Its hard ro rate a book that isabout two cheaters - and a second hidden family. So tragic for the kids involved. ( )

Part psychology, part memoir, Wendy Plump takes a look at how the laws of attraction can crucify the laws of reason. Nothing can stop a sleeper wave from drowning the promises made in marriage unless one refuses to step on the beach during high tide. A refreshingly candid look at how even intelligent people can struggle with controlling one's impulses and how anything can be rationalized in the quest for passion and fulfillment. And why being cuckold does not eliminate one from becoming the adulterer even when it reasonably makes no sense to hurt another in the same way one has been hurt.

The narrative is complicated by what appears to be the couple's sex and love addiction: Bill through his encounters with gentleman's clubs and his affair with a stripper and Wendy through the allure of falling in love over and over again. If the reader is familiar with the terrain of sex and love addiction, then the tell-tale symptoms of an addict in denial parade around in some of the chapters, particularly the chapters in which the author waxes poetic about the risk and the rewards of adultery.

As for Plump's assertion that there is a dearth of literature to help those ensnared in adultery or a lackluster marriage, she is wrong. Albeit, a lot of the canon is faith-based and may repulse those seeking an agnostic or atheistic view, but the literature exists, from Living with Your Husband's Secret Wars by Marsha Means to Every Man's Battle by Steve Arterburn to When Good People Have Affairs by Mira Kirshenbaum to The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by John Gottman and so much more.

Nonetheless, Plump's story is one that needs to be told. The author's unique perspective as both the perpetrator and the victim allows for a more comprehensive study of why betrayal hurts everyone involved including bystanders. A must-read for those interested in relationships. ( )

It has to be said that this memoir displays no brilliant skill at neither writing nor teasing out insights out of life experiences, yet there's something likeable and interesting about it. Perhaps it's just that you so rarely hear real-life stories of infidelity and long marriages – at least, I feel the stories commonly told are celebrity ones, not the ordinary couples' like this author and her husband. The insights certainly are a bit banal but the book has the ring of an honest attempt at understanding what went wrong and that kept me going. ( )

Great insight in the psychology of cheaters and the cheated. The author Wendy Plum details her personal experience with cheating in her own marriage. Both her husband and herself have cheated in the past and she explores the lesson that she learned from it.This cautionary tale really warns the reader that affairs are never really worth it.Very interesting read. ( )

Wendy Plump threw open the doors of her deeply personal past and invited me in. She didn't have to, and frankly I'd have been ridiculously embarrassed to be caught even taking a peek in, but she invited me, and wow... what a find.

Nearly immediately after getting married, Wendy and her husband delved into the world of betrayal and infidelity. Wendy jumped first, drunk on the high of attraction and the chemical cocktail that new love brings. An inescapable desire to be honest about her transgressions, she tells her husband of her relationship, and the tight-knit ball of a close marriage quickly unravels.

Wendy's book Vow - A Memoir of Marriage (and Other Affairs) is gutting and unimaginable. Maybe I'm too soon into my marriage, but the experience Wendy relays to me via these pages is thrilling yet harrowing. Almost all of us are familiar with the rush of new love, but with marriage comes fidelity... or at least the vow to practice it. But Wendy and her husband go far and beyond mere "cheating" and cross the line into multiple relationships, true loves, and children with both your spouse and your second-life love.

I highly recommend reading this book. I was slightly uncomfortable all the while gripped with intrigue. This was one of those books I found I kept yearning to return to when free time found its way to me.

My takeaway from this book is this - All of the feelings Wendy Plump shared with us are feelings nearly everybody has had or will have. We've all been attracted to others outside of our commitments. We've all thought about what it would be like to have an alternate relationship. There are those of us who will keep those thoughts in the fantasy realm, and there are others who will bring them to fruition. But the essence or the origin of these feelings and actions are understood by every one of us, regardless of outward protest and it's commendable that Wendy Plump is willing to share these raw thoughts and self-assessments with us.

Disclaimer: This book was provided free of charge by the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )