Hmm, well that just stuffs your stocking. Merry Christmas by the way!

Oh please, let her hear him out!!! I honestly love that story so much!!!!

I know what Bella went through was horrible but I'm a very forgiving person & have a hard time w/ people who hold grudges; it does nothing to benefit either party. 

An old boyfriend of mine found me & aplogized for his actions 20 years later & I readily forgave him. I'm so glad that I did because we are so close now & I can't imagine my life w/o him in it. 

I'm rooting for a HEA

I get so excited when I get my Sunday update!! I'm in love with this story and I'm just so excited to see where you plan to take us on this journey. Merry Christmas to you!

I can't wait for the rest of the story.  Great as always.  Have a Merry Christmas. 

Good Chapter.....

ive reviewed before and am still as much in love with this story and its characters. love love love it

Carlie's reaction to Demetri was not as I would have expected.  But then again her reaction to the Cullen clan as a whole must have come as some sort of surprise to Bella to.  Theu are, after all, family, they are close knit and they have enveloped her with loving arms.  She has also had the opportunity to bond, however briefly, with her father and found him to not be an ogre.  Bella, Jake, Leah, Seth, et al have given her a wonderful family but bottom line the Cullen's are blood.  But even more than that is a child's desire to want a family that consists of mother/father/child.  Having been raised in that way I do not have the life experience of an extended family.  I have enough friends from broken homes to know that they often wish their parents could have stayed together.  I guess what I am trying to say is maybe Carlie wants that.

Almost forgot.  Who would have ever thought Leah would be the one to come to Edward's defense?!!!!

This chapter leaves us with a whole lot to think about.

I simply love it. The whole story is so different and the characters are very vivid... great!!!

 

The following is a long winded review of several chapters in one, not just the last one.  I love this story, and love you for sharing it with us.  Your characters, however, I do not love!  I actually hate the majority of them, but I'm confident that you are very well aware of that fact, LOL.  Be aware that this review isn't at all helpful or constructive.  It's my version of therapy after reading 6 back to back chapters of the Cullen's.  You have done a masterful job of dehumanizing these characters and I for one love to hate them.  I'm becoming increasingly concerned with the Cullen's overall behavior.  It is for lack of a better word, quite appalling.  I'm tired of their unending method of using Alice's rape as justification for their heinous behavior in the past.  As I've mentioned in my prior review, I really have zero sympathy for Alice or the rest of her family.   They thoughtlessly destroyed a young girl's faith in everything good in the world...how is the constant reference of Alice and Edward's traumas suppose to erase all of that?  It does not.  It only serves to cause the reader a great many moments of what I like to call the WTFitis.  I believe you to be a wonderful writer.  The potential for greatness still exist within this story.  However, your method of redeeming the Cullen's is a bit frustrating at times.  All they do is justify, with zero to little real remorse.   I would be highly impressed if even one member of that family declined to use something that occurred long before Bella made their acquaintance as an excuse for their cruel behavior.  When is a member of that family going to say "What happened to Alice was tragic, but it doesn't explain or excuse our actions towards Bella"?  When are they going stop being a bunch of self centered, entitled monsters and get real?   This reminds me of one of my professors at school.  He is probably the best Interpretative dance professor I've ever had.   This man has been known to reduce even the hardest of individuals to tears.....he has a zero excuse policy.  If you are unfortunate enough to walk into his classroom late, he will bring all activity to a standstill in order to learn of your reasoning for being tardy.  If your response is anything other than, "I'm sorry Sir, I have no excuse" the dude will kick you out of the class, and throw a fit of epic proportions.   I think the Cullen's ought to employ a similar tactic, and simply own up to their actions without the excuses.  A simple apology will work wonders.  It is human to error...and I think we can all understand that.  I guarantee you that a majority of the audience would have a favorable reaction towards an honest remorseful apology made without the excuses and justification.

Pardon me, but WTF does Bella have to do with Edward and Alice's situation in regards to James' parole hearing?  Please tell me this isn't a prelude to Bella attending one such hearing in order to provide moral support to the two losers.  She has already given enough of herself to that family.  I was really prepared to afford Rosalie and Jasper a clean slate.  They were "okay" by virtue of the fact that they weren't born with the Cullen last name.  They weren't a party to what was done to Bella.  However, Jasper's POV and Rosalie's comment during the shopping trip with Carlie, isn't sitting very well with me.  Why would Rosalie freely admit that the Cullen's were willing to do whatever they deemed to be necessary in order to achieve the desired outcome?  In what reality does that statement make sense?  It doesn't shed the family in a favorable light at all.  It did the opposite.  It further labeled them as being the unconscionable monsters their actions and behavior have purported them to be.  Jasper's POV is by far the worst out of that family's self serving, disillusion ramblings thus far.  The psychotic nimrod is employing war tactics against a child.  He and his crazy wife are a real pair.  They really ought to look into a husband and wife home for the psychologically insane.

I can't believe that I'm about to say this, but Edward doesn't need Jacob Black's permission to form a relationship with Carlie.  No matter how detestable he and his family may be, Edward has every right to be a part of his daughter's life.  Carlie is his child, not Jacob's.  Yes, Jacob stepped up when Edward wasn't there, but that doesn't diminish Edward's rights to his daughter.  He is at fault for hurting and betraying Bella, but he isn't guilty of child abandonment.  I agree that he does owe Jacob the world and then some for his part in Carlie's development, but that's as far as it goes.  I don't want to see Edward groveling before Jacob... begging for his rightful place in Carlie's life.   The persons he needs to beg and grovel to are Bella as she is Carlie's mother, and Carlie herself.   Edward has paid a very steep price for his stupidity...he has lost 14 years with his child.  Years that he'll never get back, let that be enough in terms of Carlie.  Bella is a whole other ballgame.  He hasn't even begun to pay for the hell he made of her life, but the good news is that I no longer view him as being completely beyond redemption.  Your Edward is turning into a deliciously flawed, multifaceted character... A character who garners a wide variety of emotions within me, as each new layer of his personality is revealed.  I love flawed characters.  They tend to lend the story just the right amount of believable edge and angst.  I know, I know, I'm the biggest hypocrite that ever lived for being able to see redemption for Edward, while advocating death for the rest of his family....but he doesn't try to excuse his actions in the same manner that "poor Alice" does.  Off course, my view may very well be skewed by my unhealthy obsession with the Edward Cullen character (Edward Cullen fan girl here).

Carlie isn't a little girl.  She is old enough to have made major decisions regarding her future.  At 14 years of age, she already has her entire life mapped out.  She is old enough to decide what role if any Edward will occupy in her life.  That decision isn't Edwards, Jacob's nor is it Bella's.  It's strictly up to Carlie.   Edward needs to realize that Carlie is practically a grown woman.  As sweet as the imagery of Carlie falling asleep next to Edward was, I think those times are going to be few and far between.  That scene did make me ache and yearn for a younger Carlie though.  It made me mourn all of the years Edward missed with his daughter and Carlie with her father.  That said...WTF is wrong with Carlie?  How can she be such of a disloyal brat towards her mother?  A mother who dedicated her entire life to her, raising her without the support of a father.  I just can't understand her complete disloyalty.  Wait, I guess I should rethink that statement...after all she does have 50% of Cullen DNA running throughout her body and we all know the extent of their disloyalty.  LOL, I just had a mental picture of the Cullen's blaming their actions on their DNA :)  Anyway, back to Carlie.  I really don't like disloyalty.  As if it wasn't already bad enough that she is now referring to the Cullen's as aunts, uncles, etc, she has to try and force them upon her mother as well?  I can't believe she is plotting against her blind mother with the man who hurt her beyond repair.  I know that Edward is her father....but that doesn't make Carlie's actions any easier to understand and forgive.  She is written as being this super mature 14 year old you, but her actions does not support that claim at all.   Where is her common sense and innate desire to protect her mother?   She claims to be able to tell that Edward and the Cullen's love her mother, but I ask you....how in the world was she able to reach that conclusion after having spent less than 24 hours in their presence?  Are we really supposed to believe that Bella's disability is responsible for her inability to "see" how much the Cullen's love her?  When one of your senses is taken away, does that not sharpen the others?  I'm sorry, but Carlie is quickly becoming one of my least favorite characters in this story.  As much as I hate the idea of Bella wanting to be with Demetri, Carlie's response to it was completely out of line and selfish.  She was supportive of a relationship between Felix and her mother, but now that her manwhore of a father is in the picture, she's suddenly upset at the possibility of her mother moving forward?  WOW!  Mature and intelligent she is NOT.

Now for the dinner invitation.  I understand why Bella felt the need to do it, I really do.  She wanted to show Carlie that it was okay for her to have a relationship with her father...that Carlie's interaction with the Cullen's wouldn't be a hindrance to her.  Understanding her reasoning doesn't make it easier to accept though....truth is, I absolutely hated it.  I wanted Bella to keep them at a very far distance for the time being.  The Cullen's are the type of parasites who given an inch will take a mile.  Bella's kindhearted spirit is wasted on that lot.  I also must ask, WTF was Bella thinking?   She says that Demetri is "old fashion" and yet he is open to a friend with benefits relationship with her.  That's not old fashion, Bella.....more like lunacy really.  The idea itself is really quite disgusting.   I can't believe she's actually considering this.  I'm all for making Edward suffer, but this isn't the way to do it.  She doesn't need to discard her morals this late in the game simply to prove a point.  Edward shouldn't have that big of influence on her life.  She shouldn't feel the need for "protection" against him.  Her heart ought to have already been impenetrable. The story already has enough legitimate drama and angst to last for at least a hundred more chapters, this thing with Demetri isn't necessary.   Your Bella is a real enigma...at times she is tough as nails...Someone that I love to cheer on, but then other times as in the last chapter, she comes across as being immature and silly.  I was so impressed with her during the chapter dealing with the visitation issue, as well as her behavior during the dinner from hell.  She placed boundaries and made it clear that she wasn't interested in forming any type of real relationship with the Cullen's.  She was poised, classy, and intelligent.  I even cheered her subterfuge with the spilled coffee in order to get out of seeing them out.  Yes, it was immature and isn't the way a proper host would have behaved, but so what?  She invited them to dinner and suffered their presence...what else did they want from her?  A Kidney maybe?    I don't agree with the way in which Bella allows Carlie to dictate to her.  Bella is the adult here, not Carlie.  She shouldn't have allowed her bratty daughter to force her into reconsidering her position when it comes to the Cullen's.  Bella's discomfort and apprehension at the very idea was patently obvious, and yet Carlie forged ahead regardless...she cared more about the comfort of the Cullen's than that of her own mother.  It's shameful.  What does she think is going to happen once Bella has spoken to the Cullen's?  Will their explanations and excuses really be enough to erase their crimes?  Who the hell cares about Tanya?  Yes, she is a skank whore who deserves to contract syphilis and die, but we can't blame her entirely for the actions of the Cullen's.  They choose to believe her....they choose to physically attack Bella.....they choose to humiliate her at every turn.  Tanya didn't hold a gun to their heads and force them into compliance.

I LMAO @ Leah...I mean, sister what?  WTF kind of lethal voodoo does Edward Cullen possesses?    He already has his daughter along with his entire family in his corner, but now Leah as well.  Who the hell cares if Edward isn't what they believed him to be?  Did he not have sex with Tanya on the same bed he took Bella's virginity?  Did he not attack and humiliate her in front of the entire student body?  Did he not proceed to fuck the entire East coast and probably the West as well?  How does any of that translate into Edward still being in love with her?  Contrary to popular belief, love shouldn't hurt... I really wanted Bella to at least have one person strictly on her side.  I know a true friend is tasked with the responsibility of always telling it like it is, but your sister and best friend should always have your back and be your staunchest defender.  They ought to be that road block standing in front of you till the very last possible second.

It's been several chapters since my last review.  I've been desperately waiting and looking to find one redeemable quality in that family, and have yet to find a thing!  Emmett is emerging as the only one with even a chance of finding redemption, and that's only because Bella never approached him in the past.  The fact that he was never given the opportunity to rebuff her, may very well be his path to redemption, his only saving grace.  Why in the world did Bella agree to Jasper picking her up? Where was her REAL family, the Velathri's?  While we're at it, where the heck was Aro?  HE is her attorney, not Emmett or any other Cullen.  She should have driven in with him in order to go over strategy and last minute briefings.  The priority is and was Carlie...not Jasper's nonsense about his "pixie" shrew of a wife!  OMG, the Cullen women are as delusional as their male counterparts.  Being women themselves, how can they possibly believe Edward to be worthy of a second chance with Bella?  Rosalie is just as clueless as Esme and Alice.  It's a sad case.  There isn't one person with a bit of common sense in that entire family.  All three of them had the benefit of having their husband's present for the birth of their children, have all been in secure loving relationships with the men that they love, surrounded by family.  Where do they get the nerve to make demands on Bella?  Why is everything always about them?  What they want.  What they need.  Their guilt.  Their need for absolution and so on and so forth!  When will anything be about Bella when it comes to that family?  When will they realize that they are not entitled to automatic forgiveness?  God, but you make it very difficult to like any of them.  Esme's statement of "We didn't just find her to have one of the Velathris steal her from me...us," did not help her character at all.  Instead, she came across as being juvenile and self absorbed...just like Alice.  Even Bella's actions and behavior are starting to make me wonder.  I blamed Carlie's apparent lack of loyalty on the Cullen blood running through her veins, but I'm starting to wonder if her lack of common sense wasn't also derived from, Bella.  The woman sat there and had zero reaction as a grown ass man confessed his intentions of employing war tactics against her 14 year old daughter.....in what reality does this compute?  Bella's only reaction was, "You hurt my daughter and...using the vernacular you seem fond of...I'll open up a can of 'whoop ass' on you." I mean WTF?  His statement wasn't a joke!  What the hell happened to "I don't care what game you and your fucked up family are playing at, but be sure to leave my daughter out of it.  Fuck with me and I'll rescind the visitation agreement so fast your heads will spin."  Bella's actions within the last two chapters are making her character a lot less likable.  She, Jacob Black, and the Velathri's were the only likable characters in the story....she is slowly emerging into a questionable character herself.  I keep looking for the strong Bella we met in the chapter dealing with the visitation agreement and I'm coming up empty.

Seriously, what the heck are the Cullen's smoking and where can I get some?  They are all obviously smoking something very, very good!  Just when you think there might be one redeemable person amongst that pit of vipers, they pull some stupidity that causes you to reconsider and despise them all the more!  Based on their actions or lack thereof in the past, I had already found Carlisle and Esme to be two of the stupidest parents ever created, but Carlisle managed to top his own stupidity meter in the last chapter.  Where the hell did he get the nerve to refer to Bella as his daughter?  "Hello, you no good piece of horse manure, Bella is no more your daughter than I am!"   How dare he have called her that after abandoning her the way he did?  If that doesn't cause Bella to blow a gasket, then I don't know what will.  I was also shocked by his blatant invasion of her privacy.  How could he have misuse his position in this way?  He blackmailed another physician into giving him access to Bella's file....that is illegal!  Please tell me he is going to lose his license or something!  That little stunt did nothing to redeem him or his family.  It worsened their image, if you can believe that.  I've said it before, and I will say it again...Edward has zero concept of what it is to love.  He wasn't at all bothered by his father's actions!  These people are unreal.  They cheered and were excited at the prospect of the chaos the press with cause in Bella and Carlie's lives.  What kind of father is going to grin at the thought of his daughter being harassed?  He showed his true colors during that scene.  All he cared about was using the latest developments to get Bella to interact with him.  His first priority and thought ought to have been with protecting his daughter.  Lastly, I don't know how I feel about the Bella and Emmett interaction.  His reasons for staying away are very plausible, but I don't think Bella should have been so comfortable with him.  At the end of the day, it has been 15 years....people change and grows apart.  I think their reconnection should have gone a little bit slower than it did.  The hug was nice, but I don't believe it should have happened yet.  I'm very excited for the upcoming chapter.

 

Till Next Time,

 

Kari

 

Good chapter.

Just worried about Bella and Carlie if this media sit down goes to hell in a handbasket if the truth because one of the paps dug into everyone's background? That sort of thing makes me nervous because Bella will be bowled over if someone spills the truth about what happened 15 years ago.

Of course maybe it's time for her to know the whole truth and for the Cullen's to stop pussy footing around. If the whole story comes out that way my heart really hurts for Bella and Carlie. : (

I for one am glad Aro is there. Bella's going to need a shoulder to lean after the fact.

I guess we will have to wait and see what the next chapters brings.

 

Loved the interaction between Emmette and Bella.  I would love to see a flashback of them when they were in high school.