There are some paths in your life you’re never meant to take. Yet, by some twist of fate, you find yourself on the forbidden road all the same.Those are the words I stumble upon when I unearth a hidden journal that once belonged to my grandmother. A hidden journal that details a heartbreaking affair with her husband’s brother. It’s a family secret I’m unprepared to deal with, especially when my … unprepared to deal with, especially when my own life begins to parallel hers.
Sawyer Gallagher was never on my radar. The moment I met his younger brother, I was taken. Done for. Love-drunk.
But, some things aren’t meant to last and at the age of thirty-three, I find myself divorced, penniless and living with my parents. When Sawyer stops by our family’s antique store, asking for a job, I figure: Why the heck not? Life can’t get much worse.
It doesn’t take long to realize just how different the Gallagher brothers are. Sawyer is kind, supportive, and, oh, did I mention sexy as hell?
In a small town like ours, I can’t help but ask myself…
Can I fall for my former brother-in-law?
Or is this just history repeating itself?
more
I really wanted to love this one but I just did not feel a connection between Elle and Sawyer. Might have worked a bit more for me if there was more of her and Reid’s backstory or maybe even a little previous connection between her and Sawyer. I really didn’t ever feel that their relationship was taboo. I did thoroughly enjoy the epilogue. It was sweet and beautiful. Wish I felt a bit more of that throughout.
I dont know where to start with this book! First I will say that I really loved it! I was hooked from the start! I was sucked right away into Elles world. I immediately was able to connect to Elle. The emotions in this book were real, and so relatable. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
Was given an arc for an honest review
The characters Elle and Sawyer fit well together. Their emotions are so real, I can feel it.
This is my first book by J L Berg. The Affair was not what I was expecting. It was so much more and it doesn’t disappoint. Elle who is divorced, lost her father to Alzhimers. With loss comes the job of cleaning out old things. Elle found out a family secret that she was not prepared for. Will Elle keep the secret to herself? Will Elle tell her mom what she found?
In this book J L Berg writes about love, loss, romance and new beginnings. I loved this book and I highly recommend this book.
A very soft tone book!! Sweet and had a lot of thoughtful moments!!
I was excited to get my hands on this book. I was intrigued by the blurb and I loved the cover. So it saddens me that I am only going to give it a 3.5 star.
I enjoyed the plot and I loved Sawyer the main male character. But I was a little confused about how the story changed up a couple of times throughout the book. I felt like things were skipped over a little.
J.L. Berg delivers with The Affair an emotional and beautiful love story. It made me smile and brought tear to my eyes. I couldn’t wait to start this story after reading the blurb. I was curious about the letters and how Elle and Sawyer’s relationship would develop. The Affair was everything I hoped it would be and more. Another awesome book by the author. The Affair isn’t about an affair of one of the main characters, but the title still fits the story.
Elle moved home after her divorce. She has been working at the family store and she’s the owner now. One day, her ex-brother-in-law Sawyer comes in and asks for a job. Elle hesitates because she wants nothing to do with her ex-husband’s family. But Sawyer can convince her to give him a chance. Elle and Sawyer work very well together and they get to know each other better.
Elle and Sawyer are loveable characters. Elle is caring, determined, smart and hardworking. She is still hesitant about falling in love again, and even more with Sawyer. She doesn’t want to get hurt again. I understood Elle’s hesitation about Sawyer, but I quickly discovered that Sawyer is a great and genuine man and Elle discovered that too. Sawyer is strong, hardworking, kind and caring. He’s a gentleman. He’s nothing like his brother. Sawyer is perfect for Elle, but he has secrets that could ruin their relationship.
Very well written second chance romance. This is indeed a beautiful and emotional book with real likable characters. Elle has been having quite a hard time lately, her dad died and her mom left town leaving her to run the shop all alone. Elle stumbles across some old but intriquing journals which belonged to her grandmother, but her lifes about to change when her ex husbands brother Sawyer makes her a business proposal…
I throughly enjoyed reading this book, i love Elle and Sawyer. An added bonus is the awesomely beautiful cover!!
Every J.L. Berg romance I’ve read has been an emotional journey – one that doesn’t offer many clear answers about the characters’ lives and their choices until they struggle through their bad decisions, their complicated past and the mistakes that were made due to fear or misjudgments.
In her newest release, The Affair, Berg fuses the past and the present together, weaving the journal entries of the heroine’s grandmother with what she herself is facing as she tries to move on from her father’s death and the dissolution of her marriage. And while her nana and she do not share the same experience, what Elle learns through her grandmother’s thoughts and revelations is much needed insight about making a choice and holding to it as well as letting go of the past and living in the present without dwelling on what could have been. But those lessons aren’t easily learned because as much as Elle wants to move forward, confusion and fear seem to have their grasp on her and until she can release their hold on her, she won’t be able to start her new life and hopefully find her way once more.
Elle’s struggles are many given what happened to her father as well as the dissolution of her marriage, but what she struggles with the most is letting go of the life she thought she would have because it’s clear that’s not how things played out and quite frankly, as much as it hurts, it definitely seems like she’s better off. And despite the fear and confusion she feels as her feelings for Sawyer grow, it doesn’t mean that her new chance at love will end up like it did with Reed, she just needs to have the courage to push through the self-doubt and the self-sabotage that will undoubtedly occur.
There is so much push and pull between Elle and Sawyer, which is expected given the nature of their past relationship and the feelings that Sawyer has always had for her, but I didn’t feel like what was building between them was forbidden, even if she was married to Sawyer’s brother. The choices that her ex-husband made led to their divorce, so moving forward with Sawyer, despite the fact that they’re brothers.
There are always lessons to be learned, teachings to be understood in every single one of Berg’s stories, and that’s one of the aspects of her writing and her storytelling that I love. She doesn’t simply write romance for romance sake…she writes to share her thoughts about the human spirit…about the human heart…about the ups and downs of life, of love, and of moving forward, even in the most difficult of situations. And I, for one, love her kind of romances.
4 Poison Apples
This book wasn’t what I was expecting at all. After reading the blurb and the title I thought I would be in for an angst filled ride. That wasn’t the case this was more of an emotional journey helping the heroine deal with what she was going through. J.L. Berg did a fantastic job weaving all the characters and this story together.
I really enjoyed this story and if your like contemporary second chance romances this is the book for you.
4.5 Stars!!
As soon as I read the synopsis I couldn’t wait to have this book in my life! I was hooked from the very beginning and I couldn’t put it down until I reached the end. This book touched my life and truly made me think. I loved it so much!
This journey is one that hit me right in the heart. It wasn’t easy, it was realistic which made me fall in love with it even more. It brought out all of my emotions. I really related to Elle and felt everything that she did. I adored Sawyer and what he brought to the story!
With The Affair, Ms.Berg has created a story that stays with you long after you’ve reached the end. It’s my new favorite book of hers!
*I volunteered to read and review a copy of this book from Wildfire Marketing Solutions / the author*
This was a good story about finding love where you least expect it and finding secrets. Elle has not had a very good year. Between her father and her husband, she’s left in a downward spiral. Then she finds her grandmother’s journals and finds secrets the family never knew about. To make matters worse, her mom leaves to live with her brother and she feels even more lost.
Sawyer shows up to her shop asking for a favor and that starts a relationship she wasn’t expecting, but Elle has trust issues that Sawyer can’t seem to get through. She struggles through her loneliness and feelings of abandonment from her family while exploring her grandmother’s life and her new found romance .
There’s a touch of taboo with this story and there are affairs, just like the book title, but not where you’re expecting. It was definitely a story about finding more than just where you belong in life.
Confession time: I haven’t read a book by J.L. Berg in well over a year. I saw the cover for The Affair and I didn’t even read what it was about I just went for it. I got swept away in this emotional second-chance story that spanned a few generations.
Mini spoiler alert…this isn’t a typical romance. Elle and Sawyer’s journey was full of pain and missed chances, half truths and bold moves. I liked that Sawyer put himself out there. He didn’t back down from what he wanted and went for it. Even when Elle was less than enthused with his presence and cheer, there was something about him that she just wanted to be near.
And at the center of this budding friendship, and possibly something more, is a mystery that is slowly unfolding with the words of an old journal. Elle is trying to reconcile what she’s reading with the woman she knew. And how similar it is to her situation…Cue the turmoil and second guessing.
Emotionally charged from the start, The Affair is a realistic look at grief, sacrifice, forgiveness and trust. Not just trusting others, but yourself as well. Trusting that you’re worth it. That love is worth it. And while Elle and Sawyer learned that lesson the hard way, learning it together only made their bond that much stronger.
I wasn’t sure about the title. I have always loved her books. This book was awesome as always! I loved the relationship between Elle and Sawyer. He never gave up on her. I would have like to have had a more of their story that takes place in the future. I have really missed JL’s books.
Five heartbreaking stars
I loved absolutely everything about this book. The characters, the story, even the cover. I loved it all. It started out just as it ended, pulling at my heart strings.
Elle and Sawyer are totally made for each other. They fit. This is so much more than just a book about a affair. It’s most likely not what your thinking so please give it a chance. It’s heartbreaking beautiful and it totally stole my heart. Loved it!
*Review by Michelle
Five heartbreaking stars
I loved absolutely everything about this book. The characters, the story, even the cover. I loved it all. It started out just as it ended, pulling at my heart strings.
Elle and Sawyer are totally made for each other. They fit. This is so much more than just a book about a affair. It’s most likely not what your thinking so please give it a chance. It’s heartbreaking beautiful and it totally stole my heart. Loved it!
I was captivated by the cover And title, then I started reading and I was enthralled by this gorgeous story from beginning to end.
The title really is just a tease about the story.
Told in the POV of the heroine, the author offers a unique and charming perspective to the overall story.
This is much more than a romance. This is a story of second chances, self discovery and new beginnings.
Well written with enchanting characters, this story had so many complex layers making up the whole story. I would have liked more development of Elle and Sawyer’s story.
This book was so incredibly good that you can’t help but get emotional and fall in love with the H & h. Very few books I still think about after they end, this one is still in my head. Elle’s life has been turned inside out on every level imaginable and she is still dealing with the tremendous hurt and aftershocks and on top of all that she’s now taking the family business and is beyond overwhelmed until her ex brother in law, Sawyer, makes her a proposition she can’t refuse. These two are both dealing with there own issues but they somehow feel better in each other presence. I thought Elle was a perfect heroine, no matter what was thrown at her (and it was a lot) she was determined not to give up and Sawyer was incredible on every level.
Elle had been in love but when her husband decided to change plans, she decided to come home. Sawyer had a crush on Elle but would anything happen? Could Elle learn to trust again?
There has never been a book by JL Berg I did not enjoy and The Affair was no exception. From the start this novel was an emotional one that will tug at your heartstrings and you will be unable to put it down. It’s a story about heartbreak and healing and moving on. The characters were flawed and complex yet very likable and relatable. I loved Sawyer and his persistence where Elle was concerned just made me swoon. You could feel the intensity of the chemistry between them and it was fascinating watching their story unfold. Although the ending felt a bit rushed I enjoyed this story and would highly recommend it to all lovers of contemporary romance.
This book takes us through all the emotions! This story has heartache, anger, hurt, sadness, secrets, hope, strength, love and second chances. I really enjoyed Sawyer and Elle’s story. Sawyer is swoony! A good storyline that grabbed me from the beginning and kept my attention. I would recommend!