I had never understood the concept of 'morbid fascination' until the moment I witnessed my husband break our wedding vows. I should have turned away. Should have spared myself the pain of watching my husband take pleasure in another woman, but I didn’t.
Melanie and Benjamin have known each other almost their entire lives, together for a decade, married for five years, and in a matter of moments, all that is thrown away when Melanie discovers her husband's betrayal. Heartbroken, outraged, and pregnant, Melanie struggles with the biggest decision of her should she tell him about the baby before or after the divorce?
People are I wish the hearts were like stars and you could give more than one. ♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️ - Laura
Amazing book! Thank you ♥️ I’m over here crying my eyes out. -Rachel R
Just so beautiful. Tragic and healing. Your writing is organically real and raw. -Debra D
3.5⭐️ for This marriage in trouble with a liberal splash of infidelity story is a soapy read that requires more than a little suspension of disbelief, but if you’re in the mood, it slaps!
The MMC is a complete cad whose house of cards comes tumbling down in a satisfying way. Our FMC rises from the ashes, phoenix-style, and launches into the wealthy business maven we all knew she was but wasn’t allowed to be in her marriage.
Pretty good writing. Decent pace. I liked it!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This book had it all. The gut punch cheating scene. The husband that truly doesn’t deserve redemption. The strong heroine. The supportive family. The true H waiting on the sidelines silently supporting the heroine while she heals. The comeuppance for the cheaters. And an epilogue that shoots far enough into the future that you get the full closure you are seeking.
I loved that the author writes it so you can feel angry at the husband and not really feel sorry for him until it’s time to feel so. I loved that you get the POV of more than just the two main characters. It was such a good second chance at love plus redemption story with all the feels. I will be honest and say the 3rd epilogue in this book had me tearing up quite a bit. I was reading in a restaurant and if the waitress hadn’t come to take my order at the perfect moment I would’ve been a puddle on the floor.
If you like cheating stories with a strong heroine who says you did this so check I’m done then this one is for you.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Well, this was a pleasant surprise! We have some of my favorites in this cheating hubs trope: ✅ caught in the act ✅ ow drama, Angela is cray cray ✅ cheating husband ✅2nd chance with someone else ✅ comeuppance for cheaters ✅ humbled ex-husband Few typos, but a solid good book. I'll be looking for more from Sabrina Lynn!! 4 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐
This is one of my favorite tropes: on-page cheating/caught in the act, strong h and new H with HEA! Loved that it was told in different POV including OW. Didn’t even mind that there wasn’t a lot of OW drama because the H was such an idiot thinking he could fix all his betrayals. I really enjoyed reading this book!
I know some readers didn’t like Ben’s ending and felt like he got off too easy, but I disagree. At the end of the day, Ben lost everything, his credibility, his character, the respect of his peers + found family, his job, the trust people had in him, and most importantly, the love of his life. Because Mel truly was his one.
Now, that doesn’t negate the fact that Ben wasn’t Mel’s one. Their relationship shouldn’t have even progressed the way it did. Like Mel said, she saw the signs and chose to let them go. But still, by the very end, you knew Mel was Ben’s one.
Ben got the punishment and the just desserts he deserved. Those ten years were necessary. He needed to lose everything. He needed to take therapy seriously. He needed to acknowledge that he ended up turning into daddy dearest. If none of that had happened, he would’ve been a terrible father to their daughter. He would’ve ended up being that little girl’s first heartbreak.
But seeing him prioritize his relationship with his daughter? Apologizing to Grama at her grave? Being big enough to acknowledge that Griffin really did his big one by taking care of Mel and their daughter? Swallowing his pride when it came to Griffin and genuinely wanting to be the best man he could be, not just for himself, but for his daughter?
Yeah. I liked his ending. Not everything needs to end on a bitter note.
This is a very well written betrayal story. It is well paced and maintained angsty feelings throughout. The H1 and h grew up together. The H1 spent a lot of time with the h and her brother (his best friend) escaping his unhappy home. They became serious in high school and married when the h graduated. The H1 kept the h from going to school or getting a job thinking that this kept the h dependent on him. He didn't take the bookkeeping that she did for her father's pharmacy seriously seeing it as insignificant. The h made smart investments and grew her own wealth as well as her family's. When she returns early from a trip for her grandmother's funeral and finds him and a OW naked in their hot tub everything that both the h and H1 believed about their marriage and life unravels quickly. The H1 is super arrogant in his confidence that he can keep his wife and marriage. Multiple points of view, the h, H1, H2, OW are effectively used. Really well done.
For most of the book I wanted to strangle Ben but by his Epilogue 10 years later I cried. He seems to have grown, I just hope he can find a woman he can be good to.
Melanie finally has a man that cherishes her. She was very strong when she had to be. Now, Griffin I can't say enough about him. He showed up for Melanie when she needed him the most.
This book had great side characters, Mel's parents, brother, lawyers, and her best friend.
So this was pretty good, esp for a first effort by an author. I really liked the beginning. The on page cheating scene where Melanie caught Ben was awesome. The immediate aftermath was also great - where she just lets him make an a** of himself with crap explanations. No question, she was devastated, but I appreciated how she handled it. Also, how she handled her life before and after- esp when he wouldn't let her work outside the home (the first sign he was a controlling a-hole).
I liked seeing all the POVs, including Ben's POV. It kept me interested for the most part. That being said, it did end up dragging a bit near the end and some of the parts were a bit outrageous - like the surveillance access to his home and his illegal financial activities and the NDAs signed by the women from all his extramarital affairs which didn't even have his real name. Kind of ridiculous but I appreciated the payback.
I'd read more by this author. The writing was engaging and the story was pretty good. So, definitely recommend.
Well, this book will take you on a journey from the FMC, Melanie’s, devastation when she walks in and catches her husband with another woman in her hot tub through to her HEA with a more deserving man and, surprisingly, redemption for the ex husband.
Poor Mel discovers an awful lot about the depths of her husbands betrayal which shatters the life she knew. Turns out though, she is not as stupid and naive as he thought and, with the support of her best friend, family, a brilliant lawyer and family friend and love interest Griffin by her side, she comes out stronger, richer and with a fair better life than she could have dreamt of.
I wanted to hate Mel’s ex husband Ben but, by the time we get to the epilogue I actually hoped for something good in his future.
This story literally has all the things, all the feels. The original MMC was the worst, I felt all the hatred. The FMC was devastated, but she valued herself enough to be strong but vulnerable too, so not unrealistically strong if you know what I mean. And the end, was a true representation of real life healthy outcomes for families that have been down through it. I totally would recommend this book.
I loved so much about this book. A tstl MMC. A strong FMC. An awesome best friend of the FMC. A great H2. An awesome family of the FMC. This was a quick read from a new to me author. I loved this book. I laughed, cried, wanted to punt my kindle...I look forward to reading more from this author.
What a rollercoaster! This was an honest look at the rippling effect betrayal can cause. Ben is so clouded with his own importance he takes the love of Melanie and her family for granted. However, he fails to realize how strong and resourceful his wife is. Mel takes no prisoners; and yet, her understandable reactions and choices are make with compassion and grace. I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.
If you like books where H cheats but gets what’s coming to him, you will love this book.
H - for most of the book he was despicable. No amount of redemption or grovel would have me rooting for him. However, I did feel bad for him towards the end.
h - strong and stood up for herself.
OW - crazy 😜
new H - he quietly stood by and helped where he could until she was ready. The book doesn’t give a lot of coverage on them as a couple though.
Overall a solid book. First time reading a book by this author. But will read more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was a great story to follow regarding how the MFC deals with the betrayal of her marriage. This does end in a HEA for the MFC, but not so much for one of the MMC (the ex-husband).
Wow - what a beautiful entertaining read. Much more than I imagined when deciding to read it. You get all the feels. I loved the family dynamics and how loving and strong the MFC was.
Great book ,I'm so glad the mfc Melanie was not the typical fool to be cheated on then sit back and think about forgiving her cheating hubby Ben ,he was a complete monster .I loved how he thought he could have his cake and eat it and really didn't realise how Melanie and her ,brother Kyle and best friends Lily and Griffin would reveal a lot more so she could make his life unbearable ,good ending and HEA for some anyway
2 stars because the FMC actually stuck to her guns and divorced her husband and moved on. It would have been nice to see the chemistry between her and the OM but we weren't given that chance.
Speaking of said husband, he is one of the worst MC's I've read...very arrogant, corky and an overall bad person who is borderline violent. I'd like to believe that he is redeemed at the end as they portray him to be but meh. It's not easy to reconcile this villain (whose POV we have had a front row seat to) with the renewed and genuinely apologetic dad.
The ending is unbelievable as well. I mean, it's one thing to forgive the scrappy ex-husband, it's been 10 years so the anger has probably abated. But to provide him with shelter (your beloved grandma's house)? The financial and emotional support? Maybe they are better people than me. 🤷🏿♀️🤷🏿♀️
Cheating = h comes home from a funeral to find her husband banging OW in the hot tub...come to find out, the husband had never been faithful.
h sees H with OW = see above, but the husband is NOT the H
OW drama = OW causes drama for the husband
Entertaining read with a h who is anything but a doormat. Yes, in her marriage she played a submissive role, but she was happily in love with her husband which does not make her weak just because she was happy in that dynamic. There is a new H and he is all in with the h.
Loved it and highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Very similar to a book called, "When Perfect Falls Apart" by Josey Mood. They both zero in on the legal fallout of the hero's infidelity and how he was caught with much more than infidelity. So for me, I loved it! What fantasy, greed and deceit will do. In this story, the hero actually became a decent guy.
This story kept me glued and entertained from the beginning to the end. The idiot, serial cheating husband got what he had coming to him, and the sweet wife who had been done wrong, got the HEA she deserved with the man who had always secretly loved her in the background.
Wow! This was fantastic!! The betrayal was huge, our heroine was strong and steady and that ending was the saddest yet sweetest moment i was not expecting but was exactly perfect.