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.
It was crushing in general to read the heroine's inner monologue as she set about trying to get her husband back, she had all these illusions and hopes, and they got crushed by reality. At the end of the horrible mess that they fought their way through, they did achieve a better stronger marriage than what they started out with. But man, a book like this is just painful to read, though I would never abandon the book part-way through, I would need to get closure and get to the HEA to know that everything worked out in the end.
I liked that the hero was jealous of other men, I liked the hero's reaction to the heroine taking off her wedding rings, I liked the hero's interaction with his son. There were a lot of positive things about this book. I don't want to punish the author by giving a bad rating because it's not a bad book, I just see having sex with other people (especially while technically/morally married) as tainting the hero/heroine relationship. The heroine in this book came to a point where she knew she had to leave it in the past or never get over it. Many women wouldn't be as generous as the heroine, it's a lot of pain to handle.
Rating: 3.5/5 stars, get your kleenex ready.
Gosh, wish I had a better memory ....
This is Lucca and Vivien's story ..... I read this one two years ago so some of the details are fuzzy now
I remember thinking how very cold Lucca was and how I didn't like him very much ... but later we got to see how very hurt he'd been that his wife hadn't trusted him ... he'd been devastated .... I'm trying to remember Vivien .. it took alot of guts to go to Lucca and appologize for not believing him and to ask for a reconciliation ... as far as his infidelity, I don't remember it bothering me in this one .... as he was not unfaithful per se until after the separation was definite and he was of the mindset that his marriage was irreconcilably lost ... I might be wrong though as I said I read this one two years ago LOL
yes, this was a very intense read .... definite tissue box experience! LOL ...... LG's books always seem to be gut wrenching!
~~ KatherineT ~~ I'm a Harlequin Addict, and I'm proud of it!
~~ Quiet Canadians ~ 2008 Book Challenge Blog
Don't remember
I read everything, especially by this author, but the premise is used often and I don't remember this particular one.
Now I have to find it and re-read it. Although, if I did read it and it is not still languishing in my TBR pile, all it should take is to look at the cover and the back blurb to bring it all back to me.
w-w-w
I remember thinking how
I remember thinking how very cold Lucca was and how I didn't like him very much ... but later we got to see how very hurt he'd been that his wife hadn't trusted him ... he'd been devastated .... I'm trying to remember Vivien .. it took alot of guts to go to Lucca and appologize for not believing him and to ask for a reconciliation ... as far as his infidelity, I don't remember it bothering me in this one .... as he was not unfaithful per se until after the separation was definite and he was of the mindset that his marriage was irreconcilably lost ... I might be wrong though as I said I read this one two years ago LOL
yes, this was a very intense read .... definite tissue box experience! LOL ...... LG's books always seem to be gut wrenching!
I still feel BAD this morning about this book. The heroine was just so hurt and her perfect little world went bye bye. It's making me tear up now. I need to go and immediately read as many happy books as I can to get this one off my mind!
I understand the hero thought the marriage was irretrievably over, but it's just that he never fought to keep her or explain how the world works, that there are actually nasty people who would lie about him (she's too naive to have been prepared for something like this). He wanted her to come back to him, so the marriage wasn't given up on, yet he never reached out to explain and he never reached out to have "the break up talk" with her. The relationship needed closure, it was so sad for the heroine to live in her little world for two years stuck and considering herself married while the hero considered himself single. They cared about each other, the both of 'em, and there shouldn't have been moving on if this was a perfect world. I don't care if it's unrealistic, but I'd rather magically have the hero/heroine both not have had sex with other people... I say give it to me that way!
I need to go read a bunch of happy happy loving books!
Last night i went off and read "Pregnancy of Passion" by Lucy Monroe. I had to get another book in before I went to sleep, even though it was early hours of the am! To get it off my mind. I loved Pregnancy of Passion. The hero and heroine were lovers who broke up a year ago because of a miscarriage (and him stupidly thinking he wasn't the father). The hero said that from the moment she told him about the baby, he considered them married in his eyes, and he acted accordingly. He chased her, he watched over her, he felt she was his, he was faithful, he valued her as his and put her safety above everything else. *sigh* That was a strong warm love that just made me feel real good after The Mistress Wife!