Title: Against All Odds (Standalone)
Author: Angie McKeon
Genre: Adult Contemporary Romance
Release Date: April 01, 2014
Blurb:
Our lives shattered... Our hearts broken... Our souls torn to pieces...
He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible.
Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.
She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul.
Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.
In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.
He was my world, my whole life. My reason for breathing. I had a perfect marriage, a baby on the way, and I felt fulfilled—almost invincible.
Until the day life hit, leaving me broken, vulnerable, and alone.
She was my life. My ray of hope on the cloudiest day. With her, I thought I had the ultimate safety. A love that would never hurt or betray me. I gave her my heart, my body, and my soul.
Until she broke me, destroying every dream and illusion I had about life, love, and marriage.
In our grief, we made a mistake. A mistake I'm not sure we can come back from.
Purchase Links:
Amazon: http://amzn.to/1gQfb8I
Excerpt:
I step back and release a shaky breath. “I don’t know what to say. You know that we...” I flick my eyes to the other side of the room to collect my scattered thoughts.
Erasing the distance I just tried to put between us, he lifts my face to his. Our eyes connect, and my pulse—already wild—intensifies.
He looks straight through to the heart of me. “You don’t have to say anything right now. You don’t have to say anything ever. Just think about what I’m saying.” Gaze locked on mine, he places a tender kiss on my lips.
When he pulls back, he clears his throat and pulls out his phone. “All right, get packed. I’ll call the pilot and let him know we’re ready to leave.”
I nod numbly as he walks out of the room. I want to go home to my empty house. My empty bed. My empty life. I need some time away from everyone. I need to figure out what’s wrong with me. What happened to the girl with morals?
I close my eyes as all energy drains from my body. I slip to the ground, hugging my knees. I miss my life before Kayla died. Before all I felt was pain and hopelessness. Before all I saw was a nightmare. Before I shut down and started doing stupid things.
I need to find the girl I used to be, but I’m not sure she’s in there anymore. I’m not sure she’s strong enough to come back. Because coming back means feeling the loss of her baby and confronting the problems in her marriage. It means facing pain, fear, and guilt. That is so terrifying that living in a state of numbness and denial might just be easier.
All rights reserved. Against All Odds © 2014 Copyright, Angie McKeon.
This one was a 5 star for different reasons for me. It started with Kylie and Cooper already being married, having a baby, and living a good life. Then life being the bitch she is stepped in. Their world was ripped apart and torn into and rather than them healing and repairing; they just continued to step on it, ripping it to its core, and discarding it without a look back. They took what was a devastating loss and turned it into a dark abyss that engulfed not only them but all those that were close to them.
After the devastating loss of their little girl, Kylie and Cooper continue to pull away from one another. Kylie needs her husband; needs him mentally, physically, and sexually. Cooper can’t be that for her. He can’t make love to his wife. When he lost his daughter he lost himself. So when Kylie’s had enough of the rebuking and rejection she offers up a proposition to her husband that no one in their right mind would accept. But he did, like I said – no one in his right mind. He accepted the open marriage proposal and on the outside he was fine with it but on the inside he was dying. There were ground rules: always come home at night, always use a condom, and never ever sleep with a coworker or friend.
Grayson is their best friend. He’s been there from the beginning; he’s watched them fall in love, get married, have a baby and lose that baby and themselves. When Cooper can’t be the husband Kylie needs, Grayson steps in and takes her to appointments, fixes things around the house, and is the shoulder that Kylie needs when she’s falling apart. But what happens when Gray crosses that friend boundary that Coop and Kylie both set up?
Will Cooper stand up and be the real husband she needs? Will he be able to fight through his demons and see what he’s losing, if not lost, already? Can Kylie finally get through to her husband that he’s the man she always sees no matter who she’s with; will they forgive each other for all the pain, the ugliness, the hurt, and the rejection?
This was an ugly cry kind of book – I cried for Kylie, even though she was a selfish bitch, God she was hurting; but Coop, I cried for him more; for his pain and his loss.
Can you ever really get over that hurt and betrayal – I feel like it was betrayal even though it was agreed upon. Can you look at your partner the same, knowing that while she wore your wedding ring she slept with someone else; that she gave that piece of themselves that was meant just for you, to someone else because of the hurt and pain caused by the loss of YOUR child? I don’t know.
I just know this wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t condone cheating but was it cheating in this book? It’s a definite shady area – no black and white – IN MY OPINION. You need to read this for yourselves and see what you think. What would you do? Would you forgive? Forget?
~ Shannon D.
Favorite Quotes:
We share a reckless, toxic love that feeds the brokenness in me, in us. Our love is an addiction. A love that I won’t ever consider living without. (p. 89)
Life’s a fucked up state of fucked up. I learned that the hard way. (p. 8)
“It doesn’t come in pretty packages. Sometimes it dents and bruises and does things it regrets, but it also forgives, shows mercy, and supports. It soothes and fights to the death. (p. 337)
I’m a better man with you by my side. You give me wings and help me fly. You are my today and tomorrow, my beginning and end. (p. 291)
Erasing the distance I just tried to put between us, he lifts my face to his. Our eyes connect, and my pulse—already wild—intensifies.
He looks straight through to the heart of me. “You don’t have to say anything right now. You don’t have to say anything ever. Just think about what I’m saying.” Gaze locked on mine, he places a tender kiss on my lips.
When he pulls back, he clears his throat and pulls out his phone. “All right, get packed. I’ll call the pilot and let him know we’re ready to leave.”
I nod numbly as he walks out of the room. I want to go home to my empty house. My empty bed. My empty life. I need some time away from everyone. I need to figure out what’s wrong with me. What happened to the girl with morals?
I close my eyes as all energy drains from my body. I slip to the ground, hugging my knees. I miss my life before Kayla died. Before all I felt was pain and hopelessness. Before all I saw was a nightmare. Before I shut down and started doing stupid things.
I need to find the girl I used to be, but I’m not sure she’s in there anymore. I’m not sure she’s strong enough to come back. Because coming back means feeling the loss of her baby and confronting the problems in her marriage. It means facing pain, fear, and guilt. That is so terrifying that living in a state of numbness and denial might just be easier.
All rights reserved. Against All Odds © 2014 Copyright, Angie McKeon.
Review: 5 Stars
This one was a 5 star for different reasons for me. It started with Kylie and Cooper already being married, having a baby, and living a good life. Then life being the bitch she is stepped in. Their world was ripped apart and torn into and rather than them healing and repairing; they just continued to step on it, ripping it to its core, and discarding it without a look back. They took what was a devastating loss and turned it into a dark abyss that engulfed not only them but all those that were close to them.
After the devastating loss of their little girl, Kylie and Cooper continue to pull away from one another. Kylie needs her husband; needs him mentally, physically, and sexually. Cooper can’t be that for her. He can’t make love to his wife. When he lost his daughter he lost himself. So when Kylie’s had enough of the rebuking and rejection she offers up a proposition to her husband that no one in their right mind would accept. But he did, like I said – no one in his right mind. He accepted the open marriage proposal and on the outside he was fine with it but on the inside he was dying. There were ground rules: always come home at night, always use a condom, and never ever sleep with a coworker or friend.
Grayson is their best friend. He’s been there from the beginning; he’s watched them fall in love, get married, have a baby and lose that baby and themselves. When Cooper can’t be the husband Kylie needs, Grayson steps in and takes her to appointments, fixes things around the house, and is the shoulder that Kylie needs when she’s falling apart. But what happens when Gray crosses that friend boundary that Coop and Kylie both set up?
Will Cooper stand up and be the real husband she needs? Will he be able to fight through his demons and see what he’s losing, if not lost, already? Can Kylie finally get through to her husband that he’s the man she always sees no matter who she’s with; will they forgive each other for all the pain, the ugliness, the hurt, and the rejection?
This was an ugly cry kind of book – I cried for Kylie, even though she was a selfish bitch, God she was hurting; but Coop, I cried for him more; for his pain and his loss.
Can you ever really get over that hurt and betrayal – I feel like it was betrayal even though it was agreed upon. Can you look at your partner the same, knowing that while she wore your wedding ring she slept with someone else; that she gave that piece of themselves that was meant just for you, to someone else because of the hurt and pain caused by the loss of YOUR child? I don’t know.
I just know this wasn’t what I was expecting. I don’t condone cheating but was it cheating in this book? It’s a definite shady area – no black and white – IN MY OPINION. You need to read this for yourselves and see what you think. What would you do? Would you forgive? Forget?
~ Shannon D.
Favorite Quotes:
We share a reckless, toxic love that feeds the brokenness in me, in us. Our love is an addiction. A love that I won’t ever consider living without. (p. 89)
Life’s a fucked up state of fucked up. I learned that the hard way. (p. 8)
“It doesn’t come in pretty packages. Sometimes it dents and bruises and does things it regrets, but it also forgives, shows mercy, and supports. It soothes and fights to the death. (p. 337)
I’m a better man with you by my side. You give me wings and help me fly. You are my today and tomorrow, my beginning and end. (p. 291)
Author Info:
A multi-tasker from birth—and now proudly able to add 'writer' to my resume—I'm a mother, wife and blogger. I love to read, write and drink copious amounts of iced coffee.
All three aforementioned addictions are detrimental to my sanity
I have a voracious appetite for dark, painful and twisted reads. I'm enamored with the concept of love and heart break. I believe life is a journey, a tale in its own for each of us. The road to happiness is sometimes paved with stones from hell, or glitters of satisfaction graced from the heavens above.
In my upcoming debut novel, 'Against All Odds,' I strive to make you feel. I believe any emotion—whether painful or happy—is good. To me, the key to living is to go through life feeling it’s ups and downs. Love is dark and it can be painful but, at the end of the day, it can save the most lost of souls and the most broken of hearts.
Author Links:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Website: http://angiemckeon.
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