Silent Flames

Dark & Silent Night #4

by Cate C. Wells

He broke my heart. I returned the favor.

I thought my husband loved me—until I walked in on his Director of Finance riding him like a cowgirl.

Adrian and I never made sense on paper. When we met, I was working for minimum wage. No family. No degree. He was a billionaire Maddox brother, twelve years older than me and a titan of Wall Street.

I thought it had to be love. Why else would a man like him be with me?

Turns out, our marriage has always been a transaction. An easy life for me, a perfect wife for him. And if I want to keep my lifestyle—and my two beautiful babies—I need to fall in line.

There are just two small problems.

I’m not the perfect woman he thinks I am.

And I was right—my husband does love me. He just doesn’t realize it until he burns his own world down.

Silent Flames is the fourth and final book in the Dark & Silent Night series—dark, emotional romances about the Maddox brothers that explore the razor-thin line between hero and villain.
❤️ Cheating (on page)
🖤 Age gap
❤️ Cold-hearted hero
🖤 Marriage-in-trouble
❤️ Betrayal/grovel
🖤 Alphahole
🖤 OW drama
❤️ Reconciliation

Read the other novellas in the Dark & Silent Night series, following the lives of the Maddox brothers, written by my incredible

🖤 Silent Vow by Maya Alden
🖤 Veiled Silence by Eve Black
🖤 Silent Promises by Christine Michelle

Genres: Second Chance, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Marriage Of Convenience, Dark Romance, Dark

304 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 27, 2025

About the author

Secret question: what is your favorite thing about this time of year?

CATE C. WELLS writes gut-wrenching paranormal and contemporary romance. Whatever the world, readers can expect character-driven stories that are raw, real, and emotionally satisfying. Cate's into messy love, flaws, long roads to redemption, grace, and happy ever after, in fiction and in life.

As well as books, Cate has collected a husband, two daughters, and a cat along the way. She lives in Baltimore when she’s not out exploring with the family.

Want a heads up on new releases and bonus content? Sign up for Cate's newsletter at catecwells.com

Facebook: @catecwells
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Reviews

[Val ⚓️ Shameless Handmaiden ⚓️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything I wanted it to be and more.

*chef’s kiss*

[Cate Wells]

A couple FAQs:

* This will be a full-length, 300 page novel. (The listed 101 pages was a placeholder doc.)

* Plot spoilers vis-a-vis the cheating.................................................................................. The MMC cheats on the FMC one time with his colleague. It's full intercourse, on page, in the first chapter. It's the first and last time he cheats. He is not immediately sorry. She does not forgive him quickly. I'm currently writing chapter 15, and she hasn't forgiven him yet... (Totally understand if cheating is a hard no, and I'll catch you with the next book.)

[Mora · Rating 1 out of 5]

- There is zero grovel. If that’s what you’re here for, save your time.
- The MMC never regretted cheating. He was only sorry that the FMC saw him with the other woman, and he made that very clear to her as well. He literally said he was sorry she saw them and that he should’ve been more secretive about it (he regretted not having sex with the other woman in the bedroom instead of on the sofa).
- He let the other woman keep riding him and kicked his family out because he didn’t want his daughters to see his dick. Btw the FMC never had sex with him in that position.
- The FMC was very weak and had no backbone, and most of her inner monologue was about how hot the MMC was. Also just a few days after discovering his cheating, she was about to have sex with him but she only stopped because the other woman called his phone and interrupted them.
- As mentioned above, the MMC never regretted cheating; he just didn’t like the consequences that came with it. He didn’t think the FMC would stop having sex with him or push him away (she didn’t really push him away. In the first second she had a bit of backbone, while in the other second she just gave in to his bullying), so at one point in the story he offered her some millions of dollars to sleep with him again and return to being the loving wife he was used to.
- The MMC didn’t fire the other woman or do anything with her until the very end. She was still working with him and at one point she tried to seduce him again but he sent her away and still didn’t fire her. He and the FMC went to a business dinner, and the other woman was there too. Her presence was completely humiliating for the FMC and made her feel very uncomfortable. She was saying a lot of nonsense, and the MMC didn’t do anything at all. Anyway, the FMC lacked self-respect bc after all this drama with the other woman, she went home and had sex with the MMC.
- Self-harm: the FMC kept hurting herself and that really bothered me. I know it would bother some other people too.

Anyway, I didn’t really feel the MMC regretted anything and he didn’t take responsibility for his cheating. But in the end that didn’t really matter because the FMC was weak and got him back pretty quickly.

[Irene]

Cheating on page and i don't think there is gonna be OM to balance, I don’t think i can do this, 🙃🙃🙃🙃

[Rachael*Caribbean*girl*bibliophile]

*Note to self* and possible spoilers

My opinion




Thank you to the author for letting me know that the MMC cheats on the h on page, we get the full on cheating scene and he isn't immediately sorry. it's the only time he cheats 🙄(on page because once a cheater always a cheater. Should whatever that drove him to cheating in the first place occur again 10 years later who's to say he won't cheat again 🤔. There can never be a HEA for a cheater imo 🤷🏾‍♀️so this definitely won't be for me. Love this author and now I know she's to be removed from my auto buy list. Gotta check reviews first.

[ras 🔻 · Rating 1 out of 5]

i couldn’t help reading on cause i needed something and you’ve got to be kidding me

“Like those stupid blue and yellow wildflowers. I bought them from a Ukrainian grocery in the East Village on a whim. I told Cora they reminded me of her and waited for a smile. She thanked me and took them away to put them in water.
The next morning, on my way to work, I saw the roses I have delivered weekly on display in their usual vase in the foyer. No wildflowers.
No smile.
I wasn’t hurt or angry. That would’ve been pathetic. Besides, there was nothing to be upset about. She was mine, and she was content. I had the life I wanted. She wasn’t going to leave me. Not with the prenup.
So I drove into the city, and after a few sleepless nights in the corporate apartment, I got drunk at a work function and fucked my director of finance.
Because my wife didn’t smile at me when I brought her flowers?
I cannot be that stupid.
I can’t be that small.
But yeah—that’s why I did it”

- - - -
i can’t take it anymore. i’m truly in awe of this author, it takes a special kind of talent to write a cheating book this bland and lacking in angst. normally i wouldn’t rate a book like this because i knew going in what to expect but when you promise grovel especially for something as heinous as cheating you better fucking deliver and make it satisfying. this lady delivered a whole pile of steaming shit nothing. did i miss something, genuinely cause where tf was the groveling??? 🧐🔬🔍 also where tf was the OM drama and revenge cheating? not even a kiss…and misogynistic women be saying OM stuff ain’t necessary or too much but are perfectly okay with the mmc cheating

yk those guys cheating and blaming it on their grandma dying…a decade ago…that was literally this dude with his kidnapping and having a serial cheater dad. using his little sob stories to get sympathy lmfaoo how original but the sad part is it kinda fucking worked on the fmc’s bird brain ass. boo fucking hoo he got kidnapped for a few days and also saw his dad cheating on his mom so he obviously had to the same shit to the fmc even in the same exact position. his other excuse was that he was on edge all the time whatever tf that fucking means 😐 and the audacity to not even be remorseful??? not even initially but throughout the book. and constantly downplay it and tell the fmc to leave it in the past. even trying to put blame on the fmc by saying how they didn’t really know each other and the past few years could’ve just been “practice” but now they could go for the real thing? tf 😭 acting like marriage and kids is some sorta of game or sport. mind you he didn’t even fire the other women until towards the end of the book

don’t get me started on the fmc she was so pathetic she’s not even worth the words. your typical noodle spined fmc. i expected nothing more from the author who wrote Wall and the monte carlo book.

i’m begging someone to please steal danielle lori’s cheating story idea and write a book. might do it myself since they clearly be letting anyone publish shit

if y’all want a cheating book with actual angst (unfortunately no proper grovel though) read the ultimate betrayal by michelle reid now that’s got decent writing

[Elizabeth]

There is NO WAY I want to read a book that includes a cheater redemption arc.

I'm sorry, but I wouldn't believe the grovel.

[Anna Nenna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Note to self: I really liked some of Cate’s work, she writes compelling stories… however if she is one of those “brave” authors willing to write how romantic is to forgive cheaters , in this day and age when such men IRL are trying to bring us to “dark ages” and gaslight women again (after decades of struggles when we finally broke away from misogynistic norms and bravely moved away from disrespectful cheating douchebags… of all the “sensitive topics” available did it had to be this one!?
then good luck to all enjoying this type of “romance” 🤦🏻‍♀️
The “sexiest” thing would be for FMC to grow a backbone and have some standards - to never forgive him and cheat on him with 5 guys and him to witness it multiple times 😝😂

Edit: Well it was beyond disappointing - this should not be categorized as romance: no grovel, no redemption or accountability, no real HEA, FMC is blamed for everything, she is meek, “troubled”, trapped and “made” to accept and forgive- the misogynistic message coming from this book is so saddening- female authors do better!

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a “marriage in trouble” romance where the heroine’s husband cheats on her, and he gets the HEA. Really, it’s a romance about two unwell people hurting each other, before eventually reaching a place where they discover that they fit each other. To me, that’s a good romance. I enjoyed it. If that sounds bad to you, you probably won’t like it.

This is about Cora (26) and Adrian (38). They’ve been married for like 5 years, and share 2 kids. He's a billionaire, she grew up in foster care. She catches him cheating in the very first chapter. The scene is excellently brutal. The rest of the book is the fallout from that, and they eventually get a HEA.

It’s sort of a betrayal / grovel story, but to call it that feels too simplistic. Although I like a “betrayal / grovel” story as much as the next person, a lot of authors write it in a way that’s too surface level (like the incompetent authors who wrote the terrible other books in this series, in fact!). A lot of romances rush from the betrayal to a shallow, surface-level grovel, plugging blank-personality characters into grovel scenarios like they're Sims characters. This book doesn’t do that. It lingers in the emotional fallout, after his betrayal. It digs into their psychologies. It marinates in their issues and dysfunction.

His biggest grovel action is also pretty quiet. It's not a loud huge grand gesture (he does try to throw money at the problem at first, and she rejects his gifts). Rather, he lies for her, on her behalf, at an important moment. And because of the life experience she's had, that's important and big, for her. That's what a good grovel should be. Something that's meaningful because it's so specific to a character's life experience, even if it's not flashy and loud.

If you want him to grovel immediately after being caught cheating, and for her to immediately “blow up his world,” like it says in the blurb, then you’ll be disappointed. That doesn’t happen. But I wasn’t disappointed. This book is more complex than that. I was pleasantly surprised, in fact. I didn’t know this author had it in her to write this kind of book!

I’m hit or miss with her stuff, but I’ve gotten frustrated with her last few books – often, she writes a hero who wrongs his heroine, and then the story is like, “actually, he didn’t mean it, he’s just a sweet baby doofus who didn’t know what he was doing.” I find that to be a cop-out that kills the angst. This book can’t do that, and luckily, it doesn’t. This doesn’t shy away from Adrian being fucked up. It does dive into it and explain his behavior, but doesn’t excuse it. By the end, I do feel satisfied that he would never cheat again, and that he’ll be a good partner for Cora.

Cora also has mental health problems. Some of this author’s other books also have heroines with Issues, but they put that at the forefront too much, and it’s distracting from the romance (like in The Wild Wolf's Rejected Mate, Annie's anxiety problems took over the whole story. Or, in After the Shut Up Ring that heroine having an STI took over the whole story). This book handled "heroine with issues" better than her other previous books have.

The only thing that would have made this book better is if Cora got to fuck another man, so that Adrian got to suffer exactly what he made her suffer. Sadly, she doesn’t. I didn't feel like she was pathetic, though, for eventually taking him back without having fucked another man. Not like the heroine in this author's other, worse cheating book, Wall (that heroine was too pathetic). I also didn't feel like Adrian didn't suffer enough. We do get to see him suffer.

Also, they do eventually go to a therapist, but not until the end, it's not a huge part of the story, which is great. Too many worse "betrayal / grovel" books send the characters to therapy, and use that as a shortcut to the hero fixing himself or the couple fixing their relationship, instead of showing it on the page. Therapy is obviously good IRL, but in fiction, that's so boring, I don't want to read about a character in a sterile office, talking about their issues with a trained professional. That's dramatically inert. I want to read about characters taking their issues out on each other, and being toxic and messy. This book delivers that.

But other than that quibble - that I wish Cora got to fuck another man - this book was what I want from a cheating betrayal romance. And, it's what so many authors these days are bad at. It’s mature, and complicated, and not black and white. It’s about two fucked up people hurting each other, before fumbling their way into discovering that they are actually right for each other, in the end. Finally, after so many incompetent authors are putting out "betrayal / grovel" books, this is some good fucking food. It feels like romance for adults.

Cheating romances aren't very commercial. And even among people who are willing to read them, they want to rush to the grovel immediately, and for the grovel to be huge and obvious gestures. So, I don't expect this book will be popular or well rated. But, it's one of my favorites from Cate C Wells. Even when her books don't always work for me, I respect her for always telling the story she clearly wants to tell, even when it's not what might sell well.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

Non existent grovel. He’s not sorry enough and he didn’t suffer. She also didn’t have any OM stuff to even the scales. Sorry, if ur gonna write a cheating trope make it satisfying.

[GigiReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know what kind of witchcraft this author practices because I should not have liked this book as much as I did. Cheating is a HARD pass for me and marriage in Trouble is not a fave trope. Somehow this is the second CCW cheating, MIT book from her I've read and enjoyed.

Cora is a young poor childcare worker and Adrian is already a billionaire by the time they meet. They quickly marry and she signs a prenup she never reads. She gets pregnant immediately and they have two kids in like five years. Cora feels like she's a real life Cinderella and in love with her husband. While he's not super demonstrative she is convinced he loves her too until she finds him getting his pickle tickled by another woman. She obviously decides to get the f out of dodge but a lawyer she finds off a bill board lol tells her the awful truth: The prenup she signed will give custody of any children they had to their father. And that Adrian only married her basically to breed her.

First off, I couldn't move past the cheating. So while I absolutely could not put this book down, and read it in two quick bursts which is rare for me in this dumpster fire of a world, I knew I was never going to forgive Adrian. But I think the author did a good job of showing how emotionally stunted he was and maybe had a case OCD? Idk but still that's not an excuse for letting another woman wet your whistle. I think while both characters were incredibly well developed and I ultimately understood why Cora stayed, there was absolutely not enough grovel. I personally expected Judith McNaught Kingdom of Dreams iykyk level of grovel and I didn't get it. Adrian did get his head pulled out of his a$$ but that was expected. While it helps to see things in his POV, I just never felt sorry for him and his issues. I wanted him to SUFFER and I don't think he suffered enough. I also wish that Cora had left his dumbass at least for a while. I know she has strong reasons for staying but I wish instead of having her manic episodes and scaring him, she had taken off like Posy (Run Posy Run) did and made him really work for it. Or maybe Other Man drama would have evened the scales? I had hoped the lawyer was going to lend a hand and make Adrian question everything but that didn't really happen. I just felt that Cora did all the emotional heavy lifting here and Adrian was just spotting her.

Overall, I get that Cora forgave Adrian but I never did lol I also feel like the end is HFN and not HEA like yes they were on the right path but honestly? Cora is my brand of petty. There's no way she's letting this go. I can see her twenty years down the line throwing it in his face like, "yeah so what you cheated on me remember? " I also wish he had been more forceful in defending her from the Other Woman. There's a horrible scene where the OW crashes a business dinner and humiliates Cora in front of him. Everything he did after that was basically off page. I would have liked to see some of that scary man energy put towards saving your wife from a jealous twat.

So why am I giving this four stars? I loved Cora. Adored her and honestly wanted better for her like he doesn't even say ILY. He admits he does but never says the actual words. Cora deserved that and the whole world. I also loved the angst. I hated what caused it but I loved the way it hurt. And it HURT. I LOVED it. I literally had several glasses of wine while reading it because my heart was breaking in a million pieces.I miss contemporaries with high stakes, yeah the stakes don't have to be this high but I will never side eye well written books with flawed MCs and this level of tension.

So in the end, I read a cheating book and I liked it. Cate C. Wells is one of my very few remaining autobuy authors and I will read anything she puts out even when it makes me scream in frustration ha.

TL;DR Loved the FMC, meh about the MMC, Angst was the highlight. Incredible character development but not enough groveling to satisfy me.

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5
🔥🔥/5

Tropes:
Marriage in Trouble
Cheating
Age Gap
Morally Grey Hero

TW: this is dark. Cheating on page, power imbalance etc so proceed with caution.

I received an ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

[dropitlikeitshotx · Rating 1 out of 5]

Against my better judgement, I read this because I was so curious HOW H was gonna be redeemed. Honestly, the story is as boring and soulless as Adrian (H). Cora is boring. Adrian is boring. Neither character is likable frankly. There’s gonna be spoilers all over this.

Yeah so the story starts off exactly as you’ve probably surmised from the other comments. She’s lost in her thoughts about how off Adrian has been lately. She heard him stressed out on the phone earlier with a woman’s voice nearby. She decides to surprise him! That’ll do the trick! She pulls up from Connecticut to his building in NYC with their toddler, infant, and security in tow. Walks into his penthouse to his director of finance riding him while he’s scrolling his phone on the couch. And he’s not regretful in the slightest. Infact he gets annoyed and forces them to leave while OW (Delaney) looks “shocked”. For some reason we get a detailed description of OW’s butt crack and this seems to come up again later too lol.

So security pulls her to another apartment. He showers and comes to see her. Where he tells her this was a good thing and now they’re on the same page about their marriage. She married him for security and she married him to birth and raise his kids. She has no right to question him. In fact he’s pissed because he thinks she tried to use his kids against him, which he won’t stand for. She essentially needs to STFU, accept it, and get over it. He then graciously gives her space and leaves with his team in tow.

Dumbass, ditzy, doormat h throws a glass on the floor and steps on it with both feet. Because apparently this was gonna accomplish something. So H spends the rest of the weekend in the city “working” supposedly. She spends the weekend moving her shit into the nursery. He then shows up at home and tells h to come eat dinner with him. He bought her a fancy sports car to apologize. He wants her to handle this like adults. She sends her plate crashing onto the floor and leaves him. He keeps telling her to be an adult about this. As if cheating on your wife and almost exposing you children to your buttnaked mistress is indicative of maturity ok.

So we learn more about h and H’s marriage. She’s an orphan who was in the system for a bit. Her mom was a heroin addict who OD’ed then she was raised by her grandma till she died. After this she was adopted. Then she moved to the city and began working at a daycare. H’s dad was a serial cheater. His mom eventually left when she couldn’t take it anymore and moved to Europe. She doesn’t really stay in touch now. H’s dad is still around but really hands off. He and his brothers raised each other.

Turns out H walked by this daycare a lot. He thought h was pretty. She was like 21, he asked her out when he found her on the side of the street. They stated dating and eventually married but they barely know each other. She’s totally in love with him. And he’s like in denial I guess.

She decides to get a divorce. Goes to see some lawyer she saw on a billboard. Chad Lawyer is like babe your prenup sucks. She’s like oh I don’t know what’s in it I just signed it. He’s like babe it’s basically a surrogacy agreement and you lose custody of your children if you divorce. She’s like wtf? he’s like yeah and you get paid for each kid plus every year you stay. And specifically $50 million for a boy, they have two girls by the way. She also has no idea where any of this money actually is. He’s Ike don’t worry I’ll try to work this out and fight for you. She was pressured to sign it by a lawyer from her husband’s firm. Her security rats her out and her card declines so she can’t pay her lawyer. She leaves him the fancy “sorry I cheated” sports car, Adrian bought her.

Adrian seems to think his wife is a gold digger. Which is hilarious and doesn’t make sense because she literally doesn’t spend his money. So it makes no damn sense why he thinks that unless he’s mentally challenged. Despite having a black card, wifey imposed a strict self $500 monthly limit for herself and $2000 for the kids. Considering he has a baccarat chandelier in his office and 24/7 private security, this is chump change for him. So his misconception about his marriage that this WHOLE cheating/ redemption story is built on doesn’t make sense at all.

She iced him out from everything. She plays nice when the kids are around but doesn’t really care to include him in her life past that since that’s what he wanted. Adrian is super sad because he really liked family time and doesn’t understand why she’s so upset. He wants to have sex with her, he’s not sleeping or eating. Can’t even focus on work. He’s having nightmares about the time he was kidnapped as a child again.

He tries to get h to go to a business dinner with him and she tells him to fuck off or take OW. He tells her he isn’t seeing her. She’s like is there someone else and he’s like no. She tells him he’s getting the marriage he wants lol. H goes to threaten her lawyer. He buy’s Chad lawyer’s dad’s firm, then tells him he must get wifey to agree to this dinner or he’ll wreck their businesses. Yeah so obviously no one is actually on wifey’s side at this point.

Adrian is checking on his sleeping family in the nursery because he loves them so much. One day Cora is soaking in the tub and they almost have sexy time but H’s phone rings and its OW. Which is weird because she never calls. Cora shuts the door in his face and he falls asleep in the hallway because he’s so desperate to be with his family I guess.

h eventually agrees to the dinner. It’s with a client and his wife. Guess who shows up? Delaney (OW)! OW was going over contract and finance logistics with the client anyways and pushed to keep the party going. Once they’re at this dinner, OW decides to prop herself up as the main character and keeps flirting with the client in front of his wife. She’s seated right next to h, and doormat h is just completely silent. Won’t even order her food. And big bad boss man H? Well he’s ALSO silent throughout this exchange (Later he admits he didn’t want to disrespect h in front of everyone, lol the disrespect was you cheating on your wife in front of your children but ok). OW tries to goad h by convincing her that H bought her a diamond bracelet. Meanwhile h is just thinking about OW’s butt crack (not even a joke).

How the doormat tolerated this disrespect, I’ll never know. She should have gotten a face full of the expensive wine she loves so much. We also find out H and OW knew each other from their college days, so I guess his choice of mistress wasn’t as random as expected. This seems to be what shocks h awake. She runs out, grabs H’s car keys and goes to the underground parking garage where she seems to have a dissociative episode and crash his car into a pillar. I had to wonder aloud if she was stupid. How this was gonna show H not to cheat, made no sense to me. Because tbh this is just ammunition in a custody case for H if she divorces him. And once she comes to her senses again, she freaks out about this being used against her constantly anyways lol. It is so fucking annoying to read, h is so ditzy and dumb, I almost wanted H to end up with someone else.

So H freaks out but not because of the car, but because she hurt herself. Now he really wants his brother to look into h’s background because there’s a 6 month gap in her background check. On the trip back, H makes some big moves. He calls up his people, gets the car crash footage deleted and fires OW. Why he didn’t do this already? No clue. You would think a man who is constantly crying that he fucked up and wants his family back would have already thought to do this? Or atleast find a way to move her elsewhere. He claims he has no interest in OW, he was annoyed and drinking at this event. She invited herself to his penthouse for a nightcap and then stripped immediately and started riding him.

So H finally doing a decent thing plus Cora freaking out about the car crash gets him laid lol—well kind of. Cora decides to take another battering ram to her dignity and recreate the scene she saw with H and OW (literally why? Just why?). H doesn’t like it and tells her to stop, they cuddle. Then have sex normally I guess.

So this whole time Cora keeps asking why H did it. He claims he’s only ever cheated this ONE time despite having so many opportunities because women always come on to him and he isn’t even tempted lol. And the reason ladies and gentlemen? Because h didn’t react the way he hoped to the flowers he got her. lol not even a joke sadly. See Cora has two smiles, a fake one for everyone else and a genuine one. H doesn’t know how to always make her genuinely smile because random things seem to make her happy, like him being gentle with their daughters or getting h a book or something random. But expensive jewels and bags seem to produce a fake smile. He is obsessed with h’s eye and hair color. Buys her yellow and blue flowers which reminded him of her. He thought she’d really like it, but when he comes down the following day, the flowers aren’t on display in the foyer. So he gets annoyed and pissed, decides to drink and this ends up in him passively agreeing to having sex with OW. By the way in doing this he recreates a scene from his childhood where HE was the kid with his mom, who walked in on his dad chatting with OW riding HIM. So he knew EXACTLY what he was doing to h, but didn’t care because she didn’t like his flowers enough lol.

Not the author promising to redeem this shitbag H and giving us this as his reason for cheating 😭����. Like let’s be so for real? He’s not even mad about her spending his money, he literally says in his POV it makes him happy to have his wife depend on him. He just gets so pissed about her reaction to the flowers, he cheats on her. Thats literally it. And pray tell what did Cora actually do with the flowers? Well she loved them so much, she decided to press them with his books in the library. Complete clown show here.

H then finds out through his brother, h isn’t who she says she is. Turns out she stole the name of someone else in the system who had a close name. And where she was in those 6 months? She was institutionalized after having an episode with her foster parents. Turns out her foster dad/ local pastor was a creep who was spying and recording the young girls under his care. h allowed it when it was just her but when she found out he started doing it to her younger foster sister too, she flipped. Grabbed the family RV and crashed it into the living room. The foster mom was aware this was happening and did nothing by the way. Her foster parents are in jail.

H feels lied and betrayed to. But also she knew he wanted the shiny package, considering he didn’t even bother to get to know her. Some shit happens. OW tries to blackmail h with her car crash footage to get her job back. h stupidly decides to make a run for it, goes back to her lawyer and says she needs to skip town. He obvs calls H, who shows up pissed and drags her home. OW is handled like a footnote and he tries to talk to h. She goes berserk and starts throwing all their shit into the fire, like their marriage certificate. Basically anything to do with him. The last thing is the book containing the pressed flowers he got her. H recognizes this and throws his hand into the fire to grab the burning flowers. He’s shocked because he thought she hated them. She says she was trying to keep them forever. They reconcile right there. He keeps the ashes of the flowers.

The prenup is thrown out. He makes her go to therapy, she doesn’t want to, he starts talking about himself then she opens up. They become a family and HEA I guess. I think we’re meant to find it super romantic that H didn’t have h committed even though she’s clearly unhinged. This is meant to be his redemption I guess because h literally states:

“But a man who’ll lie for you? Who doesn’t care what’s wrong with you? Who protects you when you’re burning down your own house?
A man like that is as fucked up as I am. He’s real.”


Yeah hell no. I work with patients who have mental illness, I haves loved ones with mental illness and this is a terrible message. Cora appears to experience episodes of psychosis, and the scariest thing is people aren’t themselves when enthralled in these episodes. They can be a danger to others and those around them. Just look up stories of mothers with postpartum psychosis who hurt their children. Yet H continues to allow her to watch the children because she would never hurt them and she has security constantly. Even with a watchful eye, she managed to hurt herself and inflict some serious damage. She is clearly suffering under emotional turmoil and unraveling while adamantly refusing therapy or treatment. This is probably one of the most dangerous scenarios I can think of, yet he defends her because he fucked up and can’t afford to piss her off anymore. I don’t find that romantic at all nor do I think that redeems H. imo, this adds a whole new level of shitbag to his already intolerable BS.


Original post from 12/14/25:
Note to self:

H is caught cheating his supposed “one and only time” by wife and kids. His director of finance is literally riding him when they walk in. He’s not even immediately remorseful. This makes no sense to me, to be caught conveniently cheating your only time.

The cheater apologists are already in the comments hyping this up and giving it five stars. Author claims she will somehow redeem this man, and the grovel is worthwhile. From where I’m standing this man cannot be redeemed, especially if h remains celibate. Again if he’s not even remorseful, wants to remain married, how do you prevent the circumstances that led him to cheat this one supposed time? This marriage is described as transactional, she’s pushed out two kids for him, but he only cheats this one time? Doesn’t make sense tbh. If she stays celibate, I’m not considering this an HEA.

[Reva · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @58%
I cannot do this. I am so sorry for even thinking that I could. This is NOT love. Ever. This is abuse. The H is a total piece of shit, and the heroine… honestly, pathetic doesn’t even cover it.
This is what he says when he is caught cheating in front of his wife and children and later confronted:

"You’ve embarrassed our people, dragged the children out of their beds and disrupted their routine. So, what is the issue? You have my attention. What is it that you want?”

He is more sorry for being caught than for what he actually did. Let that sink in.
When she asks for a simple apology, this clown says:

“Men like me—we—apologies don’t come naturally to us.”

Oh, really? Well, DNF-ing doesn’t usually come naturally to me, but for you, I’ll make an exception.🖕
For the heroine, she is a complete doormat. 😔
She is as pathetic as you can imagine. Painfully so. She is living a miserable life, still stuck in the same house with him. She could have demanded another place with bodyguards, legal protection, anything, but she hasn’t. She sometimes even forgets the horrors that happened to her:

"I actually forget to hate Adrian for the next several days. We go back to having breakfast as a family, and the bread basket has lots of new muffin flavors—blueberry, apple cinnamon, and chocolate chip."

OH WOW. 🧁🤡
Cheating, humiliation, control, trauma—but at least muffins are sorted. Priorities, right? 😭✌🏼
To answer my own questions: I’m never reading a cheating book again. Maybe it’s my moral compass—honestly, I don’t care. I’m not even sure how to explain it fully, but this kind of betrayal hits me in a way other dark themes don’t, and I can’t unfeel it. 💔

Original Review:
Send me help!! 🚨
I am scared. 😫
I do not support cheating.🚫 I hate it. Like, that’s my #1 hard pass.🏃‍♀️📚

But this author—this evil genius—released a sneak peek of Chapter 1 (yes, the on-page cheating scene), and I made the grave mistake of reading it. And guess what? The writing was phenomenal. Like, annoyingly good. The kind of prose that makes your chest hurt a little. 😭🔥

And here’s the thing—I’ve been down this road before. I told myself I’d never read dark romance with dubcon/noncon scenes, and now look at me... reading them like they are fairytales 🧙🏻✨ and my life depends on it.💀

So, people who’ve read the book (or have gone through this emotional mess before):
👉 Should I read it? Is it worth the moral confusion?
👉 Or should I protect my peace and run far, far away? 😂

Help a conflicted reader out, please. I’m horrified and obsessed. 🫣💔

[Debbie DiFiore · Rating 3 out of 5]

okay I read the whole book and I cried, ugly cried for the first half. I mean blowing bubbles out my nose and sobbing at parts. I thought the hero was an idiot. I.liked the heroine. I liked the twists and turns but I did not buy his miraculous change from douche canoe to loving husband. And he was totally unapologetic. I did like that the heroine stood her ground for a while and didn't fall to her knees because of his penis.I was so traumatised by the first chapter in this book and I have no idea why he did it. It didn't even look like he was into it. He was sitting there looking at his phone??!? Then why do it. He gave a reason at the end after he thought about it but it was lame. Very lame. He saw what his Mother went through and he still did it to his wife. My heart is still bruised by this book. I can't get it out of my mind. Did he redeem himself, I don't know. she couldn't. She recreated the scene near the end of the book in their bedroom and that disgusted me. They both had issues and you will see what she does to cope with injustice. She does things that are self harming to.quiet her pain. Her past is revealed and they both go to counselling. it ends with a five.months later epilogue but it still disturbed me to no end. I'm glad I knew.the opening scene from reading a preview from the last book so it wasn't A total shock but it was still disturbing and I need to find a palate cleanser to erase this from my mind. I wanted to react and just give it.one star because of cheating and how vile he was in the beginning. I hated him and what he did. I never got over it but I added the two stars because the writing evinced emotion from me and totally gobsmacked me. That is a good writer. I can't believe I read and didn't skim the book. But it will haunt me for awhile. That opening scene was so base and cringe worth and I can't get it out of my head. Read at your own.peril.

prior to reading thoughts....

I just read a preview of the first chapter and it.was truly awful. The kids were there and he tells the 'rider' to stay and makes them leave. It was heartbreaking. And gross. I am sick to my stomach. I may have to Read or skim.it maybe just to.see how she can possibly redeem him. and did.I mention the kids were there. And he like is looking at his phone. I wish the book was out so I could get.that scene out of my head. It makes me want to cry.

[Joanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the book and it was so disjointed. First we see the male lead actively cheating on his spouse who HAS JUST GIVEN BIRTH. Then, we see the female lead try to look up ways to leave him but of course, she can't because she loses her children. Said female lead also grew up in foster care, so the male lead thinks she's out to get his money, so he makes her sign a pre-nup that says she loses everything if she tries to divorce. This entire farce takes up the first half of the book and the lawyers show up exactly twice - telling the female lead what she'll lose if she divorces the cheating male lead, and telling the male lead what he told the female lead.
Two, the male lead does not grovel or make amends. The most we ever see him do is have him play doting father with female lead and the kids going to chop down a Christmas tree, and then sleep with the female lead. The entire time, he has his brother going through the female lead's past only to find out that she isn't who she said she is, cementing his opinion that said female lead was only there for his money. We see the female lead's POV but it's always "I have to do XYZ to keep my babies away" - which is fair and valid - BUT SHE DOESN'T DO ANYTHING. I hate nothing more than giving people options and them not taking it because they don't want to upset the status quo.
Three, we find out from the male lead digging into the female lead's past that said female lead has hyper manic episodes and that she's a danger to their children so he forces her to go to therapy. that's it. that's the entire story.
TL;DR - male lead cheats, female lead tries to escape but can't, male lead forces said female lead to go to therapy, they're a happy family again. there was no groveling, no redemption, nothing. to be fair to the male lead, his parents sucked and he had terrible examples growing up, but it would have been better for him to say/do/think "I had terrible parents growing up and I don't want to be like them, I need to go to therapy, not be in a relationship, or be a parent until I've fixed myself". This is a toxic relationship and worse for the female lead because she grew up in foster care and didn't really know how to fight for herself, only adapting to what the other person needs and not WHAT SHE NEEDS.

[Margo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I did not think it was possible to like a book by Cate C. Wells as much as Run, Posey, Run.

I was wrong. I loved this book. The two main characters are perfectly matched, and there are real stories behind both characters. At the end, there is one throwaway story note that had me sniffling (hint: islands) and it pushes the book over to perfection.

Loved it!

[Mairi Swan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing starting reading season I just had! My heart was broken and was stitched back together in less than a day. My soul ached for those two.
Reading the blurb and having some sneak peaks from the previous books of this series I wasn't so sure if I could like them especially the hero. Actually I was getting frustrated with him right from the beginning (well the opening scene of the book is the scene of the betrayal) and I was wondering how on earth this man could redeem himself and gain back his wife.
Lots of lots of trigger warnings so please check before starting it. It's quite heavy to the point that my heart ached for their messed up childhoods and their upbringings.
But in the end despite their toxic relationship they managed to open up, really really open up and start again on more solid ground. Did their lives were perfect after all? No way and that's what this makes them more approachable instead of having some pretend model in front of each other.

[Lidia's Romance · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 Stars

Tropes/Themes:
Marriage in Trouble
Cheating - H (once; physical, not emo)
Age Gap: 38 H / 26 h
Second Chances
Reconciliation
Wealthy Hero
Alpha Hero
Childhood Trauma (H/h)

Notes/Review:
Hooked at first chapter. It's been so long since I got this invested in a romance book. It was completely addictive. I LOVED the writing. I've read other books by Ms. Wells, not all worked for me (Hitting the Wall is a fave) but after Silent Flames, I feel no shame in admitting I'm one of her groupies now. So many authors lately try desperately to accomplish what Wells did here. They often fail to pull it off. It's become a rare thing for me to find a book that can hold my interest from start to finish. The angst and anticipation was fantastically executed in Silent Flames. It wasn't predictable or boring or unnecessarily wordy with the typical filler. Truth be told, I'm an angst whore, and sometimes it feels exhausting trying to find a book that delivers. That's why I'm rating this 5 Stars, because it fucking delivered. Such sweet relief for a reader.

I'm keeping this review short because I've been nursing a book hangover all day. I will share a few quotes that resonated with me or that helped me understand these characters better.

📚 Cora/heroine
I had lots of empathy for her. I wanted to hug her tightly.
"I sob, and he strokes my hair, and I let him because I’m scared, and he’s here, and he’s being kind at the moment, and my enemies have always been the people closest to me, the ones who comfort and hold me after they’ve torn me apart."

"No, no, no. I’m not letting myself go down that path. That line of thinking is a crock of shit—the poor man cheated because he’s emotionally stunted and can’t accept love. It’s not his fault. He had terrible parents."

📚 Adrian/hero
Not everything is black and white. In my eyes, he was a redeemable hero.
"My aspirations were rational, conventional—a wife, children, a peaceful home. I got Cora, Pearl, and Winnie—soft bodies, breakable bones, fragile hearts. I was unprepared."

📚 I appreciate flawed/morally grey characters.
"Adrian and I aren’t the only messed up people in the world . . . but we are messed up, both of us. What else would you call a man who’s nervous around his own children? Who buys a family? Who doesn’t give a shit about love and can’t say sorry and tries to control his home life with contracts and bribes? That’s not my particular brand of crazy, but it sure isn’t well-adjusted, either."

✅ H/h's kiddos (2 girlies under 5yo) - were adorable 😍
✅ Redemption (H/h) - satisfying
✅ H's grovel - gets my stamp of approval ☺️
✅ HEA - sweet 💕
✅ 2ndary Characters - I'm intrigued! Checking out their books.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is not what I expected when I went into it. From the blurb and teasers I was expecting an unhinged FMC who goes scorched earth and burns her cheating husband’s world to the ground. This is not that. However, that is not my preferred trope so I didn’t find it a problem.

I do not want to call Cora “Crazy” because it feels disrespectful to her character. She is not crazy she has had an extremely painful life which has understandably caused ongoing issues for her. Adrian is the same but on a different end of the scale.

Adrian was harsh in his words and behaviour immediately after the gut punch scene as he believed Cora was only in the marriage for money and lifestyle but quickly learns he is mistaken. Seeing Cora come to the realisation that the marriage, in Adrians eyes, was a transaction is sad and gets you in the feels at times.
They both had their eyes opened about the truth of the other and the quite shaky and false ground their marriage was built on, it felt like it was inevitable that at some point something would blow it up.

There isn’t really “Grovel” so if you’re looking for that this may not be for you. However Adrian does work at doing what he can to get them back on track. He is devastated by what he has lost and he does come to realise why he self sabotaged to blow up his own life and how much he actually feels for Cora. Cora does not make it easy for him, she wont give him an inch. There is no BBS here.
He is also coming to learn that she is hiding a much bigger secret than he ever thought.

Ultimately this is a story of two very damaged people that have severe trauma from childhood abuse and events. How they learn who they both actually are and realising what they feel is love and how they accept that and come together. The OW was a typical snake and you do want to reach into the book and slap her more than once.

There is more character thoughts and inner monologue than dialogue. That’s not a problem for me but I know some readers aren’t a fan of that. I did feel around halfway through that it very slightly dragged and I wanted it to move along but that feeling wasn’t overwhelming.

I will advise to check the trigger warnings before you jump in. It is a deep and emotional story of people overcoming the worst and finding their person. There are some moments of humour for a little light relief and a couple of scenes of mild spice

[NMmomof4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Stars

Opinion Breakdown
The Good: The grovel & redemption of the H, the change in their relationship, and the daughters.

The Not-So-Good: The ending could've been better.

The Bad: The H's reasoning IMO.

Overall: I liked this but I didn't quite love it like everyone else. I probably should've waited a bit until the hype died down because I definitely set myself up here by jumping right in. I liked how his crazy behavior (and yes, I think it was crazy and not at all that justified in the end) made them both face their past trauma and changed their relationship probably for the better. The H had probably one the best redemption arcs I've read, so there is that. However, I still have mega issues with the reasoning behind what he did and that's why I won't be rating it higher. The babies were sweet and the h's intense love for them. I also was shocked that I didn't get all that emotional, especially because I was expecting a crying angstfest - but it could just be a me thing 🤷🏻‍♀️

Brief Summary of the Storyline: This is Cora and Adrian's story. Cora is concerned about her husband and she walks into him cheating on her with a colleague. After some misunderstandings and hurtful words and actions, Adrian starts to realize what a mess he has made of his almost perfect wife and life. He soon realizes that he needs to fix it and starts trying to repair his family, but it's not as easy as he thought it would be. There are some secrets revealed, some past trauma they have to work through, and some sweet and sexy times...and they get a HEA ending.

Point Of View (POV): This alternated between Cora (mainly) and Adrian's POV.

Overall Pace of Story: Good. I never skimmed and I thought it flowed well.

Instalove: No, but feelings are already there and they're married when this starts.

H (Hero) rating: 4 stars. Adrian. Holy redemption arch! I ended up liking him in the end almost more than the h.

h (heroine) rating: 4 stars. Cora. I loved how she was with her daughters and how she didn't just roll over and take it with the H.

Sadness level: Low, no tissues needed - surprisingly.

Push/Pull: Yes they both push away and I'd say the H is the main pursuer of the relationship . He definitely grovels.

Heat level: Alright. They have some mild tension, chemistry, and scenes -- but not so much it takes away from the story.

Descriptive sex: Yes

OW (Other Woman)/OM (Other Man) drama: Yes the OW causes some drama

Sex scene with OW or OM: Yes the H and OW in first chapter

Cheating: Yes the H cheats on the h in the first chapter

Separation: Not technically They are separated in an emotional sense and there was no mention or suggestion of other partners during this time.

Possible Triggers: Yes Cheating (explicitly on page), both have trauma from their childhoods (on page), both mcs have PTSD (on page) (h growing up with addict parents, foster care system, and being institutionalized; and H was kidnapped for ransom that his Dad didn't pay), and blackmail

Closure: This ends in an alright place but I would've liked to see more on-page resolution. I would call it a HEA ending though and I know I'm just greedy like that.

Safety: This one is probably Not Safe for most safety gang readers

- Does have cheating
- Does have a descriptive sex scene with the H and OW
- Does have both the h ad H pushing away
- Does Not (technically) have a separation between the h and H
- Does Not have abuse by mc (IMO)
- Does have a HEA ending

[daemyra, the realm's delight · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jan. 3, 2026 Update:

4.5 stars!!! Review to come.

Lots of thoughts below, just quickly jotted them down.

No one can do "we're married, we love each other, but we actually don't know each other" trope. I think I created a shelf based on this trope due to Cate C. Wells! If you loved Run Posy Run, you will enjoy this return to form.

Similar stakes to Run Posy Run: Hero and heroine are in blissful marital ignorance, where the heroine is head-over-heels in love with the hero, believing in their happy ending, while the hero, although fond of her, sees their comfortable relationship as nothing special. It's not until they are separated due to outside forces that the heroine is forced to grapple with the truth that perhaps she had been idealizing their relationship, and the hero realizes he loves her and took their relationship for granted.

This is a basic summary for the set-up of Silent Flames, but any good romance goes beyond the trope they set up. I love how CCW reveals more of her characters as the story unfolds.

There's something so sweet, genuine, and real about the love the hero and heroine have for each other, even when they were both performing their roles, never un-masking in their intimacy. How can CCW show the readers through hero and heroine POVs that they love without knowing? The attention to detail belies the narratives they have formed about their partners. The angst is so good, as they reflect and turn over their assumptions about each other.

The one-time cheating here is the event that propels them to start to be honest with each other. Disclaimer: I bought this but put off reading it until I was in a mood to deal with the on-page cheating. It wasn't as bad as I worried it might be. The detail was his phone when he was on the couch was a lifeline! Emotional cheating is harder for me to read than physical cheating in books.

Heroine was so much more interesting once she talked back (So reminiscent of Plum!). I think it's such an important conversation on how we idealize relationships and put our partners on a pedestal. Heroine does this, but so does hero. She wants prince charming, while he wants a docile, nubile wife who is good with his kids.

Also, the reason for the cheating... This was probably the most convincing case made of self-sabotage and I really, really liked that CCW didn't persuade the reader to feel sympathy for the hero. No one wants to feel bad for a hero who cheats because he had it all, and his life was too good. 🙄

However, I loved that each time the conversation or internal dialogue turned to why the hero did what he did, we learned more about the inciting incident from a different perspective. I definitely prefer CCW's billionaire businessmen heroes over her salt of the earth/dumb but lovable himbos, because their POVs are interesting to read. They are like onions. They got layers!

The cheating was an extremely dumb move on the hero's part. The illogical, irrational self-sabotage reason, however, came to truly resonate for his character, and I say all this not to let the hero off the hook, as he definitely needed to take accountability for his actions.

If there is one thing I would side-eye the hero on, it's how he didn't do anything about the OW's antics until the heroine severely harmed herself. In one way, that gave the story delicious angst due to the callousness of the hero, so I can't fault this narrative choice, but the heroine had to deal with that humiliating dinner scene... the hero should have shut it down then and there in front of everyone, clients be damned. I say this without wanting to change a thing about the book tho.

As for the heroine's backstory. I liked how out of left-field it was, because it was a way for the hero to also feel the carpet pulled from under him. It also course corrected, changing the plot action, which had reached a stalemate. Understandably so, she was angry and just didn't want anything to do with him. Very real, but also no forward progression.

Silent Flames does not have smut scenes or even smouldering scenes. In fact, the only on-page sex was in chapter 1 (and it wasn't twist-the-knife, punch-to-the-gut sexy, either). However, the angst, the exploration into their marriage was so good, it doesn't matter. And this is coming from someone who enjoys smut.

Silent Flames is officially joining my favourite CCW novels of all time. Plum and Run Posy Run are tied for the first spot, but this is certainly very enjoyable and unique.

Bingo Notes:
MC has a child/children

Just pre-ordered.

Cate C. Wells, fuck me up.

[Danny Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this high because the writing was good, but not going to lie. Cora's character kind of threw off the book for me. To each their own, but I don't like the crazy ladies as my preferred FMCs all that much. Unless I'm reading a dark romance book. And Cora's character's mental instability was cause for worry around her children. IRL she'd probably have to be watched 24/7 with her tendencies. That were set off with Adrian's cheating. The author had to constantly remind us that she would hurt herself and other's, but not her kids. 🤷 Honestly, if no children had been involved I probably would have added an extra star. But by the end I still wasn't feeling Cora's character. I know what happened to her was sad. Though Cate the author never delved deep into it. Only mentioning it. But her violence while being around her kids? Yeah, that was not for me. Also, knowing she stole another foster kid's identity with the help of a social worker. I just wasn't able to develop any kind of emotion towards Cora other than she was mentally unstable.

Also, I find it weird when reviewers only pay attention to the cheating and not the whole plot. If you were looking for groveling this wasn't going to have that. Cate mentioned that as the other authors as well in their books. If you couldn't see two very unstable characters here I don't know what to tell you. If you only want to criticize the male lead knowing he cheated going in with little grovel, why even read it? I like Cate's flawed MMCs for the most part because their language is in their actions not their words. Talk is cheap, but actions go miles.

[TJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5.0

Good, but I really wanted more pain on his part. And, I’m not sure about the underlying reasons for both of them. They just rode the surface rather than really allowing us to feel the depth of what happened to both of them. Both characters are so closed where that’s concerned but because of that, we don’t really understand as deeply as we should in order for it to affect us enough to be satisfied.

[Adrianna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ugh this was so disappointing. I’m here for the groveling and the redemption arc. There is no groveling and no redemption.

The MMC is an irredeemable prick. When he’s caught cheating he blames his wife for not understanding the transactional nature of their relationship. He’s a real peach. Obviously he realizes he actually has feelings for his wife but does he grovel? No. He throws money at her. There’s no great redemption arc where he puts in the work to earn her back. Also, the FMC is a total doormat.

This is a no for me.

[Melanie A. · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ STARS!

Is there such a thing as a gold digger for love?

Completely engrossing. I loved the characters and I believed in their struggles with themselves and each other. I'll have to read the whole series. 😍

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cate what crack did you put in this book?? This was fantastic!!!! RTC

[Jan · Rating 4 out of 5]

**** 4.5 Stars ****

What a terrific story!
It captivated me from beginning to end. I only didn't give it 5 stars because something bothered me.
How did Cora's mental health problems disappear during her 5 years of marriage? Five years without a relapse? I wonder if that's even possible? A person with her problem living normally as long as there's no trigger?

[Ainhoa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought I was done for this year after a few disappointing books but Mrs Wells had other plans for me creating a perfect cheating-marriage in crisis-mafiaish romance for me 🤓♥️

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe my favorite Cate now????? I don’t know but that hurt me perfectly. I’m not sure I wasn’t crying in every chapter. What a pair of perfectly messed up delightful people lolol

[4katydid Donahue · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing story. I'm still wrapping my head around it. I love Cora, flaws or should I say claws and all. My mind is still digesting all the drama you've given us. My heart breaks for Cora but also shouts out in support of her need to express the violence she is feeling inside. It may not be healthy but it is raw and honest. As much of an ass Adrian started out to be, and he was a cold, self-centered, emotionally stunted ass, he really didn’t know he was shredding the very fabric of Cora’s existence but he learned really fast. I’m glad to see Adrian get shredded too and his frustration over things not going back the way they were. He didn’t deserve it, even though he was acting under misconceptions, subconsciously he sabotaged his whole marriage. We learn about the mistaken reasoning behind his assumptions and the betrayal he made. I wish it wasn’t a deliberate decision, but it was and we will have to live with that.

The bright side of the story are the 2 daughters and the love Cora shows them which I really enjoyed reading. The good or even wonderful thing that came out of this story was that these two finally see each other, really see each other with the masks and colored glasses off. I loved how hard Adrian fights to bring them back together. In the beginning he fought for the wrong reasons, to make his life comfortable but then later because he needed to understand his wife to make her happy and to want to stay. There was so much going on in this book and I am still reeling, good reeling but wow. You have given us so much to think about.