Family Matters (The Silver Ice Line Book 1)

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The plot was interesting with Candace, the adopted sister with serious issues. The second half is when the book went downhill with some lame tropes like misunderstanding and not communicating. Also there's so many side characters! Bit tough to keep track of who each minor The novel was alright. Bit tough to keep track of who each minor character is and what role they play in this novel. Another thing I'm not a fan of is both characters are rich white women who can afford to do whatever they want through the novel and that just doesn't feel realistic at all to me.

I do like both main characters' personalities and can understand each of their flaws that help keep the story interesting enough for me to finish. I think the author has promise and can build off this novel to do better with whatever she plans to write next. Feb 14, Nolly Sepulveda rated it really liked it. This was a really good story. Darcy and Andrea make for great couple, they're Loving and caring. Their attraction is instantaneous and their fear opening their hurts similar.

I liked Darcy's friends and their playful back in forth jokes. Jan 01, BrutallyHonest rated it it was ok Shelves: This book started out well. It was a nice, pleasant romance with a bit of tension. Don't get too many lesbian novels that don't go off the deep end straight away. But I just couldn't like it. The whole second half of the book I was cringing.

The feeding fetish was creepy was it even supposed to be a fetish? I didn't find it intimate at all. Actually, the relationship between the two main characters turned really unhealthy with dependency issues. I read this book for free because my part This book started out well. I read this book for free because my partner won it in a competition. The weird feeding thing. Also, since when is lesbian friends always kissing and making out a 'thing'? Had to double check it wasn't written by a man when I kept reading that.

Would I read this book again? Maybe, but only to halfway. Would I recommend this book? Ehhh, if you are lesbian, we don't have much choice out there so maybe. Good book Really enjoyed the story. The characters developed in an interesting fashion but all done in a manner that was easy to follow and ultimately came to a good ending.

Good book I think that this is an excellent book and I would love to see a part two of this story line. Oct 18, Sandra rated it really liked it. This was a beautiful romance with some twist and turns. In the beginning I wasn't fond of Darcy, she's looked like a spoiled rich brat who was bitching around with everybody. Of course, with her temporarily handicap, life isn't easy. But more or less page by page you learn more about her and why she's behaving that bad.

It's not en excuse for her behavior, but an explanation. Andrea on the other hand is a women I thought is nearly too good to be true. But then you learn about her background too, h This was a beautiful romance with some twist and turns. But then you learn about her background too, her troubled past and her fears. So they have to fight their demons, before they have a real chance for a relationship. Will they be successful? The book is written very smooth and I could feel the connections of the main characters. I could also understand and feel the anger and anguish they felt.

The second characters were fantastic, especially the inner circle, I would love to have this kind of friends. And there is also some drama in the story, which I appreciated, without that it would be less intriguing. My rating 4 stars Loved it I loved this book, it was romantic and sweet with just the right amount of angst.

I would recommend this book. Dec 29, Tara rated it really liked it Shelves: Sep 17, Rox rated it liked it. My first impressions and eventually, my overall impressions of this book changed so much while I read it. The Darcy character at first was clingy, needy, spoiled, rude, overly sexual, and selfish. As she healed, a lot of the clinginess went away, she stopped being rude, and the neediness diminished as well.

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She f My first impressions and eventually, my overall impressions of this book changed so much while I read it. She fell in love with Andrea way too fast for my liking. By chapter 13 Darcy was in love. She fixated and was almost obsessive early on.

Another reviewer mentions the same thing, and I agree with them. Darcy is bedridden and immobile for the most part. Andrea was the only one out of both of them that at least tried to get prospective early on. At least she took a step back and remained as professional as she could. When her emotions got the best of her, she still managed to maintain herself and not get too swept away.

Overall, their meeting, falling in love, and then their eventual relationship was just too fast for me to be believable. Hell, I wish I had friends like them! If they even exist. I think those characters helped anchor the book a bit, so did the other supporting characters. I liked that they both had personalities you could see them come to life as you read.

I should also add that the book itself is written quite well. The humor was good and funny when it needed to be, no grammatical errors that I saw, if this was a first attempt by the author, it was a good one. I would recommend the book, and remind the reader that the romance is fast, but the writing is good. You'll love this book! Helpless, dependent and out of control, her life feels as a big disappointment and she become a rich nasty bitch. She feels abandoned by everyone. All this has driven her to the edge.

So when Kirk was whining about how hard he works and how she doesn't appreciate what he does, and the minute he walks through the door he gets upset that he's made to feel guilty for missing a child's recital? You're an adult not a sullen teenager.

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Immediately sit down with your spouse and explain your side. Explain that the lifestyle you are all living is predicated on the number of hours you work. While the spouse can tell you how sad the kids are that you weren't there to see them do whatever, and explain why this is so important. This then opens the door to discuss priorities. Kirk and Claire are financially living a good life.

Does he want to be part of his daughters' childhood triumphs and experiences? If the answer is yes, then sit down and budget out what will have to change if he reduces hours. Do you need to move in to a smaller house? Do you need to drive less expensive cars? Is downsizing their lives worth spending more time with the family? This is also a conversation that could have taken place in the therapist office that's another problem, the therapist felt more like a narrator trying to explain to the reader why we should root for them to stay together.

What I felt needed to happen was some indication that both Claire and Kirk understood things would have to change in the marriage. Another difficult question that wasn't even raised was this unplanned pregnancy. Again, because of the genre it's published in, Claire isn't allowed to ask what many women in her place would.

When Kirk said he was in love with another woman, she knows she's pregnant, it's very difficult for me to believe that she wouldn't think about termination. Conveniently she finds out as she's ending her first trimester but that doesn't mean she wouldn't question exactly how many months and if she's still is in the window of that being a possibility. The marriage is in crisis, they have three kids, is it fair to bring in another in to this mess? This is another thing I felt should have been addressed in that therapist's office. Kirk's rage at finding out was again, ridiculous.

You came home to tell your wife that you LOVE somebody else, and have been dating her and making out with her, you lost the right for moral superiority.

Book: Family Matters

Claire should have also worked on her own plans for survival going forward. Can she support herself? I'd have liked to see her become more independent and self sufficient even as they work to repair the damage. Claire's regrets at not ending up with Grady was another plot point not given it's due. Conveniently Grady is in love with somebody else so there is no real danger that Claire will really leave.

Kirk's attitude toward Grady in that one scene was just bizarre. He throws a jealous fit out of nowhere. Hypocrisy Kirk isn't very attractive. Meanwhile Grady's and Claire's conversation seemed to be lifted from a s "how to understand your man" text. We have to teach our boys, just as we do our girls, women aren't here for the male ego. There is a vein of blaming the victim in the conversation between those two which made me very uncomfortable. I couldn't help but wonder what the attitude would have been if Claire had been the one lying, meeting up for drinks and make out sessions?

Would Kirk get the same type of counseling she did? I have my doubts. In general it is set up that Claire has very limited options and the expectation is she should forgive. I think they should have separated for a bit before the resolution. Kirk would have to deal with his children in ways he hasn't before because Claire did all the heavy lifting and maybe he'd have a better understanding of how easy she made his life.

Maybe all the years together and the children they share are enough to work beyond this. Claire thought at one point "She would willingly trade some of that success for his spending more time with the children. He has to take personal responsibility for that choice and accept that he's going to lose his family and stop whining that Claire doesn't understand how hard he works, because clearly she isn't invested in all the material goods that said success brings. Meanwhile Claire needs to stop crying victim that he's not there for the family because that isn't his priority.

How do they resolve this disconnect?

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Do we see the changes they both have to make in the marriage? Do they cut back on the material goods? Do they share both the financial and child-rearing responsibilities? I understand staying in the marriage after something like this. However it's not ever going to be the happy ever after the way it's presented here.

She wondered who he was talking to that one time and he got all upset? Well that is going to happen for a long time Kirk, maybe it'll be in the back of her mind for years before she stops wondering. Same with his calling to say he has a business dinner. Just because Janice the other woman leaves doesn't mean there won't be other woman and other opportunities. This isn't a problem which can be fixed in months and a few sessions of therapy to end with unconditional love and trust.

Stories like this can't end with the traditional hearts and flowers HEA, it's so much more complex and open ended. View all 19 comments. Oct 07, StMargarets rated it liked it Shelves: This is a cheating story. The story opens with the hero lying to his wife about staying at work late and then anticipating seeing the OW.

The OW is a work colleague who has used the hero as an emotional prop after her divorce. She wants to take their emotional affair to the next level and make it physical. The hero balks at this and the next scene is the ambivalent hero telling his pregnant wife he doesn't know this yet and mother of his three children that he has fallen in love with someone e This is a cheating story. The hero balks at this and the next scene is the ambivalent hero telling his pregnant wife he doesn't know this yet and mother of his three children that he has fallen in love with someone else.

It does not go well, as you can imagine. The rest of the story is the hero coming to his senses, and trying to make up again as the heroine takes the three girls to their lakeside cottage for the short Ontario summer. The hero joins them on weekends, so the heroine has plenty of time to lick her wounds and gestate baby 4. I'll add to her points by saying I hated how he made the heroine responsible for his emotions.

He couldn't deal with the temptation and he just had to tell the heroine so she could talk him out of it. Why else would he say such a thing and then expect to talk about it? Was he waiting for permission to cheat? Was he trying to hurt the heroine, couched in passive-aggressive terms? I think he was trying to hurt her and this was a power move on his part. So his refrain throughout - we have to talk - felt like bullying to me. He wanted her pain and emotions on a platter for some weird reason.

All the marriage counselor did was assure the heroine that many relationships can become stronger after cheating when trust is restored. This is about as helpful as this statement: She was madly in love with her high school boyfriend who dumped her to marry the girl he got pregnant. It's an elephant in the room the author skirts around. But don't feel bad for the heroine. For instance, she is jealous of her old flame's new girlfriend who is on the run from an abusive husband - really heroine? So why three stars? While the author never resolves their marital differences, she does change the focus.

She shifts the focus from the marital drama to the idyllic life of 8 short weeks on the Muskoka lakes. This is old money territory. These people are seriously well off While I didn't grow up in Canada, my son did. The school year here is long. You are only free from school on June 30 and you are back after Labor Day. That's it - that's all you get - 8 weeks. And that's what resonated with me in this story. It's ironic that I read this during our Canadian Thanksgiving three-day weekend.

The last scene of the story is Thanksgiving which takes place in early October - not late November like in the US. Many people celebrate out at their lake houses on this day like the characters because it's a good time to close up for the winter. The change of seasons. Watching your children grow all those water skiing scenes. There is a certain poignancy and comfort in focusing on the home fires.

So author changed the focus on a less-than-perfect relationship and made it feel like a happy-enough ending. So read that one if you enjoy a cheating story that makes sense. View all 7 comments. Claire has been married to Kirk for 12 years, they have 3 daughters and Claire has just learned there is fourth on the way. On the day Claire is about to tell Kirk, the slime ball blindsides her by saying he's in love with someone else, a woman that works at this office [not his secretary], Claire is pissed and tells him to leave. Later Kirk suggest they try counseling because he has some epiphany and realizes what he's doing is what his Dad did to him and his mom.

But, and this is rich he actual Claire has been married to Kirk for 12 years, they have 3 daughters and Claire has just learned there is fourth on the way. But, and this is rich he actually tells Claire, I will stop seeing the other woman if you agree to counseling; like WTF, how about just divorcing his lying, cheating ass. While Claire is at home, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, and taking care of the kids, Kirk relaxes by wining and dining some skank instead of his wife. Kirk actually tells Claire that he feels she doesn't appreciate him, that she is always nagging him to help with the kids, to come home earlier, to spend more time with them.

So, instead of saying "hey, wife lets go to dinner", no he takes the office girl. Perhaps the only silver lining is that he never slept with the other woman, he only had an emotional affair and the occasional make-out session. Even though counseling helps and Claire and Kirk eventually reconcile, I still think Kirk is an ass. Instead of putting so much effort into having his emotional affair, he should have put the effort into being with his family and if he felt that his wife didn't give him enough attention or he felt neglected, he should have talked to her first, not the other woman.

As for the other woman, she knew he was married, that he had a family, what she did was just low, getting involved with a married man and nearly ruining a family just because her marriage didn't work out. I would have liked the book better if there had been a confrontation between Claire and the other woman. I didn't like the topic of the book, but the fact that it got me raving gives it a decent score. Rating 3 out of 5 Read Book This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. My issues with this book are that I was actually on the husband's side instead of the wife.

She deserved to get dumped in my honest opinion. A lot of attention goes to the husband starting a relationship with another woman, while his wife 'languishes' at home. I wasn't seeing that at all. Which is brutal and harsh, but so much less than the skillet to the head I would have given the bovine snot licking nematode woman that I couldn't feel bad for her.

Honestly, had the roles been reversed and it was the heroine in the hero's position, the calls would be long and loud for the heroine to dump the marriage and move on. The wife is sooo OTT in her twenty year obsession that she even tries to break up her dream beau's new relationship, because then he won't be available to help her out and fantasize over.

I am not against a little happy daydream every once in a while - Viggo Mortenson as Aragon is a total happy moment for me, as is Vin Diesel as Riddick- but really, this woman was emotionally cheating for TWELVE YEARS and then wonders why a man she treated like a lap dog is ready to dump her sorry hiney.

He should have done it, he would be much better off without her lame attempts at reconciliation and I shudder to think what kind of women their girls are going to be when they are adults. There was no real resolution either, more a 'we must stay together for the kid's sake'.

But I don't believe this relationship will go the distance and I foresee a divorce in about 10 years. Hopefully the husband can find a woman who really loves him and this wife gets sloughed off with the minimum in alimony and is left to her sordid fantasy life all alone. Family Matters, an Anthology. This one is a good marriage-in-trouble. I have the paperback and read it a couple of times over the years. I was fortunate to see the series anthology different couples on sale and picked it up for a re-read.

H slowly slides down a slippery slope with a co-worker and tells his wife h that he has fallen in love with someone else after 12 years of marriage and 3 children. The h has just found out she is pregnant with their 4th child when H delivers his news Own in: The h has just found out she is pregnant with their 4th child when H delivers his news. She doesn't disclose at the time and kicks him out.

Readers who want something a little bit different in their romance. I have been in a kind of restless place lately wanting to get my hands on something unusual to read. I started with 2 books yesterday which I gave up reading after around half way through because the stories somehow didn't end up being what I was looking for. And so not to give up on my quest to find something different, I turned to this little number in my TBR pile, a paperback I acquired a couple of weeks back because of its unusual theme. The Fourth Child delves into a topic that we come acros I have been in a kind of restless place lately wanting to get my hands on something unusual to read.

The Fourth Child delves into a topic that we come across rarely in romance novels. Because lets face it, no one wants to read about infidelity that involves either the hero or heroine, wanting our time out from the real world to be as picture perfect as possible. This book begins into the twelfth year of marriage between Kirk and Claire, whose life seems to be just about perfect to someone viewing it from the other side. Well into her 30's, Claire is the mother of three beautiful daughters with the news of a fourth child on the way when mere ten minutes later her husband Kirk drops the bombshell that he is in love with someone else.

Kirk's involvement with Janice begins innocently enough until six months later Kirk is forced to admit that their seemingly innocent get togethers have certainly turned into something of the more intimate variety which has Kirk questioning himself on whether he is ready to give up Claire and his girls for a few moments of guilty pleasure. Can we just leave it at that? Roy and John ran to the squad while Captain Stanley acknowledged the response.

When they arrived on scene they were greeted by a woman. He had a little too much to drink. He slipped and fell in the bathroom and hit his head on the tub. Roy and John gathered their equipment and followed the woman to her husband. Trying to get a better picture of what they were dealing with, Roy asked if her husband was unconscious. Arriving in the bathroom, they went right over to Wally. We're going to check you out, okay?

Roy started to take Wally's vitals, while Johnny tried to get a little more information from him. After examining him further, the paramedics determined that Wally had a slight concussion, but no other injuries. After Roy called Rampart, they waiedt for the ambulance to arrive. Feeling embarrassed, Wally decided to tell the paramedics the whole story of what had actually happened to him. Damn company I work for decided to lay me and a few other guys off, today.

It's a week before Christmas, for god's sake. I'm pissed and…I feel stupid. As Roy met the ambulance attendants, Johnny talked to Wally. It's to make sure that you're not more seriously injured. Arriving at the hospital, Johnny helped Wally get situated in the treatment room and then waited for Roy in the lounge.

Roy walked to the lounge and opened the door where he spotted Johnny on a chair, drinking a cup of coffee.

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Roy decided that he had to get to the bottom of why his partner was in such a gloomy mood. Since when do you leave town for the holidays? You always spend them with me, Joanne, and the kids. With that, the conversation ended. Johnny finished the rest of his coffee in a gulp and started out the door. A very concerned Roy followed behind. Dixie watched as her two favorite paramedics passed her desk without saying a word, and disappeared around the corner. The ride back to the station was done in silence. When they arrived back to the station, Johnny went to the locker room.

Deciding to leave him alone, Roy instead went to Captain Stanley's office. Going into the office, Roy closed the door behind him and sat down in a chair next to his captain. I suspect that he just wants to get away for a while. Maybe he's just taking stock of his life. He's probably down about not having family or a serious girlfriend. Let's face it, the holidays can be tough in the best of times.

He sees me as a kind of surrogate father. I'm probably telling you too much already.

We all care about Johnny and have much admiration and affection for him. I know how close the two of you are, but all of us, you included know that there's one thing about Johnny that will never change…his tendency to be a private person. And no matter how much we care about someone, we can't fix things for them.

I assure you, Roy that it has nothing to do with you, Joanne, or the kids. He loves you all very much. I just get the impression that he wants to branch out on his own. He's just going through a tough time right now and wants the opportunity to be by himself. I think it will do him some good. He didn't tell me.

He just doesn't want to be around for the holidays. I think it just serves as a painful reminder of what he doesn't have. It answers some questions for me, but I'm still worried about him. Johnny, still quiet came back to the kitchen. Asking everyone what they'd like to drink, he went to the fridge and took out two pitchers, one with iced tea and one with lemonade. He also took out the carton of milk. I think I'll surprise her and get it for her How about you, Cap?

What are you getting Suzanne? Realizing Johnny had kept quiet through this whole exchange, a curious Chet inquired about his friend's plans for Christmas. What are your plans for Christmas? The guys were all quietly stunned, knowing that Johnny always spent the holidays with Roy and his family. The rest of the shift passed without incident, except that they all noticed how quiet Johnny appeared to be. When Monday morning arrived, signaling that the shift was over, everyone was in the locker room changing to go home…everyone but Johnny.

Mike was the first to notice that Johnny was not changing into his civvies, but rather a fresh uniform. I'm doing some overtime at 39's. I gotta go now, or I'll be late. I'll see you guys Wednesday morning. Roy tossed his duffle bag on the floor and sat down on the couch, exhaling loudly, and leaning his head back. He motioned for Joanne to join him. It's about Johnny, though. He mentioned something about taking a road trip over the holidays…he's taking the whole week off.

They were looking forward to spending the weekend with him. Roy wasn't quite sure what the next things out of his partner's mouth was going to be, so he instead just followed Johnny into the dorms. Once inside, Roy sat down at the foot of his bed, while Johnny leaned against one of the brick partitions. I…I just have some stuff that I'm going through. It has nothing to do with you or your family. You know how much you all mean to me. Getting away is just something I have to do.

I promise, I'm not going to do anything stupid. I'll make it up to them. Anyway, I just wanted to say 'sorry'. A busy shift finally came to an end on Friday morning. Johnny got up early and got all his gifts out of his Rover. Quietly, he put a small package into each of his friend's locker. Into Roy 's locker he put gifts for both Joanne and the kids, as well. When the wake up alarms sounded, Johnny was already in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee after brewing a fresh pot for the rest of the guys.

As the guys stumbled to the kitchen, they were surprised to see Johnny sitting there, already awake. When Captain Stanley gave them the green light to go, Johnny decided to bid his good-byes so he could get an early start. They wished him well and he went out the door. After finishing their coffee, the rest of the A-Shift went to their lockers to change. There, they each discovered a gift. A smiling Stoker realized who they were from.

No wonder he was in such a hurry to get out of here. Sitting down, as they were opening their gifts, it became obvious to them that Johnny had put quite a bit of thought into each gift. Marco received an old bible. In the bible was a note explaining that the bible had belonged to his mother and that he wanted Marco to have it. It also had a set of Rosary beads. Captain Stanley received a silver pocket watch engraved with "H. While everyone was amazed at the thoughtfulness of their gift, Roy decided not to open his until he was finally able to see Johnny again.

While everyone was changing for home and exchanging holiday greetings, Johnny had made a pit stop at a local grocery store.

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