Book Review
The Opposite Of Love by Dahlia Salvatore
Publisher: Booktrope
Publication Date: April 1, 2015
Format: Paperback - 180 pages
Kindle - 2671 KB
Nook - 344 KB
ISBN: 978-1620156520
ASIN: B00VKBUF5I
BNID: 2940151377140
Genre: Erotic Romance
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Disclaimer: I have received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review and participation in a virtual book tour event hosted by Chick Lit Plus Blog Tours.
Book Description:
What do you do when fate doesn't offer you a happily ever after?
Everyone must choose his or her own path.
I chose to play pretend.
I lived every day with guilt, frustration, and dissatisfaction. Despite the fact that we loved each other, my husband didn’t want me. Counselors and doctors had no answers for us. For a long time, I longed for something I couldn’t have. For love, I sacrificed pleasure. I struggled against desires ... until I got stuck in a cabin during a raging blizzard with Luc Partridge.
And I simply couldn't ignore the truth anymore ...
Book Excerpt:
Chapter Four
If you've made it this far without scoffing, putting down the book, and browser window to write an ugly review of my memoir, I applaud you. Like I said, I'm not perfect. I made a choice, to play pretend, to allow Luc Partridge to soil my chastity. But damn was it good. I wish you could know how good it was. Luckily for you readers, you probably don't know the pain of a sexless marriage. Or maybe you do, but your morality is stored in some proverbial, unscalable, tungsten-carbide fortress.
I'm happy there are women out there who have the ability to resist the urge. I am. Honestly. I know it's hard to tell by reading the words on the page, but I'm not being facetious.
But, as you can plainly see, I couldn’t resist. I was weak. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my husband. It was that I hadn't been able to find a suitable replacement for sex. To this day, I still believe there isn't one. You can drink all the wine and eat all the chocolate and pasta in the world, but nothing beats being physically loved by another person. And that's part of my personal truth.
That's what this book is about, my personal truth, my life, and my mistakes.
You have yours and I have mine. There's not a single one of you who hasn't made mistakes. Even if they taste different in your mouth when you chew them, or present themselves in a different shade of wrong than mine do... they are still mistakes.
I love people for their errors and imperfections, and even if you don't love me for mine, you certainly shouldn't hate me for them.
You see, taking a lover for myself was the first real selfish thing I'd ever done. I'd always been self-sacrificing, had always taken the burden of the work for every problem on myself. I had given Dan every day of my life since our relationship began, and hadn't received what I thought was my equal due: to be loved as a woman should, as a soul inside a body that needed passion.
Luc was all passion, which is something I will elaborate on as my story continues.
Where was I before? Ah, yes, the owner's cabin.
If we fast-forward to the end of the trip, we find ourselves looking down on a diminished blizzard. The snow had cleared and the sky had turned a pale shade of blue. I was sore, but that renewal I'd expected had definitely come. I hoped it was there to stay.
If you've made it this far without scoffing, putting down the book, and browser window to write an ugly review of my memoir, I applaud you. Like I said, I'm not perfect. I made a choice, to play pretend, to allow Luc Partridge to soil my chastity. But damn was it good. I wish you could know how good it was. Luckily for you readers, you probably don't know the pain of a sexless marriage. Or maybe you do, but your morality is stored in some proverbial, unscalable, tungsten-carbide fortress.
I'm happy there are women out there who have the ability to resist the urge. I am. Honestly. I know it's hard to tell by reading the words on the page, but I'm not being facetious.
But, as you can plainly see, I couldn’t resist. I was weak. It wasn’t that I didn’t love my husband. It was that I hadn't been able to find a suitable replacement for sex. To this day, I still believe there isn't one. You can drink all the wine and eat all the chocolate and pasta in the world, but nothing beats being physically loved by another person. And that's part of my personal truth.
That's what this book is about, my personal truth, my life, and my mistakes.
You have yours and I have mine. There's not a single one of you who hasn't made mistakes. Even if they taste different in your mouth when you chew them, or present themselves in a different shade of wrong than mine do... they are still mistakes.
I love people for their errors and imperfections, and even if you don't love me for mine, you certainly shouldn't hate me for them.
You see, taking a lover for myself was the first real selfish thing I'd ever done. I'd always been self-sacrificing, had always taken the burden of the work for every problem on myself. I had given Dan every day of my life since our relationship began, and hadn't received what I thought was my equal due: to be loved as a woman should, as a soul inside a body that needed passion.
Luc was all passion, which is something I will elaborate on as my story continues.
Where was I before? Ah, yes, the owner's cabin.
If we fast-forward to the end of the trip, we find ourselves looking down on a diminished blizzard. The snow had cleared and the sky had turned a pale shade of blue. I was sore, but that renewal I'd expected had definitely come. I hoped it was there to stay.
My Book Review:
The Opposite Of Love is an intriguing story that follows the personal journey of Brooke Wessex as her dissatisfaction with her marriage leads her on an unexpected search to discover what she really wants in her life. A trip to the mountains and a raging blizzard leaves Brooke stuck in a cabin with a sexy man named Luc Partridge, where she is seduced by the desires and pleasures that he offered ... and discovers what has been missing in her life: to have passion and be loved as a woman should be.
Author Dahlia Salvatore weaves a riveting tale that delves into the dynamics of marriage and the issues of intimacy, love, and satisfaction. Brooke's story is a realistic one about a woman who is unhappy in her marriage, and although they have sought help and still loved each other, there was no recapturing of what they once had sexually, which left Brooke longing for the opposite of love: passion and desire. Brooke unexpectedly finds passion and desire in the arms of Luc Partridge, but Luc has his own secrets, and their affair leads Brooke on a path to discover what she really wants in her life.
The Opposite Of Love is so much more than a typical erotic romance story that generally revolves around sensual sexual activity. This story has an interesting theme of intertwining the dynamics of marriage and the difficult choice to follow the path to seek satisfaction and fulfillment in life. There is a sense of reality within Brooke and Dan's marriage that the reader can relate to, and when you add in the unexpected passionate affair between Brooke and Luc, the author engages the reader to follow Brooke as she questions her marriage and embarks on a journey to find out what she really wants in life. I really enjoyed following Brooke's journey, I empathized with her feelings of dissatisfaction and longing in her marriage, while getting swept away by the passion that she found in Luc's arms, and cheered her on as she chose the right path to follow. Author Dahlia Salvatore has a way of weaving a story that leaves the reader wanting more!
RATING: 5 STARS
Dahlia Salvatore is a thirty-two-year-old female author living in Seattle, Washington with her husband. She comes from Coos Bay, Oregon and moved to Seattle six years ago. She loves the west coast and doesn’t see herself anywhere else.
Her influences include contemporary writers J.K. Rowling, Mary Balogh, Christina Dodd, Stephanie Laurens, Laurell K. Hamilton, Anne Rice, Stephen King, and many many others.
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The Opposite Of Love is an intriguing story that follows the personal journey of Brooke Wessex as her dissatisfaction with her marriage leads her on an unexpected search to discover what she really wants in her life. A trip to the mountains and a raging blizzard leaves Brooke stuck in a cabin with a sexy man named Luc Partridge, where she is seduced by the desires and pleasures that he offered ... and discovers what has been missing in her life: to have passion and be loved as a woman should be.
Author Dahlia Salvatore weaves a riveting tale that delves into the dynamics of marriage and the issues of intimacy, love, and satisfaction. Brooke's story is a realistic one about a woman who is unhappy in her marriage, and although they have sought help and still loved each other, there was no recapturing of what they once had sexually, which left Brooke longing for the opposite of love: passion and desire. Brooke unexpectedly finds passion and desire in the arms of Luc Partridge, but Luc has his own secrets, and their affair leads Brooke on a path to discover what she really wants in her life.
The Opposite Of Love is so much more than a typical erotic romance story that generally revolves around sensual sexual activity. This story has an interesting theme of intertwining the dynamics of marriage and the difficult choice to follow the path to seek satisfaction and fulfillment in life. There is a sense of reality within Brooke and Dan's marriage that the reader can relate to, and when you add in the unexpected passionate affair between Brooke and Luc, the author engages the reader to follow Brooke as she questions her marriage and embarks on a journey to find out what she really wants in life. I really enjoyed following Brooke's journey, I empathized with her feelings of dissatisfaction and longing in her marriage, while getting swept away by the passion that she found in Luc's arms, and cheered her on as she chose the right path to follow. Author Dahlia Salvatore has a way of weaving a story that leaves the reader wanting more!
RATING: 5 STARS
About The Author
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Tour Schedule:
June 8 - Polishedand Bubbly – Review
June 9 - ChickLit Goddess – Excerpt
June 10 - CoffeeholicBookworm – Review & Excerpt
June 11 - Chick Lit Plus – Excerpt
June 12 - SultrySteamy Reading – Review
June 15 - Jersey Girl Book Reviews – Review & Excerpt
