Open House by T.C. Matson

                                            🌟🌟🌟 out of 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 stars
Summary:
He was all I knew before I didn’t know him anymore…

For eleven years, Riley Stallings remained completely devoted to her longtime boyfriend, Brian Shepard. In the beginning, nothing could put a strain on the newly loves—not even an unplanned pregnancy or her parents disowning her for it. But as time goes on, work absorbs Brian, leaving Riley at home, lonely and empty, to handle everything on her own.

But then she meets him—a man who causes a gravitational pull and prompts the earth to disappear from under her feet. A man who makes her struggle to remember her name—her son’s new teacher.

Knowing all relationships face difficult obstacles, she turns a blind eye and blames the lure on the lack of attention and fights even harder to fix her broken relationship. And then it happens… Brian presents an inconceivable challenge, derailing Riley and forcing new beginnings for everyone. Will their love be enough to weather the storm?

The subject matter makes this book hard to read. I was devastated for Riley during different times throughout the book. There were times when I didn't understand her or the choices that she was making. I got so frustrated with her at times that I wanted to scream at her to do what I thought the right thing was. The thing is...when you aren't in another person's shoes you shouldn't judge their decisions or the reasons that they make them. 

As I thought harder about it, I realized that Riley did the best she knew how to do. She had no  family to turn to because her parents abandoned her and she was afraid. Her world was falling to pieces around and she felt powerless. 

I hated Brian! I have nothing good to say about the character other than if the author wanted to write a character that people would hate, she nailed it. Every word and action that he took, I hated him more. He treated Riley like crap and all she ever did was love him.

Trenton didn't particularly draw me in as a character but he was likeable enough. There is a point in the book when he makes a decision that affects Riley that I didn't understand. It made me think that all of the groundwork that he had done to get her to be with him was crap. He seemed almost a bit fake. I think that might be the case because the author tried to make him the opposite of Brian.

This book was good but I didn't connect with it as much as I would have liked to. The plot was interesting and reading about the inner workings of the relationship between Brian and Riley drew me in, albeit painfully.