Is their love powerful enough to overcome a betrayal that shook the foundation of their marriage? Lina and Phil Hunter have been together since they were teenagers. Twenty-five years later, they have successful careers, three teenage children and a beautiful home. Phil also has a baby with another woman, the by-product of a four-month affair. This is a story of second chances, loyalty and … redemption as the Hunters try to put their lives and family back together.
This standalone novel is the sequel to A White Picket Fence.
Laura Branchflower is a contemporary romance author of four novels including A Sense of Belonging and A White Picket Fence. She has a BS in Journalism and an MBA from University of Maryland. An avid hiker and lover of anything outdoors, she lives with her dog Chandler in the suburbs of Washington, DC.
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Spoilers
Okay, I’ve finished both books and here are my thoughts; I hate Phil, but not because of the way he handled the aftermath of his affair, but because of his personality. I’ll tackle the affair first.
I feel like there was some redemption in Swimming Naked simply because he never denies the affair was wrong nor does he ever try to shift blame to anyone else for his behavior. I do believe he was incredibly in love with Lina, and felt true guilt and remorse for his actions. So, in a lot of ways he’s much better than many cheating heroes I’ve read. Also, and this was huge for me for reasons I’ll explain later, he loved Liam, never turned his back on him, and did the right thing by seeking and getting sole custody of him. Liam, like his other children, was totally innocent in the affair and a victim of his parents selfishness. He deserved better parents than either of them and I think he got that with Lina.
But, beyond all that, I found everything else about Phil loathsome. His ideas regarding just about everything from religion to gender roles to parenting to education and classism was repulsive to me. The idea that Logan wasn’t “manly” enough and was a weak “mama’s boy” because he actually acknowledged and expressed his emotions is ignorant, damaging, and archaic.
His blatant sexism and double standard regarding sex and dating between his son and daughters, again, was archaic, disgusting, and damaging.
He refused to entertain or consider any idea or life philosophy that didn’t align with his own. He was a narrow-minded bigot who belittled and ridiculed anything or anyone he couldn’t understand, even his children.
And, because I dont want to offend anyone, I’ll refrain from going into detail about all the ways in which I think his religious ideologies are disgusting and how his behaviour in all things from parenting to his affair is in direct opposition to Christianity. Suffice it to say, I find everything about this character offensive and odious. *Blech*
Before I get into what I did like about these books, I want to add that I absolutely hated the lack of boundaries Lina’s mother and sister’s exhibited. I guess because I grew up in a family that never acknowledged personal boundaries and only demonstrated toxic relationships, this is a trigger for me. Not one member of Lina’s family kept her confidences, gave her true support during her marital crises, or respected her wishes regarding her children or home. And she was too much of a doormat to do anything about any of it.
I honestly didn’t like anyone in these books with the exception of Nick, Logan, and Liam.
Finally, the only thing I liked about this story is that Lina not only accepted Liam, but loved him. As a woman who couldn’t have children, and has had a cheating husband, I feel like I can confidently say I would have been able to look past the pain and betrayal of his parents and loved a child from my husbands affair. And in a similar situation where neglect or abuse was present, I would have taken them in and raised them as my own. I simply couldn’t turn my back on any child in need, even one conceived by my husbands betrayal. In this situation, I could have, and would have, turned my back on my husband, but never this child. The scene where they went to pick up Liam from the babysitter over Christmas and he was laying on the dirty floor with a bottle and bites all over his back absolutely gutted me. It’s the only time I cried reading these books. That he was abused and neglected only made me hate Phil, Kim, and Lina even more.
I struggled with how to rate these books because I found these characters so repugnant but the author did a fantastic job writing this story. All things considered, collectively, I think the books are 4 stars for me.