Frayed Silk

"It's not love you should fear but, rather, the things you might do for it."^^ You know it's a good sign when you're highlighting the epigraph :)To say I loved this story would been an understatement. And the ironic thing about it is I don't gravitate toward stories with cheating and/or love triangles. Not because I hate the content, but because I typically don't enjoy how authors portray such stories. I don't believe all infidelity is black-and-white. Frayed Silk is a perfect example of this!Dahlia (Lia) broke my heart! It's pretty rare for me to be satisfied with a single POV lately, but she had me completely enthralled. She's the last person you'd think of if you heard the word "cheater." She loves her husband and is devoted to her children. All she wants is to keep her family together..."I don't really want a divorce. Far from it. I just want my husband back. I just want my heart to stop hurting every time I look at him, and he looks away from me."But Leo is constantly pushing her away, and she doesn't understand why. There are a few flashback scenes and he clearly adores her, so it's easy to see why Lia is confused. And while cheating isn't the right answer, it's also easy to see how she got there."I can't keep waiting on him. I can't keep hanging on by a frayed thread. I think it needs to snap, once and for all. Let the pieces fall where they may."Lia is desperate. Alone. In pain. And she turns to a man—Jared—who is paying attention to her."My conscience is screaming at me. But this stupid need for some form of happiness and vengeance, I don't even know—wins out.""It feels too good to be cared for like this again for me to simply run out the door. Back to my cold house and even colder husband."I loved Jared's character! One, because he was a lot of fun, and two, because he was actually very similar to past Leo. Ella did an amazing job of crafting his character. It was obvious (to me) that Lia was falling for the parts of Leo that he'd been keeping from her. His affection, his lightheartedness, his love.But once she gets what she wants from Jared, and Leo finds out, she doesn't want the pieces to fall anymore. She doesn't know what to do or how to fix anything."In a daze, I stare at the mess, wondering why, when there's so many missing pieces, so many irreparably broken fragments, you would even contemplate trying to piece it all back together. It'd be a misshapen cluster of desperation. A warped memory of what it once was, never to be the same again."When we eventually find out why Leo pulled away, the situation becomes even more complicated. We didn't get Leo's POV, but I fell for him just as hard! He didn't immediately forgive Lia, but he didn't make her suffer either. He was willing to own up to his mistakes."We're in this together. Like we used to be, like we always should've been," he says.I enjoyed many aspects of this book, but watching them work through their problems—both admitting their share of the blame—was one of my favorites!"And while I understand that some things can't be repaired, they can always be remade into something better."^ This is undoubtedly my FAVORITE QUOTE!!!!Obviously if you're a strict safety ganger, I wouldn't recommend this book. But if you're like me, if you occasionally enjoy cheating/love triangle storylines but are wary of them, this is the book you should take a chance!The only complaint I had (hence the obnoxious 0.5 deduction) was that I wish the situation surrounding Leo was a little more fleshed out.This was slight in comparison to everything else, though. It's hard to believe it's Ella's debut novel, that's how good it is. The characters were amazing and the storyline was well-developed and intriguing. Add in stunning writing and a gorgeous cover, and this was a complete winner for me!I've already devoured Cyanide and I'm FREAKING READY FOR Corrode! <3 Ella Fields has quickly, and easily, become one of my go-to authors!

It’s been awhile since I started and finished a book in a day. And by awhile, I mean June. Frayed Silk had me glued to my iPad; I could NOT put this book down. My heart raced through every chapter of this book, craving more. The neglect, the secrets, and the longing were weaved together to deliver a beautiful story that gave my head and my heart a run for their money. I had no idea what to expect, but was pleasantly surprised along the way. Thank you for the ride, Ella!Now, before we get in too deep with my feelings about this story let’s address the trigger warning: this book contains cheating. No, that’s not a spoiler; it’s written in the synopsis, shown above, and I’m reiterating it here, just in case. I know is a hard no for some of you but, me being me, I’m not fazed by it. I actually enjoy reading books with cheating to learn about the mindsets and reasoning behind these actions.Our story is written from our heroine, Dahlia’s, point of view. Right off the bat, the story dives into the various issues surrounding her feelings toward her husband and the trouble their marriage has been in for the past few months. I didn’t judge. I didn’t hate Dahlia for her actions or doing what she did. I’ve been in a situation similar to hers and I understand the want, the longing, and the excitement of wanting to be wanted. Literally, what other choice did she have? It’s a catch-22 situation, she was stuck.The first half of the story had my emotions in turmoil. I’m not a huge adrenaline junkie but this book made me feel like one. My heart was racing, my mind was plotting, my eyes couldn’t move fast enough to figure out the next piece of the puzzle. I was secretly cheering Dahlia on, hoping she could break the barrier and find some happiness again. I’d be a terrible guardian-angel; my advice would be, “You do what makes you happy, just be smart about it.” And Dahlia was.There was a certain twist that threw me for a loop. I knew said twist exists in the real world, and is a very serious topic that is often thrown under the bus, but I was halted in my place when I made this discovery. Gah, I can’t say too much on this without spoiling anything or even discuss my emotions at the time cause that’ll give it away, too!There were parts of the book that I really wanted chapters from the other character’s POVs. (Luckily, when you read the book and join the author’s reader group on Facebook, there’s a bonus scene from another beloved character. I read it last night after stalking through old posts and HUZZAH, it was great!) I guess that’s my only negative thought, and it’s not even negative! I read a lot of dual-POV and my brain is used to swapping back and forth between characters so when I pick a book up like this, my brain is all ‘wait, I can relax? And not go back and forth? SWEEEEEEEET!’ <-- It has a mind of its own, what can I say.The second half of this book was a bit slower than the first, but at least I had time to steady my blood pressure. A whole new can of worms opens up and had to be handled with a new frame of mind. I would’ve like to see the first half drawn out a bit more- keep my newly acquired adrenaline-seeking-self on the edge of my seat a bit longer.If cheating is iffy for you, my advice is to keep an open mind. I guess that’s my advice for anyone thinking about diving into this. It’s eye-opening, challenging, and heart-warming. I think you’ll be surprised when you finally decide which team to cheer on.

I had high expectations for this book because of the numerous positive reviews, but I was disappointed after reading it. The story revolved around the crumbling marriage of Lia and Leo. It was told only in her POV and from the beginning, she stated she wanted a divorce and had done everything in her power to find out from Leo why he was shutting her out and becoming a workaholic. Lia does end up seeking comfort and receiving desire from a fellow volunteer at a charitable organization. It is only when he finds them in a compromising position that Leo opens up to the real reason he has been a neglectful husband. From there, the rest of the book was rebuilding their marriage, trust, and love life. I felt that Lia gave up on her marriage too quickly in the beginning. Why does her having an affair the only trigger for Leo to fix his marriage? I saw Lia as needy and the first person to show her that she was still attracted warranted a full blown affair. Marriage is hard work and I thought Lia and Leo were both to blame for their lack of trust. I am glad it worked out in the end, but I could have skipped this book. I just couldn't connect to either Lia or Leo.

Some books just talk about the protagonists day to day, this boo, does well on keeping the reader hooked from the start. It's a story that covers topics most other books don't talk about and it's really sweet and a good read. I'm on kindle unlimited for books like these. Love ella fields so much!

Francamente dopo aver letto A Prince so cold mi aspettavo davvero di più, ma questo libro manca completamente dell'intensità dell'altro, è superficiale e il "colpo di scena" così come chiamato in alcune recensioni, è ridicolo.

I totally fell in love with this book and the story it had to tell. The author captured the emotions and feelings of these characters perfectly. I read this book in a day, I was enchanted, devastated, and enthralled with what I was reading because Ella Fields writing was just perfection all round.Dahlia and Leo are a married couple with two lovely children but in the last several months Leo has been pulling away from Dahlia, working late, he's cold towards her, the sex is non existent and poor Dahlia hasn't a clue what is going on with her husband. She is at her wits end and even though she has tried talking to him many a time he gives her no clue what's going on in that head of his. Is he having an affair ? Is he ill ? her mind is in turmoil as she tries to reach out to him.I adored these two characters, at first I was all for Dahlia, the doting loving wife and mother; but as the story unfolds it was Leo that held my heart and made me cry and when you read this book you will find out why. To say I was shocked would be an understatement, you wouldn't guess this story line in a million years and I commend the author for that. As you can imagine feelings at times were raw, heartbreaking and just downright hopelessness seeped from the pages as I turned each one, but in the background I always felt there was hope even though at times I could have strangled Dahlia and give her a good shake because this lady took risks that I never would of, but then the situation she found herself in - maybe I would have too? This book will have you questioning yourself and these two complex characters.The only thing that would have made this more perfect for me was if we could have had a few chapters from Leo's POV, this was all in Dahlia's POV but the overall conclusion to this book is phenomenal and I loved it so.My first read by Ella Fields but it won't be my last - totally worth grabbing this today !!!

Absolutely a 5 star read for me ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Ok let me start off by saying I am not usually a big fan of cheating in books. This is because it's usually handled poorly and quickly forgiven with little thought on why it happened and what it means for the characters afterwards. Not here. Nope. This author achieved the impossible - she got me to not only overlook the cheating but to actively support the character in her choices. This is a raw, heartbreaking story with plot twists you won't see coming. I can't tell you much without ruining the story and I don't want to do that because it's rare these days an author can make me genuinely gasp while reading a book and Ella Fields managed that - more than once.The book has beautiful dialogue, moments where the character's pain is so real you can feel it. The characters are allowed to be flawed and tell the story as it comes - with absolutely no sugar coating.She also wrote some of the hottest sex scenes I have read this year, and really if we're honest, who doesn't want hot sex in their books.This is definitely not your average predictable HEA Love Story but it's ABSOLUTELY a Love Story. A real, raw, beautiful love story. So I hope that readers don't let the cheating warning put them off. It's a story of what love really looks like when awful things happen, daily life gets in your way and how your actions have consequences. I definitely recommend you read this book.

I really enjoyed this book. Shows the aftermath of infidelity and how male victims deal with SA.It was written well, only downside was I would have liked to read Leo's POV to see how he was dealing with what happened to him and what he was thinking.