by Mandy Baggot
Published by HarperImpulse
306 pages
Genre: chick lit
Thanks to NetGalley for the preview
3 / 5
Seven years ago, Emma Barron's life gave her her most heartbreaking times and the greatest joy she could have imagined.
Today, she's made peace with what happened at a French campground those years ago, as she and her father grieved her mother's death and she found love with Guy Duval, a promising football (that's soccer to some of you) player. She also found herself with a son, after she found Guy in a state of undress with another lover.
Emma's nicely crafted life faces some upheaval, though, when Guy, now a football star, gets traded to a local team. The two reconnect, and seven years of lost happiness - of misunderstandings and love that will not die - converge on the two of them.
Emma is sweet and lovely, and you feel for her. She's in a relationship with someone she might be settling for, knowing that she gave her heart to Guy. But Guy hurt her, and she struggles with forgiveness. Guy is also likable; and he feels just as hurt by Emma. From his perspective, she assumed facts not in evidence and ran away before she could hear what he has to say. Then there is the pesky matter of her son. Is Guy the lad's dad?
I enjoyed this book ... for the most part. I'd say that my overall reaction is one of apathy. It's entertaining in some parts and overreaches in others. The romance is sweet, and there are some scenes of sexy times (although they are not wildly explicit). But the plot twists verge on the extreme and the nonsensical. One of them fits perfectly, but the other is just too much and unnecessary.
I struggled with what rating to give this one because when it's enjoyable, it's a lot of fun to read. But when it flies off into ridiculousness, it leaves a bad taste. There are better books out there for the price, but if you can ignore the dumb stuff, this is a cute one.
Thank you so much for taking the time to read Do You Remember?
ReplyDeleteMandy :)
This is a rather harsh and unnecessary criticism, after such a nice build up. You said, "I enjoyed this book." Then why trash it with your last comments? If you weren't going to give it a good review, why did you bother at all?
ReplyDeleteInteresting question, wordsfromanneli. Why did I bother? Well, this blog clearly does not cater to positive reviews only, nor will it ever do so. I review books honestly and will not give a book a stellar review unless I believe it deserves it.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the book, and I'm sure you noticed that the line you quoted was incomplete: "I enjoyed this book ... for the most part." If you look at other books of this ilk, you'll see that they are priced a little lower than $7.49. So for the price, I believe you can do better. It's cute and enjoyable, but one of the plot twists is unnecessary to the point of distraction.
I have tremendous respect for authors, and I appreciate the work it takes to write a novel. But that doesn't mean I'm going to lie in my reviews.
If you want a blog that caters solely to positive reviews, then this is not the blog for you. Thank you for your comments. I sincerely do appreciate them.