Title: Goalie
Series: A Texas Mutiny Novel
Author: M.E. Carter
Genre: Sports Romance
Release Date: February 18, 2017
“M.E. Carer's Goalie is one of the most real romances I've ever read.” - A is for Alpha B is for Books
“It’s gritty, raw and real. It's an emotional book from both the main character points of view. I was on the rollercoaster with them.” - Alpha Book Club
“This book is real. It's hard. It's life.” - Reader Review
Goalie
[goh-lee]
noun
a player in the goal whose duty is to prevent the ball from entering or crossing it
See Santos and Mariana DeGuajarado
As goalie of the Texas Mutiny, Santos is damn good at protecting that net. But he never bothered to protect his marriage.
Letting the fame and notoriety go to his head, he lost the things he loved the most… his wife and kids. Now he has one shot to make it right before losing at this relationship game and he’s determined not to miss this time.
Mariana has been scarred so deeply by Santos’s betrayals, she will carry the wounds forever. After almost ten years of marriage though, she knows him well, and she knows he won’t let go without a fight. Still, she refuses to be a push over.
Because love is never enough…
I mean, I felt so much while reading this book that I had to create a note on my phone to write down my feelings, and let me tell you that this is a very unusual thing to do for me!
I have to admit that I didn't manage to read the previous books of the series, something that I will change as soon as possible. But let's talk about Goalie.
The book focuses on the relationship between Santos, a soccer player, and his wife of 10 years, Mariana.
From the beginning we know that Santos is a cheating bastard (*sorry, not sorry*). He has cheated on Mariana since always, and still continue to do so after every match he plays (yes, you can count, that's a LOT).
Mariana, on the other hand, is a stay at home mum who has devoted her life in taking care of her family, her husband and children.
The first chapter opens up with the confrontation between Mariana and a previous lover of her husband, Tiffany, and Mari's decision to leave Santos.
The whole story is focused on the aftermath of this decision, the journey of Mari and Santos after the break up.
I don't think I will be able to fully explain why this book left such a mark on me, but I will tell you what I loved the most about it.
1) Mariana. I loved her. I loved her strength, her focus, her, again, strength. One could say that she had to be blind not to realize that her husband was cheating on her, for all that time. That could be, but like she said herself, she was a person who tried to avoid confrontation as much as possible. And so did she, until it was all too much.
I loved the fact that once she made up her mind, she didn't let anyone change it. But at the same time, she had a great heart, so open to forgive if it was deserved.
I admired her spirit, the fact that she stood for herself when needed.
2) Santos. I think he's one of the characters that I've hated the most in my whole reader life. I've lost count of how many times I wanted to kick and kick and kick him for being such a shitty ass***. In the beginning, I couldn't imagine not to hate him. He acted unreasonably, making up unacceptable excuses about his cheating habit.
His idea of a marriage was completely wrong, or well, the fidelity part.
But his journey, his changing path was also one of the best one I've ever read. I loved how it was done, step by step, slowly but constantly.
And I loved his humility after his change. He didn't say: "Hey, Mariana! See? I've changed! Trust me now!". Nope, he understood how lowly he behaved, how deeply he hurt Mariana, and accepted that he would need a long time to amend his mistakes and make Mari trust in him again.
3) Family values. I mean, we have already ascertained that Santos had a completely wrong idea of what a marriage needed, the fidelity and monogamy between a husband and wife. But, but, from the very first chapter I appreciated his values about everything else involved in his family. His love for his children, his respect for Mariana as a mother. And yes, he absolutely forgot to respect Mariana as a woman, as a wife, but not as the mother of his children. The mediation for their divorce is just a small example of what I'm saying.
4) The love between Santos and Mariana. Luckily I've never been in a situation like this one, but M.E. Carter delineated the perfect example of how two people can still be madly in love while also detesting each other. or, it would be better to say that Mariana was the perfect example of this situation, because we have to admit that she was the one that had more reasons to hate Santos, and not viceversa.
5) No unnecessary drama. And for this, I have to say chapeau to the author, M.E. Carter. I think that with a book focused on such a delicate theme, it's easy to incur in overdramatising situations, feelings and reactions. This wasn't the case here. Yes, there are tears, there is anger, but in a real and natural way. Not one time I thought: ohhh, stop crying! Stop pitying yourself!
It's true that Santos did need some time to accept what was happening and his huge role in the downfall of his marriage, but once he decided to act and change, he did it without giving up.
5) Reality. I mean, also at the end of the book, I appreciated the reality of their situation. The fact that we are not given a sappy happy ending with an: " and all lived happy and together". We are given a real ending... and I'm not saying it's a bad one, at the contrary! But I really appreciated that it finished with the knowledge that nothing can be a given, but all need to be earned. And that time would tell what would happen.
Soooo, you can say that I've really loved this book. It's not a typical romance book, and it can be difficult to read if you've lived a similar experience. But it was a really great read.
I have to admit that I didn't manage to read the previous books of the series, something that I will change as soon as possible. But let's talk about Goalie.
The book focuses on the relationship between Santos, a soccer player, and his wife of 10 years, Mariana.
From the beginning we know that Santos is a cheating bastard (*sorry, not sorry*). He has cheated on Mariana since always, and still continue to do so after every match he plays (yes, you can count, that's a LOT).
Mariana, on the other hand, is a stay at home mum who has devoted her life in taking care of her family, her husband and children.
The first chapter opens up with the confrontation between Mariana and a previous lover of her husband, Tiffany, and Mari's decision to leave Santos.
The whole story is focused on the aftermath of this decision, the journey of Mari and Santos after the break up.
I don't think I will be able to fully explain why this book left such a mark on me, but I will tell you what I loved the most about it.
1) Mariana. I loved her. I loved her strength, her focus, her, again, strength. One could say that she had to be blind not to realize that her husband was cheating on her, for all that time. That could be, but like she said herself, she was a person who tried to avoid confrontation as much as possible. And so did she, until it was all too much.
I loved the fact that once she made up her mind, she didn't let anyone change it. But at the same time, she had a great heart, so open to forgive if it was deserved.
I admired her spirit, the fact that she stood for herself when needed.
2) Santos. I think he's one of the characters that I've hated the most in my whole reader life. I've lost count of how many times I wanted to kick and kick and kick him for being such a shitty ass***. In the beginning, I couldn't imagine not to hate him. He acted unreasonably, making up unacceptable excuses about his cheating habit.
His idea of a marriage was completely wrong, or well, the fidelity part.
But his journey, his changing path was also one of the best one I've ever read. I loved how it was done, step by step, slowly but constantly.
And I loved his humility after his change. He didn't say: "Hey, Mariana! See? I've changed! Trust me now!". Nope, he understood how lowly he behaved, how deeply he hurt Mariana, and accepted that he would need a long time to amend his mistakes and make Mari trust in him again.
3) Family values. I mean, we have already ascertained that Santos had a completely wrong idea of what a marriage needed, the fidelity and monogamy between a husband and wife. But, but, from the very first chapter I appreciated his values about everything else involved in his family. His love for his children, his respect for Mariana as a mother. And yes, he absolutely forgot to respect Mariana as a woman, as a wife, but not as the mother of his children. The mediation for their divorce is just a small example of what I'm saying.
4) The love between Santos and Mariana. Luckily I've never been in a situation like this one, but M.E. Carter delineated the perfect example of how two people can still be madly in love while also detesting each other. or, it would be better to say that Mariana was the perfect example of this situation, because we have to admit that she was the one that had more reasons to hate Santos, and not viceversa.
5) No unnecessary drama. And for this, I have to say chapeau to the author, M.E. Carter. I think that with a book focused on such a delicate theme, it's easy to incur in overdramatising situations, feelings and reactions. This wasn't the case here. Yes, there are tears, there is anger, but in a real and natural way. Not one time I thought: ohhh, stop crying! Stop pitying yourself!
It's true that Santos did need some time to accept what was happening and his huge role in the downfall of his marriage, but once he decided to act and change, he did it without giving up.
5) Reality. I mean, also at the end of the book, I appreciated the reality of their situation. The fact that we are not given a sappy happy ending with an: " and all lived happy and together". We are given a real ending... and I'm not saying it's a bad one, at the contrary! But I really appreciated that it finished with the knowledge that nothing can be a given, but all need to be earned. And that time would tell what would happen.
Soooo, you can say that I've really loved this book. It's not a typical romance book, and it can be difficult to read if you've lived a similar experience. But it was a really great read.
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