The Heart Of A Real Woman: Marilyn & Moses

by Talena Tillman

Who wants that perfect love story anyway?

Marilyn and Moses have been locked in for years. Ride or die, Bonnie and Clyde type love. But when loyalty is tested and paradise starts to crack, the fairytale they built threatens to collapse. How far will love go when trust is on the line?

Welcome to Melrose, where Talena Tillman takes you on an emotional journey through the highs and heartbreaks of a marriage in distress.

141 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 3, 2025

About the author

Talena Tillman is a native of Houston, Texas. At thirty years young, she has already made her mark on the literary world. Notoriously known for her novellas, Talena has mastered the ability to give a full story within a hundred and something pages. Her series “Kane” is her reader’s favorite. She writes urban romance, penning imperfect black love beautifully.

Reviews

[Jahda · Rating 3 out of 5]

One conversation could have fixed everything.

[ReadnliftwithShar · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️it’s something about a marriage in distress story that tugs on my heart strings! I love them real bad. This book had me on pins and needles, especially with the opening chapter- it was pretty evident that Mary was a woman scorned and heartbroken. Moses broke Mary, but he was the only one capable of putting her back together again. I enjoyed the highs and lows and the flashback scenes. So good!

[Simply_YoYo · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars!

Something about a couple in distress—yet knowing they’re going to work it out—just does it for me. 🫶🏾❤️🥰

Marilyn is the epitome of a “good girl”: smart, beautiful, and grounded in a solid family structure. Moses, on the other hand, comes from a broken home with no support system, raising a child on his own. Marilyn becomes his reason to dream, to hope, and to work harder.

But life happens. Lack of communication, depression, a medical diagnosis, and hard times start to weigh them down. Marilyn crashes out, and Moses fights to rebuild. The realness in their conversations about the distance between them… whew! Raw and relatable.

Talena Tillman has a beautiful way of delivering a complete, emotionally rich story in the short space of a novella. This one hit me right in the heart.🥰

[Melise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talena is talented and the writing wasn’t bad but the whole thing felt a lil pointless. Like sorry nothing she shared or wrote in these pages made me feel connected to the characters or even made me want to understand. Please don’t write no rich behind people with access to all sorts of resources and care who don’t use em. Like Mary should’ve gone to therapy, got some meds and depended on her husband. Moses should’ve told her what he felt and dragged her to somebody’s office, if you can take her hostage over the divorce you could’ve kidnapped her and brought her to a facility. We don’t even know the depth of the affair like was it flirty banter or did he actually have sex with that lady. Overall Mary had the right to be mad but I can’t get with the murdering cus you so ferocious but won’t get no help. A ding bat dummy for sure plus the whole all it took was some sex 😒😒😒

[Ambra | ambreadbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5
- Marilyn & Moses stressed me out. Moses said, “ain’t no divorce!” — two crash outs in one marriage.
- This story touches on heartbreak, mental health, medical condition and lack of communication.

[Shades N Pages · Rating 2 out of 5]

So you killed that woman without solid proof… and now you’re back with that man? Oh okay girl

[Lauren Lane · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was good! spoiler alert ‼️

This was good! I did not expect Mary to kill that girl and I also thought Moses was going to kill her attorney.
This was not a trigger for me but as a woman with pcos who struggled to get pregnant I understood how Mary felt. I do have two sons 8 years apart but that was such a struggle. If you don’t have it you don’t fully understand the depression it comes with. So Moses doing what he did because his wife became distant made me feel a way because NO! You don’t run to another woman because yours is mentally dealing with something. You stay and communicate that ish. It starts with a conversation and flirting and best believe it ends with a sexual exchange. I’m glad she was able to show him that he wasn’t the only one who could have someone else if she desired to.
Anyway, when a book can bring out these emotions in me it’s for sure a 4 to 5 star read.

[Pamela B · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love that the book girlies have been putting me on to new authors lately. I sat my ass down with my coffee and devoured this one in a single sitting.

Marilyn & Moses’ story was so relatable — they’ve been in love for 10 years, since they were 18 and 19. The good girl and the bad boy who fell fast and hard. As adults, they’ve faced their share of challenges like any other marriage, and this book takes us right into those struggles. I loved how we got glimpses of the past, seeing how it all started, while still following them through the present.

This was the perfect balance of past and present, and it hit. It’s definitely different from my usual reads, but I’m so glad I listened to the book girlies on this one. Highly recommend!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful Story

I really enjoyed this story. I have read maybe 3 marriage in trouble stories. This one definitely has taken the top spot. Mary and Moses were made for each other. The author made me believe that their love was real and the marriage was worth saving. The author did her thing with this story. Usually novellas leave me slightly unsatisfied by the conclusion but this left me feeling content at the ending. Made this novella length feel like a complete love story in under 150 pages. I am amazed.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

well done

I was worried about the trope of redemption, I was impressed with the way the author wrote this book. It’s definitely worth the read. You can feel the love oozing between them. The flashes from the past made their story more intense. I also believe that if the betrayal had gotten deeper, there would not have been a resolution and I like that. It was definitely short. I would’ve loved to see them in a time jump. However we were told this is a true novella.

[mimi 🧚🏽‍♀️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3⭐️

love talenas books but this one fell a little flat for me unfortunately. i’m usually a sucker for the “marriage in trouble” trope, but this one just wasn’t my favorite. felt a little rushed and i didn’t connect to the characters as much. not a bad book by any means, just not my favorite or her best work IMO.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew. This was a beautiful story. This author has a way with words. From the very first page I was locked in. Mary and Moses have been together for ten years and have been through some things. That's expected. But they loved each other hard and worked through it. Great read.

[Patrice S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not one usually for infidelity trope but I say this one was handled really well. I want more. I need to see them have the baby and I think Marilyn needs therapy. I mean a year and a half of not being one with your man is drastic girl.

[Ayanna First of BourbonStreetBookers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toxic Love

Chileeee... All ima say is, Moses had to learn real quick that Marilyn was the one who wanted all da smoke! Respectfully Sis stood on business a let the chips fall where they may. 😂🤣💜💚💛

[Nigeria Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mary stood on Big Business

She ain’t play no games about her heart!! And Moses ain’t let up on his quest to get his wife back, loved that for them and JR… that boy said “man where my mama at”😭

[Taelor Tolliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

I really loved this book. It was refreshing to read about two characters that stayed in their relationship and found their love again . This was such an easy read. I loved the feel of this story . Definitely going to add it to my comfort read list .

[Aniya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I normally enjoy Talena’s writing but this fell a little short for me. The book starting off with an unaliving is crazy because you didn’t even talk to your man first lmao my girl was just guns blazing for no reason. The marriage was not in distress for long and you can’t just fix everything with sex. I had so many unanswered questions and the ending was rushed.

[Ice Angel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved this and it was very cutesy and entertaining. I would love to read more about them later in the future. They really made me happy.

[Shareka Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read!

This was a quick but great read. Sometimes a little communication goes a long way especially in relationships. I'm glad the characters were able to talk things out.

[Christine Patillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Mary and Moses's story was so beautiful. I love how they both went hard for each other. And, even in hard times, their love was evident. Such a beautiful love story.

[Tamekia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mary

This started off with a bang! Whew! This was really good and I’m always down for a happy ending! TIL Death Do Us Part!

[jordyneIAM · Rating 4 out of 5]

they really just needed to communicate to eachother on how the other was feeling and work on the pain together. love them though, crazy about eachother for sure

[Black Girls Read · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author did a good job capturing the past and present in one read. Their struggles were real and in the end everlasting love prevailed.