I am not doing a full review.
There are books by this author I love and there are books by her I dislike, like this book. I think I hate this book the most.
I've read cheating books and I've read MC books where I did feel like the H and the MC were redeemed. But I did not find the H or the MC he was a part of to be redeemable. I don't even think the H groveled.
Quick summary:
H and h together since ten years old. They get pregnant in their teens. They know they are too young, but they get married. the h gave him an out twice but he was adamant he loved her even though he originally wanted to abort the baby and was worried that he "didn't get to sow his oats" 🙄 The h gave up everything for him, I mean everything. Her family disowns her for marrying him, she gives up her college education so he can get his degree while she financially supported him working in a grocery store. His parents, particularly his mom hates the h thinking that she trapped the H, and the MC didn't welcome her.
Trigger Warning: SA and miscarriage
Years into their marriage, they are starting to drift apart because the h is working long hours (she has been secretly getting her degree in vet school while still working full time) and H is starting to have more thoughts about sowing his oats. He is also starting to resent the h and their son because of it. On a date night they planned to have, H's mother lied that she was sick so she couldn't watch their son, the H spirals that the h is cheating on him because of the long work hours and so he cheats on her with her high school bully at the MC clubhouse a month after she is raped by a man while another man holds her down. we find out later, that it was the high school bully who paid to have her raped. The h has a miscarriage due to the trauma. She was 13 weeks. I don't know why she didn't call the police but she did go to a hospital. When she called the H, the ow picks up and say he is busy having sex with her.
The h hides what happened to her from the H and pulls away from him physically. He continues to think she is cheating so he has an affair with the bully for one year. The book starts with them in court ordered marriage counseling, the h wants a divorce but the H is pushing for reconciliation. Throughout the book, the H still blames his affair on her cheating (even though she didn't). Eventually he tells himself, that deep down he cheated because he wanted to sow his oats.
Why I hate the H and did not believe in his redemption:
1. He blamed his affair on the h several times because he falsely thought she cheated.
2. He said he "only" had sex with the h's bully 3 times a month for a year and always pictured the h's face. 🙄
4. HE GAVE HER CHLAMYDIA!!!! BECAUSE HE HAD UNPROTECTED SEX WITH OW.This should have been discussed more and I hated how this was swept under the rug. Also swept under the rug was, the h found out about his cheating because the ow had VIDEOS OF THE H EATING THE OW OUT AND OTHER SEX VIDEOS. He would miss their son's birthday, anniversary, son in the ER so he could have sex with ow.
5. He was controlling and hypocritical. He was angry at her for having a boyfriend while they've been separated for months and she was adamant she never wanted the H back. the H blamed their son's attitude issues for her having a boyfriend instead of his cheating or the ow sneaking into the son's school, harassing the son to tell him that the H never wanted his son in the beginning, that he wanted h to have an abortion and telling him the H never loved the h.
6. When H finds out the h was raped and it was orchestrated by the ow he was having an affair with, he tries to die by suicide. He was completely selfish. The entire book, his pov was just me, me, me, me, me, me. The h even tells him that. While she was falling apart from the rape, miscarriage, and her husband cheating, the h still worked full time, pursued her vet degree and took care of their son. Meanwhile, since the h filed for the divorce and since he found out she was raped and then he was having sexual affair with the woman who ordered the rape, all he cared about was himself. he tried to end his life without thinking of his son or the h. After the attempt failed, he tells h he needs to leave, to be out on the road for months so he can be better. How is abandoning his family making him a better man?
7. No comeuppance for the H's bitchy mom who instigated everything.
8. The MC was also at fault. They ignored h since she married him, believed she baby trapped him, and know that the H was having an affair. All of a sudden, after finding out the truth, they tell the h they are always her family. While the H is running away biking his feelings out, they force the h to live in the clubhouse where they threatened her with taking away her son if she doesn't move in and if she doesn't break up with her boyfriend even after she says she doesn't want to live in the place where her husband had the affair. The H's father and the MC also told h she was also responsible for the breakdown of the marriage because she kept what the bully ow said to her and blamed her insecurities after she was raped for the H's insecurity. So effectively blaming her for the H cheating even after the H admitted he cheated because he wanted to experience the single life. The least the MC could have done was kick the bully ow out of the club when the affair was happening and they didn't do that. They kicked her after after all the damages she has done (eventually she gets killed by the H for orchestrating the rape.)
9. I am only 52% in the book and it is becoming obvious the h's boyfriend will turn out to be her rapist or the other man who held her down. I HATE THIS PLOT. Why can't the heroine of a cheating story have other relationships where the other men are just good guys. It's always either they stupidly stay celibate or be with an abuser. Why?
The H never truly grovelled. He kept saying the h couldn't leave him and that he wouldn't live without her. From the beginning of the book to the end, the h kept saying she didn't know how she could trust him again and she wanted to divorce, but the H kept threatening to lock her up in the house to stop her from leaving and kept threatening to kill himself if she left. He also kept using their son as a way for her to stay, telling him she would mess up their son if they divorced. He made grand hollow speeches saying he would never look at another women, he redecorated the house to get rid of the memories (he didn't bring ow to the home), he pushed marriage counseling on her. It felt more like possession than love, the h even said that. So, he does not redeem himself, he coerces her to stay. He even says he is selfish, he won't let her go even if that's what she wants.
There was no benefits to the h staying with the H. None. The H and his lifestyle and family make things hard for her and their sob. She and their son would have been better away from them. I wished she met someone else.
Anyway, I hate the H, I wished he fell off a cliff hitting every sharp rock on the way down and then eaten by a megalodon. Also the MC to burn down.