Too Hard to Forget

Talk about an intense book! There were a few times I felt like I shouldn't be reading this book in public. The attraction between Peggy and Elliot was so hot you could feel it burn through the pages. This book had a forbidden feel to it. When they first got together, Peggy was a senior at the college Elliot coaches football at.

As much of a connection these two had, the timing was all wrong. Elliot had recently lost his wife. It was a cold marriage and when his connection to Peggy burned bright, he felt such guilt over feeling more for this forbidden fruit than his dead wife. Because of this, he ultimately treated Peggy like the sin he thought she was and then banished her from his life. Three years later and Peggy is still struggling with her life without Elliot. She tried to move on but she felt stuck to the point that she came back for Alumni week at the college to try to get closure.

The first half of this book was not an easy read. While Peggy was more or less chasing Elliot to get him out of her system, all you could really see was the pain he had caused her and continued to cause her with his constant need to fight his attraction to her. Just as she starts to get that closure, Elliot wakes up and realizes what he has done to her. The tables have turned and the second half of the book is Elliot fighting for Peggy. Now he just has to prove to her that he truly sees her.

Elliot is a devout Catholic. It explains a lot as to why he felt she was forbidden fruit and the guilt he felt over a dead wife he just existed with. This is very strong in the first half of the book but if you hang in there, the second half is what makes it all worth while. Sometimes you need to see alot of bad to truly appreciate all the good when it comes.

ARC provided by Netgalley.

Tessa Bailey is a fantastic author but this book did not grab my attention and it is a little creepy. Elliot's behavior is strange and so wrong. What he's done and continues to do to Peggy is terribly disturbing. He has shaped this young woman's mind into believing she's nothing but bad and she doesn't deserve anything good. She's nothing but a sin to be ashamed of and at the same time can't stay away from her. The religious aspect of his guilt and especially praying out loud while having sex was very unpleasant to read.

It wasn't until halfway through the book that he realizes what his behavior has been like and what he's done to her. The single word I can use to describe the first half of the book would be disturbing. The word I would use to describe the second half of the book would be fabulous. It was almost like reading two completely different books with different male leads.

I honestly don't know which rating to give this book. Do I rate it on the disturbing first half or the fantastic second half? Maybe an average of both. Even so, I still look forward to reading this author's many fabulous books.