Of all the bars in all the towns in all the world, the stranger walks into Brody Tyler’s. With no memory and a name he chose from a newspaper, Nash is a gamble—one Brody is willing to take. It isn’t long before Brody and Nash fall in love, but then a tragic accident shatters their cozy world, resetting Nash’s memory once again.
The “new” Nash Walker is a businessman with a bottom line, and he doesn’t care what or who gets stomped on. Waking up in a hospital bed after a hit-and-run with no idea where he’s been for the past six months is bad enough, but someone trying to kill him is even worse. Enter Brody Tyler, accidental bodyguard.
Brody’s determined to help Nash remember and bring back the man he loves. Nash thinks Brody’s a drop-dead gorgeous pain in the ass. If only he could remember….
What do you do when a gorgeous man walks into your bar? Well, if you’re a bartender, as Brody is, you sit down and listen to him. Brody hears a story that tears at his heartstrings. The man was attacked and had spent the last 3 months in the hospital recovering but he has no idea who he is. He has no memory of the attack or his life before that. When he overheard the doctor saying that they were going to send him off to what amounted to a loony bin, he hightailed it out of there. After a couple of nights on the street he ended up in Brody’s bar.
Brody is the type of man who tries to help everyone and after hearing the man’s story he offers him not only a job but the spare room in his apartment above the bar. Yes, it’s taking a huge chance but his instincts are telling him that he can trust the guy. The amnesiac takes the first step and picks out a name for himself from the newspaper then he learns how to be a bartender. Brody and Nash, as he now calls himself, spend all of their time together and after about a month become more intimate and then inseparable, falling madly in love.
One day though Nash is struck by a car and again sent to the hospital. When he awakens he knows exactly who he is but he has no memory of the last 3 months. He’s back to being Nash Walker, businessman and asshole extraordinaire. He heads back to his home and wants to continue with his life but when the police tell him they think that someone is trying to kill him (stabbing, hit and run, yeah, it sounds that way) his mother decides to get him a bodyguard.
Brody can’t find Nash and it’s driving him crazy. When he sees Nash on the news he’s extremely relieved until the police tell him that it’s better for Nash if Brody doesn’t see him. Brody takes the bodyguard position thinking that Nash will recognize him but instead Nash just wants his body – with no recollection of what they had together and it breaks Brody’s heart to know that he may never have his sweet Nash back.
I have a thing for amnesia stories. What it is about them that draws me I can’t say but if it involves amnesia, I’m there. Now some are done well and others not so much. This story definitely falls into the done well category.
I loved the first part of the book with Nash and Brody falling in love. They were so good together and just seemed like they were perfect for each other. It broke my heart to see Brody so broken up over Nash’s disappearance but seeing what a complete and total jerkwad that Nash turned into I was kind of glad that Brody didn’t have to see that. But Brody wasn’t going to sit by and wait for someone to finally say that he could see Nash – he took matters into his own hands and I had to admire him for that.
Nash and Brody together when Nash was the businessman was a sight, lemme tell ya. Nash seriously made me want to deck him on several occasions and I wanted nothing more than to see him get his. He finally did remember it all and when he did it was a good thing. (You never know how that’s gonna go). The end seemed a bit rushed but I liked it just the same.
The suspense part of the story – with someone trying to kill Nash was very secondary to the relationship in this book and I’m glad it was. Nash and Brody were so good together that I was happy that only a small portion of the book was taken up by the suspense plot.
This is my first read by this author and it most certainly won’t be my last. A very good book that I definitely recommend.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Lisa Worrall
Dreamspinner Press
Sounds like a good one… I'm not into amnesia stories, but the premise sounds interesting.
Did you read Dead Run by Josh Lanyon? It's the fourth of a series, but one of the characters suffers from amnesia briefly.
It was a really good book whether you like amnesia or not. 🙂
I haven't read Dead Run but I plan to. I've read the first two in that series and really liked them. Just need to read 3 & 4 now!
Great review Tracy. I really, really like the sound of this, so I've added it to my wish list at ARe so I won't forget it.
Amnesia stories…I'm OK with them. I think they need to be realistic though 🙂
Orannia – I thought it was a nice blend of the amnesia and of course the unexpected change in personality that was really surprising. Hop eyou like it.