THE HOME WRECKER - Sara Cate

5 stars

Me: I will never read a book with the cheating trope!! Never!!
Sara Cate: Bet.
Me: *immediately smashes that TBR button and consumes the story*

When I tell you I devoured this story, I need you to know that I mean that literally. The Home Wrecker consumed me—this polyamorous story of Caleb, Briar, and Dean was one that I never thought I'd be interested in reading but, once Sara Cate introduced me to these characters, I knew it was all over for me.

I don't like books with the following tropes: cheating, established marriages, or large plots involving children/having children as a main element of the story. I also speed away from all books centered on religion.

The Home Wrecker had all of my no-no list tropes. It's about an established marriage in crisis surrounding two extremely religious characters who are trying to conceive their second child and fracturing apart because of their failures.

Even typing out that sentence, my body is going ICK, PLEASE, NO. Those things are (were) not for me.

But I was intrigued by The Home Wrecker's premise: Briar and Caleb, our married couple, find themselves orbiting around a new man in their lives—Dean.

Dean is an escort with a very open sexuality (he's bi) and a sensuality to his lifestyle that both Briar and Caleb cannot understand. Dean's happy with who he is, he's not religious, and he's not afraid of his own desires and wants.

Both Caleb and Briar are afraid of so many things.

When Dean's presence starts to unravel the tightly wound nest of problems at the core of Briar and Caleb's relationship, all three of them start to realize that maybe... there's something else worth fighting for in this tense cold war.

The core of the story is Briar and Caleb's relationship and how Dean finds his own home and belonging within their arms--I don't want this blurb to sound like Dean is a tool for the "main pairing" to thrive. Sara Cate has written a truly polyamorous love story here and Dean's own personal arc and journey are just as important as both Briar's and Caleb's. The marriage pairing might be the sexy and taboo hook here for the marketing, but I want to highlight Dean's own individualism in this story. His happy ending is very much at play here too.

If you can handle the idea of these tropes, and you're willing to explore non-heteronormative traditional endings and acceptance, then I'd love to point you toward this book. It's a fulfilling and loving story of acceptance and personal growth wrapped up in a very Sara Cate-style sexy package.

Come for the spicy taboo. Stay for the feels. I promise you won't regret it. (And trust Sara on the cheating trope! I did.)

Thank you so much to the author for my advanced reader copy and the wonderful goodie package!!