Review: 5 STAR, beautiful, emotional story... A MUST READ!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 9, 2013
How do I even begin to write this review? My feelings, my thoughts are all over the place. I really connected with these characters, especially Cathy. I identified with her on so much and that scared me but it made me connect to her character even more. I've had her struggles, her thoughts, and her fears. She took it to a whole new level but I think any woman who has been in her shoes will identify with Cathy. All I can say is I just want more; I do not want these characters to ever leave me.Readers who loved the Thoughtless series by S.C. Stephens will LOVE Arsen as well; to me, it felt like a "grown-up" version of Thoughtless but with a much deeper, emotional story, and more mature. There is cheating, there is crying, there is betrayal on many levels, there is sadness, there is happiness, and there is lots of hot sex. I devoured this book in one long sitting with a box of tissues on my lap; the book became personal to me in so many ways.We are introduced to Cathy first; she has been married to Ben for 6 years and together for 11 years. Ben is a lawyer, handsome as can be, comes from a wealthy family, and kisses the ground Cathy walks on. He is so head over heels in love with her it just blew me away. He seriously is the perfect husband; I was so worried he would do something to make me lose my high opinion of him in the book because he was just so perfect. The two have been trying to have a baby for years leading to four miscarriages. This causes Cathy to distance herself from Ben, she feels guilty. This is when Arsen becomes part of Cathy's life. Arsen comes from a rich, socialite family... he is the complete opposite of Ben in looks & personality. His good looks and playboy ways cause him to be in tabloid magazines with all the different actresses and models he dates. He and Cathy have a flirtatious friendship that crosses the line that shouldn't have been crossed. They begin to have an affair that turns into a lot more.I LOVED Cathy, I know many people will not because she is a cheater and there is no excuse for that but I understood her and her actions. Any woman who has dealt with infertility for a long period of time feels guilty, especially if she is the cause of the infertility in the relationship. She feels guilty because she cannot give her partner a family and sometimes the last person you want to talk to or be around is your partner because of that guilt. Cathy found comfort in another man's arms when she should have dealt with her problems differently but infertility changes a marriage and not for the better. I applaud the author for understanding what infertility does to a marriage. Ben & Cathy are like many couples experiencing it. Maybe it was because I was able to identify with Cathy so much I liked her but I didn't find her annoying like many readers found Kiera in Thoughtless to be. Cathy just needed an escape from the miscarriages, the infertility, from the guilt... and Arsen was that escape.Arsen, I get it. He's H-O-T and fun but he is no Ben. Arsen I do not know what to make of him. He is a selfish character, he is a user. I liked him and I understood why Cathy went to him but their relationship just seemed like lust. Cathy would tell him to "make her not think", their relationship never seemed like a real relationship to me. He let it get so far and played with her emotions and her marriage to Ben.I LOVE Mia Asher's writing style, it's beautiful, truly beautiful. The book is told in mostly the point of view of Cathy but there are a few short chapters in Arsen's and one or two very short ones in Ben's POV. The story is told in present time with a couple of glimpses of Cathy and Ben's relationship over the years, how they met, how they said I love you, their first time together. It was sweet. I would have loved more of the past. Near the end the book jumps back to 3-5 years later and it was just perfect! I loved getting a glimpse into their futures as well.I loved how the story played out, I loved that I was on the edge of my seat when the affair was no longer a secret; I was reading so fast just to see what would happen. I love when a book makes you even more and more excited as you read. I do wish we were able to hear more about the confrontation between Ben & Arsen instead of it just being said happened. I also wish the ending did not get wrapped up so quickly. I felt the story was a good slow pace... which was perfect for such an emotional book like this but the ending just seemed to come together so fast and time speed up so quickly, I wanted it slow and more played out.Arsen is a beautiful, must read, emotional, have a box of tissues ready book. I highly recommend it, even if you were not a big Thoughtless fan, Arsen takes it to a whole new level that many readers will love.I give Arsen 5 stars!