Come Back to Me by Sharon Sala

Title: Come Back to Me 

Series: Blessings, Georgia #6

Author: Sharon Sala 

Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca

Release Date: August 28, 2018

After a crime pitted their families against each other, high school sweethearts Phoebe Ritter and Aidan Payne were forced to say a tearful goodbye. Phoebe stayed behind in Blessings, Georgia, while Aidan and his father left town for good.

Twenty years later, after the death of his grandfather, Aidan comes home to Blessings--only to discover he has a nineteen-year-old son. Aidan is hurt, but thrilled to meet Lee. And as Aidan and Phoebe spend more time together, they realize their old feelings are as strong as ever. But with a complicated past riddled with drama and betrayal, can they truly forgive and forget?

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I was happy to take another mental road trip to Blessings, Georgia. A small town where everyone knows each other. 

This time, our newest couple is actually an old one. 

After a horrible fire, Aidan Payne and his father will be forced to leave Blessings when the town turns their back on the Payne family. Aidan not only loses his friends and home but he will lose the love of his life, Phoebe Ritter. She didn't trust him when he needed her the most. 

Phoebe lost her father during the same fire. A day later, she lost the love of Aidan by obeying her mother who blames Aidan's dad for the accident. It takes a few days for Phoebe to understand that she has made a mistake but when she goes back to tell Aidan she was wrong, he's packing the car to leave town. The last thing Phoebe does is to run behind his car and to scream for Aidan to come back for her. 

Fast forward years later and Aidan is going back to Blessings. His grandfather has died and he has inherited all his real-estate properties. Aidan has not been back since the fire. As he approaches Blessings, he admits to himself that he's not crazy about going back. Worse, he doesn't want to encounter Phoebe. He doesn't want to learn that she's now unavailable. Even after all these years, he has never forgotten her or been able to start a serious relationship with another woman. But Aidan is going to get the shock of his life. It turns out that when he left, Phoebe was pregnant with their son and now their son, Lee is a college student. 

I LOVED. LOVED. LOVED how the story unfolds. We get many points of views and each one helps the reader paint a better picture of what's really going on. For the most part, the people of Blessings are all helpful, compassionate and caring. They do like to meddle and gossip but what small town doesn't? 

Sharon Sala's books are always heartwarming and sweet. It's exactly what I need between my thrillers and suspense romance. 

Even though Come Back to Me is the sixth in the series, I believe you can read them as a standalone. 

Cliffhanger: No

4/5 Fangs

The One You Can't Forget by Roni Loren

Title: The One You Can't Forget 

Series: The Ones Who Got Away #2

Author:  Roni Loren 
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Release Date:  June 5, 2018 

Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter...

The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn't deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she's thrown herself into her work. She can't dwell if she never slows down.

Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca―the attorney who helped his ex ruin him―his simple life gets complicated.

Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca's secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other.

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I've come to expect great things from any book by Roni Loren. She always has a strong plot with great characters who have amazing chemistry! 

I was interested in learning about Rebecca's story after meeting her in The Ones Who Got Away. She had a chance to become a nuisance to Liv and Finn but she didn't. Instead, she was there to support them.

In The One You Can't Forget, Rebecca is still working long hours and helping her father with his campaign. She's a divorce lawyer who has plenty of clients and who has a good track record of winning. A decade after she became one of the survivors during the Long Acre High school shooting, she's still dealing with guilt, PTSD, and flashbacks. Getting mugged is not the way to overcome any of it. Thankfully, she is rescued by a stray dog and by Wes.

Wes Garrett is remaking his life. He lost his dream of becoming the chef in his own restaurant and all his money in an ugly divorce. This leads him to drown his sorrows in the bottle which made everything much worse for him. Now sober, he has taken a teaching job for a group of at-risk teenagers. He feels like he can make a difference in their lives and provide them with a choice to become someone productive after graduation. Meeting Rebecca wakes up a desire for a relationship. Convincing her is another matter. 

I liked Rebecca and Wess together. They both had suffered losses and they were trying to move on which was hard for them. Rebecca worked too much and had no personal life but Wes was able to show her that there was more to life than spending it on the job. On the other hand, she was able to support him in his new dream. Rebecca could be feisty when it was needed but she could also be vulnerable too. Wes had learned from his past mistakes and was trying to help himself and others less lucky than him.

The One You Can't Forget is an easy read with very little drama. I liked it but I didn't love it which is a first for this author. This won't deter me from reading the next two. 

Cliffhanger: No

3/5 Fangs

A complimentary copy was provided by Sourcebooks Casablanca via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.