27: Dropping the Gloves


Mignon Mykel - 2017
    Not fighting harder to be in his daughter’s life was one, but the other was thinking that life would be somehow better without his best friend in it. However, as badly as he’d like Marlo back in his life, the last five years showed him a side of her he never imagined possible.At twenty-two, Marlo Byrd unexpectedly finds herself divorced and raising an infant on her own. Jordan had been her everything—her family and her protector—until one day he decided he wanted out. No calls. No letters. Nothing. She managed to find solace in the team that was once his…until five years later, when Jordan’s traded back. Back in the Enforcers locker room, Jordan is quickly put in his place—he may have a spot on the team, but his ex has a spot in the “family.” Everyone has an opinion on what happened between Jordan and Marlo. Did Jordan leave Marlo, and never look back, wearing the ‘deadbeat dad’ label?Or did Marlo hold back on Jordan, wanting to hurt him the way he hurt her?Gloves will be dropped. Fights will commence.But who will come out the victor?

Twenty-One Trees


Linda Cousine - 2016
    Savannah May Holladay and her best friend from childhood, James “Birdy” Johnson, harbor many dark secrets. Birdy also has an undying love for Savannah that spans over two decades. Unfortunately for him, Savannah is a wealthy debutante engaged to the town’s most eligible bachelor—and Birdy is a truck driver. But after a nasty incident, Savannah wakes up in a hospital bed and can’t remember one thing about the past seven years—not her marriage to Birdy instead of her boyfriend, and especially not the birth of their four children. In what feels like an instant, she’s lost her perfect life and become an impoverished housewife. Savannah must struggle through her memory loss to recover some kind of love for her husband and children. Will Birdy’s unwavering devotion be enough to carry her through and bring back her lost years? Or could Birdy’s own secrets make matters even worse? Wealth, poverty, love, loss, and amnesia create a challenging road for Savannah May Holladay. Find out how she traverses these obstacles and unearths the hidden bonds with her childhood friend in Twenty-One Trees. Review "What would it be like to wake up and not remember the last seven years of your life? I can't even imagine! Not knowing my kids or my husband... Just thinking about it breaks my heart, especially because the last few years of my life have been the best. The love between Savannah and Birdy in this story is so sweet, even though they overcome seemingly impossible obstacles. The characters in Twenty-One Trees are so realistic. You will feel as if you know them personally and keep on turning pages just to find out what happens to them next. This is a love story like no other, in which true love conquers all. Another great novel by Linda Cousine!" -Ashley Emma, bestselling author of Fearless Author and Undercover Amish

Break Even


Lisa De Jong - 2015
    Every day, River gives me ten reasons to stay away, and then eleven reasons why I can't. Our relationship was to remain strictly business, or at least I tried. Four years of marriage, and everything with Cole has changed. I never knew two people who lived together could be so distant. But I’m not ready to give up on him.One man wants to break me.The other is just trying to get even. Both are lying to me.

The Girl in Seat 24B


Jennifer Peel - 2014
    Her journalist husband and her two adorable children were everything to her. But soon she would find out that her dream life didn't fall in line with her husband's expectations. Left alone to sort out the pieces of her crumbling life, Carly finds strength in her children and her growing relationship with her in-laws. Most importantly, she finds her greatest strength as she builds a friendship with herself. This is a beautiful story of one woman's strength and determination as she finds the will to move forward and be happy while the life she had grown to love crumbles around her. It is a story of a man who has lost his way and may lose it all if he can't find his way back. The Girl in Seat 24B is a story of love and forgiveness.

The Ingredients of Us


Jennifer Gold - 2019
    But when she discovers her husband’s infidelity, she doesn’t know what to make of it. Jam, maybe? Definitely jam.Fed up with the stale crumbs of her marriage, Elle revisits past recipes and the events that inspired them. A recipe for scones reminds her of her father’s death, cinnamon rolls signify the problematic courtship with her husband, and a batch of chocolate cookies casts Elle in a less-than-flattering light. Looking back, Elle soon realizes that some ingredients were missing all along.After confronting her husband, Elle indulges her sweet tooth in other ways, including a rebound that just leaves her more confused. As secrets from the past collide with the conflicts of the present, Elle struggles to manage her bakery business and maintain the relationships most important to her. In piecing her life back together, will Elle learn to take the bitter with the sweet?

Indiscretion


Charles Dubow - 2012
    Someone who writes it down after it's all over. Why am I the narrator of this story? I am because it is the story of my life—and of the people I love most. . . ."Harry and Madeleine Winslow have been blessed with talent, money, and charm. Harry is a National Book Award–winning author on the cusp of greatness. Madeleine is a woman of sublime beauty and grace whose elemental goodness and serenity belie a privileged upbringing. Bonded by deep devotion, they share a love that is both envied and admired. The Winslows play host to a coterie of close friends and acolytes eager to bask in their golden radiance, whether they are in their bucolic East Hampton cottage, abroad in Rome thanks to Harry's writing grant, or in their comfortable Manhattan brownstone.One weekend at the start of the summer season, Harry and Maddy, who are in their early forties, meet Claire and cannot help but be enchanted by her winsome youth, quiet intelligence, and disarming naivete. Drawn by the Winslows' inscrutable magnetism, Claire eagerly falls into their welcoming orbit. But over the course of the summer, her reverence transforms into a dangerous desire. By Labor Day, it is no longer enough to remain one of their hangers-on.A story of love, lust, deception, and betrayal as seen through the omniscient eyes of Maddy's childhood friend Walter, a narrator akin to Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby, Indiscretion is a juicy, richly textured novel filled with fascinating, true-to-life characters—an irresistibly sensual page-turner that explores having it all and the consequences of wanting more.

Love Square


Jessica Ingro - 2013
    One look from him would make me melt. He was the one I always wanted to love me, but always seemed so far away. Now he stands before me and he's turning my world upside down. At one time I would have done anything to be close to him. But will that anything include betraying the man I pledged myself to and that loves me faithfully?Samantha Monroe had it all. Or at least everyone thought she did. A career on the rise, a gorgeous husband, great friends and a beautiful home. So why does she feel so alone and empty? When she reconnects with an old flame, lines are tested and compromises made in a quest for happiness.Jacob Matthews always wondered what happened to Sam Monroe. When fate brings them together after all these years, he can't help but wonder if its meant to be. But when he meets his perfect woman, there is no doubt in his mind she's his soul mate.Will the search for happiness cost them everything or will their love square show them what really matters?

The Last Days of Us


Caroline Finnerty - 2021
    So when her husband JP announces on Christmas Day that he is leaving her and their two children, 9 year old Harry and 4 year old Robyn, Sarah is left reeling. But things are set to get worse when Robyn is diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour. Can JP and Sarah unite to fight their biggest battle yet? or will they be on opposing sides once again? With the couple at loggerheads and with Robyn's condition deteriorating day-by-day, precious time is running out and JP is getting desperate.

The Long Way Home


Jasinda Wilder - 2017
    For you. For touch. For a kiss. For the scrape of your hand down my stomach. For the slide of your lips across my hipbone. The sweep of your thigh against mine in the dulcet, drowning darkness. For the warm huff of your breath on my skin and the wet suck of your mouth around me and the building pressure of need reaching release...I am mad with need.Wild with it.I cannot have you. I have lost you, as I have lost myself. And so I go in search. Of myself, and thus the man who might return to you, and take you in his arms.I loathe each of the thousands of miles between us, but I cannot wish them away, for I hope at the end of my journey I shall find you. Or rather, find myself, and thus…you. Myself, and thus us. I am taking the long way home, Ava. ***Christian,I’m losing my mind, and I don’t know how to stop it. I shouldn’t be writing to you, but I am. I’m friendless, loveless, and lifeless. You’re out there somewhere, and still you’re all I really have. I hate my reliance and dependence on you, emotionally and otherwise, and that reliance is something I’m coming to recognize. I hate that I can’t hate you as much as I want to. I hate that I still love you so much. I hate that there’s no clear solution to our conundrum. Even if we could forgive each other, what then? I hate you, Christian. I really do.But most of all, I don’t. It’s complicated. Complicatedly (still) yours,AvaTHE LONG WAY HOME is the story of a married couple, Christian and Ava, both writers, as they cope with the loss of their son and the damage that loss causes to their marriage. This moving story, alternately heartbreaking and heartwarming, is the first in a brand-new contemporary romance series by bestselling author Jasinda Wilder.

Man, Woman, and Child


Erich Segal - 1970
    And a marriage that must stand the  greatest test of all. Man, Woman And  Child. Bob and Sheila Beckwith had everything:  rewarding careers, two wonderful daughters, and a perfect  marriage... almost perfect. for what Sheila  didn't know was that Bob has once been unfaithful-only  once, ten years ago during a business trip to  France. What Bob didn't know was that his brief affair  produced a son. Now a tragic accident-and one  fateful phone call-will change Bob and Sheila's life  forever...

His Other House


Sarah Armstrong - 2015
    He'd always thought of it as a decisive abandonment of the truth. Instead, he realised, it was simply a matter of one word slipping into the place of another.'Dr Quinn Davidson and his wife Marianna have endured years of unsuccessful IVF and several miscarriages, and Quinn can't face another painful attempt to conceive. Marianna is desperate to be a mother and their marriage is feeling the strain. At a small-town practice a few hours from their home, Quinn meets Rachel, the daughter of one of his patients. Drawn to each other, it's not long before they find themselves in a passionate affair and Quinn realises he must choose between the two women. Then Marianna announces a surprise natural conception, news that will change the course of all their lives.Set in the lush Australian subtropics, this taut emotional drama poses questions about moral courage and accountability, and asks whether love means always telling the truth.

With or Without You


Helen Warner - 2013
    Her gorgeous husband, Jamie, is happy being a stay-at-home-dad while she pursues her career. But appearances are often deceiving. One day, Martha makes a discovery that rocks the very foundation of her world and she begins to question everything she thought she wanted. Then, during an interview with a famous actor, Charlie Simmons, Martha finds herself pouring her heart out. And soon their friendship turns into an intense relationship… Now, Martha must make the toughest decision of her life. Does she fight to keep the life she loves? Or are some betrayals just too big to forgive? PRAISE FOR HELEN WARNER 'Four women, one wedding and unexpected results. Great good fun' Woman & Home 'The kind of book beach holidays were made for' Red

You, Me and Other People


Fionnuala Kearney - 2015
    . .But what happens when you open the door and they won’t stop tumbling out?For Adam and Beth the first secret wasn’t the last, it was just the beginning. You think you can imagine the worst thing that could happen to your family, but there are some secrets that change everything. And then the question is, how can you piece together a future when your past is being rewritten?For fans of Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and David Nicholls.

A Me and You Thing


Taylor Dean - 2018
    A match in every way, their happiness is evident to all who spend time with them. The arrival of twin baby girls completes their picture-perfect family.When Quinn has the opportunity to help others on a two-week volunteer trip, she reluctantly leaves her family, knowing a short break from the demands of motherhood will be good for her.She doesn’t expect the trip to change her life forever. But it does. It changes everything.Struggling from day to day, the young family moves forward, finding happiness . . . and love. But fate isn’t done mixing things up in their lives. When an unexpected event leaves them all reeling, the unspoken question rings loudly and can’t be ignored: “What happens now?”A Me and You Thing is a novel that explores the strength of enduring love and friendship.

The Stuff That Never Happened


Maddie Dawson - 2010
    She’s been in a stable marriage that’s lasted almost three decades and has provided her with two wonderful children, thousands of family dinners around a sturdy oak table, and a husband so devoted that he schedules lovemaking into his calendar every Wednesday morning. Other wives envy the fact that Grant is not the type of man who would ever cheat on her or leave her for a younger woman. The trouble is Annabelle isn’t sure she wants to be married to Grant anymore. The trouble is she’s still in love with someone else. In the early tumultuous years of her marriage, Annabelle carried on a clandestine affair with the one person whose betrayal would hurt her husband the most. When it ended, she and Grant found their way back together and made a pact that they would never speak of that time again. But now years later, with her children grown and gone, and an ominous distance opening between them, she can’t help but remember those glorious, passionate days and wonder if she chose the right man. Then, when called to New York City to help care for her pregnant daughter, Annabelle bumps into her old lover. Offered a second chance at an unforgettable love, she must decide between the man who possesses her heart and the husband who has stood squarely by her side. A journey into the what-ifs that haunt us all, The Stuff That Never Happened is an intricate, heartfelt examination of modern marriage that brims with truths about the nature of romantic love.