Fantasy&Education

Blog Tour:Review: 8 Weeks (Time For Love #1)
By Bethany Lopez

Release Date: March 24, 2014

Summary: 

Is eight weeks enough time to earn back the love of someone you've betrayed...the only one you've ever loved?

Shelly has been in love with Cal since they started dating in eleventh grade. Despite everyone saying that the odds were against them, they got married after graduation and built a life together. Now, six years later, she is faced with the ultimate betrayal. Devastated, her first instinct is to call it quits…

After a drunken binge at his best friends’ bachelor party, Cal betrays the one person who has always been there for him, his wife, Shelly. Terrified and realizing she might divorce him, Cal must come up with a way to prove to her that his love is true…

Cal asks Shelly for eight weeks. Eight weeks to convince her that their marriage is worth the fight. Will Shelly be able to trust him again, or will their marriage end the way many others do when faced with opposition… In divorce?

8 Weeks is book 1 in the Time for Love series, but can be read as a stand alone.

Review:

I   would like to declare my unconditional love for Bethany Lopez. You may ask yourself why would I say something like that?

Well... I really love their story, it was so deep and emotional, and I don't speak just about their break up....
In the first place, we have a loving and faithful wife, Shelly who waits patiently his return from his best friend bachelor party, only to be given an information that will change her life...





Her loving, faithful, beautiful husband has betrayed her in the worst way a wife can be betrayed by her half... ladies, you know what I mean...

But whats even worse in this situation is that they have been married for six years and it was their marriage anniversary, a special day in the life of a woman, a day that she should celebrate with her husband and have a little fun, away from troubles and problems, but all that disappear in one night, with a mistake that it will cost them their happiness and their future, because Shelly wanted a future with Cal, a future that includes children and grandchildren and dogs, cats and a beautiful home. Shelly wanted a family, but it can be possible because it's too hard to think of her husband with another woman, who had him in her arms, who received his kisses, who had him, all of him...

It's hard to watch her despair, the ruin of her marriage, how just one night can destroy a eight years old relationship based on true love and happiness. More than that, even their friends are on the middle  of this separation, because Cal's best friends,TJ and Scott, have been friends with Shelly's best friends, Sasha and Gab.

With all this drama, her husband becomes more and more desperate to obtain Shelly's forgiveness and so he comes out with a plan to make her give him another chance. The plan is to let him spend eight weeks, eight dates, with him and together to rediscover their passion's flame, to make her see that they are destined one to other and together to make their marriage work again...

It seems a impossible task, but Cal's tenacity and with their friends help, he discover that Shelly's dependence on him was very powerful and even if they were happy, Shelly's liberty was just an idea, because she wasn't comfortable enough  in her own skin to do what she wanted to do, like piercing, for example, or to sing in public in a public place...

Characters:

Shelly- in the start of this story, she was a happy, but just a copy of her husband's desire, she didn't really stand on her own toes. But, we can't fault her, because she was very young when their romance started, just sixteen years and so very innocent, but now that she's a single woman she wants to explore new things, to see and feel more, to be more for her and maybe, just maybe, it will be enough for her husband too...

Cal- she loves with all his heart his wife, but he's confused, not about his feelings....no, that it's whats eating him, he never wanted to hurt her, and the joke is that he doesn't even remember what happened that night- just that he was drinking, and being lightweight, he wanted to retire to his room, so he left his friends at that party, and next thing he knows, it's morning and he's naked, and  a hot woman is leaving his room. But that is all he remembers...

I loved his determination and how he was willing to sacrifice anything to make Shelly smile. Cal was gentle and patient, not pushing or defending himself, he just wanted to make her happy and be with her...

Sasha&TJ- this is a couple destined to happen...

Sasha is fierce, loyal to her friends and will make mountains move if is necessary, but she also happens to see man like a piece of meat and nothing more. TJ- is her masculine copy, he's sarcastic, macho and will do anything to have the woman he wanted in his bed, but just for one night. Complications? He hates that word...

Gabby&Scott- I sooo hope that we will see their story, even though , in this novel we don't have sparks flying around when it comes to them. More so because Scott is engaged to another woman, but I have a feeling that she's going to be out of that picture.

Final Verdict- A story about friendship and how not all marriages are happy like it seems. Us, as a couple, or just as a single person we will have always something to learn, and it's more beautiful, if we have someone special to help us achieve everything we want. 8Weeks is a story about how to forgive and forget, but also a journey to find yourself and your happy ending.

My Rating: 4,5/5

Links:
Amazon 

iTunes
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble 
Goodreads


About Bethany:


Award-Winning Author Bethany Lopez began self-publishing in June 2011. Since then she has published various YA and NA books. She is a lover of romance, family, and friends, and enjoys incorporating those things in what she writes. When she isn't reading or writing, she loves spending time with her husband and children, traveling whenever possible.

Blog Tour Schedule:
March 24
http://www.readingbetweenthewinesbookclub.com/ [Excerpt]
http://therealhousewivesofromance.blogspot.com/ [Promo]
http://www.yafantasyauthor.com/ [Excerpt]

March 25
http://moviesshowsnbooks.blogspot.com/ [Excerpt]
http://between-the-pages.weebly.com [Excerpt]
http://shattering-words.blogspot.com [Review]
http://sleepdeprivedbooklovers.blogspot.com [Excerpt]

March 26
http://heffroberts.blogspot.com [Excerpt]
http://stormydayreadingbooks.blogspot.com/ [Review]
http://melaniesbookreviews.blogspot.com [Review]
http://www.marilynalmodovar.com [Promo]
http://www.grownupfangirl.com [Excerpt]

March 27
http://www.alwaysyaatheart.com [Review]
http://www.madeforyoubookreviews.com [Review]
http://bookstolightyourfire.blogspot.com [Review]
http://sleepdeprivedbooklovers.blogspot.com [Review]

March 28
http://shortandsassybookblurbs.blogspot.com/ [Review]
http://westoleyourbookboyfriend.weebly.com/ [Promo]
http://ycervera.blogspot.com/ [Excerpt]
http://www.dealsharingaunt.blogspot.com [Promo]
http://bkwrm29.wordpress.com/ [Review]
http://www.herjuicyreads.com [Review]

March 29
http://sassygirlbooks.com [Review]
http://www.tyhadareads.com [Review]
http://lisleslivres.blogspot.com [Excerpt]
http://www.literaryassassins.com [Review]
http://Ramblngsfromthischick.blogspot.com [Review]
http://samsbookbasket.blogspot.com/ [Review]
http://carolclarkeblogs.blogspot.co.uk [Review]

March 30
http://livinginabookworld.blogspot.gr [Excerpt]
http://cupcakeonbooks.wordpress.com [Review]
http://www.paperbookprincess.com [Review]
http://hookedonbooksforever.blogspot.co.uk/ [Excerpt]
http://www.thebookloverscodex.co.uk [Excerpt]
http://wavesoffiction.blogspot.com/  [Review]
http://aboveaveragebelowspecial.blogspot.co.uk/ [Review]

March 31
http://www.flirtyfictionblog.com [Review]
http://everafterromancebookblog.blogspot.com/ [Review]
http://www.cocktailsandbooks.com [Review]
http://www.sookie72.wordpress.com [Review]
http://bookstogetlostin.blogspot.com [Review]
https://www.chapterbreak.com [Review]
http://borntoread-bookblog.blogspot.com/ [Excerpt]
http://www.librosintinta.com.mx [Promo]
http://bestsellersandbeststellars.com [Review]

Giveaway:

a Rafflecopter giveaway



8 Weeks Excerpts


Excerpt 1: Shelly's POV

He held up his hands as if in surrender and said, “Please … Don’t go. Don’t do this.”
“I didn’t do anything, you did. I can’t stay,” I sobbed. “I can’t stand to look at you.”
I turned my back on the hurt look on his face and slammed the door on my way out.
I got into my little Ford pickup and peeled out in the driveway in my haste to get as far away from Cal as possible. As I drove on autopilot, the enormity of the situation weighed heavily on my mind.
The only man I’d ever loved, who I’d always trusted implicitly, had just made a mockery of everything I’d thought and felt over the last six years of our relationship.
I was in shock.
I’d always believed that Cal and I would be together forever … That we’d have children and grow old together.
That he would never hurt me.
            Well, he hadn’t just hurt me. He’d crushed me. He’d crushed us.

Excerpt 2:   Cal's POV

“I’m sorry, I don’t want to make it harder, and I don’t want to fight with you,” I implored. “But I will fight for you, Shelly. Give me a chance to.”
            She was shaking her head again, and a plan formulated in my mind.
            “Give me eight weeks,” I said desperately.
            “I’m not going to live with you for eight weeks, Cal.”
            “No, I get that,” I responded. “Give me eight Saturdays. Eight dates where it’s just the two of us. Give me time to show you why we're so good together, and that I’m willing to bend and compromise to make our marriage work.”
            Shelly looked at me thoughtfully.
            “Why eight?”
            “One week for each year that we’ve been together.”

Excerpt 3: Cal's POV

“Jesus,” Cal exclaimed, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “I want you to do what you want to do … I always have. If you want to tattoo your entire body, shave your head, and dye yourself blue … go for it. I’m not your ruler, Shelly, and I can’t believe that you’ve ever thought that I would dictate what you could or couldn’t do.”
           “It’s not like that …” I said, trying to explain, but the hurt radiating off of Cal was palpable, and it suddenly didn’t seem like anything I’d say would help.
           “It sure as hell seems like that, doesn’t it. Is that what you think of me, of the last six years of our relationship?” Cal took a step closer to me, his voice low so as not to broadcast our fight to the entire restaurant. “No wonder you’re so quick to give up … I thought we were in a partnership, Shel. I’ve never expected you to ask my permission to do anything. I love you, for who you are, and I want you to do what makes you happy.”
           My heart pounded loudly in my chest, and I felt a mixture of regret and fear running through me.
           “Cal, you’re taking this the wrong way. Yes, I’ve always wanted to do the things I’m doing now, and I didn’t because I didn’t think you’d like it.” His eyes narrowed at that, and I rushed on, hoping to make him understand. “Not because you wanted to dictate what I did or didn’t do, but because you liked me so much the way I was that I didn’t want to change anything. I wanted you to find me attractive …”
           Cal’s face smoothed out at my words, and when I was finished, he stepped even closer. Close enough that I could smell the mixture of sweat and grease on his body, and see his chocolate eyes darken as he said, “Never doubt how attractive I find you, Shelly. You were hot as hell before, and you’re hot as hell now. There isn’t anything that you could do to your appearance to make me not want you. I want you every minute of every day, Shelly. I promise you that.”