All Comments on 'Perfection'

As usual, I really enjoyed this story for the most part. I gave you a 4/5 vote. But the following paragraph was the main reason for taking a point off:

"You fucked her," I said, seeing it as plain as day on Leigh's face. I was shocked that my wife would do that, betray me and our vows, but she had enough alcohol in her system that her inhibitions were lowered, her tongue was loosened, and her usual common sense was on sabbatical."

I am very well aware that probably 10% of all the males in the population also view a married woman having sex with another woman as infidelity. David Addison has a conversation with Maddie Hayes in an episode of Moonlighting about divorcing his wife for cheating on him and it eventually unfolds that her lover was another woman. I was in my mid twenties then and as I pondered it, I concluded that David was wrong.

Just like Leigh from your story, David's wife didn't want to break up and leave him for this girl. So for the bottom line it's a stupid reason for getting a divorce.

When you compare an affair with another man to an affair with a woman, you're basically comparing Apples to Oranges. I would agree that if she's emotionally invested in the other woman then a valid argument could be made for the infidelity, but in Leigh's case as you laid it out, it was little more than experimentation. Leigh wasn't inseminated or phallically penetrated. Dan doesn't have the same equipment as Leigh's friend. There's a million reasons why I find Dan and Leigh's divorce an exercise in Pride and Arrogance above and beyond Reason and Prudence. I have no doubt that there's a whole host of people that can jump on the "infidelity" bandwagon here and beat their chests in anger. But it still doesn't change my apples to oranges argument. 🙄

Great story!

5

Another simply outstanding love story from my ne of my favorite authors.

5 stars

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Well done!

Does make you wonder how the models' lives end up after they are finished with their on-line personas. Must be difficult, especially with, as the author says, those who have hundreds or thousands of postings.

Nicely done. Liked the postscript about retired ‘cam girls.’

What a truly wonderful story. As good as any you have written!

It's always a pleasure to read one of your stories. A few twists and turns added to the story. Thank you.

What a wonderful story. I’ve known divorced people who met someone they knew was beyond their reach, but took a chance, reached out, fell in love, and in twelve days will celebrate Valentines Day with their soul mate forty years later. Love happens.

We’ll done SouthernCrossfire.

Romance pur sang. Valentine's Day worthy, written by a master. I loved it.

This piece was/is a dreary predictable soap opera. The true caliber of the work was set by the BRB episode on Page 1. Any man so reflexive as the narrator - one misstep and his true love is out the door - no discussions, no anything (especially understanding and forgiveness) - is not a likely aspirant for the role in which the author tries to cast him.

I gave it two stars - hit the wrong button and couldn't get the second one back.

Interesting story about a model's life, recognition by fans, and what they have to deal with. Having been in that situation in Cancun airport I saw a woman who looked familiar, and she stared back at me. Then she turned away to avoid me. It came to me who she was and how sexy she looked in photos I'd see a hundred times of her. Can't even imagine how she feels being looked at and recognized with her clothes on. I'm glad I didn't approach this woman in Cancum, but I'll never forget her because she was even more beautiful in person.

I loved your story.

A sequel is in order. Dan should propose to Elena and marry her. Maybe by the following Valentine's Day, she'll announce the good news and say "Dan, 'I'm pregnant.'"

Very nice! Well done, it was very enjoyable.

Romance? He ended up with a skank. Blech. Without or without a stolen boombox scene.

I liked it. A good, predictable romance story. His reason for divorcing seemed pretty rigid. A one time fling with a woman and he blows up. Seemed somewhat off, so 4* from me.

An excellent story, thank you! Can't find a single thing wrong with it.

Not a criticism, but if by "Hogan was too shy for Lisa" you mean he was introverted, they may not necessarily be a good match long term. No certainty either way, but introverts and extroverts can make each others' lives miserable just being who they are, by their nature - OR, lead separate lives which isn't great for relationship.

A pleasure to read. You perfectly developed a story that shows that love can be found no matter how insurmountable. Your ending was perfect. I've enjoyed reading many of your stories. You have a gift for storytelling and for addressing issues and problems relating to relationships. Thank you for this gift. K

Very nice little story, perfect timing for V-day.

Author's Response:

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Thanks so much to everyone for your feedback in whatever form and for the complimentary and critical comments.

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Two minor edits have been noted so far: Peter Gabriel['s] "In Your Eyes"... and "off", not "off of". The second one catches me every time since neither Google nor Word recognize it.

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Regarding ST's comments on whether the sex of the third person has anything to do with cheating between two spouses, that is determined by the spouses themselves and some may not agree, just as Dan and Leigh didn't agree in the story (I considered that to be part of the point). With the legalization of same-sex marriage in the U.S., same sex sexual relations outside of marriage are now considered adultery and are grounds for divorce in most states where that was already grounds for divorce by heterosexual couples. The apples and oranges reasoning seems off to me too; as "J" said so well in a PM to me earlier today, "According his comment, I can sleep with a man and my wife with a woman and that's OK? What about the ALL in forsake ALL others?" Again, it goes back to a couple agreeing on their boundaries or a marriage won't work. Finally, I read several studies on cheating (in preparing for my previous story and this one) and the definition used in the most significant one with a survey was having sex or intimate relations (which was rather broadly defined and did not require "penetration") "with someone other than one's spouse." The sex of the third person in the triangle didn't matter in the survey and probably wouldn't matter to a lot of people if they were in that situation.

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In a related topic, a couple of commenters have noted that Dan was very rigid in his thinking and wasn’t willing to forgive a single incident. He might well have been willing to try to get through it but the story noted specifically that Leigh “was interested in further ‘exploring her sexuality’ and wanted to do it despite all of my [his] objections.” That means she didn’t want it to be a single incident, she wanted more and was determined to do it despite his objections. Dan wasn’t willing to stay in the marriage beyond that considering that Leigh’s willingness to continue violating their vows might go on indefinitely with Portia or possibly others beyond.

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Thanks again for your comments and for reading.

A reel feel-good romance. Just the thing for a very cold January day. Put together well with very likeable characters. What more can you ask for? 5*

Little formulaic for you but well told as always. I would have liked a little more information on what Leigh was doing during this time. Rounded up to 5*!

Excellent story, I love a good romance.

Well done. 5 stars

5 Stars! Really well done. A perfect Valentine's story.

In my humble opinion, cheating is cheating. And if his wife Leigh wanted to continue to experiment, then she obviously didn't care about the damage she was causing to their relationship. I can understand him feeling betrayed and wanting to end their marriage, if she intended to keep seeing another woman.

On a lighter note, I thought the story was very romantic.

Yep! A great read. Loved all the characters.

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One nit pick…..would have thought all Elena needed to do to not be recognized was have a different hair style (short if previously long, or vice versa) and maybe a different color. Should have done the trick, given her “fans” mostly only saw her nudge or near nude. Just sayin…..

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5 *****

An additional comment after reading the author’s most appreciated response:

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First, you perfectly encapsulated my thoughts on ST’s objections. Well done. All means ALL.

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Second, thanks also for reminding a couple commenters that his Ex did NOT want it to be a so,Italy act of cheating, but that she wanted to continue to “explore”. Maybe some readers didn’t actually READ the story?

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Again…5 *****

SC-

The whole thing is hypocritical. You're trying to present a girl who posed nude for commercial gain as wholesome and pure while painting the wife who had sex with another woman as a harlot. You don't want to buy into my opinion that you cannot compare heterosexual cheating equally with homosexual cheating because of the new laws in place that allow homosexual marriage. That's a recent enough change in the legal process that I'm not going to qualify that as a valid justification.

And once again, I know that I stand with the majority of men who do not feel that their marriage has been threatened if their wife has a bisexual fling on the side. So let’s just agree that we disagree and move on.

ST

Author's Response:

Thanks again to all who've commented. To the Anonymous of 2/5/23, I tried to address the hair issue by noting that Elena had 35 wigs of various styles and colors, but people sometimes remember a particular one as their favorite that may be close enough to her current style. Maybe that's not enough but Dan recognized her focusing on her face when she took off her glasses.

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ST, I think we're talking past each other so I'll only respond to the main point. Dan would probably have tried to reconcile after Leigh's single indiscretion with another woman (and the story would have ended there or gone in a completely different direction) but Leigh DIDN'T WANT IT TO BE A ONE-TIME ONLY EVENT. She wanted to keep it going, to keep exploring her sexuality with her new (female) lover while remaining with Dan. Her insistence on that (despite his objections in the extended discussion that followed) was the real issue that made Dan throw in the towel and not change his mind through the counseling sessions the judge required. This was specifically included as a major plot point to justify his decision to leave her and serve as the jumping-off point for the rest of the story.

Great job loved it from begining to end.

loved it. i am a married guy for over 20 years to my beautiful wife who is 17 years my junior.

were she to have a sexual relationship with another woman, that would not be a problem for me. i might even be interested in having sex with the woman, myself.

There’s rarely much tension in a romance story, but the author managed to keep me engaged through the story. It was well written and the characters were engaging. I thought that the author was clear about the reasoning behind the divorce…and whether with a man or a woman, the MC’s wife’s infidelity with every intention of continuing the infidelity was an expression of a lack of satisfaction with the marriage. But ST uses made-up data to buttress his point of view. Initially, “I am very well aware that probably 10% of all the males in the population also view a married woman having sex with another woman as infidelity.” Really? If you’re just making up numbers, why not use 11.73% to make it seem even more accurate? But if I claim that the number is closer to 87.63%, who’s to know? But, more recently ST doesn’t use a percentage, yet nonetheless claims, “I know that I stand with the majority of men who do not feel that their marriage has been threatened if their wife has a bisexual fling on the side.” Based on what data? I’m again reminded of the song, “Frequently wrong but never in doubt.”

Very enjoyable story.

Agree with you re: ST comments, it’s not hypocritical. Modeling was Leigh’s past, before she and Dan got serious. Leigh had at least one other, AFTER vowing monogamy. The gender is irrelevant. Dan only knew she’d confessed to one indiscretion. Dan had no clue if there were others, and couldn’t trust her answers if he’d asked.

it was very creative and full of romance. great for Valentine's Day!

I loved it. This was another winner from you as I always expect. Thanks for sharing your talent.

Not much to say, a nice romantic love story with a little bump or two in the road. Good writing and believable.

Not quite enough bring a tear to my eye but good. 5 stars

Excellent reading, entertaining and humorous. Thank you for the boom box writing, got a good laugh from me. Glad you mentioned the name because I was going to have to look and didn’t recall Ione Skye. All good enjoyment was achieved. 5 stars

Please do keep writing and I will keep reading.

5* That means excellent plot, characters developed and sympathetic and that extra something that makes a great Romance.

Call this a must read!

The Hoary Cleric

"Perfection " is PERFECT! 5 Stars. Thank you for sharing.

G

Was the woman perfect? Was the story perfect?

I was privileged to be married to the perfect woman (for me) and so I believe the characters were the perfect fit for each other.

Southern Crossfire is an author I enjoy immensely.

5 for me, at least.

The author takes characters that are hard to imagine as real people and makes us fall in love with them as if they were real people. It is an amazing talent. Thanks so much.

Great story! And thanks for the notes about the movie "Say Anything" I saw that movie and loved it! Keep up the good work, you tell great stories.

So nice! Thank you. 5 stars

This was lovely. Thank you.

This was a great story. Way better than than April Fools Day one, I just read!