Book Review – My Time in the Affair by Stylo Fantome

My Time in the Affair
I remember when the pre-order for this one went up, its blurb sent a frisson of emotional fear through so many of my book-friends right here in the comments. Oooooh yesssss, this one sounded perfectly tumultuous, and threatened us with romance-angst at it’s most controversial. That’s right. That title says it all.

But that blurb.

… I’m willing to bet I’ve done things that maybe, just maybe, you have thought of doing.

Maybe, just maybe, you’re not as innocent as you’d like to think.

Or maybe I’m not so guilty …

Yikes!!

Michelle: I just saw she has a new book coming out soon, My Time in the Affair, whose blurb has got me wanting to read it now!

Amy: My Time In the Affair is another one that has me all antsy, Michelle!

Jean: I want My Time in the Affair too! Looks good!

Tessa: Oh Jean, doesn’t My Time in the Affair look so gut wrenching? Hide your head under the blanket gut wrenching? *squee*

Amy: Oooooh Tessa and Jean, should we do a buddy read when My Time In the Affair comes out?? Yes, I’m inserting myself in the conversation and inviting myself to a buddy read!  I’ve been so antsy for that book since Maryse posted it in the preorders last month. …the title + the blurb = possible ANGST!!!!  I love that there’s no judging here.

Tracy: I would live to jump in on the buddy read of My Time in the Affair.

Cheryl: I’m always in for a good buddy read, so I’ll read My Time in The Affair!!

donna: Im in for having an affair no no I mean joining you ladies buddy read of My time in the Affair

Amy: YAY!!!  What do you say, Maryse? Are you gonna join us or are you gonna have us guinea pig it first? Huh? *elbow nudges Maryse* Huh??

Maryse: Amy and crew… I’m in, too!

bev: My Time in the Affair? Nope nope. You ladies are brave.

LOL bev!!! I get you.

Sooooo most of us ( ) decided upon release day to buddy-read this one together (moral support and all that) but there were a few that were too chicken. Or maybe they were just too strong to bend to our peer-pressure. LOL! We’re tumultuous-angst enablers, but we don’t win ‘em all. But you know… so many of us LOVED Arsen, Thoughtless, Collide, 53 Letters For My Lover, Love, in English and so on… so why not add another to our “controversial love stories” belt. I was ready for the pain!!!

And it delivered many of the expected emotions as the story progressed, however… circumstances in her home life made it just a little easier to read in terms of the controversial angle.

Antonella: I just finished My time in the affair by Stylo Fantome which was brilliant

Sharon: I have been completely sucked into My Time in the Affair. This one doesn’t drag at all. Boom, you are in. Ok, back to the book.

Anne: Oh and My Time in the Affair was sooo good!! 5 star read for me!

Michelle: I loved the Affair book, no extra thinking required  It was an easy 5 star for me but I do love her writing style after the Kane Trilogy. I want more from her asap!

From trepidation as she contemplated relief from her romantically neglected marriage (best friends with her husband… but not much else, if you get what I’m saying).

Worse than falling in love. Worse than hating someone. Falling out of love was much, much harder. How does a person say that?

No passion, no excitement, no “couple-stuff”. They were more like roommates than lovers and had been that way for far too long.

I just don’t want him to hate me. Please don’t hate me.

They had talked about it. Multiple times, so Mike could never claim that she hadn’t tried. She suggested therapy. Shot down. She pointed out their problems. Denied. Michael had a rich fantasy life; everything seemed to be fine in his mind.

To the initial intense passion upon meeting that someone.

“I can spot lonely,” he whispered back.

To being terribly conflicted. Opposing thoughts haunt both main characters and her readers, as we experience her excitement and new joie-de-vivre, happiness flooding every cell in her body (or is that endorphins? ) <— I say that! But almost equally flooded with shame,

“…it’s not like that. I’m not like that,” she snapped.”

Only … you kinda are.

…a certain level of remorse and the fear of having to hurt her best friend (aka husband) when she finally decides to end things with her husband.

There is no excuse for what I did. I should have broken up with him. Point, blank, period. I know this. I know this.

But when you’re looking at your best friend, a person who is a part of the fabric of your being, and you can literally see their heart start to break, well … it takes a lot of strength to smash that heart all the way. To disintegrate it.

It takes someone stronger than I am.

To the stigma that follows her around… That big scarlet A.

She felt trapped. Suffocated , yet alone. This is not a subject a woman can talk about with her friends, especially when she’d already expressed her own distaste of cheaters. Hello, hypocrite. How could she explain that to anyone?

And then… well, I’ll let you discover the rest for yourself. Because as expected, things get CRAZY when it’s time to “put up or shut up” and all parties involved are discovered to be harboring secrets. Not just her. AND OMG, ALL of those reveals? I didn’t see them coming. I had my suspicions for one of ‘em… a few different theories, but there was more.

Yours to discover, IF you can handle what many consider to be a morally objectionable storyline. And yet what many consider to be… “life” and love… as hard as it can be at times. The heart wants what the heart wants, and all that.

I’m giving it 4 stars!

Well written and well laid out overall, with surprises, angst, BIG fear and feels. Not as intense for me as some of my favorites in this genre, so I was able to put it down…

(ALERT!!! Please avoid this section below if you haven’t read it yet. Not exactly spoilers because there are plenty of reveals, but just so you go in blindly, best to skip our thoughts and comments in regards to the relationships).

Jean: Yeah, the Affair was not unputdownable for me either, but I still really liked it! Anxious for your review!

Amy: I thought the stuff between Mischa and Tal was fun (and whoa, those sexy times!!!) but I felt like her marriage to Mike was just kinda, I dunno, “there” for the sake of being there but with no real foundation to make her affair seem all that destructive, ya know? I would have liked to feel something for her husband as well. *shrug*

Jean: I really loved the Affair, but agree with Amy on the emotional depth. Didn’t really feel a connection, but i loved the story as a whole and really loved the Epilogue. And of course Tal was a hot sexy dirty talker…. what’s not to love there?

Agreed guys! Exactly. Had I been absolutely torn between the two… and had she been torn, it might have made it that much more intense. But then again, the circumstances kept us “safe” somewhat which many loved about it.

However despite me not being completely addicted to this love story, there were a few moments that had my heart in my throat BIG TIME,  and I just I love that!

4 stars!

Tagged as: 4 stars, contemporary romance, infidelity, love triangle