All Comments on 'Tunnel of Love Pt. 04'

As I said in a private feedback to the author, this is an intense story, one of the most intense I have ever read. Author has brought out a point I have long recognized, the most intimate infidelity a married woman can commit with a lover is holding hands. There is also the clear understanding that a married woman can fuck another guy once for kicks, but she has to "fall in love" to have an affair.

If Mike could never trust his wife again, and she couldn't trust herself, could either trust anyone else? No! The absoluteness of trust as a marriage issue is probably overrated, especially in erotic literature of the Loving Wives variety. Nothing in life is absolute; life is the ultimate Brownian Motion.

This was a hell of a good story, erotic, but virtually no sex. There is a place for that.

The duped husband should have run as far and fast as he could from his bimbo wife and made her an ex wife. How could he possibly trust her again?

First, this was a total BULL SHIT STORY--CRAP--I don`t know why i even read this crap. Mike is a dumb ass, Jenn is a slut, whore, skank. Mike should give her th BIG D. But now he is a cuck. You can`t trust a cheater, you will be watching her all the time. Gayle the Psy. is a nut case. Maybe Dan you are a cuck. Another thing your stories ARE TOOOOO LONG and repeat toooo much.

Interesting. Fascinating in a way. Long periods of boredom, repetition, then just when I found myself ready to give up, interesting again.

The use of underlining detracts, like the old lawyer's trick of highlights to hide facts in portions of truth.

Powerful emotions, but the background scenario does not offer a real reason. The emotions do not quite fit the cause of them?

Interesting. Fascinating in that I found myself reading and rereading, trying to understand. A few times I gave up, went on to other stories. Then I find myself coming right back?

Do I understand it all completely? I don't think I do. But this story is probably the deepest I have ever read on this site, by far. One of the very few I have reread twice, I even went back and read the other version.

This will go right over the top of the typical reader, that is looking for titillation. I suspect you know that.

Go ahead and sell it, lose the underlining though. Chase it through the typewriter one more time, you know what I mean if you have ever published. Just MHO. It will publish.

This scores a 5 from me.

MGM

with an emphasis on the psychological aspect of infidelity, rather than just a stroke story. It was very cerebral, trying to take on the difficult task of exploring what was in everyone's mind as the story progressed. Well done, and original.

After I read this story I let out this deep sigh and thought "This is just wrong". Mike and Jennifer shouldn't be together in my opinion. Jennifer cheated on him and hurt him so completely that he will live with a scar on his soul for the rest of his life. This wasn't just sex, she admitted to that herself. It's not a matter of whether or not she would physically cheat on him again, because I honestly think she wouldn't. It's because Mike will always know that she, even if was just for a brief time, fell in love with someone else, he may not remember the cheating in detail in time, but he will always KNOW that she fell in love with someone else. Jennifer will also know what happened and she will be walking on eggshells for the rest of her life, trying to please Mike and doing nothing to hurt him. It's a matter of them being better off without each other because of the memories and them knowing it happened.

The only way for them to heal their wounds is to be apart. Living with each other every day for the rest of their life is not going to do them any good, in fact it might lead to them starting to resent each other. Him for she did. Her because she will always be limited and watched by Mike for the rest of their lives. That's no life worth living and they shouldn't just stay together because of Mikey. It would better for him if they found happiness apart than them living in constant agony together.

I think that Gayle is wrong in suggesting that because of what happened and how it happened Mike and Jennifer simply COULDN'T be happy without each other. That's bull in my opinion. Mike may for a time find trusting women to be impossible, but he will realise that all women aren't like Jennifer. Jennifer will propably have the most difficult time after a divorce because she would know it was her doing, but as anything it will fade and unlike if Mike was still around she wouldn't have a constant reminder of what happened by her side at all times.

Falling out of love is not necessarily a deal breaker in a marriage, especially if you have other obligations like children or if you trust and respect your partner a great deal. Often you will even find that you will fall back in love with your partner in time. I bet if you ask a couple that have been together for most of their lives they will tell you that the trick is not to fall out of love with each other at the same time, so that there is always at least one of them doing a little something extra to keep the marriage together. However, falling in love with someone other than your partner IS a deal breaker, because then one partner will be pulling the marriage apart (consiously or subconsiously).

First of all you pointed on that part of story which people always ignored. That is what were you thinking when you were doing. Sometimes cheating in it self is not that bad, the point is what were you thinking when you were doing this, 'to the hell with my husband' ? . Because your thinking only matters you are worthy of love and forgiveness of your spouse or not. Infidelity cannot be justified it is either rape or Cheating nothing else. In original everyone thought she was loving wife when she ran in the end, but why was she there in first place? And yes if he was not fraud where it would be going. Point is she was looking outside. But this mistake is not non-forgivable , Well it was definitely cheating, but when it came to choose she chose her husband. That is the only fact, she can be forgiven on the basis of how much loving she was before. I think Situation is not always black and white, when your spouse cheats, you consider many facts if you want to continue your marriage, like how was he behavior before, during and after, how much you love and lust for her, can you you imagine your life without her, how many people will be affected by you decision. Looking on the original story and this story i think she could be forgiven although I already consider her cheater, but she resolved everything by herself, she herself resolved the feeling that she was the only one responsible for her mistake not james not peter. Which make her more mature person than she was before and her chances for straying in future are lesser, Well if I had to choose between someone new to trust and someone i lived with for 12 yrs, mother of my child, i loved, who almost break my trust but now understand how much it hurt me, and is really sorry, takes full responsibility, I will choose second one. But problem is how would I know she really understand the pain. People learn with their mistakes and become more mature, atleast now she knows what can lead to what, what can hurt whom, But Counselor here was not like professional, they dont order you they tells you why you feel this way, they are not the one to give solution, they only help you to understand and prepare you. Only good thing here she said was, who died is not her fault, but who she is going to kill, will be her fault. YOu cant control what happend to others, but you can control what you are doing to those you love.

But only one qustion, why did you write all over again? you only added last part new, remaining was same. You should continue other stories. or Write new ones you thoughts are very deep.

This is about a comment that suggested that they should not be together. I find that totally unrealistic. Here is a woman who falls a little in love, or perhaps a better word is crushes on a dirt bag. He is the handsomest man she's ever seen. Spends all his time in a gym and has a body to die for, and still she breaks it off before she ever sleeps with him. I would think that in real life, 90% of the time the couple would reconcile. Especially since there is a child. As for the trust, if she could resist "the hunk" I don't think she would have much trouble resisting the everyday Joe's who might hit on her.

...and like what you did to the ending. You wanted to know if the changed ending helped and I think it did. I don't like reconciliation in some cases but in this story I think it was right. She DID catch herself and confess even more than she was required to by Mike. She stopped when she realized fully what the hell she was doing, took absolutely ALL responsibility for her actions, refusing to hide behind the more convenient lesser charges for which she would have been forgiven more easily. Ultimately though, because she touched her own feet to the fire, she is now more honorable and purged: Mike knows she will never again think of cheating again. I think this ending was right.

Thank you for giving the ending I think most of us wanted, spelled out rather than merely hinted at.

I honestly wouldn't differentiate between a blowjob and the whole nine yards. Jennifer cheated on Mike no matter how you twist and turn it. The fact that she could find herself in a situation like that is in itself inexcusable AND to top it off, and make it a thousand times worse, she falls in love with him. I don't care if it was Brad Pitt or a Greek God SHE approached in that gym, it was inexcusable. She said it herself, she approached HIM. Doesn't that insinuate that she's looking to trade up? I'm not one of those "once a cheater, always a cheater" types, but the way Jennifer went about this shows there's more too it in my opinion. I'm mean all Coltez did was plant himself in a situation where Jennifer could observe him and she did the rest to start the whole mess, that speaks volumes in my opinion.

Just because a murderer admits his crimes and regrets them he is not let off the hook. Sure, he may get a lighter sentence, but he's still going to do hard time. Jennifer murderer this marriage, completely. Just because she's eventually able to step back and admit and accept blame shouldn't lessen the crime. It may lighten the sentence (Mike may eventually be able to have a friendship with her, perhaps?), but he can't fully trust her ever again.

-Jake

i read other comments and i quess i understand. your writing is beyond the basic psycho-sexual. good work. in my opinion, you express understanding of human nature and you try to pass that on. excellent work.

You are truly a first rate, highly literate STORYTELLER. I hope you submit other tales at some point. Thanks for the enjoyment.

Unusual story, to say the least. I like the format and ending much better in this one. Mike and Jennifer should be together in this resolution. You did a wonderful job of showing two people mature and change through a terrible series of events, and come out the other end as stronger, more deeply in love people who truly understand their vulnerablity as human beings.

The is a deep story occuring on many levels. Some commenters

only want to look superfically at what the story is saying and begin labeling whore, skank, slut, wimp, not wanting or able to look beneath the skin of the story into the human depth. Outstanding piece of work. Time to write a new story!

I think your comment matches your brain power... DUH... nothing going on in their but the superficial. This was a great story. Thank you for writing this for us.

The story itself has something of a compelling nature but it is also convoluted. The emotions are tortured, too much really to be consistent. The wife's admission that she really is an untreastworthy cheating piece of shit is met with a very odd, strange reply from the husband and smacks of a story telling wife. The story really went off the deep end when the pair watched the video then talked it out. In reality, he probably would have gone with the bimbo. This comes down to the serially self flagellating, women are basically untrustworthy whores but irresistable and powerful, and decent men take it in the nuts brand of story telling that, no matter how detailed, is really just self loathing trash. Those who buy into it will this amazingly well trod path do so. Those looking for something trully compelling and not just melodramatic bullshit will hate it. I was totally let down by it so gave it one star. I will not reward this mentality.

Aruban,

"I tried to interest, challenge, please, and provoke each faction at some point—while respecting all of them." .... Yes, you did. Great re-do

Thanks for writing and re-devloping the Chauncey'

x

Yeah, somewhat convoluted but most human relations are complex. Yeah the ending was a tiny bit of a downer, but very realistic. And granted, it was far longer than it needed to be. But this is the kind of human relations stuff I come to Lite to read.

Please, write more. You area very talented person.

BEST REGARDS,

C

In terms of plot, wow. Convoluted and at times deep. In spite of her problems, the "new" Jennifer is clearly a keeper. Was glad to see the bad guy get his due. I liked that the potential other woman fared well in the end - she had a good heart and dealt with her own flaws. The shrink was kind of a distraction, but I did like it that she was flawed and human. I would have liked to see James suffer more than he did. </p>As far as the writing, the underlining was distracting, condescending (I can put in my own emphases), and made the series hard to read.

This should be under the romance or non-erotic category. What is erotic about it? I think the author did a disservice to the original author. Pages and pages of writing when all it boils down to is a wonderful husband making himself look like a complete idiot by taking his cheating wife back even though she wrecked his heart.

Please literotica - we need to put these types of stories under their own category so that us readers don't have to waste our time thinking that this would lead to a hot adulterous woman giving into her wild side and a genuine husband growing some balls by dumping her and getting some action elsewhere.

I really appreciate what you are trying to do, your writing is good, and your attempts to delve into inner emotions with terse flowery prose is laudable. But it is too "over the top!" You could express a lot of these emotions, feelings and frustrations, with a lot less redundancy and fewer words. Because no matter how hard you try to explain and justify, the guy is a fucking wimp, who is so stupid that he takes the cheating slut back, even after she warns him she might cheat again and then begs him to leave her. That will never sit well with men no matter how hard you and the psychologist try to justify or explain it away. At least in the improved version you have eliminated a lot of the psychologists rhetoric and drama, which was a real distraction to the story, and I did sympathize with the lying slut wife's predicament, and what happens when you lie and cheat. And she did cheat the first time she lied to him, whether she was being played, or was just in denial, she fucked up and deserved worse than she got. I just don't understand why you wasted all this effort to rewrite a mediocre wimp story, when you could have spent the same time and energy on creating something new and (hopefully) better.

Title says it all.

Probably a quarter of this story belongs in a different story. At least two different stories actually.

Still the writing was good and the underlying principles are sound. She was played and played well, but the fact also remains that she was open to being played. She didn't understand just how skillful James was but she also didn't understand fidelity. It's not a feeling it's a choice. Those who say, "Once a cheater, always a cheater!" deny the fundamental truth about humans. What makes us different for animals is that we can change, we can make the choice to be a different person, we don't just respond instinctively. It's not easy and frankly so few people do it that the "Once-Always" is generally true.

But, and it's a big but it's also true that "Once warned, Twice protected." Cheating was her major weakness. It wasn't nearly as tempting as lying for example, but now she knows that weakness exist and while cheating had been possible before it was at least ten times less likely now.

To cheat she had to convince herself that she was "in love" but she wasn't. For one thing the time frame was way way too short. She was in deep lust and convinced herself that it was love... a common mistake it's what most of Hollywood sells and why those poor actors find it so hard to have a lasting relationship.

Now she knows what that attraction feels like and she won't let it get out of hand.

The real problem is Mike. His worldview, which never shared a lot with reality has been shattered. He does have the best possible mate, and that's a very good reason to keep her. Still, he'd been able to live in a Pleasantville and Reality Town not as nice.

His problem is that he might not realize just how high rent his new digs are, and go looking for what he had. It's painful to grow up and we tend to make a lot of mistakes on the way. I do wish the epilogue had been a bit further down the road so I could feel comfortable that he realized what he had...

Oh, and with all the gratuitous sex scenes, why didn't we see the one where she gave up her virgin ass because her husband wanted it... would have been an interesting scene to feel her thoughts as she did. Sigh, I guess I just find it sexy when a woman does something sexual she doesn't really want to do, out of... well I guess the reason doesn't really matter. It's just one of my kinks.

I fixed some typos and formatting issues (and couldn't resist making some minor substantive changes while I was at it).

Now that "Tunnel of Love" is in good shape, I've de-published "The Chanceys." Please see Part V of "Tunnel of Love" for a collection and discussion of public comments and emails I received in response to "The Chanceys."

Thanks to everyone who has left comments or sent me emails regarding Part IV of "Tunnel of Love." It's curious that most of the positive was emailed to me privately, whereas most of the negative feedback was posted publicly! Oh well, at least there were readers! Thanks again for reading.

The last two pages almost made wading through the first BORING chapters worth while.

....bet this got you some flack on length....but I would feel insulted as a reader if rounded wholesome stories like this never made a show on here.Thank-you for affirming my belief that there still those of us who find a stimulated mind sexxy.

However, the story has many faults. One is that Mike is living in an fantasy world that neither allows for human nature or mistakes in judgment and actions. People lie, they always have, and they always will. Women lie to protect peoples feelings and they lie to protect themselves. And, women are designed to cheat with better looking males; especially when ovolating.

Women that did not select the best available genes for their eggs given low risk opportunies are not our ancestors. It is obvious that the writer lacks knowledge of those facts.

Wow. Even before Jennifer finally realized her own deceit and betrayal, there was growth in her the whole time. This was well worth the long read.

Keep writing. You have a lot of talent. This story is up there with "Knox County" by Rehnquist.

All of this unnecessary padding to reach an impossible conclusion. She would have been much better served stopping with the first video.

Why would she need to go behind his back with Peter after everything that had already happened, especially when she knew the only additional information would be her repeatedly professing her love for her would-be lover?

She goes SO out of her way to cause her husband pain. Surely, knowing that she could hurt him so blatantly with no recriminations, this wife will repeatedly cheat on him in the future.

Way too large of a time investment for the reader to be left with this ridiculous payoff.

she tried to drown a goldfish

you dirty bastard, aruban! how am i supposed to troll this story now?

write more, fucker. you're good at it.

It's a shame that you haven't written anything since this. You have a talent for writing erotica that isn't necessarily explicit, the best kind, the kind that allows ones mind to imagine rather than to have it blatantly exposed. Please favour us all, your fans with another story.

...DWornock posts again!

far superior to yours.

On tales that continue a previous stories this one of the best. A rare occurance where the "Alt/sequel" was just as good as the orginal.

I don't know how I feel about this story --I mean I liked it , I enjoyed it, but I'm wondering why they stayed married? Granted she didn't have sex with James but I can't help but feel if James hadn't utter those two magic words her panties would've hit the ground before they reached his apartment. The wife was correct when she explained to her husband that she's not a very trustable person. She falls in love with James but I don't understand why? Was their volunteering work at the hospital & work out at the gym is what they had in common & she interpreted this as love? She forgot about her husband during her special times with James, I think she was in heat no love. How can the husband be sure that she won't "fall in love" again with another man? It took a matter of weeks to fall in love with James even after learning of the fruad that James & Peter had perpetrated; it still didn't allow her supposed love to diminish , although that love wasn't real, because she had feelings for someone who didn't exist. She was the one who approached James & was even hurt that he didn't make a pass at her, that's a very dangerous thing for a married woman to do. I know she didn't sleep with James but I feel if those two words (I do) hadn't been spoken she would easily slept with him & probably began a physical affair because she was already having an emotiona affair, this was more than a sexual attraction, I think she do love her husband but I can't understand how she got herself in this mess ?

Well written with a good story line and believable characters...except that in real life Jennifer and Coltez would have consummated their affair that night. A much more interesting continuation would have been how everyone dealt with the results of that. Maybe you'll write an alternative someday exploring that possibility. Judging by this story it would certainly be worth the read.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

The story or the fact that this cocksucker used The Boss's lyrics in it.

You are obviously a skilled writer. The subtle development of the relationship and the vivid characters make this among the best stories I've ever read. I look forward to other stories. This one will be hard to top.

Thanks for a wonderful experience.

What a ride! Clearly one of the best stories I have read on this site. Wonderfully crafted. This had twists and turns. The Springsteen angle was never forced, it just seemed to fit perfectly. Wonder what the Boss would think of it. The emotion was real and truly got to me several times. I was rooting hard for these guys to make it. The perfect tale!

Five stars for each chapter. Not a single let down in any of them.

I am just amazed at how well this fit with the original series, which was brilliant as well. The Seducer had sat in my bookmarks for over year and I must admit only reading it because I was desperate. I didn't think I would like it. Wow, was I wrong. And then, to find this amazing tale after glancing through the other authors favorites. Was it luck, or fate that led me to your conclusion? Who cares? This will be one I read many times over. And one I plan on sharing with my wife.

Anyone with balls,which you kind of tried to portray Mike as having would have been far far away.

Itseemed to push buttons for a lot of people ,just not for me .I just couldn't buy into it.

I never read the seducer ,i've read your story and i have to say it's remarcably good ,it has everything a good story needs ,congratulations on a work well done

Loved the story! Amazing in its plot, detail and insights. Wonderful flawed characters that reach beyond themselves to attain what they never thought they would face or have to do.

Thank you for the great read!

Please keep writing.

Aruban, I love how you wove together the different threads of the story. I'm blown away by your depth of understanding of the human psyche, of loss and rebirth. I found the final catharsis in the psychologist's office to be stunning. It's unusual for fiction (especially here on Lit) to provide a reader with the means to grow emotionally and spiritually—but you've done just that.

I feel sorry for those readers who didn't get it. "Boring"? Hardly—there was great emotional drama and masterful unfolding of it. "Could have been written in three pages"? Only if you didn't understand what was happening or if all you wanted was suck and fuck (which would be ok). This was REAL storytelling which happened to have some explicit sex in it.

"Anyone with balls [AND NO BRAINS—my addition] would have been far far away"? Assuming "balls" means courage or backbone, it's curious how often this one-dimensional notion of "real" manhood appears in comments on Literotica. It occurs to me that such readers are either very young or stunted in their emotional growth. Fortunately for the rest of us, Aruban is not one of them. Anyone with balls AND brains would stick around long enough to figure out whether his investment of love, time, and money could be salvaged and transformed into something worth continuing with (as in this story). I guess some "men" (I use the term loosely) invest so little in their relationships that they can just walk away. That's adolescent, and not what most real women want.

Barry

"1*" !!

Thank you for that great story. It was a bit on the long side, and at times emotionally painful (I guess that's what you wanted), but all in all, well written with, for me, a very satisfying ending. Thank you. (Now, if only Xleglover could see that Jen and Mike COULD have a happy ending, all would be well, and I could sleep much better at night.)

You tease terribly but always pay in full satisfaction!

I've not read "the seducer" yet, perhaps now I will. Loved this one, it's extremely well written. I would like to see you writing again, I'm sure you have other stories to tell. Hopefully you didn't stop writing because of all the inane comments; it doesn't matter what, or how well, you write. There are some valueless people in the world who will always attack and run-down others simply because they can - pay them no mind. Their opinions are unimportant because they have nothing to do with what you wrote - only that you did indeed write. I guess it gives them some small amount of pleasure to attack and insult others, makes them feel superior or something. Who knows or cares?

DWornock: Your comment is pure sophistry: "women are designed to cheat with better looking males; especially when ovolating". What a load of self-serving, hypocritical, feminist crap. Perhaps if we were animalistic, bestial, or maybe neanderthals, we might buy that as a sensible excuse. But we have the ability to THINK, to reason, to control our emotions and behavior. That's what separates us from the lower life forms, from the animals. We're intelligent. Now, I'm not including Feminists, of course. We can tell by the narratives espoused by the most vocal of the Feminazis, that intelligence is a relative term. BTW: you misspelled ovulating.

And if you want to use your "explanation" of why women cheat, then don't be offended when the man in your life starts mating with as many females as he possibly can - because that's what male animals do in the wild. Of course if you're a common example of a modern-day feminist, you'll be lesbian - which means once a month your girlfriend finds a man to screw for several days because the urge to reproduce is overwhelming. You must lead a very humiliating life. Good luck with that.

This was a complex, moving and incredibly erotic story. I confess, I did kind of find myself rooting for a James a time or two, but your exploration of the feelings a person could have for two people at once was thoughtful and evocative. I think it’s interesting that there was a lot of weight placed on the fact that she put his cock in her mouth, but came to her senses before she wound up deep throating him. I kind of think that if he had wound up fucking her brains out and then she came to her senses that they could have still wound up in the same place; the challenge to get over was that she fell in love with James and it was just good fortune that she found out he was a player. And there was a case made that James became a player somewhere along the line and if he could have said, “Keep the $25K, I want Jennifer,” how might it have turned out? I’m impressed (and surprised a little) that Mike could get beyond her ‘what if?’ scenario. But I think the real lesson is that despite your belief in the archers your partner has to keep marauders and seducers out, you better not ever take them for granted! There are Jameses out there who might not have an agenda other than looking for love....

I am sure that there will be people unhappy with the length of the story or the fact they did not get divorced, or that there was no revenge against the tool or the instigator, but I loved the story.

Very well done. Tales like this are why I am ever so slowly working my way thru the alphabetical list here on LW. You have to sift through a lot of garbage but it's worth it for gems like this one!

This was a great tale of love and betrayal and then redemption. I wish you would write more stories.

Excellent story. The real story of the wife told by the unedited tapes could be even more painful that the abridged one, but when you go warts and all, the “truth can set you free”. I object to stories where the wife gets seduced, even if a willing participant, and then the husband can’t bear to keep her. There is hardly a person in the world that won’t fall for a seduction under the right conditions. Learn from it and move on. Naive perfect love is a nice concept, but it is fragile. Learning to work through crises is the real binder for a marriage. I must admit the prurient side of me was looking forward to the husband having a “more productive” sleep over, and the wife giving into domination (I do read stories on this site, right?), but I got over it.

I read Aruban's version of this story many years ago and re-read it all again! I wish there were more writers like you on here. I was truly captivated.

James Colletz's character doesn't make sense. People like him, in real life, are totally self centered, have no concern for others, and certainly aren't the types to volunteer at a hospital ward for sick children. Why his tears when Jennifer walked out? People like him, regard women as nothing more than disposable items, to use and discard, and are incapable of love.

Just a couple of thing. When Peter edited the tape had he left the part where she told James she loved him he may have acheived his goal second why was James crying did he love her or was it he failed to blackmail her if he loved her why did he disapear and why did Jennifer stop was it sha really loved Mike or did she over hear the phone call from James to PeterlmA

Another story about women who aren't responsible for their actions. Oh, and a nypho shrink, great job on that one. Just one point i would like to make, sex isn't love, and love without trust is not that much.

Dragged on so much. I was hoping they would reconcile untile i read this chapter. She wasnt worthy of mike and he should of left her.

I agree with Jennifer's statements in the therapist's office as to why he couldn't take her back. All I'd see is a lifetime of future pain and mistrust.

You see, I think Gayle's thoughts about that old Jennifer being dead and gone are hogwash. Her circumstances may change, her insight may change, even her reactions to the same circumstances may change, but there was something in there that caused her to act as she did and given time it would be impossible to say that some circumstance might arise that would cause her to stray again.

This didn't work for me at all.

Took him forever though. This story could have been half as long.

I hated this chapter and ending. You changed the basid of the story, from her being in lust and almost making a mistake to her falling in love, which is worse. For most of this story, I was hoping for a reconcilation but after reading the fist few psges of the chapter, I was hoping the husband would listen to the whore and realise he was better of without her. And also, what was the point of the nympho therapist, really?

It was tough to stick it out the part 4 and have to admit that I skimmed most of this part just to see where it ended but it was predictable if nothing else.

A long read…

I like BTBs but a good reconciliation can be good if well done. The last chapter made up for all the filler stuff in other chapters. It was good

Scores 4/5

An interesting and intelligent - if a tad overlong and overwrought - tale of weakness, insecurity, temptation, tepid infidelity and reluctant introspection. Complete with voyeuristic therapist, cynical seducer and despicable would-be suitor. Can't say I warmed to any of the character. I had the almost constant urge to grab husband Mike by the throat and beat his head against the wall until it dislodged from his arse while simultaneously screaming in his ear... grow up you pathetic, self indulgent little wimp... and wondering why wife Jennifer would even contemplate trying to save the marriage.

The wife may have given in to weakness and temptation at the outset but she faced her demons and did some serious growing up during the story (as did the Collette). Not so sure about husband Mike. His about face from wanting a divorce when his wife said he should divorce her was a nice touch and, to quote another song, I suspect that he may have Been Saved by a Woman.

The author should take considerable credit for producing a thought provoking tale and allowing it to progress to a conclusion that might offend the more hardline BTB fans.

LA

I enjoyed this. It actually had sufficient wattage to light up some emotions in this reader. Not an easy task. 5 Stars throughout. Added to my lengthy list of favorites.

Found myself skimming over in a number of areas. Still got the gist of the story, found it long. 4****

Creative and intense. An emotional rollercoaster. Jennifer's insights were poignant but her hypothetical about if James was a regular guy as opposed to a professional seducer being paid to get into her pants, while thought provoking, do.not fairly represent reality. It is like a quantum system. Being an observer and taking a measurement, fundamentally affect the system. James also clearly played the sick/dying child angle like a master. Hearing your wife say that she loved another man in addition to you, is beyond gut wrenching. But let's analyze that carefully. Yes she fell "in love" with James the Seducer wanting to screw him and potentially have a long affair. But there is a difference. You can fall "in love" with someone in 4 weeks. Can even be enough yo day "I love you" to the person, given the right circumstances. But in 4 weeks, Jennifer did NOT really love James. She thought she might and hence as he cried her "what if" statement. But she was fell "in love" with James and was "in lust". She did not in fact love him. Would that realization been enough to prevent a long affair if he had been a regular super-hunk guy? Maybe not. But the fact remains he was a serial seducer, he did manipulate her at a level that it is absolutely certain she did not even know she was being manipulated. Doesn't mean she is blameless. She certainly owns her moral weakness. And yes if not for two words, she would have gone to town on James that night. But she had enough of a moral dilemma going that she was able to stop and pull off after admittedly a lot of challenging infidelities. I woukd also wager that if she had gone through with it, no matter how great the sex with James, real or imagined, she would have been guilty as hell and after a short time, regardless of Peter, even if James had been a real guy, she would have confessed to Mike and they would have gotten divorced. She was cutting herself intentionally in this last session to get Mike to flee for his own good. But she was overcompensating due to her shame. She would not have lied to Mike for an extended period of time with two lovers. Woukd still have killed the marriage. But she would have come to loathe herself, confessed, get divorced and woukd have not stayed with James out if guilt. Guilt and shame drive a lot of her character. She thought her wall was invulnerable and unassailable. It was not, especially to a professional seducer hired by Peter. Can't overlook that essential fact. Forgiveness takes time and effort, but they had suffered a coordinated attack on their marriage. That is forgivable. Still the falling in love part is really hurtful and would take more than one session with Gayle to overcome. We are all vulnerable, hence we should always be vigilant. She wad not ready for the seduction game of James. The best players let you think it is all your idea. The New Jennifer is 100% trustworthy based on her self-excorciating confessions (multiple). Of anything Mike is more vulnerable now. Reconciliation is hard. My only quibble is it would take a lot more time. But seemed warranted here. This should be rated higher given the intense psychological content. Bit long though.

Well written and well thought out story. Possibly as some have said a bit long but nevertheless I really enjoyed and bought into it. The real bonus, as a fan of the Boss, I really enjoyed hiw you wove the tale to make meaning of his lyrics in the story.

Well done and thank you.

Great story. It pulled the emotional cords for me a few times and that is tough to get this 67-year-old tough guy to do. I read the entire story in one setting. I will remember the characters and the lessons from this story for a long time. Thanks.