Marriage is a difficult institution. Couple it with adulthood, child rearing, family dynamics, and career stressors the weight produces a breaking point. Zane Michaelson tells of his fall down the rabbit hole of each of these stressors and lands in the depression zone. His wife Jenna knew her husband had fallen but had no experience how to fix him. Then, Zane made the risky move of contacting his old roommate. A roommate he’d loved and adored while in college. As he drowned in his own depression, his old roommate brought him back to the light. Little did Zane know his wife was aware of this indiscretion but saw the change in him she was unable to make.

However, affairs of the heart come with consequences, and There are Two Sides to Every Story is an amazing journey of one couple’s fight for the love they both desire. It is a read which I’m still processing daily as it holds incredible value to the human condition.

I embarked on the true confession story of Zane and Jenna Michaelson after meeting them in an author take over in Red’s Erotic Bookshelf Facebook group. I decided I needed to get in and read some of their body of work and bought the combined novella series I Know What You’re Doing along with Jenna’s perspective piece, How Does A Moment Last Forever in There are Two Sides to Every Story. The work took my breath away.

Zane’s candid confession of depression, crisis, recovery, and beyond is one of remarkable beauty. Combine his open book with the raw tell-all from Jenna as the wife, mother, and strength of a goddess and you have one extraordinary testament of the power of love, and the meaning of unconditional love at its best.

The big theme within their story is the fragile exploration of the human condition is too often labeled by society and misunderstood. The idea of love as a condition of being and love as a condition of a soul are explored by both Zane and Jenna as they take the road less traveled and learned (continue to learn) how their commitment and desire for one another ran deeper than the surface. The hurdles they jump and the times they fall down were never reasons to give up on one another but reasons to give up on themselves. However, as one soul mate to another, they provided a strength without judgment and recovered what they already knew was before them, unconditional love.

This depiction of the good, bad, and ugly of life and love along with mistakes and mending is one of the best tales I’ve read in a long time. In a society that gives up too easily and throws in the towel rather than figures out a solution, their journey of love provides a hope for working through the toughest of life and understanding what’s at stake. Their story goes beyond staying together for their children. They truly are soul mates who’ve learned what it means to love someone enough to let them go, and if they come back, it’s meant to be.

One added note, which resonated in my heart, was the raw confession of not labeling the sexual nature with modern-day terms. This is not a story of sexuality and gender specifications; it is a story of love, heartbreak, loving again, and understanding the difference between love and being in love. The understanding of depression and its dark grips also plays a huge factor in this beautiful story. The grip depression holds on one’s psyche can be deadly. In today’s society with suicide on the rise, it was refreshing to see a couple fight through the darkness and learn to recognize one another’s faults without judgment. It also speaks to their strengths as a couple, parents, and family members.

This is a story not to be missed. A raw tell all of the things most people sweep away and keep in the closet. Zane and Jenna Michaelson continue to fight for their journey and their story is one of great strength and beauty.

There Are Two Sides to Every Story – http://geni.us/akuyp5