Blurb
A mistake made long ago…
Pain buried so deep…
When Bailey Trent returns home to her small little Ozark mountain town after being away for nearly six years, she knows she’ll face the ghosts of her past. It does not mean she’s prepared to come face to face with the cruelest of those memories.
Darren Cory’s life is a shell of what it once was, and when he’s forced to endure the cause of his agony, hatred abounds quickly. But hating Bailey destroys him too.
Can Darren find a way to move past the pain and forgive the woman he once cared so much for before his anger consumes them both? Or will he drag them into the hell of an unforgiven past.
My Review
5+++ stars!!
Let me start this review by telling you about my feels while reading this book...
On the second thought, the space provided by GR might not be enough, so I'll just say this. Read this book now. Pronto. ASAP.
Why?
In my humble opinion, Unforgiven is Elizabeth Finn's best book yet. It's raw, full of emotions, tragic and scorching hot. If you've read her previous books, you know she can write some steamy, smexy scenes but in here, while this book is still very steamy, it is also emotionally satisfying. It's the kind of book that will make you cry ugly tears. I was mess while reading this book and I loved every minute of it.
I won't go into much detail because I don't want to spoil the whole story but Unforgiven follows the life of Bailey Trent as she went back to her home town to live with her mother. As a reader, I know something terrible must have happened to make her leave but I wasn't actually prepared for the reason why. And when I did find out, it was like, "Ah, now I get it."
It is also a story about Darren Cory dealing about his bitterness, anger and resentment against Bailey. Darren is such an interesting character. We get to know a younger, carefree, Darren who was warm, loving and kind and then we meet this bitter, cynical man who is slowly being destroyed on the inside by his hate for one particular person.
The story begins right after Bailey went back to her hometown and meets Darren again. It was written in such a way that you know that these two shared some history together and that somewhere along the way something terrible happened. And during their subsequent encounters, we get to slowly learn the whole story.
The book was divided into four parts--yeah, this book is long. We get a glimpse of the past and the present and reason for Dare's animosity towards Bailey all through the first part of the book. Don't worry about getting confused or lost because the transition between past and present was done beautifully and in both Dare and Bailey's POV. So not only do readers get to see Bailey's side but we also get to see Dare's side.
My heart just bled for Bailey and the things she went through to pay for her mistakes and her attempts at redemption. It was heartbreaking. Elizabeth Finn was able to capture every regret, sorrow and pain that Bailey went through. The same with Dare. She did a great job at unraveling each character's motivation. Gawd, Dare acted like an ass most of the time that I never thought he could redeem himself but he did. And it was just awesome to finally see these two people come to terms with their past and started looking towards their future.
Another thing that I loved about this book are the secondary characters. Some of them will make you cry, some of them will upset you but all of them contributed to the story in a big way. I especially loved Dare's mother. She was Dare's moral compass and she also fought for her son. I also loved Bailey's mom. Gah, the things she went through in their small town was just so sad. I can't say anymore really without giving you any hints. I don't want to give any hints because not knowing anything prior to reading this is what makes this story so great.
This book definitely belongs in my favorites shelf. A definite keeper, if I may say so. And what a gorgeous epilogue. The way the story ties up at the end was just wonderful. It sure made up for all the ugly sobbing I went through. Definitely, positively, a hundred percent recommended.
ARC is kindly provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.
Purchase Link: Amazon