Author: Maggie C. Gates
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Contemporary Romance
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Spice: 🌶️🌶️🌶️
"'We were paper dolls, easily made and easily damaged. My father used to call my sisters and me his 'teacups' - fragile, delicate things that were to be treated with care and kept safe.'" - Blair
The ultimate second chance trope book: Can two people, whose betrothed marriage stifled both of their personal growth, figure out how to love someone they've known their whole lives but may never have known at all?
The plot of this book is extremely unique, despite using a popular trope. While the author shies away from labeling the patriarchal, misogynistic, and straight-up horrible community of Caleb and Blair's as a cult, let's call a duck and duck. It was a cult.
An unfortunate upbringing led to one too many challenges and hurdles to overcome with little support or emotional maturity, which was the downfall of Caleb and Blair's marriage. Though he never got over her, Caleb knew he wasn't what Blair needed and he let her go, hoping she would be happy.
"Have a nice life? Honestly, a sick part of me wanted her to hurt as much as I still hurt two years later. But I'd never say that to her. And deep down, I knew I didn't mean it." - Caleb
For her part, Blair spent their time apart trying to reinvent herself but still not finding a place to fit in or somewhere safe from her childhood ghosts. It took her some time, even when Caleb found his way back in her life, for Blair to understand she physically moved on but mentally she was still giving the cult power over her decisions.
There was a lot emotionally going on in their relationship, both in present and past. Blair expected too much of Caleb, considering they grew up in the same environment, and failed to try to see his point of view on things when she was hell-bent on rebelling at all costs. I loved their slow reconnection, painful at times but necessary so they could move past everything and rediscover who they were to each other.
"I did the math, and when I was subtracted from the equation, it changed the outcome. He was so much better after me, which meant that I had always been the problem. Admitting it felt like a knife to the heart." - Blair
I can say I was surprised that a man who grew up sheltered was as dominant in the bedroom as Caleb became but hey, Blair was not complaining about that particular change in him. He was pushy at times, but she needed it. For all the bravo she put on, Blair was very insecure about herself. I didn't see a whole lot of chemistry between them, aside from all the sarcasm in the world, but was truly rooting for their love story.
Overall, an interesting and different second-chance romance with a lot of heart and heartbreak. There was a lot more than just hurt feelings that this couple needed to overcome and in the end, they found their happily ever after, even if it did take them years.
Tropes and Themes: Contemporary Romance, Second Chance, Praise Kink, Cult.
Blurb
Blair:
You know those fairytale moments when your life is on the brink of transformation? I thought I had one.
I can still picture it: dressed to the nines in a dazzling ball gown, clutching a glass of liquid courage, and the eyes of my very own Prince Charming finding me from across the room. It was the quintessential meet-cute. Or so I believed.
Fate had other plans.
The glare of emergency room lights jolted me awake after one wrong bite had me waking up into a nightmare.
Things couldn’t possibly get worse. Then the universe laughed and said, “Hold my appletini.”
Caleb:
Seriously? The hospital called me to pick up my ex-wife from the emergency room in the middle of the night. Two long years of moving on and trying to forget her had gone up in flames with one phone call.
The ink may have dried on our divorce papers, but now I’m on the verge of putting them through a shredder.
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