Swimming Naked Paperback – 20 Jan. 2019

To be honest I was hesitant in reading this book. However this author is an amazingly gifted writer. The highs and lows and the feelings it provoked. Her ability to write such a raw and thought provoking book is awe inspiring. This book is based on forgiveness trust love and understanding. Not sure I could have been as forgiving as Lina. But it was a brilliant read.Definitely recommend you 1 click but make sure you read the first book in this 2 book series.

I think I just fell head over heels in complete love with this Alpha Phil Hunter hero fighting for what matters the most in life.Laura Branchflower is a master at stories that speak to your heart but with this masterpiece she sang to my soul. And after that nothing else matters.One of the most emotional reading experience of my life!Thank you Laura 💗💞💓💋👌👏

You are led to believe that this book can be read as a standalone but on reading the first few lines I immediately downloaded the previous book “A White Picket Fence” because I just felt that I needed to get the full back story before reading this one. I’m really glad I did because it really set the scene for this sequel and I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much if I hadn’t read the first book.I enjoyed this book so much more than the first. In the first book I didn’t like either of the main leads, in fact I don’t know who I disliked more, Phil or Lina! I just couldn’t feel the connection between them and I still found this somewhat lacking in the second book. In the first book I found Lina was just too much of a weak person for my liking; she did have an unhealthy dependence on Phil, the scene where he told her about his infidelity was a case in point! I also didn’t like Lina’s so called best friend (Diane) who just got on my nerves in both books with her one sided advice!In this book I liked Lina a little more because her character was more developed and you watched her grow in confidence as she became a strong independent woman and became her own person. She stuck to her morals & principles, which I had to admire.This is my first book by this author and I thought overall the story was extremely well written, well thought out and believable. It basically focused on how Phil’s infidelity affected not just Lina but their whole family including baby Liam who was the complete innocent in all of the turmoil. I thought all the characters were strong & well developed and added complete depth to the story. What I loved most is how it portrayed the ups & downs of their everyday family life.My only gripe is that I still didn’t warm to Phil, the fact that he couldn’t give a plausible excuse for breaking his marriage vows, given that he was a strong catholic was a little baffling! I would have liked more from his point of view of his affair. But all in all this was a great read.If you don’t mind reading about cheating, redemption & forgiveness with a little bit of angst thrown in this is well worth downloading, but I would strongly recommend reading both books in order.

** spoiler alert ** This book is amazing. I absolutely loved it. 💕💘💞I would strongly recommend that you read 'A White Pickett Fence' first as this book is a sequel and it starts right from where the first book ends.The author does have brief summaries of some events that happened previously a few times but you can't really read them out of order as there would be too many spoilers for book 1.Just to warn you book 1 the husband Phil cheated, the books don't glorify cheating it's more about the aftermath of an affair and the impact it could have on everyone.We start right where Lina and Phil have reconciled and how they move on from his cheating.In 'A White Pickett Fence' although they got back together I felt there were some unanswered questions and some serious issues glossed over.The author has a blog and there readers raised questions and the author took the time to listen and discuss a few things and she has addressed these in this book.For example,What was Phil thinking? He doesn't seem the type to cheat, even his work mates and family members ask him about why in this book and he answers.What about the times he cheated? The photos revealed some things that seemed unforgiveable, one in particular. Lina and Phil have an honest discussion about those.How would moving on together, with a child of the other woman now in their lives affect them, as a couple and their family?How much interaction would Phil have with Kim? It would be unavoidable with a baby on the scene so how would that work?No issue is shyied away from there are some honest, even emotionally brutal discussions that give the reader closure.The writing is amazing.It is so realistic.At times i found my self feeling sorry for Phil, he has time with his son, Liam, but he is still a baby, very young, so how does a father spend time with a young baby, where would he take him during his few hours a week? how does he manage to care for him when with his previous children, his wife took on the role of primary caregiver to their children when they were babies?Other times you see the effect of his actions on his family and you wonder if they would ever be able to get past his actions.I am not sure I could have forgiven him and taken him back, the son with another woman changes things to just an affair but the author examines the issues and does not shy away from their emotional impact.One thing I felt helped you forgive Phil a bit is his interactions with Kim, the other woman, the ex-mistress, he has no conversations with her apart from dealing with Liam, he doesnt linger or allow physical contact, he is firm on his loyalty to Lina now, despite the major ex-drama Kim brings to the story.There is dual POV.There are a few small flashback scenes, esp from Phil regarding his time around the cheating but no details of any intimacy, just that it occurred at times.This book contains no current cheating and no intimate scenes with anyone other than the Hero and heroine.There are some emotional scenes but also some very funny moments, laugh out loud moments which help to lighten the mood of the book.Excellent secondary characters.HEA.