Divorce

Why do I read books where there is a separation and thus a high chance of the hero having sex with other women and hurting his heroine?  I think sometimes I read the book description and think "ok, the separation was only a year or two, the author could definately swing it so that the hero abstained". 

In this case, the hero's pregnant wife walked out on the marriage believing a woman who claimed the hero cheated with her.  He hadn't, the woman lied, but the heroine didn't know... and the hero was too proud to fight to keep his wife, after she had disappointed him by not trusting him.  He eventually moved on to other women, their divorce was in progress.  Eventually the heroine found out he hadn't slept with the woman who made the claim, and she wanted the hero back.  The moment the heroine realized that the hero had had sex with other women for REAL after their separation, it was as if she was just shot out of her dream world and landed on her ass in reality.  It was so heart-breaking.  It was also heart-breaking to see the hero's reaction to having to confirm to her that there had been other women, he knew it would hurt her now, and he didn't want to hurt her.  This was just crushing. 

Back Cover:

Rachel's marriage had ended in bitterness and tears. Ben had cheated on her, she was sure, though he denied it. Now their only point of contact was their small daughter, Daisy, and that suited Rachel. But when she announced that she had met someone new, and wanted a divorce, her ex-husband's reaction was very surprising! Ben seemed reluctant to accpet that their relationship was over, and had very definite ideas about where Rachel's future happiness lay. Did Rachel dare to believe the brittle bonds still tying her to Ben could ever be the basis for a lifetime of loving? 

Front Teaser:

"If you've come here to insult me—"
As she brushed past the sofa, Ben leaned forward and caught her arm. His husky, "I didn't," drove all coherent protest from her head.
Dear God, she thought incredulously, had he only to touch her for her to fall apart? He knew what he was doing. He always had.
And she mustn't ever forget it. 

Such a steamy reunion story, every touch between them was emotional. 

The heroine is dragged into chaufering the hero & his young son.  The hero is in a battle with his soon-to-be ex-wife.  The hero/heroine get stranded together over night, and the ex-wife slyly discovers that info and uses it against him to create a scandal in the divorce proceedings.  The hero thinks the heroine conspired against him with the ex to hurt his chance of custody of his son, and he blames her and yells at her.  She wants to explain, and finally he starts to see sense and think that she's telling the truth.  They need to verbally arm wrestle their way through the myriad of issues they have, and they wrangle a solid understanding and start their relationship on good footing (by the end of the book).  You get the impression they have talked through a lot of their issues, in a natural progression. 

This book was well written but I finished it feeling like I wasn't really sure what I had just read, genre wise.  It says romance on the spine but it didn't really read like one to me.  It read more like lit fic which is fine but sort of depresses me. 

This book reminded me how lucky I was to be married to the same guy for over 30 yrs and still have all my kids alive and healthy. It's the story of Rianne Worth, widow and survivor of spousal abuse. She's trying to make a new life for herself and her 2 kids without having to live with daily violence. And it's the story of divorced ex-cop Jon Tucker, who's already attended the funeral of his son and could be losing his daughter. The last thing he wants is to start up a relationship with next-door Rianne and her 2 kids.

But he looks over the fence and longs for the family-life. Especially someone to fill his lonely arms. Likewise, Rianne looks over at the house he's nurturing back to glory and she sees a solid, dependable man who would be the father that her kids never had.

Trista has taken her son, Aidan, moved to a new town and started over.  She has a good job as an attorney, lives close to her brother and sister-in-law, and loves her son more than she thought possible.  This was the life, wasn't it?

Imagine Darcy's shock to discover the her deserter father left her joint custody of the half-sister she never knew she had.  To rub salt in the wound, she will be sharing custody with her step-brother that her dad chose to raise while walking away from her life.

Amy Hardaway stayed in her hometown instead of moving away like her sisters. She doesn't realize she's nursing an old crush on the man who eventually married and divorced her sister. But now he's back. And his attraction to Amy flares up old feelings. She can't get involved with her sister's ex-husband --- can she?

Jon Costas is beginning to think he married the wrong sister all those years ago. Can he convince his family that getting involved with another Hardaway sister won't leave him brokenhearted - again?

Talk about a dysfunctional family! This trilogy takes the cake but it's a good read!