The Forbidden by Jodi Ellen Malpas

The Forbidden by Jodi Ellen Malpas 

SUMMARY

What do you do when you can't control your feelings for someone? When you know you shouldn't go there? Not even in your head.
Annie has never experienced the 'spark' with a guy-the kind of instant chemistry that steals your breath and blindsides you completely. Until a night out with friends brings her face to face with the wickedly sexy and mysterious Jack. It's not just a spark that ignites between them. It's an explosion. Jack promises to consume Annie, and he fully delivers on that promise.

Overwhelmed by the intensity of their one night together, Annie slips out of their hotel room. She is certain that a man who's had such a powerful impact on her and who could bend her to his will so easily, must be dangerous. But she's already in too deep. And Jack isn't only dangerous. He is forbidden.

MY REVIEW

He said if the Fates ever led me to him again, he wouldn't let me go.
And he just did.
To go and meet his wife.

So...hmm...I think I may love this story for slightly different reasons in comparison to the reasons most of the others readers liked it.

Reason 1 for loving this story:
The infidelity per se. Yes, I know that most people who love romance, they normally hate infidelity stories i.e. broken marriages, love triangles, broken promises, other women and men who get involved and destroy a union. I normally hate this kind of stories, too.
BUT when infidelity is not a hobby, when the person who has broken a promise is a good person, when he has not done it before, when there are reasons that have driven him apart from his wife, when the other woman deeply loves that guy and she is a good person too, when there are powers beyond them that brought them together, when they both resist and they cannot stop,
THEN we can have a story full of passion and strong feelings that result from guilt and deep undeniable love, we can have tear jerking scenes which make you stop breathing, we can have blameworthy hope for happy endings that were not supposed to exist,
BECAUSE in the romance world the other woman is the one to blame, the other woman is the one who should be punished in the end, the other woman is the bitch who killed the holly marriage.
I just want to remind you one of the classic romance books: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë. Let’s not forget the horrible secret Mr. Rochester is hiding from his beloved (soon to be married to) Jane.
"Am I hideous, Jane?", he asks. "Very, sir. You always were, you know", she replies.
I always cry when I read this book…
It is a shame really that not many romance books lately include the adultery topic in the story without blaming the other woman or the other man.

Reason 2 for loving this story:
The story proves that domestic violence is something that can happen to anyone. And when I say anyone, I mean ANYONE.
In our story, Jack is our usual Alpha male: strong, with a good steady job, bossy, dangerous, determined, good-looking, with good friends, with good sense of humor, The Man. He could have any woman he wants.
But he is married and he is miserable. And he is faithful and committed to a sick relationship until he meets Annie.
Now, this particular man suffers from abuse: Psychological/emotional abuse and Physical violence. His wife belittles him, accuses him, threatens him with her life, keeps him unwillingly and of course hits him whenever she feels like it.
And this does not make him less of a man. He is still strong, full of love and commitment and he still feels guilty when he needs a way out.
I have not read something like that in another book. I am happy that I found it in this book.

I. ABSOLUTELY. LOVED. THIS.STORY.