THE ONE YOU CAN'T FORGET BY RONI LOREN - ARC REVIEW

Most days Rebecca Lindt feels like an imposter...

The world admires her as a survivor. But that impression would crumble if people knew her secret. She didn't deserve to be the one who got away. But nothing can change the past, so she's thrown herself into her work. She can't dwell if she never slows down.

Wes Garrett is trying to get back on his feet after losing his dream restaurant, his money, and half his damn mind in a vicious divorce. But when he intervenes in a mugging and saves Rebecca―the attorney who helped his ex ruin him―his simple life gets complicated.

Their attraction is inconvenient and neither wants more than a fling. But when Rebecca's secret is put at risk, both discover they could lose everything, including what they never realized they needed: each other

She laughed and kissed him. This morning she'd melted down. But somehow this man had her laughing and turned on only a few hours later. Everything inside her felt buoyed.

She felt...light.

She'd forgotten what that felt like.

This is the second book in a series that follows a group of people who went to school together, and who survived a school shooting. It deals with how they deal with it, whether they focus on it, or deny that it impacts their lives...and the ways in which their past shapes their lives.

Rebecca is the survivor, and she has put her life together and became a successful attorney. But in her drive, and her focus, to make sure her life means something, she also loses sight of nuance, and is unwilling to bend and see the other side of most situations.

Wes saves Rebecca from a mugging, and he doesn't recognize her as the attorney who represented his ex wife in their divorce. He's dealing with the damage, and is angry at the fact that the settlement wasn't exactly fair...but that the attorney in the case managed to suppress evidence of the truth.

Rebecca and Wes were compelling. Their connection was interesting, and watching them try to see how they worked, how they could get over their past, both hers and the one that they share, was interesting.

I enjoyed this title, and I enjoyed that, while it was focused on one of the survivors, it was removed from the high school world.

I recommend this title.

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THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY BY RONI LOREN - ARC REVIEW

Liv's words cut off as Finn got closer. The man approaching was nothing like the boy she'd known. The bulky football muscles had streamlined into a harder, leaner package and the look in his deep green eyes held no trace of boyish innocence.

It's been twelve years since tragedy struck the senior class of Long Acre High School. Only a few students survived that fateful night—a group the media dubbed The Ones Who Got Away.

Liv Arias thought she'd never return to Long Acre—until a documentary brings her and the other survivors back home. Suddenly her old flame, Finn Dorsey, is closer than ever, and their attraction is still white-hot. When a searing kiss reignites their passion, Liv realizes this rough-around-the-edges cop might be exactly what she needs...

Liv and Finn were together in high school...sort of.  He kept her a secret and he has always blamed himself, just a little, for the fact that he thinks that may have impacted events on a tragic night in high school.

The ones who got away are the ones who lived through a school shooting.  And, I admit, I was intrigued at the idea of having this as one of the central themes of the book.  And, at the same time, a little unsure if it could work.

It did, as it gave the characters a relationship and it gave them something to have in their past, a draw to the town and a reason to pursue the emotions that were still below the surface.  I found it interesting.

But, at the same time, I thought too much of the story was about the past, too much of the draw was because of the past.  For a romance, I want to feel that...at least by the end, there has been some movement forward for the characters, that they are no longer still trapped by the past actions.  This is especially true when it is a second chance romance.

In this case, while I enjoyed it, this book felt more like a prologue to the next one, as it really dealt with all of the things that they needed to move past from the night.

I am looking forward to the next in the series, as often with the first book in the series, a lot of the relationship is lost in the setting up of the next part of the story...and I think this is what happened here.

I do recommend it, as I did mostly enjoy it...but I am looking forward to the next one a lot more.

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