Unchained Memories

by Dena Blake

Jillian McIntyre was ripped from her home in Oklahoma after she witnessed a brutal crime, even though she cannot remember the details. Years later following her sisters death, Jillian must return to her hometown to locate her niece’s father, neither of whom knows the other exists. A TV investigative journalist by trade, Jillian conceals her identity to complete the task.

Amelia Mathews is a family attorney who doesn’t have time for romance. After growing up in a volatile household, she’s devoted to advocating for abused and mistreated children. Amelia and her brother provide a voice to children who have no one else to speak for them. When a woman and her niece come to town in need of assistance, Amelia can’t seem to detach this time. As her attachment to them grows, Amelia’s world becomes more complicated than she ever imagined.

The last thing Jillian expects is to fall for the girl she left behind. Confronted with unreconciled feelings for Amelia, Jillian begins to fall in love with the woman she’s become. Will Jillian give up her high-powered career for a second chance at love?

Genres: Lesbian, Second Chance, Lesbian Fiction, LGBT, Drama, Romance

270 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2017

About the author

Dena Blake grew up in a small town just north of San Francisco where she learned to play softball, ride motorcycles, and grow vegetables. She eventually moved with her family to the Southwest where she began creating vivid characters in her mind and bringing them to life on paper.

Dena’s first novel, Where the Light Glows, is a Rainbow Award winner for Best Lesbian Debut and A Country Girl's Heart is a Goldie Finalist.

Reviews

[Jane Shambler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of drama, lots of angst. But overall not bad. Honestly that's about it. There is so much going on I struggled to keep up to be honest.

Death, loss, domestic violence, crazy ex are just a few of the things covered in this book. Maybe the author felt the need to get it all out there at once. If you take away all the padding the story isn't that bad. But there is just so much padding. For example why was so much time put in to the crazy ex. I know ex's are usual in lesfic romance. But I honestly don't know why.

I really wanted to feel sorry for Abby but I jus couldn't as there was too much going on. I'm really struggling to write this review because I want to say everything is great but it wasn't. If you like drams, if you like angst and love a long story then give this a go. Enjoy!


*ARC provided by publisher via NetGalley*

[Lex Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 Stars. An angst filled romance. This is the second book I have read by Dena. I did not care for her first, Where the Light Glows. This book did have some of the same issues I had from her first book. But overall, the writing in this book was better and it was a step up for sure.

After the death of her sister, Jillian is charged with looking after her sister's daughter Abby. Abby has a biological father Blake, though neither Abby or Blake know about each other. Jillian wants to find out what sort of man Blake has turned out to be, before she dumps Abby with him. But a wrench is thrown into Jillian's plans when Blake's sister Amelia shows up. Amelia was Jillian's first love she never really got over. Will Jillian just drop Abby off and run away, or will there be something there to make her want to stay?

One of the issues I had with Dena's first book, I thought the writing was not very smooth. I absolutely noticed her growth as an author and was really enjoying this story. I did think the books was a little long, could have used a few things cut out, but it mostly worked for me. The romance is slow burn, but there is absolutely chemistry between the main characters, and things eventually heat up. I really enjoyed Jillian's character, but Amelia was a little so, so. She could go from great to immature in a second.

I do feel I have to give a warning though. Do not read this book if you don't like drama and angst. This book is filled with it. Now, that leads me to my biggest issue with this book. The "crazy ex". I am not big on exes in lesfic, but if they add something to the story, alright then. Actually, there was another ex in this book I had no issue with. I thought she was a good character in this book. But to also put in a bat sh*t crazy ex... why? It seems like every other lesfic romance I am reading has a crazy ex. It this was real life, it would mean 1 in every 3 lesbians need to be in jail or an institution, by how often they show up in lesfic. All these authors are accomplishing is making me scared to date. Not only that, but this book had plenty of drama and angst already, it did not need a crazy ex.

Overall, I did like this book. I think others will enjoy this too, you just need to be prepared for some drama. Dena, if you read reviews, please consider no more crazy exes in future books. Both of your books have crazy exes in them, I think it is time to retire this gimmick. You know how to write enough drama, not to need them.

An ARC was given to me from BSB, for a honest review.

[Catherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Dena Blake's first book and did struggle with some aspect of it so when I read this one I was impressed with how much I felt the growth in her writing and story telling from my prospective.

I thought it was a sweet romance between Jillian and Amelia as the book progressed. Yes, some of the story was a little of a stretch in why Jillian did certain things. However, I found the story to be a page turner and I really enjoyed it.

Now, I will say it did regress at about 80% for me in that we started to over dramatize the story with a crazy ex with mental health issues. The characters also started to completely overreact and started acting immaturely which was disappointing. I would have rated it higher than 4 but in the end because I found the end part disappointing. It didn't need some of the drama that was added. I rounded it up because I did feel the difference between her book 1 and 2.

I was given this book by NetGalley for an honest review.

[Annie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great easy read from this new to me author. The storyline covers bereavement, love, abuse, stalking, so there is quite a lot going on, but it all flows well.

Abby's parents Jaimie and Ken, died in a car accident. Her aunt, Jillian McIntyre is now her guardian. Jillian, an investigative journalist in New York, is still experiencing problems from her bunny boiler ex girlfriend Kelly. Jillian decides to temporarily leave New York and return to her hometown in Oklahoma.

Abby's birth father Blake, has no idea that he has a daughter. Jillian decides to go undercover to see if Blake is suitable father material, to get away from her ex girlfriend, to do an investigative story into the charity that she set up and other charities like it. She changes her appearance so that she is not recognised in her hometown and calls herself JJ Davis.

As the story progresses, Jillian comes into contact with her first love Amelia. Both Jillian and Amelia have not been able to move on from this love and still have great feelings for each other. The story then evolves into quite a tangled web.

Kelly eventually finds out Jillian's location, and decides that she is not going to let any other women jeopardise her relationship with Jillian. Is Kelly successful in her quest? Does the love that Jillian and Amelia have for each other survive?

I received an advanced copy from Netgalley in return for this review.

[Nadege · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book twice and actually speed read it a three time because I was really unsure how to review/rate this book. While I like the main character and their love story, a lot of thing in the book just didn't sit well with me.

My final note is 3.5/5, I'm giving it out 4* though because I feel 3* would be a rather harsh punishment for the author. The book is agreeable and rather well written. And I could see myself recommend it in the future MAYBE.

I'm going to start off by the negative points. There were two of them that really put me off: inconsistencies in the timeline, ages and details also Abby's age and Abby calling Jillian mom after one month .

SPOILERS ALERT - I'm sorry cannot complain without mentioning the story.

First off, it's very easy to know that Jillian is 31 years old but it's so difficult to get Blake, Amelia or Jaime's ages. Amelia says that Jillian is COUPLE of years younger than her (and Blake) also it says that Jaime was younger than any other girls that were going after Blake. Blake was 17, Jillian was 16..... Doesn't that mean Jaime is 17 and the same age as Blake and Amelia? Meaning Amelia and Jillian are one year apart not yearS apart? I was very confused about this.

Secondly, there way too many inconsistencies in the timeline and the story. Almost every chapter Amelia run away from Jillian for a week or more . Nothing wrong with that right? Well is it, because supposedly, one month after Jillian and Abby's arrival, a mom and her son are supposed to join them and live in the house. It's mentioned at the start and in the middle of the book. Add to this that Amelia and Jillian's characters are saying they been flirting/being frustrated with each other for MONTHS (ref: "spanned back to Julie's. "I've only known her for a FE MONTHS .) and then a few chapters AFTER, Julie drop this bomb: Jillian last police abuse statement was less than one month old! . Let's not forget that Jillian said to Coop "I haven't seen her in months (talking about Kelly) . None of this is making sense for me.

Details and timeline are very important to a story and such mistakes are a true turn off. There way too many of them for me to write all them down (though I took note of all of them and classed them).

The author and her character kept calling Abby a "child", a "little girl", she is fifteen she is a teen who will go to College in 3 years. So I didn't understand why they acted like she was 5 and like Blake or Jillian would raise her for a decade.
While I like Abby's character most of the time, I was astonished by how quick she was to replace her mother, less than a month. I mean, come on, a fifteen years old calling her aunt "mom" after a few weeks, one month at max. And acting like her aunt is her real mom and no one found it weird at all. .
Also, I was so surprised to know in America, you get a test on your first day of school when you transfer. I'm referring to Logan and Abby preparing for her geometry test before she was enrolled in school and that will happen on her first day.

I won't mention the whole Kelly or Suzie things, while I love the theme of abuse was touched, it was just...... a little too much.

Now you must be wondering "Why she is giving it a 4* and did she even liked anything in the book?".

I like most of the characters especially the main ones. They aren't perfect and they are stubborn and can be stupid but they were very real. I think both were written in a very realistic way. As well their relationship with each other and other people. I liked Darcy and Julie, especially how they started their relationship at the same time as Jillian and Amelia and progressed on the same rhythm.

As said before I loved how this book touched on the abuse, stalking but also on shelters for poor or abused women with children and on foster children. It was well written and I would have wished to read more about it.

Also as a non-English native, I learn a few new words thanks to this book and this author.

I'm going to end here before I say way too much and make this review even weirder.

This book was given by NetGalley for an honest review.

[Les Rêveur · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that’s how you write a second novel. Dena Blake’s newest novel Unchained Memories is written in the second person from main protagonists Amelia and Jillian POV. She also wrote some chapters from secondary characters points of view, which really worked well for all the pieces of the plot to come together for the explosive last few chapters. The pace and character development was perfect for such an involved story line, I couldn’t help but turn each page. This book has so many wonderful plot twists that you will be in suspense with every chapter that follows.

Jillian and Amelia’s love development in this book is the star of the show. The story of their teenage love and how it transcends time is written beautifully and the chemistry in the bedroom is sexy and extremely hot! Dena Blake definitely knows how to write a phenomenal sex scene.

Secondary characters, Julie and Darcy stayed with me after the book was finished and I wondered if they could be highlighted more in a sequel or spin off short story because they where actually awesome characters to read.

Can’t wait to read more from Dena Blake. 5 Stars

[Samantha Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars rounded to 4. This is a good lesbian drama. There's a lot of angst. The pacing is very good up until the ending which seemed a bit out of sorts and didn't quite weave everything together as well I think it could have been. I liked the two leads. They were easy to relate to and for the most part had realistic plans, reactions, etc (right up until the disjointed ending). Ending aside, there's some good storytelling her. The past and the present time-frames play together nicely.

Netgalley ARC received for an unbiased review.

[Dreaming · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story was interesting enough to finish it, but that's the only positive thing I can say about it. I found it chaotic, the characters and the storyline unbelievable (really, not recognizing someone because of a different hair colour and contacts? looking into her eyes and not seeing it's not real? suddenly starting to call your aunt your mom, just a few months after you lost your parents?)
I didn't feel the chemistry between the main characters, no matter how much the author and everybody else expressed it and the reaction for some of the lies were unrealistic. (I don't care that you lied to me about who you are, but not telling me everything about your niece is unforgivable.)
There were just too many things that didn't resonate with me about this book.

ACR received from NetGalley for an honest review.

[Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first emotion that comes to mind after reading this story is passion. The main characters are passionate about their work and the people in their lives. There is quite a bit going on with this read and you have to stay focused or you could get lost in the complication especially in relation to the age of the characters and the time frame. Amelia Mathews wants romance, love and commitment but she cannot get past her high school love. Jillian McIntyre has a career she is passionate about and after an unfortunate accident, a niece that is now her responsibility. Julie was an interesting study of I want you so bad and I am willing to give up just about anything to have you, including my self-respect. I was really drawn to this character as I watched her throughout the read process her situation and learn to let go.

Read provided by Bold Strokes via NetGalley for an honest review.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first book by Blake. I really enjoyed the book. The characters were well written and I was rooting for Jillian and Amelia the entire time. Even the secondary characters were enjoyable for the most part. My biggest issue with the book was something that would only impact a very small list of readers. I live in Oklahoma and visit Norman often. Oklahoma is perfect if you are looking for one of those small town romance feels, just not Norman. I really dislike reading books set in places I know because I end up focusing too much on things that really do not matter. Overall I enjoyed the book. It made me want to pick up Blake's other books. I would recommend this one to read.

[Aj Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. A grown woman is injured in a terrible car crash that kills her sister and brother-in-law and winds up guardian to their teenage daughter. She decides to track down the teen's biological father (still alive and unaware that he's a father) and see if he can take on his daughter.

2. A sixteen year old girl falls for another girl but after witnessing the tragic death of her parents she is forced to move across the country to live with her grandparents, who are not supportive of her lesbian relationship.

3. A famous journalist flees New York because she is being stalked by a deranged and abusive ex-girlfriend who won't accept that their relationship is over. The journalist has reported the abuse to the police and has taken out a protective order, but since the ex is a cop things are tricky.

4. A woman who has dedicated most of her disposable income to setting up a foundation for children who needs support discovers that someone is siphoning off funds before they reach where they're needed most. She goes in undercover as a single mother in need of emergency housing in an attempt to figure out where he money is going missing.

Each of the four plots outlined above would be plenty to base a novel around. For some reason though, Dena Blake decided to squeeze them all into this one book. All of these things happen to the one person (the girl fell in love, saw her parents shot, moved to NY, became a journalist, met & dumped the psycho stalker, was in the car crash, moved back out west and conveniently went undercover at her own foundation at the same time as she was hiding from the ex). It's just way too much. Elements of the book were well put together but then plot lines were flung in out of nowhere, while others were left hanging.

Next time, keep it simple.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with how to review this book. It is the first book I've read by this author. I enjoyed the writing style and she weaved a nice story with a sweet romance. But it was unnecessarily long. I feel guilty for even writing that statement as I have complained lately that so many Lesfic books are so short it takes away from what could have been a great story. However, I hate when books are long for no reason. There were several parts of the book that could have been cut (crazy ex) and the story would have been intact and overall read better.
I also had some issue with a few basic cosmetic changes being able to disguise someone you basically lived and breathed.
Overall it was a nice read and I would definitely read this author's future works!
A solid 3 stars

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Ivanka K. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Editing needed with and I found too many discrepancies, the story would be great but the push and pull between the MC went too far becoming unbelievable. And don’t get me started with the un-recognition...🤷🏻‍♀️

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an ARC from Netgalley and the Publisher.

I really enjoyed this book and all the characters. They had great chemistry and fit well together. I liked how the story included bits from the past and in the end resolved all the mysteries. The only think I didn’t really understand until the end was why nobody recognized JJ and Jillian even though she is this famous news reporter. I thought just dyed hair and some contact lenses wouldn’t be disguise enough but later it explained that she had some plastic surgery done after the accident - that explains that and resolved the part that bothered me throughout the book.
I would definitely recommend this book!

andreazupanc.wordpress.com

[Penelope · Rating 5 out of 5]

An honest review thanks to NetGalley. I absolutely loved this book, I have never read the author before, and the blurb didn't pull me in. I thought I would try it and fell in love. THere was a lot going on, but it all went seamlessly together, making the story even better in my opinion. I loved Jullian and Amelia, loved the idea of the heartstrings foundations, heck I loved the whole storyline. This was a great drama filled romance that was out of this world.

[Ankita Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF

I got a review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

And I tried. I really did. But I just couldn't get into the story.

I didn't find the characters or the situation interesting enough. The story was too slow for my taste.

I read about 30% of this book before finally giving up.

[Val · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet romance with an enormous amount of angst, drama, and seemingly insurmountable odds. Murder, suicide, domestic violence, and accidental death are just some of the things happening in this book. I found it hard to put down until I finished it.

[Morgan · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I read a book like this, I often wonder to myself what the first draft could have possibly looked like if this is the version that gets published. The writing style was all over the map and if you told me the author had a set of writer's block dice to help make decisions along the way I'd believe it.
The gist of the plot is a woman is in a car accident with her sister and sister's husband, they die, and she's left to raise her niece. Somehow she gets it in her head to seek out the niece's biological father (who is unaware he has fathered anyone) by living in his refuge house under cover --because surprise, she's apparently some famous investigative reporter-- to make sure he's "fit" to parent before dropping off her niece and telling him he's a father. Now this whole time all I could feel for is this poor dude who is about to get the rug pulled out from under him by some crazy reporter. Even though she's famous and on magazine covers, her amazing disguise consists of dying her hair lighter and wearing colored contacts. Clark Kent!? Well golly, you missed it, Superman was RIGHT here!
So there's that "plot" but naturally this woman also runs into her childhood love interest. I could not possibly care less whether these two rekindled anything because despite immediately sticking their tongues in each other's mouths, there is chapter after chapter of whining to other characters about not knowing the other's feelings. Not to mention more tongues, repeatedly ending scenes by one of them running away from the other, tongues again, running, etc. These two cannot possibly be rooted for because they can never make decisions for themselves, each of them has a pointless friend character or three who must always tell them what to do.
Oh but we're not even done yet. Because things weren't convoluted enough, partway through the author decides to throw in a crazy ex-girlfriend (writer's dice!) and an implication that the reporter isn't just in this refuge house because she's a complete dick, but because she's also hiding out from crazy.
The aunt/niece relationship is bizarre. There is almost no interaction between the two but naturally towards the end the reporter feels like she should try to keep and raise her niece, who is 15 by the way...not much more raising to be done. But then the niece starts calling her "Mom" and it's encouraged. That is weird and jarring, no?
Let's just get it out of the way--too much is happening in the story for any one element to be properly focused on and given an arc and the "romance" is all tell with a complete lack of chemistry. This is a complete mess of a book and should be skipped at all costs.

ARC provided by NetGalley

[Tiffany Shamaly · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this was my first book by Dena Blake that I've read and while I like it, I didn't love it. I think my main issues were believability. The story is about a girl that moves from a small town as teenager because of a family tragedy along with her sister. Later when that girl Jillian or JJ is a successful investigative reporter another tragedy happens and she finds herself responsible for her fifteen year old niece. The story starts out with her going back home to find her nieces father because she isn't sure she wants to raise a child. But I'm not sure if that was the only reason because she seems to be going back for a investigation (story) on a facility (which happens to be Jillian's childhood home) that she actually funds to provide shelter to those in need, presumably from domestic abuse. That was really not that clear in the beginning. As the story went on, you find out she was in an abusive relationship and was hiding from the ex-girlfriend, I think. Come into play Amelia who helps her brother run the facility and she happens to be Jillian's teenage girlfriend and they have not talked or seen each other in many many years. Granted Jillian who is undercover as JJ has changed her look so no one will recognize her. So there are a lot of ball in the air for this story and some are very confusing and some just pop up out of the blue and I think that is why I didn't love it. The characters were likable, even Jillian who is supposedly a very rich somewhat spoiled reporter, but never really comes across that way. I think I would give another Dena Blake book a chance as long as it's not as confusing as this one was.

[H M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful i'm glad I started reading this book. I was going to skip it

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Jillian's sister is killed in a car crash, she becomes the guardian to her 15 year old niece Abby. She's a high profile TV journalist from New York City and between her busy career and her own demons she doesn't believe she's truly the best one for the job. She goes back in disguise to her childhood hometown to check in on Abby's biological father to see if he could give Abby the home and the family she needs. At the same time, she uses her job to go undercover to do an investigative story on a foundation and group home she set up, which is run Abby's biological father and his sister Amelia. Amelia is a lawyer and the childhood love of Jillian's life. The two can't help but cross paths when Abby and Jillian stay at the group home and sparks fly. Drama and family and old love and new friendships come together with heart wrenching and heart warming detail as a sort of new family forms and old demons are put to rest.

I found so many bits and pieces of the story to be a little ridiculous - the drama always came to be so perfectly and then the resolution came just as perfectly. I's dotted and T's crossed. But honestly I loved the heart and soul of this story. I lost myself in the characters and their lives and the emotional turmoil of their lives.

I loved the characters, I really loved them. I connected with them and I was invested in them. I really liked both Amelia and Jillian, I liked how they were flawed and real and had these incredibly big hearts with so much capacity for love and family and for each other. Yum and their chemistry was fantastic too.

My only real quibble with the writing was how the author was always telling the 15 year old girl (Abby) to cover up because the teenage boys can't control themselves or because of what they might think of her. It was a little cringy but eventually it turned into something less objectionable and more into Jillian becoming a mentor and a mother to Abby - like when she taught her some make up tricks.

I will be on the lookout for this author's next book!

I received an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are lucky, first love never dies. Lo ed the story. As any book Dena wrote.

[Ultralingua · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Dena Blake's second novel and she continues to write interesting characters and stories. In my opinion, she is doing a lot of good for les-fic since she focuses on character and plot development--something that is often sadly missing in this genre. Her characters become real to me and experience life as it is. JJ/Jillian, experiencing some tragedy in her life, has to get on with life and does so by going back to her past. In doing so, she reawakens feelings from her past that she thought were long over. Through this story, Ms. Blake shows us that you can go home again.

[Laurie Beemer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the few books that I have read that focuses on the two main characters in a relationship being women. The author did an amazing job capturing the turmoil that Amelia and Jillian went through when they lost each other and were still going through in the present. The book has several unexpected twists and turns that will end up answering questions about the lives of the people in the book that make this book a great find. Thank you NetGalley and Dena Blake for the opportunity to read and give a review of this book.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rec'd an ARC from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books for a review. No synopsis needed.
Leads Jillian/JJ and Amelia/Ames reconnect quickly in this romance with some angst and "heat". There were a few improbabilities and ups and downs in this tale and I found that I had to reread some sections. The complexities of dealing with abuse and the abused were nicely handled with empathy
This is the second book I've read by Ms. Blake and I think she is maturing nicely as a writer.
4 stars.

[Jules Oyster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great book. A lovely second chance romance.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
I love drama but this one might have a little too much of it. I was a little bit lost at the beginning but it kept me interested.

[Tea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I honestly found myself lost at so many points.

[Katherine Jensen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book and it started out that way, but that didn't last. I liked the characters enough, but too much angst (often unnecessary) and misunderstandings put me off. Also, the plot overall wasn't super believable. I found myself wanting to skim to get through the book and that is never a good sign.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

[Cathy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

My first time reading a book by Dena Blake and I have to be honest it certainly won't be my last. Absolutely loved this book.

It's a love story between JJ (Jillian) and Amelia who fell in love in high school but then fate split them up.

Great story filled with romance, tension mixed in with bit of thriller, kept me hooked from page one.

One of the best things about the book is if you like kissing this is the one for you.....plenty of kisses.....a must read