Forget Me Not

(The Gents #1)

Nottinghamshire, 1785

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 forgive 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 despises him. With little hope of reconciliation, 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 loathes him-a lady he’s coming to love more deeply every day.

My review: 6.5/10

I had trouble wrapping my mind around the amount of loss Julia suffered. She had very good reason to have developed abandonment issues, given that the one person left to her, apart from her father, chose to leave her and made no effort maintain any kind of relationship with her.

*SPOILERS*
To be honest, the more the story went on and more arguments were made that he had always cared and thought of her non-stop, the less believable I found it. If he really talked about her, worried about her, shared stories and memories all the time... he would have written, or tried to see her, or picked up souvenirs and sent them to her, etc. anything at all over the past 8 years.

*More SPOILERS*
And I found her father's character inconsistent. I got the impression that he did little-to-nothing over the years to coax her out of pain and isolation. Then he got rather heavy handed, treated her coldly, and let her go. No further efforts on his part. Then he runs to her, crying and welcoming her back and allows her to stay indefinitely. He actually tells Lucas that if she doesn't want to speak to Lucas, he will have to honor her wishes. What? The time period and the father in question would more likely have refused her sanctuary to begin with. At the very least, would have told her she belongs to her husband now and needed to find a way to make it work.

I thought the concept of the gents was very sweet. I loved how her brother Stanley had been intertwined in the group. It lent credence to the way they embraced her so thoroughly immediately. Though I wished there had really only been showing (rather than telling) of each of their characters, and though I found too much similarity between the gents (which is supposed to be a new, different series, despite this being a prequel of the former series) and the Jonquil brothers, I was intrigued enough by each of them to look forward to their stories.

I think my biggest trouble was the sadness book-ending this story. I felt so badly for Julia, for everything she had gone through. For what seemed like endless suffering. And knowing what is awaiting her in the future made it hard for me let my guard down too, to be happy for her. It was bittersweet.