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Title: Love Her or Lose Her
Author: Tessa Bailey
Sub-genre: Contemporary
Trope(s): Marriage in trouble
So not going to lie, marriage in trouble is not my favorite trope. Maybe because I’m married and I don’t want to think about my marriage ever being in trouble. Maybe because I really thrive on that new sexual tension that just isn’t realistic in a story about people who have been married for ten years (not that married people can’t have passion, it’s just a different kind of passion). I knew going into this one that it might be hard for me, and it was.
We met Rosie and Dominic in Tessa’s previous book, Fix Her Up, and were introduced to at least a hint of their issues. In this one, we learn early on that communication between Rosie and Dominic has completely broken down. The two don’t talk at all, and really only interact during their once a week sex sessions, which are for some reason, still super hot and heavy. Rosie eventually decides she is going to leave Dominic and moves in with her best friend. Dom doesn’t want to lose her, so he agrees to go to counseling. Rosie finds the most out there therapist she can and she and Dom begin attending sessions. Probably the most interesting thing they are forced to do is not have sex. The two learn to communicate with one another, and open up about some of the resentments they have been keeping secret. Except Dom still keeps one pretty major secret from Rosie that she uncovers, putting them right back at the beginning of their issues. But of course, they are able to come together in the end for their HEA.
So I had a couple of main problems with this story. A lot of it is super unrealistic. The therapy the couple goes to is presented as this super hippy dippy trippy out there therapy, and really, everything they are made to do is completely normal. Nothing they encounter in their therapist sessions is weird at all. Second, much is made of Dom’s time spent in the military and how it made him keep things inside, but none of that is ever truly addressed. Does he have PTSD? Is it just the being away from home? I don’t know because we never really got a lot of info there. Which makes Dom come off as just a smidge below toxic. A lot of the things he said and did really rubbed me the wrong way. I think Tessa is known for her alpha heroes (I’ve only ever read this one and Fix Her Up, which also has a very alpha hero) and I think it’s just not my thing. There’s a big difference between protective alpha and controlling alpha and Dom fell too far into controlling for my tastes.
Finally, the secret Dom is keeping from Rosie, is a) practically impossible and b) in my opinion, an unforgivable secret. SPOILER ALERT: Dom buys a house without Rosie’s knowledge and doesn’t tell her for over a year. Okay, let’s break this down. Dom is a contractor, Rosie works at a department store perfume counter. They already own a home, which in 2020, means they have a mortgage payment. Yet somehow, without selling this home they live in, Dom is able to get approved for a second mortgage, and pay TWO mortgage payments without Rosie ever having any idea? These people are working middle class. That is not possible in 2020. Also, a married couple buying a home would have to have both parties’ signatures on multiple documents. So the fact that this secret second home was the source of their major dark moment was complete BS. Plus. If my husband ever went out and bought a fucking house without telling me, we would be done–and we keep most of our financial stuff separate. I would NEVER make a purchase like that without telling him, and same for him.
The only real upside in this book for me was the dirty talk, which Tessa is a master of. But that was not nearly enough to keep me in the story. I liked the formation of the girl power club in the first book, but it’s hard for me to feel yeah, girl power, when the heroes are so cocky and dismissive. After this, I think I’ve decided Tessa Bailey is not for me. Which makes me sad, but hey, to each her own.
Overall Rating: 3 stars
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