Second chance romance. College setting.
Dealing with the grief of loosing a new born baby who lived for 7 days but died of a heart defect.
Separation of 4 years. Hero left after funeral, not returning.
Hero slept with prostitutes during separation, got close to one in particular.
Heroine didn't date (of course).
Hero goes to other woman after being rejected by heroine when they see each other again. They try to be intimate but he isnt into it so he leaves.
Heroine finds texts and pictures from his past women on his phone before he has explained about his past.
Hero and heroine had not used condoms and had not discussed previous partners.
Cliffhanger ending to duet.
Secondary characters with a story brewing for future books. ( )

"Our baby died on prom night, and nothing was ever the same again."

I'll be honest. With a description that started like that, I was expecting Forever Innocent to be much more emo than it was. I was expecting histrionics on a scale only middle schoolers can aspire to. What I walked away with was a deep sense of what losing a baby you didn't expect must do to someone emotionally. Especially when you are just leaving highschool. I know that my high school self would not have coped well with half of what Corabelle and Gavin went through.

Both of their reactions to the death of their baby made total sense. They weren't the reactions that you would hope to have in that situation, but realistically... Yeah. Self destruction would rule my mental space for a while, I'm sure. Then, to top it off, if I was Corabelle and dealing with the misplaced guilt and the baby-daddy running off, never to be seen again, on the day of the funeral? I might have a few emotional problems too. There were some really painful scenes in this book, that were incredibly hard to read.

Now, for the reasons that this only got a "liked" star rating. One big thing that confused/annoyed me was the non-presence of Corabelle's parents post-Finn. They seemed very involved in both H/H's lives, and then weren't there for their daughter emotionally afterward? It seems like they would have been able to help and see that she needed psychological help. Near the end, we also began slipping into emo territory, but it was only around the last 30 pages. And the ending was... abrupt to say the least. When I saw that this was the beginning of a series, I wasn't surprised. They still have some pretty major issues to work out.

My biggest issue though was that I never connected with Corabelle or Gavin. I didn't particularly like or dislike either of them, so it was hard to cheer on their (possible) HEA. The scenes I most connected with were the flashbacks of the events surrounding Finns birth, but this was in a more general way, not specifically because it was those two characters going through these heart-rending moments.

Overall, a refreshingly grounded look at two kids who had a kid, lost their kid, lost themselves, and tried to make it work years later. Nothing in their story was easy, and I don't expect it will get any easier, though I am not likely to read the next installment.

ARC courtesy of Casey Shay Press, via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

An incredibly beautiful and deeply moving love story. After dealing with a devastating loss and long separation, two you lovers are reunited only to have life once again tear them apart. Very well written with characters you root for and cry for. This is a book I would recommend to everyone. ( )

I have to say that I did love this book. I do have a few things that I personally would have changed, like the fast pace at which Corabelle and Gavin got together again but it was a good read and I am looking forward to the next book. For a full review please check out my blog at http://aamzybookwonder.blogspot.co.uk/ ( )

I have to say that I did love this book. I do have a few things that I personally would have changed, like the fast pace at which Corabelle and Gavin got together again but it was a good read and I am looking forward to the next book. For a full review please check out my blog at http://aamzybookwonder.blogspot.co.uk/ ( )