I can't help to admire Eve, Tabby and Ollie's transformation from beginning to end. Despite all the nastiness thrown at them, they've chosen to rise above it and make a better life for themselves. The main character, Eve, is well played and her teenage children are very involved in all that happens to her but then towards the end her daughter does something that for me was totally out of character and changed the whole direction of the book, I just couldn’t buy into her reaction and stance at all

A strong piece of writing and storytelling that has the power to transport you and invite you into the drama.She goes to the police and gets in touch with a social worker who helps her leave London to flee to a refuge in Sidmouth. But after the divorce goes through, she can finally return to her home. Only, Don isn't capable of moving on, instead he harrases her every night until she decides to teach him a lesson - which goes very, very wrong. This is a book that reels you in from the first chapter, throwing the reader straight into the heart of the abuse and the sense of danger and urgency flowing through those first few chapters. The book does slow its pace in the middle part of this book as Eve and her children try to live a new normal life but once again the book takes a dramatic turn of events towards the latter part of the book and we are thrown into despair and the adrenalin flows as everything comes to a head. My one criticism would be the slightly stilted dialogue. The children sometimes used words I would consider too advanced for their ages. Also, the flow of conversation between the characters didn't always seem natural. Setting that aside, the plot was very good and the pacing spot on. I genuinely felt the author used sensitivity and empathy to deal with some very tough topics. Marianne goes on to be a role model/mother figure for Eve always offering good advice and being there for her when she needs it. Spending weeks in the refuge means Eve starts to change and for the better. Gone is the scared women who was afraid of change, meeting new people or even trying to do things for herself as in indulging her passion of curtain making and interior design. When they divorce comes through Eve feels confident enough that she can return to the family home and start afresh but the threat of Don still lingers on.

Lesley has a reputation for writing gritty, confronting stories that don’t shy away from distressing issues. I've loved Lesley Pearse's books from the beginning. It's hard to believe Betrayal is book 31! It's just as good a read as all of the others.Turns out that one of the flings is grooming/ sleeping with her daughter, so she catches him and calls the cops. This book touched and covered so many tough subjects, that are relevant and happening in today's times! Eve is seen by, and supported by women-the act of biology in being born a woman leaves you open to abuse and betrayal in a way that men cannot understand the vulnerability that we live with on a daily basis. In the same way that you cannot equivocate male/female domestic violence with male/male or female/male, each case needs to be recognised and supported with absolute trust. One of the worst things that those who have been abused have to face is the , what I call, 'was it really that bad?' narrative, or the 'I wouldn't let that happen to me!' reaction which shuts down honest conversation and applies a passive aggressive guilt to the victim, regardless of sex. Got to say I don’t think I am the target audience for this book, generally I read a lot of what is classed ‘women’s fiction’ and love it but this for me actually did feel it was correctly labelled, a bit Mills and Boon ish in large swathes of it But then here’s the contrasting thing…the book highlighted some really difficult subjects including marital abuse, grooming and suicide, to name but a few, and didn’t shy away from them, in fact it is a brutal start to the book….which then made the other parts seem so contrasted