》Short Review《

4.5✨

I started this one with a bit of trepidation. After all, cheating is just a no-go for me. It's rare for me to enjoy a book that features it. This is one of those rare times. And because of how I feel towards that trope, I'll make it the focus of this review to explain how it's use didn't cheapen the narrative, as it does in so many other books, but rather used a tool to raise the stakes in the battle for love.

The cheating was palatable for a slew of reasons: it was never an act of passion, it was one from anger. Not to excuse it, it was a horrible action to commit to-- but the emotion involved was never about the other woman involved. It was about Malcolm's misguided, idiotic anger born from the perceived slight found in the love he shared with his wife, our heroine, Sera. If the other woman was named, I don't remember it. And taking that focus away, helped to focus more on the aftermath of the emotions than the third party involved. I guess, I 'tolerated' it a bit more due to there being no love/passion involved.

Another reason it's palatable: The era. If this were contemporary romance, I probably wouldn't have read it. For better or worse, the era helped me along with this one.

But the main factor: the regret and the grovel.

Luckily, we do get Malcolm's POV and we are very much aware, from the start, of how remorseful he is. Not just for that act, but for all his other words and actions against Sera. He spends years looking for her, waiting for her, wanting her back. His dedication doesn't feel like one that needs to be questioned. She is his true love. I felt enough confidence in that, that one of the hard nos I have in reading instead because a source of indelible angst that I readily consumed. It hurt me to see both Sera and Mal (mostly Sera) hurt, but I positively relished all Mal did to try to earn her love back. The narrative never once makes it easy for him, it's an uphill battle, but he shows absolute determination in climbing that hill.

Love is well earned in this one.