The Forgotten Husband

Where the Heart Is #1

by Elizabeth August

Why had Eloise married Jonah Tavish?

With her memory lost, she had to believe Jonah when he claimed their marriage was a financial bargain. But Eloise hadn't forgotten the passion they'd once shared. And she couldn't deny the desire she still felt for this rugged and mysterious man.

The terms of their arrangement remained unclear, but Eloise knew one thing. Her husband's love was worth fighting for.

Genres: Contemporary Romance

185 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1994

About the author

Betty Marie Wilhite had always wanted to write. She married Doug, and they had three boys, the first was Douglas Jr., four years later Benjamin, and nine years later the last, Matthew. The family lived in Wilmington, Delaware. She began writing romances soon after Matthew was born. She wrote under the pseudonyms of Betsy Page, Elizabeth Douglas, Elizabeth August and Kathleen Ward.

Reviews

[Live2Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

Plot: 2.5/5
Angst: 3/5
Steam: 1/5
Conclusion (climax): negative

That sums it up right. The plot was decent to go by and there was tension, emotional angst, surrounding the two. Because, homegirl got amnesia and homeboy appears indifferent. In fact, hero wanted out and she wanted to figure out all the why’s? Why they marry? Why does he not like her? Why was she so damn attracted to this unfeeling specimen? Is he a good guy? Is he not attracted to her physically? Yeah, yeah it kind of got repetitive in her head! But the plot never thicken nor developed, and once we receive all the answers to all her damn questions, the climax and the love conclusion fell absolutely short! I was like that’s it! Really? Was he really going to leave her because of that self-served reason, but then again was that reason even a surprise? How was it near climatic, I can’t even guess! Are these two even in love? The ending truly was rushed, amateur and unsatisfactory!

It all begins with Eloise in a hospital bed, waking up to voices belonging to her mom and hero arguing about one’s marriage and how reckless it was of Eloise to attempt a motorcycle stunt causing an accident, which she now lay possibly in a vegetable state forever. But lucky girl, she ain’t that! Amnesia-probe she only was!

Now, we and Eloise will see that neither mom or husband cares for her. The major question remained why she even attempt a motorcycle stunt in the first place. It wasn’t her scene at all! Yeah, I thought so too and I barely know Eloise. Really, girl you try to do a wheelie?! I think the author wanted to paint Eloise a certain degree of cool but it seemed out of place here. Actually, riding motorcycles never played majorly into the story even for the hero. Just that Jonah was born on the wrong side of the tracks and rode out with a gang of
Motorcyclists in his youth, he’s also tatted AND we learned he went to prison once for self-defense/murder. The unoriginal bad boy! I totally forgot he was even tatted! Oh well!

Anyways, back to the under-developed plot, Eloise has a field day with her detached husband and unhappy marriage. We get some details here and there surrounding them and the direction of their marriage before her head injury, but the author never made anything out of it and it lead us nowhere. The biggest mystery remained why Jonah was so adamant on leaving once Eloise regained her memory and what made her do the stupid stunt. And I thought it was going to be HUGE, yall! I thought the revelation was going to be explosive but when that climax came, it was so little and uncalled for! It feels like nothing! No, it wasn’t because they got into a fight or had any misunderstanding or some sort of drama but it was Eloise wanting to show off and get Jonah’s approval/interest! As for the other question, why he wanted to leave her so damn much? Well, it’s self-serving, it’s because he’s no good for her, they no good together! Eloise married him on the rebound! But we and he and she all knew that piece already! It wasn’t a mystery by then! He even recited that himself to the memory-loss Eloise at one point! She proposed to him. She was dating her lawyer’s son, Mark, but I guess she realized the fool was only after her money, thus she exchanged one man for the other! Oh, I don’t even know why the author thought that was worthy of a climax when it was plainly given! Now, homeboy was using that particular excuse to bounce, but homegirl ain’t going to let that slide. Why? They even shared a night recently! Then, that motorcycle of hers got another spin, not literally, only figuratively because she successfully chased him down. It would have been more climatic have she finally and successfully completed her wheelie stunt then. But I think not, she merely stopped him on his way and they sort of confessed their affections. Her love and his vague words. Homegirl blissfully proposed they have kids, but he kind of balked at the idea. Then, homeboy decided to go along with it at the end. Don’t know why, he says he loves her. And the real question still remains, are they sure they ever love? For a romance, there was a lack of it. No tenderness or sweet scenes, unfortunately. There was several moments of heat in his eyes (via author’s repetitive words) but that’s all; they probably kissed in present time like twice and the other mentions were merely swimming in her quarter of memory loss, though they did shared a night together, right before he futilely walked out on her the following day. What a tender climax!

[Chrisangel · Rating 1 out of 5]

For me, this will be "The Forgotten Book", because it was so damn BORING! It was a short story drawn out WAY TOO LONG to make it book length.

I would have much rather read a book about the h's Aunt Sarah and her lost love, Ward. Now, that would have been interesting!