Friday, September 14, 2018

Forgive and Forget by Charlie Cochet

This book was PERFECT! I loved it SO much. I'm so happy I had the time to delve into it and just sit up to read the WHOLE thing in one go. Joe and Tom ~sigh~ so sweet and endearing together. The setting, the feel of this one was so beautifully crafted. I couldn't have asked for more.

Joe Applin lives a simple yet busy life. He has his shop where he sells the best pies anyone have even tasted with coffee on the side in the small hole-in-the-wall shop. By his side he has his good friend Bea who might seem a bit crazy but she is mostly crazy about Joe and their two little helpers Donnie and Elsie. They work together everyday and couldn't have asked for a better loving environment even when Bea starts whacking them for reasons of her own. His business is quite successful and he is content. He might not have anyone special in his life but what he has is enough and besides trusting another guy is not something he feels ready to do..



It's been years since Blake broke his heart (and a few f his bones) leaving him in a hospital bed in a coma. That's around the time he found Bea who helped him out when he was in need and he in turn hired her when he was ready to open "Apple’n Pies". His time in the hospital with Officer Liam Baker, the one who found him, sitting by his bed humming jazz songs (and disappearing before he woke up) is LONG gone yet his heart is still on the mend. So no matter who makes an offer or a gesture Joe always turns them down yet one man he doesn't turn down. He simply can't help himself with the man who looks like a "Chris" but decides he'll be better suited as a "Tom".

Finding a man lying on the ground in the garden behind his shop is not something he expected to find but Joe being the thoughtful caring guy can't turn down someone in need. When the stranger wakes up for a moment and gasps "No Cops! No Hospital!" Joe can't even explain to himself why he simply takes the guy with the help of his friends and workers into his apartment above the shop. When the guy finally wakes up without a single memory of who he is or his past, naming his seems logical especially when he somehow agrees to take him in until he gets back on his feel.

"Tom" was cautious at first, yet he couldn't ignore his attraction to Joe, and Joe was finding it hard to resist especially with the endearing and heated faces he kept getting from Tom. They spend weeks and weeks together. Tom helping out in the kitchen of the cafe staying hidden as much as possible yet helping out as best as he can. He still has no memory or recollection but what he DOES know is now that he found Joe he won't let him go. No matter what he uncovers about his past, Joe HAS to stay in his present and future. Yet Joe is worried. He wants to trust Tom but how can he when he doesn't know anything about him? As time goes by it gets harder and harder for both of them stop imagining this perfect life of them. Here. Together. Happy. Yet people are looking for Tom.. and once he is finally discovered all hell breaks loose and FINALLY the truth is uncovered and it was the most beautiful closure I was over the moon. The way Charlie tied this up together was simply PERFECT.

I feel like I've said enough yet in a way I didn't because you still don't know anything about Joe and Tom. You don't know how kind and loving Tom is, even if he doesn't know his own name, he is a good person at heart and he shows Joe his heart every step of the way. You don't know how kind Joe is, how he takes care of everyone around him not only Tom but Bea and the kids - Donnie and Elsie. You don't know how much effort Tom puts into making Joe feel special and cherished. You also don't know that Joe talks to himself and argues with himself sometimes out loud and he is clumsy as one can get yet still manages to wake up every day at 4 a.m. to start baking his pies. You'd also never guess what Tom knew right from the start - Joe's favorite isn't even apple it's cherry. There's so much you don't know about both of them and all of that you NEED to learn because you HAVE to read this book. It's simply a MUST.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!

Rating:
E-Book
Edition
194
pages
Read on:
14 September 2018
     

No comments:

Post a Comment