Make Me Shiver by Marie Johnston
POV: Dual 1st Person
PoP: 73%
Trope: Marriage in Crisis; Small Town; Secret Marriage; Slow Burn
Series: Oil Barrons Book 2
Rate: 5/5 Stars
Release Date: May 17, 2022
Marriage in Crisis is a trope that not a lot of authors attempt. But Marie Johnston does and does it well. Archer and Laney have been married for years, but Laney left him because she always felt as though she was second to everything. She was becoming a person she didn’t recognize or like, and when there was a traumatic event back in her hometown, Archer blew her off. So, she took charge of her life and left. It has been a year and a half, and Archer comes into town to ask for an annulment. However, being in Laney’s town and seeing her in a different light brings some hard truths front and center for him. Archer never had money growing up, and now that he has his, his ideals and wants are a lot different. The perfect life he has created for himself has left him a little jaded and with a large case of rose-colored glasses. Those glasses are slowly broken each day that he spends in Laney’s presence away from the chaos of their old lives.
Laney comes across in not the best ways at times, but when you delve into her home life and the way in which she reacts to things makes more sense. She, herself, talks about how far she has come from the stuck-up girl from high school. She has realized that the person she was then, as well as the person she was in Dallas with Archer is not the person she wants to be. So, she made changes. It wasn’t about changing for anyone, except herself. She realizes what she truly wants I life and isn’t going to let anyone stand in her way. But she isn’t going to get those things by acting out the way she used to.
Archer shows a lot of growth and understanding in the way he views things once he is back in Laney’s view. There are some truths that she shows to him, that she has tried to show him before, but he wasn’t willing to see them before. I love the growth of these two characters. Not together, but apart. IT shows that while they needed to have this growth for their relationship to work, they didn’t need to do it together. I am loving this new series and am excited for the rest of the Barrons.
