Owen thought she was Alexis; he even called her name. Also, he realized what was happening and after a moment stopped and threw the ow off of him. He didn't finish, yet he assumed he was her baby daddy and believed her when she said the lab her mom worked at confirmed he's the baby daddy via DNA testing?! After she already went behind his back and told Alexis when he asked to tell her himself. She's clearly a conniving bitch. I just think Owen was TSTL. But I love that Owen came around to having kids and was a good father to Alexis's baby with another man.
And the reason for the ow trying to trap him, and the true baby daddy showing up and taking responsibility was kind of insane, and the ow just like I'm sorry I just wanted my baby to have a father?! I don't remember the exact scenario, but I don't get why she couldn't just be a single parent? I'm sure Alexis and Owen would've helped her if the baby daddy refused to be involved. Glad she got her comeuppance and the real baby daddy ditched her, married someone else and was happy without her, and I think she also was in jail and no longer allowed to see her child.
And the reason for the ow trying to trap him, and the true baby daddy showing up and taking responsibility was kind of insane, and the ow just like I'm sorry I just wanted my baby to have a father?! I don't remember the exact scenario, but I don't get why she couldn't just be a single parent? I'm sure Alexis and Owen would've helped her if the baby daddy refused to be involved. Glad she got her comeuppance and the real baby daddy ditched her, married someone else and was happy without her, and I think she also was in jail and no longer allowed to see her child.
September 25, 2025
I really enjoyed this story because it has such an unusual plotline and beautiful writing. Owen and Alexis are high school sweethearts who have married and started their life and professional careers. Alexis asks Owen to help her BFF Everly move without knowing that she is setting him up by getting him drunk afterwards with a plan that will ruin the marriage.
Owen isn't smart enough to tell Alexis the truth and it probably wouldn't have mattered when Everly claims she got pregnant even though he didn't finish but threw her off when he came completely to his senses.
I really hated to see the pain and suffering they both went through as Alexis moves away to escape seeing Owen and Everly and their child and forbids her family to mention him. Lets just say that things weren't what they looked like and the OW is served the justice she deserves. This was one of the highlights of the book and I promise you will enjoy it.
While away Alexis had a one night stand and got pregnant herself so we get to see a situation where the HEA requires the H to accept his wife's child as his own. Anyway there is a gap in the story before Alexis returns to town due to a health scare for her father and learns the full truth. Owen messed up but he didn't want or plan to cheat, he was set up and sexually assaulted.
Anyway, when these two meet again it is awesome to read the slow growth to come together again as a family and the love between all three of them.
Owen isn't smart enough to tell Alexis the truth and it probably wouldn't have mattered when Everly claims she got pregnant even though he didn't finish but threw her off when he came completely to his senses.
I really hated to see the pain and suffering they both went through as Alexis moves away to escape seeing Owen and Everly and their child and forbids her family to mention him. Lets just say that things weren't what they looked like and the OW is served the justice she deserves. This was one of the highlights of the book and I promise you will enjoy it.
While away Alexis had a one night stand and got pregnant herself so we get to see a situation where the HEA requires the H to accept his wife's child as his own. Anyway there is a gap in the story before Alexis returns to town due to a health scare for her father and learns the full truth. Owen messed up but he didn't want or plan to cheat, he was set up and sexually assaulted.
Anyway, when these two meet again it is awesome to read the slow growth to come together again as a family and the love between all three of them.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
So I hardly ever write out reviews I just rate the books and I never rate a book I didn’t finish. I would also like to add that I love the cheating trope in a book with that being said this is not cheating that man was raped. That man was way too drunk thanks to the ow who kept giving him drinks he was out of it as she was doing stuff with her mouth on him. He believed it was his wife and said her name out loud and told (wife’s name) to get on it. The ow was completely naked when he opened his eyes and his pants were just open she wasn’t as out of it as him she knew what she was doing (there was a look of triumph and lust in her eyes) and shortly after coming too he pushed her off fixed his pants and ran out of there. That’s rape plain and simple. If the sexes were reversed no one would hesitate to call it rape. I haven’t finished the book but it really pissed me off so far I’ll try to finish and come back and see if my opinion changes on this book
Ok so now that I’ve finished the book I can say it all came together and I’m glad I kept going everyone finally realized that it was an assault I still don’t think the ow got enough punishment and the last bit at the end was a total wtf moment . But overall I’m happy with the ending and I’m glad they made their way back to each other
Ok so now that I’ve finished the book I can say it all came together and I’m glad I kept going everyone finally realized that it was an assault I still don’t think the ow got enough punishment and the last bit at the end was a total wtf moment . But overall I’m happy with the ending and I’m glad they made their way back to each other
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 19, 2025
TW: SA/rape
I feel like I am taking crazy pills. I cannot believe the other reviews that say MMC cheated. He was raped! It first shouldn’t be called an infidelity novel. Had it been reversed, had his friend invited FMC to dinner with ulterior motives, knowing she had a low tolerance plied her with wine, and attacked while she was unconscious, people would be in an uproar. Yes his body biologically reacted but once his brain processed he pushed her away.
My issue isn’t SA in the story. My issue is the author’s handling of it. Maybe if we saw him working through his trauma in therapy it would feel more resolved. Instead it’s a time skip and he’s all better? Maybe more on how it’s harder for male victims to be believed?
I won’t lie FMC annoyed me. I get some people’s immediate reaction is flight but to never hear him out for 10 min in all those years is crazy. Cause even if he did cheat, she’s not getting closure that way.
Like MMC said she was a victim too. I think she needed therapy as well
I think it could have been fleshed out a little bit more.
And that second epilogue was rude lol. To have a grenade that could upset their happy family being tossed at the end with no resolution was mean.
I’m still willing to read the author’s other works though if that says anything.
I feel like I am taking crazy pills. I cannot believe the other reviews that say MMC cheated. He was raped! It first shouldn’t be called an infidelity novel. Had it been reversed, had his friend invited FMC to dinner with ulterior motives, knowing she had a low tolerance plied her with wine, and attacked while she was unconscious, people would be in an uproar. Yes his body biologically reacted but once his brain processed he pushed her away.
My issue isn’t SA in the story. My issue is the author’s handling of it. Maybe if we saw him working through his trauma in therapy it would feel more resolved. Instead it’s a time skip and he’s all better? Maybe more on how it’s harder for male victims to be believed?
I won’t lie FMC annoyed me. I get some people’s immediate reaction is flight but to never hear him out for 10 min in all those years is crazy. Cause even if he did cheat, she’s not getting closure that way.
Like MMC said she was a victim too. I think she needed therapy as well
I think it could have been fleshed out a little bit more.
And that second epilogue was rude lol. To have a grenade that could upset their happy family being tossed at the end with no resolution was mean.
I’m still willing to read the author’s other works though if that says anything.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2025
3.5 stars for me...I liked this book it's a good book.
It's a story about how a selfish bitch of a friend of the heroine takes advantage of the hero , gets him drunk and SA'ed him and then claimed she was pregnant by him. He doesn't tell the heroine what happened with him instead the evil OW tells her that she is pregnant with her husband's baby. The heroine loses her shit and runs away she divorces the hero without any communication with him. The hero is devastated and is depressed but ready to take responsibility for the baby but when the baby is born he comes to know that it's not his and he loses his shit! Years later he is still recovering from depression and sees the heroine when she comes back for her dad who is in hospital.
They still love each other but there are lots of issues between them. They finally communicate with each other and try to date and work out their relationship taking their time. I wish the heroine would have talked to him a lot sooner but she said not talking about him was the only way she could survive. anyways they resolve their issues and are together and have 3 kids in the epilogue.
It's a story about how a selfish bitch of a friend of the heroine takes advantage of the hero , gets him drunk and SA'ed him and then claimed she was pregnant by him. He doesn't tell the heroine what happened with him instead the evil OW tells her that she is pregnant with her husband's baby. The heroine loses her shit and runs away she divorces the hero without any communication with him. The hero is devastated and is depressed but ready to take responsibility for the baby but when the baby is born he comes to know that it's not his and he loses his shit! Years later he is still recovering from depression and sees the heroine when she comes back for her dad who is in hospital.
They still love each other but there are lots of issues between them. They finally communicate with each other and try to date and work out their relationship taking their time. I wish the heroine would have talked to him a lot sooner but she said not talking about him was the only way she could survive. anyways they resolve their issues and are together and have 3 kids in the epilogue.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 16, 2025
3 1/2 or 4 stars. Strong beginning but then once the H tries to woo the h to reconcile the level of angst plateaus. The H and h are married. The h asks the H to help her best friend with some furniture. She has promised to help and only remembered when she was out of town. The H spends the day, gets invited to dinner and gets very drunk. The best friend/OW made advances throughout the day that the H ignored. Much later he mistakes the OW for his wife when he realizes he's getting a BJ. The OW straddles him but he pushes her away when he becomes aware of who she is. For a month he struggles to come clean with h. Then the OW confronts him and reveals that she is pregnant. Out of patience waiting for the H to tell the h, the OW hits the h with news of the H's infidelity and her pregnancy.
The h goes to live with her sister, has a ONS and has a child. The H gets revenge on the OW when he learns more about how deep her machinations ran. The OW gets jail time. When the h returns four years later she learns information that changes her view of what happened.
The h goes to live with her sister, has a ONS and has a child. The H gets revenge on the OW when he learns more about how deep her machinations ran. The OW gets jail time. When the h returns four years later she learns information that changes her view of what happened.
August 14, 2025
This is an MF second chance romance and is book one of the Sin & Redemption series. This was a 5-star 1 spice read for me! Tropes include: small town, infidelity, betrayal, heartbreak, healing, mental health rep, growth, second chance, HEA. This story is unlike any other that V has written and I loved it! This was a crazy emotional read and I couldn’t put it down! I somehow managed to only cry once. This story is so real. It’s beautiful.
!! Spoilers Ahead !!
Alexis’ (FMC) whole world is shattered when her so-called best friend confesses her one-night stand with her husband, Owen (MMC). Not only did the love of her life cheat on her, but the woman sitting in front of her says she’s pregnant. Time to check out of the Heartbreak Hotel.
Owen knows he needs to come clean. Where does he start? This doesn’t even make sense to him. Once Alexis leaves him though, the plot thickens, and rage comes with the answers he has so desperately been seeking. Now what? His life is over. How can he move on?
!! Spoilers Ahead !!
Alexis’ (FMC) whole world is shattered when her so-called best friend confesses her one-night stand with her husband, Owen (MMC). Not only did the love of her life cheat on her, but the woman sitting in front of her says she’s pregnant. Time to check out of the Heartbreak Hotel.
Owen knows he needs to come clean. Where does he start? This doesn’t even make sense to him. Once Alexis leaves him though, the plot thickens, and rage comes with the answers he has so desperately been seeking. Now what? His life is over. How can he move on?
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