The Perfect Divorce of The Perfect Marriage

The podcast returns once more with a 2-book episode - featuring The Perfect Marriage and The Perfect Divorce by Jeneva Rose.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:18

Hey book lovers, welcome back. Finally, it has been so long since my last post, and if you're still listening after all that time, I appreciate you more than words can possibly express. If you're new to the podcast, welcome. I just want to say that I am trying for consistency again this year. Life did its thing in 2025, and I just couldn't make it happen. So after a long, long break, season five continues. And consistency is definitely the focus for this year in many aspects of my life. My ADHD brain thrives on routine and also finds it totally boring at the same time. It just depends on the moment and how much caffeine I've had. If you've been listening for a while, you know I choose a word or a phrase at the start of the new year that kind of encompasses the general vibe that I want to focus on for that year. Last year it was create peace, which I have done and I am still currently doing, but man. The chaos that precedes that, it's been an adventure. Let's just say that. This year has been a really tough one. And somehow it's also maybe been one of the most satisfying and joyful years of my life. One of the most useful things that I learned very late is that two things can be true at the same time. Or more sometimes. People are complex, situations are complex. Learning to hold and accept these things in others has made it a little easier to also acknowledge and accept them in myself. If that makes sense. Two things can be true. I'm in the US, and at the moment we are finally beginning to see spring where I live. It is wonderful. This winter was a tough one. I knew it was going to be. Winters here are pretty tough anyway, and I've never had to deal with one on my own before. So I knew it was going to be difficult, but it was even tougher than I expected. So starting with the holidays, I was not prepared for how difficult they were going to be. It was definitely a mixed bag. Turkey Day was very complicated, but also incredibly smooth and easy, if that makes any sense at all. Internally, it's a rough day for me. I miss my dad a lot on this holiday because he always loved cooking and he would let me occasionally hang out with him in the kitchen and we'd get to chat, which we didn't get to do very often, and I really did cherish those moments with him. On top of that, this year was the first one that I had to do completely solo, and it was definitely a roller coaster. I didn't expect the fear, first of all. I was really stressed about buying and making everything, even though I've always been the planner and the shopper before. I just didn't do the cooking. I only did the desserts. And it all worked out fine. The food was good, it all came out on time, my boys were happy. We ended up playing video games, we had a great day. It was pretty smooth overall, especially compared to Christmas. Christmas was a whole nother story. So it gets super cold, as I said, where we live, and our house is well over a hundred years old. So you can see where this is going. We had pipes burst, and it led to us having to have most of the plumbing in our basement replaced. It was a complete nightmare, honestly. I I'm working with pretty much nothing. I got the house and the pets, and that's about it. So an emergency call to a plumber was not an option, and we ended up going about two weeks without water, which is so expensive in itself. Water is not cheap. It is crazy how expensive a jug of water is. And how much water it takes to flush a toilet. It is insane. I was also dealing with some other issues at the time, and this whole thing just really knocked me for a loop. And the holidays are always kind of tough anyway. I think everyone's been feeling that. But surprisingly, or maybe not, I don't know, I still felt more in the Christmas spirit this past year than the year before when we were supposedly still trying to fix our marriage. Surprise, surprise, I guess. We did have several very Christmassy moments throughout the month. And despite everything, I never completely lost hope. And I had no hope at that time the year before. None at all. So improvements. It was a stressful time, but everything turned out okay. We ended up getting our water back two days before Christmas, and I had already purchased a couple of small gifts for the boys before everything went to hell, so there were at least a couple of presents. There were other snafus, and we ended up having frozen pizza and pie for Christmas dinner, but everyone was happy and we had a good time. Once again, we played video games and it was just fun. We also watched The Mean One, which is an absolutely ridiculous slasher movie based on the Grinch. And it was like so stupidly funny and bad. We just had a great time overall, and it ended up being really, really nice despite everything leading up to it. And it really did give me hope. The whole plumbing fiasco really made me question whether or not I could handle things on my own. I've always been told that I can't, and I'm just barely beginning to believe in my capabilities, which I have to admit is really embarrassing at 45, but I still prefer it to staying where I was before, honestly. So I am moving forward and I am focused on the future, and I am beginning to share some of my messy journey through a blog on my Substack. The link to that is in my Instagram bio if you want to check it out. It's the only place where I really share it at the moment. I'm gonna be adding videos of those posts as well, and I'm planning on growing the Substack this year, so I'm gonna be sharing more exclusive stuff. I'm really excited about it. For now, though, let's just get the podcast back on track, one step at a time, right? Uh season five has definitely taken a bit of a meandering path, but here we are, back, back, back again, and I am so thrilled to be back. And I am super excited about this week's book. The theme will be familiar, but bear with me. This is a great one. I want to talk about The Perfect Divorce by Geneva Rose. Now, this is the second book of hers that I've read, sort of. I recognize the name, but I could not remember the book title. Because you gotta love my Swiss cheese brain, right? And it was The Perfect Marriage, right? So I thought that I had read that. I really did. However, when I went to find the episode where I had covered that book, so I could talk about it here, I did not find one. It doesn't exist. I found one for a fantastic book called A Good Marriage, but not a perfect one. When I looked up The Perfect Marriage, I realized it was a prequel to The Perfect Divorce, which probably would have cleared up a couple of things when I was reading this one. But maybe it was better to read it as a standalone. I don't know. I really loved it either way. The Perfect Divorce is a fascinating book because there are very few redeemable characters. And the two main characters are absolutely awful and the cause of most of the violence and drama throughout the story. You don't really ever know who to root for, but the focus is really on Sarah Morgan, the female main character, and she is unforgettable, whether you like her or not. Her choices were unpredictable because she is just a different type of character, and that really kept things interesting. I love a thriller with unexpected twists and turns, as you know if you've been listening for a while, right? And this one had them all. I am not kidding. There were a lot of redirects, and it was done so well. It was chef's kiss. So on the surface, Sarah is divorcing her second husband, Bob Miller, another high-powered attorney, is by the way, Sarah is a high-powered attorney. And she's divorcing him because he cheated on her. And Bob is not taking it well. He unravels into absolute madness as the book goes on. He becomes obsessed with conspiracy theories and believes that Sarah is plotting against him. And she is, but not in the way that he thinks. She is so much smarter than him and always seems to be a step or maybe like eight ahead. As Bob grows more unhinged and wild, Sarah grows calmer and more resolute. They have a daughter, and she's really trying to shield her as best she can from the divorce and her manic father. And Bob's got more problems than just the impending divorce. The woman he cheated with has also gone missing. And then another woman in his life goes missing. And everything just seems to be pointing in his direction. This book is a fantastic weaving of twists and turns, and like I said, chef's kiss. The ending is absolutely incredible. You know how I feel about endings, especially for a complex plot like this one. And this one is done right. So good. I definitely recommend The Perfect Divorce by Geneva Rose. I'm so glad that my divorce is not this complicated. So, what about the perfect marriage? First of all, between the weed and the trauma, my brain is a magical wonderland full of just blank spots. But sometimes it does lead to awesome discoveries, like two good books, not just one. Once I realized I hadn't actually read it before and that it was the prequel to the perfect divorce, I decided that I also had to read The Perfect Marriage. So I'm bringing the pod back with a two-book episode. I want to talk about The Perfect Marriage by Geneva Rose. I have to be honest though, I kind of ruined this one for myself by reading the second one first. The events of this book were referenced in the other one, so a lot of the reveals were not exactly surprises. They would have been, they would have been fantastic. On its own, though, it is a great thriller, and while knowing the surprises did kind of suck, if it was read as a standalone, absolutely fantastic. Or in order, probably. In this one, Sarah Morgan is married to her first husband, Adam. He's a writer who had a successful book four years prior, and has been languishing ever since. You know the deal. Sarah is a successful powerhouse of a lawyer in DC, and she is completely absorbed in her work. So Adam spends days at a time at their lake house trying to write, and, you guessed it, having an affair with a younger waitress. He's in love with her, actually. And he wakes up one night in the middle of the night and plans to return to his wife, but suddenly decides that he is going to leave Sarah and save Kelly from her abusive husband. He leaves Kelly a note and drives home to make love to his wife. Because he's disgusting. He also flip-flops his plans because Sarah is finally ready to try for a baby and start a family. Something that he has been wanting. And he is fully back on Team Sarah at this point. Adam plans to break it off with Kelly, but that morning the police show up at his door. Kelly was found dead in the bed at the lake house. Whoops. He is arrested and charged with murder, and Sarah decides that she is going to defend him. She puts her feelings as an injured wife aside and treats Adam just like she does all of her clients. She works hard to prove his innocence, while his meddling nightmare of a mother and Adam himself do everything possible to mess things up. Adam is such a frustrating character, a man used to doing whatever he wants, can't handle being caged. He's under house arrest at the lake house, and even that is too hard for him. He doesn't think at all before he acts, and he is sus as hell and just keeps making things worse and worse. The end reveal is fantastic. Or it would be if I hadn't read The Perfect Divorce First. Like I said, I kinda ruined this one for me, but this is a fabulous book. I highly recommend both of them. I definitely recommend reading them in the proper order. Marriage first, then divorce. Oh, on the cat side of Books and Cats Land, my crew is awesome as always. I can't remember if I've talked about them, but if you've been on the Books and Cats Instagram, I'm sure you've seen them. I've added a couple of babies, Apollo and Rosie. Apollo came first. He was found in a puddle and rescued by a woman who couldn't take care of him and his siblings. We took him and a super tiny and sickly little guy that we called Puff, because he was a little black puffball. He only lasted three days and passed away in my arms. But better warm and loved than in an icy puddle in November. Poor Puff. That one that one hurt. Apollo, however, is thriving. He is a big gray tiger and such a sweetheart. He likes chasing paper balls, which is adorable and kind of obnoxious because he lays on my notebooks when I'm trying to write and makes things kind of impossible. He also does uppies like a toddler, which might be one of the cutest things ever. He is such a sweetheart, and everyone adores him. Rosie is our most recent addition. I got her after I got my puppy Daisy. A customer at the store gave her to me, actually. That's how I got Daisy too. Different customers. And then I had to set a boundary for myself because I am at my animal limit. But they are such a good group. Rosie fit right in, and she is just pure love. She's a tiny black kitty with a little white patch on her belly, and she is the sweetest little thing. And her fur is soft like a chinchilla. She is just the sweetest. I find so much peace in my animals. Seeing them happy and healthy and eating and playing and sprawled in front of the pellet stove on a cold day. It just makes my heart so full. And it shows me that I am succeeding. This whole situation has been so overwhelming, and I have had a lot of doubts and really, really dark days. Things have been really tough. But I am managing everything and I am keeping them all fed and warm and happy. And the greeting that I receive when I wake up and when I get home from work just makes me instantly happy. We really don't deserve animals, they are too pure. But I am so grateful for them. So I guess that is all for this double book return of the pod. Thank you so much for listening and for sticking with me. Throughout this hellacious past year, I have been missing the podcast and wanting to get back to it so bad. I'm glad I took the time that I needed to handle my life and get things settled. But I'm even more grateful now to be back chatting about books with all of you. And like I said, consistency is the focus for 2026, and the pod is very high up on that list. I'll be back very soon with another great book, or maybe two, who knows. I hope you all have a beautiful week and read some excellent books. Thank you so much for listening, and of course, keep reading.