Forget Me Not by Sarah Eden

Forget Me Not by Sarah Eden ISBN-13: 9781524413354 Paperback: 256 pages Publisher: Covenant Communications Released: September 7th 2020

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Julia Cummings has long been acquainted with loss-her mother, her brother, her sister, her friend, all gone too soon. But the loss that pushed her grief to the limit as a young girl was that of her best friend, Lucas Jonquil, who abandoned her without looking back. Now, eight years later, Lucas has returned to Lampton Park, and Julia has steeled herself-she will never again trust the man who broke her heart.

After losing too many of his friends and family to early deaths, Lucas vowed to live life to the fullest. And after traversing the world, he has returned from his adventures to find his family and home as he left them-except for Julia. The little girl he left behind has blossomed into a captivating lady, a lady who makes it clear she wants nothing to do with him. Then the former friends are blindsided when their parents make a shocking announcement. Lucas and Julia have been betrothed without their knowledge and are to marry immediately. Now Lucas must rely on the help of his closest friends to win the heart of a lady who doesn't trust him-a lady he’s coming to love more deeply every day.


My Review:
Forget Me Not is a romance set in 1785 in England. After so many of her friends and family have died or left her, Julia has decided it's better to be lonely than experience heartbreak again. Though Lucas has lost the same people, he's been able to create a close circle of friends and travel to deal with his grief. When he returns home after years away and little contact, he's baffled when his once best friend Julia makes it clear that she doesn't want to spend time with him and doesn't trust him. When their parents surprise them by publicly announcing their betrothal and forcing a quick marriage, both fight the idea but are given no choice. Lucas tries to go on living like he did before marriage, but he can see how his actions are crushing Julia. Unable to figure out how to fix things, he welcomes a visit from his close friends (the Gents). They give him advice and help rebuild Julia's trust in others.

The characters were complex, interesting, likable, and reacted realistically to events. But this was hard to read for me because Julia was so heartbroken for most of it. Lucas didn't mean to be cruel and could be thoughtful, but he didn't think through how his words and actions affected others and (like most people) tended to do what he wanted over offering selfless love. His friends helped him to uncover the hurt he caused long ago and to repair the damage already done in his marriage. I loved the Gents and look forward to their future stories. Historical details about the fashions and such of the time were woven into the story. While I'll accept that a forced marriage could happen as described, I had a hard time believing that the parents really didn't expect that their children would object to a public announcement with no notification of the betrothal ahead of time. There was no sex or bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this historical romance.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.