by ERIN NOELLE
The perfect husband.
Colin Cassidy—the incredibly talented, extremely gorgeous, and unbelievably humble star NFL quarterback.
The perfect career.
As the recently-appointed executive director for the Boston chapter of Mending Hearts, a child abuse prevention and treatment program, my daily reward was helping to keep vulnerable, innocent children from being preyed upon and destroyed. It’s all I’d wanted to do since I was a teenager.
Perfect city. Perfect car. Perfect house with the perfect view.
From the outside looking in, it was impossible to find a single flaw in my life. I had it all. Everything I’d ever wanted.
But that kind of perfection came at a price.
Demanded the ultimate sacrifice.
What happened when I discovered what I’d been missing all along?
When I began to question if the lies were worth protecting?
What if suddenly the last thing I wanted was to be perfect?
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REVIEW: 3.5 STARS
REVIEW: 3.5 STARS
"Her heart and body may have belonged to me, but she was his wife."
I finally took the plunge and read one of Erin Noelle's books. I have had her on my TBR for quite some time and even have quite a few of her books on my kindle. I love triangles and forbidden loves and knew this one was both, so naturally I had to jump in!! As I read this book, I went from holy cow-shocked, to wondering what I got myself into, to seeing that there is some story behind this couple, to being pleased with the outcome. I had a whirlwind of emotions just from the fluctuation of the book!! Now let me explain....
When I first jumped in, I was ready for a story of a woman that was pampered and well taken care of and she was going to cheat....right? Made sense to me. And then, BAM!! Massive twist only three chapters in. I was like, now THIS is what I'm talking about!! I was all excited. We meet Colin and Monroe and fall in love with the way he is doting on her, the charities they sponsor and the life they lead. All with this amazing twist, so I knew this story was going to be juicy.
Then....we meet Oliver. I am thinking, alright!! A sexy man that distracts Monroe immediately! This is going to go really well. Handsome man, manbun, feelings upon their first meeting and butterflies upon contact. All the makings for a good forbidden love triangle! YES!!
Not exactly. This is the part where I settle in and the book slows to a crawl and I seriously question why I am still reading it. I don't like soft Heroes in books, and really do like my men to be alpha, strong and domineering. Oliver was none of those. At. All. At first meeting, through Monroe's eyes, we see him as sexy and pulled together with a job that she can admire. When we get to his POV, he is very uncertain and doesn't exude as much confidence as I saw through Monroe's eyes...so I had a hard time connecting to Oliver. He felt almost immature and self-conscious when he didn't need to be, according to her. This carried on for some time (this went on until about 38%). So it started out strong, but then the middle slowed to a crawl for me. I had heard nothing but good things from my friends that have recommended this author to me numerous times. I had to call in the backup. I messaged a friend, and while she told me this character (Oliver) wasn't the author's normal kind of Hero, she really did write an amazing story. Ok...I am going to push on. After a bit, I started to see another side to Oliver. I loved his convictions about Monroe and how he felt about her. I loved the way he cared for her. It may have taken some time, but I finally warmed up to him and I caught myself actually laughing out loud at some very entertaining parts. There were some very heart-warming parts as well, and the sexy time was quite hot.
Then the action picked up, the love grew and the stakes were much higher. MUCH. I was powering through at this point, soaking up the controversy....the drama, the whodunnit (we already knew) and the fallout. The last 20% of the book was my favorite part. Would I recommend this story? Absolutely. It was entertaining, and what may not have worked for me in the H department, clearly worked for many others. The book wrapped up rather quickly and I sorta feel like I was left hanging because there most definitely was another story to be told. One that I would have loved to have explored more and got the story on. I believe, while this is a standalone, there is more story here to be told and I think we would be pleasantly surprised if we got a novella (at least!!) out of Colin. I really did love his character; his story was emotional and it NEEDS to be told!!
Just to be clear, what you think you see isn't exactly what you actually get. Plain and simple. Good story! I will most definitely make a point to read her Book Boyfriend Series as that came highly recommended to me as well.
~BEE
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When I first jumped in, I was ready for a story of a woman that was pampered and well taken care of and she was going to cheat....right? Made sense to me. And then, BAM!! Massive twist only three chapters in. I was like, now THIS is what I'm talking about!! I was all excited. We meet Colin and Monroe and fall in love with the way he is doting on her, the charities they sponsor and the life they lead. All with this amazing twist, so I knew this story was going to be juicy.
Then....we meet Oliver. I am thinking, alright!! A sexy man that distracts Monroe immediately! This is going to go really well. Handsome man, manbun, feelings upon their first meeting and butterflies upon contact. All the makings for a good forbidden love triangle! YES!!
Not exactly. This is the part where I settle in and the book slows to a crawl and I seriously question why I am still reading it. I don't like soft Heroes in books, and really do like my men to be alpha, strong and domineering. Oliver was none of those. At. All. At first meeting, through Monroe's eyes, we see him as sexy and pulled together with a job that she can admire. When we get to his POV, he is very uncertain and doesn't exude as much confidence as I saw through Monroe's eyes...so I had a hard time connecting to Oliver. He felt almost immature and self-conscious when he didn't need to be, according to her. This carried on for some time (this went on until about 38%). So it started out strong, but then the middle slowed to a crawl for me. I had heard nothing but good things from my friends that have recommended this author to me numerous times. I had to call in the backup. I messaged a friend, and while she told me this character (Oliver) wasn't the author's normal kind of Hero, she really did write an amazing story. Ok...I am going to push on. After a bit, I started to see another side to Oliver. I loved his convictions about Monroe and how he felt about her. I loved the way he cared for her. It may have taken some time, but I finally warmed up to him and I caught myself actually laughing out loud at some very entertaining parts. There were some very heart-warming parts as well, and the sexy time was quite hot.
Then the action picked up, the love grew and the stakes were much higher. MUCH. I was powering through at this point, soaking up the controversy....the drama, the whodunnit (we already knew) and the fallout. The last 20% of the book was my favorite part. Would I recommend this story? Absolutely. It was entertaining, and what may not have worked for me in the H department, clearly worked for many others. The book wrapped up rather quickly and I sorta feel like I was left hanging because there most definitely was another story to be told. One that I would have loved to have explored more and got the story on. I believe, while this is a standalone, there is more story here to be told and I think we would be pleasantly surprised if we got a novella (at least!!) out of Colin. I really did love his character; his story was emotional and it NEEDS to be told!!
Just to be clear, what you think you see isn't exactly what you actually get. Plain and simple. Good story! I will most definitely make a point to read her Book Boyfriend Series as that came highly recommended to me as well.
~BEE
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◆ PURCHASE ◆
~MEET ERIN NOELLE~
Erin Noelle is a Texas native, where she lives with her husband and two young daughters. While earning her degree in History, she rediscovered her love for reading that was first instilled by her grandmother when she was a young child. A lover of happily-ever-afters, both historical and current, Erin is an avid reader of all romance novels. In 2013, she published the Book Boyfriend Series, which included books Metamorphosis, Ambrosia, and Euphoria. Her books have been a part of the USA Today Bestselling list and/ or the Amazon and Barnes & Noble overall Top 100.
~CONNECT WITH ERIN~
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