A spin-off from the #1 Amazon bestsellers, A Not So Meet Cute and So Not Meant To Be, USA Today bestselling author Meghan Quinn brings you a heart-warming, yet hilarious full-length novel on what life is like after the happily ever after.
Ryot Bisley is my husband.
Yes, the former third baseman for the Chicago Bobbies and absolute heart throb of the Windy City. That Ryot Bisley.
The first time I ran into him, he was grumpy, a horrific host, and left me on his sofa with nothing but a nylon baseball flag to use as a blanket.
The second time, he reluctantly bought me dinner, stared at my chest the entire night, and still sported that permanent frown.
The third time . . . well, that was a game changer. His smile captured me, his teasing charmed me, and his touches excited me.
So when he was called up to the majors that didn’t stop us from knocking it out of the park and all the way down the aisle.
Eleven years later…I’d love to say we’re happy as ever but the man who sent me dirty text messages every day is long gone and Mr. Frowny Face is back.
He’s so focused on trying to build a life after baseball that he doesn’t see the life we’ve already created together. . .so I make the hard decision and serve him divorce papers.
Problem is…my husband refuses to accept those papers. Instead, he has a new game plan that makes untying the knot of our marriage a little tricky. And just when I thought I wanted to be traded . . . he’s slowly, tantalizingly roping me back in.
Cole –
First, let me say this story is well written. Very thorough story lines and solid characters with good connections and strong emotions. Ryot is that guy that every girl dreams of and while I get that Myla has some issues with how she handles her emotions, it just really highlights how he is there for her over and over again. But it also seemed like when he needed her to pull him from his own emotions of retiring early, she didn’t even catch on that he might have needed anything.
Myla is constantly ready to leave this person who loves her something fierce at the drop of a hat when the going gets tough. So she leaves me with a small feeling of annoyance at times. Overall, I like her character and I’m still rooting for them, but mostly to help her own self get right emotionally. It felt unfair that he took the brunt of the blame for their rocky patch, when I’m sure there were times he was filling both of their cups. I would still recommend, it’s funny at times, emotional, very steamy. and overall a great example that sometimes even perfect relationships require work. Great for a long winter weekend of reading.
QsMoni –
I love this author, her writing is consistently good and I have read a lot of her books. This one was a bit of a departure from typical romance tropes as the couple being written about have been married about 6 years and known each other 12.
There are moments that I laughed out loud. Moments I was mildly scandalized and moments my eyes flooded with tears. There were also moments of frustration which I think is a natural response to paying witness to the break down of a marriage for the reasons provided in the book. At the 50% mark of the book I wanted to stop reading and write a passionate review about this marriage, but I’m glad I finished the book first because there were things revealed later that made some of the frustrating behaviors make sense.
All in all this was a well written story and refreshing because it’s just not something I see often.
Having said that I would like to discuss aspects of the story and that discussion would include spoilers so please stop reading at this point if you haven’t read the book yet.
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So like a lot of readers, I struggled to fully like and support the main female character for a good 50% of the book. I’m unsure at this point if this was by design by the author…or maybe a oversight in terms of laying out the character motivations a little too late in the story for people to have context for her behaviors.
It’s made apparent that these people met and have essentially been in love for 12 years. That the husband is a good man, a good provider, a protector, *amazing in the sack*, etc… the scene is set so it appears this woman is like a spoiled and kept housecat. Married to someone with wealth, not working, spoiled and indulged and bored and lonely because he is so obsessed with his career. Her primary complaint is the last “few months” he’s been physically and emotionally absent while establishing a new business.
This is one of the rare times I struggled to suspend disbelief. Romance novels are generally fantasy based. Most of us are well aware that the situations, circumstances and people in these stories aren’t based in reality and we read these stories anyway, because it’s a fantasy. In this case, it was difficult to remain in the fantasy for me as the reader because too much of the marriage story was similar to real life. With exception to the wife’s very unrealistic and childish reactions.
As a wife of 15 years who has been home and provided for, very well, by a man who is successful and decent but also a workaholic, I know from experience that it takes more than 2 or 3 months of feeling neglected to decide to divorce someone after over a decade of happiness by their side. I was completely baffled at how shortsighted this woman was… I could have understood a few YEARS of that behavior and deciding to call it quits but a few months? I couldn’t wrap my mind around it. While I found their petty fighting and antics to be both hilarious and frustrating I simply couldn’t fathom how little it took to make her want to divorce. And I couldn’t fathom how insensitive she was to the fact this man she’s with lost his dream overnight and might be spiraling and in need of support.
Having said that, the second half of the book lays out her history of neglect and abuse and her trauma and quirks which then explain somewhat why she is so quick to run…and I can’t help but wish that part of her character had been relayed earlier.
Anyway, I enjoyed the story, I found their love and relationship over the years to be charming and sweet and I rooted for them both to find happiness in each other. Oh and one last thing…the spicy scenes were shocking and smoking hot 🔥 🔥🔥🔥🔥 there are things this man let her do to him that my husband would be terrified to let me do and honestly my jaw hit the floor a couple times. Hot is an understatement.
Simona –
Heartwarming story, not the usual plot where you can predict every second of it, charming, loving, characters.
luv2read –
Im a fan of meghan quinn. I read most of ur books and i love the way you write. The first two books cane brothers i have read and this one was no less than the others.
All the novels either end with a HEA OR cliffhanger.but..no one shows whats happens after the HEA phase..
Even a madly in love couple fave the marriage jitters… this book is also something like this. Every part of it is so so relatable. So close to reality.
Excellent book. To read. Im looking fwd for banners book.
Lafrizette86 –
Funny, witty, steamy but also relatable.
I really loved the different subjects that the authors delt with. From body shaming to mental and physical abuse, the author went from an everyday topic such as divorcing the love of your life because you’re not on the same boat anymore to working your issues and yourself.
I really loved the characters and how you could relate. I loved the wittiness and the time difference from chapter to chapter.
I will recommend it. I couldn’t put it down and I can’t wait for the next one maybe Banner and Kenzie story?
Camila –
Os livros da Meghan são sempre ótimos, mas esse não é o meu favorito. Não achei a história tão interessante quanto os outros e não me prendeu tanto, mas tá muuuito longe de ser ruim.
F.K. –
Super cute novel, energetic, passionate, and very sweet historic between a baseball player and his girlfriend besides friendship and not too well childhood …most read it.
monibookishnerd –
Deliciously steamy with atypical characters. Serious and comical at the same time. Very emotional plot. I am impressed by the character depth and how healthy vs toxic relationship were displayed. This book also contains hidden lessons for life and mental health.
Kindle Customer –
This is a very compelling page turner I couldn’t put down. However, while it started out fun, it quickly introduced some heavy topics. I ended up feeling sad for a significant portion of the book and even the end, while they definitely get their hea, there’s still a sad element. I also did not like Myla. I understand her past gave her very heavy baggage (maybe even requiring a lifetime of therapy), but I do not feel she did enough to alert Ryot to her mental state. She did not have the same fight to save her marriage as he did, nor did she stop to think about what he had lost. I felt she was selfish & rather frustrating.
Overall, if you like an emotionally heavy story, this is a great book. The story is extremely interesting, well-written and they love each other very much. I enjoyed the glimpses into the past to see how their love & relationship developed. I was expecting this book to be more like the other two books this is a spin-off of: A Not So Meet Cute & So Not Meant To Be. I loved both of them & rated each a 5. However, for me, this one was too sad. When I finish book, I like to feel good & like I’ve had a pleasant escape. When I finished this book, I felt melancholy, at best, after feeling mostly sad during the read. But, I was truly invested in the story and wanted to finish. Thus, the three stars. It’s a good book, just not my style. It’s not a book with mostly a love story & a little angst. It’s a love story, yes, but the “angst” is a sadness/heart break/hurt/anger for most of the way through. Author is normally one of my favs & I was looking forward to the book. Turns out, this is not a book I, personally, would choose to read. That’s why I’m leaving the review. It all depends on what you like in a book. This is an excellent book, if you don’t mind heavy.
Heavy topics include: abuse – emotional, verbal, & physical; significant neglect; depression/mental health issues; divorce (obviously), death, family dysfunction; bff conflict with bf/spouse; cancer, unresolved daddy/family issues.