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Shattered Dreams

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BETRAYAL. HEARTBREAK. DEVASTATION.

He had a wife who loved him. A daughter who adored him. So why the betrayal? Wasn’t I enough?

Roman Muller—NFL superstar, devoted husband, and proud father—had everything.

Until he made a mistake he couldn’t undo.

When he tries to cut ties with the other woman, she goes to the media with proof of the affair. With his perfect image crumbling, Roman is forced to do the one thing he dreads confess everything to his wife, Ava.

Ava Muller thought she was living the dream—gorgeous home, fairytale romance, and the little girl who made them whole. She believed in Roman, despite his past. She believed he’d changed.

But some betrayals shatter more than trust—they fracture the very foundation of love.

Now, with her heart in ruins and the world watching, Ava has to make an impossible
Fight for the man who broke her.
Or walk away from the life they built.

Shattered Dreams is a raw, emotional marriage-in-crisis romance about lies, redemption, and the wreckage left behind when love is tested to its limits.

240 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 15, 2025

1004 people are currently reading
356 people want to read

About the author

Linzvonc

53 books526 followers
Linzvonc is a bestselling author with readers all over the globe. She loves nothing more than snuggling up with her fur babies and creating characters just for her readers. She studied an English Literature and Creative Writing degree level before becoming a writer as her full-time job. She believes there is no real way to write-and to write what you would like to read. If we all tried to do what others do, there wouldn't ever be room for change, and there must always be room for that.

Join Linzvonc's Ream to access new, ongoing works before they are published anywhere else, along with exciting secret announcements!

https://reamstories.com/page/ld4o7ywqjj

Alternatively, join the facebook group especially for Linz's readers: https://tinyurl.com/2b9cm4rr

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 230 reviews
Profile Image for Danny Lea.
799 reviews12 followers
August 16, 2025
Sorry for the low review. I hate revenge cheating in books and this is what this was. There's also an immaturity in the writing I just can't ignore. So if you like revenge cheating from the wife maybe this is for you. I'm more vindictive and wouldn't use sex with multiple partners to get back at my husband. Financial, public humiliation, that's the type of woman I am. Also, everyone saying what a great mom she was... ah, no. She left for a week just so she could screw her bff to feel like a woman again. I'm sorry having monkey sex does not equal womanhood. It's shallow. Dancing naked under a full moon with my sisterhood would. Then there's the H. A beta boy who isn't comfortable not being the center of attention. Weak ass, and I just can't take them anymore. THIS author tried to throw open sex as feminity and that's just gross to me. h should have gone to therapy them divorced him. Let him see her living a good Life with a man who cared deeply for her. Not turning into a sleaze. They're completely equal now. So disappointed with this. Her walking into the sunset with Kieron should have happened. Angry, hot monkey sex doesn't equal redemption....


I release this review comes across as angry. I'm not. This is worse. It's disappointment 😂. Also, grovel was too short from the H. Author should have focused there instead with actions. psychologically speaking. The H's cheating brought out who the herione truly was, and I did not like who she became.
Profile Image for Vintage.
2,723 reviews731 followers
August 30, 2025
I hated this.

The heroine takes the what is good for the goose is good for the gander approach to his cheating by cheating and using her male best friend (and ditches him) then goes out with a doctor.

The hero reacts poorly which is the only reason he confessed, then proceeds to beat the second OM up. He then loses his NFL sponsors and is suspended. Let's be clear, he is punished for the beat down, not for cheating on his loving wife, destroying his family and being outed by his influencer side piece. Their poor daughter would be better off raised by wolves. They get back together with no counseling but a good session of sex. The hero does a little counseling on his own, but pfff.

The only reason it gets a second star is the revenge the h gets on the influencer mistress. Pretty funny. No one dies.
Profile Image for A.
3 reviews1 follower
August 15, 2025
this is the worst thing i’ve read in a minute lol i only feel bad for the daughter.
Profile Image for Beeg Panda.
1,629 reviews583 followers
November 9, 2025
Author went THERE 👏🏼:
✓h has a fantastic lover - the one man the H canNOT stand
✓h decides to date without being pushed into it by wild wine-waving besties
✓h takes him DOWN. Then one step further: rockbottom
✓h wrecks the ow’s world. Shreds it to bits. Spectacularly.
✓h smiles while doing it all
✓h picks herself up before their reconciliation

Missing for me:
〰️Full infidelity disclosure process, particularly as he consciously took time away from h and their child to spend with his affair partner
〰️Closure re her bff/1-week-fwb
〰️H has too many inconclusive reasons, excuses and “I don’t know”s - for why he cheats.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Tmstprc.
1,312 reviews171 followers
August 16, 2025
I can’t explain why this didn’t work for me.

Cheating husband, revenge seeking wife, entitled OW. Karma filled drama. It really should have worked.

2 star story an extra star for Poppy.
Profile Image for Марія Маргуліс.
Author 2 books722 followers
November 20, 2025
Таке враження, що перед публікацією цю книжку ніхто жодного разу не вичитав.
Profile Image for Kathleen  Lemke (Kathy Page).
634 reviews5 followers
August 16, 2025
My rating: 3 stars

What I loved: I loved the gut punch when Roman(H) tells Ava(h) he cheated on her. I really liked how the ow lost everything. I also liked how Ava got even by being with her best friend and going on a date with another guy (I hate when the heroine doesn’t get to have fun when the hero does). Ava’s emotions were all over the place and I felt the author’s representation of a woman getting cheated on was good (even if I wouldn’t have done certain things).

What I didn’t like: I wanted more about the best friend at the end. He just disappeared. Also, I wanted to know what happened with Roman’s career. Lastly, there was some time issues and errors that made me confused with certain parts of the story.

***Major Spoilers/ Details/Triggers: Cheating. H and h have been married I believe for ten years and have a daughter together. H plays professional football. H is out and h is home with their daughter when she sends him a text he tells her that he is on his way home and to not answer her phone or door. When H gets home he tells the h that he had been having an affair with a 21 years old woman. H had broken it off and the woman sold her story to the tabloids along with pictures of them together. h kicks him out. The ow tells the tabloids that she thought the H was getting a divorce. h shuts down but her family and best friend come to help out. When h’s male best friend comes, he tells the h that he always had feelings for her. h and the best friend have sex. When H sees the h coming out of a hotel he sees her meet up with the best friend. H gets mad and h tells him he has no right. She also lets him know that she had sex with the best friend and she will continue to do so. H wants the h back and tries to talk to the h. h goes away with the best friend and leaves the daughter with the H. When she comes back again the H tries getting the h to listen and begs for her forgiveness. They have sex but h tells him that it will never happen again. H and h stay at the house but the h basically ignores him. When h lets him know she is going on a date the H gets upset. He goes to the restaurant and confronts the h and om. H starts beating up the om and of course someone video it. H’s sponsors start to drop him and the league suspends him from playing. He moves out, while h decides to empower herself and tells her side of the story. h leaks texts proving the ow was a liar and knew that the H was never going to leave the h. Ow, who is a model, ends up being dropped and loses her place. H goes to therapy and posts how wrong he was and he is trying to be better. H writes a letter to the h. h also sees the videos he posted. When H texts the h asking her to go to dinner, the h agrees. H and h talk and he tells her how he let things go to his head and he was just waiting for something to go wrong. He convinced himself that he was bored and sabotage their relationship. H and h decide to work things out. HEA with them happy and H asking the h to marry him again/renew their vows since they are still married.

Final thoughts: This was an ok read for me. Some errors that made me do a double look made it rough to truly enjoy the story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for beca.
117 reviews9 followers
August 15, 2025
2.5⭐️
Possibly the best groveling I've ever read in a cheating plot
344 reviews1 follower
August 20, 2025
This book had a lot of promise but I'm afraid it just didn't deliver as far as I was concerned.

I liked Ava at the beginning of this book but as it went on, I disliked her. Not just because I loathe the revenge cheating thing (I know he cheated first but it made her no better than him). Not just because although actions do have consequences (and the OW was a nasty little liar) I don't think people deserve to lose all their income or be made homeless because of it. Not just because she kept dumping her child on other people while she went about having her revenge hookups. I didn't like the way she chucked him out and then let him come back in to the house but just completely ignored him -"either divorce him or don't divorce him.

But because I thought at times she was a hypocrite and also lied to herself.

"They want to interview me. Not about Roman. About me". Except they wanted to interview her about her reaction to him.

"I didn't drag them through the mud on social media or take to the microphone to burn everything down in a blaze of public fury."

But she did - she just used an intermediary to do it. (It would have been far more honest to have said these are the texts I found on my husband's phone, the OW is a liar.)

When Roman starts going to therapy and makes post on his IG account

" I should be furious that he's airing our business, using our pain for content ..."

But she's actually doing the same thing by
building a career out of her reaction to the infidelity.

She spends a whole week away shagging her best friend although she knows he's in love with her and then he just disappears and goes back to England and that's it?

I also thought their reconciliation was far too quick and what happened in the end about his career?, Admittedly at 32 he's already very much average age for NFL retirement so it might not have gone on much longer but I'd like to know if he redeemed himself publicly.

Romans

Maybe it's an American thing but I am of an age where I have seen plenty of scandals here in the UK with sports stars or famous people cheating and they certainly haven't been canceled in such an extreme way so I found some of it a bit farfetched.

Roman's behaviour with the affair was awful but he did suffer and I liked that very much. I thought his grovel was pretty good although as I've said the reconciliation came very quickly too quickly.
Profile Image for --Keres--.
169 reviews4 followers
August 15, 2025
I’m a total sucker for the cheating trope when it’s done right—emotional wreckage, power shifts, and redemption that’s earned. Shattered Dreams delivers the messy, raw emotion I crave, but I wanted way more grovel to balance the betrayal.

Trope
✅ Second chance romance
✅ NFL star
✅ Scorned wife
✅ Family dynamics
✅ Marriage in crisis
✅ Emotional healing


📖 Storyline
Ava’s world implodes when her NFL husband trades his family for an influencer. Picking up the pieces means protecting her daughter and reclaiming her own life. But when he starts fighting for a second chance, she’s torn between the love they once shared and the betrayal that cut so deep. Can shattered trust ever be rebuilt—or is love never enough without accountability?

🎭 Characters
Ava’s strength and her fierce bond with her daughter were the emotional core. Her husband’s remorse was believable and his efforts felt genuine, but the grovel arc barely had time to breathe. I wanted to watch him sweat for it—more uncomfortable conversations, more proving himself, more scenes where Ava held all the cards.

✒️ Writing/Pacing
Emotionally charged and grounded in realism, with a pace that kept me invested. But the final act rushed through what should have been the most satisfying part—the full emotional payoff and redemption.

💭 Final Thoughts
A raw, heartfelt, second chance romance that nails the pain of infidelity and the hope of rebuilding—just not enough time spent on the grovel to truly make the redemption sing.

🖤 Who Would Love This
💀 Fans of second chance romances with grit
💀 Readers who love emotionally complex couples
💀 Anyone who enjoys seeing a heroine rise from the ashes
💀 Romance lovers who don’t need everything tied up in a bow
💀 People who crave family-centered drama and healing arcs
Profile Image for Amee.
857 reviews55 followers
September 15, 2025
Cheater, second chance trope. NFL star MMC cheats due to boredom so FMC goes on a revenge tour to hit back at him where it hurts. Don’t get me wrong, revenge plots are entertaining to me sure, but not when you do it at the expense of a best friend you claim to love, and who you knows has been in love with you for years!! FMC lost me when she used her pain from husbands cheating, as justification for using her BFF to make her feel better. I wouldn’t have cared if she slept with every Tom, Dick and Harry to help relieve the pain from her husbands affair, but she used her male best friend, who she knew always was in love with her. Low lady.
Profile Image for Linda.
1,188 reviews25 followers
August 18, 2025
This was a well written book with a lot of feelings and angst. The H was caught in an affair and while his wife was devastated, his family was waiting to see how long it would be before he messed up his 'next good thing' as that had always been his pattern. Despite his wife and daughter, athletic achievements and money, he felt like he did not deserve any of it and was always waiting for the next failure.

I felt the wife went from being a loving mother and wife to a woman seeking shallow sexual gratification to prove her worth as a woman. Yes, I am not a supporter of casual, meaningless sex as it dilutes emotions and, for me, morality. I did appreciate her taking out the OW and using her experiences to become stronger and a role model.

Poppy was the reason for the extra star. Good story telling and it held my interest.
366 reviews16 followers
August 18, 2025

I came across this book on TikTok. The advert highlighted marriage struggles, cheating, and a second chance, which are usually my favourite tropes. After reading a few reviews, I decided to give it a try.

The story follows Ava and Roman, who have been married for years. Roman is a successful NHL player, and right from the start he comes home and confesses to Ava that he has been having an affair. The mistress, Annie, a young influencer, goes to the press after he tries to end things. Ava is devastated — Roman is the love of her life, and they also share a young daughter. She tells him to leave and, while her family rallies around her, she is broken but determined to move forward. Roman insists he never loved Annie and only loves Ava, but the affair had been going on for months.

From there, Ava begins to rebuild herself. She files for divorce, sees a lawyer, and even hooks up with her best friend Kieran a couple of times, although strangely he disappears from the story afterwards. Roman, meanwhile, spirals. He loses sponsors, his team drops him, and his career falls apart after he lashes out at one of Ava’s dates. Ava refuses to let herself be humiliated and even exposes Annie’s lies, proving Annie knew he was married all along. Roman eventually goes to therapy and begs for another chance. Just before the divorce is finalised, Ava agrees to try again if he’s willing to put in the work, and the epilogue shows them happy and rebuilding their relationship.

This book wasn’t bad, but I felt like something was missing. Roman’s reasons for cheating never really made sense to me. He blamed boredom and his upbringing, but that didn’t justify a months-long affair. There’s even a flashback where he admits he always ended up in bed with Annie when trying to break things off, which just made him look weak. Ava also never asked the kind of realistic questions you’d expect, like whether there were others or about safe sex, and that absence stood out. The whole Kieran subplot felt unfinished too — he admitted he loved her, they slept together, and then he just vanished without closure.

I did like that the story didn’t drag out endless other woman drama and instead focused more on Ava’s growth and Roman’s grovelling. Ava’s strength and resilience were the highlight of the book, but I struggled to feel a genuine emotional connection between her and Roman after everything that happened.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Serialbookstarter:Marla.
1,240 reviews89 followers
August 29, 2025
Dude is sleeping with a 21 yo model. When she goes to the press he has to tell his wife. Of course he is still madly in love with his wife…. They have a young daughter too. Wife leaves him and bangs here bff who has been in love with her forever. She turns into another person and. sleeps with a few others to revenge herself. The H grovels. Meh it was boring.
23 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2025
3.5 rounding up to 4.

Great fall apart for the MMC - I really bought his regret.
FMC had a hell of a backbone. I liked how she tried to move forward I didn’t really care for her speaking engagements, but oh well.

I do wish we had more of the affair on page. They never actually ended up discussing details- gimme the “whens” and the “how many times” and the “did you use a condom” confrontation.

kind of abrupt HEA but enjoyable overall!
Profile Image for Adriana Luzia.
58 reviews3 followers
August 15, 2025
This was an ARC I started on a quiet afternoon and read in just over an hour and it was enough for Roman to leave a mark on my heart.

Cheating plots are always tricky for me. I’m hard on them, maybe because I can’t help asking myself "would I forgive this? Is this realistic? Does the betrayed character’s reaction make sense?".
I love a good second chance romance, but only when the grovel is there, the love language is respected and the remorse is truly felt.
Roman ticked those boxes for me. Despite the months-long betrayal, his regret felt genuine and his efforts to win Ava back were consistent and emotionally charged.

That said, Ava’s healing arc didn’t fully work for me. Personally, her quick shift from devastation to casual flings and dating, with no therapy and minimal emotional processing on the page, felt unrealistic given the depth of her loss.
There was also an odd contrast between her calling Roman out for failing as a father, knowing their daughter had been hurting… only to later leave her in relatives’ care for several days to pursue her own hookups. For me, the emotional depth on her side of the healing process was missing.

However, their co-parenting, once the dust began to settle, was respectful and united for Poppy’s sake which I appreciated.

The book is filled with emotionally charged and messy-but-real moments.
The epilogue brings us back to a family moment showing them whole again. A fitting full-circle close for a story that opened in brokenness.

The writing is fluid and accessible, pacing well enough to keep me turning pages without pause.
This is an emotional ride with flawed, human characters, realistic tension and a satisfying redemption arc (though one side of the healing felt underdeveloped for my taste).

Still, I closed the book feeling the weight of their journey and the hope of their future.
Profile Image for Kelsey H.
265 reviews29 followers
September 6, 2025
FMC - Ava: 3 🌟
MMC - Roman: 3 🌟
SPICE - 🌶 🌶 🌶

LIKES: I seem to be in the minority, but I happen to love the drama and emotional turmoil that comes from the cheating/other woman trope! Do I agree with it in real life? Hell no! But in fiction, I eat it up 😆 And this book doesn't ease you into it either. Within the first couple chapters, you're tossed in the middle of a very tumultuous marriage-in-crisis story

DISLIKES: Overall, the writing wasn't the best. It was quite repetitive, and I didn't like how Ava responded to the whole situation. I sided with her 100% at first, but my opinions soon changed. Using her best friend, who's loved her for years, to get back at her husband is just cruel (even if he said it's ok). She just became very petty and childish, in my opinion, to the point where I was more sympathetic towards Roman, who cheated first :/

Overall, I don't think it's a book I would re-read. BUT if you love the cheating trope, then it might still be an entertaining read for you! My dislikes aside, I read it in a few hours because I'm a sucker for this kind of drama lol
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for dropitlikeitshotx.
115 reviews10 followers
September 20, 2025
Some wattpad nonsense. It really is completely nonsensical and the writing is poor. H is the star NFL quarterback. Story starts with him missing bedtime for his daughter again but he comes running home telling h (his wife) he has to tell her something. Admits to an affair of a few months and h is devastated. Immediately kicks his ass out. This is all shocking to h for some reason despite marrying a know philanderer and cheater. She thought their 8 years together meant something to him lol.

H tries to pass it off like ow meant nothing and he was never gonna leave his wife. But that’s kind of a lie. OW is a teenage model 🤮. She comes on to him and he didn’t resist. Claims he got “bored” of their life, BUT not his wife supposedly. However, there’s a on page cheating flashback where he’s telling ow he loves her but won’t leave his wife. When she whines he tries to break up with her, then she sells her story to the media and all hell breaks looks. Only when h confronts him, he claims he didn’t love ow. So yeah he’s a liar even when he’s groveling. Really put his best foot forward to win back the mother of his child.

Also he was ditching his wife and daughter to go to parties and support OW at shoots. Tell me how this moron thought he wouldn’t get caught? In the real world, gossip sites would have definitely caught on. Literally admits he wanted to break up with OW and kept it quiet. Never wanted h to know obvs.

They’re not getting divorced but h won’t let him come home. Her guy BFF comes back to town cause the story is blowing up. She ends up hooking with him multiple times then rubbing it in H’s face, since H always suspected BFF was in love with h. She ditches H at home with their daughter and jets off on a trip with bff. All this time she’s refusing to even really hear his story. But like knowing what we know, what did H think his story was gonna accomplish? It just makes him look bad. Woe is H.

By the way I was all for the revenge cheating till I realized what the author was trying to do. Essentially H is like you’re still my wife! h is like ok I cheated on you too, maybe I’ll listen to your nonsense. 💀

She goes on an another date , H shows up to confront him and flips out. Gets into hot water with his team and almost loses his deals. They go to therapy for all of five seconds and she takes him back. Like yep let’s just hope he doesn’t bored and tempted by another teenage model this time.
Profile Image for Angela Wilson.
244 reviews15 followers
September 28, 2025
What a hot ass mess. Ava was just as skanky as Roman’s mistress! It was one affair! And the nerve to be a guest speaker about how to overcome a cheating scandal and then takes him back! She causes him to lose everything to take him back? Like I said a hot ass mess.
Profile Image for Dee Haddrill.
1,884 reviews31 followers
December 22, 2025
The writing was good and I was enjoying it up until the 80% mark. It all just wrapped up too tidy. Like starts therapy at 80(ish)%, plasters it on social media, they meet up for dinner and he says he’s in therapy and she’s all “I forgive you then”. I realise this is a simplification, but it’s the general gist. I loved the introspection throughout most of the book and you could see his honest regret, but it was all over too quick. Too simple.

In my humble opinion, of course 💙
Profile Image for Jessica Shaw.
648 reviews18 followers
September 18, 2025
2.5 stars- I loved the FMC’s revenge journey for the most part… but I lowkey wish they never got back together haha.

The MMC’s groveling was fun but he cheated for MONTHS, which is the biggest ick.

She should have just left him for her male bff who always loved her hahaha

That being said, I did get emotionally invested in this story.
Profile Image for mafiagirl_writer.
129 reviews17 followers
September 10, 2025
My heart is shattered and I can’t decide if I want Roman to fix it or burn with it 💔

This book wrecked me in the best (and worst) way. Roman and Ava’s story isn’t a fairytale—it’s what happens after the fairytale falls apart. The betrayal, the humiliation, the ache of watching Ava try to stay strong for their daughter while questioning everything… it broke me.

Roman made me furious, yet I couldn’t stop turning the pages. He’s flawed, infuriating, and somehow still impossible to fully hate. The push and pull between him and Ava was messy, raw, and so painfully real.

By the end, I cried, I yelled, and I wanted to shake them both. This book doesn’t just tell a story—it makes you feel every crack in your chest.
Profile Image for Michelle.
150 reviews21 followers
November 19, 2025
Love and betrayal.

Wow, you know you're reading a good story when you get all the feelings. Heartbreak, anger, (wanting to cut a fictional bi**h), if you've ever suffered through adultery you will understand fully what Ava lived through. It's easy to say in real life "I would leave his ass and never take him back", but honestly until you've walked the exact same path, you can't honestly say what you would do, love doesn't just die because you were betrayed. Trust is what you lose, trust that they won't do it again, unless you give them a chance you won't ever know that. Learning to love them again fully takes hard work and dedication to your marriage, both of you working at it, if it's worth saving it's worth the effort. This story got me right from the beginning to the very end. Loved it.
Profile Image for Maria.
549 reviews27 followers
August 28, 2025
I've been looking for well written books involving a good amount angst ( cheating or no cheating is ok as long as theres a hea). This one apparently was originally on Wattpad. I really liked it, its about a sports star husband who cheated on his wife and the wife is shattered at his betrayal.

This involves revenge cheating ( he wants to reconcile and she's not going to make it easy for him without twisting the knife). This involves a man that was a close friend to her that evokes jealousy by her husband.

I like the drama and angst. I would recommend this book.
Profile Image for Cheryl.
2,117 reviews62 followers
August 20, 2025
Emotional

There were parts that brought tears to my eyes. Roman does the unthinkable and destroys Ava. Let me tell you though Ava has a evil streak in her. She says that she didn't sleep with her best friend to get back at Roman, but I believe she did.

I didn't like how at around 96% book Ava just switches a switch and boom not made anymore and has him come home .
Profile Image for ThEAnGrYrEaDeR55.
162 reviews20 followers
November 3, 2025
This is one of the worst books I’ve read in a while. I’m not mad at the author — just at the book itself.

It felt very familiar. The author said this story was first on Wattpad, then cleaned up and revised for Amazon, but it still reads like something I’ve already seen. Total déjà vu.

Roman (H) and Ava (h) are married with a 5-year-old daughter, Poppy. Roman’s in the NFL and barely comes home anymore. He’s distant, an absent father, a lousy husband, and way too into the NFL party lifestyle.

They’ve been together/married around eight years. Roman is 30; Ava’s about 28. Ava’s best friend is Kieron, and the “other woman” (OW) is Annie.

One night, Ava gets frantic calls and texts from Roman telling her not to answer her phone or watch the news. She puts Poppy to bed and waits for him (which, honestly, could never be me).

Roman finally comes home and admits he’s been having an affair with a 21-year-old influencer and model named Annie. When he tried to “end it,” Annie sold their story to a TMZ-style outlet. Roman insists it was “just sex,” but that’s another lie — he was deeply involved with her.

The OW has hundreds of texts and photos of their affair. Roman wasn’t careful or discreet. He took Annie to dinners, her photoshoots, stayed overnight, took couple photos, even made sex videos. This wasn’t a one-night slip-up — it was a full-blown affair.

He told Annie he loved her but would never leave his wife. And somehow, every time he “tried” to end it, they’d end up in bed again. He’s disgusting.

Ava kicks him out (good for her), but he comes back the next day to “confess.” We get flashbacks to Roman in college — a typical playboy who pursued Ava because she wasn’t impressed by him. In fact, Ava met him at a party where he had two women on his arm and dropped them to talk to Ava. Apparently, he's always been a fuckboy.

Now Ava blames herself for not being hot or fit enough to keep him, while Roman claims he cheated because he was “bored.” He's pissed Ava wants to leave him because Ava is "his". He even thinks if Ava ever slept with another man, he’d kill him because she’s “his.” Apparently, he wasn't hers though, right?

Ava spirals into depression, letting family take care of Poppy. She’s shattered, humiliated, and somehow blames herself more than him. Meanwhile, Roman’s only regret is that she found out publicly — not that he cheated.

Enter Kieron, Ava’s lifelong best friend from London. He’s always loved her but stayed quiet out of respect. Now he comforts her, they kiss, and he tells her she can “use him” if it helps. She does. It’s 100% revenge cheating. Ava uses his feelings to feel wanted and get back at Roman — who, of course, goes ballistic when he finds out.

Ava decides to give Roman the house for the week while she “breathes” — by going on vacation and sleeping with Kieron. Then we get unnecessary flashbacks of Roman and Annie’s affair (gross).

Ava comes home and immediately has angry “I hate you” sex with Roman. Honestly, have these people heard of STIs? They swap partners like they’re changing underwear. Roman thinks this means forgiveness, but Ava says it was goodbye.

They keep living together, though Ava ignores him and tries to move on with her life. Then Roman finds texts from a doctor named Adam thanking Ava for their date. He loses it again, follows her on a date and assaults the guy.

The media goes wild over the video. Roman’s suspended, sponsors drop him, and Ava finally serves divorce papers. Apparently, the world didn’t care when he cheated — but violence was the line.

Ava starts giving podcasts interviews about being a “strong woman after betrayal.” Except it’s still all about Roman. She also leaks all of Roman and Annie’s texts to the media, exposing Annie as a homewrecker who knew he was married. Annie’s career tanks. Roman finally blocks her when she reaches out for "help" from his psycho wife— this dude only just now blocked his whore? Not when she ran to the media or when he hurt his wife with his affair?

Ava’s fame skyrockets, while Roman spirals, goes to therapy, loses weight, and posts sad online apologies. Eventually, Ava forgives him for “chasing his ego,” lets him move back in, and they have sex again. He rips up the divorce papers.

The epilogue? Roman’s having sex with Ava at their daughter’s birthday party and asking to renew their vows.

So yeah — shitty characters, revenge cheating, two awful parents, and a completely unbelievable happy ending. Roman will cheat again the minute someone strokes his ego, and honestly, Ava probably will too.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ellen YS.
345 reviews3 followers
November 28, 2025
this is not a review..Just some musings

But rather some musings better suited to a book club.

It comes as no surprise that this is a cheating spouse/marriage in trouble drama.

And the following may be spoilers. Please don't read if you prefer spoiler free musings.

So Roman messed up, big time. And still messed up by not understanding the why and the consequences until much much later in the book. And then when grovel did not work, he put in actual work after losing everything....and I mean everything.

But Ava...Ava is portrayed as moving from broken to strong. But while I had sympathy, and in general like the "find my power, hear me roar" type story arc, in this case...why the blinders to her own faults?

Her actions a week after the bomb exploded on their life, is incomprehensible. She jumped into bed with her best friend. And knowingly used him to feel better about herself...and then spent a week with him...She did not face any consequences for what is in my view exactly what Roman did...using someone to feel better about himself. He lost a career, respect, money...and Ava does not face any consequences? Kieron seems to be ok to be used for a good time and still be best friends, the world never finds out and she doesn't need to face anyone's judgment? Her family encourages this?Instead she gets to be the face of women everywhere getting honored for their quiet strength in the face of adversity.

A good grovel is a great read. And Roman pulled it off, but I really wanted Ava to see her own hypocracy and even if not publicly, at least privately admit to Roman that her actions were not honorable either.

So that is my rant, apologies for the spoilers and the alternate view on this.



Profile Image for Shannon Brown.
435 reviews4 followers
August 23, 2025
I am noticing a trend that wasn’t really present in older cheating redemption romances, and the new trend is for OTT grovel and comeuppance. This requires extreme retribution for the cheater, i.e. loss of career, status, etc. While I understand this trend, it doesn’t always work and some authors would do better to focus on more realistic outcomes.

This story is not a bad read overall. The writing is smooth and relatively error free. The pacing of the first 50% was smooth, excluding the unnecessary flashbacks. However, by the time I got to 61%, I had to push myself to keep going. At 71%, I was ready to DNF, but I kept pushing to the end.

Ava was living her life until she discovers Roman was having an affair. Roman, the H, is in the NFL,and the cheating is exposed via the OW. Ava immediately moves on and sleeps with other people, including her best friend who is a guy. The h, Ava, sleeping with her best friend, who has been in love with her for years, was the best part of the beginning. Then the story started to drag until we keep to Roman’s comeuppance, which was completely unrealistic. It just didn’t work.

Overall, not a bad read. I truly enjoyed the first half of the book, but the story kind of fell apart for me after 50%, but it was a relatively fast paced read, and I finished this very quickly.

2.5 stars
Profile Image for Jordan Bailey.
937 reviews2 followers
August 16, 2025
We're not perfect, and we're not fixed, but we're trying.

I really wanted to like this. And I do in parts … but overall eh.

“We're not perfect, and we're not fixed, but we're trying.”

I don’t mind when they end up back together. Sometimes that’s what I want and Roman really did try in the end. I’m just rather confused … I enjoyed the revenge … but how can you hook up with your best friend that’s always loved you and still remain friends? Just cause he lives abroad? Was he just trying to see what the fuss was all about? No wonder Roman lost it. The Adam storyline was strange. The author was obviously not American, because as much as it’s a nice concept - The NFL wouldn’t throw out their golden boy quarterback over infidelity… or the fight … that’s just another Tuesday. Tiger Woods barely got anything and that was GOLF … football really isn’t gonna care. It’s a nice thought though.

They mentioned a few times Ava having a job, but we never saw it except for the speaking engagements after the affair.

He just left the house for months? For therapy? And social media livestreams? There was no discussion?

The turn of events at the end with the divorce papers was confusing. I would’ve accepted it more if it read more as a novella, but it was too long … we should’ve gotten to see them back together rebuilding… overall it was fine but it left a lot to be desired.

Like we never even saw any of her podcast interviews or her keynote speech, we have absolutely no clue what happened and they kept talking about the outside world so much and there was no fallout over her taking him back?? How did he handle her bff still being in the picture?

Why did her friends at the beginning disappear into the ether … it was odd.
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