Title: Love Water Memory
Author: Jennie Shortridge
Genre: Women’s Fiction
Publication Date: January 14, 2014
Publisher: Gallery Books
Event organized by: Literati Author Services, Inc.
Synopsis
If you could do it all over again, would you still choose him?
At age thirty-nine, Lucie Walker has no choice but to start her life over when she comes to, up to her
knees in the chilly San Francisco Bay, with no idea how she got there or who she is. Her memory loss is
caused by an emotional trauma she knows nothing about, and only when handsome, quiet Grady Goodall
arrives at the hospital does she learn she has a home, a career, and a wedding just two months away.
What went wrong? Grady seems to care for her, but Lucie is no more sure of him than she is of anything.
As she collects the clues of her past self, she unlocks the mystery of what happened to her. The painful
secrets she uncovers could hold the key to her future—if she trusts her heart enough to guide her.
Review
This was an extremely different book for me to read, but very refreshing. I wouldn’t necessarily say that it should be 100% classified as a romance because it’s much more than that. When I first read the synopsis before signing up, I was very intrigued by the story line. I’d admit that the pace was a bit slow (for me), I guess I’m just so use to storylines happening so quickly. This is not one of those reads, if you’re expecting that, turn right the other way.
We have Lucie Walker, who has a fresh start, but it comes with a lot of turmoil and emotions from her past. After being found in San Francisco Bay with zero memory of how or why she’s there, she has to somehow figure out what got her there. Learning quickly that she has a fiancé (and of course, no memory of him as well), she hopes that he can be the key to bringing all of her memory back. But it’s not that easy!
And Grady, bless his heart. Not only do we get to witness Lucie’s struggle to remember and her journey to get there, but we see Grady gradually overcome his struggles with not just himself, but also losing his father.
Their “new” relationship to me is a bit awkward, Lucie just ganders around and Grady doesn’t know how to take it. The way that Lucie is now, definitely wasn’t that way before. And to me, it was ALWAYS something to remember, I kept questing and saying “why is this weird?!”. She lost her memory, she had NO idea how she was before. But pieces of her past scattered around helps her realize that she was a rather shut-off person, maybe uptight is another word for it. Grady has trouble accepting his “new” fiancée, ultimate question, can he still love her? Will Lucie be able to gain all of her memory back and remember her love for Grady?
Lucie goes through SO MUCH to learn about her past and why she lost her memory. And it’s so damn emotional, to me the pace was slow, but I also took that like, moments like this (where she needs to remember) it simply can’t be rushed. As a reader, I needed to really understand what was going on, to feel exactly what she was feeling. We have to sit and absorb. Such raw emotions. I promise, you won’t even believe what she ends up learning … (I wish I could say more). But what she does, it explains why she was the way she was pre-accident.
It’s a compelling and emotional story that I think most readers will enjoy. If you’re looking for a steamy romance, that’s not what you’ll get here.
MY RATING :
About the Author
Jennie Shortridge has published five novels: Love Water Memory,When She Flew, Love and Biology at
the Center of the Universe,Eating Heaven, and Riding with the Queen. When not writing, teaching writing
workshops, or volunteering with kids, Jennie stays busy as a founding member of Seattle7Writers.org,
a collective of Northwest authors devoted both to raising funds for community literacy projects and to
raising awareness of Northwest literature.
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