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Hollow Ridge #1
Inhale, Exhale
"I do."
Two words woven in love.
In sickness and in health.
For better or for worse.
Til death do us part.
And death dragged us apart.
We both said those vows.
But neither of us kept them.
This is not one of those happy stories.
Life isn't made of simple choices
and happily ever afters.
It's a dark place.
It's not easy.
It's full of mistakes and lessons.
It hurts.
And in the end, those two words said in love,
are the same ones said in hate.
"You want a divorce?"
"I do."
Two words woven in love.
In sickness and in health.
For better or for worse.
Til death do us part.
And death dragged us apart.
We both said those vows.
But neither of us kept them.
This is not one of those happy stories.
Life isn't made of simple choices
and happily ever afters.
It's a dark place.
It's not easy.
It's full of mistakes and lessons.
It hurts.
And in the end, those two words said in love,
are the same ones said in hate.
"You want a divorce?"
"I do."
397 pages
First published August 7, 2019
About the author
C.L. Matthews
42 books1,792 followersC.L. Matthews is a USA TODAY Bestselling Author who lives in lala-landia with their husband and invisible friends. They're queer and Mexican-American, and love to write as many diverse characters as they can. They want to riot the lack of authentic Mexican food in their state but will settle for cooking their own dishes in the meantime. They enjoys tacos, Red Bull, and warm water, because they're crazy. They're an oddball and realize it’s been mentioned before, just go with it. Their joys in life consist of writing unconventional romances, making book covers, causing havoc to her reader’s hearts, and genre-hopping when they need a change of scenery. They're a special kind of weird and enjoy every moment of it.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 390 reviews
August 16, 2019
This book had one of the most unredeemable male cheaters Evers!
Spoilers ahead!!
So whilst heroine was lost in the grief of losing her daughter and her mother the cheating crap that was her husband was having an affair for a YEAR with her BEST FRIEND!
The heroine was understandably numb and grieving with two major deaths which included the death of THEIR daughter but the cheating scum was more worried about himself. He knew he was going over boundaries when his talks with that nasty ow started becoming more intimate but he willingly crossed over into physical intimacy with no real guilt. He filed divorce papers and told h he wanted a divorce after he had done the deed with the ow but he never submitted it later saying because he knew that h was the love of his life. We get to read about him the first time having sex with ow, them staying at hotels and having sex two or three times each time before he heads home to his wife. He even admits to getting so lazy and complacent that he doesn’t even bother to hide the smell of sex or the scratch marks the ow deliberately leaves behind. He even takes of his wedding ring because the ow doesn’t like him wearing it. He admits to bring in love with the ow that she owns some of his heart but hey we are supposed to maybe sigh because he then thinks that h owns most of it.....not all of it obviously since the ow owns some of it. He had sex with with ow only TWO DAYS BEFORE he has sex with h when everything comes out and he spills the beans when h questions him. He doesn’t tell her it’s with her best friend though! She leaves and later sleeps with his brother, to be honest I actually felt happy because her cheating husband deserved to have a taste of the betrayal she felt after she found out who he had been sleeping with. I loved their son, the poor little mite had known about his father and the slutty friend for awhile as slutty ow’s daughter who was his friend told him that she saw her mum and cheater bastard one morning together dry humping in the kitchen. He decided not to tell as he knew his mother was already growing through so much. I loved what he told his cheater father when he talked to him. That while he was sleeping with another woman and playing father to her daughter he had been neglecting his own wife and children who needed him. He also told him how he doesn’t respect him as a man anymore because he showed him that vows are not taken seriously. He told him he will never forgive him for his weak behaviour and letting them all down. The cheater was suitably shamed by his own 14 year old son! The scum freely admits he didn’t want to end things with ow because being with her was so easy compared to being in a marriage. The h gave good jabs at him when he said she shut him out and how long was he supposed to wait. She told him he should have waited until she was ready. She was tempted by his brother but never gave in because of her love for H but he folded after promising to always be there for her. The ow has always been obsessed with H which h didn’t know about so she slowly burrowed her way into his life even more. The son was right when he called her a whore. I love that bit when he called her that during his chat with the cheater scum and when the cheater scum tried to rebuke him for calling the ow that the son interrupted him and said she was one because she deliberately integrated herself knowing he was a married man with children just because she wanted him. He also called his father out for being weak just because a pretty woman was giving him attention and not being the strong man he should have been by being there for his wife who needed him. In the beginning we have a scene where cheater is remembering a scene where he was with ow in a hotel room and ow was telling him not to use a condom. He contemplates it but in the end decides that going bare is the only thing he has ever done with his wife and he won’t do it even with ow. He thinks about how much he still loves his wife and that if she ever found out about the affair she will never forgive him but going bare with the ow would totally break them up if she ever found out. We as a reader know the ow at this point was most likely trying to get pregnant hence why she didn’t want him to use a condom. Apparently that was the last time he had sex with ow which was two days before he has sex with his wife and everything comes out. The ow causes problems with saying she’s pregnant and trying to kill the h. I would have liked the book if h ended up with the brother as he seemed to really love her. This H no matter how much he says he regrets the cheating and not being there for his wife and children was not there for one of the worst things that can ever happen to a woman. He proved that his marriage vows didn’t stand the test of time when instead of being loving and supportive he decided to have an affair with her best friend initially just for “fun” but then admits emotions got involved.
He later grovels and says that now he realises he never loved the other woman but she was there and healed the bits that were broken. WHAT THE HELL DOES HE MEAN?? Does he mean that he thinks chatting and spending time with ow was the right way to heal? He was emotionally cheating on h with ow even before he physically slept with her if he had truly loved h as much as he kept saying throughout the book he would have stopped that shit straight away before it got to the sex stage. He was obviously enjoying the sex with ow too much and emotionally invested in her so much so that he could bear to see her cry. The only thing he did that was slightly likeable about him was the fact in the end when he saved h over the ow without any question but to me it still doesn’t make up for over a years cheating and the complete shit that he was as a husband and father!
Spoilers ahead!!
So whilst heroine was lost in the grief of losing her daughter and her mother the cheating crap that was her husband was having an affair for a YEAR with her BEST FRIEND!
The heroine was understandably numb and grieving with two major deaths which included the death of THEIR daughter but the cheating scum was more worried about himself. He knew he was going over boundaries when his talks with that nasty ow started becoming more intimate but he willingly crossed over into physical intimacy with no real guilt. He filed divorce papers and told h he wanted a divorce after he had done the deed with the ow but he never submitted it later saying because he knew that h was the love of his life. We get to read about him the first time having sex with ow, them staying at hotels and having sex two or three times each time before he heads home to his wife. He even admits to getting so lazy and complacent that he doesn’t even bother to hide the smell of sex or the scratch marks the ow deliberately leaves behind. He even takes of his wedding ring because the ow doesn’t like him wearing it. He admits to bring in love with the ow that she owns some of his heart but hey we are supposed to maybe sigh because he then thinks that h owns most of it.....not all of it obviously since the ow owns some of it. He had sex with with ow only TWO DAYS BEFORE he has sex with h when everything comes out and he spills the beans when h questions him. He doesn’t tell her it’s with her best friend though! She leaves and later sleeps with his brother, to be honest I actually felt happy because her cheating husband deserved to have a taste of the betrayal she felt after she found out who he had been sleeping with. I loved their son, the poor little mite had known about his father and the slutty friend for awhile as slutty ow’s daughter who was his friend told him that she saw her mum and cheater bastard one morning together dry humping in the kitchen. He decided not to tell as he knew his mother was already growing through so much. I loved what he told his cheater father when he talked to him. That while he was sleeping with another woman and playing father to her daughter he had been neglecting his own wife and children who needed him. He also told him how he doesn’t respect him as a man anymore because he showed him that vows are not taken seriously. He told him he will never forgive him for his weak behaviour and letting them all down. The cheater was suitably shamed by his own 14 year old son! The scum freely admits he didn’t want to end things with ow because being with her was so easy compared to being in a marriage. The h gave good jabs at him when he said she shut him out and how long was he supposed to wait. She told him he should have waited until she was ready. She was tempted by his brother but never gave in because of her love for H but he folded after promising to always be there for her. The ow has always been obsessed with H which h didn’t know about so she slowly burrowed her way into his life even more. The son was right when he called her a whore. I love that bit when he called her that during his chat with the cheater scum and when the cheater scum tried to rebuke him for calling the ow that the son interrupted him and said she was one because she deliberately integrated herself knowing he was a married man with children just because she wanted him. He also called his father out for being weak just because a pretty woman was giving him attention and not being the strong man he should have been by being there for his wife who needed him. In the beginning we have a scene where cheater is remembering a scene where he was with ow in a hotel room and ow was telling him not to use a condom. He contemplates it but in the end decides that going bare is the only thing he has ever done with his wife and he won’t do it even with ow. He thinks about how much he still loves his wife and that if she ever found out about the affair she will never forgive him but going bare with the ow would totally break them up if she ever found out. We as a reader know the ow at this point was most likely trying to get pregnant hence why she didn’t want him to use a condom. Apparently that was the last time he had sex with ow which was two days before he has sex with his wife and everything comes out. The ow causes problems with saying she’s pregnant and trying to kill the h. I would have liked the book if h ended up with the brother as he seemed to really love her. This H no matter how much he says he regrets the cheating and not being there for his wife and children was not there for one of the worst things that can ever happen to a woman. He proved that his marriage vows didn’t stand the test of time when instead of being loving and supportive he decided to have an affair with her best friend initially just for “fun” but then admits emotions got involved.
He later grovels and says that now he realises he never loved the other woman but she was there and healed the bits that were broken. WHAT THE HELL DOES HE MEAN?? Does he mean that he thinks chatting and spending time with ow was the right way to heal? He was emotionally cheating on h with ow even before he physically slept with her if he had truly loved h as much as he kept saying throughout the book he would have stopped that shit straight away before it got to the sex stage. He was obviously enjoying the sex with ow too much and emotionally invested in her so much so that he could bear to see her cry. The only thing he did that was slightly likeable about him was the fact in the end when he saved h over the ow without any question but to me it still doesn’t make up for over a years cheating and the complete shit that he was as a husband and father!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2020
*adds to one of the worst, most selfish characters i've ever read in life list*
July 30, 2019
One of the most heartbreakingly beautiful books of 2019. Inhale, Exhale is told in such haunting prose, with such a gritty poeticism, you can’t help but get sucked into this story and all the flawed characters. This was a real story, about a real romance, and real life issues. I can’t recommend it enough.
August 25, 2019
I'm most likely going to be in the 🅼🅸🅽🅾🆁🅸🆃🆈 with my feelings for this book. 😳 I choose it as a "𝓼𝓽𝓮𝓹𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓸𝓾𝓽" challenge book because of its content. 🏃 And yes, it had about ➎⓿⓿➊ things I usually avoid like the plague. 💀 However, none of them are the ɾҽαʂσɳ that I just found this to be an "𝕆𝕂" read. 👀 Go figure...
So let's ฿Ɇ₲ł₦ with the good. 🙌 I think this author is a 🅅🄴🅁🅈 🅃🄰🄻🄴🄽🅃🄴🄳 writer. 👍 Many people will L♥O♥V♥E this book and rightfully so. 👍 The pacing was 𝓰𝓸𝓸𝓭 considering it is a 𝕣𝕖𝕝𝕒𝕥𝕚𝕧𝕖𝕝𝕪 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 book. 👍 I really liked 🅻🅾, and I really liked 🆃🅾🅱🆈. 👫 The plot had me тєαяιиg υρ a few times. 😭
All good things. 👐
However, I also had a fᎬᎳ ᎥssuᎬs with the story. 🙈 One, I found the ᴊᴜᴍᴘɪɴɢ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ғᴏʀᴛʜ (a lot of times out of sequential order) and the 🅜🅤🅛🅣🅘🅟🅛🅔 🅟🅞🅥🅢 to be confusing and Đł₴ⱤɄ₱₮łVɆ to the story. 🙎 There were also scenes †hr⊕ωη ïη rαηd⊕mﾚψ that had 🅽🅾 baring on the story. For example, Two, this book read like an over the top тєℓєиσνєℓα. 🎢 I found everything to just be 🅢🅞 ridiculous. 🚨 Every single character in this book was a 𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖆𝖒𝖎𝖓𝖌 𝖍𝖔𝖙 𝖒𝖊𝖘𝖘. ♨ Instead of feeling the 🅴🅼🅾🆃🅸🅾🅽🆂 I am sure the author wanted to convey, I ended up ᏒᎧᏝᏝᎥᏁᎶ ᎷᎩ ᏋᎩᏋᏕ often. 😔 Last, I wasn't a 𝓯𝓪𝓷 of the ending. 👎 First, it was ҽվҽ ɾօӀӀíղցӀվ cheesy. 🍕 The other reason I'll explain in a 🅢🅟🅞🅘🅛🅔🅡, so don't read if you don't want the end of the book ⓢⓟⓞⓘⓛⓔⓓ...you've ben warned! ⛔
So yea, like I said, I will ᴘʀᴏʙᴀʙʟʏ ʙᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪɴᴏʀɪᴛʏ, but this book didn't quite 𝓱𝓲𝓽 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓴 for me. C'est la vie. 🙈
July 26, 2021
***I am not emotionally ready to review this book yet.....***
(a day later- I think I am ready to review this soul devastating piece of fucking awesomeness!!! )
I DIED ALL THE DEADS!!! This book was EVERYTHING!!! It is going straight to my TOP READS OF 2019 list! I don't even know HOW to move on! It was everything I thought it would be and MORE! Book hangover from HELL right now! (Glad I'm all caught up on ARCs) 5 stars is no where near enough. CL Matthews killed it! She killed me with this book! And the last 10% of this book was THE MOST INTENSE HOUR OF MY LIFE!!!!!
The name was totally fitting because I was having to remind myself to breath while reading it. And then it felt like some one was sitting on my chest! From the very beginning CL Matthews rips your heart out....and keeps on doing it through entire book. I read it over the span of 2 days. When I was trying to go to sleep all I could think about what the most recent bomb that had been dropped before I went to bed! (oh yes... there a A LOT of bombs). I knew that I wanted a HEA for Lo... but with everything that was happening I just didn't know what I thought that would look like for her. I think one of the coolest things in this story was that there were 2 chapters that came from Ace's POV (he is Lo and Jase's teenage son). It really let the reader in on how observant the children are and how these things process in their brains. It was really ingenious to include his POV in their story.
I am all in with Hollow Ridge! I can not wait to get more from the people of this world. As this book was ending there were a whole lot of interesting things regarding some of the secondary characters that I CANNOT WAIT to get the stories behind!
So basically.... this book is everything! Top 10 Reads of 2019. Emotional roller coaster. Go get it now! The angst is so really real! Everyone needs to read this book!
(Please note: No kindles were harmed in the reading of this book.... but it was touch and go there for a while)
(a day later- I think I am ready to review this soul devastating piece of fucking awesomeness!!! )
I DIED ALL THE DEADS!!! This book was EVERYTHING!!! It is going straight to my TOP READS OF 2019 list! I don't even know HOW to move on! It was everything I thought it would be and MORE! Book hangover from HELL right now! (Glad I'm all caught up on ARCs) 5 stars is no where near enough. CL Matthews killed it! She killed me with this book! And the last 10% of this book was THE MOST INTENSE HOUR OF MY LIFE!!!!!
The name was totally fitting because I was having to remind myself to breath while reading it. And then it felt like some one was sitting on my chest! From the very beginning CL Matthews rips your heart out....and keeps on doing it through entire book. I read it over the span of 2 days. When I was trying to go to sleep all I could think about what the most recent bomb that had been dropped before I went to bed! (oh yes... there a A LOT of bombs). I knew that I wanted a HEA for Lo... but with everything that was happening I just didn't know what I thought that would look like for her. I think one of the coolest things in this story was that there were 2 chapters that came from Ace's POV (he is Lo and Jase's teenage son). It really let the reader in on how observant the children are and how these things process in their brains. It was really ingenious to include his POV in their story.
I am all in with Hollow Ridge! I can not wait to get more from the people of this world. As this book was ending there were a whole lot of interesting things regarding some of the secondary characters that I CANNOT WAIT to get the stories behind!
So basically.... this book is everything! Top 10 Reads of 2019. Emotional roller coaster. Go get it now! The angst is so really real! Everyone needs to read this book!
(Please note: No kindles were harmed in the reading of this book.... but it was touch and go there for a while)
August 23, 2019
These authors have lost their marbles. Hero cheats on heroine for a year with her best friend while also neglecting his children and people think this is an amazing romance novel. I feel sorry for those of you that do.
Never reading this author’s work.
Never reading this author’s work.
November 3, 2023
This book sucked ass. I have beef with this book. THAT COVER IS SUCH A LIE IT GAVE DARK BULLY ROMANCE BUT FUCK THIS WAS A TRAINWRECK.
1 ⭐️ if not less if I could
Wtf is wrong with everyone in here. How did I finish this book.
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬- 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
╰┈➤Play "Whatcha Say"- by Jason Derulo
"𝙄’𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙤𝙬𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣."
➳Bruh this is their child saying this.❤️🩹 I wanted to give their son a big ass hug cuz he was the only mature one in this book who dealt with the most shit his parents couldn't do. He held everything in for his sister and family so they wouldn't break apart.
🚩He had a physical affair; she had an emotional affair
🚩Selfish mmc and Dumb fmc
🚩Terrible parents
🚩 Didn't even realize their son knew they both had an affair and he was holding his feelings all in
🚩Both leads are hypocrites to each other
🚩 HE HAD SEX WITH HER WHEN A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE HAD SEX WITH HER BEST FRIEND TF
🚩Her "best friend" is a backstabbing bitch and his brother is just as bad. How'd you guys still manage to have an affair with these losers.
🚩Husband ended up having feelings for his mistress and even DIDN'T BOTHER hiding the lipstick marks, sweat, sex smell, and disheveled hair from his wife. (he literally said this)
🚩She ended up sleeping with her brother in-law and getting pregnant but WE NEVER GET TO KNOW WHOSE IT IS. And fuck she ends up with her cheating husband after a letter and sex. I want her single and to save herself from this mess.
➳Yes the MMC was a selfish piece of crap of husband that cheated on her while she was grieving over the loss of her mother and child. But I'm still gonna call her out for shit cuz many let her go too fast. First off u have to feel for the husband, she's clearly depressed and didn't want help that she shut her whole family out hence her husband felt like she wasn't herself or fully there anymore. He felt no love, so her manipulative bitch of a friend took advantage of the situation. BUT THEN HE SAID HE HAD NEEDS LIKE CMON DID U WANT PITY? WTF IS THAT REASON? (not gonna give it to him either way)
➳Husband only had an affair bc he saw her kissing his brother Toby Idgaf if he was there for her or that he's her best friend, he took any chance he could to ruin her marriage. Even sent texts to rub it in the husbands face. I hate him idc. THE EMOTIONAL AFFAIR is when she caught feelings for her brother in-law and kept going to him instead of her husband for "comfort" OMG EVEN THE SON KNEW.
➳Both of these dumbasses are hypocrites to each other lmao. Both of them had an affair regardless. This bitch called her a whore for being with his brother cuz she was pissed at him for being with her best friend. TY FOR CALLING HIM A HYPOCRITE (tho that doesn't excuse the fact that I don't like you either)
➳ NO WAY did the best friend and cheating husband dry hump each other WHERE THE BEST FRIENDS DAUGHTER WAS STILL IN THE HOUSE. (Holy shit and she saw and knew what they were doing too)
➳ This FMC gets mad that her husband left her and her children alone when bitch ur such a hypocrite UR SON is out here basically raising and taking care of his sister cuz YOU refuse to get the help you need and push everyone and everything away EXCEPT FOR UR BROTHER IN LAW??? (Just shut tf up atp.)
╰┈➤𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
"𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼.
𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.
𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲.
𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲."
➳ I DESPISE U TWO can u both plz grow a pair of eyes and see how its affecting ur son and how he's literally breaking rn?
“𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨. 𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧,” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. “𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝙈𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚...” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙. “𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜.”
➳ THE AUDACITY TO DO IT FRONT OF A CHILD WTF
“𝗔𝗰𝗲! 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆!” 𝗝𝗮𝘇𝘇𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁.
𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
➳He basically raised his sister cause their parents abandoned them for their own personal reasons. He took care of her, and held everything in for her. He's breaking my heart. Fuck the fmc saying she was there for her children and the mmc wasn't like bitch when were u again???
"𝐈’𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐝. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭.
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐌𝐨𝐦."
➳ I hate his parents so much. While they're off playing tug of war with each other they left their son to fend for himself and take care of his sister.
➳Don't read this book unless you want high blood pressure and a murderous mindset.
1 ⭐️ if not less if I could
Wtf is wrong with everyone in here. How did I finish this book.
‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.𝐒𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐬- 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 ‧₊˚ ☁️⋅♡𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ☾.
╰┈➤Play "Whatcha Say"- by Jason Derulo
"𝙄’𝙢 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙞𝙙𝙨𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙙𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝, 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙨𝙞𝙙𝙚. 𝙄𝙩’𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙛𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙗𝙤𝙬𝙡, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪’𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣."
➳Bruh this is their child saying this.❤️🩹 I wanted to give their son a big ass hug cuz he was the only mature one in this book who dealt with the most shit his parents couldn't do. He held everything in for his sister and family so they wouldn't break apart.
🚩He had a physical affair; she had an emotional affair
🚩Selfish mmc and Dumb fmc
🚩Terrible parents
🚩 Didn't even realize their son knew they both had an affair and he was holding his feelings all in
🚩Both leads are hypocrites to each other
🚩 HE HAD SEX WITH HER WHEN A FEW DAYS BEFORE HE HAD SEX WITH HER BEST FRIEND TF
🚩Her "best friend" is a backstabbing bitch and his brother is just as bad. How'd you guys still manage to have an affair with these losers.
🚩Husband ended up having feelings for his mistress and even DIDN'T BOTHER hiding the lipstick marks, sweat, sex smell, and disheveled hair from his wife. (he literally said this)
🚩She ended up sleeping with her brother in-law and getting pregnant but WE NEVER GET TO KNOW WHOSE IT IS. And fuck she ends up with her cheating husband after a letter and sex. I want her single and to save herself from this mess.
➳Yes the MMC was a selfish piece of crap of husband that cheated on her while she was grieving over the loss of her mother and child. But I'm still gonna call her out for shit cuz many let her go too fast. First off u have to feel for the husband, she's clearly depressed and didn't want help that she shut her whole family out hence her husband felt like she wasn't herself or fully there anymore. He felt no love, so her manipulative bitch of a friend took advantage of the situation. BUT THEN HE SAID HE HAD NEEDS LIKE CMON DID U WANT PITY? WTF IS THAT REASON? (not gonna give it to him either way)
➳Husband only had an affair bc he saw her kissing his brother Toby Idgaf if he was there for her or that he's her best friend, he took any chance he could to ruin her marriage. Even sent texts to rub it in the husbands face. I hate him idc. THE EMOTIONAL AFFAIR is when she caught feelings for her brother in-law and kept going to him instead of her husband for "comfort" OMG EVEN THE SON KNEW.
➳Both of these dumbasses are hypocrites to each other lmao. Both of them had an affair regardless. This bitch called her a whore for being with his brother cuz she was pissed at him for being with her best friend. TY FOR CALLING HIM A HYPOCRITE (tho that doesn't excuse the fact that I don't like you either)
➳ NO WAY did the best friend and cheating husband dry hump each other WHERE THE BEST FRIENDS DAUGHTER WAS STILL IN THE HOUSE. (Holy shit and she saw and knew what they were doing too)
➳ This FMC gets mad that her husband left her and her children alone when bitch ur such a hypocrite UR SON is out here basically raising and taking care of his sister cuz YOU refuse to get the help you need and push everyone and everything away EXCEPT FOR UR BROTHER IN LAW??? (Just shut tf up atp.)
╰┈➤𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐦𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐈 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤
"𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗺 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸, 𝘀𝗲𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗺𝗮’𝘀 𝗱𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗵. 𝗜𝘁 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗻. 𝗜𝘁 𝗸𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗱𝗼.
𝗜 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗡𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗺𝘂𝗰𝗵 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗜 𝗽𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝘂𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.
𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲.
𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗱. 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝗲𝗱, 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵.
𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝘀𝘁, 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗺𝗲."
➳ I DESPISE U TWO can u both plz grow a pair of eyes and see how its affecting ur son and how he's literally breaking rn?
“𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙠𝙚 𝙪𝙥 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤𝙙𝙖𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚𝙨. 𝙒𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙡 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙖𝙞𝙧, 𝙤𝙧 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧,” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙮𝙨, 𝙗𝙡𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. “𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙣𝙫𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙖𝙩𝙚. 𝙈𝙤𝙢 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙢𝙚...” 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙛 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙛 𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙚𝙙. “𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙬𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙠𝙞𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙣. 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙙𝙖𝙙 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣’𝙩 𝙤𝙣, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙘𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜.”
➳ THE AUDACITY TO DO IT FRONT OF A CHILD WTF
“𝗔𝗰𝗲! 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗗𝗮𝗱𝗱𝘆!” 𝗝𝗮𝘇𝘇𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝘂𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁.
𝗠𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝗳𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿, 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀. 𝗜 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗺𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺.
➳He basically raised his sister cause their parents abandoned them for their own personal reasons. He took care of her, and held everything in for her. He's breaking my heart. Fuck the fmc saying she was there for her children and the mmc wasn't like bitch when were u again???
"𝐈’𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐝. 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐦𝐨𝐦, 𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭.
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭.
𝐈’𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐝, 𝐌𝐨𝐦."
➳ I hate his parents so much. While they're off playing tug of war with each other they left their son to fend for himself and take care of his sister.
➳Don't read this book unless you want high blood pressure and a murderous mindset.
August 3, 2022
I hated this book...which says a lot because I'll read damn near anything. I'm actually a fan of the "cheating husband" trope, so the subject matter was alright...I found the book awful for two reasons... 1. The characters were terrible people... like all of them. 2. The plot was OTT, which doesn't work for me when we're dealing with realistic, emotional topics. I'm going to write a thorough review which sort of annoys me...cuz I've wasted so much time on this book, but maybe it will help another reader.
Breakdown of the marriage
Lo, the wife suffers back to back tragedies within a week that pushes her over the edge. Over the course of FIVE years she spirals into some depression/mental issues, and completely withdrawals from her family...except for her brother-in-law. Jase the hubs, begs her to get help, but eventually turns to the worst BFF ever for comfort. I don't condone Jason's affair, but I can sympathize that he was in a really bad position. He also lost a baby; his wife had totally checked out, and was closed off to him. I think asking for the divorce was his rock bottom, but she didn't even care. For all intents and purposes she had an emotional affair with Toby for 20 years. It's not cool to cuddle and sit on your BIL's lap.
Jase/Jason is not a good husband. He has a year long affair with his wife's BFF, whom he has some history with, and allows the skank to manipulate him over and over again. His family is falling apart, and rather than buckle down; he escapes to his wife's BFF,backstabbing skank, and spends time with her daughter. He has feelings for the skank, but abruptly after a year decides he wants to work it out with his wife.
Lo/Loren/Peaches/Sparkle is not a good wife. I know I might get some shit for this by breaking Girl Code and Sisters before Misters, but I like to keep it real, and I am SHOCKED that so many reviewers are giving her a pass. I feel for the gal, really, she had a super rough week, and who I am to judge how she deals with it...right? Wrong...I can be super judgmental, especially with shitty moms. I feel like she had a responsibility as a mom to pull her shit together. Is it a dbl standard? hell... yes, but if you are a mom, you get it. We are the most important/influential figure in our kids young lives. There's a reason God gave us the hormones, and the brain to be caretakers... they need it. It’s science...google it. Plus she was a stay at home mom!! This woman withdrew from her entire family for 5 years. She forced her young son to take care of his sister, even tried to knowing her son would find her....and still refused to seek help...WTF
Tobe/Toby is not a good brother or friend. Toby pines for Lo for YEARS participating in a highly inappropriate friendship with her. He repeatedly tries to put a wedge between the married couple, and lurks waiting for his shot to swoop in. He flirts, snuggles, is so inappropriate, and then throws it in Jason's face. **The first time Jason physically cheats with the skank is because he finds Toby kissing his wife after she refused to attend his Christmas Party**
"This isn't over, Jase. I'll win in the end. She was never yours to have."
Ellie/Eleanor/Nora is a terrible friend and person in general. She is psycho and the female version of Toby trying to wedge and cause issues with the couple. She manipulates Jase into turning to her, and plays on his "Toby insecurity" to place seeds of doubt in his mind.
"At that moment, I know. I know she made this little thing happen. She made it so Lo would see her. She knew. Somehow, she realized Lo would come home and see us together. It's what she wanted."
Ace is their 14-15 year old son who seems to be the most mature person in the book. His tirades added to the story, but they did feel like they were coming from an adult. Which is probably because his shitty parents have forced him to be an adult.
"You left me alone, Mom. You made me raise my little sister and be an adult when you couldn't be around. You made us orphans because when you checked out, so did Dad....I was so alone....Seeing you that day you tried to kill yourself broke something in me."
"No, let me get this out. While you were fucking a whore...You forced me to grow up, both Mom and you, her depression, suicide attempts, and the meds...and you made me realize that men are pigs. When their women need them most, they walk away....While you were boning my aunt and being a father to a kid that doesn't share your DNA, this house fell apart."
The affair part is ick; we are walked through sexy time with both Jason and Lo through flashbacks (Jason) and Lo's present. Jason was a complete ass for having the affair, but Lo was no peach either. She refuses to acknowledge most of her part within the breakdown.
"You chose her when you should've chosen me."
"That's not fair, I stayed as long as I could. You promised youd come back! How long was I supposed to wait? How lonely was I supposed to be?"
"You should have waited until I was ready. You should have loved me more!"
"You had Toby! I had no one! You picked him over me!"
"you didn't understand my pain. You didn't understand my loss."
"You should have understood my loss, and tried to make me understand yours."
"She didn't grow inside you. Her heart didn't beat along with yours."
She finally acknowledges her relationship with Toby is totally inappropriate, and realizes they need to stop their toxic relationship. What does she do? Have sex with him, the day after she fucks her husband repeatedly!! Then throws it in Jason's face because she wants to hurt him. This book is full of selfish, awful characters. It is way too long, I wanted to throw my kindle if I had to read another page of this toxic stew. The twist at the end is so OTT stupid, but I was skimming by then.
August 3, 2019
"This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever."
WOW!! Heart shredding, real, raw, powerful, twisty turns galore, and just a wild ride I didn't want to get off!! Not your hearts and flowers, but a journey nonetheless, and a powerful one to boot. There are so many examples I could give, but I don't want to give anything away, because to experience it yourself is the only way to appreciate the beauty, the broken, the heart wrenching reality of this couple. Every emotion at least a dozen times, I was left at 4am surrounded by tissues, my heart hurting, with an evil grin, vowing to follow this Author to the ends of the earth inhaling her words from here on out. I can't wait for more from these characters!! I thank the Author for providing a copy to review!!
"...scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever."
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
WOW!! Heart shredding, real, raw, powerful, twisty turns galore, and just a wild ride I didn't want to get off!! Not your hearts and flowers, but a journey nonetheless, and a powerful one to boot. There are so many examples I could give, but I don't want to give anything away, because to experience it yourself is the only way to appreciate the beauty, the broken, the heart wrenching reality of this couple. Every emotion at least a dozen times, I was left at 4am surrounded by tissues, my heart hurting, with an evil grin, vowing to follow this Author to the ends of the earth inhaling her words from here on out. I can't wait for more from these characters!! I thank the Author for providing a copy to review!!
"...scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever."
~~~Erika, Book Haven Book Blog
August 13, 2019
4.5 stars
”He’s my always. But he’ll never be my forever.”
Inhale, Exhale is a story that played every single emotional chord my mind is capable feeling. This book is raw, honest, real and it will crack you open like no other.
It was so hard to read this book, because every time something popped up, I broke a little more. Specially for Lo. Leaving me asking how much more she can take.
”This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever.”
This book tells us a story about how breakable humans are, how sensitive our souls are, how grief can consume you like there is no tomorrow. How the very same one can make things worse and doesn’t only hurt you but all those around close to you as well.
It teaches us how strong one can be, specially if you don’t have another chance than beeing strong. It shows us how fragil love is, no matter how strong it might be.
”But scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever.”
Cheating will never be right, no matter the circumstances. But knowing what leads someone doing it, helps at least to understand. But it doesn’t make it right. So I won’t defend Jase’s action here. However, I’d like to bat for Jase. To see that he had feelings as well, that he as well was breaking. And as much as I wished for him to be strong enough withstanding temptation, wished for his love to be enough standing by Lo through the darkest times, I see his fragil soul seeking something that he didn’t get while he needed it the most. We are all human, we have needs and we make mistakes.
And yes, I would have loved to see more of Jase winning Lo back. She deserved to be courted. But I do understand that Lo’s love for Jase was the stronger one. SHE herself was the stronger one, especially when she decided to finally choose herself over everyone else. And I love the fact that both brothers where men enough, loved her so much to let her go.
And without Ace’s POV this book would only be half as good as I think it is. Ace’s voice deserved to be heard. He gave every feeling you might have had until then even more depth.
”He’s the biggest curveball in love’s history, and instead of batting, I let it hit me.”
Toby was just the man, who hapend to love the woman who loves his brother. Some might say he should have backed off. But do you really let the very one person fall, you do love most? I understand his need to be close to Lo, to be there for her, even though it was with the thought in mind to swipe in when Jase might have broken her and their marriage. But to me he kept his distance, he knew his place. Although sometimes he crossed lines or came close to. But again, we are all human. And Lo didn’t really make things easier for him. Did she?
Ellie was a totally different thing. She was mean, selfish and inserted herself into Jase’s life like cancer. Never being a real friend to Lo, playing a game she could never win but that would hurt everyone else. She never thought of what she might destroy only having her own advantage in mind.
”What happens when the ocean cries?”
This book is an emotional and very raw roller coaster, which makes you wonder how much a human soul can stand before breaking.
It makes you see, that there is no right or wrong when it comes to love. There is no black and white. Love comes in so many different colors, shades, facets… Sometimes love can be beautiful and sometimes it can be destructive. But most of all, it makes you feel. It makes you feel alive.
”I wasn’t here for your fall, Peaches, but I’ll make damn sure to be here for your rising.”
Inhale, Exhale is a book with many faces. A story that will consume you, break you: CL Matthews best work to date.
”He’s my always. But he’ll never be my forever.”
Inhale, Exhale is a story that played every single emotional chord my mind is capable feeling. This book is raw, honest, real and it will crack you open like no other.
It was so hard to read this book, because every time something popped up, I broke a little more. Specially for Lo. Leaving me asking how much more she can take.
”This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever.”
This book tells us a story about how breakable humans are, how sensitive our souls are, how grief can consume you like there is no tomorrow. How the very same one can make things worse and doesn’t only hurt you but all those around close to you as well.
It teaches us how strong one can be, specially if you don’t have another chance than beeing strong. It shows us how fragil love is, no matter how strong it might be.
”But scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever.”
Cheating will never be right, no matter the circumstances. But knowing what leads someone doing it, helps at least to understand. But it doesn’t make it right. So I won’t defend Jase’s action here. However, I’d like to bat for Jase. To see that he had feelings as well, that he as well was breaking. And as much as I wished for him to be strong enough withstanding temptation, wished for his love to be enough standing by Lo through the darkest times, I see his fragil soul seeking something that he didn’t get while he needed it the most. We are all human, we have needs and we make mistakes.
And yes, I would have loved to see more of Jase winning Lo back. She deserved to be courted. But I do understand that Lo’s love for Jase was the stronger one. SHE herself was the stronger one, especially when she decided to finally choose herself over everyone else. And I love the fact that both brothers where men enough, loved her so much to let her go.
And without Ace’s POV this book would only be half as good as I think it is. Ace’s voice deserved to be heard. He gave every feeling you might have had until then even more depth.
”He’s the biggest curveball in love’s history, and instead of batting, I let it hit me.”
Toby was just the man, who hapend to love the woman who loves his brother. Some might say he should have backed off. But do you really let the very one person fall, you do love most? I understand his need to be close to Lo, to be there for her, even though it was with the thought in mind to swipe in when Jase might have broken her and their marriage. But to me he kept his distance, he knew his place. Although sometimes he crossed lines or came close to. But again, we are all human. And Lo didn’t really make things easier for him. Did she?
Ellie was a totally different thing. She was mean, selfish and inserted herself into Jase’s life like cancer. Never being a real friend to Lo, playing a game she could never win but that would hurt everyone else. She never thought of what she might destroy only having her own advantage in mind.
”What happens when the ocean cries?”
This book is an emotional and very raw roller coaster, which makes you wonder how much a human soul can stand before breaking.
It makes you see, that there is no right or wrong when it comes to love. There is no black and white. Love comes in so many different colors, shades, facets… Sometimes love can be beautiful and sometimes it can be destructive. But most of all, it makes you feel. It makes you feel alive.
”I wasn’t here for your fall, Peaches, but I’ll make damn sure to be here for your rising.”
Inhale, Exhale is a book with many faces. A story that will consume you, break you: CL Matthews best work to date.
August 12, 2019
Inhale,Exhale by C.L. Matthews has ripped my heart out and then shredded it into tiny pieces. And I loved every painful and beautifully tragic moment with all my heart and soul. It was delicious agony. It was torture to my soul. It was a breathtaking, captivating, stunning and heartbreaking story of love, loss and hope.
The core storyline is very simple. It follows the lives of many interconnected characters while they struggle, flourish, wither and grow. Jase and Lo is the central character. But you will have many equally important and intruguing characters like Jase's brother and Lo's best friend Toby, their friend Ellie and their amazing kids. This story is not about finding HEA. This is a journey. A painful, traumatic, inspiring and honest journey. The loss and sufferings were real. And so where the moments of blissful and all consuming love.
I cried real ugly tears. I could not stop it. Jase and Lo's love and hate touched me so deeply that I could not breathe. The author pulled out every raw, intense and heart-rending emotion from me mercilessly. The writing was mindblowing perfection. I was overwhelmed by the tragic beauty of her words. This story wrecked me with the angst and I am so awed by the words. This story is definitely a difficult one. Your boundaries will be tasted at each moment. And the twists and turns made me crazy. But it is not about darkness only! This story is about second chance, inner strength and the healing power of true love. The mistakes and guilt and shame will be overshadowed by the extraordinary and soul deep love. The characters are flawed and real. They will make serious mistakes and they will go in darkest parts of hell. And you will be there. And you will also be there when they change for better and rise like Phoenix from the ashed of their heartache.
Inhale,Exhale by C.L. Matthews is one of the most gritty, angsty, phenomenal and heart-rending stories I have ever read. I hate and love the searing pain in my heart. It created some extreme emotions in me and I have the worst book hangover ever. I feel I won't recover completely soon.
Received ARC for Honest Review
The core storyline is very simple. It follows the lives of many interconnected characters while they struggle, flourish, wither and grow. Jase and Lo is the central character. But you will have many equally important and intruguing characters like Jase's brother and Lo's best friend Toby, their friend Ellie and their amazing kids. This story is not about finding HEA. This is a journey. A painful, traumatic, inspiring and honest journey. The loss and sufferings were real. And so where the moments of blissful and all consuming love.
I cried real ugly tears. I could not stop it. Jase and Lo's love and hate touched me so deeply that I could not breathe. The author pulled out every raw, intense and heart-rending emotion from me mercilessly. The writing was mindblowing perfection. I was overwhelmed by the tragic beauty of her words. This story wrecked me with the angst and I am so awed by the words. This story is definitely a difficult one. Your boundaries will be tasted at each moment. And the twists and turns made me crazy. But it is not about darkness only! This story is about second chance, inner strength and the healing power of true love. The mistakes and guilt and shame will be overshadowed by the extraordinary and soul deep love. The characters are flawed and real. They will make serious mistakes and they will go in darkest parts of hell. And you will be there. And you will also be there when they change for better and rise like Phoenix from the ashed of their heartache.
Inhale,Exhale by C.L. Matthews is one of the most gritty, angsty, phenomenal and heart-rending stories I have ever read. I hate and love the searing pain in my heart. It created some extreme emotions in me and I have the worst book hangover ever. I feel I won't recover completely soon.
Received ARC for Honest Review
April 26, 2021
This book is an OTT train wreck.
The collapse of a marriage: after losing her mother and daughter the heroine spirals into a depth of depression that leads her to attempt suicide. Through all of this does her husband stand by her and help her heal? No, he takes his despair and has a year long affair with her best friend—leaving his teenage son to raise his sister and deal with his suicidal mother. Great guy.
Is the wife a better human being than her husband? Not really. As she pulls herself out of the depths of her depression and realizes not only has her husband been cheating, he’s been cheating with her BFF, she turns to his brother, yes, his brother. The brother, who’s been in love with her since high school. In the end she’s pregnant—which brother is the father?? We don’t know.
Too much drama, too much angst, too much guilt after the fact, too many poor decisions.
ETA: I'm always shocked by how well liked this one is, I can't see it. Just thinking about these characters puts me in a mini rage--simply horrible.
The collapse of a marriage: after losing her mother and daughter the heroine spirals into a depth of depression that leads her to attempt suicide. Through all of this does her husband stand by her and help her heal? No, he takes his despair and has a year long affair with her best friend—leaving his teenage son to raise his sister and deal with his suicidal mother. Great guy.
Is the wife a better human being than her husband? Not really. As she pulls herself out of the depths of her depression and realizes not only has her husband been cheating, he’s been cheating with her BFF, she turns to his brother, yes, his brother. The brother, who’s been in love with her since high school. In the end she’s pregnant—which brother is the father?? We don’t know.
Too much drama, too much angst, too much guilt after the fact, too many poor decisions.
ETA: I'm always shocked by how well liked this one is, I can't see it. Just thinking about these characters puts me in a mini rage--simply horrible.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2019
Never have I ever felt the way I did (and still do) about this book, especially while reading it. I was suffocating in pain and fear and anxiety. Ripped apart by the dynamic and heartbreak and true what-the-fuckedness of these characters. They're flawed. SO flawed. But that's what makes it hurt worse, because they're human. And humans put people through this type of pain every day. I'm just not used to reading about it so fully and with so much depth as what CL did in this.
I'm wrecked.
Totally, utterly hungover and ripped apart.
C.L. Matthews - this is one for history books.
I'm wrecked.
Totally, utterly hungover and ripped apart.
C.L. Matthews - this is one for history books.
June 28, 2020
Tragedy or no tragedy Jace is scum, and I find it worrying that anyone empathises with him. Especially as he freely admits feelings for ow and tries to blame heroine for his actions,
How is he even remotely trustworthy or a husband anyone would want? Nah sorry sick of seeing the cheated party having to forgive, need more women divorcing these tools.
How is he even remotely trustworthy or a husband anyone would want? Nah sorry sick of seeing the cheated party having to forgive, need more women divorcing these tools.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 6, 2019
Speechless. Absolutely fucking speechless. What is the point of this book? To show that true love can overcome infidelity? The power of forgiveness? No. All it did was show a pathetic woman forgiving her piece of shit husband for fucking her best friend for a year. This should not be in the romance category, horror is better suited since I can’t think of much worse than staying with a cheater. I will never understand how women can enjoy this shit and actually want couples like this to stay together. Yes I’m totally judging women based on their reading preferences. Sorry, not sorry. Women who enjoy reading cheating stories where the heroine forgives and stays with the hero is a complete mind fuck to me. It actually makes me sad for these authors and readers who want these couples to get a HEA, cause clearly they have either been cheated on and stayed, or would stay and forgive if it happened to them. So depressing.
August 3, 2022
I hated this book...which says a lot because I'll read damn near anything. I'm actually a fan of the "cheating husband" trope, so the subject matter was alright...I found the book awful for two reasons... 1. The characters were terrible people like all of them. 2. The plot was OTT, which doesn't work for me when we are dealing with realistic, emotional topics. I'm going to write a thorough review which sort of annoys me...cuz I've wasted so much time on this book, but maybe it will help another reader.
Breakdown of the marriage
Lo, the wife suffers back to back tragedies within a week that pushes her over the edge. Over the course of FIVE years she spirals into some depression/mental issues, and completely withdrawals from her family...except for her brother-in-law. Jase the hubs, begs her to get help, but eventually turns to the worst BFF ever for comfort. I don't condone Jason's affair, but I can sympathize that he was in a really bad position. He also lost a baby; his wife had totally checked out, and was closed off to him. I think asking for the divorce was his rock bottom, but she didn't even care. For all intents and purposes she had an emotional affair with Toby for 20 years. It's not cool to cuddle and sit on your BIL's lap.
Jase/Jason is not a good husband. He has a year long affair with his wife's BFF ,whom he has some history with, and allows the skank to manipulate him over and over again. His family is falling apart, and rather than buckle down; he escapes to his wife's BFF,backstabbing skank, and spends time with her daughter. He has feelings for the skank, but abruptly after a year decides he wants to work it out with his wife.
Lo/Loren/Peaches/Sparkle is not a good wife. I know I might get some shit for this by breaking Girl Code and Sisters before Misters but I like to keep it real, and I am SHOCKED that so many reviewers are giving her a pass. I feel for the gal, really, she had a super rough week, and who I am to judge how she deals with it...right? Wrong...I can be super judgmental, especially with shitty moms. I feel like she had a responsibility as a mom to pull her shit together. Is it is a dbl standard? hell... yes, but if you are a mom, you get it. We are the most important/influential figure in our kids young lives. There is a reason God gave us the hormones, and the brain to be caretakers...they need it. It's science...google it. Plus she was a stay at home mom!! This woman withdrew from her entire family for 5 years. She forced her young son to take care of his sister, even tried to knowing her son would find her....and still refused to seek help...WTF
Tobe/Toby is not a good brother or friend. Toby pines for Lo for YEARS participating in a highly inappropriate friendship with her. He repeatedly tries to put a wedge between the married couple, and lurks waiting for his shot to swoop in. He flirts, snuggles is so inappropriate, and then throws it in Jason's face. **The first time Jason physically cheats with the skank is because he finds Toby kissing his wife after she refused to attend his Christmas Party**
"This isn't over, Jase. I'll win in the end. She was never yours to have."
Ellie/Eleanor/Nora is a terrible friend and person in general. She is psycho and the female version of Toby trying to wedge and cause issues with the couple. She manipulates Jase into turning to her, and plays on his "Toby insecurity" to place seeds of doubt in his mind.
"At that moment, I know. I know she made this little thing happen. She made it so Lo would see her. She knew. Somehow, she realized Lo would come home and see us together. It's what she wanted."
Ace is their 14-15 year old son who seems to be the most mature person in the book. His tirades added to the story, but they did feel like they were coming from an adult. Which is probably because his shitty parents have forced him to be an adult.
"You left me alone, Mom. You made me raise my little sister and be an adult when you couldn't be around. You made us orphans because when you checked out, so did Dad....I was so alone....Seeing you that day you tried to kill yourself broke something in me."
"No, let me get this out. While you were fucking a whore...You forced me to grow up, both Mom and you, her depression, suicide attempts, and the meds...and you made me realize that men are pigs. When their women need them most, they walk away....While you were boning my aunt and being a father to a kid that doesn't share your DNA, this house fell apart."
The affair part is ick; we are walked through sexy time with both Jason and Lo through flashbacks (Jason) and Lo's present. Jason was a complete ass for having the affair, but Lo was no peach either. She refuses to acknowledge most of her part within the breakdown.
"You chose her when you should've chosen me."
"That's not fair, I stayed as long as I could. You promised youd come back! How long was I supposed to wait? How lonely was I supposed to be?"
"You should have waited until I was ready. You should have loved me more!"
"You had Toby! I had no one! You picked him over me!"
"you didn't understand my pain. You didn't understand my loss."
"You should have understood my loss, and tried to make me understand yours."
"She didn't grow inside you. Her heart didn't beat along with yours."
She finally acknowledges her relationship with Toby is totally inappropriate, and realizes they need to stop their toxic relationship. What doers she do? Have sex with him, the day after she fucks her husband repeatedly!!Then throws it is Jason's face because she wants to hurt him. This book is full of selfish, awful characters. It is way too long, I wanted to throw my kindle if I had to read another page of this toxic stew. The twist at the end is so OTT stupid, but I was skimming by then.
August 16, 2019
Let me just start off by saying this book is an amazing, five fucking stars and you should buy it.
Okay.
It’s real, it’s raw, it’s heartbreaking, and it is so, so page-meltingly hot. That combination is MIND BLOWING. You will not put it down.
There are so many great lines in this book but some of the greatest (I think) would spoil the best, most shocking parts. The parts that were so HOT and also made my JAW DROP.
However, I did love this line:
“You’re the sweetest fucking thing in the world. I’d never be able to forget you. This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever.”
Go buy this and go in like me, go blind and get your mind blown.
Okay.
It’s real, it’s raw, it’s heartbreaking, and it is so, so page-meltingly hot. That combination is MIND BLOWING. You will not put it down.
There are so many great lines in this book but some of the greatest (I think) would spoil the best, most shocking parts. The parts that were so HOT and also made my JAW DROP.
However, I did love this line:
“You’re the sweetest fucking thing in the world. I’d never be able to forget you. This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever.”
Go buy this and go in like me, go blind and get your mind blown.
August 12, 2019
"Scars made by people can go many ways. They can slice you in the skin. They can slice to the bone. They can even sever limbs entirely. But scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever."
My heart is bleeding. My soul is shattered. My emotions are drained. Wow, I have no words right now. I am speechless. I can’t breath. I can’t think. I can’t function. Because of Inhale, Exhale. Because a book WRECKED me. Because a story like Inhale, Exhale seeped inside me and crushed every single part of me. Damn, C.L. Matthews, you have ruined me. Inhale, Exhale gripped me from the first sentence to the last. Every page was jagged edge of hurt and pain. Every sentence was deep and resonating. I felt it. I felt it in the depths of my heart. I felt in my inner soul. Inhale, Exhale truly captured the essence of my heart.
Inhale, Exhale is the phenomenally brutal book with a heart splintering story. My heart ached. My emotions stirred. Heart Breaking. Soul Wrenching. Heart Ripping. Beautifully and Emotionally Haunting. Inhale, Exhale is a hard hitting story that touches on aspects of life. Inhale, Exhale is a HUMAN story. A powerfully story that open your eyes. An honest and heartful story. C.L. Matthews plunges you so deep into an unforgettable story with anguish, angst, love and pain. I swear, I cried all the tears. I raged like a madwoman. I felt my heart crack. I was taken to a journey of FEELS from page to page. C.L. Matthews poured out her heart. I felt it her writing. I felt it in her characters. I felt it in every single scene. Inhale, Exhale is a raw story with a touching look into mental abuse and cheating. Inhale, Exhale is meant to make you uncomfortable. It is risque. It is heart aching. It is a no hold bars kind of romance that will suck you in.
In Inhale, Exhale, you will meet Jase and Loren, a married couple that will go through lots of trials and tribulations. They will make your heart hurt. They will break your heart. They will move your heart. You are sucked into their messed up and rocky relationship from high school to adulthood. It will pierce your heart. It will destroy you piece by piece. Jase and Loren go through so much together. You will rage about their decisions. You will even want to throw your kindle. However, you are touched by their love and strength. Sometimes, love is a battle. Sometimes, love is messy. Sometimes, love can be damaging. Inhale, Exhale , Jase and Loren will teach you about fighting for love and true strength despite every challenge you are thrown at.
Inhale, Exhale truly made me a fan of C.L. Matthews. This book really takes you on a roller coaster. Intense and heart paralyzing ride you won’t forget.
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
My heart is bleeding. My soul is shattered. My emotions are drained. Wow, I have no words right now. I am speechless. I can’t breath. I can’t think. I can’t function. Because of Inhale, Exhale. Because a book WRECKED me. Because a story like Inhale, Exhale seeped inside me and crushed every single part of me. Damn, C.L. Matthews, you have ruined me. Inhale, Exhale gripped me from the first sentence to the last. Every page was jagged edge of hurt and pain. Every sentence was deep and resonating. I felt it. I felt it in the depths of my heart. I felt in my inner soul. Inhale, Exhale truly captured the essence of my heart.
Inhale, Exhale is the phenomenally brutal book with a heart splintering story. My heart ached. My emotions stirred. Heart Breaking. Soul Wrenching. Heart Ripping. Beautifully and Emotionally Haunting. Inhale, Exhale is a hard hitting story that touches on aspects of life. Inhale, Exhale is a HUMAN story. A powerfully story that open your eyes. An honest and heartful story. C.L. Matthews plunges you so deep into an unforgettable story with anguish, angst, love and pain. I swear, I cried all the tears. I raged like a madwoman. I felt my heart crack. I was taken to a journey of FEELS from page to page. C.L. Matthews poured out her heart. I felt it her writing. I felt it in her characters. I felt it in every single scene. Inhale, Exhale is a raw story with a touching look into mental abuse and cheating. Inhale, Exhale is meant to make you uncomfortable. It is risque. It is heart aching. It is a no hold bars kind of romance that will suck you in.
In Inhale, Exhale, you will meet Jase and Loren, a married couple that will go through lots of trials and tribulations. They will make your heart hurt. They will break your heart. They will move your heart. You are sucked into their messed up and rocky relationship from high school to adulthood. It will pierce your heart. It will destroy you piece by piece. Jase and Loren go through so much together. You will rage about their decisions. You will even want to throw your kindle. However, you are touched by their love and strength. Sometimes, love is a battle. Sometimes, love is messy. Sometimes, love can be damaging. Inhale, Exhale , Jase and Loren will teach you about fighting for love and true strength despite every challenge you are thrown at.
Inhale, Exhale truly made me a fan of C.L. Matthews. This book really takes you on a roller coaster. Intense and heart paralyzing ride you won’t forget.
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
August 5, 2019
Yes!!! All the angst!! That's what I'm looking for in a book and this one delivered!!! It had me guessing and reeling the entire time not able to come up for breath! I loved every second of it.
I had a massive migraine right as I started reading and still I had to message the author and tell her that I couldn't put it down. It literally hurt to read it on my phone and yet I couldn't stop! It was that good! It will break you, but in the best possible way!
I had a massive migraine right as I started reading and still I had to message the author and tell her that I couldn't put it down. It literally hurt to read it on my phone and yet I couldn't stop! It was that good! It will break you, but in the best possible way!
August 5, 2019
*“The words are as harsh as beautiful, as heartbreaking as kind, as loving as hateful.”*
That’s the best way to describe this story. The good, the bad and ugly, and boy did I ugly cry. But there is a rare beauty that presents itself here. Real humanity. We aren’t perfect, imperfections shine through here. Imperfections make and break and remake this couple.
This book is everything and so much more. It breaks your heart, it breaks your soul, it breaks your trust.
Yet you feel hope, you feel strength, there’s real and raw emotions that will cut deep and hard. There’s nothing you can do about it. Let it, let it consume you, let yourself feel everything and nothing at the the same time.
Your heart will break, but with more words CL Matthews puts it back together.
That’s the best way to describe this story. The good, the bad and ugly, and boy did I ugly cry. But there is a rare beauty that presents itself here. Real humanity. We aren’t perfect, imperfections shine through here. Imperfections make and break and remake this couple.
This book is everything and so much more. It breaks your heart, it breaks your soul, it breaks your trust.
Yet you feel hope, you feel strength, there’s real and raw emotions that will cut deep and hard. There’s nothing you can do about it. Let it, let it consume you, let yourself feel everything and nothing at the the same time.
Your heart will break, but with more words CL Matthews puts it back together.
August 14, 2019
“The words are as harsh as beautiful, as heartbreaking as kind, as loving as hateful.”Inhale, Exhale by C.L. Matthews has chewed me up and spit me out. It has taken me DAYS after finishing reading this book to finally sit down and write this review. Inhale, Exhale is NOT a sunshine and roses type of romance, it’s raw and it’s real and worth every single tear that I shed while reading it. From the first page, till the last page, this book takes you on an emotional rollercoaster that I never wanted to get off of. Get the tissues ready guys, you are in for a whole lot of angst.
Inhale, Exhale will break your heart, but just hang on, it’ll mend it back together too.
This heartbreakingly beautiful story is about true love, and being human. We are all flawed, some more so than others, but we all make mistakes. Inhale, Exhale shows the detrimental impact of some of those flaws and mistakes.
“But scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those are the ones you feel forever.”These characters… you will love each of them at times and hate them at others. And even though you can’t help but hope that they will ALL get what they want… real-life doesn’t work that way, and neither does this book.
I’ve been in a situation similar to Loren. And even though my situation was very, VERY different, this one still hit home for me. I literally had anxiety while reading and even though I wanted to get to the end sooo badly to find out how it concluded, I also wanted to read slowly and just savor every single emotion that is invoked.
I am on an emotional book hangover and I honestly don’t know when I’ll be OK again you guys!
“This is real. This is us. And if you let it be, this is forever.”Told in multiple POV’s and flashbacks between the past and the present there were so many twists and turns that it kept me guessing the whole way through. The ENTIRE time, I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, or what I WANTED to see happen. Obviously, I was hoping for a HEA but WHAT and WHO that happily ever after would be for Lo… I just wasn’t sure. But in the same aspect, even though at first I was like NOOOO… now that I’ve had a couple of days to think on it, I am so glad it ended the way it did and with WHO.
But it wasn’t just the three main characters either, there was an awesome cast of secondary characters, including Lo’s teenage son, Ace. There were a couple of chapters that were from Ace’s POV and they broke my heart and I would, really, really like to see a story about him.
“Lifelessness could be the book of Ace Collins. The book of how love ruined me. The start and end of happiness. The start and end of me”
If I didn’t already know then this book proved it for me, C.L. Matthews is a phenomenal author! When a writer can take several different very serious REAL LIFE issues and craft them in such a way that while reading, even though you KNOW that these characters are NOT real, the depth of the story and the characters leave you feeling as if you are RIGHT THERE with them.
Inhale, Exhale as joined my list of TOP READS OF 2019, I can’t recommend this one enough! If you let the cheating aspect stop you from reading this one, you will be missing out on something absolutely wonderful.
P.S – I just want to thank the author for NOT leaving this one off on a cliffhanger, I honest to god don’t think I could have handled that so THANK YOU, C.L. Matthews!
P.S.S – Umm, where is Passionflix?!?! This would be one hell of a movie!
“I’m going to love you now, Lo. Truly, insanely, and wholeheartedly”
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August 15, 2019
⭐️ 5 “Breathe” Stars ⭐️
Wow!!! Inhale, Exhale was my very first read by C.L. Matthews and I’m so impressed! This is such a powerful, deeply emotional story that deal with actual subjects like depression, grief and cheating. The characters aren’t perfect, in fact they’re so flawed, but they make this novel so real!
"Scars made by people can go many ways. They can slice you in the skin. They can slice to the bone. They can even sever limbs entirely. But scars of the heart, the untouchable ones, the ones that ache deeper but are invisible, branded, tattooed, those scars are the ones you feel forever."
I should warn you that this book isn’t for everyone, because it can test your convictions, but it’s so worth it for the level of feels it delivers. Loren and Jason make a lot mistakes throughout this read. Inexcusable you would say, but that’s the beauty of reading; you experience the internal thoughts of the heroes and understand better what drives them to make their choices.
I enjoyed that the first part of the book presents the characters as teenagers and shows how their relationships started! Lo develops a conformable friendship with the funny and sweet Toby. As much as he tries to pursue something more, she always put him in the friend zone. When she later meets his brother Jase, she loses her heart for good! Eighteen years later, Lo and Jase’s marriage is in shambles after multiple challenging events and heart-breaking actions! It’s truly painful to see their love life so fucked up by their faults, but you still feel the fragile love shining between them.
Every action has a consequence and it’s so true with the way this story unravels with intrigue, heartache, passion, jealousy, possession, manipulation! Inhale, Exhale is a punch to the heart! I found myself choked up by the high and lows of emotion going from so beautiful, to cruelly agonizing, to sinfully hot! It’s not an easy story to read and the author plays with your feelings, but omg what a journey!!
"My heart is a tricky bastard. It loves without fault. It doesn't falter or pause to beat thoroughly before loving deeply. My heart betrays my mind. It eats at my soul, takes every part of me, and gives it away."
With her stunning prose, C.L. Matthews achieves to present a truly poignant story that confronts your beliefs and integrates a few surprises along the way! I don’t want to reveal more of the storyline, but listen to me and grab this captivating novel! If you aren’t afraid of a roller-coaster ride that will break you, leave you breathless than repair you, I absolutely recommend Inhale, Exhale!!!
** ARC received in exchange for an honest review **
August 22, 2019
Full review can be found HERE --> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
~Sonal
~Sonal
October 13, 2023
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Type: Standalone Book 1 of 2 from Hollow Ridge series
POV: First Person - Multiple
Rating:
4.75 Stars
Loren (Lo) Tanner found the love of her life at a young age. But a life that seemed perfect slowly unraveled thread by thread, risking everything she held dear.
Throughout my reading, I had constant frown, puffy eyes and heart palpitations. Yet, the emotional rollercoaster this book took me on was undeniably worthwhile.
The story overflowed with intense drama, and the author didn’t shy away from sensitive subjects. While some situations felt a little over the top, I can’t help being invested in the characters. They were broken and flawed, capable of both intentional and unintentional harm to themselves and those in their path. They were endearing and infuriating, all in the same breath. But above all, they were real.
Inhale, Exhale is a story of friendship, love and betrayal. It would appeal to readers looking for emotional, angsty romance.
For more reviews/interviews/book talk/promo visit:
For graphics, trailers & author services visit Warhawke Design Studio.
Type: Standalone Book 1 of 2 from Hollow Ridge series
POV: First Person - Multiple
Rating:
4.75 Stars Loren (Lo) Tanner found the love of her life at a young age. But a life that seemed perfect slowly unraveled thread by thread, risking everything she held dear.
Throughout my reading, I had constant frown, puffy eyes and heart palpitations. Yet, the emotional rollercoaster this book took me on was undeniably worthwhile.
No one knows how immeasurable the pain is, that it comes when you’re weakest but also when you’re happiest. It hits you at random moments, plowing into you like a two-ton weight. It flattens you, breaks you, and slowly kills you.
The story overflowed with intense drama, and the author didn’t shy away from sensitive subjects. While some situations felt a little over the top, I can’t help being invested in the characters. They were broken and flawed, capable of both intentional and unintentional harm to themselves and those in their path. They were endearing and infuriating, all in the same breath. But above all, they were real.
Inhale, Exhale is a story of friendship, love and betrayal. It would appeal to readers looking for emotional, angsty romance.
For more reviews/interviews/book talk/promo visit:
For graphics, trailers & author services visit Warhawke Design Studio.
January 15, 2022
This wasn't for me.
It's a train wreck.
There is cheating by both.
They are married but the book is in 3 parts and it starts with them in high school, reverts from present time to past.
It's overly dramatic, shouty.
He sleeps with her best friend who has been flirting with him for years.
She is friends with his brother first, who is in love with her since high school.
I'm not sure if any of them deserved a HEA.
There are excuses for the cheating, he thinks she is cheating on him with his brother cos his brother kisses her, he doesn't see her put a stop to it.
She is emotionally wrecked when her mum dies, when she looses a baby, she shuts down so he feels neglected and cheats.
I just felt it jumped all over the place and everything was so OTT.
I felt from the start it would have been better for everyone if the heroine had walked away from both brothers and they had all pursued love elsewhere.
Sorry but it dealt with some serious issues but I didn't feel it really dealt with any of them in a helpful way.
It had the mills and boon style of it he touched her she couldn't resist.
It's a train wreck.
There is cheating by both.
They are married but the book is in 3 parts and it starts with them in high school, reverts from present time to past.
It's overly dramatic, shouty.
He sleeps with her best friend who has been flirting with him for years.
She is friends with his brother first, who is in love with her since high school.
I'm not sure if any of them deserved a HEA.
There are excuses for the cheating, he thinks she is cheating on him with his brother cos his brother kisses her, he doesn't see her put a stop to it.
She is emotionally wrecked when her mum dies, when she looses a baby, she shuts down so he feels neglected and cheats.
I just felt it jumped all over the place and everything was so OTT.
I felt from the start it would have been better for everyone if the heroine had walked away from both brothers and they had all pursued love elsewhere.
Sorry but it dealt with some serious issues but I didn't feel it really dealt with any of them in a helpful way.
It had the mills and boon style of it he touched her she couldn't resist.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 25, 2020
*
Read more of my reviews at Whoo Gives A Hoot
*
Words could never perfectly describe the abundance of emotions that took complete control over my body, mind, and soul while inhaling (pun totally intended) this breathtakingly captivating and heart shattering story. It's been days since I have had the ability to read anything else and I am still attempting to catch my breath because this story totally sucked the life right out of me. I think this author might have just ruined me for all other books (okay so we all know that's not completely true because I could never give up books, but let's just say this story will ALWAYS hold a special place deep inside my heart). C.L. Matthews brilliantly constructed a unique tale so unlike anything I have ever read before...and probably unlike anything I will ever be fortunate enough to read again for as long as I live. This story gave me all the feels and it's nearly impossible to accurately comprehend everything I experienced and the pain my heartstrings are enduring right now.
Inhale, Exhale shows the true side of human nature...the dark side we all try to hide because we don't want others to see and judge. The author's words were poetic and the storyline gripped my heart. These characters are beautifully flawed and you see that intertwined throughout the pages of this story. You will never be the same after reading this story and I cannot wait for you all to dive in!!!
Words could never perfectly describe the abundance of emotions that took complete control over my body, mind, and soul while inhaling (pun totally intended) this breathtakingly captivating and heart shattering story. It's been days since I have had the ability to read anything else and I am still attempting to catch my breath because this story totally sucked the life right out of me. I think this author might have just ruined me for all other books (okay so we all know that's not completely true because I could never give up books, but let's just say this story will ALWAYS hold a special place deep inside my heart). C.L. Matthews brilliantly constructed a unique tale so unlike anything I have ever read before...and probably unlike anything I will ever be fortunate enough to read again for as long as I live. This story gave me all the feels and it's nearly impossible to accurately comprehend everything I experienced and the pain my heartstrings are enduring right now.
Inhale, Exhale shows the true side of human nature...the dark side we all try to hide because we don't want others to see and judge. The author's words were poetic and the storyline gripped my heart. These characters are beautifully flawed and you see that intertwined throughout the pages of this story. You will never be the same after reading this story and I cannot wait for you all to dive in!!!
August 13, 2019
I was not ready for this book. From the blurb I knew it was going to affect me deeply. What I didn’t anticipate was that it would not only affect me, but that it would destroy me word by word, page by page in the best way possible. Inhale, Exhale tore my heart to shreds, laid my feelings out bare in front of me, and proceeded to piece them back together beautifully, yet painstakingly slowly.
To say that this book rained down emotions is to put it lightly. It was a torrent of feelings the depths of which I haven’t encountered in so long. Every chapter had me wading deeper and deeper into a pool of my own tears and emotions. By the end my heart was shredded and my soul felt bruised, but beat stronger.
This story and it’s characters were raw, honest, and most of all real. Their imperfections and flaws not only served to illustrate the ugliness in the story, but also to connect with the reader because we’re all flawed and make mistakes. No character was perfect or a hero or pure goodness. Everyone falters and everyone hurts or is hurting. That’s the true beauty in this book and C.L. Matthews writing; the ability to make the reader connect and feel everything as if it were a memory not just a story.
Raw, gritty, REAL, and emotional Inhale, Exhale isn’t for the faint of heart, but most definitely worth the heartache. A story that you won’t soon forget, characters that are vivid and painstakingly honest, and writing that is consuming and haunting can’t be rated anything less than 10 stars. This book is magic.
To say that this book rained down emotions is to put it lightly. It was a torrent of feelings the depths of which I haven’t encountered in so long. Every chapter had me wading deeper and deeper into a pool of my own tears and emotions. By the end my heart was shredded and my soul felt bruised, but beat stronger.
This story and it’s characters were raw, honest, and most of all real. Their imperfections and flaws not only served to illustrate the ugliness in the story, but also to connect with the reader because we’re all flawed and make mistakes. No character was perfect or a hero or pure goodness. Everyone falters and everyone hurts or is hurting. That’s the true beauty in this book and C.L. Matthews writing; the ability to make the reader connect and feel everything as if it were a memory not just a story.
Raw, gritty, REAL, and emotional Inhale, Exhale isn’t for the faint of heart, but most definitely worth the heartache. A story that you won’t soon forget, characters that are vivid and painstakingly honest, and writing that is consuming and haunting can’t be rated anything less than 10 stars. This book is magic.
May 31, 2022
This bitch right here.
CL Matthews destroyed my heart, she twisted it in her hands and wrangled every ounce of feeling from me. This is a hard book to read. The emotion that she delivers and forces the reader to feel is phenomenal. Have you ever seen a Nicholas Sparks movie? Inhale, Exhale is right up there with that.
I had the pleasure of reading most of this book during its beta stage, but things got in the way so I had to stop. I’m honestly glad I did. Not because it was bad, because it most definitely wasn’t that. It’s because I would have become ragey, violent, and consumed with the need for the ending before it was complete. This story while heartbreakingly beautiful will touch you in ways you never knew you needed. It was perfection. It was raw. It’s fucking beautiful.
CL Matthews destroyed my heart, she twisted it in her hands and wrangled every ounce of feeling from me. This is a hard book to read. The emotion that she delivers and forces the reader to feel is phenomenal. Have you ever seen a Nicholas Sparks movie? Inhale, Exhale is right up there with that.
I had the pleasure of reading most of this book during its beta stage, but things got in the way so I had to stop. I’m honestly glad I did. Not because it was bad, because it most definitely wasn’t that. It’s because I would have become ragey, violent, and consumed with the need for the ending before it was complete. This story while heartbreakingly beautiful will touch you in ways you never knew you needed. It was perfection. It was raw. It’s fucking beautiful.
August 14, 2019
Raw. Gritty. Emotional. Holy Jase and Lo put me through the ringer but I love them so much. You can see how much they love and care for each other despite the obstacles they face, and they've got quite a few in their path. This book will destroy you and then put you back together. This was my first book by C.L. Matthews and I was totally unprepared for the angsty ride she took me on, but I LOVED it.
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