Review: Gut wrenching story, amazing book
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 3, 2013
No book has EVER affected me as much as Arsen did. I knew I was stepping way out of my comfort zone to read it, after seeing the "OMG I can't take it " posts all over goodreads and different blogs.  I'm sensitive to love triangles as you know, but as this one involved a marriage, the bad choices and betrayal were all the more poignant.We all know this is a book about cheating.  About a woman who knowingly cheats on her wonderful and dedicated husband (Ben) with a younger man (Arsen). I've seen the postings about how people hate Cathy, 10x worse than Kiera from Thoughtless, selfish bitch, etc. But I didn't hate her.  At all. Because I understood her.Cathy and her husband went though a horrific battle with infertility.  Having gone through this myself before I had my son, but not to the heartbreaking degree that Cathy and Ben did, I know the turmoil and anger you feel by not being able to do the one thing that you're supposed to have the natural God-given ability to do - and how it can quickly turn to self hatred and envy towards everyone that you know.  The hope that was constantly dangled in front of them and viciously taken away literally broke Cathy. She felt like a failure, undeserving of Ben's love, and anger towards him for telling her everything would be ok when she felt it never would.  She felt dead inside, and she yearned to feel alive again, outside of the unforeseen and unwanted direction her life was taking her.I am in NO way condoning what Cathy did.  She herself admits her behavior was reprehensible. Through flashbacks, you see Ben and Cathy had a real, once-in-a-lifetime love, and that Ben would have done anything to help Cathy heal.  If a marriage this good can turn this bad, what hope do the rest of us have? I truly believe that is what made this book so painful to read at times.The subject matter was raw, and Mia Asher did a kick-ass job in creating this masterpiece.  The sex scenes are at the same time hot, sad, and uncomfortable, because every encounter is some sort of betrayal; to Ben, to Arsen, and to Cathy herself by sabotaging all the love from the two men in her life.This is a story about a woman who loses her way, and is too broken to figure it out.  It's a gut-wrenching, hard core infidelity story that makes you think, makes you question, and makes you grateful for what you have.