Midlife Woes by Jordan Silver
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When she learns that her husband of more than twenty-years has been cheating on her, Jolene Masterson, fueled by the vigors of perimenopause comes out swinging. Instead of fighting for her marriage as most women in her position would, Jolene decides that a new start is just what she needs. No one, especially her soon to be ex-husband expects the once content SAHM to throw off the mantle of wife and mother to embark on a new life of excitement with the younger man that sweeps her off her feet.
- File Name:midlife-woes-by-jordan-silver.epub
- Original Title:Midlife Woes
- Creator:Jordan Silver
- Language:en
- Identifier:MOBI-ASIN:B0D3N9JFX8
- Date:2024-05-06T18:30:00+00:00
- File Size:384.938 KB
Table of Content
- 1. Title Page
- 2. Copyright
- 3. Contents
- 4. Chapter 1
- 5. Chapter 2
- 6. Chapter 3
- 7. Chapter 4
- 8. Chapter 5
- 9. Chapter 6
- 10. Chapter 7
- 11. Chapter 8
- 12. Chapter 9
- 13. 10. Jolene
- 14. 11. Jolene
- 15. 12. Jolene
- 16. 13. Jolene
- 17. 14. Jolene
- 18. 15. Jolene
- 19. 16. Jolene
- 20. 17. Jolene
- 21. 18. Jolene
- 22. 19. Jolene
- 23. 20. Jolene
- 24. 21. Jolene
- 25. 22. Jolene
- 26. 23. Jolene
- 27. 24. Jolene
- 28. 25. Jolene
- 29. 26. Jolene
- 30. 27. Damon
- 31. 28. Damon
- 32. 29. Damon
- 33. 30. Jolene
- 34. 31. Damon
- 35. 32. Jolene
- 36. 33. Jolene
- 37. Epilogue
Jordan Silver
Book author Jordan Silver245fans
Midlife Woes, the fifth, and final book in The Ex series, was about 45-year-old Jolene (Walters) Masterson, her soon-to-be ex-husband, Kevin Masterson, and 41-year-old Damon Kincaid, a former professional football player/turned police officer and owner of a night club.
This story was told from multiple POVs: Jolene (the FMC), Kevin (the FMC's soon-to-be ex), Dalton, the FMC's father-in-law (this was done briefly), and the MMC Damon (who didn't appear until late in the story).
Jolene and Kevin had been married for 25 years when she confronted him with the knowledge of his affair with their oldest son's BFF's 18-year-old sister, Anne. The following morning, he told her he wanted a divorce and was angry when she didn't fight him over it. Since all four of their kids were grown and out of the house, she was ready to move on.
There was a scene when Jo informed Anne's father, 46-year-old Preston Thorpe, about the affair between his daughter and her husband. Preston admitted that he had inadvertently been the reason Anne had targeted Kevin when he (Preston) and his ex had a fight, during which he told her he wished he had married Jo instead of her. He'd had a childhood crush on Jo that he never truly got over, and wanted to rub it in his ex-wife's face. It was for that reason that the ex-wife gave her daughter the idea of going after Jo's husband in retaliation.
Once their divorce went to court, Kevin "had a meltdown" in front of the judge during which he shed some "crocodile tears" about wanting to salvage his marriage. The judge mandated they take six months to try for a reconciliation. That meant Kevin was allowed to move back into her house, and she had to put up with his antics. But much to his ire, she didn't cave.
At some point during this forced reconciliation, the affair partner was assaulted by an unknown assailant. However, both she and her mother pointed the finger at Jolene as the perpetrator, so two police officers showed up at her residence to question her. Fortunately for her, she had security cameras that proved she was at home at the time the girl was injured, so she was not arrested. Jo noticed that one of the officers had shown a flicker of interest in her but didn't follow through.
Two months after the divorce was final when Jo, her BFF Sheila, and her BFF's sister, Maeve, went to a local establishment to celebrate. While there, Jo was re-introduced to Damon, one of the police officers who had shown up at her house several months earlier. Unfortunately, his appearance was so late in the story that he came across as a bit of a bully who pushed Jo around and tried to pass it off as a BDSM-style character. It also caused the relationship between Damon and Jo to develop at a rapid pace, with them learning after two months together that she was pregnant (something she thought could not happen because she was beginning perimenopause). Two months after that, they were married.
The story had plenty of angst, drama, and revenge that made the book enjoyable. The cheating was done off-page before the book began, so nothing was ever seen during the story. The eye-opening that the ex-husband experienced was both sad and well-earned, but it was nice to see how the FMC dealt with the situation without becoming a doormat or losing her dignity as she navigated through the messiness of the divorce. Even the title didn't quite fit the story because it made it sound like one of the main characters had a midlife crisis when, in fact, it was the soon-to-be ex who went through that.
Both main characters were fully developed and mature, with no real growth needed for either of them. That was all on the ex-husband, and he did finally do some growing up. The controlling nature of the MMC was a bit OTT and uncalled for at times, and it was more than a little uncomfortable how the FMC caved to his bullying ways. That made the story lose a star for me because, for most of the book, Jo was in control and stood her ground, only to allow the MMC to boss her around and take some of that away from her. I wasn't certain why the author felt the need for the FMC to give up some of her strength to the MMC like that so close to the end.
I had been willing to give this a full five-star rating, but because of how the author portrayed the MMC as she did. She also threw in a former love interest from Damon's past that created a bit of a stink that didn't fit into the story. It just managed to take away another star because, once again, it was misplaced and uncalled for, giving Damon a moment of unnecessary meanness that was uncalled for. Therefore, I only gave this a three-star rating. Still, it was a good story with an excellent revenge plot.
It was ok