It would have been 4 stars if not for the critical female characters being one-dimensional. ( )

4 stars

This review might be considered spoilery.

For a romance read, this wasn't as easy to digest as my usual picks. This whole story revolves around cheating, which is such a difficult topic to pull off, especially when the protagonist is the cheater.

The writing here isn't anything to write home about, and I felt like it fluctuated a lot between decent an a little cringey. The least impressive writing was the attempt to build sexual tension between the main characters, but then the family-centric bits were fine.

The writing alone is worth three stars at the most, but the characters and family dynamics as well as the themes handled were good enough to lift it to four stars.

The biggest issue here (for me personally) was the attempted justification for the cheating. I get where this was going - the cheating happened in relationships that weren't really based on romantic love (at least anymore) and the spouses had their faults, too. However. If you're in a relationship that doesn't satisfy you and you start wanting someone else, it doesn't matter what kind of asshole your spouse might be, or whether you have kids to consider, you don't cheat. You break up, and then move on to the next person if you still feel like it. I don't know if there exists a justification for cheating that I'd buy, but it most certainly wasn't found in this story.

I did enjoy the fact that this took place during half a decade and that the relationship was far from insta-lovey or pre-meditated.

What I loved about this most, was Bennett's family. I loved Brianna and their dad, how supportive they were and how much they were a part of each other's lives. What especially struck a chord was Bennett's dad stating that his son's happiness came first to him. That if it came down to sacrificing the happiness of his son's or someone else's, someone else would get shoved under the bus every time.

I'm also forever a sucker for found families. I hated Kieran's family for turning their backs on him but I also loved the hodge podge family they ended up with. The kids were so lovely and by the end of the book I was left with the sickly sweet warm and fuzzies I enjoy my romance with.

All in all, this book made me think a lot more than romance books normally do, because of the conflicting feelings and the heavier subjects concerning family, responsibility, different types of love, and the fear of losing everything you hold dear if you reach for what you really want. ( )

I love Cara Dee's writing but for some reason avoid her books. I'm so glad I had a challenge make me read this one because it was good - good writing, characters I liked even though I disapproved their actions, kids that were not annoying. I missed Kieran's POV a bit but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed the story. ( )

After a reluctant start I almost gave up, because it was all so ordinary, almost boring. We see Bennett living an ordinary life. Commuting to work every day, straining for a promotion, then going home and taking care of his kids. It's all so very domestic.

And then during those daily train rides to work he meets and later befriends Kieran. The two men's relationship as friends is so very relatable to ppl who have a family and love their kids but sometimes they need a break to just shoot the shit with someone. Their friendship starts out that way. I loved Kieran's and Bennett's relationship with their kids. Maybe it was too idyllic but I didn't mind.

So after a few chapters the story got going and I was loving it. I was frustrated and annoyed and pissed and I loved it and then I hated it. It's a long journey, maybe 5 or so years. It turned out all right in the end.


( )

Everything was black-and-white until you grew up and saw gray everywhere. There were millions of rights and wrongs in our lives, and blame could be placed with all of us.

Definitely recommend! ( )