Book Review: Come Undone (The Cityscape Series #1) by Jessica Hawkins

"But you only have one shot at life, Olivia, and take it from me, you don't want to miss anything. If you want something, say it out loud. If you love him, tell him so. Seriously."

Oh boy, I liked that way more than I should have... I kind of loved it. No, I definitely loved it. Here's the thing, I knew going into this that I was treading on dangerous territory for myself because of the subject matter. I was feeling daring though, and I wanted to test my boundaries. So, I started it and just didn't stop reading until I finished. This is a three book series, but I'm reviewing each book individually as I go.

I try to avoid any spoilers in my reviews and I ALWAYS try to give a warning if I think something may be spoilerish. That said, the synopsis of this book kind of gives away the elephant in the room. The book is centered around a married couple, Bill and Liv, and another tempting man, David. Obviously, cheating is the big temptation in this book. I'm not going to tell you if, how, and/or when any cheating did/did not occur because that is spoilerish. I'm going to just talk about the book and the temptation more or less.

Before we go any further, I know there are some readers out there that are immediately turned off to books that may have cheating in them and that's fine. That's your right. I'm typically not the first to jump in to a cheating book unless I've seen good reviews. I love some and hate some. While I do not condone cheating, I also recognize that people make mistakes. I'm also really, REALLY, really good at stepping into character when I read a book. I try to put myself into the main character's head and really see and feel the book from their point of view. While I'm happily married to the love of my life, I realize that some people are not in the same boat. Some people marry for bad reasons... maybe they made a rash decision when they were young; maybe they were pushed into it; maybe it was the safe choice; or maybe it felt like the only choice at the time. One way or another, they find themselves in an unhappy or unsatisfying marriage.

Liv is one of those people. There's nothing huge wrong with Bill, but there's also nothing magical that's right about him either. He's a career driven man and pretty inattentive if you ask me. Their marriage lacks passion, and they seem to have little in common. Bill is pushing for things that Liv's not ready for, and Liv's just going through the motions.

"Fine?" he asked, his leg bouncing up and down rapidly. "Everything is fine to you. It's not fine to me."

Liv has a chance meeting with David (the other guy) and their chemistry is undeniable, but she's married. And she makes that known to him. She is vehemently against betraying her husband and tries desperately to distance herself from David. It seemed like she was fighting a losing battle though. Personally, I think Liv made a mistake when she married Bill. Marrying the wrong person is one big mistake, and I'm not sure how you find your way out of that the right way. Do I think the answer is cheating? No. But I understand Liv's temptation. I understand the conflict she had going on between her heart and her brain. I mean... think about it this way... what if Kellan Kyle, Gideon Cross, or Christian Grey were in to you? YOU! I'm just throwing that out there. Temptation y'all. That's temptation.

"I realized that this time, instead of walking away, he intended to fight against me, to fight for me."

I spent most of the book feeling just as conflicted as Liv. Things get a little intense at the end (and real hot), but, for the most part, I didn't find the book to be too angsty. I wasn't wringing my hands or anything -- just a little tense. I'm expecting the next book to put me through the wringer though with how things left off.

"He was drawing out my closely guarded secrets, charming them from me like poisonous snakes."

I'm loving the writing and am really impressed with how artfully this fiery ball of temptation of a book has woven it's web. I can't wait to see where the series is going to lead!

4 stars!