Unforgettable

Unforgettable. Delaney Diamond. 2014. Garden Avenue Press. 174 pages. [Source: Public library].

“This isn’t a forever thing. It’s just a for now thing. I have plans.”

These are the words that Lucas Baylor shared with socialite Ivy Johnson in the midst of a short-lived, but hot-as-fire affair nearly a decade earlier.  In that time, he has skyrocketed to fame as a self-professed permanent bachelor who makes a living giving relationship advice to misguided women through his books.  While he enjoys the company of women, he knows better than to settle down with one.

Ivy Johnson is the one woman who gets under Lucas’ skin. They had a summer fling nine years earlier that stuck with him for all the wrong reasons.  When a chance re-meeting brings them into each other’s worlds for a short period, he’s ready to pick up where they physically left off, but his early words to her come back to haunt him. Ivy is guarded and unwilling to allow Lucas to get too close to her or her nine-year-old daughter.

This book is so amazingly messy. It is unquestionably drama-filled but in realistic ways, and was tough for me to put down. Ivy and Lucas’ sexual tension and their back and forth regarding their past was captivating and at times humorous.  Ivy’s daughter Katie provides plenty of drama and angst but it is refreshing to see that even she evolves throughout the book.  While the book centers on Ivy and Lucas, Ivy’s brothers provide a good balance to the constant tension between them. Even before the end of the book, I was preparing myself to get all of the sequels so I could read about the Johnson brothers.

I was a bit disappointed that I was able to figure out early on several key plot twists. The foreshadowing was generally subtle, but reading between the lines made me question certain things that felt out of place.  Nonetheless, the story was laid out in a way that allowed me to still enjoy watching the truth unfold for the characters.  Fortunately, Diamond’s resolution included some points that I hadn’t anticipated, so I still had some element of surprise.

Unforgettable is a standalone novel that is part of a pretty solid series.  This was my first book by this author, and I thoroughly enjoyed Delaney Diamond’s writing style her ability to craft characters with depth to them.  I definitely recommend this and the rest of the Johnson Family series (which I devoured over the course of a few days).