I believe in love at first sight... because I am a mother.
Living a complete lie, holding on to a secret that could cost me the most important thing in my life was about to surface. I couldn’t breathe without Maddie. Maddie was my life. The saying about dying for your child is the absolute truth. The other things you would do are comparable to that of death. I know, I did those things. I did unthinkable things, all for Maddie. I continued the lie, the secrets with the one man who had no right. People say you always have options. That’s a lie. I had no choice. I did it all for her... for my Maddie.
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As far as the characters, I liked Whitley, but she was not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, and there were many times I found myself shaking my head at her actions. She wasn't in the best of situations, but she was doing what she could, and definitely had her own struggles to deal with outside of raising her child. Over the course of the story, I could feel her frustrations about everything that happened to her and continued to happen to her until the end of the book.
Her little girl is named Maddie, and it was apparent to me that Whitley absolutely loved her. As a reader, I fell in love with Maddie from the moment she was introduced. She was adorable, and definitely my favorite character in the story. She was portrayed well, and it felt real because she wasn't a perfectly behaved little girl. She was what drew me into the story, and made me want to keep on reading despite everything else.
Now...on to Alex. I'll simply state that I saw him as manipulative and a control freak, and there were many times I wanted to slap him for everything he did to Whitley over the course of the story, but I couldn't help but feel for him when he was interacting with Maddie.
All for Maddie was somewhat of a difficult read, not in the way it was constructed or the way it was written, but rather the subject matter. I think that's why it's a book that has stayed with me ever since I finished it. Overall, I give it a 4/5 platypire rating.
Excerpt #1
“Papaw, you watch dis wif me?” Maddie asked, holding up her princess movie.
My dad stood and went to her. I instantly jerked my hand from Alex’s, giving him a dirty look. He smirked. I wanted to punch him.
“Papaw has a better idea. Why don’t you stay here with papaw and nana tonight and let mommy have an adult night?” he offered, smiling over at me.
Man, this sucked. I didn’t want his smiling approval. I didn’t want him to like Alex. How could he like Alex? Alex was a conspirator. He couldn’t like Alex.
“No Dad, Alex came here to spend the weekend with her,” I tried.
“Alex is going to take her away from me. Alex can deal with it,” my dad joked, with Alex.
“Its fine, sweetie. She can stay if she wants to,” Alex approved, smiling at me.
I got up to go to bathroom. I had to. I was going to vomit, on him! I leaned in to Alex, catching the smile on his face when he thought that I was going to play his make believe game and kiss him or something. “You’re going to a hotel,” I seductively whispered in his ear.
Excerpt #2
“What’s wrong, baby? Did you have a bad dream?”
“No. A gemin under my bed,” she assured me.
“A gemin?” I repeated, not sure what the heck she was talking about.
“Uh-huh, I go in your bed, K?”
I carried her back to bed with me and snuggled her little body close to mine.
“A gemin under you bed?” she asked.
“What is a gemin?” I asked, wondering if she knew herself.
She rolled to her back so she could demonstrate with her hands.
“It dat big,” she gestured. “Dem can’t have no water.”
“Oh, my God!” I said, sitting up, reaching for my phone. I didn’t care that it was after two in the morning.
“What the hell, Whit?” Jaron answered on the third ring. “Do you know what time it is?”
“YES! You freaking let her watch Gremlins?”
“They’re cute,” he said.
“They’re monsters. She’s three for God’s sake.”
“I’ll tell her they’re not real tomorrow. Sorry, I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jaron said, hanging up on me. Grrrr. I couldn’t believe he let her watch the Gremlins.
Writing is more than a passion for me. I write adult books, romance and erotica. I did recently try my hand at a young adult romance, but because of the gutter that my mind seems to fall into. It quickly went into rated R mode. I reside in Ohio. I love living in Ohio, except maybe the cold winters, and the snow, well maybe the hot summers too. Ah hell, I hate Ohio.
I love to push my limits in writing, fuel the senses and emotions of my readers. I have some great supporters and love them all dearly.
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