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Review: Consolation + Conviction (Consolation Duet) by Corinne Michaels

An addictive, tumultuous love story with all the feels.

Adult | Contemporary Romance
Order Now: Consolation – Amazon Kindle | Conviction – Amazon Kindle

Synopsis

$0.99

Liam wasn’t supposed to be my happily ever after.

He wasn’t even on my radar.
He was my husband’s best friend
— forbidden.

But my husband is dead and I’m alone. I ache for him and I reach for Liam.

One night with Liam changed everything. Now I have to decide if I truly love Liam or if he’s just the consolation prize.

My Review

“Lee, If you’re reading this, I’m no longer here.”

The Consolation Duet is rife with heartache, turmoil, guilt and hope. It’s a love story, but not the way one should be… it’s a love story interrupted, a love story unexpectedly found. For Natalie, she never imagined that her worst nightmare would become reality. That the man she fell in love with in her teens, the man she married, the man she said goodbye to, would never again come back. Especially with their baby coming soon.

But Aaron didn’t come back, and Natalie’s life splintered into a million pieces.

“It’s difficult to love someone and know they might not come home, but the idea of not loving him is unimaginable.”

Left behind, on her own with only her now-infant daughter, Natalie (Lee) barely gets by until her husband’s best friend, Liam, is determined to help her. In their grief, with months passing difficultly, they cling to each other as friends, as people who mourn a person they loved. But the more time they spend together, the more something stronger takes root, and both of them feel what they think they should not be allowed to feel.

“I wanted to not what to want you, but I do. I don’t know how or when, but I have these feelings for you. I don’t know if we should do this. I don’t know that either of us is ready for this,” Liam says quietly as we hold each other.”

Liam and Natalie struggle to process their intensifying emotions. They’re afraid to act, but before too long, it’s an ache that couldn’t be left alone. Lee is afraid to betray the memory of her husband, while Liam fears he is simply a consolation prize for the man Lee will always love.

“She needs to decide if it’s me she wants. I sure as hell won’t be the consolation prize.”

But when truths are revealed, the complicated becomes more complicated, and despite Lee’s heartbreak, everything feels right when she’s in Liam’s arms. And just when Lee and Liam make peace with their life, with their love, with their future, more realities threaten everything they’ve built.

“Nothing in this world comes easy, but if it’s right, you fight for it.”

I loved the addictive quality of the story, the ease of reading and the ability to feel everything the story evoked. I felt for Lee and Liam deeply, for the impossible situation they found themselves in, for all the challenges they had to overcome to get their happily ever after. I listened to the books on Audible and loved them, and thus recommend them in any format. If you’re looking to get lost in a gripping, emotional romance, look no further than this compelling duet.