A Negotiation of Wounds by Michael Stephenson

A Negotiation of Wounds (Negotiation Series, #1

WARNING - This review contains information about the book you will find out as you read it.


I read the description before agreeing to read the book: "Love and Happiness once dwelled together in homes throughout this world. But now, it seems as if more homes have come to marry the thoughts of Love and Divorce. In A Negotiation Of Wounds, the battle between the two paradigms finds its way into the public eye.
When Amanda Matthews finds her film producer husband Reed Matthews having an affair, she moves swiftly to file for divorce. But when she and her husband attain the services of two cutthroat lawyers in the city of LA, they find themselves pushed farther into a world of deception than they dared go. Now they must wade through the dangerous and often hostile land of divorce, without losing themselves in the process.
A sexy, visceral, fast-paced ride, A Negotiation of Wounds takes you on a journey through fame, pain, rejection, eroticism, self-discovery and love as one couple seeks to severe the ties that bind."

It sounded like interesting reading, the subject matter highly relevant to me, and probably many others who have been through divorce. The premise behind the story was good. I did want to see what happened between the celebrity couple during their divorce, find out if they could save their marriage and how it affected their children. I felt like I was duped a little bit, though, whether by misunderstanding or not. The word eroticism, which I may have even overlooked when reading the description - one little word in the description- doesn't cover it. I was highly uncomfortable reading, and after the first few scenes of Preston and Janet I tried to skip over the remaining scenes between them. Their relationship made me uncomfortable, didn't add or take away anything from the story for me, and the BDSM was not appealing to me. The idea that a man would injure a woman, leave lacerations, bruises, and possible broken bones, who knows what other kinds of injuries to a woman and then wait for her to heal up between rounds of torturous sex isn't something I find pleasurable. Add that to the fact that it was stated Janet saved herself from an abusive marriage only to become involved with Preston and allowed him to injure her in the places of all her old injuries - there was no way I could fathom it.

SPOILER


  The book did give a look into what can happen when high profile people team up with high power lawyers to do battle. The couple gets in far over their head with lies and manipulations, each trying to be bigger and more devastating than the last, to eventually win the war. The lengths the lawyers went to win was disturbing. That aspect of the book was interesting.
Over all, it just wasn't for me. Others may find it more enjoyable.
I was given a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.



View all my reviews