Jampov

Now, this was not all cozy and fluffy reading, this has been quite tough.
It is a novel about betrayal, it's about what betrayal is, what there is behind it, in terms of causes and effects. The final effect of cheating, in its core, is simple. It destroys trust, and when trust is lost, love follows. But dealing with so much loss is everything but easy, it touches the inner cords, upsets every balance. It is indeed hard.
So here we have all the main characters facing this difficult, ugly situation, the hit and the consequences. And not only we see that from the point of view of Annabelle, the betrayed wife, or of Davis, the unaware mistress who falls in love, but (and here Rachel Spangler proves to be a hell of a writer) even from the point of view of Nic, the cheater.
The story could have been much more superficial, seen only by Annabelle and Davis, a description of fall and rebirth. Nic could just have been the baddy, the contextual catalyst of the events.
On the contrary, Spangler shows us how the treachery is conceived by her, the psychological flaws that made it possible, her hopes and feelings (even guilt) during the process. It's all so believable.
While the other two women, from a basis of a clear conscience, gradually start to overcome the blow, grow into better individuals and open again to love, Nic falls in a personal hell of guilt, loneliness and neglect. The consequences for her are much heavier. I felt for her, reading.
Overall, the book is wonderfully rich, psichologically intense and coherent, the love story and the romance is sweet and original and Nic's odissey is a rare gem.
A full five star, for me.