CAN AN OPEN MARRIAGE SAVE A RELATIONSHIP? OR DOES IT SPELL THE END?

When Alex and Lila married, they dreamed of having a big family. Fourteen years, two children, several miscarriages and a stillbirth later, Lila is devastated when Alex torpedoes that dream by getting a vasectomy without telling her. Alex, a doctor, doesn't believe another pregnancy would be safe for her health or her heart. Lila shuts down-her body, mind, emotions-unable to cope with her guilt from the stillbirth, Alex's betrayal, and her unrelenting ache for another child. They grow apart, functioning as little more than co-parents.

Trust broken, intimacy extinct, Alex proposes an open marriage. A proposal he quickly regrets. Guilt, frustration, and heartache shadow him after each hookup as he realizes there is no substitute for Lila. But it might be too late. Time apart from Alex drives Lila closer to Geneva, a dynamic, yet haunted woman who helps awaken Lila's passion and voice. Secrets, sex and lies come to light, causing Alex and Lila to reassess their motives and desire to save their marriage.

What People are Saying about OPEN

"...an amazing representation of the reality of marriage...You won't be able to set this book down as you watch this relationship wax and wane like a candle in a breeze, and your loyalties shift just as quickly."--Kathie Giorgio, author of If You Tame Me and All Told

"...characters you cannot help but fall in love with, even when ... Like family, you root for them and want to knock some sense into them all at the same time. I was hooked from the first page and didn't want to put it down."--Nora Murray, author of Kingdom Come.

"What a circus to watch these people interact and judge, all the while trying to hold themselves together. Secrets upon secrets drew me in deeper and deeper, clear to the end."--Mary Ann Noe, author of To Know Her

Excerpt

"I'll pick up the kids," he said, always Mr. Fix-It. "Take them over to Nick's for dinner and then drop them off when we're done."

How seamlessly we transitioned into separate lives. A de facto divorced couple. Did he realize it? Did he see how easily we could lose everything? How an open marriage would become a break and ultimately a divorce?

Did he care? Was this step one in a plan to ultimately leave me? "Fine."

"Fine." He didn't say goodbye.

My phone switched back to the lock screen, a picture of Levi and Charlotte smiling with chocolate ice cream on their faces, holding the cones up like souvenirs. I couldn't have it both ways. I had to agree. For them.

Open - pokkari, Englanti, 2021