Read The Perfect Marriage Online

Authors: Kimberla Lawson Roby

The Perfect Marriage (16 page)

If you or a loved one is struggling with drug addiction, please visit the National Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Information
Center at:

You can also call the 24-hour national hotline number at:

(800) 784-6776.

To find a Narcotics Anonymous meeting in your area, please visit:

  1. At the beginning of the novel we see Denise and Derrek at a meeting for people who have problems with drug abuse. Considering
    the level of their drug use at the start of the story, do you think this meeting was necessary for them, or was it an overreaction?
    Why? 
  2. We often hear people refer to
    social
    smokers or
    social
    drinkers, meaning they only use nicotine or alcohol in a social atmosphere. Do you believe there is such a thing as a
    social drug user
    ? What about prescription drugs? If a woman lends her friend a prescription pill to help her sleep or calm her nerves during
    an especially stressful event, is that drug abuse? 
  3. Denise and Derrek keep some pretty big secrets from one another, but it didn’t start out that way. At first they only keep
    what they consider small secrets. Is it ever okay to keep a secret from your spouse? Or is keeping a secret of any kind harmful
    to a marriage? 
  4. We learn that Derrek and his brother, Dixon, had had a fight over money, and this is what had kept them apart. Do you think
    the issue was that Dixon didn’t repay Derrek the money he borrowed, or that Derrek didn’t approve of how Dixon spent the money?
    When a person gives another person a loan, do they have the right to judge how that money is spent? 
  5. Denise holds herself to very high standards—something she learned to do during her childhood. While the pressure she put on
    herself ultimately led to her problems, it also helped her to achieve a high level of success. How can someone balance striving
    to achieve her full potential and protecting herself from unrealistic expectations? As a parent, how can someone encourage
    her child to succeed without making her afraid to fail? 
  6. Both of Derrek’s parents and his brother struggled with drug addiction. Do you think a propensity to become addicted to drugs
    is hereditary? If so, does that make Derrek’s drug use more excusable (it was inevitable that he would use drugs) or does
    it make his behavior more irresponsible (knowing his family history he should have been more careful)? 
  7. When someone is struggling with addiction, what do we expect of the people around them? For example, should Denise’s friend
    Michelle have noticed her odd behavior and questioned it more? Should Derrek’s boss have spoken up sooner and encouraged him
    to get treatment rather than fire him? Or does the responsibility to change belong solely to the addict? 
  8. Denise and Derrek turn to drugs as a form of stress release. What are other, healthier ways they could have managed their
    stress? 
  9. Denise’s mother, Wilma, is another character who keeps secrets from the people she loves. Why do you think Wilma keeps the
    truth about her marriage secret? Fear? Shame? Denial? How do you think her behavior impacted Densie? 
  10. Mackenzie was so desperate to save her family that she took dramatic—and dangerous—action. What might you have counseled her
    to do instead? And what advice would you offer her while she’s healing, both physically and emotionally, from all she’s been
    through? 
  11. It’s not only drugs, alcohol, or gambling that people can become addicted to. People can develop addictions to food, shopping,
    the Internet—anything. Can an addiction ever be harmless? What advice would you give to someone battling an addiction? 
  12. Is there such a thing as a perfect marriage? What qualities must a marriage have to be described as perfect? 
The Reverend Curtis Black Series

The Reverend’s Wife

Love, Honor, and Betray

Be Careful What You Pray For

The Best of Everything

Sin No More

Love & Lies

The Best-Kept Secret

Too Much of a Good Thing

Casting the First Stone

Stand-Alone Titles

Secret Obsession

A Deep Dark Secret

One in a Million

Changing Faces

A Taste of Reality

It’s a Thin Line

Here & Now

Behind Closed Doors

Thank you for buying this e-book, published by Hachette Digital.

To receive special offers, bonus content, and news about our latest e-books and apps, sign up for our newsletters.

Sign Up

Or visit us at
hachettebookgroup.com/newsletters

Contents

Welcome

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

One Year Later

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Epilogue

Author’s Note

Discussion Questions for
The Perfect Marriage

Also by Kimberla Lawson Roby

Newsletters

Copyright

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

Copyright © 2013 by Kimberla Lawson Roby
All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of
any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property.
If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained
by contacting the publisher at [email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

Grand Central Publishing
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017

www.HachetteBookGroup.com
www.twitter.com/grandcentralpub

First e-book Edition: January 2013

Grand Central Publishing is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.
The Grand Central Publishing name and logo is a trademark of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

The Hachette Speakers Bureau provides a wide range of authors for speaking events. To find out more, go to
www.hachettespeakersbureau.com
or call (866) 376-6591.

The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

ISBN 978-1-4555-1839-5

Other books

A Latent Dark by Martin Kee
The Test by Claire, Ava
I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith
The Fall by Toro, Guillermo Del, Hogan, Chuck
Wonderlust by B.L Wilde
Edith’s Diary by Patricia Highsmith


readsbookonline.com Copyright 2016 - 2024