Broken

Title: Broken
Author: Megan Hart
Genre: Adult
Rating: 5/5
Cover: 5/10 

"This month my name is Mary. My name is different every month—Brandy, Honey, Amy…sometimes Joe doesn't even bother to ask—but he never fails to arouse me with his body, his mouth, his touch, no matter what I'm called or where he picks me up. The sex is always amazing, always leaves me itching for more in those long weeks until I see him again.

My real name is Sadie, and once a month over lunch Joe tells me about his latest conquest. But what Joe doesn't know is that, in my mind, I'm the star of every X-rated one-night stand he has revealed to me, or that I'm practically obsessed with our imaginary sex life. I know it's wrong. I know my husband wouldn't understand. But I can't stop. Not yet."

The first thing that got my attention was the bizarre description. I mean "this month my name is Mary" made me think of a felon; someone on the run, or something like that, but it just didn't fit with the rest of it, so I bought it more out of curiosity than anything else.

Allow me to explain. Sadie is really only called Sadie. Her husband had an accident during a ski trip four years ago and lost all feeling from his neck down. Two years ago, Sadie met Joe on a bench during lunch. Every first Friday of each month, Sadie and Joe have sat at their bench and talked. After some time, Joe started telling her stories about his conquests. Starved for love she no longer seems to find in her husband Adam, Sadie listens to Joe's stories and imagines herself as those girls he seduces for one-nighters. That's why "my name is Mary". Not because she's convicted of murder. As time goes on, Sadie's conscience starts making itself known - after all, just because she isn't sleeping with Joe and betraying Adam, doesn't mean that her feelings aren't betraying her husband...

Sadie's is a heart-wrenching trip to discovery, acceptance, love, redemption, loss and affection. And she isn't the only one taking the road of self-disocvery. Joe, Adam and even Sadie's mother are all in the same boat as her. It's a truly powerful read, and I'd recommend it to anyone who asks.