This is such a weird, brilliant story!

 Espoused by Jean Marie Davis released in July in the Contemporary Fiction, Literary, Humor genre.

Espouse: (v.) to take in marriage; to make a marriage permanent by court decree; the court-approved process by which couples may stay together beyond the legal 15-year term.

In the contemporary world, fifteen years is considered the legal life cycle of a marriage. If a couple wants to stay together (married), they must hire a lawyer and petition the court to become Espoused.

After 14 years of marriage, Sara and Thomas Healy are still in love. Their decision to go to court to be espoused permanently is a source of great embarrassment for their children. Avery is ready for the benefits of uncoupling, and Sam really doesn’t need the social stigma of parents who decide to stay together, on top of everything else. Lame! Their espouse attorney, Gwen Stevens, has other problems. The judge for the Healy case is her nemesis, Carly Abraham, also known as “the Wicked Witch of the Bench.” Judge Abraham was previously married to Gwen’s husband Dennis, from whom she uncoupled after the allotted 15 years. She hates espouse lawyers on principle, and seems to have an extra dose of dislike for Gwen personally.

While the Healys struggle through the espouse experience—trial separation, uncouple counseling, and ongoing financial burdens—Gwen has to deal with the judge and her own struggles at home. In this fight for love, who has the answers?

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Meet the Author:

Jean Marie Davis was born and raised in Huntington, New York. After graduating from Southern Illinois University – Carbondale, she moved back to Long Island where she worked in the Marketing Research industry for over 30 years. She currently lives in Centerport, New York close to her daughter and son.

There are many books out there…. What makes your book different?

There are plenty of books about love, romance, marriage, and divorce. I didn’t want to do anything typical.  Married couple has relationship issues, man cheats on woman, woman cheats on man, both cheat on each other, blah, blah, blah. I wanted an idea that would get people talking, something different, something no one had thought about yet.

Espoused is a satirical novel where marriages are legally dissolved after fifteen years, and those who wish to stay together must go to court to do so.

In the US, the divorce rate is at, near, or slightly over fifty percent depending on who you talk to or what you read.  Being through a divorce myself, it certainly was emotionally, mentally, and physically draining and not anything I would wish on anyone.  Heck, since the divorce rate is near fifty percent, why don’t we have the married couples fight to stay together? Why pit two people against one another who want to be apart? Why not a team of people fighting to stay together? So much more civilized, right?

Not so sure it would be more civil. You have to remember all of the societal norms that would be upset. If the norm was for uncoupling, you would still have issues with kids being upset, there would still be societal shame (“did you hear so-and-so are staying together?”), lawyers, financial problems, and the questioning of your own decisions. Doesn’t sound like it would change much of anything?

I wanted to explore this angle so creating a story and reversing the marriage experience seemed like a fun and interesting subject. It was not easy and there were a number of times I had to re-write sections because I kept falling into the current world….not my made up one!

It still exposes how romantic love can change over time and that doesn’t matter if there was divorce or espouse. It happens. I just wanted to have some fun with the idea of letting the married couples have to fight for a change instead of the divorcees!

Espoused premise allowed me to parody some of the current norms of love and commitment. What I hope the book does is give people a laugh and also stir some conversation.  Why can’t we switch it up a little? Change the rules? Nah, just kidding, it’s fine just like it is……or is it?

Connect with the Author:  ​Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook  ~ Goodreads

Giveaway:​

Enter to win a signed copy of Jean Marie Davis’ ESPOUSED, plus a $25 Amazon Gift Card (one winner) (USA only)(ends Sep 10)

https://gleam.io/WH2r3/esoused-book-tour-giveaway

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