The Ground Rules by Roya Carmen

The Ground Rules (The Rule Breakers, #1) by Roya Carmen
Series: The Rule Breakers #1
Published by Omnific Publishing on June 16th 2015
Pages: 288


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1. Don’t sleep around.
2. Don’t kiss and tell.
3. Be nice.
4. Don’t text or call.
5. Don’t fall in love.

The rules were simple...until they weren't.

I have everything I ever thought I could want: a nice home, a job I love, two beautiful girls, and my husband, Gabe - my high school sweetheart who still rocks my world. If you ask anyone to describe me they would say, "Oh, Mirella? She's such a nice girl." And that’s true...until a mysterious, peculiar man and his beautiful wife enter our lives.

Weston and Bridget Hanson are no ordinary couple—they’re stunning, enigmatic, and sexy as hell. During the course of one unexpected evening, my ordinary world is turned upside down. How could it not be when Weston and Bridget propose the unthinkable? And when the unthinkable is so very tempting, giving in becomes inevitable

It sounds so logical and simple. Just five rules and we can all have what we desire. But the heart doesn't follow rules, and now passion, jealousy, and confusion threaten to tear everything apart.

Two beautiful couples. Five simple rules. One hot mess.

Sleep? Who needs sleep? This book was so engrossing I finished it in one sitting. My emotions are all over the place though, and I’m still trying to figure out how I feel about it.

35 year-old Mirella seems to have it all: a loving marriage to Gabe, her hunky high school sweetheart, two wonderful little girls, and a fulfilling job. Although she loves her family, one day Mirella realizes she’s in a rut. She’s been so wrapped up in parenting that she no longer has a life of her own. (If you’re a mom of toddlers, I’ll bet you can relate to that feeling.) She misses the fun and spontaneity that she and Gabe used to have, so they decide to spend a night out on the town. Circumstances lead to an encounter with Weston and Bridget Hanson, a stunning and wealthy married couple. What begins as a friendly dinner with the Hansons develops into a mutual attraction between the two couples. Weston and Bridget soon present Mirella and Gabe with a proposition—a couple swap with firm ground rules in place to protect both marriages. After some discussion, Mirella and Gabe decide this might be just what they need to spice up their marriage. However, as Mirella’s feelings for Weston grow stronger, some rules are in danger of getting broken.

I felt this book was extremely thought-provoking. Is any amount of dissatisfaction worth jeopardizing your marriage? How do people switch spouses and not get jealous? It’s a slippery slope between couple swapping and cheating. At what point have you crossed the line?

The writing is exceptional, and I love how Roya Carmen managed to evoke such a myriad of complex emotions in me. The story is told entirely from Mirella’s point of view, and being inside her mind was both exhilarating and frustrating. I found her to be a sympathetic character most of the time, and yet sometimes she’s irrational and selfish. It doesn’t help that both men in her life keep sending her mixed signals. I could barely contain my frustration with Weston and his push/pull of Mirella’s affection. Gabe is no prince either. He often comes across as a smug ass who is overly flirtatious one minute and jealous the next. They aren’t always appealing, but I’m fascinated by complex characters. What I wouldn’t give to have a peak inside the other characters’ minds, as well as to know what’s going on during Gabe and Bridget’s dates. Perhaps we’ll get some alternate points of view when the story continues to unfold in the next book, The Ground Rules Rewritten.

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