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My Biggest Mistake
Sometimes our fondest dreams become our worst nightmares.
I always knew exactly what I wanted out of life. While my friends wished and wondered, I planned. A husband, children, even the perfect minivan--my future was a family, and I couldn’t wait to step into it. Donovan proposed right after graduation, and everything else fell into place too, right down to the van.
I should have done things differently, I know that now. I should have told someone, should have told him about the bottomless depression I fell into post-partum. Instead, I convinced myself I just needed a little time away, a small break to get my head straight. I made my biggest mistake when I gave into my demons and walked away from everything I’d ever wanted.
It took me two long years to recover, but now I know exactly what I want again. I want my family back. Donovan says they don’t want me. Don’t need me. He says he’s moved on. But the look in his eyes tells me there’s a chance, even if I have to fight.
And I’m not going to lose again.
I always knew exactly what I wanted out of life. While my friends wished and wondered, I planned. A husband, children, even the perfect minivan--my future was a family, and I couldn’t wait to step into it. Donovan proposed right after graduation, and everything else fell into place too, right down to the van.
I should have done things differently, I know that now. I should have told someone, should have told him about the bottomless depression I fell into post-partum. Instead, I convinced myself I just needed a little time away, a small break to get my head straight. I made my biggest mistake when I gave into my demons and walked away from everything I’d ever wanted.
It took me two long years to recover, but now I know exactly what I want again. I want my family back. Donovan says they don’t want me. Don’t need me. He says he’s moved on. But the look in his eyes tells me there’s a chance, even if I have to fight.
And I’m not going to lose again.
294 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 30, 2015
102 people are currently reading
2748 people want to read
About the author
Leddy Harper
35 books1,304 followersLeddy Harper had to use her imagination often as a child. She grew up the only girl in a house full of boys. At the age of fourteen, she decided to use that imagination and wrote her first book, and never stopped.
She often calls writing her therapy, using it as a way to deal with issues through the eyes of her characters.
The decision to publish her first book was made as a way of showing her children to go after whatever it is they want to. Love what you do and do it well. Most importantly Leddy wanted to teach them what it means to overcome their fears.
She often calls writing her therapy, using it as a way to deal with issues through the eyes of her characters.
The decision to publish her first book was made as a way of showing her children to go after whatever it is they want to. Love what you do and do it well. Most importantly Leddy wanted to teach them what it means to overcome their fears.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 340 reviews
April 10, 2022
5 MISTAKE Stars
Warning: Can you handle reading a story completely told in a mother who has abandoned her amazing husband, young daughter, and twin baby boys point of view? As a reader, you will need to ask yourself this question before jumping into this story because this book is an agonizing and exhausting read that was so very addictive and so very well done.
After two years, Edie feels that she is ready to face and fight for the life she left during a really dark period in her life. Edie struggles with depression and an assortment of gutting feelings of humiliation, inferiority and shame for her actions that led to her leaving her family. Don’t be fooled to think at this stage in her life she is a pushover or weak because she comes across pretty self-centered and entitled at times and then on the other hand so very sorry for her actions.
Seeing the family she left behind on Honeytree Lane and her best friend with them wasn’t how she imagined things going down...
”I came back because I no longer give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I only care about making things right and getting my kids back.”
Facing her children and her HOT husband Donovan’s responses to her return was gut-wrenching. Donovan Leery was one hell of a well-written male lead and I absolutely LOVED him. His pain, his love for the girl he fell in love with, and the wife he lost, was brilliantly written.
”Don’t you get it? I never wanted you to leave. I never wanted to live my life without you in it. I still don’t want to live without you, but I can’t live with you. I’m stuck in this endless space of purgatory because of you. I’m unhappy either way. You can’t make that right. You can’t make it go away.”
Ballsy Edie rents the house across the street from Donovan and works towards visits with her children while battling Donnie’s raw emotions of love and hate all directed at her.
I must say that the only things that really bothered me were the Beth situation and my wavering feelings towards Edie. Edie comes clean to Donnie about her reasons for leaving (but leaves out the doozy of all of her reasons). Reconnecting with the inlaws and her own mother has priority on her list as well. Jan, her therapist friend was instrumental in guiding Edie through her fight.
Overall, this story was angsty, intense, and so very well done. If you’re able to handle this plot and heroine please make sure you’re prepared!!
Warning: Can you handle reading a story completely told in a mother who has abandoned her amazing husband, young daughter, and twin baby boys point of view? As a reader, you will need to ask yourself this question before jumping into this story because this book is an agonizing and exhausting read that was so very addictive and so very well done.
After two years, Edie feels that she is ready to face and fight for the life she left during a really dark period in her life. Edie struggles with depression and an assortment of gutting feelings of humiliation, inferiority and shame for her actions that led to her leaving her family. Don’t be fooled to think at this stage in her life she is a pushover or weak because she comes across pretty self-centered and entitled at times and then on the other hand so very sorry for her actions.
Seeing the family she left behind on Honeytree Lane and her best friend with them wasn’t how she imagined things going down...
”I came back because I no longer give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I only care about making things right and getting my kids back.”
Facing her children and her HOT husband Donovan’s responses to her return was gut-wrenching. Donovan Leery was one hell of a well-written male lead and I absolutely LOVED him. His pain, his love for the girl he fell in love with, and the wife he lost, was brilliantly written.
”Don’t you get it? I never wanted you to leave. I never wanted to live my life without you in it. I still don’t want to live without you, but I can’t live with you. I’m stuck in this endless space of purgatory because of you. I’m unhappy either way. You can’t make that right. You can’t make it go away.”
Ballsy Edie rents the house across the street from Donovan and works towards visits with her children while battling Donnie’s raw emotions of love and hate all directed at her.
I must say that the only things that really bothered me were the Beth situation and my wavering feelings towards Edie. Edie comes clean to Donnie about her reasons for leaving (but leaves out the doozy of all of her reasons). Reconnecting with the inlaws and her own mother has priority on her list as well. Jan, her therapist friend was instrumental in guiding Edie through her fight.
Overall, this story was angsty, intense, and so very well done. If you’re able to handle this plot and heroine please make sure you’re prepared!!
February 5, 2022
2.5 stars. I swear it's not the book it's me. 🤣 Don't look at my less than flattering rating, this book is most probably one of the most obnoxiously dramatic good marriage in trouble romances out there.
The story deals with heavy mental issues, such as postpartum depression and its long-term consequences.
I almost (almost being the operating word) feel like a truly horrible, indifferent person for laughing at this chick's vast, pompous descriptions of the sounds her heart made while breaking and the cascades of tears running down her cheeks (imitating Niagara Falls no less 🗿🤡😂😅) when she realized that her husband had been seeing another woman (the heroine's best friend too).
HEART TEARS HOPES ON THE CONCRETE, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. 😭🤌🏻😈🔥 What a nice little pool of unnecessary stuff.
But before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at Donnie (H), let me tell you that more than a year ago, after giving birth to their twins, Edie (h) had left her family (3 children and Donnie) and never once contacted her husband let alone answered his phone calls and messages.
Then, years later, she suddenly appeared on their doorstep, penitent, apologetic, and equipped to grovel hard.
I totally didn't piss my pants every time Donnie shut the door in her face. 🤡🤌🏻
NO, BITCH, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ALL THE PAIN WHEN SHE WAS BEING SO DAMN FUNNY ABOUT HER SUFFERING? 😂🫂🤌🏻
It's truly amazing that this book portrays motherhood as not all sunshine and rainbows.
Not often that I come across books, films and even real-life people that acknowledge how tough, mentally and physically exhausting pregnancy can out turn out for a woman.
You know, mysterious "maternal instinct" each of us is supposed to have, or so they say. 🥱
I don't judge the heroine's questionable actions. There weren't cool, but could I sympathize with her? Yes.
Society more eagerly frowns upon and is quick to condemn a woman who has left her children (when it's not that common an occurrence), while men do that more often than not and no one cares. Yay to lower standards for men! 🥰 After all, they don't have "paternal instinct", do they now? 🥲
Anyway, I'm glad that the heroine managed to solve all the challenges she had been facing on her own (not without professional help) and that her husband took her back. (Though the fact that she didn't trust her husband to help her deal with mental issues in the first place was a telltale sign that something was already wrong in their relationship).
This book was refreshing in the sense that finally it was the hero on the receiving end of the "betrayal" and spousal abandonment. He was the one suffering the consequences of her depression too since he loved his wife dearly and kept waiting for her to finally come back.
(But if he were my favorite type of hero, he would have chased her down no matter what *scooby dooby doo*. 😈
How unrealistic can it possibly be to expect that a hero temporarily leaves his job, leaves his kids in the care of other family members and goes on a wife hunt? 😇 Sjsjsjkajjaajksjksk that's why I prefer "dark romance")
All in all, I had an issue with the writing style (couldn't concentrate on feeling any emotion since I was busy taking breaks from laughing) and the story quickly got boring and repetitive.
P.S. Another thing that had nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my stupid associations.
Donnie. DONNIE. I kept imagining him as that awkwardly funny husband of the heroine from the Canadian series Orphan Black. 😭😂 The heroine kept describing him as a very sexy man, but the only image I could actually conjure up in my head was that of Donnie Hendrix:
Sexy, I know, don't forget to thank me later for the visuals.
P.S. also Edie had a foot kink. 🌚 She was turned on at the sight of his bare feet.
*gags while trying to appear respectful of other people's kinks*
If that's not love I don't know what is...
The story deals with heavy mental issues, such as postpartum depression and its long-term consequences.
I almost (almost being the operating word) feel like a truly horrible, indifferent person for laughing at this chick's vast, pompous descriptions of the sounds her heart made while breaking and the cascades of tears running down her cheeks (imitating Niagara Falls no less 🗿🤡😂😅) when she realized that her husband had been seeing another woman (the heroine's best friend too).
One tear broke through and fell, rolling down my face and falling from my chin. Another tear followed. Before I knew it, my vision had blurred from the mass release of tears that flowed from my eyes, cascading down my face, and falling to oblivion, joining my heart and hopes on the concrete below.
HEART TEARS HOPES ON THE CONCRETE, MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT. 😭🤌🏻😈🔥 What a nice little pool of unnecessary stuff.
But before you start throwing rotten tomatoes at Donnie (H), let me tell you that more than a year ago, after giving birth to their twins, Edie (h) had left her family (3 children and Donnie) and never once contacted her husband let alone answered his phone calls and messages.
Then, years later, she suddenly appeared on their doorstep, penitent, apologetic, and equipped to grovel hard.
I totally didn't piss my pants every time Donnie shut the door in her face. 🤡🤌🏻
That’s when I became encompassed by complete and utter pain. It consumed me until I’d been left feeling an ache worse than any physical pain I had ever experienced. My heart felt literally broken like shards of glass, slicing me open from the inside out.
My throat closed and each time I swallowed, it felt like I was choking down shards of glass, followed by pure acid.
NO, BITCH, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO FEEL ALL THE PAIN WHEN SHE WAS BEING SO DAMN FUNNY ABOUT HER SUFFERING? 😂🫂🤌🏻
It's truly amazing that this book portrays motherhood as not all sunshine and rainbows.
Not often that I come across books, films and even real-life people that acknowledge how tough, mentally and physically exhausting pregnancy can out turn out for a woman.
You know, mysterious "maternal instinct" each of us is supposed to have, or so they say. 🥱
I don't judge the heroine's questionable actions. There weren't cool, but could I sympathize with her? Yes.
Society more eagerly frowns upon and is quick to condemn a woman who has left her children (when it's not that common an occurrence), while men do that more often than not and no one cares. Yay to lower standards for men! 🥰 After all, they don't have "paternal instinct", do they now? 🥲
Anyway, I'm glad that the heroine managed to solve all the challenges she had been facing on her own (not without professional help) and that her husband took her back. (Though the fact that she didn't trust her husband to help her deal with mental issues in the first place was a telltale sign that something was already wrong in their relationship).
This book was refreshing in the sense that finally it was the hero on the receiving end of the "betrayal" and spousal abandonment. He was the one suffering the consequences of her depression too since he loved his wife dearly and kept waiting for her to finally come back.
(But if he were my favorite type of hero, he would have chased her down no matter what *scooby dooby doo*. 😈
How unrealistic can it possibly be to expect that a hero temporarily leaves his job, leaves his kids in the care of other family members and goes on a wife hunt? 😇 Sjsjsjkajjaajksjksk that's why I prefer "dark romance")
All in all, I had an issue with the writing style (couldn't concentrate on feeling any emotion since I was busy taking breaks from laughing) and the story quickly got boring and repetitive.
P.S. Another thing that had nothing to do with the book and everything to do with my stupid associations.
Donnie. DONNIE. I kept imagining him as that awkwardly funny husband of the heroine from the Canadian series Orphan Black. 😭😂 The heroine kept describing him as a very sexy man, but the only image I could actually conjure up in my head was that of Donnie Hendrix:
Sexy, I know, don't forget to thank me later for the visuals.
P.S. also Edie had a foot kink. 🌚 She was turned on at the sight of his bare feet.
*gags while trying to appear respectful of other people's kinks*
If that's not love I don't know what is...
October 1, 2015
4 Stars!!
This was one of the hardest book I have ever read. It was emotional, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, intense and honestly for me due the subject matter, it was also hard to read. Reading the synopsis I knew what I was getting into, but I never expected to be so conflicted about this book. Needless to say I’m still not sure about my rating. There are parts of the story really well done that I enjoyed, but there are also parts that frustrated me and infuriate me so damn much.
“My Biggest Mistake” tells the story of Edie a young wife and mother who is suffering from postpartum depression. Edie had it all. Married with her childhood sweetheart, she had a beautiful house, a loving husband and three adorable small children. But Edie was in a bad place, she considered leaving her home will be better not only for her, but for family as well. She left and now two years later she came back to fight for her family.
She fells remorse, she feels guilt and she feels shame, so she knows it won’t be easy win her family back, especially after everything has changed so much and also because she has some secrets that might destroy everything she wants to win back.
The story was sad and heartbreaking at times and the subject matter and the amount of angst made me take several breaks while reading it. However I have to say the story felt raw, real and honest to me and I really sympathized with the two main characters. Edie wasn’t very easy to like or relate to IMO. (at least for me) I felt for her and in some way I admired her determination to win her family back, there’s no doubt she’s a fighter, but some of her thoughts and actions really frustrated and annoyed me.
Edie’s husband, Donnie was so wonderful. My heart broke for him so many times. He obviously was angry and bitter, frustrated and confused with what Edie did and also with what he feels now for her and the situation they are in. Donnie’s pain, grief and also his love for Edie was really well portrayed. He was simply fantastic, a fantastic man and fantastic father. As the story progresses and they start communicate with each other Donnie understands what Edie experienced two years ago. There were some moments between them very emotional, heartbreaking and at times heartwarming. I loved seeing them reconnect and learning to properly communicate with each other.
Overall, a fantastic read!
“There are moments in your life when you think it couldn’t get any worse. When you feel so heavy with grief, it’s like you could sink like a lead weight to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. You’re drowning without a life jacket and there’s no one to save you. It feels like nothing could ever be worse. And then something else happens and you realize how wrong you were. Because it can always get worse. And then you look back on that previous pain, and you pray to God to make you feel that way again, because even that would be better than the new pain that has taken over.”
This was one of the hardest book I have ever read. It was emotional, gut-wrenching, thought-provoking, intense and honestly for me due the subject matter, it was also hard to read. Reading the synopsis I knew what I was getting into, but I never expected to be so conflicted about this book. Needless to say I’m still not sure about my rating. There are parts of the story really well done that I enjoyed, but there are also parts that frustrated me and infuriate me so damn much.
“My Biggest Mistake” tells the story of Edie a young wife and mother who is suffering from postpartum depression. Edie had it all. Married with her childhood sweetheart, she had a beautiful house, a loving husband and three adorable small children. But Edie was in a bad place, she considered leaving her home will be better not only for her, but for family as well. She left and now two years later she came back to fight for her family.
“I had been in a bad, dark, lonely place in my life when I left. I wasn’t there anymore. The fog had lifted and the regret cut deep.”
She fells remorse, she feels guilt and she feels shame, so she knows it won’t be easy win her family back, especially after everything has changed so much and also because she has some secrets that might destroy everything she wants to win back.
The story was sad and heartbreaking at times and the subject matter and the amount of angst made me take several breaks while reading it. However I have to say the story felt raw, real and honest to me and I really sympathized with the two main characters. Edie wasn’t very easy to like or relate to IMO. (at least for me) I felt for her and in some way I admired her determination to win her family back, there’s no doubt she’s a fighter, but some of her thoughts and actions really frustrated and annoyed me.
“There is something about watching a man cry that makes your insides twist into knots. But when that man is the love of your life, and he’s crying because you broke him, he’s crying over the broken heart you gave him, your insides don’t just knot up, they die.”
Edie’s husband, Donnie was so wonderful. My heart broke for him so many times. He obviously was angry and bitter, frustrated and confused with what Edie did and also with what he feels now for her and the situation they are in. Donnie’s pain, grief and also his love for Edie was really well portrayed. He was simply fantastic, a fantastic man and fantastic father. As the story progresses and they start communicate with each other Donnie understands what Edie experienced two years ago. There were some moments between them very emotional, heartbreaking and at times heartwarming. I loved seeing them reconnect and learning to properly communicate with each other.
Overall, a fantastic read!
“We are never given anything we can’t handle. Sometimes we think we are, but those are the times that count the most. It’s the Mount Everest, and when you’re standing on the top, nothing feels better knowing you’ve achieved it. You made it. You survived.”
August 14, 2015
4.5 Stars
This raw, thought-provoking story had me enthralled. I'm not sure if emotional is a strong enough word, it's emotional on steroids. My Biggest Mistake is a the story of an overwhelmed young woman suffering from post postpartum depression who abandons her loving husband and three small children. Now two years later she is returning, and she is ready to fight for her family.
”I came back because I no longer give a fuck what anyone else thinks. I only care about making things right and getting my kids back.”
Forgiveness is tough though, and an apology isn't always enough, things have changed. Edie may have thought coming home was hard, but the road to forgiveness, to reclaiming her family isn't going to be easy - especially considering she has a few secrets she hopes to keep.
“You destroyed me, Edie. You’re still destroying me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to have never left me.”
I adored Edie's husband, Donnie, my heart broke for him SO MANY times. My feelings for Edie on the other hand, are complicated, at times I did empathized with her, but at other times she just frustrated the hell out of me.
You and the kids are my whole world, Edie. My everything. You were my reason to breathe. ANd then you left and took my oxygen with you."
This was a gut-wrenching, emotionally charged story, it was well written and kept my interest. The ending did feel abrupt, but overall this was a solid read for me.
November 6, 2015
This was one of the hardest book I have ever read. First time I don't know how to rate what I've read. Deeply emotional but also damned frustrating. I loved the hero Donnie, he was the shining star in this story, but absolutely hated heroine Eddie and didn't have an ounce sympathy toward their friend Beth. Have to think hard before I write my review.
Full review to come...
Full review to come...
August 20, 2016
4.5 stars!
short/quick review
Wow, what an angsty and emotional ride!! This book sucked me in and didn't let me go until it was over. This is the story of Edie who left her family for two years, and finally makes the brave decision to come back. Edie fights to be a part of the lives of her husband and three children trying to explain why she left but also consumed with fear of her husband hating her even more for it.
All I'm really going to say is if you need a heartbreaking novel with lots of angst this is the perfect book for you. I'm actually really surprised this book isn't more popular because it's up there at the top of its genre in my opinion. I would gladly read more by this author in the future.
short/quick review
Wow, what an angsty and emotional ride!! This book sucked me in and didn't let me go until it was over. This is the story of Edie who left her family for two years, and finally makes the brave decision to come back. Edie fights to be a part of the lives of her husband and three children trying to explain why she left but also consumed with fear of her husband hating her even more for it.
All I'm really going to say is if you need a heartbreaking novel with lots of angst this is the perfect book for you. I'm actually really surprised this book isn't more popular because it's up there at the top of its genre in my opinion. I would gladly read more by this author in the future.
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August 14, 2015
2 stars
-->spoilers ahead<--
Go figure! Another one I didn't like and the reason is the heroine. Ugh Edie, she made me so mad. And oh boy the crocodile tears. I just felt like she kept trying to score sympathy votes.
Donnie was okay but I thought perhaps he should have made Edie grovel some more. Anyways I'm just mad at the characters. The story itself was ok and it was high on the angst. But my cold heart couldn't care less whether Edie got her HEA or not.
-->spoilers ahead<--
Go figure! Another one I didn't like and the reason is the heroine. Ugh Edie, she made me so mad. And oh boy the crocodile tears. I just felt like she kept trying to score sympathy votes.
Donnie was okay but I thought perhaps he should have made Edie grovel some more. Anyways I'm just mad at the characters. The story itself was ok and it was high on the angst. But my cold heart couldn't care less whether Edie got her HEA or not.
August 8, 2015
★★★★ 4.5 Stars ★★★★
Wow, what an emotional and thought provoking read. I devoured this book in one sitting, and although I felt quite melancholy throughout, the beautiful and uplifting moments completely made up for it.
Edie married her childhood sweetheart, she had a beautiful home and 3 small children by the time she was 23. But one day she walked out on her family and for two years they didn't hear one word from the woman who was their whole world.
This story tells of the devastating effects of post partum depression and how desperate some women can feel that they can do the one thing that most of us could never even contemplate and leave your children, with the absolute conviction that they would be better off without you.
When Edie comes back, ready to fight for her family, she knows it isn't going to be easy and it really isn't, the author definitely puts her through the ringer, but slowly but surely, the walls that husband Donavan have put up, start to come down and it's not only her pain that we feel, but his.
Donnie, stole the show for me - he was something special, he really was. His absolute love for the mother of his children was outstanding and even when he hated her you couldn't help but see that he was always going to turn out to be the good man that he was.
This was a raw, emotional read that was very real. No hearts and butterflies here, but a beautiful love story nonetheless.
This is a standalone contemporary romance, told in Edie's POV.
Wow, what an emotional and thought provoking read. I devoured this book in one sitting, and although I felt quite melancholy throughout, the beautiful and uplifting moments completely made up for it.
Edie married her childhood sweetheart, she had a beautiful home and 3 small children by the time she was 23. But one day she walked out on her family and for two years they didn't hear one word from the woman who was their whole world.
This story tells of the devastating effects of post partum depression and how desperate some women can feel that they can do the one thing that most of us could never even contemplate and leave your children, with the absolute conviction that they would be better off without you.
When Edie comes back, ready to fight for her family, she knows it isn't going to be easy and it really isn't, the author definitely puts her through the ringer, but slowly but surely, the walls that husband Donavan have put up, start to come down and it's not only her pain that we feel, but his.
"You destroyed me, Edie.
You're still destroying me."
Donnie, stole the show for me - he was something special, he really was. His absolute love for the mother of his children was outstanding and even when he hated her you couldn't help but see that he was always going to turn out to be the good man that he was.
This was a raw, emotional read that was very real. No hearts and butterflies here, but a beautiful love story nonetheless.
This is a standalone contemporary romance, told in Edie's POV.
December 22, 2015
4.5 Rip-your-heart-out Angsty Stars!
There's books out there that, just from reading the book blurb, you're pretty sure the book is going to elicit some big emotions. This is the kind of book you venture into not looking for the happy hearts-and-flowers romance with the warm tug in your heartstrings. It's instead the kind of book that tugs at your heart in the emotionally-painful, angsty kind of way. This is what My Biggest Mistake was for me...
Edie and Donovan had been married for six years, very young parents to three small children, him working insane hours while she held the house together- until she walked away. Edie abandoned her family and completely disappeared off the grid for two long years. The book takes place mainly from the day she decides to return and attempt win her family back. But can she win them back? The kids that were so young when she left don't even recognize her; the husband that harbors so much hate for what she put him through, he can't even look at her; her best friend that appears to have jumped right into the role as mother and wife in her absence. Can she win it all back? Will any of her loved ones want anything to do with her?
Angst alert! Holy Moses, this book read so much like a memoir to me, I'm actually quite surprised it's not. It highlights post-partum depression- a subject with a fair amount of controversy due to ignorance in the subject more than anything. How can someone who has it all want to walk away from it all? Can't she just ask for help? PPD has a fair amount of misinformation and I commend the author for highlighting this and also pushing our limits in this story. I have to say there's things Edie did that I seriously have issues with. But who am I to judge a person who is at their absolute wits end? Is walking away better than hurting herself or her children? I'd say so... She's simply a person that's a shell of her previous self. So, for that reason, I can't fault Edie or the author for the actions during that time. I do know that her husband Donnie is, by far, perfection for a woman suffering PPD (other than not noticing it at the time). I truly don't think many men could pull in together in her absence AND later find the strength to attempt forgiveness upon her return.
But Edie isn't the young mother who walked out that day. She's a different person altogether and Donnie is quick to realize that...
My Biggest Mistake is a book I'd highly recommend to friends who love a story that'll elicit a plethora of emotions that aren't always positive or put a constant smile on your face. Instead, a story that'll have you 100% emotionally invested in this family and their hopeful reunion. Also, readers need to have a really open mind and be non-judgemental as otherwise, they'll really struggle with Edie and her choices. Although I don't agree with the plot twist towards the end, I was a bit miffed . But I'm here to review a book based on the emotions I felt while reading it and my ability to put it down or not, not whether I would do the same in her shoes. For that reason I easily rate My Biggest Mistake 4.5 stars. My only deduction is sometimes I was a tad bored with the seemingly incessant mental "therapy" side of it. But I guess we can't say the author didn't expound on what she went through. And I'd also have liked Donnie to hate her a little while longer- made her work a bit harder for them- just for that extra angst factor I crave.
This book I found so many opportunities to learn from. There's a lot of life lessons buried in Donovan and Edie's story and, for that, I commend this author. I could've highlighted so many... So here's a couple that I felt made a lot of life sense.
Thanks, Jen Kyle, for the great recommendation.
There's books out there that, just from reading the book blurb, you're pretty sure the book is going to elicit some big emotions. This is the kind of book you venture into not looking for the happy hearts-and-flowers romance with the warm tug in your heartstrings. It's instead the kind of book that tugs at your heart in the emotionally-painful, angsty kind of way. This is what My Biggest Mistake was for me...
Edie and Donovan had been married for six years, very young parents to three small children, him working insane hours while she held the house together- until she walked away. Edie abandoned her family and completely disappeared off the grid for two long years. The book takes place mainly from the day she decides to return and attempt win her family back. But can she win them back? The kids that were so young when she left don't even recognize her; the husband that harbors so much hate for what she put him through, he can't even look at her; her best friend that appears to have jumped right into the role as mother and wife in her absence. Can she win it all back? Will any of her loved ones want anything to do with her?
Angst alert! Holy Moses, this book read so much like a memoir to me, I'm actually quite surprised it's not. It highlights post-partum depression- a subject with a fair amount of controversy due to ignorance in the subject more than anything. How can someone who has it all want to walk away from it all? Can't she just ask for help? PPD has a fair amount of misinformation and I commend the author for highlighting this and also pushing our limits in this story. I have to say there's things Edie did that I seriously have issues with. But who am I to judge a person who is at their absolute wits end? Is walking away better than hurting herself or her children? I'd say so... She's simply a person that's a shell of her previous self. So, for that reason, I can't fault Edie or the author for the actions during that time. I do know that her husband Donnie is, by far, perfection for a woman suffering PPD (other than not noticing it at the time). I truly don't think many men could pull in together in her absence AND later find the strength to attempt forgiveness upon her return.
But Edie isn't the young mother who walked out that day. She's a different person altogether and Donnie is quick to realize that...
My Biggest Mistake is a book I'd highly recommend to friends who love a story that'll elicit a plethora of emotions that aren't always positive or put a constant smile on your face. Instead, a story that'll have you 100% emotionally invested in this family and their hopeful reunion. Also, readers need to have a really open mind and be non-judgemental as otherwise, they'll really struggle with Edie and her choices. Although I don't agree with the plot twist towards the end, I was a bit miffed . But I'm here to review a book based on the emotions I felt while reading it and my ability to put it down or not, not whether I would do the same in her shoes. For that reason I easily rate My Biggest Mistake 4.5 stars. My only deduction is sometimes I was a tad bored with the seemingly incessant mental "therapy" side of it. But I guess we can't say the author didn't expound on what she went through. And I'd also have liked Donnie to hate her a little while longer- made her work a bit harder for them- just for that extra angst factor I crave.
This book I found so many opportunities to learn from. There's a lot of life lessons buried in Donovan and Edie's story and, for that, I commend this author. I could've highlighted so many... So here's a couple that I felt made a lot of life sense.
"You always know the people you believe to be in your lives permanently because those are the people you show your ugly side to. Those are the ones you know will stick by your side regardless.”
___________
We are never given anything we can’t handle. Sometimes we think we are, but those are the times that count the most. It’s the Mount Everest, and when you’re standing on the top, nothing feels better knowing you’ve achieved it. You made it. You survived.
Thanks, Jen Kyle, for the great recommendation.
August 9, 2015
4.5 emotional stars
“You destroyed me, Edie. You’re still destroying me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to have never left me.”
So what to read next…….that was the big question and our conversation when choosing our next book went something like…
“I’m in the mood for something emotional…you know….a story that feels real.”
“I hear ya! That’s just how how I feel. We want something that will tear at our emotions and rip our hearts out, don’t we?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
And so after reading the synopsis for My Biggest Mistake our immediate thought was… ‘this is it!’ Did it reward us with the gut wrenching emotions we were seeking? Did it feel real and raw? There’s no denying it, we certainly did FEEL every moment of this gut wrenching, incredibly sad and moving story. Edie and Donnie’s story quite simply wrecked us and we wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.
Edie had always dreamed of the white picket fence, the loving husband and the adoring children and at 22, she had her dream. The mother of a toddler with twins on the way, on the outside life seemed good. So what caused her to flee without so much as a word to her loving and loyal husband Donnie, stay away for two years without contact thus inflicting so much pain and grief on her family, only to turn up after a two year absence, attempting to redeem herself for the havoc she had wrecked on her husband and children and those close to her.
“You see it as so black and white. It’s not. It’s greys and shaded areas and black hole.”
We hold our hands up here and admit to having pre-judged Edie going into this story and were prepared to dislike her. For us it was inconceivable to imagine a Mother abandoning her three small children. What would have possibly compelled her to take such a drastic step of walking away and leaving her husband to pick up the pieces emotionally and financially and keep his family together?
Through the authors words we did, surprisingly, find ourselves sympathising with, and understanding Edie. Edie’s reasons are revealed via interactions with herself and Donnie and it is here we discover the overwhelming feelings Edie was experiencing prior to, and during her absence. The moments between husband and wife as they attempt to heal and understand one another is, at times, extremely painful to witness. Their issues felt especially real and so we couldn’t help but feel a little voyeuristic, as though we were intruding on some very personal, private and painful moments between a couple at a crossroads which only served to intensify our already overwrought emotions.
“You were my reason to breathe. And then you left me and took my oxygen with you.”
The author did a splendid job of making us feel as though we knew this couple intimately, as though their pain was our pain and it was agonizing observing them as they dealt with their issues.
It’s hard not to react and become involved in this story and the characters as the scenes with Edie and Donnie felt so real it’s evident the author loved her characters and we felt her words being bled onto the pages of Edie and Donnie’s journey. This didn’t feel like a Googled fictional representation of Edie and Donnie’s struggles, no, this felt sincere and honest.
“I’m fighting with the selfish need to punish you while struggling with the overwhelming need to forgive you.”
Though this is told through Edie’s eyes and is predominantly her story we wish we had been privy to Donnie’s thoughts at some point as this was very much HIS story as well and for us, we felt it was crucial to have the chance to climb inside his head to get a glimpse of what he, personally, was experiencing. Sure, we saw his emotions through Edie’s eyes and we heard of Edie’s insurmountable battles in her absence but what of Donnie? Here was a young man left to pick up the pieces after being ‘betrayed’ by the woman he loved and we can only imagine the confusion he was feeling at both her absence and her return. His words would have taken this to a whole other level for us so we really wish we could have heard a little of Donnie’s thoughts first-hand. This man is intrinsically beautifully written; a very powerful man.
“I wanted to be your rock. I wanted to be your universe, your everything. Your hero, your best friend, you lover, the one you ran to when you were happy and the one you fell into when you were sad.”
There is no doubt about it, this story moved us, it gripped us, it hit us and it hit us HARD. Donnie and Edie’s story was painful, gut wrenchingly emotional and so bloody real. This is a story we FELT implicitly. Edie and Donnie’s journey isn’t an easy one, but given the subject matter you wouldn’t expect it to be.
‘I’m fucking sad, Donnie. Not suicidal.”
We were in the mood for a kick to the heart and we got exactly what we signed up for. We did feel the way the epilogue played out in some ways negated the journey these two took but it didn’t take away from what was a gripping, hard hitting, poignant and stirring story of two people trying to find their way back to each other when all seems lost.
A definite angsty and emotional recommend from us!
**Reviewed from an ARC Copy provided by Ardent Prose PR**
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May 15, 2023
1.75 ✰s
My biggest mistake was reading this.
My biggest mistake was reading this.
December 22, 2015
4 “I love you bunches and bunches and more and more” Stars
Edie had it all. Her dream husband, house, and kids. When she was young she would dream of that perfect prince charming, dream house, dream wedding, and kids. Dreams come true. Marrying her high school sweetheart, Donnie, right after high school, and having her dream life. But they do say be carful what you wish for.
Edie went into depression. She first notice it when she gave birth to her daughter, but it worsen when she gave birth to her twin boys. She didn't know what to do. She was just in a dark place. So she did what she believed to be right, for her and her family, she left. Nobody knows where she went, or where she is, or how she's doing. Her husband has nothing but a simple note saying that she needed a break.
Now two years later she's back. She will do anything and everything she can to get her family.
But Is it a little too late though?
What do you say to your
husband two years
after walking out on him?
What do you say to your kids…
if they even still remember you?
No doubt Donnie is angry, hurt, and lost. He doesn't know what to think out of Edie coming back. He can't believe that she even has the nerve to come. After what she did to him and the kids. And that's it. He wants nothing left from her. He just want her to go back where she came from. Where she ran to.
“It’s over, Edie.
It was over when you left.
You don’t get to spend a couple
of years doing your own thing,
and when you need us, come
back. That’s not how things
work. Next time you want to
fall into me and cry, just
remember…you’re the one that
walked away. Not me.”
What would she do?
What can she do?
Her husband loathes her, kids don't know her, and she has no one.
Will she walk away and just leave before she creates more damage than she already has, or will she fight and show her husband and kids that she's here for good, and that all she truly wants is right her wrongs?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This book was really hard to read. I think the problem being is it hit too close to home. I've read so many painful books but non can compare to the pain I went through reading this book. It gutted me to the soul and even made me understand things I never known. And truly along Edie's road to forgiveness I finally had it in me to forgive. This book will last with me for a while. It was like my own personal healing. True I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 but that was because some stuff pissed me off. Doesn't mean I love it less.
Overall, I really can not explain what I went through with this book. I'm so grateful I gave it a shot. There are a few authors, better yet books, that will knock you off the floor and steal your breath. This book was it for me. Now I ain't saying everybody will love it, but it was my book. The book.
Edie had it all. Her dream husband, house, and kids. When she was young she would dream of that perfect prince charming, dream house, dream wedding, and kids. Dreams come true. Marrying her high school sweetheart, Donnie, right after high school, and having her dream life. But they do say be carful what you wish for.
Edie went into depression. She first notice it when she gave birth to her daughter, but it worsen when she gave birth to her twin boys. She didn't know what to do. She was just in a dark place. So she did what she believed to be right, for her and her family, she left. Nobody knows where she went, or where she is, or how she's doing. Her husband has nothing but a simple note saying that she needed a break.
Now two years later she's back. She will do anything and everything she can to get her family.
But Is it a little too late though?
What do you say to your
husband two years
after walking out on him?
What do you say to your kids…
if they even still remember you?
No doubt Donnie is angry, hurt, and lost. He doesn't know what to think out of Edie coming back. He can't believe that she even has the nerve to come. After what she did to him and the kids. And that's it. He wants nothing left from her. He just want her to go back where she came from. Where she ran to.
“It’s over, Edie.
It was over when you left.
You don’t get to spend a couple
of years doing your own thing,
and when you need us, come
back. That’s not how things
work. Next time you want to
fall into me and cry, just
remember…you’re the one that
walked away. Not me.”
What would she do?
What can she do?
Her husband loathes her, kids don't know her, and she has no one.
Will she walk away and just leave before she creates more damage than she already has, or will she fight and show her husband and kids that she's here for good, and that all she truly wants is right her wrongs?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This book was really hard to read. I think the problem being is it hit too close to home. I've read so many painful books but non can compare to the pain I went through reading this book. It gutted me to the soul and even made me understand things I never known. And truly along Edie's road to forgiveness I finally had it in me to forgive. This book will last with me for a while. It was like my own personal healing. True I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 but that was because some stuff pissed me off. Doesn't mean I love it less.
Overall, I really can not explain what I went through with this book. I'm so grateful I gave it a shot. There are a few authors, better yet books, that will knock you off the floor and steal your breath. This book was it for me. Now I ain't saying everybody will love it, but it was my book. The book.
August 9, 2015
This book hurt me bunches and bunches and more and more.... I wanted to stop reading at several points but I needed to know how this book was going to end. Thankfully .... I'm happy with the beautiful epilogue !
It's hard to review a book like this where the writing was so amazing and vivid but the enjoyment factor from the words made me need to chug a bottle of maalox with a chaser of Xanax and tums.
I will be thinking about this book for some time. I just know it. Because it's real. It happens. One thing I will take away from this book :
Free yourself of the worthlessness, or hold on to it… it’s all up to you.
If we’re going to do this… if we’re going to get through this together, then we can’t keep apologizing for things we can’t change. We have to accept them, accept our faults, accept our part in it all, and just move on.
It's hard to review a book like this where the writing was so amazing and vivid but the enjoyment factor from the words made me need to chug a bottle of maalox with a chaser of Xanax and tums.
I will be thinking about this book for some time. I just know it. Because it's real. It happens. One thing I will take away from this book :
Free yourself of the worthlessness, or hold on to it… it’s all up to you.
If we’re going to do this… if we’re going to get through this together, then we can’t keep apologizing for things we can’t change. We have to accept them, accept our faults, accept our part in it all, and just move on.
August 20, 2015
3.5 ★'s
I definitely chose this book because of all the angst everyone has been talking about. The topic of a mother abandoning her family was not something I'd read about before and I was really curious. However, I have to tell you that even for me, this was over the top!
Edie's been through a lot and she did it on her own without any support and really without any professional help. There's just no way to imagine what all she went through. She was determined to come home and make things right with her family but all I read was that she had a HUGE chip on her shoulder.
I know she had to make people understand what she went through but I just felt she was far too argumentative. Granted, she did have some uphill battles but for the most part, people were very understanding.
Another angry person was her husband, Donovan, aka Donnie, and you can understand why. He's been trying to move on with his life and he's done a good job taking care of the kids and the house. He's bitter, however, once he starts opening up, he's wonderful.
As are the kids. There were some really sweet moments between the kids and Edie. I loved the "bunches and bunches and more and more."
But Edie is not forthright which was equally perplexing and understandable. I hated how things came out but it definitely made for lots of drama.
Another person that was central to all the drama was Edie's best friend, Beth. I just didn't understand her at all. Did she have motives or was she really just that naive? Makes one wonder.
I did love Donnie's solution even if it upset me at the beginning. I loved how he thought things through and set the events on the right path...again.
Favorite quote:
♥ "I can't live without you."
I definitely chose this book because of all the angst everyone has been talking about. The topic of a mother abandoning her family was not something I'd read about before and I was really curious. However, I have to tell you that even for me, this was over the top!
Edie's been through a lot and she did it on her own without any support and really without any professional help. There's just no way to imagine what all she went through. She was determined to come home and make things right with her family but all I read was that she had a HUGE chip on her shoulder.
I know she had to make people understand what she went through but I just felt she was far too argumentative. Granted, she did have some uphill battles but for the most part, people were very understanding.
Another angry person was her husband, Donovan, aka Donnie, and you can understand why. He's been trying to move on with his life and he's done a good job taking care of the kids and the house. He's bitter, however, once he starts opening up, he's wonderful.
As are the kids. There were some really sweet moments between the kids and Edie. I loved the "bunches and bunches and more and more."
But Edie is not forthright which was equally perplexing and understandable. I hated how things came out but it definitely made for lots of drama.
Another person that was central to all the drama was Edie's best friend, Beth. I just didn't understand her at all. Did she have motives or was she really just that naive? Makes one wonder.
I did love Donnie's solution even if it upset me at the beginning. I loved how he thought things through and set the events on the right path...again.
Favorite quote:
♥ "I can't live without you."
Want to read
October 20, 2019Update 3: OMG! yess!! I am really happy because for once my suspicion has been proven wrong! It's safe with exception! I asked the author and she said This is revealed towards the end apparently- I should persisted and trusted the reviews that didn't make a big fuss about Beth and Donnie. I am going to continue reading this.
So basically ignore everything I said before.
Update 2: Someone made a great point that the hero could have filed for divorce on grounds of abandonment. I am not sure what the laws in US are but in UK if the spouse doesn't respond in a certain number of days the divorce will proceed. If you can show the court that you have taken all reasonable steps to find the address of your missing spouse but still failed then they will grant you a divorce, they will even help you find an address. I am thinking US has similar laws. Why didn't he at least file for divorce? Try to get government help to find an address if he was that worried sick about her? Was he hoping she will come back? But he still he got in a committed, long-term relationship with his wife's best friend?
Update: I just want to make it clear that the cheating was technical and not everyone will consider it cheating. Hero and heroine never got divorced. She just left him when he was at work, leaving the kids with a neighbour and just left a letter saying she needs a break. He tried to find her and contact her but she changed her numbers and deleted all social media accounts. So they had no contact for 2 years- after a while hero thinks she left him permanently because she was sick of being a mother and wife and wanted to be free of responsibilities and enjoy her 20s by being wild, sleeping around, partying etc. In reality, heroine left because she was in severe depression (an other things that are revealed much later on). She spend the last 2 years working on herself and coming to terms with things she did but she was always faithful and never even looked at another man. In that time hero got in a relationship with his wife's best friend because she always around around and she practically took on her role of wife and mother. He said he never loved best friend but had feelings for her because they spend lot of time other every day and she did a lot for him and was there for him when he really needed someone.
I feel like this is 10th book I have been very excited to read this week/month only to dnfed because it is just TOO MUCH. Please just stop ripping my heart out and torturing me to death. JUST STOP. I CAN'T. Someone bring me back to life please.
So I picked up this book thinking I will be reading an angsty and emotional tale about a mother and wife who abandoned her family at the height of her depression. She was close to being suicidal and didn't want her family to see the darkness inside her and she left, thinking she will come back after she gets her shit together. So I was ready to see her fight for her family, to right the wrongs, to grovel to see her kids again. I was ready for that. To see her pain, her regret, her self hatred, her determination to make it right.
What I wasn't ready for her was her coming back to see her best friend having completely replaced her.I had no idea that her husband was in a relationship with her best friend. I had no idea that she will be fighting to get her husband back from her best friend. I had no idea that we will be tortured with scenes of her spying on her husband and her best friend through her window, seeing them together in her old bedroom and imagining them having crazy, hot sex. It was agony simply because it was agony for her. It wrecked her, she was extremely hurt, pained and sick to her stomach but in no position to complain since she was the one who left him with just a letter for explanation. So she has to just suck it up because it is her fault which makes it worse for me.
A warning would have been nice. Maybe mention in the blurb that he is now with her best friend. I would have stayed the hell away from it then.
I was completely blind sided. One review did mention her best friend getting cozy with her husband so I assumed that just meant her husband and best friend had gotten closer but nothing more. So I was fine when she saw them in a romantic situation thinking its all a misunderstanding. But no they are in a relationship. But still I stupidly held out hope that maybe it's all new or he is lying or they din't have sex. Stupid, naive me. Her husband has feelings her best friend, her best friend practically took the role her his wife when his actual wife left.
Look I don't blame the husband for moving on. His wife abandoned him, he has every right to move on. But seriously you could have had any women, why her best friend!? I still would be completely fine with it if this was not a romance, if Donnie and Eddie would just end up as co-parents. But since this is a romance where I know Donnie and Eddie are meant to be true love and have a HEA, this makes me feel sick. And I can't support this HEA because the husband had sex with, had feelings for, was in a relationship with his wife's best friend while still married to his wife. Yes his wife left him but she was always completely faithful to him, never looked at another man, he is her one and only. SO yeah this feels like cheating to me and that is a deal breaker. For me only cheating can justify cheating and no faithful spouse deserves an unfaithful spouse.
I just couldn't get past it because the whole thing was really played up. The author made us feel shit by showing us how shitty the heroine felt. She was completely tortured by the idea so I had vivid imagination of my (hypothetical) husband having and really enjoying sex with my best friend while married to me and I just couldn't. The thing is that the best friend is still in their life and she has to always see the woman who was her temporary replacement in every way for the last 2 years. When Donnie and Eddie had sex, I kept wondering how he was with Beth, If he enjoyed this as much as Beth, what he felt for Beth etc etc.
So basically ignore everything I said before.
Update 2: Someone made a great point that the hero could have filed for divorce on grounds of abandonment. I am not sure what the laws in US are but in UK if the spouse doesn't respond in a certain number of days the divorce will proceed. If you can show the court that you have taken all reasonable steps to find the address of your missing spouse but still failed then they will grant you a divorce, they will even help you find an address. I am thinking US has similar laws. Why didn't he at least file for divorce? Try to get government help to find an address if he was that worried sick about her? Was he hoping she will come back? But he still he got in a committed, long-term relationship with his wife's best friend?
Update: I just want to make it clear that the cheating was technical and not everyone will consider it cheating. Hero and heroine never got divorced. She just left him when he was at work, leaving the kids with a neighbour and just left a letter saying she needs a break. He tried to find her and contact her but she changed her numbers and deleted all social media accounts. So they had no contact for 2 years- after a while hero thinks she left him permanently because she was sick of being a mother and wife and wanted to be free of responsibilities and enjoy her 20s by being wild, sleeping around, partying etc. In reality, heroine left because she was in severe depression (an other things that are revealed much later on). She spend the last 2 years working on herself and coming to terms with things she did but she was always faithful and never even looked at another man. In that time hero got in a relationship with his wife's best friend because she always around around and she practically took on her role of wife and mother. He said he never loved best friend but had feelings for her because they spend lot of time other every day and she did a lot for him and was there for him when he really needed someone.
I feel like this is 10th book I have been very excited to read this week/month only to dnfed because it is just TOO MUCH. Please just stop ripping my heart out and torturing me to death. JUST STOP. I CAN'T. Someone bring me back to life please.
So I picked up this book thinking I will be reading an angsty and emotional tale about a mother and wife who abandoned her family at the height of her depression. She was close to being suicidal and didn't want her family to see the darkness inside her and she left, thinking she will come back after she gets her shit together. So I was ready to see her fight for her family, to right the wrongs, to grovel to see her kids again. I was ready for that. To see her pain, her regret, her self hatred, her determination to make it right.
What I wasn't ready for her was her coming back to see her best friend having completely replaced her.I had no idea that her husband was in a relationship with her best friend. I had no idea that she will be fighting to get her husband back from her best friend. I had no idea that we will be tortured with scenes of her spying on her husband and her best friend through her window, seeing them together in her old bedroom and imagining them having crazy, hot sex. It was agony simply because it was agony for her. It wrecked her, she was extremely hurt, pained and sick to her stomach but in no position to complain since she was the one who left him with just a letter for explanation. So she has to just suck it up because it is her fault which makes it worse for me.
A warning would have been nice. Maybe mention in the blurb that he is now with her best friend. I would have stayed the hell away from it then.
I was completely blind sided. One review did mention her best friend getting cozy with her husband so I assumed that just meant her husband and best friend had gotten closer but nothing more. So I was fine when she saw them in a romantic situation thinking its all a misunderstanding. But no they are in a relationship. But still I stupidly held out hope that maybe it's all new or he is lying or they din't have sex. Stupid, naive me. Her husband has feelings her best friend, her best friend practically took the role her his wife when his actual wife left.
Look I don't blame the husband for moving on. His wife abandoned him, he has every right to move on. But seriously you could have had any women, why her best friend!? I still would be completely fine with it if this was not a romance, if Donnie and Eddie would just end up as co-parents. But since this is a romance where I know Donnie and Eddie are meant to be true love and have a HEA, this makes me feel sick. And I can't support this HEA because the husband had sex with, had feelings for, was in a relationship with his wife's best friend while still married to his wife. Yes his wife left him but she was always completely faithful to him, never looked at another man, he is her one and only. SO yeah this feels like cheating to me and that is a deal breaker. For me only cheating can justify cheating and no faithful spouse deserves an unfaithful spouse.
I just couldn't get past it because the whole thing was really played up. The author made us feel shit by showing us how shitty the heroine felt. She was completely tortured by the idea so I had vivid imagination of my (hypothetical) husband having and really enjoying sex with my best friend while married to me and I just couldn't. The thing is that the best friend is still in their life and she has to always see the woman who was her temporary replacement in every way for the last 2 years. When Donnie and Eddie had sex, I kept wondering how he was with Beth, If he enjoyed this as much as Beth, what he felt for Beth etc etc.
August 7, 2015
4.5 emotional stars
“You destroyed me, Edie. You’re still destroying me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to have never left me.”
So what to read next…….that was the big question and our conversation when choosing our next book went something like…
“I’m in the mood for something emotional…you know….a story that feels real.”
“I hear ya! That’s just how how I feel. We want something that will tear at our emotions and rip our hearts out, don’t we?”
“Yes! Exactly!”
And so after reading the synopsis for My Biggest Mistake our immediate thought was… ‘this is it!’ Did it reward us with the gut wrenching emotions we were seeking? Did it feel real and raw? There’s no denying it, we certainly did FEEL every moment of this gut wrenching, incredibly sad and moving story. Edie and Donnie’s story quite simply wrecked us and we wouldn’t have missed a minute of it.
Edie had always dreamed of the white picket fence, the loving husband and the adoring children and at 22, she had her dream. The mother of a toddler with twins on the way, on the outside life seemed good. So what caused her to flee without so much as a word to her loving and loyal husband Donnie, stay away for two years without contact thus inflicting so much pain and grief on her family, only to turn up after a two year absence, attempting to redeem herself for the havoc she had wrecked on her husband and children and those close to her.
“You see it as so black and white. It’s not. It’s greys and shaded areas and black hole.”
We hold our hands up here and admit to having pre-judged Edie going into this story and were prepared to dislike her. For us it was inconceivable to imagine a Mother abandoning her three small children. What would have possibly compelled her to take such a drastic step of walking away and leaving her husband to pick up the pieces emotionally and financially and keep his family together?
Through the authors words we did, surprisingly, find ourselves sympathising with, and understanding Edie. Edie’s reasons are revealed via interactions with herself and Donnie and it is here we discover the overwhelming feelings Edie was experiencing prior to, and during her absence. The moments between husband and wife as they attempt to heal and understand one another is, at times, extremely painful to witness. Their issues felt especially real and so we couldn’t help but feel a little voyeuristic, as though we were intruding on some very personal, private and painful moments between a couple at a crossroads which only served to intensify our already overwrought emotions.
“You were my reason to breathe. And then you left me and took my oxygen with you.”
The author did a splendid job of making us feel as though we knew this couple intimately, as though their pain was our pain and it was agonizing observing them as they dealt with their issues.
It’s hard not to react and become involved in this story and the characters as the scenes with Edie and Donnie felt so real it’s evident the author loved her characters and we felt her words being bled onto the pages of Edie and Donnie’s journey. This didn’t feel like a Googled fictional representation of Edie and Donnie’s struggles, no, this felt sincere and honest.
“I’m fighting with the selfish need to punish you while struggling with the overwhelming need to forgive you.”
Though this is told through Edie’s eyes and is predominantly her story we wish we had been privy to Donnie’s thoughts at some point as this was very much HIS story as well and for us, we felt it was crucial to have the chance to climb inside his head to get a glimpse of what he, personally, was experiencing. Sure, we saw his emotions through Edie’s eyes and we heard of Edie’s insurmountable battles in her absence but what of Donnie? Here was a young man left to pick up the pieces after being ‘betrayed’ by the woman he loved and we can only imagine the confusion he was feeling at both her absence and her return. His words would have taken this to a whole other level for us so we really wish we could have heard a little of Donnie’s thoughts first-hand. This man is intrinsically beautifully written; a very powerful man.
“I wanted to be your rock. I wanted to be your universe, your everything. Your hero, your best friend, you lover, the one you ran to when you were happy and the one you fell into when you were sad.”
There is no doubt about it, this story moved us, it gripped us, it hit us and it hit us HARD. Donnie and Edie’s story was painful, gut wrenchingly emotional and so bloody really. This is a story we FELT implicitly. Edie and Donnie’s journey isn’t an easy one, but given the subject matter you wouldn’t expect it to be.
‘I’m fucking sad, Donnie. Not suicidal.”
We were in the mood for a kick to the heart and we got exactly what we signed up for. We did feel the way the epilogue played out in some ways negated the journey these two took but it didn’t take away from what was a gripping, hard hitting, poignant and stirring story of two people trying to find their way back to each other when all seems lost.
A definite angsty and emotional recommend from us!
MY BIGGEST MISTAKE by LEDDY HARPER – REVIEW & EXCLUSIVE JOURNAL ENTRY FROM EDIE
Go check it out here: http://wp.me/p2WbFf-6E9
**Reviewed from an ARC Copy provided by Ardent Prose PR**
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January 25, 2016
Ugh this book was not my cup of tea at all. It wasn't the subject matter I had a problem with, it was how it was written and how it unfolded. I knew what I was getting into when I picked this book up. It's clearly stated in the blurb that it's about what happens when a mother comes home after having left her husband and children behind for years. What continued to grate on my nerves was how EASY the characters had it. Yes, there are a few confrontations and tears and mean words, but really, the main character had to do almost nothing to get her family back. Yet, she complained about people being hard on her or reminding her of her transgressions the entire time. The timeline was completely absurd and made me roll my eyes constantly at just how unrealistic it was. I just didn't think this felt genuine or authentic. I felt absolutely nothing for the mother or her husband and that's really a shame because I went into this completely open minded and wanting a good emotional story, yet this fell flat.
July 10, 2017
4 stars
“You destroyed me, Edie. You’re still destroying me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to have never left me.”
Eu li essa sinopse há meses e logo fiquei interessada, mas ao mesmo tempo com medo de ler essa história, afinal, sou mãe...
Enfim, a curiosidade foi mais forte, acabei me rendendo e não me arrependo nem um pouco.
Eu fiquei tão dividida entre a raiva e a dor. A narrativa é tão intensa que é impossível você não sentir por ambos, Edie & Donnie.
Só sei que me vi em conflito na maior parte da leitura e os meus sentimentos totalmente bagunçados... sem contar a guerra porque meu coração queria um desfecho enquanto a razão queria outro.
Posso dizer com toda a sinceridade que apesar de tudo, adorei esse livro, porque é isso que eu procuro nas minhas leituras; sentir...
There are moments in your life when you think it couldn’t get any worse. When you feel so heavy with grief, it’s like you could sink like a lead weight to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. You’re drowning without a life jacket and there’s no one to save you. It feels like nothing could ever be worse. And then something else happens and you realize how wrong you were. Because it can always get worse. And then you look back on that previous pain, and you pray to God to make you feel that way again, because even that would be better than the new pain that has taken over.
“You destroyed me, Edie. You’re still destroying me.”
“What do you want me to do?”
“I want you to have never left me.”
Eu li essa sinopse há meses e logo fiquei interessada, mas ao mesmo tempo com medo de ler essa história, afinal, sou mãe...
Enfim, a curiosidade foi mais forte, acabei me rendendo e não me arrependo nem um pouco.
Eu fiquei tão dividida entre a raiva e a dor. A narrativa é tão intensa que é impossível você não sentir por ambos, Edie & Donnie.
Só sei que me vi em conflito na maior parte da leitura e os meus sentimentos totalmente bagunçados... sem contar a guerra porque meu coração queria um desfecho enquanto a razão queria outro.
Posso dizer com toda a sinceridade que apesar de tudo, adorei esse livro, porque é isso que eu procuro nas minhas leituras; sentir...
There are moments in your life when you think it couldn’t get any worse. When you feel so heavy with grief, it’s like you could sink like a lead weight to the floor of the Atlantic Ocean. You’re drowning without a life jacket and there’s no one to save you. It feels like nothing could ever be worse. And then something else happens and you realize how wrong you were. Because it can always get worse. And then you look back on that previous pain, and you pray to God to make you feel that way again, because even that would be better than the new pain that has taken over.
November 28, 2021
Was crying from the beginning till the end. Loved, loved this.
August 13, 2022
Disappointed.
This is the fourth book in a row, and sadly all of them veeeery contemporary, where I notice a very pronounced sexism.
The story would be good and new, because this time it’s the heroine the one who leaves and comes back after two years.
She leaves a husband and three children behind.
Not a great mother for sure, but then we understand she was under a severe post partum depression that very likely began immediately after her first child. She got pregnant again after four months and then she kept falling after she had twins. The poor girl found herself not only married but also with three babies at 22. She had a traumatic childhood and had self esteem issues, she felt she was worthless because she was always tired and she had not support from anyone. And nobody understood she was depressed. She left her family telling she couldn’t cope.
There’s more drama but I don’t want to spoil it because it is worth reading it you’re interested. Let me only tell you that there’s a big traumatic experience that the heroine had to endure.
Then she’s back, and she wants her family back. Of course it won’t be easy because the husband is hurt and her children don’t know her.
- the issue wasn’t easy, but it was interesting. And it was dealt with care. Depression is a very severe issue but is too often undervalued and dismissed as sulking and slovenliness. This is something I see every day. People still think that mental issues are fictitious, while physical ones are real. They don’t understand that emotional pain is crippling and hard even more than physical one because there’s not an immediate cure. If you have a liver issue everyone is like oh poor dear, I’m so sorry for you, how can I help. While if you suffer from depression people are like oh, what are you complaining about? There are people who have less than you and are happier. So no, it’s not fair. This woman was hurting and so that you know, depression has a very high mortality rate because many of them are suicidal. I can understand that the heroine was almost suicidal and her choices were very extreme but she had to make them to save her own life.
She went away and I think that in her situation she did the right thing. You don’t want to know how many depressed mothers hurt- or even murder- their children. They are sick not evil.
I really suffered for her situation because she was alone. She had in-laws but actually they dismissed her issues making her feel even more worthless.
Her mother was a basket case herself.
And the hero.
Oh the hero.
I disliked him with all my heart.
He was a man child with no sense of what real life is.
He was like a happy puppy who wanted several children but then left his very young wife alone all day long. He too dismissed her fears and wasn’t able to cope with her depression.
And he was so hurt and so hurt because she left him that after one year he was already making out with her bff. Wtf? Really??
He told heroine he only loved her, but if she had waited two more months he would have been living with her bff.
And her bff? A saint who helped her husband and children when the heroine is away? Nope. A bitch who was dying to jump in her bff’s bed with her husband. Bff don’t steal your husband when they know you are away hurting. And the bitch knew everything about the heroine.
I just couldn’t stand those two, the bff and the hero. She wasn’t a friend and he wasn’t a man. And no, he didn’t love the heroine he only wanted a womb for his many children. The man was disgusting and not stable because he kept blowing hot and cold and eventually wanted a divorce, after he knew all the heroine suffered. I think he wasn’t a man for her. She should have had an alpha man but sadly she found this pussy who wasn’t able to cope with real issues.
And please stop double standard.
Ok the heroine left but why did the hero have to find another woman after only one year while all the heroines who are dumped for sillier reasons must remain celibate for years???
We’re in 2022, you can do better than this.
This is the fourth book in a row, and sadly all of them veeeery contemporary, where I notice a very pronounced sexism.
The story would be good and new, because this time it’s the heroine the one who leaves and comes back after two years.
She leaves a husband and three children behind.
Not a great mother for sure, but then we understand she was under a severe post partum depression that very likely began immediately after her first child. She got pregnant again after four months and then she kept falling after she had twins. The poor girl found herself not only married but also with three babies at 22. She had a traumatic childhood and had self esteem issues, she felt she was worthless because she was always tired and she had not support from anyone. And nobody understood she was depressed. She left her family telling she couldn’t cope.
There’s more drama but I don’t want to spoil it because it is worth reading it you’re interested. Let me only tell you that there’s a big traumatic experience that the heroine had to endure.
Then she’s back, and she wants her family back. Of course it won’t be easy because the husband is hurt and her children don’t know her.
- the issue wasn’t easy, but it was interesting. And it was dealt with care. Depression is a very severe issue but is too often undervalued and dismissed as sulking and slovenliness. This is something I see every day. People still think that mental issues are fictitious, while physical ones are real. They don’t understand that emotional pain is crippling and hard even more than physical one because there’s not an immediate cure. If you have a liver issue everyone is like oh poor dear, I’m so sorry for you, how can I help. While if you suffer from depression people are like oh, what are you complaining about? There are people who have less than you and are happier. So no, it’s not fair. This woman was hurting and so that you know, depression has a very high mortality rate because many of them are suicidal. I can understand that the heroine was almost suicidal and her choices were very extreme but she had to make them to save her own life.
She went away and I think that in her situation she did the right thing. You don’t want to know how many depressed mothers hurt- or even murder- their children. They are sick not evil.
I really suffered for her situation because she was alone. She had in-laws but actually they dismissed her issues making her feel even more worthless.
Her mother was a basket case herself.
And the hero.
Oh the hero.
I disliked him with all my heart.
He was a man child with no sense of what real life is.
He was like a happy puppy who wanted several children but then left his very young wife alone all day long. He too dismissed her fears and wasn’t able to cope with her depression.
And he was so hurt and so hurt because she left him that after one year he was already making out with her bff. Wtf? Really??
He told heroine he only loved her, but if she had waited two more months he would have been living with her bff.
And her bff? A saint who helped her husband and children when the heroine is away? Nope. A bitch who was dying to jump in her bff’s bed with her husband. Bff don’t steal your husband when they know you are away hurting. And the bitch knew everything about the heroine.
I just couldn’t stand those two, the bff and the hero. She wasn’t a friend and he wasn’t a man. And no, he didn’t love the heroine he only wanted a womb for his many children. The man was disgusting and not stable because he kept blowing hot and cold and eventually wanted a divorce, after he knew all the heroine suffered. I think he wasn’t a man for her. She should have had an alpha man but sadly she found this pussy who wasn’t able to cope with real issues.
And please stop double standard.
Ok the heroine left but why did the hero have to find another woman after only one year while all the heroines who are dumped for sillier reasons must remain celibate for years???
We’re in 2022, you can do better than this.
September 24, 2015
I was a teenage mother at 17 years of age and married my high school sweetheart when we were 21 years old. By the time we were 24 we had three children, we both worked full time and were paying a mortgage on our first home. After the birth of our first child I went back to study part time, made new friends and started to wonder if the life I had was what I really wanted. At this stage I was 18 years old and living alone with our baby son. I decided to break up with my boyfriend, he did not take it well and I was miserable. Five days later we were back in each other's arms, never to part again. I didn't want to be with anyone else, I was just questioning my choices I guess. I didn't suffer from post-natal depression like Edie does in this story but I guess it was the being young in love storyline that really resonated with me.
From the first page of this book I was 100% invested in the outcome. This was such a unique story and so very relatable to anyone who is a parent or is involved in the upbringing of children. I loved that there was no mucking about with flashbacks, we were taken straight into the here and now, so the emotional rush hit me from all angles.
Edie walks out on her life with her husband Donnie and three children after feeling so overwhelmed with everything she is and what her life has become. She returns two years later, determined to find her place back in their family home.
'I'd been in a bad dark place in my life when I left. I wasn't there anymore. The fog had lifted and the regret cut deep. The loneliness I now felt after being away from my family eclipsed the loneliness I had experienced before. It didn't even compare.' - Edie
A lot has changed since she left, her children don't recognise her and there is someone else in their life now too. She did not expect to come home and find that. Edie is determined to claim her place in her children's lives and is willing to do anything to gain their trust. Her return has blindsided her husband Donnie. She was his first everything and he promised to love her forever, did that mean nothing to her?
'Abandoning your children and husband is not a mistake. That's deliberate, that's methodical, that's..... not a mistake.' - Donnie
There is a lot of anger, guilt and confusion as Edie and Donnie come to terms with what has happened and why it did. The emotional struggle they all go through was incredibly hard and so gut wrenching. I felt so much for this couple and desperately wanted them to find peace and happiness with each other, whether they ended up as a couple or not.
I loved getting so drawn in to a story that I don't even realise what the time is or if I remembered to eat that day. All I could focus on was this couple and how they were going to overcome all their pain. I love being this affected by a story, it reinforces why I love to read so much. Amazing story and an incredible author!
From the first page of this book I was 100% invested in the outcome. This was such a unique story and so very relatable to anyone who is a parent or is involved in the upbringing of children. I loved that there was no mucking about with flashbacks, we were taken straight into the here and now, so the emotional rush hit me from all angles.
Edie walks out on her life with her husband Donnie and three children after feeling so overwhelmed with everything she is and what her life has become. She returns two years later, determined to find her place back in their family home.
'I'd been in a bad dark place in my life when I left. I wasn't there anymore. The fog had lifted and the regret cut deep. The loneliness I now felt after being away from my family eclipsed the loneliness I had experienced before. It didn't even compare.' - Edie
A lot has changed since she left, her children don't recognise her and there is someone else in their life now too. She did not expect to come home and find that. Edie is determined to claim her place in her children's lives and is willing to do anything to gain their trust. Her return has blindsided her husband Donnie. She was his first everything and he promised to love her forever, did that mean nothing to her?
'Abandoning your children and husband is not a mistake. That's deliberate, that's methodical, that's..... not a mistake.' - Donnie
There is a lot of anger, guilt and confusion as Edie and Donnie come to terms with what has happened and why it did. The emotional struggle they all go through was incredibly hard and so gut wrenching. I felt so much for this couple and desperately wanted them to find peace and happiness with each other, whether they ended up as a couple or not.
I loved getting so drawn in to a story that I don't even realise what the time is or if I remembered to eat that day. All I could focus on was this couple and how they were going to overcome all their pain. I love being this affected by a story, it reinforces why I love to read so much. Amazing story and an incredible author!
March 14, 2017
Truly one of the best emotional books I have read in a long time!
August 4, 2021
3.5 This was about a wife that left her husband and kids for two yrs bc of postpartum depression its was good at the beginning but after like 50% got boring 😑
September 6, 2015
After reading all the glowing reviews, I think I picked up the Punked version of this story.
First off, I was super excited to start this baby, the whole premise sounded perfect. Angst, angst, and more angst. It had so much potential. A mother who fucked up her life, and now wants to work her ass off to make it right and get her family back.
Well, first off, Edie didn't feel genuine at all. Then she marches back and makes demands to see her children, as if she deserved the right, sheds a few tears, boobs about how everybody is always picking on her,
and way too soon gets exactly what she wants. I really thought at first Donnie was going to make her suffer and grovel (as she should).
Some of this:
Or this:
Or even a bitch fight between Edie and Beth:
But nah. Donnie gives in so easily, it was pathetic. I just didn't feel anything for Edie, even after the "big reveal", which also was pretty pathetic. Honestly, I think I'd have been more happy if Donnie had divorced Edie, sent her packing, and then married Beth.
First off, I was super excited to start this baby, the whole premise sounded perfect. Angst, angst, and more angst. It had so much potential. A mother who fucked up her life, and now wants to work her ass off to make it right and get her family back.
Well, first off, Edie didn't feel genuine at all. Then she marches back and makes demands to see her children, as if she deserved the right, sheds a few tears, boobs about how everybody is always picking on her,
and way too soon gets exactly what she wants. I really thought at first Donnie was going to make her suffer and grovel (as she should).
Some of this:
Or this:
Or even a bitch fight between Edie and Beth:
But nah. Donnie gives in so easily, it was pathetic. I just didn't feel anything for Edie, even after the "big reveal", which also was pretty pathetic. Honestly, I think I'd have been more happy if Donnie had divorced Edie, sent her packing, and then married Beth.
no-way-jose
July 31, 2015Kind of spoiler-ish, but it's in the blurb
For my understanding this lady decided to leave her husband and 3 kids because she wasn't happy, or satisfied or she was depressed or whatever to find herself... And she left a letter to her husband (a noble act -Insert sarcasm here) so when he came home one day he saw himself alone with 3 kids. WOW. What a story line!! the originality of it makes me breathless (a dose of cynicism here) So years later she came back to fight for her family because SHE WAS ready. Well, for me that's a place she should go. TO HELL. There she would find a good friend on the devil. I confess I might be biased in my opinion. But that's what it is: MY OPINION
For my understanding this lady decided to leave her husband and 3 kids because she wasn't happy, or satisfied or she was depressed or whatever to find herself... And she left a letter to her husband (a noble act -Insert sarcasm here) so when he came home one day he saw himself alone with 3 kids. WOW. What a story line!! the originality of it makes me breathless (a dose of cynicism here) So years later she came back to fight for her family because SHE WAS ready. Well, for me that's a place she should go. TO HELL. There she would find a good friend on the devil. I confess I might be biased in my opinion. But that's what it is: MY OPINION
September 1, 2015
I would have finished this sooner if life wasn't so hectic. This story caught my attention for so many reasons. Going into it, I thought Edie left it all behind to recapture her youth and the fun she missed out on by getting married so early in life and having children at a young age. This novel is definitely not that at all.
My Biggest Mistake tackles serious subjects like post-pardum depression and the stress of marriage. I feel Leddy Harper did a good job of laying out the facts from Edie's and Donovan's perspective. Very rarely do I not pick a side and rally for one not both. However, when it came to this story, Edie and Donovan equally earned my loyalty. Not what I thought would happen before diving into this novel. I thought for sure I was going to dislike Edie and align with Donovan's side.
Overall, My Biggest Mistake is an emotional novel where a broken character took the lead in telling her story and did so with surprising strength and determination to make it though. Great book!
My Biggest Mistake tackles serious subjects like post-pardum depression and the stress of marriage. I feel Leddy Harper did a good job of laying out the facts from Edie's and Donovan's perspective. Very rarely do I not pick a side and rally for one not both. However, when it came to this story, Edie and Donovan equally earned my loyalty. Not what I thought would happen before diving into this novel. I thought for sure I was going to dislike Edie and align with Donovan's side.
Overall, My Biggest Mistake is an emotional novel where a broken character took the lead in telling her story and did so with surprising strength and determination to make it though. Great book!
July 30, 2015
This is a truly beautiful and emotional story. I thought the author did a great job of portraying the characters as real. I loved that the storyline wasn't far fetched, that what happened in the story could easily happen in real life.
This is the raw emotional story of Edie, a wife and a mum dealing with depression. I struggled with depression for years so Edies story really touched my heart.
I found myself reading this until early one morning. Luckily I didn't have to get up early the next day so I sat up and enjoyed. I found myself smiling and crying along with Edie.
If your looking for a beautiful emotional read then I highly recommend this story. Loved it.
This is the raw emotional story of Edie, a wife and a mum dealing with depression. I struggled with depression for years so Edies story really touched my heart.
I found myself reading this until early one morning. Luckily I didn't have to get up early the next day so I sat up and enjoyed. I found myself smiling and crying along with Edie.
If your looking for a beautiful emotional read then I highly recommend this story. Loved it.
April 20, 2016
5 Soul Searching Stars
A few people told me My Biggest Mistake was written really well. I don’t always read the premise but when I read it, I thought to myself, wow, this is going to be filled with angst. Also, I’m a mother and a soon to be mother of two, so my hormones are all over the place. I can’t imagine any mom leaving her children behind.
So I went into this book with an open mind, knowing, it will be a hard book to read and gut wrenching journey.
It was and it was so much more.
My Biggest Mistake is a beautifully written novel about human emotions and doing what a person thinks it’s best for her at the time. It’s not about being a good mother, but it’s about owning up to past actions and being the best mother you can be. We have all felt like this and it’s an eye opening piece that will make you be grateful for your partner and of course your children.
Edie’s biggest mistake was leaving her children for two years. She’s back and she has a lot of making up to do towards her husband and kids.
What I love about this book is the writing flow. To my surprise it was a very descriptive book and if you know anything about me is that I do not like descriptive writing, but honestly I couldn’t picture this book any other way. The author paints a perfect picture of the Heroine’s inner struggle, past struggle and tortured soul. You feel for her completely.
I love that there were no flashbacks. I didn’t care about reliving her past, but she does express how she felt prior to leaving so you get a better understanding where she came from.
Then there’s there crazy angst and tension towards her husband Donnie. There is nothing more addictive or steamy than a husband/ wife feud. It was hot. Every time Donnie pushed her away, I wanted more. I wanted more drama and more push back because I loved reading it. You can see Donnie’s hurt and you can see his love towards his wife. It’s a crazy struggle I couldn’t stop reading.
Of course, I love any books with kids and babies, so that just made me even more super happy.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. It deals with real problems in the real world. I thought the characters were well developed and I understood everyone’s actions. This book is about good or bad people, it’s just about living life to the best you can. This book is for all moms out there that can feel overwhelm sometimes.
I loved it!
READ on Kindle Unlimited
AMAZON
A few people told me My Biggest Mistake was written really well. I don’t always read the premise but when I read it, I thought to myself, wow, this is going to be filled with angst. Also, I’m a mother and a soon to be mother of two, so my hormones are all over the place. I can’t imagine any mom leaving her children behind.
So I went into this book with an open mind, knowing, it will be a hard book to read and gut wrenching journey.
It was and it was so much more.
My Biggest Mistake is a beautifully written novel about human emotions and doing what a person thinks it’s best for her at the time. It’s not about being a good mother, but it’s about owning up to past actions and being the best mother you can be. We have all felt like this and it’s an eye opening piece that will make you be grateful for your partner and of course your children.
Edie’s biggest mistake was leaving her children for two years. She’s back and she has a lot of making up to do towards her husband and kids.
What I love about this book is the writing flow. To my surprise it was a very descriptive book and if you know anything about me is that I do not like descriptive writing, but honestly I couldn’t picture this book any other way. The author paints a perfect picture of the Heroine’s inner struggle, past struggle and tortured soul. You feel for her completely.
I love that there were no flashbacks. I didn’t care about reliving her past, but she does express how she felt prior to leaving so you get a better understanding where she came from.
Then there’s there crazy angst and tension towards her husband Donnie. There is nothing more addictive or steamy than a husband/ wife feud. It was hot. Every time Donnie pushed her away, I wanted more. I wanted more drama and more push back because I loved reading it. You can see Donnie’s hurt and you can see his love towards his wife. It’s a crazy struggle I couldn’t stop reading.
Of course, I love any books with kids and babies, so that just made me even more super happy.
I really enjoyed this book a lot. It deals with real problems in the real world. I thought the characters were well developed and I understood everyone’s actions. This book is about good or bad people, it’s just about living life to the best you can. This book is for all moms out there that can feel overwhelm sometimes.
I loved it!
READ on Kindle Unlimited
AMAZON
August 7, 2015
4 stars.
It took me four days after reading this book to get my thoughts in order. This one stayed with me and haunted my thoughts days after I read it. I can't say that about very many books. Usually you read about the man leaving the woman and kid(s) behind, but in this one the tables were turned. This time it was the wife who left her loving husband (I freaking LOVED him) and 3 small children behind.
I HATED Edie at first because not many details were given about her sudden need to leave her family behind. I wanted to understand but I couldn't without all the details. I was Team Donnie for a long time. Then the author starts to drop hints here and there. Still.... how could someone do this, to not only her husband- who was damn near perfect- but to her 3 adorable little children as well? Once I got the details I understood more. HOWEVER, (and this is why I deducted 1 star) there was one scene towards the end where I wanted to die for Donnie. He finds out Edie did something pretty horrible a couple of years ago during her dark period,and I am not going to even lie here, I wanted him to run far far away from her and never look back. Just no. He didn't deserve any of that. Okay I'll stop ranting there. Just know it might be hard for some people to read about and you'll know what I mean when you get there.
Edie was severely depressed and in a period of extreme darkness with what she thought was no way out when she left her family. It was actually pretty heartbreaking to read what her thoughts were like at that time. She left because she thought her kids and Donnie would be better off in the long run. This is one of those stories where you don't know how it's going to end until you get there. It looks to be one way at first, then takes a little turn and doesn't end how you initially thought it would. I had just accepted it would end how I thought it was going to end, then it surprised me. This book is all about mistakes, how to make them right and live with what you did- not just to yourself- but to others, and being able to forgive. It's angsty, so buckle up.
It took me four days after reading this book to get my thoughts in order. This one stayed with me and haunted my thoughts days after I read it. I can't say that about very many books. Usually you read about the man leaving the woman and kid(s) behind, but in this one the tables were turned. This time it was the wife who left her loving husband (I freaking LOVED him) and 3 small children behind.
I HATED Edie at first because not many details were given about her sudden need to leave her family behind. I wanted to understand but I couldn't without all the details. I was Team Donnie for a long time. Then the author starts to drop hints here and there. Still.... how could someone do this, to not only her husband- who was damn near perfect- but to her 3 adorable little children as well? Once I got the details I understood more. HOWEVER, (and this is why I deducted 1 star) there was one scene towards the end where I wanted to die for Donnie. He finds out Edie did something pretty horrible a couple of years ago during her dark period,and I am not going to even lie here, I wanted him to run far far away from her and never look back. Just no. He didn't deserve any of that. Okay I'll stop ranting there. Just know it might be hard for some people to read about and you'll know what I mean when you get there.
Edie was severely depressed and in a period of extreme darkness with what she thought was no way out when she left her family. It was actually pretty heartbreaking to read what her thoughts were like at that time. She left because she thought her kids and Donnie would be better off in the long run. This is one of those stories where you don't know how it's going to end until you get there. It looks to be one way at first, then takes a little turn and doesn't end how you initially thought it would. I had just accepted it would end how I thought it was going to end, then it surprised me. This book is all about mistakes, how to make them right and live with what you did- not just to yourself- but to others, and being able to forgive. It's angsty, so buckle up.
March 15, 2016
I really enjoyed this emotional, angsty, second chance romance. This is a story about Edie and Donnie who were high school sweethearts who got married right after graduation and started a family. A beautiful little girl and shortly after twin boys. One day Edie just up and leaves her family and life behind. Two years later and ....she is back. I loved the storyline it was emotional and had a tough subject matter dealing with PPD which I can so relate to. I did have a hard time with the whole Beth issue. I didn't buy the relationships she had with Edie or Donnie and the whole casualness when Edie came back. And then she just steps aside and the dinner, just weird to me. Anyway I really like the writing and how the story flowed and pulls you in. I will definitely read more by this author
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