Review: Wonderful emotional contemporary romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 4, 2013
Unforgiven is an emotional book that hooks you from the beginning and does not let you go. I cried throughout this book, big ugly tears. And although it took me on this rollercoaster ride of emotion, it was a very good book.Bailey Trent has been home in Savory, Arkansas for about two months. She is living near her mother, keeping to herself, lying low. That is until she cuts her hand open and has to visit the emergency room and runs into Darren Cory. He did not realize she was home and the emotion on his face is pure hatred.Darren, his sister Jess and Bailey were best of friends in their teens and early twenties. They were always together and Bailey often told Jess that she was going to marry Darren one day. That was until tragedy hit and nothing was ever the same.It has been a long time since I read a book that was so full of raw emotion that I cried throughout. The story is so heartbreaking at first and as we go through the hurt, loss, love and finally forgiveness – or maybe forgiveness and then love, we come out in the end drained but refreshed. Bailey has paid her dues and comes back to her hometown to be with her mother, she has had a tough go of it, I often wonder why her mother was still living in Savoy since she also had some rough times in that town. It seems like Bailey is punishing herself as she tries to move on. It is only after she meets up with Darren that we see pain and anger. I like Bailey, she is a very strong, brave woman, I am not sure I could go back after such a tragedy but she takes all that is thrown at her, up to a point. I did think she waited too long at times, she was in such a toxic situation. Darren, what to say about him, I really liked him before the tragedy, they were great friends and I loved how they got along, the word game they played was engaging, and although I think he had some wonderful qualities, he is now such a different person and treats Bailey so poorly, yes he is hurting and has had a hard time moving on but ugh. And although I had a hard time with him, I think the chemistry between them is amazing, they sizzled when they are together and somewhere in their relationship you can see what they were to each other before.The progression of the story is paced well; the past and present is woven together as we learned how the two got to where they are today. I really enjoyed Michelle, Bailey’s best friend and biggest supporter, she is amazing, Darren’s mother is also an incredible character and added much to the story, of course we can’t forget Macy, the wonderful dog that seemed to help diffuse many situations. This is the first book I have read from this author, and it is such a wonderfully emotional read that I will definitely look for more books from her.Copy from publisher for an honest review