A romance book with the amnesia trope and I didn't hate it?? Sound the alarm!!
I actually liked it here because it made sense, from the start Jeremiah didn't have his memories so we as readers didn't have to go through the pain of him having them then losing them then finding them again which is the main reason I dislike that trope (I don't mind if they're already lost and then have to be rediscovered, like here).
There was a mystery element to the book, not just in relation to who Jeremiah was prior to the memory loss, but also whether there was foul play involved. Handsome men don't just end up floating in the ocean in the middle of a storm, believe it or not.
After Remy fishes him out their story starts. They bicker and don't like each other, except they DO like each other, but there's things stopping them from getting together. Mainly Remy's past & the fact that Jeremiah doesn't have all of his memories yet, and well, his identity too.
I won't spoil any of that though, I liked the clues we got and at first I was surprised at how fast we got the reveal, but considering everything else that happened after it made sense.
I do still feel like there was a bit too much filler in the book, from the other characters. I didn't mind hearing Jude's PoV as his was the most relevant next to the two leads, and because his own book is next, but the others didn't add that much to the story.
As for the romance, I liked it, but I definitely got mad at both of them on separate occasions. But not as mad as I usually get when I'm reading contemporary romance so I'm counting that as a win. These characters actually acted like adults, and yeah Jeremiah could have his spoiled moments (especially at the start), but I wasn't rolling my eyes at either of them.
We got some cute lines between them too, for example:
“Why are you here?”
“Because this is where you are.” He looked her straight in the face while gently extracting an inch- long curl of wood from her topknot. “If this is where you are, then this is the only place I want to be.”
I also liked the Wendell/Marisol side story, I'm so glad they got their happy ending.
What I had a bit of a problem with was the heavy atmosphere. It wasn't because of the mystery or because of what happened to Remy, just something that prevented me from having a fully enjoyable time with the book. It could've been the writing a bit, I'm not sure. But something was there.
The first half was more engaging than the second, this is probably because the MCs spent a lot of time apart in the second half. I was just waiting for them to meet again, then there was an opportunity, but it didn't work so the wait was even longer until the climax.
Also, I didn't guess the twist at the end, but I wasn't trying to. I think the other clues we got for the other side plots were better done than that one.
Anyhow, this was my first book by the author, and I liked it enough to give book two a try when it comes out in February. If that goes well I might go back and read some of her other books too, though this one has appealed to me the most since I saw it months ago.