Due Process

Sin & Redemption #3

by V. Brown

Money. Children. Career. The white picket fence. My life was perfect—or so I thought.

That illusion came crashing down the moment I caught my husband balls deep in his secretary.

The fool forgot I was the general counsel of his beloved company, and I’d had the sudden realisation that it was time to return to work.

Our ironclad prenup had a two-month countdown, forcing my hand to stay in the farce I now called my marriage.

Plans were made, and retribution was upon us. If only I’d prepared for my childhood best friend, who soon became my comfort and closest confidante.

I wasn’t planning for vengeance; all I wanted was due process. And my soon-to-be ex-husband was about to be reminded of who taught him how to read a contract.

Due Process is a betrayal romance, with themes of revenge. It is the third book in the Sin & Redemption interconnected novella series. Can be read as a standalone.

Genres: Friends To Lovers, Divorce

207 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2025

About the author

V. 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.

Reviews

[Vintage · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love a strong heroine and HATE a cheater. But to be fair, punish him for his sins, don't go scorched earth. And, yes, I apply the same standards to my heroes.

Husband was weak and stupid, and deserved to be divorced and earn his way back to his kids.

Vengeful is not the same as strong.

[Irene]

i remember in previous book of the serious he physically disgustingly cheats on fmc with passion and even remembering it makes me nauseous so hopefully she ends up with someone new, and he gets judas cradle

[Callie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 ⭐️

This is good if you like cheating books where the hero suffers and the heroine finds a new love interest.

Something about this didn’t sit right with me though. In addition to everything she falsified evidence to frame him for wire fraud and honestly that was a bit over the top. He suffered by losing her, his family, his job, etc and is still pathetic enough without breaking the law? I love a suffering cheater but he could’ve gotten years in prison and does get house arrest. 😬

I also didn’t care too much about the new hero. He’s her lifelong best friend, but they never talked about having feelings and both married and had kids with other people. We got told he always loved the heroine but she just starts to see him a new light all of a sudden and I didn’t really feel any great connection there.

[Shorty · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disappointed

I was really really looking forward to this book. Had an alert set on my phone for the release date but man I'm honestly disappointed. I get that he cheated but to actual falsify evidence so that he now had a criminal record that was a line for me. And the best friend I'm sorry but it felt like these two were already in love with each other she just happened to marry someone else. How is Curtis being her best friend and the person she confides in throughout her whole life even while married not an emotional affair? I've loved the other books but this one was a let down

[dropitlikeitshotx · Rating 3 out of 5]

I usually eat this genre up but something was missing this time.

So Stella and Felix have been married for years and built their company, she took a backseat recently to focus on family. She comes to the office one night to surprise him, only to find him fucking his secretary who’s a cheap, younger imitation of her. She’s pissed and silently walks away to go scorched earth. There’s is ALOT of on page cheating and tbh I was shocked the author asks on Patreon if Felix was redeemable. Supposedly Felix is still in love, he has no good reason for cheating with his secretary aside from stroking his ego (among other things).

Anyways, she gets him REAL good. OW gets her comeuppance too. Stella ends up with her childhood BFF Charlie.

The writing is very cheesy and hallmark-like tbh. I found myself losing interest a lot.

[Allyse Reinauer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is as swift as the FMC’s vengeance.
It’s unique in that we get an extra layer of transparency with the cheating husband’s side of the story to see how pathetic he actually is… and then witness him witnessing his own demise.
It’s almost poetic.

Thank you V for the ARC opportunity!

[Shannon Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

⭐️: 3.5

Summary: This is a friends to lovers romance.

Additional tropes:
✅Cheating, not between the main characters
✅Other woman drama

Detailed spoilers/trigger warnings (if any) and final thoughts can be found below.

The FMC is Stella. A few weeks before her 10th wedding anniversary, she catches her husband in the moment with another woman. She immediately goes into destruction mode, set about to make sure he pays for his indiscretion. Per the stipulations in her prenuptial agreement, anything that happens before their 10th wedding anniversary would alter what she is eligible to receive so she spends the next several weeks planning what she is going to do.

In the meantime, her husband is dealing with blackmail threats from his mistress, along with deep regrets over carrying on this affair for several months. It seems fitting that just when he is ready to make amends, and be exactly the husband and father that his family needs, is when the FMC and all her planning comes to fruition, leading to some pretty good comeuppance for her husband and the other woman.

While this is happening, she has a long term male best friend that she is leaning on for support, and he is there for her and her sons in exactly the way that she needs. At some point, she realizes that her feelings are no longer that of just friendship, which is something he reciprocates. Now that she’s officially divorced they have the opportunity to be together in the way that they want, blending their families and looking forward to a happily ever after.

⚠️SPOILERS/SPICE/DETAILED TRIGGERS⚠️

*On page and descriptive caught in the act cheating. This happens in the first chapter of the book.
*Moderate other woman drama. She is a real piece of work. Not only is she blackmailing the FMC’s husband but she’s embezzling money from the company. After investigating her the FMC found she has done this type of stuff before.
🌶️: 1.5/5: Only the scenes between the FMC and her new H.

Final thoughts: I am a sucker for some good comeuppance and that’s exactly what happens in this book. The FMC definitely did not just lie down and wallow in the demise of her marriage. She immediately went into planning mode and never deviated from that.

I really loved the new H of the story. Her long-term best friend who has always supported her and loved her from afar, he never interfered with her marriage, even though he was secretly wanting her, he goes at her pace and lets her know that he will be there whenever she is ready. And that’s exactly what happens. I do appreciate that there was some growth that happened with her ex-husband and we were able to see that he was trying to repair his relationship with his sons.

Overall, this was a fast and quick read with some good drama and angst, and definitely one that I would recommend.

[Rachel Santillan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Um, wow. I almost wanna say this is a pallet cleanser type of book however, it’s not sweet Hallmark.

It’s a short book that gets right to the point
Smart FMC, that put her career on temporary hold as she took care of the children
Egomaniac MMC that risked it all for easy gratification from his secretary
FMC (Stella) finds out and she takes him down, while at the same time develops feelings for the man whose always been there, since they were kids - her best friend, who supports her through it all and waits for her to be ready. She doesn’t cheat back, but hell have no fury for a woman scorned, she protects her herself, her children and dismantles her “perfect husbands” life in the process.
Felix the MC, you get his POV which I thought was interesting - at times I wanted to feel a tiny bit bad for him, but like they say, fuck around and find out and he sure did.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️
First I want to say Stella is a bad bitch, boss bitch, and a motherfucking queen!!! Loved Curtis and Stella!!! They were cute.

This book is messy and complicated. It’s told from three POV’s. 1. Stella 2. Felix, 3. Curtis. Stella is our FMC and Curtis is our MMC and Felix is the cheating husband/ex-husband.

Felix deserve everything he got!!! Reading his pov about his self-pity was annoying like he literally brought this on himself.

Childhood best friends to Lovers
Obsessed MMC
Healing FMC
Revenge
Slow burn
Cheating (by husband/ex-husband on page)
OMD/OWD (ex-husband and his mistress)
Intimate scenes with op (Not MMC or FMC)
3 POV (First Person)
HEA
Spice starts at 62% - Barely any spice
No condoms used between MCs

[Melanie Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love strong FMC.

[JillyB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you like it when the heroine gives her husband a second chance after she catches him cheating? IF so, then you better skip this story. Stella is not about giving second chances to her cheating husband, but she has no issue getting revenge. The betrayal is exposed in chapter 1!

Stella and Felix have been married almost years*the almost is significant here. She is the brains behind the financial business they started, but once the babies came(2 sons 11 and 2) she took a step back and became a sahm, while still maintaining general counsel and lead lawyer status. Meanwhile, Felix ran their wildly successful business as acting CEO. Stella was happy in her role as mom and wife, and had no complaints. Actually, her one complaint is that the last 6 months she has not had much time with her husband who she still finds sexy and wonderful. She and her husband were partners. While she took care of the everyday chaos that happens in the household, he took care of the chaos that ensued at work. People respected Felix at work and his ego grew. When he came home, he expected the same adulation he got at work. Where was that spitfire wife who was a force to be reckoned with? Why are the boys always getting preferential treatment? So, Felix feeling neglected decided to take up with the younger, knock off version of his wife, his assistant Heather. Stella discovers this one night when she goes to surprise/seduce her poor overworked husband but he wasn’t plowing through numbers, he was plowing through his assistant!

Stella backed out of the office hallway, and put a plan in place. The iron clad prenup would expire in 2 months on their 10th wedding anniversary. She needed to take back the helm at the office, and take control of her life while decimating her soon to be ex husband’s life(and his knock off trollop)

I don’t want to give too much more away. However, this is not a reconciliation story. Felix realized what he did, but there are some things a person cannot come back from! Stella was not one to be trifled with, I guess he forgot that along the way. Felix’s only hope is that he can repair his relationship with his sons. Meanwhile, Stella’s childhood bff was there to support her, give her a shoulder to cry on….and well let’s just say Curtis, a retired baseball player had a pretty big……shoulder!

This is one of those stories where you get to cheer, cry, laugh, and do a huge happy sigh at the end!!!

[Raffaella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very cute.
Heroine has been married for ten years and has two kids with the husband, they also have business together, and apparently all is well.
Until she catches him screwing his secretary that is a cheap younger version of her.
So she starts planning her revenge.
And instead of confronting the two she collects evidence.
And at their 10 years anniversary she blasts the bomb.
She destroys everything that he’s built during their years together that are more than 10, they’ve dated in college so I suppose it’s about 15 years or so.
And her bff is a hottie who of course has a crush on her and has had a crush on her for years.
The book is an ok reading, no second chance and no taking back the cheater.
He cheated because he could of course, while his wife was at home recovering from birthing their kid.
It was really entertaining to read how she was planning to ruin him and how she wanted to smash his face while she collected evidence for weeks.
Low angst imo because the heroine is quite strong and revengeful.
She actually recovered very well since she wasn’t suspecting anything when she caught him, so it was not very heavy on the angst side.
I liked the second chance love, both she and her bff aka new love were experienced, he had a crush on her when they were teenager but apparently she never realized that, then moved on when she married her husband and when he divorced his wife he fell in love, a mature kind of love, a second time and when she was betrayed he was there to catch her.
I like this author, this book is quite a quick reading and very pleasant too.
About safety, there’s cheating but she dumps her cheating husband. Maybe a bit of more angst from her part would have been consistent. Ok she was hurt when she saw him but she recovered too soon, after all they’ve been together for more than a decade and they had two kids together, I supposed she would be hurt for longer than a few weeks, imo she was more angry than hurt. But it was ok for me because she made him suffer a lot.

[Aarann · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Almost 4 stars just for the sake of how fun watching Stella get her revenge was, but rounded down because she absolutely framed Felix for crimes he didn't commit, which is a bridge too far for Yours Truly. Stella deserved to not get screwed over in the divorce and I was all for her getting custody of the kids. But pinning him with a federal felony and taking a company they both built together because he was a cheating bastard (not a thieving one) just wasn't my vibe. Make the punishment fit the crime.

Also, this just didn't feel like a romance. For one, we spent far too much time in Felix's head, which would have been fine if the book was going to redeem their relationship, but as it was, I didn't need to see how desperate he was to keep her from finding out his sins, or read about how he felt about the mistress. It just feels like a waste of time to me when I spend too much time in the head of a character who isn't the protagonist.

And while Stella does get an HEA with a new/old guy (her childhood BFF who's been carrying a torch) I don't want to feel bad for the cheater. I read these books because I want a happy ending, not to feel bad about the ex-husband that she framed for crimes he didn't commit (and didn't really do anything criminal that would have warranted him being punished that way) and who will helplessly pine for her the rest of his lonely life while he learns his lessons the hard way. I didn't need a reconciliation, but I also don't want to feel bad for the cheating ex at the end of the book because the revenge was too OTT for his crimes.

I do want to read the stories of Stella's best friend, Daisy and Gabriella (a third party who isn't introduced in this story, but is in the preview for Daisy's book). Those both sound hella fun. I just hope I don't feel sorry for their cheating exes at the end (although particularly, Gabriella's future ex has committed some major life fuckery that makes me think he will deserve significantly more trauma than Felix did).

[Mariana Ponce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Siempre estaré de acuerdo en que una protagonista tenga la dignidad de no quedarse con un hombre mentiroso e infiel y este es el caso. Sin embargo, hubo cosas que no me gustaron. Para empezar sentí que aunque a Stelle le dolió, pero fue como ay! me engañó mientras yo cuidaba a nuestros hijos, ni modo. Al poco tiempo ya andaba con su mejor amigo de años🙆🏽‍♀️🫠. Hasta llegué a considerar que como también lo quería, no le dolió tanto lo del prota, vió la oportunidad y la aprovechó. Segunda cosa que no me gustó, fue que se inventó pruebas para mandarlo a carcel cuando no era culpable, está bien que si, pero eso ya fue abuso. Felix supo que lo hizo mal y estaba dispuesto a cederle todo sin problemas(al principio obvio se enojó, lo meditó, pensó y decidió dar todo sin problema) para que inventar cosas y crearle antecedentes penales al padre de tus hijos? Quítale todas sus posesiones, muestra las pruebas de la infidelidad y así, pero no inventes cosas solo porque ayuda a que tú ego se sienta mejor porque te engañaron. Además que Félix ya sufría al saber que se quedó con él mejor amigo que siempre le causó inseguridad. JAJAJAJA lo que si me cosita fue que salió con clamidia, pero lo merecía por meter su cosa en otra que no era su esposa. Pagó sus errores con un año de arresto domiciliario. Stella fue feliz con su amigo y ya. No me gustó mucho este libro. Disfruto las venganzas pero esto no me produjo nada, lo siento.

[Radha · Rating 5 out of 5]

⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ the *best# heroin so far .
Stella caught her husband of 10 years balls deep in his secretary Heather,when she went to surprise him.
Stella married Felix young, worked hard along side him to set his company made him CEO ,took a two year break when her second son Phoenix was born ....
When she went to surprise her husband,she found him banging his secretary on the desk and orgasmic loudly in late night in deserted office.
It was heartbreaking for her ,Felix was really enjoying banging his secretary for six whole months , going office early, coming home late nighs , missing all events with children ,not even bothering.
Here Bravo to Stella 👏👏👏👏👏 she collected herself together, leave immediately,then plan her escape with all evidences.
**** If she left him immediately she would have ended up on the road penniless ,and without children, Felix father had been cheating on his mother all his life ,he called her names a gold digging WHORE.
***Felix was very much sure that he has right to bang his side peace, gift her fat bundle of money regularly, without telling Stella.
❤️ Stella was a lawyer she ,she collected evidence and best part she stood her ground No going back to cheater, who had gonorrhoea, syphilis what all STI with the mistress
She was clear Once a cheater ! Always a cheater!
She didn't even think of reforming him 🤢 or forgiving

[Kadijah_reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished Due Process by V. Brown, and wow — this book had me feeling all the emotions. I never thought I’d say this, but I actually felt a little sorry for the cheating ex-husband. The way his character was written made him complicated, flawed, and honestly kind of interesting. I’m really hoping we get a book or even a novella about him because I would LOVE to see his side of things or watch him get his own redemption story.

And now I’m counting down the days until the next two books come out. If they’re anything like this one, I already know they’re going to be soooo good. V. Brown did an amazing job with the characters, the tension, and the drama — I was hooked from beginning to end.

Definitely a must-read if you love messy romance, character growth, and stories that keep you thinking even after you close the book.
@V. Brown | Author 💋 #romancebooks #booktok #mustread #Read #bookrecommendations

[Adrianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie…the cover makes Curtis look like the marshmallow man 😂😂 what’s up with that?!

That aside. I really enjoyed this book! The story was very satisfying. The FMC is a baddie with way more willpower than I could ever muster. After discovering her husband is cheating on her, she uses an extreme dose of self control to begin gathering her evidence to exact her revenge.

I loved that this book gives us the POV of the cheating ex so you really get to see how oblivious he is in the beginning, how everything implodes after his infidelity is revealed, and his remorse after the dust settles.

I also loved that the FMC does not get back with the cheating ex. Instead she gets a very sweet and understanding love interest that is a childhood friend turned lover.

I ended up knocking one star off because the FMC goes too far for me when she allows the psychotic mistress to babysit her child. Also there were a few typos. But overall, it was very enjoyable.

[Kenni Sawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay so I LOVED this. This was so well done. It was engaging, the romance was perfect. The overall plot line was so great. This was a truly refreshing read and was super quick for me. I finished this in a few hours.


Potential spoilers :



I loved this so much because of the POVs. We got the FMC and then 2 MMCs. The thought process and actions that happen in the EX husbands POVs had me really feeling sorry for him at times but also screw that guy. The love interests POVs were also great since we got more of his thought process the minute he was introduced instead of WHEN he became the love interest. I loved how the author does and does not focus on certain aspects of a messy divorce and the fact that we get Felix's POV while he is doing stupid stuff behind his wife's back just floored me. That he thought he was going to get her back and how emotionally wrecked he was because he ruined his own life.
Chef's Kiss.

[Jimmie Louann · Rating 5 out of 5]

First I love Stella! She is the perfect h and has a strong personality that I love in my heroines. Stella took time off from work to raise her growing family but during a company party she catches her husband Felix with his secretary in a compromising position. He doesn’t know she saw him, but he now has decided it’s over with the ow and wants to give Stella and his sons his undivided attention, to make up for “working” so much (insert eye roll). Stella begins to put her plan into motion for not only revenge but also justice for her husband and his side piece. Felix tries to make up for lost times but Stella isn’t making it easy 🤣. I’m not going to spoil it but Stella is the queen of revenge and with the help of her best friend Curtis Felix and Heather (ow) receive everything they deserve.

[Jess]

So, I liked everything about this except that the new H was the life long best friend. It didn’t ruin the book or anything but I just don’t get the idea of romantic feelings coming up sooner…I mean they’ve known each other for 30 years.
I love that the book was shorter, but with that some of the angst is missing. For example, this story started out immediately with the cheating so we don’t have a sense of how Stella and Felix’s relationship was - sounds like he checked out of the marriage a while ago, though.
Stella did take the revenge pretty far, but I’m not mad about it. She faked whatever law is that you can’t use company funds for personal stuff. But Felix did cheat on her for six months so….karma? 🤷🏻‍♀️

[Dara Sorah · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG i loved this book. Stella - bad a** girl boss....I absolutely love a strong FMC and Stella was just that. She mourned the loss of her marriage but she didn't just get even...she got revenge. Finding her person along the way was just another wonderful aspect. Also Stella was such a good mom she didn't try and talk bad about her ex to their kids - she truly wanted them to have a good relationship. Curtis (the new H) was just the perfect #bookboyfriend and was just patient and there waiting for her her. The other characters in this book - her dad and her best friend Daisy - just wonderful. This was a quick and satisfying read!

[Michelle Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Overall: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Couple: Stella & Felix (new Hero Curtis)
❋❋❋❋❋❋
My first read where the heroine ends up with a new hero. I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it but ended up really enjoying it. I definitely needed to have all the povs which was very enlightening. Felix had absolutely no chance of coming back from his misgivings. Did Stella take it a couple steps too far, yes she did. Was Curtis everything perfect, yes he was. It was nice to see how everything was handled in a more realistic way as adults. Hopefully we get Daisies book.

[Beckie Orms · Rating 5 out of 5]

Due process, indeed!

Stella was fierce and amazing! Felix was a POS who lost the best thing in his life for some mediocre strange with a side of antibiotics.. uuggghhh he's just nasty... NASTY 🤢
Curtis is the best, best friend any female cld ask for and his love and patience for Stella was chefs kiss... he cld dirty talk the pants off a nun 🔥♥️ Excellent read, V. Browns strikes again 💛

[Dia Tee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was pretty much a quick and satisfying read.The FMC is pretty badass, she doesn't mope around but makes plans to secure her way out from this marriage financially.

Revenge on cheating scumbag husband? Check ✅ ( Perfection might I add).
I didn't feel bad for the ex-husband. He got his comeuppance.At least after their divorce he's trying to be a better dad for their kids.

The MMC is her childhood bff and such a GREEN flag.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stella, Felix and Curtis

Stella is a badass heroine that caught her husband, Felix, cheating with his secretary. But she didn't explode abd demanded answers because she needed none. Instead she bided her time and ploted. And when everything came to light it was when she was ready.
What she did not expected was her relationship with her childhood friend, Curtis, to shift and became her salvation.
Highly recommended

[Diane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes a cheater got what he deserved

Love this book. The lying, cheating husband got karma! The author did s great job creating and writing this story. It's so nice to read a plot that isn't the typical out there today.

The characters are relatable, well except Felix, the scumbag. I like Stella. She is nobody's fool and Curtis is a dream.

Kudos to the very talented author of Due Process.

[Cassandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

V. Brown does it again. Her brilliance in writing a wonderful book is like so few. I absolutely loved Curtis and Stella and she had me feeling bad for Felix!! Not very many authors can make me feel bad for the bad guy but V Brown has that ability. Absolutely loved this one and I cannot wait for the next one.

[Christelle Ruiz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an okay story overall, it started well but for some reason it fizzled out after the revenge part. I just didn’t connect with the characters and it felt rushed. It wasn’t long enough, it could have been developed a bit more.
I really enjoyed the banter with Daisy though.
Now I can’t wait to read her story and Gabriella’s.

[olivia V. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I avoided the first one.. enjoyed the second one and liked this one a bit more. I'm petty, I like a good comeuppance for the cheating husband and the nasty ow. The revenge stuff was a little ott but still for a short book it was fun, quick and easy to read, straight to the point and the fmc gets her hea with her new man.

[Jordan Bailey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally

It felt like I had to wait forever for this story. And what a story it was! Met them in Alicia's book and I was excited to see what Stella had planned! When she told Daisy, nuclear, she meant it! The story was fun. The switching povs was fun! I almost felt bad for the guy in the end... Almost!