There is a moment before Cora walks in on her husband cheating on her where she is thinking about their marriage. On paper they are so different, but they *fit* and she’s teaching him what love is, because she knows he loves her even though he doesn’t know how to say it. All of that gets exploded and even though she was lying to herself at that moment, in the end, she was right. Cate C. Wells wrote a Christmas romance that opens with Cora catching her husband, Adrian, cheating. So, you know – mess. Mess and angst. I loved it.
So how was that grovel? First, he tried to tell her what’s what, and that she needed to get over it. That doesn’t work. At all. As Cora refuses to fall in line with his expectations, he unravels. Cora asks him several times why he cheated and every time the answer gets a little closer to the truth. The turning point isn’t a grand gesture of atonement on Adrian’s part, but a grand gesture of destruction by Cora. There are big, emotional scenes, but the story focuses more on repair, which to me is more interesting and satisfying. The way they realize how much they have in common and the ways they really do fit was wonderful.
On page cheating is divisive among romance readers. Cheating is a betrayal of trust and a breaking of intimacy that is hard to recover from. Some readers want nothing to do with that kind of betrayal, while others love the angst of a relationship that has fallen apart. Silent Flames does not start with a couple that trust each other, or who truly have intimacy. Adrian breaks the marriage he didn’t realize he had, but what they are able to build in the aftermath is so much better. It reminded me of Run Posy Run – a man doesn’t realize what he has and when he’s broken it, he has to ditch the idea that he’s in control in order to build back a better relationship.
I will read most things in the hands of the right author and the things I will not read are kind of weird (I’ve realized this year that I really hate nanny romances). Cate C. Wells is an author I trust completely and she hasn’t disappointed me here. She grounds her characters in ways that allow me to empathize with their big emotions.
Silent Flames is out December 27. I received this as an advance reader copy from the author. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.
