The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr is a novel of betrayal, family and friendships, and the courage to take chances. It also has a splash of romance and passion.
A secret online dating site for married and committed couples has been hacked. 32 million cheaters worldwide have been exposed.
Sophie Bloom, a devoted wife and mother, has been with her high school sweetheart, Gabe, for 25 years. Ava, their 19 year old daughter is studying in Paris.
At Sophie’s 42nd birthday dinner and in front of her closest friends, she discovers that her husband has been up to no good. He has the record for the most transactions in their suburb on the Ashley Madison dating site.
Sophie’s world is shattered. How could she not have known!? She has given everything she had to her family, leaving nothing for herself.
While Sophie is confronting Gabe, and realising there is a lot more he is hiding.
Ava rings from Paris and is upset as her own boyfriend has been cheating on her. Sophie takes this opportunity to book a one way ticket to Paris to comfort her daughter.
The time away will give her a chance to think.
Spending time in the south of France awakens Sophie’s own desires and when an opportunity arises she is able to resume her passion as a sculptor.
Sophie finds the strength to make the tough decisions and rebuild her life.
I loved this book, the quote from the fabulous book cover “When your life falls apart…create a new one” is exactly what Sophie does. Sophie is a great vibrant character and relates her emotional journey with humour.
The writing style allows you to share and feel Sophie’s anger, frustration and confusion as she realises she has put Gabe and Ava first, and now it is time to let the real Sophie emerge and grab what life has to offer her.
There is plenty of action to keep you turning the pages to see if Sophie is “unbreakable”.
Thoroughly recommend this book.
Thankyou to Welbeck Fiction Limited and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read this excellent book.
A selection of our Beauty and Lace Club members are reading The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr. You can read their comments below, or leave your own review.
I love to read, any book on any topic. I now love ebooks as they are easier to store, I was running out of bookshelves! My other interests are family, gardening and our beautiful King Charles spaniel dog who is my reading companion.
Thank you Beauty and Lace for the opportunity to read The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr.
Wow I loved this book!!
It’s an emotional roller coaster for Sophie as her world falls apart.
This is a heartbreaking story, with strong characters and an awesome storyline.
It will make you cry, your eyes pop out and jump for joy when things get back on track.
Highly recommend ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I absolutely loved this book! I loved the author’s writing style, the characters and the story line. It made me want to leave my life and run off on an adventure of my own!
I’m looking forward to reading more novels by this talented author!
I really enjoyed everything about this book. It’s a story about learning to live again after being part of a couple and taking the big steps to live the life that you want to live, not the one that everyone else wants you to live. It takes courage to put yourself first. It takes strength to not yell and scream at those that have done you wrong. And it takes a lot of bravery to put yourself out there again and start again. The main character, Sophie, had all of these qualities and many more and that kept me turning the pages and wanting to see what happened next, how Sophie began her healing journey. A very big recommendation for anyone who enjoys a good book. I’ve also read ‘The woman on fire’ by Lisa Barr and loved that too, so will definitely keep my eyes open for anymore of her books that I come by. Thank you so much Beauty and Lace for letting me review this book :o)
The Unbreakables by Lisa Barr is a captivating story of Sophie Bloom who is celebrating her 42nd birthday dinner when she discovers she has been betrayed by her husband in front of her closest friends. A secret dating site has been hacked and details released of its cheaters, of which Gabe is one of the record holders for their area.
Sophie has devoted her whole life to Gabe, her husband of 25 years and her daughter Ava who is studying in France.
To top things off Ava calls from Paris and is very upset as her boyfriend has also been cheating on her. Sophie decides she will purchase a one way ticket to France to comfort her daughter.
She is humiliated and full of so many emotions Sophie is going to try and put the pieces of her life back together, also at the same time comforting her daughter. She wants to try and find out who she really is and what direction her life can take.
Sophie does some travelling and ends up in the beautiful town of Saint-Paul-de-Vence. Here Sophie embraces her desires, sensuality and is given the opportunity to reignite her passion for sculpting, and she decides to follow this dream of sculpting again.
When this is complete Sophie has to decide whether she returns home or stays in France, what will she choose?
A powerful story of betrayal, friends, family, romance and passion.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Poor Sophie, after putting her family first for years, now finding out that her husband has been cheating on her through a special website.
I was glad that she has the strength to get out of her comfort zone and fly to Paris to not only comfort her daughter, but to try to start a new life for herself.
Thank you for giving me the chance to read this book.
This is a contemporary story about relationship breakdowns – not just a marriage, but also friendships. It’s well observed, and the lead character’s emotional life is relatable. It doesn’t break new ground, but it’s an enjoyable and well written novel.
Sophie Bloom is enjoying her 42nd birthday party. She’s out with her husband Gabe and the two couples that are their closest friends. In fact, Samantha, Lauren and Sophie have been a tight trio since high school. They do things like buying the same dresses in different colours. The restaurant is great, the company’s good, the wine is flowing, the gossip is fun. It’s perfect.
And then the gossip turns to the release that day of a list of locals who’ve been exposed as cheaters via the Ashley Madison hack. That, too, is a delightful diversion – until they find Gabe’s name on the list.
Devastated, Sophie flees to France, ostensibly to help her teenage daughter, who’s studying there. She knows it’s really to escape Gabe and give herself time to think. Before she left home, she was given reason to re-evaluate her friendships with Lauren and Samantha as well. And now, Ava’s crisis seems to mirror Sophie’s own. She’s surrounded by lies and cheating.
Perhaps the only unrelatable thing about this novel was the way Sophie could drop everything and leave for Paris within hours, and not worry too much about money. Most people would find themselves more limited by jobs and money. However, this is a very minor detail in the context of this story and characters, and it barely bothered me.
In a lot of ways this is the story of Sophie redefining who she is and who she wants to be in the future. She’s a strong and realistic character. Many readers will empathise strongly. Her life is upended when she’s already a mature and established woman, and that made this story more interesting to me. Stories about young people finding themselves are important, but a story about a mature woman redefining herself has different pleasures.
Sophie re-evaluates everything: her marriage, her friendships, her parenting, her career path. This is not that extraordinary for someone in their middle years, but the shock of Gabe’s infidelity means Sophie’s re-evaluation is extensive and abrupt.
Although not every reader will picture themselves following Sophie’s path in terms of the actions she takes, most will be in complete understanding of her emotional path. Her anger, sorrow, confusion, and ultimately optimism are all conveyed really well. One thing I liked is that guilt is not really in the mix. Although Sophie acknowledges responsibility for some things, she doesn’t wallow in guilt or blame herself for her husband’s actions.
I also liked that Sophie was pretty honest with herself, and about herself. I don’t think a novel about redefining yourself would work as well if the main character wasn’t honest about her starting point.
The plot does rely heavily on coincidences, a device I’m not generally a big fan of. However, most occur within the relatively small world of professional art. I find it easier to believe in things like running into the same people when the overall pool is limited.
I enjoyed reading this. Sophie is a strong character, and her crisis point is real and vividly drawn. It’s a novel that can simply be read and enjoyed, or which can prompt some reflection on your own life. It should appeal to a wide variety of readers.
This is a story of love, loss, betrayal, friendship, more betrayal, art, and discovering what is most meaningful in life.
Sophie has always put others first – her husband, their daughter, her friends. She was a sculptor but had to stop for medical reasons. When she discovers the worst betrayal imaginable, she travels to France to reinvent herself. While in France, she experiments with sex, meets new friends, and has the chance to begin sculpting again. During this time, her daughter has some upheavals in her own life and Sophie once again, gives up her own time to help.
Finally, Sophie’s family accepts her choices, she reignites her friendships, and she finds a new love.
The plot moves along at a good pace, the characters have their own unique personalities and voices, and issues are resolved. For me, there were some questionable aspects to the plot, for example, the website that reveals Gabe’s cheating, the “threesome” relationship which Sophie slides into without a second thought, and Sophie’s ability to sculpt at world class level despite many years away from her art. Her daughter’s continual neediness and Sophie’s willingness to drop everything to indulge her was irritating, but for those who like “happily ever after” resolutions, all characters find what they need in their lives (except for the cheating husband!).
I enjoyed the book and thanks to Welbeck Publishing and Beauty & Lace for the chance to read and review it.
Sophie had an amazing life, great friends that she’d had forever, a loving husband, a gorgeous and intelligent daughter and a thriving artistic job. Her birthday was a good excuse to celebrate, but husband Gabe was going to make them late, his usual approach while she got dressed, the affection, the familiarity, could they just take a few minutes…
How much she wished that they had, that they had skipped dinner and the bombshell that was dropped.
Adultery was not what she thought would be her surprise on her 42nd Birthday. Finding out that her husband had cheated on her, not once but dozens of times. How had she not noticed, why did this happen? But it was worse, so much worse, and Sophie had to get out, she had to think, she had to grieve the loss of the family and friends she had.
Ava her daughter was in crisis, that was her answer, onto a plane to Paris, where Ava was studying, to save her daughter and find herself, a new life, a start. But she decided that she was not going to succumb to the grief, she would give her self guidelines on how to move on, Unbreakable rules to live on by.
I found this a heartwarming tale, an acknowledgement of the impact that infidelity can have on a family, how moving on is challenging and looking after yourself important.
I enjoyed the escape and thank Author Lisa Barr and Beauty and Lace for the opportunity for the good read.
The Unbreakables finds Sophie Bloom on her 42nd birthday discovering her husband has been cheating on her when a secret dating site is hacked and the names released.
Her whole life centered around her family so this begins the change for Sophie to rediscover herself.
Sophie takes quite a journey after her marriage crumbles, re discovering her passion for Art, and herself both sexually and emotionally. Im sure alot of this will resonate with many women, i really ejoyed this one, plus I love anything set in France-