Remember That Winter

by Riley Knight

They say you can’t go home again… but what if home is the only key to secrets locked behind an amnesiac past? Miles Blackburn and Jack Barnes were best friends, until they were more. But after a tragic accident, that’s all Miles can even remember about his former life. In the search to find the missing pieces of a history forgotten, Miles has only one place left to go-- home. Jack never expected to see his best friend again. When they’re finally reunited, Miles doesn’t even remember who he is. But could this be a chance to rewrite their history? Is his heart strong enough to survive what could happen if they try love again, just one more time? This 50,000 word friends-to-lovers romance is the perfect second chance love story to warm your winter-chilled heart. This story contains mature content and explicit scenes intended for adults only!

Genres: Friends To Lovers

138 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 23, 2020

Reviews

[William Kibler · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I first began reading MM romance, Riley Knight was one of the first authors I found. I read several of their books and discovered that I wasn't fond of their writing style. Story and character development were always lacking and grammatical proofreading was absent. They weren't bad books, but they weren't great books, either. Formulaic. Trite. Several days ago I was looking for a new story to read and came across this book. I read the synopsis and found it intriguing - so I purchased the Kindle version without paying attention to who the author was. A couple of chapters into the book, I realized that this story was not becoming very interesting and characters were not being developed into multi-dimensional beings. They were lacking depth. I wanted more information on the men, but all I read was a reiteration of previous descriptions and no new personality traits were given. I checked the author and realized that, once again, I'd be disappointed. All we will know is that Jack is a very large, built man who is a coward when it comes to being an openly gay man (because he has never seen himself as gay, even though he's in love with his best friend and they had an affair when they were younger) and that he owns a diner that he inherited from his dead parents, and pines for his long lost love, Myles. We know that Miles is a much smaller man who was rebellious, openly gay, and had to get out of the stifling, small town they grew up in. So, he moved away years ago (How many years? We don't know.) Oh, and he's a pilot. (But there's no mention of training or college attendance.) That's really about all we know about these characters. How do you develop any type of interest in the story if the main characters are a self-loathing sad-sack and a smart-mouthed snob? How these two got together is still a mystery because the author never tells us what drew them together in the first place, other than they were childhood best friends. What was the attraction?? Another bothersome thing about this story is that we never know what caused Miles amnesia. All we are told is that he had an accident. A terrible accident. A horrible accident. What kind of accident?? He wasn't described as having any physical injuries, so what caused the amnesia? (We never know because the cause of the accident is never explained anywhere in the story. We are just told he had an accident.) And for an entire month after discovering he had no memory of his past (except his name and where he lived in Boston, I guess), he does nothing to discover his past until his psychiatrist suggests that he try to access his computer for possible personal information and social media contacts to help jar his memory. Wouldn't that be one of the first things you would attempt to do? It doesn't make sense. Totally illogical. Another preposterous and illogical storyline was that Jack, after owning and operating the diner for several years suddenly turns over the operation and supervision of the place to Miles' mother - who has no absolutely no experience running a restaurant - and lets her take charge of the place while he takes time off to escort Mile's around town to help him remember things from his past. Of course, there's physical attraction between the two men. Jack remembers his love for Miles, but Miles doesn't remember Jack, at all. He just wants to jump his bones because he's sexually attracted to him. He doesn't even know if Jack is gay/bi, yet he wants to try an experiment by giving Jack a sensual kiss to see if it jogs his own memories! WHO would take a chance on kissing someone of the same sex - not knowing their sexual preference, without their permission??? Unbelievable!! Again, preposterous! You know, there were too many instances of illogical behavior and unbelievability to mention any further. By the end of the story, I liked Jack more, but Myles still felt irritating. This was a typical Riley Knight book and those who fawn over his/her writing will probably love it. But, IMHO, this was a poorly developed story with convenient plot twists to create the HEA that every reader desires. Next time I will pay closer attention to the authors I select to read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Both men were missing something and a case of amnesia gave them a chance to put things right. Patience, shared moments, and a whole lot of steamy encounters served to bring them together after a fifteen year absence. What initially drove them apart almost has the power to do it a second time, but if they find the courage to make a different choice this time around they just might get the future their hearts need.

At times their miscommunications and withheld feelings got in their way and I can't say I was a fan of that, but their desire to be together won out over everything else in the end. It wasn't a simple journey to get to that point though, so there were a few obstacles to overcome along their way.

Closets aren't a fun place to conduct a relationship and it's not without good reason that Jack didn't want their town to know about them. I struggled with Miles' insistence that everything had to be his way. His lack of empathy and his juvenile attitude about many things were more detrimental to their relationship than Jack's fear of coming out of the closet. It was honestly difficult for me to like Miles, even up until the very end I struggled with his personality.

Jack had his cowardly moments, that's for sure, but I think it was far easier to forgive his cowardice in the face of him being truly aware of the dangers than of Miles' insistence that Jack dive in head first into a community that could destroy everything (and almost did). And for Miles to be upset that Jack didn't jump in with his fists was a bit much to expect. I think Jack could have stood up for his friend with words, especially in his own place of business, and for that I was disappointed in him, but I wasn't team Miles in the least either.

Overall this wasn't a bad story in the least, it was quite pleasant and the steam really did feel genuine between the MC's. Their relationship was based on mutual love that eventually came out alright with a lot of maternal interference in various ways. Everything worked out for the best even if it was a little too "perfect" having someone to give them all the answers. It's undeniable that both men really needed one another and I was glad they finally got it all worked out.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a dramatic and romantic story of second chances. Miles and Jack grew up as best friends, Jack was on the football team and Miles in the chess club, and openly gay. After high school they ended fooling around with each other, but then Miles moved to Boston. After an accident takes Miles' memories of everything, his therapist suggests that he take a trip home. Jack gets put in charge of taking Miles around town to try jog his memory, and they end up becoming intimate again. The same problems that came between them the first time become problems again and they have to face them or go their separate ways again. It's a sweet romance that brings them together again, and it takes love to conquer them.

[PortlandAvidReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet second chance with a twist.

Miles had an accident which took most of his memories away. He returns home hoping to jog his mind to be able to start remembering his past.

Jack, his previous best friend since childhood, and more, agrees to try to help him regain his memories. They get the opportunity try again with a clean slate.

I liked watching as Jack grows from a self centered child-man to a full adult owning his life.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Mikki James - Peters · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cuddly best friends-to-lovers, amnesia MM romance that makes you swoon. Miles and Jack used to be best friends, but after a falling out they cut all ties. Now they may have a second chance when Miles has a tragic accident and cannot remember his past. The author manages to craft a sweet, short(er) story that leaves you satisfied. This is not my first read by Riley Knight and this book did not disappoint. This story has NO cheating and a HEA.

[Sue Ouellet-Cofsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet and saucy love story about remembering your past...and the person without the memory is not the only one learning to remember the feelings of the past. Facing your truth is sometimes the easiest and most difficult thing to do. Jack may help Miles remember, but to what end? Do they rekindle something that didn't work back then? Do they face the fact that their futures are so very different now?

[Enirehtak Melas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the storyline, but the miscommunication aspect that impacted the main character’s relationship was a bit much. However, I really do like this kind of trope, although I don’t know what it’s called. It’s cute and sweet. Sometimes it’s the perfect thing to read to remind yourself that miracles can happen. Ultimately, I did enjoy it.

*ARC in exchange for an honest review*

[AL · Rating 4 out of 5]

A shorter story, but very well written and full of different interesting aspects! I loved the storyline and the characers. And I loved most of all that the author didn't make it too easy for them, as sometimes happens in shorter stories.

[Kristin Grella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it!

Another great book by Riley Knight. Best friends to lovers and second chance books are some of my favorites and this one didn't disappoint. I absolutely loved Miles and Jack and I didn't want their story to end. Loved it!

[Frances Hamburg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great!

This book was awesome reading 📚! The characters were 🔥and so enjoyable to read about. Love does conquer anything.Even time and distance doesn't matter as long as you have love.

[Simone · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars

[Hey There Delilah!! · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite tropes and I thought this story was good. It did take me a little bit to really get into the story, I guess I like more dialogue but I’m glad I continued on to the end.