Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Forgetful Hearts
SERIES: A Hometown Jasper Novel
AUTHOR: Nicky James
NARRATOR: Nick J. Russo
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 9 hours and 26 minutes
RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2021
BLURB:
Why can’t Shay remember when his nemesis became his lover?
Shay would never associate with Josiah. Not only is he his brother’s ex-best friend, but he’s arrogant, cocky, and rude.
When Josiah claims they’re dating and that Shay forgave him for his past transgressions, Shay is convinced he’s lying. Except, since the accident that left him with no memory, Shay isn’t sure of anything.
The last six months are a black hole in his mind. What’s worse, Shay is convinced that whatever happened to him wasn’t an accident, at all. But the only person who believes him is Josiah.
Perhaps, together, they can figure out the truth. Maybe, retracing their steps will shake loose those missing pieces.
Can Shay put trust in the man he swore to hate? Will regaining those memories be good or bad? What if the truth was written on his heart the whole time?
Forgetful Hearts is a low angst MM romance novel with amnesia, age gap, enemies-to-lovers, and brother’s ex-best friend tropes. It is part of the Hometown Jasper Series but can be listened to as a stand-alone.
REVIEW:
Note: While this is the third book in the series and can technically be listened to as a stand-alone, it does contain major spoilers for the first two books 🙂 Also, the first two books give additional insight into Josiah in particular.
Shay Lee is a daredevil. But he’s not reckless. So when he wakes up after a pretty serious head injury and thinks it’s six month earlier, he’s surprised. When he’s told the reason for the head injury he’s not just surprised but he’s also skeptical. He does NOT take risks when climbing or skiing or motorbiking or skateboarding. He follows safety precautions. He studies them from every angle before taking the plunge. But climbing without safety gear while alone? That is not something he would ever do.
Josiah Ipening is the publisher of the local paper. Once the nemesis of Shay Lee – and recipient of a black eye and busted glasses from him – Shay and Josiah has recently taken quite the turn. They’ve gone from enemies to lovers. Except now Shay has absolutely no memory of that time – and he still sees Josiah as the enemy. He hurting and angry and he’s missing the entire time that their relationship changed and grew into something a little bit wonderful. And when his brother Tomi, who moved away from Jasper 20 years ago, arrives at Shay’s hospital room, things go from bad to worse. Because Josiah and Tomi had been best friends (and more) until their Senior year of high school. Shay and Josiah have already hashed all this out – but now Shay remembers nothing of it and he’s mad all over again at Josiah for what he supposedly did to Tomi that drove him away.
Shay is certain that he didn’t fall but he can’t seem to remember anything. But then he starts getting flashes – mostly in his dreams – of some a bit more nefarious happening to him on that cliff edge. But it’s just out o his grasp. He’s absolutely positive that something else happened up there on that ridge but nobody besides Josiah seems to believe him. When they return to the scene though, Shay does have some breakthroughs – just not of what actually happened but also of his time with Josiah and some additional evidence that he did not fall. When he does remember, he still can’t quite break all the way through – until Josiah’s hobby shows that things were not as they seem. But unless he can remember, he might still be in danger.
So I was on the fence on this once quite a bit. It’s funny because this is the second amnesia story I’ve listened to in the last month – although this one was quite different to the first 😉 Shay is a brash and borderline aggressive personality. He’s a confident gay man who takes sh*t from no one. His size and his personality have made him a bit more in-you-face because of the treatment he’s received his whole life. He will fight for what he believes is right and he can be a bit rude and mean. Josiah, who has a reputation for stirring things up in Jasper, is not at all what he seems on the surface. He’s never wanted a relationship and has gone off to the city for one night stands when the need arises. But now for the first time, he thinks he might have a chance for something real. And he’s devastated when Shay awakes with no memory of their time together. His determination to help Shay – despite Shay’s terrible treatment of him, for the second time, it admirable. He really does have feeling for Shay unlike he’s ever experienced before. The complication of his past with Tomi just added another layer of obstacles in their way. I have to say, the Lee brothers are NOT my favorite characters in this series. Both seem to be pretty self-involved and I didn’t like the way either of them treated Josiah. I did like the senior Lees – they seemed like nice loving supportive parents. I did like getting to know more about Josiah and why he’s the way he is and why he does what he does.
Once again Nick Russo’s narration was spot on. He was able to bring the rather manic energy of Shay and the reticence of Josiah to life. He was really good at making us believe Shay’s pain. His Lady Mallory was fabulous – again 🙂 She’s a great character! Definitely recommended and even though this wasn’t my favorite book in the series, I’m on to the next book 🙂
RATING: 
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