Forget About Me

Boston Classics, Book 2

De: Karen Grey

Narrado por: Emma Wilder, Brian Pallino

Ben Porter may be living the dream, but it’s not his.

His dad’s health scare might not be the ideal reason to come home for the summer, but it’s a welcome break from the stellar glitz of Ben’s life in Los Angeles. Even if modeling has him rivaling Marky Mark’s fame, posing isn’t his passion. Landing a role with a Boston Shakespeare theater brings him closer to fulfilling his dreams of being a real actor.

Facing the reason he went west in the first place? That’s another story.

Lucy Minola’s dreams were shattered seven years ago when a drunk driver smashed into her brother’s car. She knows it was her fault. So as penance, she works hard to care for her family, goes to confession faithfully, and buries all the feelings she had for the person who left when she needed him most: her brother’s best friend.

When an injured dog brings them back together, Lucy’s good-girl façade begins to crack. Women everywhere are obsessed with the rad bod they see in magazines, but she’s the only one Ben seems to notice.

She can’t trust herself with the man who walked away...but can she let him go a second time?

This bittersweet romance, book 2 in Karen Grey’s 1980s Boston Classics series, proves that everyone deserves a second chance in love and in life.

©2020 Karen Grey (P)2020 Home Cooked Books

Great Second chance romance!

I really enjoyed this second chance romance! It really gives the listener hope. Hope that they will recover, hope that they can overcome and Hope for the dog. Each of these characters is struggling. They can not figure out how to move forward in their lives.

Lucy is a wonderful character! She has an awesome love of animals, good friends and family. Ben is a hottie! He came home to help his Dad but stayed for other reasons. The meeting of these two involves a wonderful dog. Their parents are lovely additions in “helping” get them together. Plus the big gesture at the end was very cute!

Overall I really enjoyed this. I *felt* for the characters. Which means I laughed and teared up with them. I did listen to this on audio. Emma Wilder and Brian Pallino are the narrators. They both did exceptionally well. Brian’s voice as Ben was outstanding. He hit all the different nuances that Ben did since he is an actor.

Oh I also want to mention that the rewind/fast forward sound was great! Different but it let me know what was going on.

Love Ben, Lucy, and Puck!

I loved everything about this book! I had listened to "What I'm Looking For", the first book in Karen Grey's Boston Classics novel, and just loved all the 1980s nostalgia references. "Forget About Me" might have be even better. This story is once again set in the 1980s Boston. It focuses on Ben and Lucy. Ben is an underwear model, and Lucy is veterinarian technician. They have a past, and its a quite painful past. Ben and Lucy had a secret romance seven years prior to when the books begins. After a tragic accident, Ben disappears ending things with Lucy. Seven years later, Ben by chance rescues an injured dog (I just love Puck!) and runs into Lucy once again. Old feelings run deep, and the two soon find it hard to resist each other and their obvious chemistry.

Brian Palino and Emma Wilder narrate this amazing audiobook. I love the use of the "rewind" to flashback to the past and fast forward back to the present. Both narrators did a fantastic job with all of the character dialogues and accents. They both had me completely captivated and consumed in the story. Thank you, Karen for your touching words at the end of the audiobook honoring Brian Palino's memory.

This book checks all the boxes for retro romcom fun! Karen Grey is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors with her witty dialogue and lovable characters! I also need a copy of Lucy's playlist! It is totally rad!

All the feels!

I absolutely adored Ben and Lucy’s story. Loved the flashbacks and the tape rewind/fast forward sound effect was brilliant! Loved all the 80’s songs, really takes me back to my childhood - and pagers!! Emma Wilder is just phenomenal- her range of voices is really remarkable. Brian Pallino was a perfect Ben and knowing that it was one of his final performances made this a very special listen. A beautiful tribute by Karen Grey to honor a very talented man.

Second Chances

Lucy and Ben both have years of healing to get through. A tragedy that happened years ago left both of them feeling guilty and responsible. When family matters brings Ben back home they connect through a furry fellow and finally are able to heal.

This is a great story of second chances and healing. I loved the characters and the story and would definitely recommend it.

Emma Wilder and Brian Pallino did a great job narrating this book. I enjoyed listening to both of them.

Touching story

Karen Grey has delivered a touching story of two people, Lucy and Ben who have known each other since they were preteens due to Ben's friendship with Lucy's older brother. Over time the two will develop a secret relationship but tragedy and survivors guilt will tear them apart. With the help of a cute stray, named Puck, their paths cross and old relationships and new discoveries are made. It's a wonderful story of loss, longing, and survival.

The narrator's, Emma Wilder and Brian Pallino did a wonderful job of conveying the struggles and emotions of their characters. I loved all the music references and the clever usage of rewinding tape to alter between past and present.

Oh so many feels!

That was fun. And sad. And beautiful. And smart. A real rollercoaster! I loved every second of it.

The narration was on point. Emma Wilder’s quavers bring the characters’ emotions to life. You can’t help but feel with them. Oh so many feels! The sound of a rewound tape that announces flashbacks was a stroke of genius, as it serves its purpose while giving an 80’s touch to the narration.

The whole story revolves around Puck, the stray dog found by Ben. He gives a new meaning to Ben’s life, changes Lucy’s career, and brings his talent on stage. And without him, Ben and Lucy wouldn’t have found each other again. Another great idea.

I found this book a bit sadder than the previous one in the series. I didn’t mind, because I enjoy all the feels. But grief, and how it affects people, is a big element in the story. The way they all deal with it felt pretty realistic and made a lot of sense.

I think this author brings fresh air to romance novels, and I can’t wait for her next book.

Love finds it's heart without losing it's soul.

Love finds it's heart without ever losing it's soul. Forget about me goes for classically subtle yet emotionally rich. Grey, Pallino and Wilder convey every feeling under the sun with a grace that is as haunting as it is captivating. From past regret to present hope, Lucy and Ben are a work in progress that stays in your head and lays claim to your heart.

A trip to the 80s

Author Karen Grey has done it again. She’s taken me on a trip to the 80s in the best way. The blast from the past vibe is fresh and nostalgic without being overdone. It’s a perfect balance and it made me so happy.

We get some amazing the Friends to Lovers and Brother’s Best Friend/Best Friend’s Little Sister dynamics wrapped up in this emotional Second Chance romance package. And the whole thing is just dipped in 80s awesomeness.

Ben and Lucy have been friends since he was 9 and she was 6. The summer she turned 18 they had a secret relationship. Then tragedy struck and they haven’t seen each other in seven years.

Ben came home to Boston from his underwear model life in LA to take care of family. But when a stray dog needs his help, it leads him right back into the orbit of Lucy. How can he move past the blame he feels for the past? What can he do to earn the forgiveness of this woman he never stopped wanting? How will she react when he finally admits why he left all those years ago?

Lucy quit school and started taking care of everyone in her family. Her entire family has been grieving in different ways and hers was to make sure everyone is living their lives. But what about her life? When Ben returns and asks for her help, can she get past her anger at him leaving and be his friend again? Can she let herself want more and be a little selfish? Can she start to dream and hope again? And if she does, how will Ben fit in?

Some of the best 80s moments are: phones that have cords so you need to stretch, pay phones/pagers/answering services, the various technical skills required to make a mix tape.

The narration from Brian Pallino & Emma Wilder was fantastic. The emotional range was there and completely swept me away. The audio clues for the start/end of flash back scenes was the perfect touch to go along with this mix tape themed story. It was an auditory flash back for me as well since I felt the sound of a rewinding cassette tape in my soul.

I enjoyed it

Though I think I liked the first book in this series more I still really enjoyed this one.

This is a second chance romance about Ben who ran off to Los Angeles after his best friend died in a car crash because he believed it was his fault and doesn’t think that Lucy, his friends sister, would be able to forgive him. Now he has come home because his dad needs him after a health scare. He is also using this time to reflect on his career because he has always had a love for the theater and being a model was not were he really seen himself.

Lucy blames herself for the death of her brother and because of that she has turned herself into a devoted daughter and makes sure her family has what it needs. She is working as the local veterinarian and didn’t even know that Ben was back in town till he brings in a dog he found that needed help. Ben was surprised to find her there as well.

This starts to bring back feelings from the past which we get when the story rewinds back 7 years when each character things back at points during the book. With those flashbacks you get to piece together what happened between them and what happened to the best friend/brother and why each thought it was their fault.

Ben gets a job in the local theater doing shakespeare and they decide to use the dog he found but he needs to be trained and Lucy gets talked into training the dog which throws Ben and Lucy together where old sparks start flying along with hurt feelings from the past.

I liked both Ben and Lucy an their story as they both have very good reasons for how they feel about what happened seven years ago, though with a bit of communication that could have probably been dealt with way back then. (but then there would be no book…lol)

I really loved the audiobook and the narrators but I have one major complaint and that is when they did the flashbacks, it sounded like a cassette being rewound and that grated on my ears! Oh it was horrible…lol. I did love the song titles for the chapters.

Thriller Michael Jackson

That was so fun! It was like I went to sleep in 2020 and woke up in the 80s. It was was so fun to stroll down memory lane. From the pagers to the slang to the mixed tapes. It was a trap in time.

Ben and Lucy have such a sweet story. I have a soft spot for childhood friends/first loves. It warmed my heart that they helped wake each other up after their struggle to dig out of mourning. They each experienced a devastating loss, the same loss, but obviously they each had their own perspective. Their journey was their own.

There was an excessive amount of flashbacks, but each one was proceeded but the sound of a tape rewinding. It was such a fun detail. I would say it is definitely worth a read!