Review: The One You Can’t Forget by Roni Loren

The One You Can’t Forget
(The Ones Who Got Away #2)
by Roni Loren
Publisher: Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication date: June 5, 2018
Genre: Romance
Rating:

Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter…
The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn’t deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she’s thrown herself into her work. She can’t dwell if she never slows down.

Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca―the attorney who helped his ex ruin him―his simple life gets complicated.

Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca’s secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other

She laughed and kissed him. This morning she’d melted down. But somehow this man had her laughing and turned on only a few hours later. Everything inside her felt buoyed.

She felt…light.

She’d forgotten what that felt like.

There’s so much that’s wrapped up in this story. It isn’t just about Rebecca’s PTSD over the school shooting that took place over a decade ago. There’s so many layers to this story that it’s hard to not get enveloped in it all. Both Rebecca and Wes have been through so much in life. Not only does Rebecca have emotional and physical scars from the shooting, but she also has this crushing sense of guilt over it all. She feels like there was something she could have done, things she could have done differently that would have prevented that tragedy from happening.  Wes hit rock bottom when his wife divorced him, drug his name and his livelihood through the dirt, took his future away from him, and left him with nothing. He’s starting to get his feet under him when we meet him coming to Rebecca’s rescue. Little do we know how entwined their past, present, and future really are.

One thing that I loved about this story is how completely different these characters are. I’m not talking about their personalities, but their current status in life. Rebecca is a highly sought after divorce lawyer who is on top of her game. Wes is just starting to pick himself up off of the ground. He’s starting to get that spark of life back in his eyes, and I loved watching these two come together. Not only does Rebecca help bring him to a better place, but he helps calm her and allows her to see that there is more to life. These two were perfect for each other.

I love that this story is so much more than what the synopsis leads you to believe. I thought it was just going to be a romance that would explode at the climatic part when Wes finds out that Rebecca is the lawyer who helped his ex-wife ruin his life. Instead, that bomb is dropped close to the beginning which leaves so much more story development to take place. And trust me, there is a lot of awesome plot twists in this story. If you’re looking for a well-rounded romance, then look no further than Roni Loren’s, The Ones Who Got Away series.

Favorite quote…

“Surviving a tragedy didn’t make you magical. It made you tough. Not special. Just lucky.”

Previous reviews from The Ones Who Got Away
The Ones Who Got Away