Today, I have the blog tour for Forever Innocent by Deanna Roy, hosted by Xpresso Book Tours, on my blog. This book holds a special place for me and I am excited to share a review and giveaway with you.
Forever Innocent
Author: Deanna Roy
Publisher: Casey Shay Press
Publication Date: September 26, 2013
Genre: New Adult/ Contemporary Romance
~Synopsis~
"Our baby died on prom
night, and nothing was ever the same again."
Corabelle doesn’t feel like any of the other college girls. On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.
Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.
When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.
Corabelle doesn’t feel like any of the other college girls. On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.
Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.
When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.
~Review~
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Forever Innocent is a truly sad and
heart-wrenching story about grief and coping with loss. Corabelle and Gavin
have been through hell and back and they both struggle to cope with their loss
and without the proper support they needed, they are unable to really move
forward and deal with the death of their baby.
Corabelle deals with her loss in a very tragic
way and my heart broke for her that she felt the need to do this to herself. I
could feel her sadness and loneliness radiating off of the pages. She is so
conflicted when Gavin comes back to her life because she wants to be angry at
him for leaving her but her heart and body betray her mind by feeling the pull
to him that she always has since they were kids. I wanted her to let Gavin back
in because she seemed so happy with him and my heart hurt from her loneliness
without him.
Gavin walked away from Corabelle at their son’s
funeral and I wanted to be angry with him for Corabelle because she needed him
and he left her to deal alone. However, getting to know Gavin, I understood
that he was hurting too and he was young and made a terrible mistake. After his
rash decision, he couldn’t go back to her but he always loved her and he dealt
with his loss and grief in the wrong way too. I loved his determination to
reconcile with Corabelle when he saw her again and he saw the second chance
opportunity to make things right and move forward together.
I really liked that this book was written in
the present but it flashed back to the past bits at a time to show us what
happened with baby Finn. It was obvious that this severely impacted Corabelle
and Gavin. I think the loss of a child is difficult for anyone but being as
young as they are, it was even harder on them. Neither of them knew how to cope
with such a huge loss and they each made poor coping decisions. They didn’t
have the proper support and neither of them got the help that they needed to after
the incident. While they can’t go back in time, finding each other was a second
chance for them to find happiness and deal with their loss together. They both
have a lot of healing to do and now that their secrets are out in the open, I
think they are on the path to recovery. As long as they stick together, they
can move on together and stop punishing themselves for something they could
never control. I look forward to the second book and watching Corabelle and
Gavin find happiness together again.
~IPOD Picks~
“Arms of an Angel” by Sara
McLaughlin
“When I Look at You” by Miley
Cyrus
PURCHASE LINKS:
AUTHOR BIO
Deanna Roy is a sucker for romance and drama and dumps hefty amounts of both in her novels. She is also a powerful advocate for baby loss moms and has founded multiple support groups for women, from teens on up, who endure this impossible heartache. Her other novels include Baby Dust and Stella & Dane: A Honky Tonk Romance.
Author links:
Website: http://deannaroy.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
*An eARC was provided to me
in exchange for a fair and honest review. All opinions expressed are my own and
unbiased opinions.*
Great review Chelsea! This was a hard one to read- that's for sure! But like you I really enjoyed seeing those flashbacks. I think they were crucial to the story. I do hope they can find healing in the second book and attempt to move forward- together!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like such a sad story and having been pregnant it's definitely a worst nightmare type of story so I think I would really connect with this book emotionally. So happy you enjoyed it, Chelsea!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for such a lovely review!
ReplyDeleteDeanna
Beautifully written review! Love how you do iPod picks! I can't wait to read the next book!!!
ReplyDeleteHow many tissues did you go through when you read this book? I, too, suffered pregnancy loss, so I understood some of the grief and healing. It was an emotional roller coaster of a read, but well worth it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a beautifully written story that I loved from beginning to end.
ReplyDeleteYes, this book was rough. This book really got to me. I'm glad they found each other again. I almost feel like that's what they needed in order to start healing
ReplyDeleteGreat review! Your iPod picks were spot on too!
Yikes, that is a rough storyline. Such an awful tragedy to deal with at anytime let alone at such a young age. Great review Chelsea, I'll add this one to my list as I think I'd really enjoy it.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I agree, the flashbacks were definitely crucial and I am hoping book 2 is all about the healing :-)
ReplyDeleteI think any mother would find this a very emotional read for sure.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I am looking forward to book 2 and hoping they find peace and healing.
ReplyDeleteYes, this was definitely emotional. I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks and it was very emotional so I couldn't even imagine losing it at birth.
ReplyDeleteMe too! I definitely agree, the author did an amazing job.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I totally agree, I felt so sad for them and they both seemed so lost and lonely without each other.
ReplyDeleteThanks! I agree, I think you would enjoy it. It is very sad and emotional but definitely holds a glimmer of hope and healing too.
ReplyDelete