Clare Boneli has felt like a stranger to herself ever since the night an accident took her memory. The night she made a choice between two very different men.
Both Brady Langston and Jonathan Harris are good men. But their versions of her are so opposite, it’s as if she’s two different people. One man holds her career future and one man seems to hold her heart. Because when she’s with Brady everything feels so true, so right. As she moves closer to the truth about that fateful night, Clare has to choose again. To stick with the life she’s made for herself. Or listen to what her heart’s been trying to tell her…
There are a lot of people I know that don’t like the amnesia storyline. I’ve never personally had a problem with it, depending on how it was written. I loved Mirror Image by Sandra Brown. So depending on how the amnesia actually fits in the story is what I look for. It worked in this book b/c that’s what it was all about.
After an accident, Clare can’t remember anything that happened in the past year. She knows who she is, she knows who her friends are, and she knows she loves her job. Unfortunately she’s torn between two men. Her best friend Brady and the boyfriend she can’t remember, Jonathan.
I’m sure that the character of Jonathan was hard to write. Because the reader learns about Clare’s past as she learns about it, Jonathan had to be semi-likable. Technically it wasn’t a “love triangle”. An astute reader would pick up right away who Clare is meant to be with, so I’ll just say it. Brady is the hero, but Jonathan is Clare’s boyfriend. It sounds like a love triangle, but it’s really not (that’s only my opinion of course).
Clare’s amnesia made her rediscover things about herself that she had forgotten. The reaction she now gets from her friends and family told her that she wasn’t someone that she now wanted to be. It would a journey of self-discovery that Clare was on. She was a strong heroine who was determined not to make the same mistakes twice. I really admired that about her. Even when it was hard for her, she tried to do the right thing.
I think that even Holly readers that don’t like amnesia story lines will like this one.
3.75 out of 5.
This book is available from Harlequin Superromance. You can buy it here.
I thought the amnesia angle was really well done in this story. I don’t dislike that particular plot device, but it’s also not one of my favorites. It was actually my favorite aspect of this story!
But….
I really only liked Clare, her sister and her therapist. Everyone else came off as supremely selfish IMHO. Also I just thought it was weird that her friends were so possessive of her. Makes one wonder if her and Brady will have a moment’s peace or if they’ll have to spend every waking moment with the other two residents of the Victorian! LOL
Also, like you said, Brady is very clearly the hero – but I also found him rather selfish, and Jonathan wasn’t exactly a prize either. Part of me kept hoping that Clare would tell both of these guys to get lost and she would ride off into the sunset by herself!