Sanctity
I think this might be my favourite book so far in the series. Not sure why entirely, but I have fond feelings for it. It wasn't easy. I had to take a break from it and then some things just came naturally to me. I felt like I had a real grip suddenly on Geoff and Nia.
Something has awakened in Nia. Her new enlightenment has opened her up, and maybe there's others who have caught her scent. She's been sending out signals without even knowing...
It has to be hard for a husband like Geoff—to have something so precious as Nia, knowing so many other men, stronger, more masculine types, want her and don't respect his relationship with her. How could he ever really feel safe? Of course she loves him, but sometimes love only exists in a moment or a circumstance...
Something has awakened in Nia. Her new enlightenment has opened her up, and maybe there's others who have caught her scent. She's been sending out signals without even knowing...
It has to be hard for a husband like Geoff—to have something so precious as Nia, knowing so many other men, stronger, more masculine types, want her and don't respect his relationship with her. How could he ever really feel safe? Of course she loves him, but sometimes love only exists in a moment or a circumstance...
KT-- again, a really great book. One of your best efforts that I've read in my opinion. I must admit you fooled me again, as I expected things to be much more painful for all of the key characters by the end, but things are moving in a more unstable direction.
ReplyDeleteI did expect Maria to get tougher with Rocco, but other issues took him out of the picture in a more suttle way (at least for now). Likely conflict in the future between he and Rocco though.
You did give a sense that Nia could get really angry if Geoff were to somehow get closer to a female contact in NYC, which might cause things to destroy their relationship in the future. For right now, I am surprised to admit things look better for their relationship than I expected at this point....fooled again!!
Still wondering if Winslow will be a trigger for something to cause things to come crashing down, although things seemed muted on that in this book.
Will be interesting to see others comments, sometimes I feel that I am back in a Lit class discussion.
This book was meant to be much shorter and part of the next book. Which is now beginning to morph into yet another book. This thing is blossoming. but I've never loved characters more...
DeleteCould be why you didn't feel what you may have been anticipating...if what you are anticipating is to happen at all, ha ha...
Guhrka - my mind immediately went to your rapids reference when Dino's motorcycle pulled up. Like, there's imminent danger approaching.
DeleteI must agree I can see some a good ending that leads to Nia and Geoff together still at the end of this too for some reason. It's really nice work she's done making me think two totally different things could happen at the end of this.
As for Winslow - for me and where my head goes ... that video is still on Geoff's desktop ...
I meant a potential future conflict between Rocco and Dino at the end of the second paragraph above.
ReplyDeleteI am awestruck again by what KT accomplishes. Sometimes authors write stories that are over 100 pages and it feels that long. They string together a story line that connects each page and sometimes it will tell a complete story. Sometimes it will even build on itself across multiple books and you can see the progression of the characters, scenes that remember where they were in the beginning. Mostly though, the stories I've read demonstrate a sort of short term memory loss, scenes strung together to create a long story filled with action, like a checklist of scenes that the author wanted to put down on paper, regardless of what the characters did or said in other moments. Other authors may be totally aware of how each scene connects, but never quite seem to deviate from one plan for each one of them, until you quite can't remember what specifically happened from one page to the next, because the same thing happened on both. These stories can easily be half the length, and have the same effect. And finally, none that I can think of have ever covered the scope of positive and negative emotions that she has covered. a select few stories can come close, and may be a touch more graceful (at times) at putting them across, but not before pulling the wool over our eyes and I realize the author never intended to make any of it stick. That just frustrates the logical part of my head and leaves me feeling patronized, as if the ending is supposed to serve as a means of bringing me back to a balanced state of mind. No, endings are supposed to be whatever serves the story best. That's how the best literature has ever been written.
ReplyDeleteI can't put KT's stories down until it's read through, and it's never long enough. No one writes like this, am I wrong? I may be becoming too biased now, ha! I try and try to find someone else to read afterwards that can do what she does, not that I ever need to wait that long for her next story. I'm thankful for that because no author has been able to provide the kind of attention to detail and willingness to push herself every time. Every time, lol! Every word holds value and remembers who said or thought them. The impact of a decision, moment, statement, or feeling is delivered with precision and care. When Nia said she misses Dino, when she stares into his eyes, when Geoff says he is nothing to Nia, I felt it. I feel it thinking about it now. The groundwork was laid for those lines, and they made sense to the reader.
I'm sure when I reread, I'll find something that you could describe as a criticism because any author needs that, but my feelings for it are clouding my judgment right now.
You know there will be more said over the next coming weeks! Happy New Year, you guys!
Thanks so much! I never get tired of your thoughtful analysis, always look forward to it. Wish again I could indulge on these topics of discussion but I know too much. But at heart I am a fan of the characters (the writer, not so much) just like you are!
DeleteThe delicious agony of waiting for the story to completely unfold. Thx for more great prose.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome! The secret is I love doing it!
DeleteI've put myself in a bad place now, in my heart, part from writing this, part from what I discuss in my newest post. But it was this depressed state of mind that I wrote the first Losing His Wife under so it's probably for the good...
Dino has officially arrived. I don’t think that particular fact surprises anyone who has been here from the beginning, and what transpired in his homecoming (there’s a double entendre in here for the well-initiated …;) ), is exactly what we thought it would be like, but holy shit does it still make me blurry-eyed and hoarse thinking about it. Nia went and made the biggest decision she could make in her relationship with Geoff, but of course her decision was not solely her’s. I’m trying to figure out who I should be mad at more for letting this bull (teehee) into their china shop of a relationship, but I'm not sure it matters a whole lot.
ReplyDeleteWhy did Nia go see Dino at Fire Station 455? Is it to see if it’s true that he beat up that kid? Yes, but we know she wants to see him anyways, he’s a hottie, she was his hottie at one time, he was THE hottie during that time. Let’s not forget why she even has this question for Dino though, why she even ended up on her knees in a parking lot for a stripper. We also shouldn’t forget that Nia might have egged Geoff’s jealousy boner on into existence, I’m still not quite sure which is the chicken or the egg in this story of illicit lust. Finally (even though it definitely isn’t, but I feel like I’ll look ridiculous in a Socratic back and forth into infinite regression), I’ll stop back at Dino and Nia. We can’t forget that she has cheated on her husband with this man before, and now that she’s been re-exposed to why she did it in the first place being with his brother, with hubby’s permission. what did you think she was going to do, Geoff?
I am more convinced now that Nia knows that Odie is Dino’s, I think she outright thinks as much as she straddles him, and I doubt the Conservatish Catholic background for these two would have approved an abortion, so it has to be she’s thinking about Odie. I mean if she doesn’t believe it, then she has some terrible logic trying to convince herself and Dino, “you should see her draw.” Nia knows. It’s possible she might not be ready to admit it, but she does.
It would a Morrisonian carpet-pull at this point to say Odie is actually Geoff’s. :)
If she openly knows it’s hers, even if it is debatable in her eyes, it makes the decision to let him finish where he has all the more insane! And to rub Geoff’s face in it (I swear these just pour out of me), here’s the cuckold part, HOT but what a bitch move, Nia!
We still don’t quite know how it ended between Dino and Nia, but I think we learn that the source of whatever issue it was might be rooted in Nia’s insecurities. To hear her talk about herself as being imperfect, followed shortly afterwards by her taking a dangerous risk by scratching Dino’s neck, I think it’s because she likes to cause trouble when life starts to get really good. She can’t believe that her life should stay perfect, because she isn’t. Psychobabble! I have a background there so it’s where my head goes.
Why is Chapter 3 called Reggie? I mean who cares about Kelly’s dog right now (I’m a cat person anyways)? One thought goes to two loosely connected concepts, on one hand you have a dog eager for the appreciation of young Odie but not getting it the way he wants, on the other you have a suddenly flaccid Geoff with a Nia who wants him to deliver, Nia suddenly produces a dangerous idea of how to keep that ship afloat. That’s the most compelling one so if I’m off, then I look really dumb. I’ll just be here on this limb if you need me.
My other thought goes to Odie’s chastisement of her father, “couldn’t you have helped a little sooner?” Is Geoff just not very good at timing his interventions when his family is being violated?
Two more quick thoughts and I’m done. Does Kelly have a thing for Nia, and holy shit would Nia cuckold Geoff with his sister? KT, you wouldn’t dare lol. I may be saying you wouldn’t dare in the Geoff sort of way though.
Lastly, what was bothering Nia down below at the end? Dino isn’t carrying something is he? That could really shorten this series KT, LOL!
By, "if she openly thinks it's her's ..." I of course mean Dino's.
DeletePsychobabble or just babble? Upon further reading it seems more like Dino was how it ended, not Nia, I forgot those brief interactions that spoke so much.
Delete"Nia, I fuckin made a big mistake with you"
"I know you real good" she said meanly ... reminding him what he did to her.
"I'm sorry ..."
I took those interactions differently when I first read them, but I think they may be revealing an old grudge from the relationship.
Well, that was an interesting chapter. I guess I ended it a little different from Guhrka, or maybe I'm just projecting into the next chapter, but I see a lot of pain here, especially for Geoff. His last passage perfectly portrayed his sense of "What did I get myself into?" Dino is a whole new complication, and I think he instantly realizes this, even if he is unaware of exactly what the problem is.
ReplyDeleteBut I agree with others, Nia was always going to bring Dino into this; the break from Rocco was just the excuse she needed to make it happen. Now, I also happen to believe Nia when she says she doesn't love Dino: he doesn't get her; his reaction when she first tells him about Geoff tells us all we need to know. Even though he comes back, he'll never fully get her, and as such I don't think she'd ever leave Geoff for him.
However, it does feel like she needs him, at least sexually. I wonder if its all wrapped up in a first love thing. Yes, he's great in bed, but also don't we all have a really fond memory of our first love, our first sexual partner. Even if the relationship ultimately didn't work, or likely ended in heartbreak, that person always holds a special place in our heart. Reading this chapter and Nia's memories of their trip with his parents, I thought maybe some of that could explain the hold Dino still has on Nia.
As to Odie, well my heart breaks just thinking of when that revelation comes out (it has to right?). Maybe that's where my overwhelming sense of doom comes into play. Dino is going to use that at some point; or Nia is finally going to tell Geoff (part of me was surprised he didn't press her on that secret she clearly didn't want him to know).
As to whether Nia knows for sure, I tend to think she probably ultimately suspects Odie is Dino's biological child. Some of her comments can be seen as rationalizing, especially the painting comment. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know for sure, and probably never wants to find out.
I don't think Geoff would ever leave Odie; he's too wrapped up in his love for her that in the end it wouldn't matter to him if she's not really his (or at least that's my hope).
But I think Nia's fear is he would leave her, and on that I suspect she's right. As much as "Nia being Nia" turns him on, I can't imagine that would be something he could overcome.
All in all, great chapter, the scenes with Dino and Nia were amazing; they rival anything you did with Jess and Tyler (and those scenes were amazing too). I still don't feel as though Nia is falling down the rabbit hole quite like Jess did; I think she knows what she wants much better than Jess. And she wants Geoff, their life together; I don't think she wondering about what got away with Dino...she knows they would be a bad match as a relationship. But I do fear the secrets are going to crush that relationship with Geoff.
Also, just saw your post on Quarry...I saw it when it was on Cinemax in the fall and its fantastic. I won't give anything anyway for those who haven't seen it, other than to recommend it for those looking for a show to binge. I expect it to be back for Season 2...several of the shows on Cinemax recently ended, and I believe Quarry was pretty well liked by critics (though I don't know any ratings numbers)
Of course I meant the drawing comment with Odie, not painting. Didn't pick that up til I read what I wrote after posting. It clearly felt like Nia projecting a trait of Geoff onto her daughter to rationalize in her mind that Odie was his.
DeleteBut that goes to the whole nature vs. nurture thing we could spend days talking about. What traits are we born with and what traits are nurtured by our parents?
As someone who has adopted kids in the family, I think a lot about those kind of things...maybe that is why the Odie stuff hits me as hard as it does. I personally believe Geoff is 100% Odie's father, no matter what the DNA says..nothing can change that now. But it can permanently destroy Nia and Geoff.
JL23 -- Some of your comments and angst mirror my own relative to Odie, and for that matter the boys in LHW1. While I expected to be shocked by the carnage in this book, it just didn't fully happen, although I do have the feeling of being on the edge of a cliff, unbalanced and wavering there, hoping a slight breeze doesn't send me into the abyss.
DeleteI do agree that it doesn't seem likely (at this point) that Nia would directly leave Geoff for Dino. That being said, she has started down that slippery path of joining Dino in humiliating Geoff, pulling back just before it got brutal and telling Dino she could never be with him.
However, I still wouldn't rule it out, since if she continues the relationship with Dino, and gets more comfortable humiliating Geoff in more hurtful and dark ways, there is a high likelihood she will eventually leave him for Dino.
Lots of potential things that could change that outcome. Dino and Rocco could really go over the deep end and fight over her, or their wives could find out and take both of them out, literally or figuratively. Then there is the true black swan, Winslow.
Right now, I think the best odds are that Nia leaves Geoff for Dino, by their gradually humiliating him to a point that she can't respect him any longer. Hope I am wrong with this, because the pain will be immense, and will likely affect poor Odie as well.
Yeah, my guess is the bad ending would be Geoff finding out Nia cheated on him and leaving because of that (whether Odie is or isn't his biological child would maybe even be secondary to that point).
DeleteMaybe that causes Nia to turn to Dino, but I still don't see her outright leaving Geoff for him.
Again, I sort of compare her to Jess, since they share the same story title. When Jess was with Tyler, you got the ever increasing sense she was experiencing something she never had before, that she didn't have with Pete. By the end, it wasn't really the humiliation of Pete that turned her on I think, it was that she had come to feel she was meant to be with Tyler, that she loved him. Also, there was plenty of unspoken resentment between them, the thought that Jess felt Pete had taken something from her...her youth.
I don't see Nia being the same...for one, she already has been with Dino and knows what he can (and can't) give her. And I just see her as "needing" Geoff more than Jess felt she needed Pete. Rather than having simmering resentment that he "took" something from her, I think she feels he "saved" her in a way.
But hey I could be wrong; I think we both agree there are going to be some significant bumps coming. After all, the title is still "Losing His Wife," the question is how much will he lose?
JL - I agree that the most likely scenario ahead is pain, and I really don’t think that only Geoff, Nia, and Odie will feel it. I think that Dino and even Rocco will feel it too. Rocco will probably have a fight with Maria that may get messy, and Stacey is going to flip her shit when she finds out what her husband did, not just last week, but 7 years ago. I still see, as Guhrka does, fights between Rocco and Dino ahead, with Nia at the center.
ReplyDeleteIt’s a really interesting take JL has with Dino. He really does have a lot of ground to make up for the hurt he must have put her through. I think that Nia will likely get really close (if not fully committing) to overlooking her issues she has with Dino, though. Personally, I think her issues she has with him are really deep because he meant so much to her (not totally unlike your “first love” comment), and they will be reminded more and more of how much they mean to each other. You guys remember when he called her “the one”? I can’t forget that line. At the same time, think about how many boxes Nia can check with him? She knows this, and he may just be able to prove to her he is the closest thing to a perfect man in her life. Long term though, can Dino forget that her brother has had the kind of sex he has had with Nia, or could he be weirdly okay with it like Rocco was “You need it, you come to me or Dino”? For her, he could get over her past, I’m sure.
You’re right that in the reclamation sex scene, Geoff really missed out on some opportunities to let her know what he was thinking as Nia and Dino’s coupling was happening. For the next book(s), we can be certain the questions will be answered for him! :) Odie is definitely going to be the huge central piece to this conflict, and for me I wonder if camp has changed her mindset on what she’s into. She appears to want to be more outdoorsy, be more active. Geoff said she looked taller when they picked her up, did she start to feel more herself at camp? More alive and independent like her mother? I think we could run into some potential issues where Dino will want to try to bond with his biological daughter, and I’m wondering if Rocco would help facilitate that too. Rocco (and I’m sure Dino too) know the outdoors, they can make s’mores on a real fire, they can go camping and Dino and Rocco would know how to set up camp more than likely. That’s not enough to completely take Odie away (at least I’m not allowing myself to admit otherwise), but is she going to want to keep drawing stories with her father as he’s been contracted?
I think Geoff’s work is about to get seriously effected by watching Nia with Dino and Rocco. What more demonstrative way to show the pain suffered by a man in his position than to ask him to draw creatively from scratch? His pieces will likely become dark, and it might be really hard for the public to like. He’ll become like Tim Burton overnight. Krista said she liked Geoff’s work because it’s “kind and approachable,” how long does that last? The revolving door of Dragonieri brothers knocking because Nia’s home and Geoff doesn’t care. Problems in the workplace!
DeleteTo Guhrka’s comment on humiliation going forward - I believe Dino will want to pull back from being too harsh to Geoff, for Nia’s sake. I wonder if it will be Rocco who lets Geoff know, because to me, he will be the worst humiliator, and that is obviously the mother of humiliations in this story. I picture the four of Rocco, Nia, and Dino together and it’s Rocco, who gives zero fucks, who lets Geoff know. As to how Nia reacts to Geoff’s humiliation (not talking about Odie), I think she will lose respect for Geoff, but it will likely be because of Geoff’s own reaction to it. It will, naturally, effect him as his own thoughts of dread had in the bathroom scene with Nia. I think this will happen more and more, Nia will get frustrated, but more than anything because Geoff will mope and feel sorry for himself as he has done, and Nia really won’t like that piece of him. “Am I seeing old Geoff again?” or “You were being a little bitch.” It’s interesting for me to see that for the time being, Nia has drawn a line in the sand that she does not seem to want to make direct comparisons that humiliate Geoff. Rules are likely broken in the Morrison world, there just needs to be a proper push. The absence of machismo at the moments Nia wants it in her life will draw his humiliation out of her.
Geoff is a great man though. He is no doubt a provider with a rising income and esteem, who has obviously let his daughter’s creative spirit soar, and Odie adores Geoff. He makes her smile like only a father who tries as hard as hard as he does to be a good father, can because he knows her so well. He is no doubt a creative gift giver too (not excluding allowing bang out sex with an ex and his brother), it’s hard to imagine Rocco or Dino coming up with the interesting things that Geoff has given her. The thermos was a bit of joke, but it made Nia smile. Who of those two men would do “Sugar Poops Night”? The “Goddess Stone” gift was precious. I mean, life is not all about testosterone and hot sex, and Nia will want to keep a softer presence in her life. Danger zone if Dino demonstrates that kind of compassion, and he just might be able to. He sided with Geoff briefly about Nia cheating on him, and he’s practically Dino’s arch nemesis! That demonstrates a lot of empathy and selflessness. I doubt Rocco could accomplish this.
Lol at myself regarding "a lot of empathy and selflessness" after a man has cheated on his wife with a woman also married. Okay, maybe he's not so empathetic and selfless, but you may get my point.
DeleteI don't view his reaction as sympathetic to Geoff, I think he feels bad for Nia and is disgusted by Geoff, thinking she's somehow forcing herself to act like this for him. It's a terrible misread on it; even though he comes back I still don't think he gets them.
DeleteHis infatuation with Odie is indeed a big problem for all of them. That scene where he puts his thumb over Geoff in the picture made my stomach turn.
I don't really think Dino is interested in actually being Odie's father; I think he just sees her as something that ties him permanently to Nia. He hasn't thought any further than that, about the consequences of what the revelation could mean for all of them. And that's a really big problem.
That secret is a nuclear bomb that can destroy so many people, not just Geoff and Nia (and Odie), but Dino and his whole family, his wife, kids, even Rocco. Hope they all survive the fallout.
JL - on Dino you're right, don't think I gave enough thought to the one statement (I'm finding) that built my argument for having any empathy for Geoff. I knew he ultimately had no respect for him after Nia told him about what Geoff and she are into, but just before that when Nia had her knees drawn up and she first said she'll have Geoff go down on her, he said "why would you do that to him?" I interpreted that as a glimmer of respect, as if almost to say he really only wants Nia and knows Geoff ultimately won out in the race for her love, but he'll keep running. My argument completely falls apart for the obvious reason that he was the one who helped her cheat on him sooo yeaaaah, fail. I'm finding so many flaws in the remaining arguments supporting his "empathy" in other interactions with Nia that I'm not sure how I feel about them anymore, lol.
DeleteAs for Dino and Odie, I can see your point, I think it's cowardly and neglectful if he truly thought she was his, as he still does, that he didn't make more of an effort instead of hiding the evidence of his infidelity from his family with Stacey, Geoff, his own biological daughter!!! That said, he may have believed Nia for a while and might really want to be serious about making things right with Odie now... seven years later ... fuck you Dino! What kind of father is that? We'll all figure out that mystery soon!
Okay, my question is, what is your guesses as to who leaves who? I see almost more options "than stars in sky", a phrase I remember hearing an Indian chief say in an old cowboy movie.
ReplyDeleteWith KT in a self-described dark mood (I remember last time she said that when doing LHW1, everything really went to crap so bad for Pete that even I (eternal optimist) lost all hope for anything good to happen for anyone in the story.
Now, KT could get really ambitious and have Dino, Rocco, and Geoff all lose their wives almost at the same time, although for different reasons. I don't think it will go that way because it is just too complicated, although she does have all of us thinking that this is all about Geoff losing Nia (could she be using them as a foil to misdirected us?), most likely to Dino (my most likely guess), followed by Geoff losing Nia to Rocco (probably second most likely). Although I am still thinking our pool shark (KT'S new nickname) has Winslow playing a part somewhere (maybe a bank shot?) that will surprise all of us (probably less likely at this point).
These are the "end game" scenarios, but there will be a lot of pain to dish out. There are several "wolves" already in the door at this point, and probably no one will escape unscathed, sadly even Odie I fear.
I love the happy endings and only want to think of that for the moment. Like you said it could go any number of ways.
DeleteMy hope is the worst case scenario is an ending similar to the first LHW, where they break up but all indications are they're reuniting.
Hate to say it (KT knows I am really big on heroic happy endings), but I thinking worst case scenario is much, much worse than LHW1. I think the two stories and characters are much different. Probably the most similar are Pete and Geoff, but they have some differences. There really isn't anyone as much of a low life as Tyler in LHW1 (KT always feels he is just immature and misguided, but I don't). What semblance of a man would take the kindness of the gift of shelter in someone's home, and then not only seduce and turn his wife totally against her husband, and then try to steal his kids away as well. And this wasn't the first time. He doesn't even want to get a job and pay his way.
DeleteI don't particularly like either Dino or Rocco, but at least they act like they have some self-worth.
I see Nia as much different than Jess. In fact, if Pete hadn't gotten Jess to get with Tyler in the first place, she would have likely stayed with Pete and the kids forever. I would also say that Pete through his heroism saved Jess from a very dark path. I don't think she would have left Tyler, even though she has started to get some misgivings about their relationship. So that would leave her pregnant, with a deadbeat lover or husband, humiliated by all that knew her, and probably eventually losing her teaching job.
Nia is soo different from Jess, cheating from the very beginning. I must admit that at this point in LHW2, there are so many possible twists, and most paths have at least one roadblock to anything good happening in the end.
The only consolation that I see is that KT has a soft spot for heroism and "soft landings". So, she might, just might, hit that impossible three bank shot into the right hole (no pun intended) and make the pain manageable at the end. But don't expect her to turn down the pain-factor for a while yet, so I am just going to buckle in, and hope that roar of water I hear from around the bend isn't a 20 foot waterfall.
Surprise, my response is long - I don’t know how this story ends, and I am not sure the story is over after the question is answered. I might be biased about that based on how the last two parts of LHW1 played out, to be clear. Like you say though, everyone in this story is different than LHW1. After the last two stories in this series, I think Geoff will be the one who breaks off with Nia officially, while I tend to think that Nia will have essentially separated from Geoff more or less unofficially by that point. I say this because, of the two, Geoff has felt the most powerful negative emotions in the relationship towards the other.
DeleteAs intense as her experiences have been with Rocco and Dino, Nia has been mostly prepared for it all. She was prepared for the most intense sex she ever had with Rocco, even if she couldn’t know it would be as good as it was. She has done the song and dance of a relationship with Dino long enough to know something about what it would be like to be with him again. I think she was also prepared for her husband’s reaction, even as the surprising events with Dino played out. Geoff was even involved in Nia’s sex with Dino, even if neither Nia nor Geoff had done any of the planning for it. She is lightyears ahead of Geoff in this. He has to play catch up in her race to see what will happen next, and she is going to tire from waiting up for him.
I also believe Nia when she says she doesn’t understand what’s happening with herself. She doesn’t know why she likes it so rough, she doesn’t know why she went to the fire station, and couldn’t process what happened there. When Geoff went down on her after Dino finished inside, she didn’t know why it turned her on so much. She knows it’s a bad idea with Dino, even if Geoff agreed to it, so maybe she enjoys the badness of this, but I think that’s part of her exploration right now, and she wants Geoff involved in it as she figures things out, and would be shocked if he left her during that time.
How he will be involved in the next book and beyond might start to become really too much to ask of him, though. Not just in the direct humiliation he has asked of her, but she has yet to really indulge to this point, but I foresee that Nia’s days might become crazy. Dino getting with her before either of them leaves for work or maybe afterwards, Nia and Rocco working most of the day and finding pockets of time to enjoy each other, leaving her exhausted before she comes home. I can’t imagine that’s everyday, but with two virile alphas pursuing her at a dizzying pace, Geoff will be relegated to cleaning her up more than anything else, because Nia just won’t be physically capable of being in a relationship with him like he wants. He might be into it for a hot minute, fed by her appetite like he is now, but Nia wants to play a very dangerous game. Dino and Rocco (most likely just Dino) will want to spend more and more of Geoff’s time with her, and she tries to coax the animal out of them in every scene she’s been in. The games that will be played will become more intense as the story progresses, probably more than she can even handle, let alone prepare for. Geoff’s devastation will likely worsen paying witness.
Continued - Nia still wants Geoff to take care of her after her experiences with Dino and Rocco, but this will become unsustainable for him, he has dignity after all, and he’s got books to write and a daughter to raise, too! In short, life has to go on! Not that Nia is neglectful of Odie, but she went out of her way before to make a bad decision for the relationship, she made Geoff stay with her and take away from Geoff and Odie family time after Montreal. Someone has to be there for Odie-Wan!
DeleteIf it should be revealed to him that Odie is Dino’s, I can’t imagine it will be easy for Geoff to want to stick around, just to get away from the pain for a while! Nia will be devastated with Geoff leaving. However, Nia having more and more strong experiences with other men will start to have the unfortunate side effect of carving mental space of a life without Geoff. Before she left for Montreal, he asked her, will she think about him? “Not even for a minute.” The proceeding chapters played out almost exactly like that, only thinking to text him once (that I can remember) before Rocco and Nia happened. Geoff and Odie never come up in conversations between the two of Rocco and Nia, I imagine only Geoff won’t with Dino. Nia became aware of her interactions with Rocco, but things like this have continued with them.
Compounding these events more and more over time will have an effect, and might take the sting out of Geoff’s departure from her life. She might not realize it yet, but she’s basically forming a wedge between them, two Mediterranean meathead brother sized wedges, and she might just be developing the coping mechanisms she needs to deal with his loss. At least for a while.
Geoff will not give up on Odie, and I’m not sure if his competition is worth a lick of salt as fathers, so this will not be “Losing His Daughter”. That’s conjecture because we don’t know much of either’s family life other than Rocco is fully capable of supporting his family with his income. Still, I don’t think Geoff has that much to worry about in terms of his wife finding a suitable replacement for him in terms of fatherly duties. To me, that’s his ace in the hole. Both Dragonieris have children, but both of them seem to be demanding brutes. They’re ‘tough love’ types, and that is terrible parenting at the end of the day. I think Nia relates to that though, which is scary, she might believe she wants that type of fatherly figure for Odie for a bit, but she may come back around to Geoff being better for Odie, and that I think is how he turns Nia on the most.
What do you guys think about how Nia talks to Geoff about this game they are playing?
ReplyDeleteI think she is being mostly dishonest about what she is doing with these men, and what it means to her. He gets the X-rated version, “He is so big and masculine,” “I want him to split me in half” “I want the animal in him,” but I think he should be much more scared of the PG version that plays out in her mind and has not let him in on … “He felt like love and hope … He was perfect … He made her feel like a woman.” She doesn’t tell him that she had nostalgic flashbacks with Dino that reminded her of good times, and that she misses him.
My mind is trying to rationalize this into Nia still ultimately being a good person, just faced with an unbelievable temptation and maybe just needs a reason to make it okay for herself as she toys with the feeling. Geoff has gotten off to her musing about stereotypes of things she thinks he might be into “I was looking at all the firemen shit, him fucking his big cock against my panties ...” and I think she wants him to get off on that element (good job Nia), but we’ve seen her slow play or ignore countless details of what she’s done, and she’s avoiding telling him everything she’s thinking. My question is why?
Does she not realize that’s she’s doing this, and she just wants to enjoy her time with Geoff, to hell with what else is going on in her mind? Almost like she’s saying, this feels really good with him, even if it means I am doing something very dangerous.
Is she teasing Geoff just enough so he will keep playing along, and she ultimately wants to pursue Dino (and/or Rocco) and just needs him to be okay with it to feel better about herself?
Has she sexualized Geoff’s original role in their relationship as her sexual confidant, and wants to see how far it will go with men she craves?
Wow, you have spent a lot of time thinking about this... I think you are hitting on a similarity in both of KT'S LHW books, that when these women (Jess and Nia), start getting into the fantasy of cuckolding and humiliating their husbands, it grows more and more into intense humiliation egged on by their lover to even greater heights. Nia is not as far over the cliff as Jess got just before the end, but looking over the LHW2 story, she is definitely on that path.
ReplyDeleteMaybe that is a underlying message about this lifestyle, the more you give into this fantasy, the more it comes to own you and drives everything you do.
So I guess my point is that the main thing driving Nia's actions is the fantasy's grip on her, and it is getting exponentially stronger with each encounter with Rocco and Dino (I would even include the male stripper as well). That means the fantasy of the cuckolding and humiliation will likely get so bad for Jeff that he will either "breakout", and eventually save her or she will leave him physically or emotionally.
Of course I meant Geoff, not Jeff in my rantings above
ReplyDeleteWhew..so, I had to re-read the book because I felt like I missed something...how could Geoff NOT stop the scene when it got too much for him? How could he not put an end to things when there was clearly something deeper between Nia & Dino? How did he not ask her about the secret??? Geoff get your head in the game!!
ReplyDeleteI also missed Nia comment about things that were not meant to be when she was w Dino alone... there was a child and although she doesn't mention it to be Ollie the implication of there once being a child is there. Could she have gotten pregnant when they were young? Did she have a miscarriage/abortion at Dino's insistence? Did his behavior in some way lead to her loosing something? And the mention of her father, what's that about??? First time her family is mentioned so there must be something there that we will read about in the future...
KT, girl you get me at every book...the love the sadness the kikyness of it all. As a married woman I look forward to me time (reading) and these stories have me bent over with need. Need for the sex, both with the husband and wife & with the wife and her lovers. They keep me agonizing over married couples going down this road, they need to be strong enough to open Pandora's box to make it thru to the other side. The strongest need is the happily ever after.. you can have the best marriage and the fun on the side but never forget who gave you that freedom, don't forget the man who loved you enough to give you this present. Now please don't be Jess and loose sight of what really matters...
Now I sit waiting for the next chapter, I hope it's not a long wait!
Hey DR, I thought a similar thing when Nia said "That wasn't to be either." It got the gears rolling, I figured maybe she does know Odie is Dino's because I don't think either of their upbringings allow for an abortion, but the rest of their conversation wouldn't make much sense in that case. I hadnt considered that Nia could have had a misscariage, which would be huge because that implies an intent to have children between them, with a sad result. Another pregnancy helps make sense of the rest of what Nia said about Odie.
DeleteThe upbringing thought was an assumption though because like you also mention, to this point, there hasn't been much mention of Nia's family life, just mostly a few 'off the cuff' lines in passing. It's how she talks about her friends that makes me think her family is similar because she's so at home with them, conservative Catholic. I too am waiting to see where KT goes with this, we'll learn more for sure, but i agree there must be a reason to have Dino bring up Papa Giannopolous!
Do you see how far she's already gotten on part 6? I'm hoping that momentum carries!
Anyone want to take an over/under wager on the final word count? I'll put it at 35 000 words, and take the over ;) .
DW not DR* :/
DeleteDW: thank you so much! Love, sadness, and kinkiness (and occasional humor!) are what I strive for. Try and reflect reality...reality is hot.
Delete2B2H: this one is feeling like a real word count creeper. I already moved a big chunk to the next book...that chunk was supposed to be in Sanctity. LHW2 will be the biggest story I've done...
2B2H-i have a routine int he early AM when having my first coffee of the day, I am checking amazon to see if KT put something out for me to read while i was asleep (haha) and then i go to the blog site to check her progress on the next chapter. I'm an addict I admit, but what a guilty pleasure to have.
DeleteKT- reality is hot, and the tidbit you just gave me & 2B2H about the progress of this chapter and the next will mean i have something to read fairly soon and then soon thereafter as well. Please continue! lol as always I am Desperately Waiting on the edge of my seat...
Lucky for you this blog doubles as a support group for Morrison story addiction ... KTA. We feel your pain.
DeleteHello my name is 2B2H and I've been addicted to Morrison's stories since SCB.
Seriously though, girl is burning through part 6!
DW, feel that any if us could have used your screen name, LOL
ReplyDeleteKT, omg your biggest work ever, just what twists and turns have you planned, and the quality of your prose is exceptional, best I've read in a long time if not ever in this genre.
Of not if, damn these fat fingers
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteTB=TH and Guhrka, many thanks for your commentary it adds an extra layer to KT's stories, I love the analysis and conjecture you both make, even if the twists and turns you predict/wish for KT does not take, cheers
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul! I find talking it out helps me organize my thoughts and hopefully expand on my understanding. This story has a lot of depth, hard for erotica to really dig that deep, yet she went and done it.
DeletePaul/2B=2H/DW, and everyone else. As you have already picked up on, all of feed on each others theories, projections, and even some light teasing of KT sometimes. I think she really likes to interact with us, in fact that was what drew me to to her writing, beyond the overall quality.
ReplyDeleteNow my one plea for all new readers...Please read the Cayman Proxy series so we can get KT to finish that series.
2B=2H--keep up the great analysis. Reading your stuff makes my day at times.
I wonder if these blogs have an overall word limit... It takes a long time to scroll to the bottom these days.
Feelings are mutual, and I often need your carefully crafted questions to hone in on something!
DeleteI'll second that fans of this story should read CPro (Cayman Proxy)! You will NOT be disappointed.
I'm sure once we get to the end of this series we'll shut it down with text. Scrolling to the latest post might be this ridiculous from now to the end.
It's the blogger's fault.
Of course once I got turned in to KT I have read all her series so I too am anxiously awaiting the CP next chapter....
DeleteGuilty as charged, your honor!!
ReplyDeleteTwo more thoughts -
ReplyDeleteI think Rocco and Nia are about to share something really intense. Lost in the heart throbbing moments that Dino and Nia shared in this, was the touching moment Nia had with Rocco at the steakhouse and what I think it revealed. We already knew Rocco has been losing weight ever since he realized he had a real shot with Nia before Montreal. To physically change a part of yourself because of someone else says a lot. She has to more than a little turned on that one of the hottest guys she's known can resist her consistent advances unlike anyone, especially considering he happens to be the best lay she's ever had, so I imagine she'll start to come on a lot stronger (which seems hard to believe given what she's said she's done). Nia is also really trying to make Rocco feel better about Peter and get him out of his recent slump, a slump for which she suspects she's more than a little responsible for building. I think he'll only be able to hold out a little longer.
One other thought - After Nia and Dino's first sex scene, I get the impression that Nia was purposefully egging Dino's disgust on in reaction to Geoff and Nia's love life. Maybe less specifically, she seemed to be trying to get a reaction out of him. How she was keeping her legs up in plain view, how quickly she explained what she and Geoff were into as if it was natural, "What? He's okay if I fuck around." Then how quickly it became a shouting match about what he could possibly know about how to please her. I think she knew he would have the reaction he did, maybe even wanted to see where it would head so she could take another opportunity to let him know the hurt he caused her. That whole scene is one the most intense in the entire series. Hot damn.
KT is getting close, must be energized again. Won't be long now. :)
ReplyDeleteThe pink bar moved. Getting closer. Can't wait to see what Nia does next...
ReplyDeleteGuhrka, Lancer, and others. What do we think about that last line from This blog entry? I've taken it to mean that Nia's love for Geoff is strongest when she needs the tenderness and nurturance he provides. What's been wracking my brain is the implication that she may not love him during her throes of passion. What do you guys think? I haven't yet felt that there was any love lost for Geoff when she's in the arms of Rocco or even Dino, just caught up so much that she gets lost in it. Maybe I'm just nitpicking that thought, or maybe something more devastating to Geoff is brewing in Nia as she continues her sexual relationship with Dino and/or Rocco.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the fact remains love is intact, so Geoff is still in this in full. I fucking love this story.
You always make me think about the details too much!! (not really, l love your insights).
ReplyDeleteI do think that Nia certainly shows her love for Geoff when she needs him, but really only uses him as a foil to get under Dino's skin when she is with him. Not sure she even thinks about him when she was with Rocco,other than taking come video for him(taunting Geoff?).
KT rarely puts clues out like this unless she means them in some way, and that line was pretty obvious.
Not much longer to get the outright chaos/disaster for Geoff (for sure),and potentially a couple of others as well. I think this next book will really cut deeply... I see a bad moon arisin', I see trouble on the way (credit to CCR).
C'mon Guhrka, you don't like hanging out in the weeds? I know you do.
DeleteI am holding hope for another evening read tomorrow.
Editing! What type of angst is KT and Nia going to put us Hot Wife lovers through? Can't wait...
ReplyDeleteProofing!
ReplyDeleteCase in point on why KT is the best at what she does. What are the last 5 new titles under the Amazon search term 'hotwife' 'Whatever He Says' 'Training My Beta Male' ' Erotica: First Time Forbidden Entry' 'Erotica Short Stories' 'Threesome.'
ReplyDeleteMaybe all of these are worth reading, but I'm not interested in the least.
What will KT put out there? 'Temporal' A title with no doubt, some thought and a purpose. Look I enjoy Max Sebastian and Kenny Wright's work, I am not going to bash two titans of the genre, and it is just my opinion, but 'Out of His League' as a Hotwife Novel title, with their clout as writers no less? Mehhhh
Because everyone knows I'm a nerd now, allow me to derive a meaning in KT's new title. Temporal can mean 'nonspiritual' or it can be a moment in time, it's also the title of a lobe in the brain that allows us to hear sound, which is interesting to think about in this topic, but I don't think it fits as much.
For me the easiest way to look at it is through the first definition. Nia, Geoff, Rocco, and Dino are all engaging in amoral marriage behavior. Whatever value systems they all founded their marriages on are being challenged if not all together ripped to shreds. Maybe KT is hinting to us that marital matters are going to come to more of a head in this part.
The other aspect of the definition of Temporal gets me much more intrigued, which includes 'terrestrial' or 'earthly' (also mundane, but nothing in this story is mundane so we can ignore that, :) ), with Odie's increased interest in outdoors and Nia's new 'Goddess Stone' gift, which is a Native American symbol of feminine energy, communication and compassion, maybe we're about to see Nia simplify her life and get back to reality, "Geoff this what I need out of life, this is the truth about the time frame around my pregnancy with Odie, and my hook up with Dino, and why I did it." Meanwhile Geoff wants things to go back to normal, maybe even shack up out in a new place out in woods, be with his family. Odie wants to be outside more and more, and may not want to do the creative work of drawing. Unfortunately for Geoff, the females in his life might be going in different directions than he is. While his head is in the clouds with this fantasies, and the world he needs to create for his children's stories, Nia and Odie might want to be doing something very different.
I'm talking out of my ass, but who cares KT is almost done!
Wow, you are really wanting to tear into this book!! I don't deny that I am almost as bad, but I look at what Boswell and Wright do as really good stuff, but KT'S is different, certainly unique in the edginess, and the way she spends a lot of time "building" Her characters (part of her pool shark personal, and no I won't let that go).
ReplyDeleteAnyway, we are just a day or two away from the next book, and it will likely hurt, a lot.