Conviction - Book Review

By Corinne Michaels

Synopsis

I fell in love with Liam only to be left shattered into a million pieces. Again. The idea of being without him cripples me but the reality is, he’s gone.

He doesn’t understand and I can’t make him.

If only he’d see the conviction behind my words—then he’d still be here.

Review

After reading CONSOLATION, May 27th was a long time coming let me tell you. I could not wait to read the conclusion of Natalie and Liam’s story in CONVICTION and I was not disappointed. The opening scene was amazing and what I suspect a reunion with a presumed dead cheating husband would be: shock; happiness; and anger. It was all there.

I loved Natalie’s strength. She was determined to show Liam that he would always be her choice. She was mindful of what Aaron had endured throughout the year he was missing and tried not to hurt him, but he deserved some hurt and she never backed down when he attacked her relationship with Liam. I thought Liam also handled the situation very well. He had his doubts as to whether Natalie would choose him over Aaron given that he is her husband and father of her child. But he never used his doubts against her, knowing the mental toll everything was taking on her. And like Natalie, he pushed back when Aaron would attack him for sleeping with his wife, never afraid to lay the blame of Aaron’s failed marriage back at Aaron’s feet. And speaking of Aaron, you know what? I didn’t hate him in this book. He was a lousy husband who hurt his wife terribly and I was disappointed that it took him a long time to admit his fault. I didn’t like that he constantly lied to Natalie about the extent of the affair and that while he was claiming it had nothing to do with her, was subtly blaming her for his straying. But you could see he was a desperate man, that he realised too late the treasure he’d thrown away and was desperate to say anything to get his wife back.

Natalie never wavered in her love for Liam and she never gave Aaron a chance at winning her back. Most authors would have done the opposite, creating drama purely for drama’s sake. But not Corinne and I really liked that. There was enough drama with Liam being deployed and worrying if Aaron was going to snap that there didn’t need to be any more. There is a bit of dialogue repetition, and I was confused as to why Natalie was shocked at Liam’s proposal near the end considering he said several times he’d marry her when he got back. But other than that, it was a beautiful story that ended in a HEA that was happy, funny and quite honestly, perfect.