All Comments on 'Like vs Love - There's a Difference'

Another great story. When your name popped up I knew I had to read it right away, and you didn't disappoint. 5stars

Lara and Adam make a good pair.

I wonder if they ever cheated on each other?

After all, one can be comfortable knowing the difference between “love” and “like.” I love my husband but I like my lover. And Adam feels the same way. And we certainly don’t make the mistake of confessing. We are discrete and we are happy!

Aren’t we?

Good story. Not a 5 but close. Very realistic and believable but it's a shame she had to cheat to realize she didn't love Ben. It would have saved him a lot of grief. I think she cheated and then told him about it to get the exact reaction that he had. I think she wanted out of the engagement all along but was to chicken shit to pull the trigger.

All's well that ends well!

5

These two certainly deserved each other, I imagine it'd be hard to find such horrible people, I'm surprised they actually have any friends. But I suppose, with them getting together it saves any other poor schumks from suffering.

A decent story, and well written. But you need to empathise with a character to enjoy or appreciate a story. Unfortunately the only likable charecter was Ben, and he was reduced to a bit part. Telling the story from Lara's point of view sucked any sympathy out of the tale, and at the end I could only wish the worst for the gruesome twosome.

So she had an exit affair . . . tawdry and cowardly . . . Pretty good story, but it's hard to like any of the characters except Ben. I too wonder if Lara and Adam ended up cheating on each other. Lara claims she was in love, and indicated Adam loved her, but if their love was true, they NEVER would have cheated on Ben.

If one figures out one isn't in love with one's fiance, the proper thing is to break off and engagement, give it a little time, THEN become involved with another. Doing it during an engagement is a sign of complete disrespect, disloyalty, and total lack of integrity. People feeling and understanding love are incapable of doing that to others. Lara obviously never even really liked Ben, and I doubt that either she or Adam will ever understand actual love. It's not the lust or limerence one feels. Real love is the hard work and sacrifice done to maintain the attraction, companionship, and keep the relationship alive.

Oh, I realize Lara and Adam probably worked out. Some pairs stay together and are relatively happy with the attraction they feel for one another. Tragic though, that neither came to understand the depth of true love. Ben, hopefully, found someone who truly loves him. Lara may understand 'like' which (as written) is what she feels for Adam, but I doubt she'll ever really understand love, which makes the title and last sentence seem a bit of a serious lack of understanding on her part.

As I said earlier though, well-written! It's somewhat tragic and lacking in personal growth of the characters. As Karnevil sort of points out, it's good that Lara and Adam got married and stayed together. If people like them stayed away from people like Ben, other good people wouldn't callously get hurt by these two or others like them!!

Crushing Ben’s soul and ripping out his heart on a whim was really all for the best. Hey she liked him well enough, and this is what friends do, right? It’s all good. We don’t know if Ben ever really got over it but she did in about 15 minutes and she’s the only one who matters in this story.

In short bit bloodless. Like reading an essay of an affair by the cheater - not much in the way of character development. But with so little emotion on display there wasn’t much dramatic tension to explore.

4 stars for penmanship

We all have a different appreciation of love, its concept and the obligations that go with it.

Can someone who loves :

- can he betray his partner?

- can he cheat on his partner?

- can he lie to their partner?

- can he physically abuse their partner?

- can hé psychologically abuse their partner?

- can he abandon or neglect his partner?

- can he steal from his partner?

Everyone has their own codes, their own limits........... And of course, they're different for each person.

Title should have been “Slut and Lothario”….

5* story of what happens with office romances. She'd have settled for Ben, but they'd most likely have split up after a couple of kids.

Yet another very good CG story, thanks for that. Yes, it was from the cheater's point of view. Yes, some will say she was rewarded for it. This is about real life, though, not the usual Lit black and white world. Such things happen, and they are not always pleasant. Finding the right partner is difficult and it will sometimes hurt the ones that are not so right.

Good story a tramp can find happiness

Thats meant to be a story??

The story did not ring my bell, both of the main characters, Adam and Lara come across as shallow dipsticks. As to Bens reaction, we’ll what did she expect?

After all she did tell her reaction if Ben had done it to her.

I quite disliked Adam he was a real shithead.

2/5

Didn't you already post this story, as What is love

Hasn’t this been posted before?

The problem with most trannys is that they are a confused lot. 90 percent of the time they have no clue who they are..gay lesbian..heterosexual…! The remaining time they have no clue what they want to be! And the worst part of a tranny writer is that try to confuse the shit out of readers! They assume taht just because they are confused most readers too are. This is just one more of the morbid wonderings of a confused writer! Just did not sit well. 35 years old and no clue what love is!! What a shorty tale! Hope it’s not the writers personal story?? If so..the last para would never be there… they would be divorced after. A few years when the next cartoon come along and she will realise taht she never lover ADAM ! Stupid story and stupid writings! Down the drain !

Stupid selfish slut !

As said saw the name had to read it was only 2 pages. Wow. Not sure Lara really understands the meaning of love. But we all have our own view of lust or to like someone what is comfortable what is expectable and what it is to be absorbed or immersed in a relationship.

Not your best effort, and I usually love your work. No real likeable characters or development. If she felt that way she shouldn't have agreed to marry him. A painful situation that could have been easily avoided. 2 stars. Thank you for sharing! - gb

I am thinking 35 is a little late in the game to not know what the difference between like and love it. Well written as always.

Certainly a different sort of story for this site. I liked the story, but I'm not crazy about the two lovers. It's hard to build an honorable commitment from dishonorable behavior.

A nice, believable story of looking for love and the bumps and heartache that can lurk around the next corner.

Thanks.

5*

A very real situation that a lot of readers are not going to like but one that happens a lot in real life. Sometimes you need a jolt to realize what your true feelings are. If I were a therapist, I'd say she allowed herself to be seduced in the first place because subconsciously she knew her fiance was the wrong man and the nearer she came to getting hitched, the more her true feelings came to the surface. This was very well written as usual and a real thought provoker. 5 stars from me.

Today’s piece is essentially a duplicate of your story “What is Love Anyway” posted almost a year ago. Not complaining about repost; that is your prerogative. I commented then so will repeat my earlier thoughts: Really enjoy your writing/always look forward when I see a post (hey, why I follow you on this site) — you do not shy away from troubling circumstances/troubled relationships within well crafted storylines around characters that resonate.The title suggested the same and piece started out well, but soon fell far short of your norm. The characters turn out to be caricatures/stereotyped; the storyline likewise. Maybe that was your intention to make the point of the story/the title, but unlike much of your work you did not delve into the characters; none came alive at least for me, nor did you develop a storyline that had potential. Too much like an afternoon soap opera episode. By the way, the much longer “What Is Love” piece also posted a year ago was excellent exploration of the title’s theme.

Very well done. 5 big, shining stars.

There was a bad person in this relationship.

/

It was Lara.

/

This doesn’t make her feelings invalid.

/

She did a very bad thing. And yet she got her fairytale ending.

/

Okay. Good for her. Ben isn’t the asshole here despite all the contortions to make him seem intolerant.

Stuck on this theme u have a few of stories that are written just like this one

Good story. Lara, in fact, did Ben a favor by cheating on him. It was a subconscious decision, I'd say.

27 years ago my then girlfriend did the same thing and I was crushed. A year later I met someone else and 26 years later we're still, happily, married.

That was a good tale!

I enjoyed the angle you took, writing from the other side of the equation this time. Seemed very realistic. I liked that you had her not really sure why she did it, but that she owned it.

Nice! Sometimes if be like it is. No need to double down on a bad choice. Sounds like fiancé was a good dude, the vibe just wasn't right. Walk away and find a better choice. Thank you for posting, Randi.

I'm not sure about the soulmates theme. Maybe. But mostly things are like she had with Ben. If he hadn't met Adam, she'd have been okay. I don't buy it that she cheated because she wanted out of the Ben marriage. The story is that she was sexually compatible with both, but liked Adam more. Thing is, if you haven't lived with someone a while, it's difficult to tell. D

Looking at the story, and the ending I have only one conclusion to make:

Yup, this is definitely fiction.

Two sluts like them would never last 20 years, let alone 20 weeks.

Maybe 20 days.

Great story, young lady. Just so you know, Deb and I tell each other "I love you" each and every day. And this is going on 53 years.

Well at least for one Time the man also got a happy ending and of course the woman MC who cheat get it to.

Some Hope left for next story, if the man MC who got betrayed dont go wimpy and can have a happy ending with another woman.

Come one Cagivagurl its gonna be hard but you can do it

This resonates with me, because something very similar happened to me when I was young. I was the Ben character (minus the good looks) and it hurt like a bastard at the time but it was all for the best. I have had the most wonderful marriage.

My former girlfriend and her husband stayed together for a long time and had a family, but divorced later in life. By then, I was past gloating, but it does make me wonder if you can ever trust people who will do the dirty and then confess they're out of love, rather than confess they're out of love and then do the dirty.

Again with the "male ego" thing; man, you're like a broken record, always the same thing, over and over. You went to great pains to show that she didn't even love him, then you bring up his "bruised ego" as the reason for why he walked out. Make up your mind.

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Dude, you have a real hate for men and monogamous relationships: it stains everything you write. You always show the man as being shallow and weak. At least this fiance walked out on the cheater, who was still trying to talk him into staying, even though she knew she didn't love him. Wow. 2 stars.

This story annoyed me to no end. I hope during her twenty-first wedding anniversary she will learn that Adam's been cheating on her for years. The fucking vunt will deserve it! Whenever a woman strays it's pc to find a reason. But if a man strays, it's a blemish on all men; what else could one expect, they'd say.

couples that start with an affair end in an affair.

And they all lived happily ever after. Ben had a lucky escape and there is no way a cheating girlfriend would just suddenly stop cheating.

One of your less egregious plots but still felt iffy

I totally agree with Karnevil. The character of Lara also does not cause me any sympathy, empathy, or joy for such a "happy ending". I secretly expected that Adam would pull some trick and as a result, after all, Ben would turn out to be the real love.

Not bad. Lara did owe Ben more in the way of answers though.

Wether they were going to make it, or not.

More cavigurl s

Thanks. I nice, simple story that is played out in countless relationships. Cheers.

I like that you're starting to hone in on the heart of a tale instead of meandering... but there does need to be a tale. This was more of a "eh."

That kind of slut doesn't cheat once. She was too easy, I'm sure there were many more over the years. Adam as well, he was just a predator, flirting with any slut that responded. Probably why they stayed together, they were both whores.

Ooohhh truth to words, how many of us has lived this one. The way how Lara decided to confess HER cheating to ease HER conscience. Yet refused to discuss with Ben who it was, how it started , what lead to it happening. Then by saying it was a one time thing she then expects for them to rationally discuss a way forward to move past this hurdle while leaving a huge chasm in the relationship. Yep been there and for a long while after carried the receipts of, Is it me? Did I do something wrong? Why didn't i see this coming?

I always read your stories. One important reason is because they’re well written. However, the most important reason is because I truly enjoy experiencing the world from a point of view that, quite often, is very different from mine. And sometimes so different that I get quite a visceral jolt out of it. I give you lots of stars for lifting me out of the same old stuff all of the time.

I suppose the moral of the story – ‘it is way better to find out before you marry the wrong person’ - is very important and valid. But please next time, maybe write something with a bit more substance than a Hallmark HEA.

Anyhow, Kudos, keep up the good work.

Al

Silly even for fiction

Really …. Ordinary.

Come on, you’re better than this.

Well the way you described her, wouldn't want to get in a relationship with this person for a life partner. Come on at midlife she doesn't know what she wants, can't even define her feelings and cheats on a fling that she should never put herself in that position? No way -- what you described is a loser, that apparently the next guy is stepping up to a untenable relationship.

Adam is an ass, Lara a bitch and Ben was the hero in this story. Which sucked! Should've been written with Ben's point of view so it could've had a happy ending. 1*

ehh...it seems many of your readers are starting to see the same pattern in your works.

Maybe just for the hell of it , you could write a story about a decent monogamous guy

who actually wins in the end! Once you read all your stories, you realize a guy losing his

fiance over a fling is a very tame dismissal of her hard working loyal guy when compared to

some of your more infamous works. Many times the 'wonderful 'damsel gets a wild hair up her

ass and decides she needs a 'no harm no foul' fling with a large very successful alpha male

with a extra large member. She then using her dumb ass husbands love for her and their kids,

forces her him into a fully humiliating role as her cuckold.

Nobody glorifies selfishness better than cagivabitch. Way to go!

If they'll cheat with you , they'll cheat on you. Just might never catch them.

I both love and hate your work but this falls short...

Why do they think that Ben was so wrong? She cheated. Had she come to realization that they shouldn't marry then break up. Adam was a predator and she was an easy lay. Why would they feel that they are the right people to marry? They lasted 20 years? Lucky is all I can say unless she never caught Adam cheating.

Author know the story premises is crappy and flawed, yet written. So Lara felt the sex with Adam is rocking and she felt that love for her? So honourable, dedicated man like Ben who is good in bed and gave everything for three years is just likable?! And Lara finds the difference between Like and Love at the age of 35 after multiple failed relationship and a relationship longed for 3 years?! What a Dummy plot..

You always write great stories, I liked this. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Great complete story. Probably a lot of divorces could be avoided if people understood the difference between like, love, and convenience. Not sure about the surety of future success in real life given she was cheating 3 weeks before the wedding and Adam was intentionally seducing an engaged woman, but who am I to say? 4.4*

Oh old country song, that said, when liking turns to loving!

There's a pattern to some of the comments. "I don't like/read any of your stories. But here is my multi-word comment."

Realistic, liked it. Thanks

Another good one!

She's just not that likable. I'm glad she confessed because that's never an easy thing to do. What tripped me up is how she expected him to fix things after she cheated. No begging, no remorse. Just her guilt. Her guilt for the person she was becoming. Had no guilt for him. She made a decision, not a mistake. She never owned that.

I just can't see myself doing that to someone I like. Forget love. Her lover isn't much better. Her ex was the only likable guy. He was blindsided. Tried his best to cope, and gave her a chance. Not many people would bother. It's rare that cheating ends in a stable relationship for the cheaters.

So she discovered that she didn't love her loving, kind fiance by cheating on him with someone more like her. I bet her love will turn rapidly into dislike when she finds out that Adam has been cheating on her for years.

Or maybe she will learn the difference between regular love and true love by ditching Adam for someone else she's about to meet.

Me adam knew she was engaged and set out to seduce her anyway no morals, not to tell the fiancee the guys name what a bitch she. is without a doubt the coldest woman I've ever seen besides my ex-wife.

There is a word for females like that... Bitch,

Nice writing +4 stars , but -5 stars for the conclusion

First, this is Loving Wives, so you really need to include a wife in the story before posting it here. No, having her get married in an epilogue doesn't count.

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Second, I appreciate that you varied from your typical RAAC when the wife cheats playbook, but I'm guessing that's why you didn't have them married. You've got to stay true to yourself.

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Third, I agree that Lara and Adam deserve each other. You set yourself up for a follow-up story when one (or both) of them cheat on the other. Of course, that could cause an interesting dilemma for you. If the wife cheats, it's always RAAC and if the husband cheats it's always BTB. It might be fun to watch your head spin if they both cheat...

.

So, in conclusion, is it sad or just ironic that the best Loving Wives story that Cagivagurl has written isn't actually a Loving Wives story?

She may have ended up marrying the right guy who cares, neither of them are very nice people. Neither done the right thing by Ben before or after their cheating and l think Ben was a better person who ended with someone he deserved.

But you never give the wronged party any chance of gaining satisfaction. Ben never was able to confront Adam for doing one of the meanest things one guy can do to another. Adam seduced Lara and took her to bed knowing she and Ben were engaged to be married. Adam was the real fly in the ointment. Ben should have had the chance to deal with him. Lara sided with Adam against Ben and the end results would likely be the same, but Ben was cheated out of more than his happiness.

I liked the classy ending.

It wasn't Love.......just Like.....Seems like a childish rationalization for a failed relationship and avoiding any responsibility for wanting to end a relationship.

Adams a straight asshole and yet he gets his happily ever after. He was even super lucky that she wouldn't tell Ben his name or he woulda got a few lumps for his efforts. Then I woulda been okay with the ending, but having nothing happen to him just seems so very unKarmic.

That a woman of 35 years old cannot tell the difference between like and love can only come from a place of infantilising women or a deep misunderstanding of them . Its a theme not uncommon in a lot of your writing and after a while it starts to be jarringly distastefull. Your female characters are only surface and this piece in particular reveals that.

I have it two stars, because you can't help yourself writing women as victims. It wasn't as bad in this one, but it was still there, this idea that she was serviced, things weren't all her fault, her fiance was wrong...no. She want a victim. She made choices, repeatedly, cheated. And couldn't even be honest with herself. She was awful in that circumstance and deserved all the ire she got.

Good read and story. Thanks for writing.

They deserve eachother; Two pieces of shit cut from the same piece of cloth.

This whole thing actually worked out pretty well for Ben. He got a dynamite going away dinner spoiled only by the shit sandwich served for dessert. He evidently moved on to a happy life with a new partner and looking back on it should really thank Lara for saving him from making a tragic mistake. It is surprising that Lara managed to have at least two children since she must have been 37 by the time the first one was born. Or were they twins or more as a result of fertility treatments? Why should anyone begrudge her a happy life. She did Ben a good turn. She never actually was committed in a marriage contract with Ben, and at worst breached her promise of intent, which in these times is non actionable except in the way that Ben took action; he walked away. It is refreshing, at least as a Lit. story element, to have a character ponder the question "Am I better off with her or without her" and decide without her is the correct answer. Far too often that question is nothing more than the prelude to a RAAC. Most enjoyable writing even if I at the end don't really care about any of the characters. Enjoyable but not compelling. 4 stars.

She literally indicated that she was never sorry about it and Ben said it well, she couldn't bring herself to say that she loved him yet she said that she and Adam had no future in the beginning. She clearly didn't care for her relationship with Ben and she didn't bother to fight for it and held back the entire truth from Ben. She never quit the job or asked to be transferred. She didn't love, she was in lust and confuses it for love, pretty sure her family was like what? Seeing that she hooked up with the man that ruined her relationship. But then again, I should have expected something like this from this author, no wonder their latest LW stories have been below 4 stars from what I've seen.

I love these long retrospective "epilogue" endings. In this case, Cagivagurl did okay with the "twenty years," as she didn't leave any anachronisms in the bobbing in the wake of her voyage through time. I read one a while back, where the writer refers to the pandemic lockdowns, the wife guarding her phone, Instagram, and some other specific contemporary references. Then, voila! It's 35 years later, and OP writes it like the present. DOH!

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This story? It was grand. A bit of a departure from your usual, but you packed it full of good dialogue and emotion. Five!!!

Even though my opinion was in line with many of the others shown here I must have struck a nerve. I too think Ben is the hero of this story and Lara is the evil witch of the west. Adam is indeed a predator, he seduced and slept with Lara who he knew was engaged to Ben and soon to be married. Vile, reprehensible behavior among bro's.

Perhaps my comments were censored because I felt Ben was denied his right to confront Adam for trashing his life with Lara whom he had invested several years of his life with? I myself don't see Adam and Lara having a very good marriage lasting for decades. It was established on deception, had a poor foundation of development, and lived in the mist of guilt and betrayal. Where Ben spent years with Lara Adam had only a fraction of that time. After two or three years of marriage Lara would likely be wondering if she loved Adam, or merely liked him? She might even suffer from buyers remorse and wished she had Ben back.

Why don't you open your stories up to others as many others do? Everybody would be interested in a different point of view. Especially on this story.

They are not nice people at all.

And a cheater marrying a guy that pursues a spoken for girl? A true pillar of humanity.

Wow, guess the whore sent Ben to the Brain Store, to get one. Only took him three years to figure out what a shallow phony self-absorbed bitch he almost married. Ben should send Adam a thank you card.

\

Many people Almost married the wrong person. I suspect it almost always ends up better, for both people. This story fails only because of the self absorbed author who wants to pose this as a Loving Wives story when it is definitively a Romance category story. News Flash: failed Romance is still Romance. No marriage, no adultery, no biscuit. Just deception. It fits.

Laura is a cheater, Adam is a cheater and a predator. Little chance of their relationship ACTUALLY working.

Laura may have made Ben a cuck, but he was a loving and honorable man who deserved better than a cheating slut.

One Star.

Boring... ZZZZZ. !*

C'mon, she can't say she loves him. Give me a break.

Ben was the only likable character in this story.

This story made me angry 😠

Move along , nothing to read here .

35 years old and going through the motions ( emotions ? ) of being in a loving relationship with marriage on the near horizon . But does she love her fiance ? Certainly not enough to not have a one night stand .

And yet , but for that night with Adam , she most likely would have married Ben , although remaining faithful would be a whole different question .

So she ends up marrying Adam . And their marriage is fairytale perfection . Adam has no worries about his wife ever being seduced , why would he , they are so in love .

And Ben too has met his perfect partner .

How lovely . And so convenient for this story .

So once again the message is for the female to get with someone else seemingly as the mood takes her , until she feels this is finally ' The One ' .

Question . I wonder how she will/would explain relationships to her daughter , assuming she has/had one ?

MEH! KINDA SUCKY! 2 STARS. not your best

So early in the story they are not living together but when Laura confesses they are suddenly renting a house together. And they are young but you said Laura is 35, which puts her young age wise but old child bearing wise. The premise of the story isn't bad even if the "bad" people win but sloppy with the editing.

When a cheater ends up with a home wrecker that forgives cheating, the ending doen't fit. If Lara wanted to fuck around, give the ring back first. Adam should get DNA tests on the kids, but probably doesn't care.

Why would Ben have to get his stuff? In paragraph 7, you said they didn’t live together. Antiquated; but ok. And she’s 35. After 30 the chances of a baby with Downs Syndrome increase exponentially not to mention that by the time she’s ready to retire, the kid will still be in High School.

Adam basically said that she was so wonderful, she should be able to fuck whomever she wanted and her husband should swallow his pride and be grateful she’s with him. Who know who says that? Someone who is in lust and not live. Adam just wanted to get in her pants.

You should write another story where she tells Adam about all the affairs she had on him, see how he likes it.

One other comment: I love your stories. Your writing has improved and I look forward to every story.

You have likeable and unlikeable characters and the results aren’t always a dumpster fire of pain and suffering. The endings aren’t always fairytale endings, sometimes the bad guy wins.

I feel like I have read this exact story from another author. Someone post if I'm not going crazy if there is another story almost exactly like this one.

Not really up to the standards of your writing. Seems like you just rush through it and gave us a happy ending. Throw in that she could smell her arousal to make it sound erotic. What does mean that anyway. If you can smell her thru her clothes, she might have problem. I guess its something like leading precum thru your pants. But let’s remember it’s erotic fiction