Maggie Uncovered
This is the second last Maggie installment. There is one more story to go!
Somehow the sharing of Max Milton’s beautiful but inexperienced fiancée Maggie has led to a complicated love triangle ...
When Maggie’s fiancé told her she could experiment she thought he was out of his brilliant mind. But once she agreed, they began on a physical adventure that has changed her life. Her heart and spirit ... she’s not the same girl as when they began.
When they turned to their close friend, and Max’s Best Man, she could never have anticipated the emotions that would spark. Cole was out of her league, and a notorious campus wolf. But being with him intimately, when they were already such close friends, is doing something to her insides.
Max will do anything to make Maggie solely his again. Except telling her to stop. He won’t forbid it. Doing that would make the attraction stronger.
But he has plans ...
I'm the first here, but I'll never be the only one to say, "You did it again, KT!"
ReplyDeleteToday was a busy day, like, I could NOT have this story distracting me. I made it, probably looked like a weirdo all day, but I don't care I worked my ass off anyways. I needed this story to be available, it was, it was more worth it than I even imagined.
The true test of a good book, am I thinking about it after I put it down? Check.
I'll be thinking about it all day tomorrow too. Thanks, KT!
This story has me in a fucking vice grip, holy shit. I just want that sweet sweet release, I don't even care how it ends. Well done KT Morrison, this story is one helluva roller coaster ride.
ReplyDeleteOh, and those paragraphs where Max is talking about that "ugly head" that is peering at him, but he can't put his fingers on it. I think he decides that it was how he manipulated Maggie and ultimately decides he needs to open up and spill his guts. That's not the ugly head although that head is not pleasing to look at. The ugly head is that Maggie is a whore and he sees here with rose-tinted glasses.
If Maggie is a whore, then what does that make Max? Her pimp? Are we forgetting the revelation about who booked the Poirot? I, at once, hate and love all the characters in this story, but here you go defending Max as some kind of saint.
DeleteMax IS a manipulator, Maggie IS tempted by very attractive men, those things coexist.
No one is innocent.
Yeah, let me be clear about my opinion on Max. Max is not innocent. He's partially responsible, of course. However, there's a a gray area between "cuckold" and "willing cuckold," an area where you can exist and feel normal and betrayed at the same time. Very early on in this series, Max mentions feeling like Maggie is pulling way ahead of him, leaving him behind in this game of theirs. Obviously, right? His best man, Maggie? The truth is, they can have their fun and be faithful to each other at the same time. If that last scene isn't proof of this, I don't know what is.
DeleteMy reasoning is that Max doesn't want this, and hasn't wanted it. I described this is much more detail below. The point is, they set boundaries and Maggie broke them. Max didn't stop her -- this isn't permission, it's something else. Stupidity, ignorance, and he was scared of what was happening to Maggie. Didn't want to lose her but saw her drifting away from him farther and farther.
Max didn't manipulate Maggie into Cole, not in the slightest. He didn't want it, he was just trapped in this gray area. The Poirot was Cole's idea originally, important to keep this in mind. Both Maggie AND Max were manipulated into allowing what happened at Poirot to happen. No one is innocent, any one could have stopped it at any time. But Maggie with her blinders and Max in this gray area, lost and confused, Cole in the driver's seat. Cole NEVER wanted to exist in some kind of love triangle with Max. Read over those conversations between Max and Cole. Two times Cole tries to convince Max that he should let Maggie cheat (as if she hadn't already, hello? anal sex is cheating). And Max stupidly allowed it to happen, resisting at first and then allowing it to happen, although there wasn't a lot of detail as to why. Not enough for my liking, anyway. Just because Max allowed to happen, though, doesn't make him a conspirator. Cole tricked him, used his own perversion against him, used his trust in their friendship against him. THIS is manipulation. THIS is betrayal. The fact that this was spun in a direction that put so much blame on Max was heartbreaking.
So no, no one is innocent. But Max is by far the most innocent compared to Maggie and Cole. Once you realize Cole was dishonest from the beginning, this is so obvious.
Making sure Max gets his due -
DeleteI’ve been ridiculously drained the last few days, but have been trying to keep up with the endless updates to this blog. I even see some ‘old fiends’ have let us know their thoughts too (Hi Edi and Guhrka!). There are too many strands of thought to talk about, it’s really awesome here.
KT has a wonderful way of making people believe what they want to believe, so it’s possible characters can walk away from this story with more innocence than another, or at least it is something that someone can conclude. I just don’t buy what you’re saying about Max being more of a victim here and I feel like that has been the tenor of most of the discussion here, I guess mostly from you, WA.
If Max more disliked than liked what was happening with Maggie, he should have said something or done something that strongly indicated he doesn’t approve what’s going on. Doesn’t give Maggie mixed messages, engage and instigate her behavior in intense sexual experiences. What message does saying, ‘No don’t’ while being incredibly turned on and turning her on even more, send his future wife? Not necessarily the cleanest one, one could argue, and I do. Maggie should know better, yes, Cole shouldn’t have taken advantage of a situation, but it is absolutely the truth that Max is also culpable if a situation goes awry when stated boundaries have no actual repercussion when crossed, and arguably is a source of a turn on. And I will argue that he is culpable to such an extent that he gets what he deserves, just like what Maggie and Cole do.
If someone can’t fully articulate what their feeling and need more data to make a decision, it is totally fair, but then, they need to talk about that aspect. Max needed to say the other part of him that didn’t like that she was pushing boundaries more and more, and, this is the biggest part, actually do something that makes it clear this is a problem! He went underground with his emotions because he wanted things to play out. He decided his strategy was to keep his knowledge of Maggie and Jay to himself, keep Ken to himself, keep the pain of Cole and Maggie getting closer to himself. Guess what Max, you got burned! Max does not get to feign innocence because he decides, tactically, that he should keep back his opinion while things play out the way he kind of wants to, expects it to, or EVEN WHEN IT DOESN’T GO AS PLANNED.
The Poirot thing, do we even know who really suggested Cole do all of that? The Poirot is a busy place so booking things needed to be in advanced, and Max said he booked the room for Cole and Maggie, was he coerced? Did Max set it up and think maybe it’ll come in handy later? Either may be possible, but the point is, that throughout the revelation that Max booked the Poirot he brings up that he liked what has been happening. He wanted Maggie to do dirty things. That’s important because it seems like you’ve forgotten that fact. For all of Max’s level of contemplation on everything that’s happened, how much of an extent he really truly does like Maggie’s adventures, he once again settles on the opinion that he wanted to see what was going to happen because he liked it. So … you get what you asked for, I guess, Max? We obviously know that is only partially true, and I’m not convinced he fully means that he thinks that this was all for him, but facts are facts. He asked for this too, maybe not everything, but then again, not everything is about Max.
And a note on Dishonesty because I write too much -
DeleteAnd who has really been more dishonest in this whole story? Seriously WA? No one is being honest in this story, that is probably the central conflict to the whole thing. You make it clear you understand Maggie and Cole’s dishonesty. What of Max’s? Just as it relates to Cole, Max never told him about Jay’s involvement which Cole obviously didn’t like, never said anything about Ken seeing all three of them in Rhode Island, hasn’t told him that he doesn’t like what he’s doing, and decides he’s going to work out a strategy to hurt him. Did everyone forget that was Max’s plan, to destroy Cole? If he was so manipulated and exploited by Cole then why would he feel the need to do something like that? Did everyone forget Max's subterfuge is also bad, because it doesn’t involve having sex with Maggie? This makes it okay? No.
Max’s dishonesty has been the top of my list from the beginning.
DeleteI've made my opinion on Max very clear throughout these sections several times and outlined my opinion on his thought process, 6 or 7 comment trees down. I wish you were responding to that comment because I'm not sure what you're specifically responding to. To sum it up, Max is stupid and thinks the best course of action is to do nothing. It's in the teaser description for this very book. He's very wrong to think that. We agree on this. However, they don't talk about it as doing so would make this story much shorter and much less interesting. So we are left to speculate on their feelings and intentions.
DeleteKeep in mind that all of this happens very quickly, just a couple weeks worth of time. It's incredibly incorrect to assess that there were no repercussions to Maggie's actions. If she feels strongly that she was allowed to be intimate, alone with Cole, because Max didn't come out and stop her, then she's as idiotic as Max is. Because her engagement ring will be collecting dust in a pawn shop.
Max mentions that his biggest fear was the two of them together without him. Laughing and giggling without him. Maggie knew this, knew he needed to be there. But she didn't and she got what she had coming. The umpire doesn't warn the batter after every strike and tell him, "Be sure not to get three strikes, or you're out!" It's the same thing with Maggie here. She knew it was bad, wrong, morally disgusting. Just because Max doesn't call her out for every strike doesn't make her morally reprehensible actions justified. Repercussions? Again, cold ring finger and an extra 700$ in Max's pocket. It sounds like you were expecting Max to pass out warning slips when it comes to infidelity. Be sure not to do that again, okay! Follow these 3 easy steps to stay out of trouble! No, infidelity doesn't work that way. You just end things.
The Poirot encounter was different. Who was ultimately responsible for letting it happen is less important than the other times Cole and Maggie were alone. Max was at the Poirot.
This is a tug of war of perversions. You tell me what's worse -- Sexual arousal from your fiancee having sex with other men or cheating on your fiance with his best friend and the best man to your wedding (key word here being cheating, as in Max is not there). You're going to tell me perversion A justifies perversion B just because Max has problems communicating his feelings? Because he keeps some secrets? Because he gets boners when Maggie is with Cole? ..Really? I would fiercely argue FUCK NO! Maybe we just disagree on this.
This is in response to your second post:
DeleteJay is none of Cole's business. He's sharing Maggie with Cole, not the other way around. He doesn't tell them about Ken because Maggie would be embarrassed. He tries to destroy Cole because Cole is fucking ruining his life. You also mention communication again -- yes they should communicate better. Stories like this wouldn't be possible of the main characters were seasoned communicators.
And thanks! Good to be seen.
DeleteThis series started with Maggie being the dishonest one. Remember it was Cole showing up to find Maggie in Jay’s wrestling shirt and panties. She was obviously dressed to tease. He, of course, compounded things by hiding and spying. Then, after seeing her lay her hands on another man’s cock, he hatches this elaborate scheme to get his jollies and ostensibly gain her some experiences. He keeps lying and sending mixed signals too. She keeps lying too. But here in this book?
He asked her to be good and she only briefly thought about keeping her word. What would have happened had Max been honest in his reply text and said “I asked her to be good” instead of caving yet again? But it’s a moot point since they’d moved on without him anyway. And the money shot? Why would anyone think Max would be ok with that? She can’t keep her word.
Thing is we don’t know if Max was going to come clean as he was trying to convince himself to do because Jay got in the way.
And then the one rule he asked, the one rule, not with out me, they break not having sex but making love and he walks in and sees it.
As for Cole... we know what he’s doing but do we really know why?
Er not Cole... Max showing up to find Maggie.
DeleteAs for Max’s dishonesty with Cole? Was he? They told him she was fooling around, just not with who. Cole was the one that decided to become the dom here and make Maggie put an end to it. WA is right. It was none of Cole’s business. Instead he used his knowledge of her to mold her to what he wants.
DeleteNow none of this excuses Max’s lying and subterfuge.
But I can’t help thinking what Cole’s true motivations are?
WA - Hey, I just get a bit apprehensive when I see one-sided blame. Even when you pay lip service to :well yes Max is not innocent and he's an idiot for doing nothing" you then follow up with a bunch of reasons why Cole and Maggie are worse people with what I've been able to see you write, but I'm not really responding to that. You're asking what I was responding to in my email, it's what you've written right above my reply.
DeleteYeah, we disagree on repercussions, here's how I see it (ridiculously reduced)- Maggie and Cole on the beach, Max does nothing, Cole and Maggie have incredibly intimate moment the next day and Max says a few things about how it's not right, but does nothing but get involved and get his own rocks off. Maggie and Cole engage in illicit dorm tryst "teaching her to make it better" all BS and Max knew that something bad happened, what does he do though? Get's himself worked up into an erotic frenzy over her bad behavior. When he was done, he could have realized how upset it made him, but no, he focused on what she might do dropping her off to go home. He follows her and does nothing when she again sees Jay, and Max and Maggie have incredible sex where they egg each other on about 'how dare she do it behind my back.' The entire time all he does is reinforce her taking it a step further and further, but now Cole and Maggie are only to blame when they take it the distance. I just can't get behind that.
The timing of finding out about Max's reply of the "thumbs up" obviously muddies this point, but guess who (again) blew an opportunity to convey actual disapproval of what was happening while he's away, a situation he put himself in trying to undercut Maggie and Cole's relationship, with a pervy "thumbs up?"
You talking about what Maggie did wrong by doing exactly what Max said he didn't want her to do proves you must think all I'm doing is defending everyone else, that's not my point here, THAT was wrong too. And I'm not sure what you're talking about how I think Max should have reacted with Maggie's infidelity, I thought it was good that he made a serious action about taking her ring, I said that below (not holding you to seeing that). You do exactly what you suggest if you don't like what she was doing, you talk it out, and if it doesn't change you leave her. He definitely didn't do that though did he? Timeline matters, absolutely, but that works both ways. Maggie wants to explore Max, make up your mind if you like or not! If Max kind of likes it, and she absolutely likes it, well isn't it fair the person with their mind fully made up wins out? No probably not, but it's damn confusing to be mad about.
To your last paragraph, which was a strong challenge, probably helps illustrate my point to you much better - I'm saying that if perversion A (your example - Max liking Maggie with other men) has basically been signaling that he kind of liked perversion B (Maggie cheating on Max, which I think you're mischaracterizing, but not really so I'll go with it), and yes, even when Max is not there, and boy do parties involved in perversion B really like it, it makes sense that it continued, and it's absolutely Max's fault too that it escalated like it did.
And by the way - I know just as well as you do what makes for a more entertaining book, conflict is THE reason I'm here, no one does that better, bad communication, lies deception, subterfuge matters. Of course, dude. That doesn't change what's right though, so yeah *yawns* communication is the key. And since no one is doing things right, what you've left off is no one is innocent, everyone does wrong and is being wronged. I just think you have a soft spot for Max. That's okay, the focus of this conversation is on Max, but I have one for Maggie, which might be equally (definitely not in your opinion) perplexing.
Hi Edwin - You aren't remembering that correctly in the discussion in Secret Maggie, he said that Maggie is inexperienced and she wanted to include him, no mention about anyone else they actually included, I remember that being a huge deal at the time. Numerous times, you might remember better, Cole asked Maggie if anyone else has seen this or that body part, no mention of another man during the escapade, she (and Max) conveniently left that out. To WA, he didn't necessarily need to mention Jay that's correct, but he does absolutely have a right to know if he is just another penis. If anything then for him to wrap it up before getting down.
DeleteAs for the "not without me" rule. I just keep thinking about how many times rules didn't really matter. They didn't matter, until they did matter, I just think he needs to shoulder some (not all) of the blame for letting it get to that point.
Sorry, not 'Secret Maggie' but 'Sharing Maggie' I think you were referring to.
DeleteI see your point, ToBe=ToHave. It comes down to the same thing every time: Max kinda likes it, doesn't say anything, so it's okay. I just disagree with this concept on a fundamental level. Emotional fortification is very important to me, and my trust for a character goes out the window when their opinion on this differs greatly from mine. In Maggie's case, I base this off her actions that she doesn't care about making people saddened or uneasy. You don't have to agree with me on this, it's just how I feel about her and it's difficult to explain why. I've felt Max's heartache for days. It's not about the sex, it's about the lack of empathy.
DeleteThe night after the beach scene, in Maggie's room, Cole takes control of the situation. Max voices his concerns many times. Doesn't want to go into the music room. They go anyway, tell him to come or not come. This is the scene where Max realizes he has no control over what's going on. It explains his lack of trying and why he went behind Maggie's back to find dirt on them. He wanted it to stop. To Max what was happening was nature running its course. Once he decided this is what was happening, his only chance of keeping Maggie, in his mind, was letting it play out. I think this is mentioned in several synopses.
Now I understand this doesn't exemplify him. He could have planted his feet and been a man. But I get it, you know? I can understand him and sympathize with his reasoning, even if I disagree with it, because I'm an empathetic person.
I don't expect Maggie to be able to see it the exact same way I do, given I have direct access to his thoughts, but ... nothing? They've been together so long, she must know he is hurting. She's just so cold... am I making any sense?
And look, his plan sucked. He wanted it to play out, and tried to, but he couldn't. He broke. The rules didn't matter because they didn't matter to Maggie. Max just wanted it out of her system. Played ball for as long as he could but couldn't handle it.
DeleteI think you can totally read that from Maggie's actions, but you probably don't want to hear counterpoints because they won't do enough to erase the damage she's done. I think she is coming from a place, before this story, that has always been overly sensitive to doing what's right. Even with Cole she constantly doesn't want to do wrong. She's trying to be different now because she's free now, but she's gone too far, and now Max has finally reached her on that.
DeleteWe shall see what happens now. I already can't wait.
You'll need to read this note to understand my above note, when I say (vaguely) you can totally read "that" from Maggie's actions, I mean you can definitely read that she doesn't care about Max's feelings.
DeleteI noticed Maggie appearing to worry about appearing juvenile in few instances, but this isn't right or wrong. Not clear on what you're talking about because she certainly *wants* to do wrong and does so.
DeleteI'd love to see some redemption. Hopefully the next book goes the way I want it to. If it doesn't..then well at least I understand my stance on the characters already and won't be surprised. Maggie could come back, so could Cole, I think. Although I've been imaging Cole being torn apart by wolves a lot if I'm being honest.
Ok I had twice written a detailed analysis of the situation with problematic outcomes and theories on alternate results both times my dam submission was lost due to a net glich or fone glich. Ill try again after I cool my jets...am I the only one still getting the double submissions...gotta go back and delete the excess.
DeleteNot being clear, I was trying to say what you just pointed out, she wants to do bad, because she has never done "being bad." Always did what was right without really understanding what wrong is, never chanced it. Well she has now...
DeleteAhh, I understand.
DeleteLots of good post and comments..i think this part is almost as entertaining as the story itself...less the technical glitches.
DeleteFor me and from what I gather from all... is everyone is to blame for current situation...if max didn't want to lose Maggie than at the mansion when it was do or die time with the ultimatum "come with us max or stay". He should have said if you leave with Cole Maggie leave your ring too.
Buuuuuut he didn't thankfully otherwise our story would have been over two books ago.
Kt knows how to play my and ima assume our emotions like a fiddle..
Hated that Cole seduced Maggie only to find out max was in on it too. Then hated max then hated Maggie at the beach if for nothing else than for spitting into the fire. Hated Cole again for making a play for the hot chick but can he be blamed for it... if he followed his heart. Hated Maggie for seemingly siding up with Cole at the jay thing at the dinner with max. Again a missed opportunity for max to lay his cards on the table instead of throwing switches.
Somewhere in all this murk id like to see max and Maggie walk down the aisle with ken vs Cole As bestie. But I don't really care who ends up with who maybe max and ken hook up unless ken has his eye on Maggie's main squeeze cole maybe he too likes that dominate type. "Yea Maggie stay with max I'll take care of Cole foe you." I digress.
In hindsight there a lot of things that should have gone this way or that and we as readers have the advantage of saying here or there do this or that. Our poor characters are as much a victim of their natures as we are to read about them. So max sneaks and gets hurt . Cole dominates and creates the landscape upon which the battle will be fought. Maggie naive or confused, hasnt been able to put it all together yet unless she happens to be the grand architect of the thing. Predicting what each of the lust driven boys would do....nahhh. but Maggie has truly lost her moral compass. I think She thinks she's following MaxS plan. Until the ring. Something bothered me about the lack of fight in her over the ring. I mean I can see where she was attaching value vs love of the ring like some have mentioned but I think that was along the lines of not monetary but emotional value. Perhaps she just enjoyed being a bride to be. Maybe being that and doing the dirty was her thing and now it's gone so is the fun.
Something also in the shock she had when she realized max was hiding in both her closet and in armoire. That may have just convinced her that max wanted her an Cole together. And every thumbs up from max was another nail in the coffin.
I need to reread the scene with Jessie something she says was like a warning about Cole to her before Cole shut her up...so I wonder if she has prior knowledge of Coles intentions. But that could also be the red herring again.
If I am remembering incorrectly I apologize. It's been a while and unlike most of KT's other works I can't bring myself to reread any of this series.
DeleteI'll say this again though. The root of all of this dysfunction is Max. Oh he did try a few time to put his foot down. But as a man as insecure as he is it was feeble and overruled. And to fortify it with layers of tacit approval, how else is Maggie supposed to react? Max, I will say again, is by far the least innocent in this series. But, that doesn't change Maggie's or Cole's cruelties.
I disagree about the root of the dysfunction but I'm not going to argue my points any further on here. You know that sense of dread you feel when you remember something very important that you forgot, and now it's too late? Like a major fuck up. It feels like your lungs are suddenly incompatible with oxygen. I feel that every time my mind wanders back to this story. I've read so many stories like this and I've never had that feeling. And those stories always have a dim witted protagonist that doesn't say enough.
DeleteI'm not disagreeing on that point of Max but the flip side is Maggie didn't have to be so eager to embrace the life style or be so passionate while in it. We also knew Maggie was heading to disaster anyway because the data points shown she had her third sitting with jay and was wearing his t-shirt was looking to get something more going perhaps and without going back for a reread I think she was unaware the first time max was in her closet. So what ever transpired was with out his permission or his knowledge. Just saying they are matter and anti matter cole is just the facilitator of the explosion. So in the beginning max should never have been in the closet and Maggie should not have led jay on...again using the dorm room for something that could have been done in the art class room or some place less intimate.
DeleteYeah, that's why it feels different, because it's not just a cuckold story. It's also a cheating story.
DeleteIt is indeed.
DeleteWell that's a gut punch at the end. Max acted in the heat of the moment and feels he made a mistake, but for me he did the right thing. Maybe not quite in the way (or time) he did it, but the situation was untenable for him and he knew it wasn't going to get better. He was going to continue to be marginalized, until he was out completely. Now its time to see if this drastic a move changes the direction of things.
ReplyDeleteCole's role kind of played out how I thought it might. In the end, his feelings for Maggie won out over his loyalty to Max. For a guy like Cole, he probably figures Max will understand and be OK with it after a time, and if not, well that's life. And Maggie is intoxicated with the idea that a guy like Cole is attracted to her, in love with her even. But is she in love with him? Is he really in love with her, or just the idea of "bad" Maggie? I guess we'll find out in the next chapter.
Part of me wonders if we're getting a time jump here, a la LHW2. Are we coming back months later with Maggie and Cole trying to make a relationship work, and Max trying to move on? Is Maggie going to be Nia, trying to figure out a way to win Max back but not ready or able to give up Cole? Is Max going to try and backtrack only to be rejected by Maggie? This story still has a few turns to go.
I'm sticking with the idea I've had from the beginning, that Max and Maggie are not getting back together, there will be no wedding in 10 months. But I also doubt she ends up with Cole...this is the point where the bloom begins to come off the rose of the boyfriend. But could we really be heading to an ending where everyone moves on without each other? Happens all the time in real life, might be interesting to see it in writing.
I agree... he needed to end things. He was too cowardly to make the right decision until it come to that point, but it doesn't change the fact that it was the right choice. Cole telling him to leave is just insulting.
DeleteDump her, create distance. She's too slutty for a real relationship. She needs to grow up if she actually wants to get married.
It's heart-breaking though to witness Max make mistake after mistake after mistake and Maggie miss sign after sign after sign. I get that's its essential for the story to develop, but it hurts just the same.
Deleteim ok with a non max and m aggie ending but I still think there's something there for them. Maggie could be the type that the whole Cole thing doesn't work without a "witness" a la Jessie. so she could drop everything an try get max back.
DeleteThe idea behind this exploration was to get this exploration behind her. It backfired. Maggie is an unfaithful whore. I fucking hate that word but what else works here? Her inability to see through Cole's deception is crazy to me.
DeleteHard disagree about your other comment that Cole doesn't have an "evil side." He openly tells her that what turns him on is Maggie only having eyes for him (combine that with him instructing her to break up with Jay immediately) -- and he tells Max to leave while he privately makes love to Maggie. Fuck no. Aggressively insulting. The fact that Maggie doesn't seem to notice this is insane to me, considering Max's pain and her seemingly very high intelligence.
Max had a hundred chances to halt this, something that he clearly never wanted, but because of his sudden onset autism, he couldn't find a chance.
Regardless, lesson learned. Not wife material. Move on, Max.
no doubt c ole is manipulative but that what Maggie wants and likes. she's not surprised by his come ons during "study time" i dont think that was evil in this book at the beginningof this tale yes definitely but now everyone knows so it's expected. besides how do we know he really doesn't love Maggie more than max. I say let true love prevail. whoever that means (someone send a shipment of Viagra to professor Carmichael. I'm still pulling for you ya geezer).😄
DeleteI was pretty drunk when I wrote that comment..didn't really detail my feelings very well. The first paragraph up there is a little unfair. Hard disagree with you again about Cole's manipulation, I don't think Maggie "likes it." I don't think she can see it. Too infatuated with the idea that she's in his league now, too attracted to him. And no, I don't think the study time sex was evil or unexpected. If Maggie and Max's relationship was a person, that scene would be like the pillow that smothers him to death. Not really evil, just a pillow.
DeleteMy comment below details my feelings a lot better.
DeleteJL has, as usual, a fantastic read of the story. I actually do think he made the right decision too at the end, because it is dramatic in its delivery. That's the kind of thing these dense barely-twenty-somethings need to get a damn clue. He needed to get through to them (well Maggie, at least), and at first he thought he could do it incrementally, but failed colossally. That's a good thing too by the way, because doing what he tried to do in this story is pathetic, deceptive, cowardly.
DeleteCole definitely wants Maggie for his own, I don't think anyone didn't see that coming, but now it became clear that he isn't playing games for their sake anymore. Whatever delusion he convinced himself on how right it was to do what he is doing is gone in this story. Maggie's unbelievable teasing has hooked him for life, and yeah, she'll make a dude ruin a friendship if you let her.
I see where you were going JL with the last question about Cole and Maggie's future together and Nia/Rocco in 'Universe' because it will be interesting to see if they really do care about each other. That said, I hope there is no jump! I want to know what this next weekend is about to reveal!! Cole, Maggie, and Max under one roof in an environment where everyone needs to act like nothing is going on? I feel like that deserves three chapters at least!!
Finally, I left this story feeling the same way as you did about this trio, no one recovers from this with a relationship with the other intact. It wasn't going to work out from the beginning. It is damn entertaining reading them try!
I will say this to what John is saying though - there maybe something there for Maggie and Max, because both fit together in such a naive, depraved way. I guess the same could be said for Maggie and Cole though, too ...
And I agree with WA's comments on Maggie seeing what she wants to see with Cole, and I'll extend that to this whole endeavor. She's been justifying her actions because she wants to see chooses to see, even if her conscience is screaming at her to turn back. I think she kept ignoring her conscience because it has lied to her before having been deceived by her terrible parents' upbringing (top of the class at Harvard is the only acceptable outcome, really Carol?). She has to readjust her moral compass since leaving Rhode Island, and Max and Cole have facilitated her down a terrible rabbit hole that she will have to learn from the hard way.
I feel less and less that her upbringing is actually influencing her decision making beyond the first decision about exploring. And her upbringing allowed that exploration to be possible, so to speak. Just seems to me like she really likes fucking Cole and just has Max blinders on when she's near Cole.
DeleteShe has to learn something in the next book, right? Morally 'improve' as a person? There's a whole 'nother chapter, I hope it's not wishful thinking to assume some kind of revelation occurs next chapter and Max can have some relief. Fuckin' birds were falling from the sky, smacking her in the head telling her she's being stupid. Surely NOW she can see what her actions have been doing to Max...
I've been reading the series avidly, KT. I've refrained from commenting til now aside from a few notes at the beginning. As the story progresses I'm finding a lot of familiarity... that reminds me of things.
ReplyDeleteAs always your writing draws out so much emotion from me. But this one... I've been expecting it for some time now. I know I'm not the only one. Ill read the last. But this one, even expected, hurt. Not a bad thing, but still hurt. It's where the story had to go, but the visuals were just too familiar.
Great job, KT! Keep it up!
Please accept my apology for that—I wrote myself a note to be sure to send you an e-mail before I published. I wasn't sure if you were still reading or not, but I thought it would be nice to re-assure you before hand that while tense it would still be a safe read. I subbed the book and then I left town, without internet access, and thought, Ah, I'll do it later. Then turns out you read it right away! I'm a scatter-brain, but you were in my thoughts ...
DeleteAw. Thanks. I survived. Only just, ;)
DeleteWell, it's good to have you with us!
DeleteOh you’ve a fan for life here. Not getting rid of me that easily, no matter how familliar things may seem to me. I’m sure most of that is my own projecting that anything else. But I digress...
DeleteI may not comment often, unless really inspired. Particularly when a slew of my favorite authors release books within weeks/months of each other... have 12 book backlog right now and waiting to start Branden Sanderson’s latest after the holiday busy season so I can enjoy it. I tend to get engrossed. I want to read and not commentate. I’ve been in that zone since June I think?
Of Course Harvey didn’t help matters. But I’ve been reading everything you put out lately. Just so we are clear.
I really like how much KT actually gives a shit about her readers. The following story doesn't have actual real world heartache like like Edi's (not that I know anything more than he divulged here), but i remember i was paranoid about Nia's past, thinking her father or relatives did some really awful shit, but KT set me straight. She might have been secretly thinking, "Really? You're gross, relax!" but if she did she didn't let it on.
DeleteThese books are heavy on emotional power, so knowing she's actually acknowledging the effect she has is special.
you are spot on with everything you said 2B. KT has a way of drawing out the raw emotion. Along with her vivid word paintings of the scenes allowing us to see what she's dreaming up, and it's hard not to get invested.
Deleteon chapter 7 now and its getting realll!! cant tell who is fuxking up the worst yet. just need to take a time out refill my wine glass. make a few comments and say how deeply im into this story. did ever mention how engrossing KT's stories are.
ReplyDeleteOk intermission over I'm up all night til I'm done....
KT Morrison -- your storytelling abilities are incredible.
ReplyDeleteAren't they though!?!? I can't get over it!!
Deleteok just finished and i am amazed at the pace KT maintained. I love the cross references to earlier events that wind up playing significant emotional compromises later.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to make of the ending will Maggie Chase down max? I think max knows that if he really loves her that his behaviors
are destructive..thus Cole maybe the better man for Maggie. if only Maggie didn't love max so much it might be apparent to her too.
Jays scolding and MaxS last words maybe something that could alter Maggie's opinion of what she's doing and who she is.
In this version of Cole we don't really see a evil side. yea he works on maggie..but considering their relationship..i would too. I don't see Cole as complicit in Maggie's issues like he was at the Poirot. he's a great lay and has Maggie totally enamored with his pecker.. but it seems to me they don't have a lot of "depth" to their "relationship" time can fix that though.. I thought it interesting that I have something in common with Cole too.
Ok KT you slammed another one out of the park...
Smoooooooooo......whens the next book?
Some awesome thought provoking questions that I want to see, too!
DeleteI disagree (along with WA) about Cole and no evil side - dude is quite two-faced in this story. Maggie was the only one trying to keep Max involved in what they were doing in the study room, Cole is sick of the games and wants to use any means now keep getting more time with Maggie for his own.
There's a clear trajectory with Cole now and it's becoming more and more clear that he wants to box Max out.
I do see what you're saying though given that Cole seems to actually care about Max too, it's a weird contradiction, but women have that power over men.
oops I almost forgot Maggie so got it on with professor Carmichael in his office..you wanna guess what she won...?
ReplyDeleteSo nasty, lol ...
DeleteI do have to wonder what the triple fist pump was ... I really do not know and am extremely intrigued. I just know it wasn't THAT, lol.
Maggie said she would take care of Jay but the fist pumping and wording ("I won, Max") don't really make sense in the context of Jay's intrusion that night before. My best guess is Maggie won some kind of art contest or similar. Something that doesn't interest Cole so much, given how she was able to pull herself out her sex-driven brain and share this knowledge with Max. Maybe something that her and Max worked on together or at least talked about a lot. Would make sense to be art-related. Max spotted her texting but there's no mention of Max waiting to get a text or mention of not getting one. Maybe his phone was off or the details were just left for us to think about.
DeleteShe clearly wanted to tell Max this thing that she was proud of, something she wanted Max to be proud of, but not necessary Cole.
And yet it was Cole she wanted to make love to and not Max. And make no mistake, they were making love not having sex.
Deletea little time line squishiness
Deletefrom max point if view it was only 15 minutes from taxi to her riding the bull. I think there's some slush in there since he stopped off to buy lunch for all. plus he was on foot plus not real sure how far from the taxi pick up point to the motel...anyone got any views on this ..i think max was gone a lot longer but not sure about the time distance foot speed thing
Yeah, this "I won, Max" thing is definitely interesting, going to be exciting to find out what it is in the next book.
Delete@edwin, yeah that just shows how delusional she is and how infatuated she is with Cole. She actually believes him when he tells her it's a love triangle. The metaphorical bucket of ice water at the end should pull her the fuck out of her trance.
Of the 3 relationships at the core of this, I wonder if all 3 may be broken beyond repair now. I can't see any way Max and Cole are ever the same again after this; you just can't go back now. Even if at some point they reach a level of understanding or peace, they will never be best friends again.
ReplyDeleteAs for Maggie and Cole, I think the reactions of Jessie and Ken to knowing she's involved with him tells you all you need to know. He's still a player, he thinks he's in love with her, but you don't change your nature that quickly.
Plus I think Maggie's feelings about what they've been doing are about to change drastically. She's just lost a lot of her justification for being with Cole. No longer can she say "well Max wants this; I'm really doing it for him." She's not solely to blame for this situation, as others have said Max did plenty of things to get them to this point. Though I won't put it as bluntly as others, I do think Maggie will now just see herself as a cheater, with Max gone she's not going to be able to hold back the bad feelings. Part of her will probably be angry Max left, but I think the larger part of her is just going to be ashamed and upset she hurt him.
I see her a lot like Nia, I think she'll stay with Cole since she can't be with Max, she'll even continue to enjoy the sex. But the rest of the relationship will suffer, she'll hold herself back emotionally from Cole. He'll pick up on this and it will drive a wedge between them, and then he'll fall back into his old patterns.
As for Maggie and Max, I think time apart will be good for them. As I always say, they're young, too young to be considering such a lifetime commitment IMO. And this experience should teach them of that. Maybe they get back together over time, maybe a long time. But I do hope we get to see Max begin to spread his wings and learn what his life away from Maggie is, much like Geoff did. Then maybe they can find their way back to each other.
curious to see how 2b2h has this panning out.
ReplyDeleteJL I think that sounds right but I also think Max needs to change too a lot more than Maggie. she needs to come to grips with who she is. while max needs to become who he wants to be. Maggie maybe doing this as a rebellion against mom and dad trying to break a imaginary mold that they stuff her into. I say mission complete mold destroyed. Ken said something to the affecr of be who she wants to be despite the parents. but max is a good guy. wonder what made him flip. nothing like a good heart break to put ones mind to thinking.
The funny thing is as she's breaking out of her parents' vision for her in some ways, in others she's falling right into what they want her to be. Giving up her dreams of being an artist and going to law school. Now it certainly appears she's doing it for Cole and not them, but they don't know that. And the way Cole talks about her parents (though ewwww on how her speaks of her mom) they may end up liking him being the man she's with rather than Max.
DeleteI just think Ken is being a good brother...he likes Max and I think he knows Max would be better for his sister than Cole. So he did what Max wanted in the end, but that plan was never really going to work. Maggie was already too far down the rabbit hole with Cole, only a drastic change could potentially pull her back. Cue drastic move by Max.
another thought on Maggie and her decisions..is she even aware that she is making decision based on some subliminal instinct to appease or rebel against mom and dad.
DeleteI don’t think she is aware Jon. An excellent point!
Deletedo we think she's too trusting which is how she winds up in the sack with Cole a lot. I know she's suppose to.be super smart. but shelves her boys and with that comes a degree of trust ..
DeleteYeah, I think so. Max is too trusting too. Too distracted to see this person they've known for so long force himself, unnaturally, into their love lives. Cole is a weasel. He finds one loop hole and tries to hack the entire system. They just couldn't see it..
Delete@John... I’d say naive.
DeleteI agree that Maggie's feelings about her relationship with Cole are going to change drastically, but not because of Max edging her on being absent. If anything it's the opposite. The relationship will change drastically because she will realize Max never wanted this at all and she only allowed herself to believe this because of Cole and her own delusions. I believe she will recognize the territorial side of Cole and finally piece together the clues that led to Cole pushing Max out. It is true -- Maggie is not solely to blame but Max's contributions were that he was unable to truly voice his opinion. An opinion that clearly does not want this. He somehow rationalized that his best course of action was do nothing, say very little. Maggie on the other hand crossed the line every time. If you follow the bread crumbs, each bread crumb being a splinter on the crack that splits Max from Maggie, Maggie is at the center of each one.
ReplyDelete-First she misunderstands Max's position in her exploration after he pushes her to Jay. This is possibly the only scene in the series where Max is a willing cuckold. Afterwards, Max and Maggie are closer than ever. However, Max never gave her unlimited freedom, as he shouldn't have. He expresses that he just wants to be there, their only rule.
-Maggie takes this license to explore and pushes its liberties far beyond its limits. Cuddling with Cole in public, kissing him, sucking him without consulting with Max. Max becomes scared of Maggie at this point. Scared at what she's becoming and he becomes unable to air his voice on what's happening, not unlike a PTSD victim. He's spiraling out of control and is falling down an endless pit with no help, clawing at the walls and trying to stabilize as his hold on Maggie slips further and further away. She needs to realize this and see that her actions were reprehensible and they created a precedent that set a path of destruction for things to come. She needs to notice this landmark as the point where her Max was no longer on the same boat as her. And in her lust for exploration, Maggie forgot about him and let him drown.
-This idea that Max is just so terrible for sharing her with Jay and "wanting" her to cheat with Cole, somehow "forcing" her to do this, is a bunch of fabricated bullshit that Cole created to wedge them further apart. Sharing can be a wonderful thing and can bring people closer together, as it did. Falling for Cole's ruse to let Maggie "cheat" while he watched doesn't make Max a bad person, it makes Cole a bad person. Max trusted Cole to help Maggie explore and when you see Cole the way I see Cole, as deceptive and delusive in his efforts to fuck Maggie, Cole is the terrible person here. Max is still falling down the pit, scratching and screaming, and Cole should be a beacon of light, a life vest. But he's not -- he's corrupt and evil and dishonest and instead of helping Max up, his ruse pushes him farther down, as planned. This scenario was a lose-lose for Max, regardless of how it ended, and Cole knew this.
-Cole expertly breaks her down and makes her cheat time and time again, breaking her one and only rule. It's very important that Maggie recognize this for what it is if she really wants to marry Max. She cheated on him, again and again. Cole used his tricks on her, seduced her, planted the seed for this idea of a love triangle, and took steps to systematically remove Max from this corrupt, bastardized love triangle. Maggie allowed Cole to take her sweet, romantic love with Max and mutate it into a crude, unnatural, horror. She doesn't see it this way now but if she connects this point with my earlier points, sees that Max was in a position of trauma and was unwilling, she should realize this.
-Then the rest will come easily: Cole's endgame never included her Max. Cole was dishonest the whole time. She will interpret the words said before Cole punched him differently, realize her Max was finally grabbing a lifeline and trying to hoist himself up and over the ledge. Realize that at this critical juncture in their relationship where Max could finally BREATH and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, instead he gets sucker punched in the chest and told to leave. Of course he rips her engagement ring off her finger and leaves. He finally found the courage, the strength to climb over the ledge, only for his Maggie to poke at his fingertips with a sharp stick, causing him to free fall back into the abyss, spiraling into madness.
DeleteIf she sees this...or maybe if they reconnect and Max explains it to her...things can be fixed. It's hinted that Maggie loves Cole, but it's not real. If she's honest with herself and with the others, if she even learns these things, she should hate Cole.
...
Wow, that felt so relieving to air all that out. Hopefully my insides will start feeling normal again soon.
I only have a couple things to add today, though there is too much good reading on here to even pin down.
ReplyDeleteKen and Jessie are two of my favorite side characters in the KT universe, and both of their placements in this story were so needed! Ken confirmed he is an awesome brother, I really liked how he handled talking to Max, and then I think I understand why he chose the moment he did to talk to Maggie. He might still be the killswitch afterall!
Jessie's intervention was hilarious!!! I absolutely loved that by-the-book buddy system reaction she had to seeing Cole and Maggie in bed. You can never be too safe on those college campuses! I love how she was so wrong about what she was seeing, yet also trying to be so accommodating and surprisingly open about what she heard Maggie reveal was her relationship with Cole (and Max).
I was just stunned that she stayed and took the picture...now that's a good friend lol. Unlike Cole...
Deletein was hoping jessie would dump a bucket of ice water on the two...
DeleteI also wondered if she knew Jay was outside and didn't say anything on purpose.
I also though I detected a hint of warning about Cole that she never seemed to get back too. did Cole meet up with her after he left and tell her to shut up. did Cole dominate Jessie at one time...? am I wandering lost in KT's desert of course I am.
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Deleteat least the mystery solved about the missing tapes. way to go ken...now what's Maggie gonna tell Ken when she calls him all distraught about Max. Will her tumultuous emotions be due to the loss of Max or of face. how embarrassing the little pervert doesn't wanna watch her anymore.
DeleteJohn, I got the same impression of Jesse having some info on Cole. “Jesse, it’s me.” She knee it was him. It felt like much more than being a good dorm buddy.
DeleteOne other thing I was thinking: TV writers talk about how instead of having the big moment in the season finale, you want it to happen in the next to last episode, then have the finale address the fallout from the moment.
ReplyDeleteWell, I guess KT should be a TV writer, as in these long multi-chapter stories we have the big emotional moment happen in the next to last book. In LHW, Jess tells Pete she's leaving him for Tyler...in LHW2 Geoff learns the awful truth about Nia's affair with Dino and the fact Odie may not be his...now here we have Max taking back his ring and breaking off his engagement with Maggie.
Since there are no "Season 2's" for these stories (yet)...I guess you have to do it that way. But for my emotional health, I hate having these gut punches happen at the end of the book, then having to wait to see it resolved. I need answers now! LOL just kidding, it just makes it more fun to speculate here. But seriously, I hope the final chapter is published soon ; )
Jeez, have you only been punched the one time? I feel like I've been punched a dozen times at least, "Secret Maggie" being the heaviest blow.
DeleteWell, well, well..... KT, great job with this book, probably the best (and hottest) of this series, in my opinion. Hard to say where she will lead us from here, a bit tricky this author is (had to sound a bit like Yoda :) ).
ReplyDeleteNo one is blameless, they all are imperfect and impossibly flawed, and the pressure finally cracked them all. This could be the first LHW- type novel that ends up in shards, who knows?
What do I think will happen? My best guess (which all you regulars on this site know is almost always wrong) is that Max will sulk to the very end, a broken soul. Maggie and Cole won't last, as she will get the "wanderlust again".
And what was she talking about winning just effort Max ripped the ring offer finger?
Ahh KT, you always do what you want anyway.
quite a bit of violence in this one too..jay destroying Maggie's art work and emotions and wall. max catching a hay-maker in the bread basket..not to mention the energetic bang sessions between Cole and Maggie.
ReplyDeleteI hear (read) what you guys are saying about Cole being evil but for this specific book I don't see him that way he was just the ocean upon which max and Maggie sail. he told.maggie straight up he's not like max and a relationship with him won't include others. he porfessed his love to m aggie. did Maggie stare into his eyes with all the love in her cold cold heart and say I love you too...or did she speak into the one eyed microphone "yea yea i love you too now do me from.behind." da slut.
I can't fault Cole for trying to isolate and conquer Maggie if he really is in love with her. He took his shot but if Maggie calls it off he's gotta back away the whole study period was just Maggie wanting to be seduced again.
shame shame we know your name. mags. who study's with stud muffin like Cole in shorts than keeps touching him egging him on physically while saying no no no..(but meaning come here come here come.here)
final thought for Max ...excellent cock block.in the end there.. no way cole is gonna finish getting his nut after pulling the emergency stop ring.
on the pink tights...come on max think on your feet for Xmas sake!..he should have said because you talk in you sleep maggie.😁
The scene with Jay is very intense, and Max's punched face was also pretty crazy. Regarding Max's punched face, it's interesting how quickly Maggie accepted Cole back into her loving space falling asleep next to him even though she seemed mad at him. I know she didn't want him to hurt Jay, or probably more accurately, hurt himself hurting Jay, but facing him while sleeping is another level.
DeleteYou're right that it isn't evil that he feels love for Maggie, and that he wants Maggie for his own isn't unfair to feel. I think that Cole and Maggie have a wonderful chemistry in this story, that cannot be denied! Whether it lasts is another discussion, but what we've been able to witness as flies on the wall of their Farmingham dorm room, it sure looks strong.
The problem I have is that, given Cole's feelings about Maggie, what he knows he wants from her, it is terribly wrong of him to choose to persist with the facade that he was a partner in an open relationship. Wanting her for his own is one thing, pretending that he wants to be part of a love triangle when he wants to use his time with her to help convince her to be with him is quite another thing.
In order to be in the right, in my opinion, when he realized that was what he wanted, he should have broke away from it, talked to Max about it, and talked to Maggie about it. Not necessarily in that order. He should never have continued with everyone believing that their clumsily built relationship standards mattered to him, and that he was going to respect them.
If Maggie chases after him after he bowed out letting them know the truth, well, sorry Max, you lost. It would have been respectable. KT is never that easy though!
Yes, it was very wrong of him to misrepresent his intentions. If it works and Max can't recover then congratulations to him. But my opinion of Maggie would be at an all time low if she fails to see through what he was trying to accomplish with his deception.
DeleteNaturally communication would make these situations impossible, but without that, we wouldn't have this story!
good point 2b2h.
Deleteif we go back to book one we find Cole and Mag wrestling over a Xbox controller. I believe the comment when max got all upset was that Cole felt Maggie was more like his little sister. my how the world has changed.. that bj on the beach may have opened Coles eyes to a greater possibility with her which led us to where we are. So if you ask to dance with the devil and he accepts who do you blame when your toes get burnt.
also we should remember Cole seems really experienced at this whole domination thing for the early twenties somethinghe is. not impossible just seem well versed in the style. including anal.
Ok. My take here.
ReplyDeleteMax needs to decide what he really wants. I’ve been saying from the beginning that it’s his dishonesty that is poisoning the well. If, I say IF, he is to win her back he tells her everything with no guarantees. In the end he did the only thing he could do.
Maggie has bigger problems than not opening her eyes. She has doubts, seeded not just by Cole but by her own personality flaws. One scene sticking out to me is where she mocks Max’s hurt and the face he makes, then laughs at it. Blinders by Cole doesn’t explain it. The Prof Carmichael visit? My gut says she talked him in to recommending Max for Harvard Business School so he’d be there with Maggie and Cole. Used Jay as leverage.
Cole has been manipulating things since the visit to the parent’s house. Manipulating Max and Maggie both. I believe he was honest in this book about his goal. He wants Maggie. He doesn’t care if he breaks his best friend, or her, to get what he wants. I’m curious if he does indeed talk to Carol. Could she be egging him on, to test the strength of Max and Maggie?
Thing is I know what Max was thinking and feeling when he saw Maggie and Cole in that last scene. I know the betrayal he felt. No. No one is innocent here, least of all Max. However, his hurt here is the most palpable. He asked her to be good. She failed. She was so caught up in the pleasure she completely missed Cole’s actions. And her ring? Her beautiful ring? She’s worried about the damn ring and not the man she claimed to love?
My gut feeling here is she wanted Max jealous and hurt throughout this book, not included and welcome. Had she really wanted him there she’d have stopped what she was doing when Cole told him to get out. I get that pleasure cuts deep, but come on.
I do agree though that Cole has her so blinded, so dominated, that she’s not seeing the truth of anything around her. And he told her he’d do it too.
Not sure I want them to get back together but I can imagine a scenerio that helps it along. Not sure I want to post it here, though. Cole? I’d love that backstabbing ass to get what he deserves.
really good point on the haaavaad business school. I hadn't put that together.
Deleteas far as wanting max jealous I didn't get that vibe..i got more of a...."Ima do this with Cole so I better CMA and keep max involved if he gives the thumbs up im covered. good I got the thumbs up im ok to keep screwing around and covered all my transgretions. even though it's late I'm still a good girl doing what max wants." ...vibe. she was just being selfish living in the moment I guess that may even be worse than wanting him jealous because she didnt care enougb about max to worry about him being hurt and jealous or like you said she wouldnt have done anything.
it doesn't help MaxS cause that every time he turns around one of his lies/omissions/secrets comes undone...oeyvey the pink leotards..it just reinforces Maggie's impression that he's hooked on seeing her with other dudes.which he is but not to the degree she is now convinced he wants. which maybe why she was banging Cole there in the end with out expecting retribution.
I guess a key question to ask here is do we believe Cole really loves Maggie? I do.
does Maggie feel the same ? I don't. only thing I'm sure of is Max really loves Maggie. way to go max... if you love something set if free. if she don't come back she's Coles bride to be.
one more thing...
DeleteMax thought this was the biggest mistake of his life....sorry max there were a lot of big ones along the way to this big one which some have said was inevitable. I don't think it was a mistake I think it was the cosmos balancing out all those prior mistakes with a correction event.
dang but KT can write a story.
I like that interpretation John. :)
DeleteOk. I can see that John. And I, agree, it is worse.
DeleteDoes Cole love Maggie? I think he thinks he does. Actually love love? I’m not so sure. Infatuated maybe. It sure doesn’t look like he gives a shit about Max. But who knows? Maybe we have it wrong and he ends up instrumental in reuniting Max and Maggie... riiiight...
Then again he was remarkably resistant to doing the whole cum on her face, mark his territory, debasement thing. A spark of guilt?
I look at the study time and I see Cole flirting but nothing gets serious until Maggie starts to instigate. Then he backs off. Of course he ruins that vibe with the whole not wanting to share vibe. Not wanting to take the picks. Not wanting to need permission. And he gets that in the end.
Maggie loves Cole’s cock. I don’t think she actually loves him. And when she sees that Cole is just as controlling and manipulative as her parents, how will she react. Will she submit or find the independence Max meant to offer her?
But it doesn’t matter. The more and more I look at it I don’t think Max and Maggie belong together. She IS selfish.
Not just selfish, she's insensitive. The scene where Cole and Maggie are laughing hysterically, making fun of Max, is just cruelty.
DeleteShe needs an epiphany or her relationship with Max is over, and Max would be better for it.
Agreed. I stated above what I thought of that scene. Even insensitive isn’t strong enough. Oblivious?
DeleteYeah.
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DeleteI mentioned it else where in this blog but I'll repeat here because it's pertinent.
Deletebetween jays traumatic dramatic outburst (which is why Maggie is hiding out in the motel). Topped off with Max yanking the ring within what like a day or so...that should be enough for a normal person to recalculate their behavior.
Coles trying to sooth Maggie with" just let him take it " underlying evil purpose or sweet smell of victory probably both. I think as MaxS best bud he probably lost respect for him as well as having it continually degrade especially after he learned of Jay. that might have been Coles tipping point where he committed to taking Mag away from max. after all his little sister deserved some one so much better ...like himself right?
I agree John, but I don't think Cole's tipping point was when he learned about Jay. I think it was the night after the beach. Basically the very beginning.
DeleteI think I agree with WA here. Remember the night at the house, Cole takes control and runs with it in a manner so extreme that Max objects. He’s told by Cole and Maggie come with us or stay, but if you stay we go without you. Cole played that to the hilt.
Deleteyea you guys are probably alot more accurate on that. i think Cole sniffs out weakness and submissiveness very easily and found both in max and Maggie.
DeleteEdwin you make a really good point bringing up Maggie's reaction when Max took her ring. She was crying about her ring. Is she even in love with Max or is she in love with the idea of marriage? Does she even know the difference?
DeleteTheir background story is only scarcely mentioned. "Yes, a thousand time yes" comes to a mind a couple times. Doesn't disprove my claim. What else was there?
I think Maggie just doesn't love Max.
Uggh, I really like that idea, actually. Then they could fall in love again, properly. That would be so lovely...
DeleteIt would fit in with one of my theories.
DeleteRe: does Maggie know what love is? That would harken back to her naïveté again wouldn’t it? That’s something the next book needs to show us. Honestly? I don’t think she does. If she did she’d have snapped to attention when Cole told him to get out. If she did she never would have slept with her back to him while Cole was in the bed, not once but twice. If she did she’d have kept her word.
DeleteBut I could be wrong and, while technically smart, she’s just oblivious to the point of stupid regarding Max’s feelings. I doubt it though since she moved them in this book.
Mocked not moved... damnable autocorrect....
Delete...and then Cole throws himself off a building in despair. Oh, so pleasing to think about...
DeleteMaybe this whole story is about Maggie trying to discover what love is
Delete(Que foreigners "I wanna know what love is")
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DeleteSo.... thoughts on how this can proceed... sorry my mind is awash in possibilities. Some are unlikely, or dare I say outlandish.
ReplyDelete1- Cole realizes what he’s done and fixes it.
2- Max and Maggie find out that Carol paid Cole to become a wedge.
3- Carol, distrustful of Cole from the start, has been investigating Cole and finds horrendous dirt on him and outing him as a money grabber just as Max had accused.
4- Carol actually has a motherly moment and convinces Maggie to fight for Max if she truly loves him. Pays Cole to disappear.
5- Max actually gets honest with Maggie.
6- Maggie re-examined everything and sees exactly what she’s done and either decides to let Max go or fight to win him back.
7- Harvard hiatus. Maggie stays with Cole thru Harvard but they separate within a year or two. Maggie and Max reconnect as Maggie’s familly grooms Max for the business.
8- Jesse or Ken or both get Maggie to see Cole for what he is.
Plenty more rumbling around in there and many could overlap...
I guess I didn't really take into account they're all supposed to be at the parent's house next weekend...so I think that means we won't get a LHW2 like time jump, at least initially. I could see a scene where Maggie convinces Max to give it another shot through that meeting, but something blows up again to drive the wedge further (maybe Cole convinces Maggie to sneak off for sex). Then everything is out in the open and probably irreparable in the short term.
DeleteI could then see something like scenario 7 playing out, where Maggie and Cole go on to Harvard and Max goes his own way for a while, reconnecting with Maggie down the line. I'm not sure if it happens like that if Max would still work for the parents, while I can see Maggie increasingly becoming suffocated living up to her parents' and Cole's expectations.
Just a thought, I'm sure it will be something entirely different.
This chapter was basically only 3 scenes. Most of these chapters are just a couple days long in length. I'd love for a great deal of time to pass so the characters can think about what's happening, but I'm not sure what to expect for the next, final chapter, as this is the only KT Morrison multi book series I've read. Is this usually the case?
ReplyDeleteI feel like our author wants our trio at the Maggie household next weekend. Max/Maggie patching things up within a week is a given following this premise. There can be no thrill of sharing if it's not sharing anymore.
Although if I'm right (and I'm not confident I am at all), then that would mean Cole is still the best man and Maggie and Max had learned nothing. Literally as naive as Adam and Eve, I'd have a hard time swallowing that.
Maybe that phone call just served as a hint that Carol knows and that combined with the emailing could mean subterfuge? I doubt it but I'm not closed off to the idea.
if I were max I wouldn't go to meet the parents again he pulled the ring he should stand his ground..
Deletelet...make the parents come to him..maybe a good time to go visit his family for real.
I wouldn't either!
DeleteKnowing what I know now, neither would I. But I suspect some pressure or persuasion will be aplied and it will happen.
DeleteWhat are the chances that this somehow gets flip flopped and redirected into something Max did terribly wrong? Like the panties thing or the Poiret encounter?
DeleteI can already see it now, "Oh Max, you broke our Maggie's heart," Cole will say, feeding her bullshit behind his back. "What's wrong with you? You're such a terrible person, I can't believe you have been so dishonest and sneaky." "Come to her parents house and give her the ring back, but only I fuck her now, okay?"
And I feel like KT Morrison is capable of spinning a story like that into something people here will believe and think is fair.
That’s... pretty twisted in a very NTR sort of way.
Delete
Delete"Oh Max, how dare you spy on me and see me cheating on you, that was private!"
"Oh Max, how dare you have a minor role in watching me openly cheat on you with Cole!"
The open laughter at Max's expense. This story is already twisted.
@ WA:
Deletehere's a nasty thought along those lines...so Maggie wants to get Max back. he refuses to go to parents mtg. Cole goes as worst man of course (oops did I say worst i meant best man). so the mtg comes to order and questions are being asked and this is where Coles evil side hits it's stride ..he convinces mom and dad that max has perverted their daughter. yup he's made her into a slut. just ask Jay Carmichael. did you know he asked me his best friend to seduce Maggie... that max is one sick dude...
"STOP the presses I got a news flash!" says ken holding a video tape in hand.
I can also imagine m aggie arguing her point but not being believed by the parents. because Cole is such a good and honest guy.
I am sometimes a victim of my on imagination and opinions...😊
That's terrifying but wouldn't be out of place in this story..
DeleteI call BS about Maggie's reading habits, she only read romance novels as a kid? Where was "come on my face" in Pride and Prejudice?
ReplyDeleteOk. So if I were Max... what would I say to Maggie?
ReplyDelete“Let me start at the beginning. I went to your dorm for a quick visit only to find you dressed in a shirt I’ve never seen before and not much else obviously prepared to greet someone else. You were shocked to see me. You left the room and I found your sketchbook. I was curious and so I looked. I saw Who I later learned was Jay. I was afraid Mags. That you had or were tempted to cheat on me. So, I hid in the closet. I saw everything that night. And I thought I was losing you. But, and I don’t know why but it excited me too.
I should have been honest with you. I should have said something. We talked but it was all about your relative inexperience. So I pushed more than I should for you to explore. I hoped to share it with you.
And then we brought Cole into it and the very first thing done was was over my objections the two of you head to the music room, telling me if I stay you’ll do it without me. What was I supposed to do? I joined you. You should know, Ken saw us.
You were radiant that night. And I enjoyed it too. After that I asked you to not leave me behind. I asked you to keep me included.
But did you? I was walking campus and I saw you leaving Cole’s dorm. Now it’s true you told me what happened that night after... the fact. That’s three times. But I want you happy and, I don’t know why, it excites me too.
Then Cole shows me the video. Your get out of jail free card. He convinces me you need to cheat, to get it out of your system. So we set up your date night. Yes I was in the armoire. I’m ashamed of that. I’m ashamed that it turned me on watching you cheat on me with my best friend. That night we spent the night together, all three of us, and when we settled in you had your back to me. You slept facing him.
Then, back at school we are at Altieri’s. You two are making eyes at each other. There is real emotion there. In front of me. And it hurt.
Then you tell me you’ve suddenly decided to go to Harvard, which I think is a fantastic idea if you are doing it for you. But are you? Or are you doing it to follow Cole? From my perspective, the fact that you thought to make a decision that would affect our life after we were married without even discussing it with me tells me that you and Cole decided without me.
And then the Open Relationship. Maggie, I love that you are being more assertive. But did you consider that would be too much hurt for me?
It’s my fault. I gave tacit or outright aproval at every turn, afraid that if I didn’t i’d Lose you completely. And instead of being honest with you I tried to guide things, blunt them.
I didn’t go to my parents that weekend. I went to see Ken. I hoped he had the missing video of that night. He didn’t. While there, even though you promised to be good, you weren’t.. we both know you didn’t wait for my thumbs up. But the cum splattered face? Letting another man claim you for his own? So I came home early to come clean with you.
I’m sorry Jay scared you that same day. I should have been here. I wanted to give you time to be ok. Instead I saw you heading to Professor Carmichael’s. I was going to catch you after you came out but you got into the cab before I could work up the nerve. I wandered a bit, deciding how I was going to tell this all to you and apologize to Cole for what I said to him.
Instead I get here with lunch and the do not disturb sign is up. No big deal, maids down the hall. Then I hear you. I come in and see you two moving on without me yet again. And worse looking into each other’s eyes with such love... I never wanted this. How could you think it was ok? And you said nothing, NOTHING, when Cole said “get out of here.”
I don’t want this. You are the love of my life. I want to marry you. But it looks to me like you’ve moved on. You prefer him over me. You went too far.”
I reacted in the moment. I’m terrified I went too far. But the choice has to be yours. I love you and want to marry you. I’m here when you decide. But if you choose me, no more Cole.”
DeleteWell put.. I think I might add also the walk in the woods with jay was hot but again with out his consent.
DeleteAlso I might add about the be a good girl was a desperate cry for normalcy to return but was afraid to look like the bad guy for telling her to not have anymore fun without him.
I might finish with " we don't deserve each other you need Cole to control your impulses better and I need some one who respects me more. As far as cole and i go were done i still love him like a brother but being around him will only remind me of the pain i went through for you.. "
Sounds too much the victim I think as all players had a hand in it.but it's him telling his story he can tell it how he wants too. 😁
I'd also add something in there about "even after he punches me, physically hits me, you turn your back on me to embrace him."
DeleteYea that physical denial of affection is a real heart breaking love killer. You think about it married for say 10 years than theywake up an discover you don't sleep in the same bed (because he or she has sleep apnea.) You work different schedules so rarely eat share time together. When they do share time they been living this way for a while that they no longer have the same imterests.
DeleteThere's little or. No petting because the other is pissed that there is little or no petting.
So if this max and Maggie better they break it off now than go thru drill.
Cole is the aleinator of affecrion if they ad been married.
I think max changes his major from business to divorce law. Just saying he's got a cause now.
I like your Max letter to Maggie, Edi! Maggie already knows Ken saw, I think at this point he needs to explain why he thought he had to destroy Cole's image in her eyes, too. Why he decided to go underground to undermine what he said was for her. I think your letter covers most of that, but I think the overall idea that he was scheming rather than talk to her is a big no-no.
DeleteLol John!
DeleteThanks 2B! I’m trying to think on Maggie’s side of it too. It’s difficult since I obviously empathize, and criticize, with Max more. He’s in a no win situation of his own making. I’m plagued with an internal debate. Sometimes the ends can justify the means... but the subterfuge? Not to me. But what if his fears of being honest were justified and it pushed her away faster? Obviously we needed this for the story but I can’t help thinking on it, mainly because of my own past. It’s like that one little kernel you can’t help chew on. So yeah maybe “I went to see Ken to find out if there was a way to get the video of that night so you can see what I see happening to you, to see how you are changing and pulling away from me. I thought that if you saw it you might see how Cole is pulling you away from me. Then you’d come back to me. Ken rightly pointed out that even if he did he wouldn’t because of how underhanded it would be.” Or something.
With Maggie though, she’s really doing the same thing. In this book in particular with her internal monologue over whether she loves Cole or not. But correct me if I’m wrong, after Jesse leaves she tells Cole “I love you. I love Max. I don’t care what that means.” Right there she places Cole first. And right after that she lets him claim her as his. But has SHE been honest with Max?
The real difference between the two is that Max still thinks about Maggie. To Maggie it seems Max is an afterthought. Hence the thought I had before about whether Maggie wanted Max Jealous versus included. But I admit, I’m having difficulty figuring Maggie out.
I can see ehat youre saying but i disagree about Maggie, i think Max is very much in her thoughts throughout, at least in a literal sense. i think you could argue, not his feelings. I dont argue that thought. Not intentionally.
DeleteKey item from what you said above, Edi, a big moment in the story i think. Your assumption of the line "I love you, I love max, I don't care what it means" being from Maggie is not right. That was Cole, you can tell because the next line she talks about how good that felt to hear him say that.
Not that it takes away from your point necessarily, but I can carve out a rationale that says she was glad Cole is still thinking of max a little too.
Question is of course, out of triangular love, or guilt.
Correction. Cole tells her and she agrees. The result is the same in my mind because she uses it to dismiss he own nagging doubts.
DeleteHeh... was typing before before I saw your response 2B.
DeleteMaybe I need to man up and do a reread. I looked it up. You are right.
Easy for me to reread, I can understand if it might be hard for others to want to get back to that!
DeleteMy life's not as thrilling as Max and Maggie's, certainly not cole, ha.
I think I’ll explain post series. It certainly felt ok when I told KT.
DeleteThinking back though I believe you have it right. She’s thinking of Max, just not his feelings. Maggie and Cole accept the love triangle without considering whether Max does or not, then proceed regardless. They dismiss and ridicule them at times as well, even if in a light hearted manner. Neither one gets that it was just supposed to be sex. Frankly I find that dismissive attitude much worse.
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ReplyDeleteIf I were Max, I'd go pawn the engagement ring the next morning, maybe buy the new Xbox. Let the fam know he called it quits. Then if she reaches out and shows compassion, I'd tell her that stuff. The order of those responses can change or some steps can be avoided, depends on how quickly things click in Maggie's not-so-brilliant mind and she reaches out. That's to say, they'd probably happen in the exact order I wrote them.
DeleteThat would be a hell of a good discussion. only because we don't see max and Maggie talking a lot mostly because she's hanging with cole. But max and Maggie have not had a real heart to heart diacussion about the life style and what it means to each about how the feel about it. So for every accusation max might hurl at Maggie I'd be real interested in Maggie's retort.
DeleteThat would be a hell of a good discussion. only because we don't see max and Maggie talking a lot mostly because she's hanging with cole. But max and Maggie have not had a real heart to heart diacussion about the life style and what it means to each about how the feel about it. So for every accusation max might hurl at Maggie I'd be real interested in Maggie's retort.
DeleteI honestly think the pawn shopped ring would be a stupendously terrible idea. Man, the hatred on Maggie is like, seething from some, and I'm sorry for coming down on people but it's as if people don't see that Max CHOSE to be a passive, hesitant participant in this thing. This lifestyle is necessarily a natural thing for people to accept as healthy behavior for a relationship and if Maggie realized she wants something different too late, well how can people honestly blame her? Is it purely because Cole might not be that good of a person at core? That may be true, but then again I don't know about, and Maggie might not either. I just really cannot understand why it's so hard to see that Maggie falling into love (or love lite) with another man when neither of the two people involved in making the decision to open up their relationship knew what the hell they were doing.
DeleteMaggie is bad, Max is making a bold symbolic move doing what he's done. He's put his foot down and it's time to see how Maggie reacts knowing full-well what the ramifications of her actions have done, and getting a clear and powerful message from her fiance that he's had it.
Max cannot give up on Maggie and calling off the wedding at this moment is just plain idiotic. Max has to repent for his sins too, and if he wants to try to really win Maggie back from Cole he's going to have to do it legitimately. That means speaking up for himself and saying everything that's on his mind. If Maggie still goes to Cole, then sell that shit.
But let me watch them first, k thanks ...
I should say above, that "the lifestyle is NOT necessarily natural" whoops!
DeleteThanks for the discussions guys, really stimulating conversations. I'm gonna unsub from this comment section for now. See you guys at the next book!
ReplyDeleteYou might not see this, but thanks for the heated discussion. Got me to think about things deeper and I love new perspectives on here!
DeleteIt's probably too late for it now but if Max had embraced his cucky self more. I'm betting Cole would have Maggie put a cage on him..until the wedding. Just saying..😈
ReplyDeleteOh and btw we're all wrong...
ReplyDeleteBegin maniacal lol....KT well done..
The real mastermind please stand up...and take a bow.
Oh and btw we're all wrong...
ReplyDeleteBegin maniacal lol....KT well done..
The real mastermind please stand up...and take a bow.
Anybody else think "That was hot" is a nod to Kiley in 'Alone'? Totally could be coincidence, but the situation is similar. Maybe she's revving engines for Gurks over here, be prepared for that reboot!
ReplyDeleteGah, I get so in my own head I doubt anyone knows what I'm talking about. I'm talking about after Cole finished on Maggie's beautiful face, she said that line, same thing as Kiley did when she saw Omar and Kate.
DeleteCayman peoxy?
DeleteCayman peoxy?
DeleteYeah, the couch 'scene.'
DeleteOk I'm a little toasted on single malt right now chilling to some pentatonix. When i heard this line from halalujah i thought of Maggie.
ReplyDelete"Maybe theres a god above
But All I've ever learned from love ,
Was how to shoot somebody who out drew ya.". Funny how these things run around in the brain and just need a good lubricant to pop out ....or in I suppose. I'll probably delete when I wake up in the morning and do the whole OMG what happened last night. So in true bar room fashion...I love you guys 😖
Hic °○●•°
DeleteHa, that's awesome. KT has done a lot of harm (or added depth if I'm more optimistic about it) to my playlist.
DeleteWell the song IS about temptation and cheating... heh.
DeleteYea that line definerly shows cohen had been jilted a time or too.
Delete@2b2h
Roger that...jessie girl is the most blatant I think. Took me a while to figuire out jessie's girl was his wife. A stretch maybe..but i could see max singing that song now. "I wish I had Coles girl" "shes watching hin with those eyes" "she loving him with that body I just k ow it." "Where do i find a woman like that?"
In Coles bed of course ..stupid max.
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DeleteOk. So I’m a bit of a wreck now. Did some rearranging. I have a former grip on Maggie now. Here’s the thing... I feel worse about her now than I did. Max’s actions and inaction notwithstanding, he did tell her what he feared, what he hoped for her, what it did for him and what he hoped she’d respect. Throughout all of this she had her guilty moments then allowed them to be washed away, ignoring them and pushing them aside.
ReplyDeleteShe’s made a conscious decision to do the one thing she knows in her heart that will break Max. Yes much of it has to do with naïveté and emotional immaturity. Mixed signals are one thing she is getting but she still completely ignores his fears in the last two books. And, She’s completely detached from his feelings while thinking only about her own pleasure. All while she lets Cole manipulate and soothe her conscience under the rug.
Max isn’t marrying Cole. Neither is Maggie. There IS no love triangle. It was indeed fabricated by Cole to worm his way in and take her for his own. That lip twitch from Cole when Maggie is begging for the facial? I wonder if it was him suppressing a smile of triumph. I’m certainly thinking so with his reactions at the end of the last book (get out of here, let him take it). She can’t believe that she can be owned by Cole and married to Max, can she? And think Max would be ok with that?
I really do see how much of Maggie’s naïveté drags her down. But she also willfully disregards, mocks and derides the feelings of the man she processes to love throughout the series.
And Max could have stopped it All by being more honest. But then even when he was it was disregarded anyway. Catch 22.
Rereading no rearranging...
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DeleteSo rereading chapter "rhe break up"
ReplyDeletePerhaps that was less about jay and more about max..phrases like:
don't let max get control of you ...he's making bad decisions...i claim you...
Something that bothered me then which we all probably discusses was how quickly Maggie acquiesced to Cole it was like cole ...you're mine now ... Maggie okay..either she's dumb bimbo ans done with max or she's super smart manipulator playing cole and max off one another.
Sex is her weapon of choice.
Ok ima take a holiday from commenting I get wordy. Can't help it i have no life. 😁
Aaaand Cole... Cole, we don’t really get to get into his head. However we see all the subtle tells of how he is manipulating the entire situation to his liking. He’s manipulated Maggie into believing he loves her, who knows maybe he thinks he does. He’s taken Max’s fears and used each of them against him. He’s used Max’s perversion against him. He’s misled both of them. He’s wedged himself between two he claimed as best friends and destroyed their engagement. He’s physically assaulted his best friend in front of the woman he loves. And he CLAIMED her for his own. He’s eliminated his competition twice.
ReplyDeleteThere have been little tells... lip trembles, cocky smiles, outlandish suggestions and arm twisting. No doubt he’s the villain here in my mind, but do we know why?
I’m sorry. The man is no friend to Max. He feigns it pretty well, that’s for sure. And he knows how to say just the right thing to get what he wants from Max and Maggie. No he doesn’t love Max as he said in this book. That was just lip service for Maggie’s sake. Nor do I think he loves Maggie. He’s after something, but what?
I guess I just don't buy that Cole is some deliberately nefarious character. There are so many times when Cole says and does things that demonstrates a person who wants to (but might be failing massively) care about both Maggie and Max, when he didn't need to. Why did he tell max he was going to study with Maggie if he knew he'd be out of the picture and could do whatever he wanted?
DeleteWhy ask Max to join his Jay beatin' posse? Apologize after punching him in the gut in a heated spat and put him in bed to recover? Why have the debate with Maggie with what to do with all the pictures if he knew all he has to do was do what she said and he could get what he wanted?At any point in those moments, the real Cole could have dropped the charade and went into fully operational "take whats mine and fuck everyone whos stands in my way" mode. I think hes legitimately torn, and as such has shown the "take whats mine" part of him, while also showing the part that likes his friendships. This is appreciated more than the manipulative asshole I thought he was at one point. He wants Maggie, and his friend is a complication, but he hasnt schemed to wedge himself into their relationship through this channel deliberately. He's just an opportunistic hedonist, who's growing tired of the protocol.
Not a good thing at all, but less deliberately evil.
Perhaps. The flip side is that he is the instigator more often than not. We know, since the first weekend at the parents house that he knows exactly how to push Maggie’s buttons to get her to ask, no beg, him do do what he wants to do anyway. The panties. The fingering in the hall at the tasting. His dorm room. The date night and the night at the hotel. Harvard. The open relationship. Even the study session.
DeleteEvil? Maybe not. I like opportunistic hedonist.
Keep in mind that Cole is the ONLY one now that knows everything from both sides. Max told him. Maggie told him. He’s working that information to HIS advantage, not theirs. He’s certaonly not good. But again we don’t know his motivation.
I'm not sure the Harvard thing was Coles instigation maybe jay or his dad had something to do with it..the professor and "mary-ann" did have a discussion during jays wrestling bouts. What gets me is these three are all supposed to be real smart. But seems like cole is the only one with experience with emotional drama.
ReplyDeleteIsn't he just looking out for Maggie "he's making bad decisions foe you"
"Let him go" are those game plans or protective instincts . Both times were spontaneous moments so I'm going with PI because that's his girl now and he doesn't want her hurt. ..it kind of why I don't see Cole as the evil player just a player. He was literally sucked into this relationship so to quote a character from another story by a different author (because I love this quote)
"What did you think was going to happen.?"
Cole is manipulative he has designs he's not a cuckold he's a dom and Maggie wants to play. So he is doing what his nature tells him. I wonder If he'll give Maggie a safe word.
Max seems to be more a manipulator because he spied on Maggie got turned on by the voyeurism and got her into doing more.
Maggie just wants to be the rebel bad gurl. What could be badder than dumping your fianc'e for the best man some of that has to be in her head too..a triple fail scenario..but there has to be someone driving this bus ...and we will have to wait til next book to discover who..
Because KT Morrison has convoluted this plot so well. I don't think anyone can pin it down.
Except me its not the skipper(cole) ita not Mary-ann it's not Gilligan,
Not the Thurston Howell the third or his wife. Hmmm who am I missing. Oh yea it was the professor with the big dick and he did it in the study. Sorry I'm mixing cross reference from old tv sitcoms to board games I probably sound like an idiot .....well I am so there...told you I had no life.🤣
Ok fair point. I can loosen my stance on Cole a minute. That above makes him no better than Max or Maggie. He loves Max? He could have put his foot down and slapped some sense into him instead of claiming his fiancé from him. He could have told Maggie everything Max had confided in him, if he loved her. In this case he’s just like Maggie, only aware that what he’s doing is going to push Max away. So he can have Maggie.
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DeleteYes he should have bitch slapped max and Maggie into next week..but his nature took over instead.
DeleteIt surprises me just how willingly Maggie goes along with it all..makes me think she has a game plan ready to hatch maybe that was the whole.we won thing..
Maybe at the moment of most vulnerability she knew max was hurt and tried to deflect with her reveal. Begs the question was Maggie and Cole doing a victory "dance" over what ever they won. Again max left out of the loop.
Funny how this is all panning out each is guilty of something each has been a victim of something.
Here’s a tought.... this is actually years ago. Cole changes his name to Atticus after the next book...
DeleteI don't think Cole is an evil guy, and I don't think he set out from the beginning to steal Maggie from Max. And yes, the "wolf" was invited in the house, so what did Max expect? But once Cole decided he wanted Maggie, he was pretty willing to sacrifice his friendship with Max.
DeleteYes, he shows a certain level of concern for Max in this chapter, but by the end, I think Cole just sees him as an irritant, a bug to be squashed. Maybe too harsh, but I think his reaction to Max walking in on them at the end is telling. He doesn't see Max as his friend anymore, he sees him as a rival for Maggie. Look at how quickly he jumps in once he realizes what Max is doing. He thinks he's won now, and maybe he has, at least for the moment.
I think all the characters here are complicated...but personally for me Cole made the turn to "villain" for me by that last scene (at least if you're rooting for Max and Maggie to stay together, which I'm not necessarily sure I am at this point).
I can agree with that
DeleteI think 2b2h had it right way back up the blog line that max was as responsible for this mess as any. Maybe more so. Because he took the risk. Yea Cole a.wolf for sure and now protecting his mate. Breeding time is not far off. Maggie being the dirty bad girl ..nuff said.
If i wanted a happy ending
Cole gets run over by a train when he borrows big daddy's car and it suspiciously stalls on the track and seat belt won't unlock...
Max gets busted for peeping thru dorm windows and becomes a registered sex offender. Maggie is put in sex addiction rehab by tiger mom. and is in the room next to Harvey Weinstein.
Ken finally comes out of the closet is disowned by his parents..he makes a stunning break through in his field. Makes a billion dollars and buys out and ruins his daddy's businesses. Buy his old home and does his boyfriend in the music room...on security cam.
Ok.maybe not sooo happy.
Real.happy ending is ending up with their true loves ...which is what all the debate is about as to who is true and who is fake.
Yeah, I've said that I pretty much agree with this JL further up the thread, but i think that Max as a rival is due to disagreements that Max and Cole have had throughout, aside from obviously mostly being due to Maggie's sweetness.
DeleteCole accuses max of ruining the fun at the poirot on wedding planning day, he never quite understood why he just watched them, he got angry when he found out Jay was involved but max made Cole make Maggie feel better when Maggie freaked out from the truth. Finally, he can't believe max doesn't want to beat jay's brains out for hurting Maggie and they ended actually physically fighting.
Not all of these are even remotely justified, but when someone disagrees fundamentally with what someone else is doing, especially when it comes to a woman, it's easy to see a rift reach this level. So, again, Cole is bad playing for keeps and keeping from max and maggie what he wanted, but I don't think he's evil, even now, and nobody is innocent.
John - those endings are awesome! I audibly laughed at Max being arrested for being a peeping max. And just to be clear, i dont think it's max's fault necessarily that it got this far, but he played a key role and deserves ridicule just as much as Maggie and Cole. I mostly said that because that line of discussion seemed lacking in the blog.
On evil, well ok, maybe he's a little evil, ☺.
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DeleteI agree with all that 2b2h the thing that I haven't come to terms with is Maggie. every one owns a piece of this pooh pie. I understand Coles part he's a dom he loves or thinks he loves Maggie and is in protecrive mode over her.
DeleteMax of course loves her but has a funny way of showing it. He has a real problem and it's called deceitfulness
Now Maggie is an adorable loving girl whose very intelligent. With that IQ level I dont believe she'd buy into Coles BS or Max s for that matter but it seems she has. So I don't get her part in all this just yet. But she owns a huge chunk of this pie too. She said it herself to Cole about jay, and to max about school it was "my decision" and those are just the stand out ones. She was convinced to cheat on max by Cole with Cole and his statement if "you want to get out from someone's control have sex with someone else. " will probably come back to bite him.. will she go back to Jay or is there another sex partner in the wings ...maybe the nerd from the beach party.
Although I don't know when she has time for it.
One note of self correction. I stated Maggie had said we won actual quote is "I won". Was there a art contest? Assuming so . Using jays picture.?Or maybe she drew max. We know Coles got destroyed unless there were others.
I don’t know. I’m looking at Cole’s actions in breaking both Maggie and Max. He’s targetd their weaknesses, systematically attacked them, and used them against each other. Unlike the other two we don’t really get to be in his head. As a Wolf, he’s adept at saying or doing the right thing at the right time to get what he wants. I don’t know yet if he’s nefarious or protective, as of right now, with the little tells I think I see throughout, somewhere between the two but closer to nefarious with how systematic he’s been. Only thing I’m sure of, despite his claims and actions, he doesn’t give a shit about Max.
DeleteIt could be both nefarious and protective depending on his true feelings. If it's real love than protective if it is lust than it's protective in a she's my property kind of way.
DeleteEither way she's under his sphere of influence now especially Once max ditched her.
I think without a doubt someone will try and get max and mag back together either parents siblings or cole...maybe if he sees how devastated Maggie is with out max he'll come around and try and make things right...or worst case try to convince her it a for the best besides she gets the handsomer smarter better off partner. Again we don't really know what Maggie is up too.
Honestly, I still don’t think Max and Maggie are right for each other, as it stands now. I keep going back to this all started with Maggie straying. Max mishandled it all, yes. But Maggie has been consistent in that she can’t seem to stay faithful to Max. He’s just going to keep getting hurt by her unless he comes to accept that she can’t be faithful or she gets it through her head to keep her word. None of that matters if Max is incapable of being honest though.
Delete@ Edi "Here's a thought" - Maybe that explains why he was holding Maggie's cello like a guitar in the music room? Like Father like son, eh?
DeleteNah, remember Atticus is hell of an artist and used to be a nerd. Cole is not that.
Lol 2B2H. Yeah I just posted that as a lark. Not serious at all.
DeleteTeehee - not sure if you caught my first into KT universe crossover pontification way back when the series started, but I thought maybe Atticus might return to his alma mater and show off some of his work to current art students at Farmington. I think someone like Finch might persuade our girl Maggie that maybe Harvard law might not be what she wants ... lol.
Delete... first foray into KT universe pontification ...*
DeleteLol. I do remember.
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ReplyDeleteMax's issue is he just hasn't come to terms with his particular desires. He's still figuring it out, and honestly he's a little ashamed of them and what he's asking Maggie to do. So he thinks the best way to do it is through subterfuge and deceit to an extent. Get Maggie to want it herself, then he can feel good about it. But they rushed headlong into it without really thinking, and it has backfired spectacularly on him.
ReplyDeleteA big reason why he chose Cole was he figured he could trust him...another tragic mistake. Again, I do think Cole went in with the best intentions but he couldn't help himself once he was with Maggie. I also agree with those who say he's not really in love with her. I think they're both infatuated with each other and the great sex (I guess some call it NRE...new relationship energy) but they haven't thought through what being together long term means. And I think it's clear Maggie never contemplated her life without Max...she thought he'd always be there and they'd get married (and maybe they could still play with Cole on the side). Without him, what do her and Cole mean. How do I explain this to family and friends (many of whom have already expressed wariness about her being with a player like Cole).
I guess I can see Maggie going one of two ways in the immediate aftermath of this, and either one pushes her toward Cole, at least in the short term. One is she's like Nia, she desperately wants to get Max back but doesn't know how, and clings onto Cole in the meantime. The other is she gets angry at Max for dropping the nuclear bomb and just up and leaving without much thought. After all, he pushed and manipulated her into a lot of this, then instead of talking things through with her just broke off their engagement. This one might make it harder for them to reconcile later on. I still think in either case her relationship with Cole is not for the long term, its her relationship with Max that is the question mark for me.
Somethings from book 1
Delete"Ima be so bad in ten months you may not want to marry me"
Book 2
"Be a man for me max" and the secret society.
Cole is in charge of max s bachelor party.
HS buddy lee popped Maggie's cherry.
Maggie seduced Cole with fantasy Bf named cole story
Cole wanted to go to bed Maggie insisted he stay.
Book 3
Max fears being left out. Laughing at him behind his back and being lied to..(check check and check)
Cole pushing max to not ne selfish at church....
As far as I got.
Yeah. I’m pretty sure none of them know what love is. Not surprising at that age really.
DeleteThe idea of "manhood" and what makes a "man" has been a theme KT has explored quite a bit in these stories. We saw it with Geoff when he chose to protect Odie rather than try to pry Maria off Nia when she was attacking her. We saw it with Pete too and we now see it with Max. The women come to question it as well, and it draws them closer to the boyfriend, who they perceive as the "real man" whether they admit that consciously or not.
ReplyDeleteIn the end, Geoff and even Pete came to prove their "manhood" and the women find out it takes more than a big dick and an assertive personality to make a "man." So will we see the same with Max and Maggie?
That has me thinking of endings. KT has kind of mastered what I think someone once called the "ambiguously happy" ending. They're happy in the sense that the husband and wife reconcile, but you leave with more than a little doubt if the issues that led to their problems have been solved. So, kind of like real life, which makes them great IMO.
But KT has hinted at wanting to do a "darker" ending to a story, and she admitted in the comments at the end of LHW2 that the original ending was quite a bit darker, with Nia actively choosing Rocco and only reuniting with Geoff after Rocco dies. In the end, I liked the ending chosen quite a bit better...I enjoyed the idea of the woman being forced to chase the cuckold and win him back, and to me the Geoff character is maybe the best written cuckold I've ever read. And that changes if he settles for being a "second choice" for Nia.
So I wonder now if we're heading to what I'd call an "ambiguously unhappy" ending, perhaps where Max, Maggie and even Cole learn valuable lessons in life, but ultimately decide its best if they all part ways. That's unhappy in the sense that an engagement and long term friendships are over, but you also get the sense it might be for the best and they'll all be OK and move on with their lives separately.
Again, kind of like real life. We all think our college or high school sweetheart is the "one" and we'll be together forever, but most times that's not to be. But we recover, go on with our lives, and meet new people and fall in love again.
But to be clear, I wouldn't want the dark ending to be: Maggie and Cole go off to Harvard and live happily ever after while Max continues to rue his choices and pine for his lost love. Maybe its my Y chromosome, but I always end up rooting first for the husband in these stories, and want to see him find happiness and peace, however he may come to define it. And in this case, maybe Max finds a way to define that in a way that doesn't need to include being with Maggie. I don't really think Pete found that, but Geoff did, even if ultimately he reunites with Nia. So this is a long way of saying that I hope Max is more a Geoff than a Pete.
Exceptionally well put JL!
DeleteAnd you are so very right. And real life is precisely what colors our takes from these stories, how we perceive the characters, and how we judge it all.
If I recal rightly, part of Geoff’s growth was finding that inner Alpha and positively channeling it to become a brighter presence in the end. KT repeatedly said he was always a sexy man, just that Rocco and Dino were much more bullish. Geoff though was much more rounded than Max. That has so much to do with the age difference though, I think. Max has shown his own alpha tendencies, but only in anger, frustration, and jealousy and used them to belittle, demean and vent... none of which is healthy. True, Geoff started that way too, and we did not get to really see so much of Max’s actions before he left, but still.
Max is still learning. So is Maggie. I’ve been in their shoes and I can say without a doubt that very few people are capable of finding that lifelong love in HS or College and maintaining that love through a long married life.
I’m not going to say I don’t hope for a reconciliation leading to that ambiguously happy ending. Though if they don’t get Married does Oxbow go away for Max? Seems to me he stands to lose the most, if not almost everything here.
We all see things through “me” colored glasses. It’s why I’m so down on Maggie and why Nia was so hard for me to read. I’m eager to see if there are lessons learned.
Yeah, I don't think Max has the life experience of a Geoff...10 or so years make a big difference for a person. I also guess we don't know enough about Max and what others think of him, particularly women. Or at least I don't recall anything; with Geoff we had plenty of evidence that other women (like Jenny and Krista) were into him; he just didn't really see it because he was so in love with Nia.
DeleteAgain, I think the age of all the main characters play into this story...we make so many mistakes when we're 21...so much of the train wreck that has occurred here I see through that prism.
As for the job, yeah that would be tough to take for Max. From all I remember it sounds like his dream job, or at least it did at the beginning. I can't imagine he would want to work with the father of his ex-fiancee though, and who really knows what their dream job is at that age. I don't recall if we learned Max had another passion like Maggie has her drawings...maybe this would be the catalyst to chase that dream though.
Who knows...its all speculation until the last chapter, which I fear is a ways off...no much desired status update even right now. Maybe not til 2018?
I guess I'm not really down on Maggie per say, like I said age and inexperience factor into these things. And I really think Max was the one who really pushed her down this road, more than in the other stories. I don't think she would have been unfaithful to him in other scenarios.
DeleteNia was a hot mess, but I always had sympathy for her too. Again, her upbringing played a role in how she viewed men, and in the end she found her way. And again I really liked that she fought for Geoff.
I guess I was, and still am, most down on Jess of the three. She should have known getting involved with a man-boy like Tyler was never going to work. All the signs were there from the beginning...I don't really think Tyler was fooling anyone like Rocco was.
She got swept up in the fantasy and her not so secret resentment of Pete and blew her family up. Not to say Pete didn't play his role in that, but of the three she was the quickest to really even give up trying to fool herself that she was ever doing it for him.
I think in lhw1 that Pete didn't really improve that much it was more like jess settled for him because with him came stability and a home with happy kids in it. Tyler offered some of that but was totally destabilising...in short she went with the money. Interesting tease for the follow up as it seems Tyler may have the financial superiority over Pete..
DeleteI love a good darker ending as long as it's realistic (again how dare i want realism in my fiction) and fits isn't a last minute fix.. If the wedding is totally called off and non of these kids (to me) see each other again I'll call that awash. But someone one is gonna get Maggie..as immature as the three are they still gotta know right from wrong so we can blame an immature decision on them for there situation but they are aware they are making wrong choices just everyone thinks the other guy or girl is making them ...sorta a carch 22 rpund robin style.
Cole probably has the best handle on it . For some reason he is sexually and socially more mature than max or Maggie. Doesn't stop the heart from wanting what it wants. Just gives him a leg up on the competition. Good ole max was competing against Cole and didn't even know it till it was too late. He was putting his eggs in the keep Maggie happy basket. Maggie well she's attracted to Coles type a man's man. Unshaven face and all.
If Maggie walks away with anyone it probably won't be these two but will be someone we read about not jay or his dad despite my pushing for the dad. 😊
So check your secondary characters for someone who might come from behind in this race to the alter.
That's a good memory, re: the darker ending! I have to say that was about 250k words ago and the story was in the planning. It was darker and more humiliating for Maggie, and (John C will love this) it really did involve Professor Carmichael. He got reduced to bit-player even though he was interesting, but it was Maggie and Cole that changed the story so it turned into what it is now. Not saying the ending won't be dark, just that it won't be what it had been planned ...
Delete@KT I don't think you've written an ending I didn't like. Which is why I like your work so much more than others. I loved that Geof and Nia were almost done. And it would have been cool if they had divorced, seperated, or just moved on..but the ending that happened was just as cool. It fit and was realiatic. Of course you had to spike me with the near death experience just before the end too..whew that was close.
DeleteUnfortunately most writers have a canned ending where reconciliation always happens with out a hint of anyone being hurt enough to walk. Ok I get it. It's a formula that works for them but I'm less likely to read any more of their work because of the predictable endings. Point in case one author in his bio said he refused to do anything that ended in a unhappy ending. Ok I think he doesn't get that someone in a three way romance is not going to be unhappy and that it's a matter of perspective. I had no clue what jess was gonna do in lhw1 until she stayed with pete.. I could clearly see the struggle to stick with pete.
It seems that Reza may get the girl too. But I haven't got to know Charlie that well...yet.(hint hint nudge nudge).
Not that I'm always looking to read a btb. Because I tend to vote for the underdog usually the husband but not always.
So in the spirit of the holiday THANK YOU KT for your stories. Don't stop keeping us entertained, both in story and blogging.
And a happy thanksgiving to the rest of those who celebrate it.
First to JL - I really like how you logically traveled down the route to establishing how this book will end, and I've been banking KT's comment about how how a future story of her's might be really dark (shortly after making that comment the Maggie series showed up, 2 and 2 together). I agree with the sentiment that it's possible that Cole and Maggie end up together, it's also possible that they have a (far less dramatic, but maybe not!?!) falling out like Rocco and Nia had as well. If the latter happens, then I can't imagine anyone of the three characters in this ending up friends/lovers.
DeleteSome might disagree, but there isn't a lot of concrete evidence that says that Cole will break Maggie's heart. There are some allusions that it could happen, like Cole withholding his part in The Poirot seduction plans, how he doesn't really listen to Maggie's (poorly argued, to be fair, with a totally mixed message) plea not to apply pressure to getting together, or how (I think) he's letting Maggie think she's so special that he hasn't done this or that thing until her. I think he purposely left the question hanging, "Have you done this for any other girl?" when talking about the facial, which we know for certain that Maggie was making a big deal about for their relationship. Edi and John say there is something in how Jessie is talking to Maggie about Cole, but I don't see that, I think she was just freaking out about the whole situation and see Cole as a man probably about to ruin a relationship, but she is young and learning too, who is she to say anything to interfere with Maggie and Max's plans. Maybe I'm wrong about that though, and she knows Cole is going to break her heart.
That said, we really don't have any indication that Cole is going to hurt Maggie, he's already turned down two opportunities (one at least that I can recall concretely) to maintain his reputation, he's a thoughtful lover, gets on everyone's good side (except if you're Jay). I just don't see Cole as being a lock to destroy Maggie.
Maybe I'm deranged or too naive (would not be the first time I've been called naive), but I honestly find Maggie and Cole's chemistry to be darkly sweet. This is the honeymoon period, as we've all said, but right now these two seem really good together. We can complain all we want about how the two have come together, who has had to burn in the wake of their coupling, but it is really good stuff.
If the character limits are hints that people need to keep it brief, I fail constantly. I continue ...
DeleteIt's true these guys are young and the decisions they've made are as poor, as people in their early twenties are. But some of their interactions, the length of their preexisting friendship, the really sweet things that both of them say to each other at moments, like Cole's genuine love of Maggie's creativity and how he wants to see her succeed, Cole wanting to do whatever is needed to make Maggie happy about being with Cole (I guess that has been spun as a negative thing before, but it could be taken the opposite too), how supportive he is when Maggie is talking to her mother. Or how they are both looking for the other's pleasure and not all about their own. I know that I will likely ruffle feathers ignoring what Cole has done to Max (you all know my defense of Cole and Max's role in those problems), but I just don't think I've seen enough to think he is that bad of a guy.
I like Edi's prediction that Maggie used Jay's attack to get under Professor Carmichael's skin, but I thought he was going to say, "in order to get Maggie into Harvard" not get Max into Harvard. I think that's a really interesting way of playing that. Maggie winning is both getting back at Jay, while also getting something for herself. Maybe Maggie's sex with Cole that day was celebratory. Harvard is not easy to get into, so maybe Professor Carmichael wouldn't have that kind of sway, but maybe he does!
Happy Thanksgiving to my friends on this board, we're truly lucky to have found the best writer of erotica there is!
As always apprciate everyone's view points opposing or confirming it's always eye opening.
Delete2b2h I see what your saying on Cole with Maggie. I think there's another shoe to drop tho. so far we seen Maggie one chapter after another disrespect, cheat on, coerce him into indesired situations, rubbed his nose in it laughed with cole about his kink behind his back..essentially hitting all max s personal fears. But all the while claims to love max. she is preparing to marry him in some months from now right? So does she love max or not. "*IF *" She loves him does she take his sudden departure as a result of Coles influence than just as suddenly kicks Cole to the curb...even if she doesn't get back to max.
Another thing that is interesting is how fast this has just spun out of control from bang to bullets it's been weeks not more than a couple of months have past right? Something was bound to crack..this has really had to been happening way to fast for max s liking even though he created the monster this has become.
@KT despite your kicking the professor to tertiarary player I still say she only "won" after giving him underdesk bj. Three fist pumps were, she won, she would celebrate with Cole and she had a gift for max a cell video of her under the desk....ok I can fantasize can't I.
TBTH...I see your points on Cole. For the most part, he's seemed like a good guy, and maybe he and Maggie can walk off in the sunset together to build a relationship. But that doesn't feel like a KT story to me, there is drama ahead for those two. Here's what I would point to.
DeleteFirst, Cole does have a controlling side. I think Maggie is attracted to that, but right now she wasn't in a relationship with Cole. How will that feel if he begins to get jealous and controlling of who she sees and where she goes. Maggie did say that she likes that Cole cedes control to her at times when they're having sex; is he willing to do this in other areas as her boyfriend. We have seen him be supportive of her at times, so we'll see.
Second, I think the trouble may come from Maggie's end, and her perception of herself and the relationship. I think its clear that even though she was getting pulled away from Max, she wasn't ready for that relationship to end. She needed the emotional support and encouragement that Max provided. With him gone, it could be different. Maybe the excitement isn't quite the same for her, maybe it just feels dirty now. So I could see her begin to pull away, or pull back, from Cole. And I could see him responding badly.
But again, we will see. If Maggie and Cole ultimately end up together, I'm fine with that. As long as Max has some happiness as well.
Also wanted to say that KT changing the focus of the story to Cole was another great audible (sorry football term, its Thanksgiving after all). Its a whole new dynamic to have the guy's best friend be the one who gets in the middle of the relationship. It provides a whole new level of emotion and drama that I've really enjoyed.
DeleteIf Jay, or his father, were the focus I don't think it would hit as hard. But having the best friend, and best man be the guy trying to steal the girl packs a lot of punch.
I know there's going to be more, KT probably has me right where she wants me :/ haha. JL, your predictions continue to be solid.
DeleteI'm not sure if I've said it yet, but the best friend angle is a personal favorite. These stories are all about emotions and scenarios like this and best friends absolutely bring them out.
Couldn't agree more @JL in the whole Cole vs jay and his dad. it was a great call on KTs part to go that way. So much more angst and the sense of betrayal is amped way up when.its someone you know(love) and trust.
Delete@2b2h you can change that to KT has us right where she wants us....
And it's not a bad place to be....😁
Interesting point about Tyler from that Easter Egg we got, but my guess is something is amiss with that. I'm guessing Tyler may not be as successful as he appears, or he's achieved that success through less than proper means. But honestly I'd prefer not to find out. I worry about the Mapplethorpes much more than I worry about the Kanes being able to make it work, so I'd rather just leave where we left them.
ReplyDeleteBut I don't disagree with you about Jess, I do think she "settled" for Pete in a sense.
And I still look at Cole mostly like I look at a Rocco...I think when Maggie gets to his core, so to speak, she won't like what she sees. But maybe people are right and he turns out to be the perfect guy for her. Doesn't feel like it to me.
I agree about Tyler. I doubt it would turn out he's as successful as he says he is, or that if he has success that it would abide by the rules or laws ...
DeleteThe Kanes: Rock solid now. But if I were Krista I would watch my back around Nia. Geoff's too honest for his own good and Nia holds decade-long grudges. (Except for Jenny, she'd probably pity her a just a little, not really feel threatened now that it was over ...)
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Delete.I'm going to just accept Cole a as his own unique character who by nature shares traits of the "type". Not knocking the comparisons but I take each one as the character they are.
DeleteOn Tyler yea i dont think he's got the college degrees to be a success at too many tech type jobs but he could be ground up kind of guy starts as a sales associate at a lowes but quickly works his
Way up the food chain being big strong maybe developes a knack for business. Gets to a position that pays good salary. Wonder if jess will see through it or maybe has her rose colored glasses on.
KT...its funny you mentioned that about Krista. After I read the story, one of the things that stuck in my head was what would happen if Nia ever met Krista. Say she's visiting Geoff or something and Nia is there. Would Nia be able to tell that Geoff had been with Krista?
DeleteI suspect she would have (my experience is women pick up on such things), and I agree she would have been threatened by it. Krista would intimidate Nia, she's worldly, successful, beautiful, and working with her husband. I bet Nia would make sure she went with Geoff on his next trip to NY....or made Geoff fire her lol...
Couldn't help myself, had to take a peak at this comment section. And my heart rate has already spiked considerably.
ReplyDeleteGonna keep it short -- still disagree with you ToBe=ToHave. Short answer, I sympathize with the quiet, soft spoken character in Max and feel his pain way, way too personally (in real life, thanks a lot KT Morrison!). Socializing is hard!
Maggie seems to not care about Max's feelings. The angst I feel for these stories only extends as far as I feel the woman in the story actually cares about her significant other. As soon as I feel like she doesn't -- then I feel like she's just a whore and my interest in the story diminishes.
The ending to this chapter was vague enough that I don't know where she stands. Was she upset because Max doesn't want to marry her or was she upset because she wasn't going to get married anymore? Well I'm going to buy the next chapter to find out, but the moment Maggie shows signs that it's the latter, I'm going to put the book down. Because I will no longer care about her character. There is no angst if there is no compassion. I'm not interested in the Cole/Maggie love story. Not even a little bit.