Forget Me Not by Julie Soto Published by Forever on July 11, 2023
Genres: Romance
Pages: 353 •Format: E-Book •Source: Overdrive
Goodreads
He loves me; he loves me not...
Ama Torres loves being a wedding planner. But with a mother who has been married more times than you can count on your fingers, Ama has decided that marriage is not the route for her. But weddings? Weddings are amazing. As a small business owner, she knows how to match her clients with the perfect vendor to give them the wedding of their dreams. Well, almost perfect…
Elliot hates being a florist, most of the time. When his father left him the flower shop, he considered it a burden, but he’s stuck with it. Just like how he’s stuck with the way he proposed to Ama, his main collaborator and girlfriend (or was she?) two years ago. But flowers have grown on him, just like Ama did. And flowers can’t run off and never speak to him again, like Ama did.
When Ama is hired to plan a celebrity wedding that will bring her business national exposure, there's a catch: Elliot is already contracted to design the flowers. Things are not helped by the two brides, who see the obvious chemistry between Ama and Elliot and are determined to set them up, not knowing their complicated history. Add in a meddling ex-boss, and a reality TV film crew documenting every step of the wedding prep, and Ama and Elliot's hearts are not only in jeopardy again, but this time, their livelihoods are too.
In a world over-saturated with illustrated romance covers, this one stopped me in my tracks. I found it stunning, and almost water-color like, completely different from the cartoony covers that are so popular in romance these days (which I love too!) THEN I heard that the author, Julie Soto, cut her teeth writing Dramione fanfiction, including one that’s very high on my TBR (The Auction) and I knew I had to read this one.
Set in Sacramento, California (the first time I’ve read a book set in California’s capitol!), Forget Me Not centers on two protagonists who are in the wedding business: Ama, an up and coming wedding planner, and Elliot, a florist who took over his family’s business. The story is told in alternating POVs, with Ama covering the current day storyline and Elliot’s POV rehashing the past. This is especially interesting since the book is very much enemies to lovers and a second chance romance, so you know somewhere in between both of their POVs is the truth.
This is the first contemporary enemies to lovers book I’ve read in a while where the tension feels really, really palpable. There is a hatred between the two of them, manifesting in ice cold stoicism on Elliot’s part and extreme anxiety for Ama. Many of us have that one ex we just can’t stand to see, and that’s definitely Ama and Elliot’s situation. However, they are both contracted to do a major influencer wedding that neither can really say no to, and are thrust back into each other’s lives for the first time in two years.
I really enjoyed the juxtaposition of the deep angst that Ama has around Elliot in the present with Elliot’s growing infatuation with Ama in the past. It really had me as a reader DYING to know what happened (in fact, I wish the Elliot POV chapters set in the past had gone a little quicker because I needed answers!) The slow integration back into each other’s lives was compelling, and I was truly into the romance and emotional angst between Ama and Elliot.
To cut the super thick tension between Ama and Elliot, there were a lot of fun, interesting elements and moments outside of the romance that took place. I am usually not a big fan of wedding books (still not over the stress I went through planning my own, lol) but it was interesting to see Ama navigate planning a wedding for a large influencer and all of the perks and pitfalls that came along with it. Ama also has a hilariously absurd number of step siblings who pop up (her mother’s been married sixteen times) and Elliot’s mother happens to be a California state senator. I love when a romance novel has a lot of other elements going on that make me feel engaged with the story and immersed in the world outside of just the main characters/love interests.
Overall: Well written, emotional and fun, but the pacing with the flashbacks was a little tedious.
Tropes: Hate to Love, Enemies to Lovers, Second Chance Romance, Grumpy/Sunshine
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- Goodreads Challenge 2024
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