Forgotten

Heaven and Hell Club, Book 2

By: Colette Davison

Narrated by: Piers Ryman

Can he build a future when he’s forgotten his past?

Jared has fought hard to achieve something close to "normal". Needing to get away from his well-meaning but suffocating family, he follows a message he wrote on a scrap of paper to a new city, hoping to find a missing piece of his past.

When Kyrone, a cocky pole dancer at the Heaven and Hell club, saunters into the tattoo parlor Jared works in, his life is turned upside down again. A passionate one-night stand turns into something unexpected for both men.

But life is never simple as they work out if they can have a future beyond what has been forgotten.

Forgotten is an MM romance with hurt/comfort, a small age gap, and two men who need to learn to be true to themselves. It is the second book in the Heaven and Hell Club series, and whilst it can be listened to as a stand-alone, it works better if listened to after Broken.

©2020 Colette Davison (P)2020 Colette Davison

Everything Happens for a Reason ✨

Forgotten -Audiobook
MMy Thoughts and Review:

I have a very dear friend who swears by the adage, "Everything happens for a reason." I have to say, after reading/listening to FORGOTTEN, I agree... at least in the case of Adonis and his artist.

Kyrone is a laid back and smooth operator when it comes to getting what or who he wants. He works in a night club as an exotic dancer and attends classes at a local University where he is working on his business degree.

Jared is apprenticing at a tattoo shop, working to find some sense of "normal" in his not so normal life. After a traumatic and tragic accident that stripped Jared of his memory, he left home and decided to make a new start for himself.

Kyrone walks into the tattoo shop one day wanting some new ink and finds himself drawn to the beautiful man. After some small talk Kyrone is intrigued beyond reason and the two men after a one-nighter, on Jared's terms, and after a little of that "smooth operating" from Kyrone start seeing each other.

This is one of the sweetest and most tragic romances I think I have ever read. I fell head over heels in love with Kyrone. He was such a gentle soul when taking care of Jared. If this had been a shifter romance he would have totally been a wolf. There was quite a bit of hurt/ comfort because of the trauma Jared had been through.

This story can be read as a standalone. I, however, recommend you read BROKEN first. There is a link between the two stories that go beyond the nightclub. It made me glad I had read the first book. You won't be lost by not reading it, but I believe you will enjoy it more.

Colette has outdone herself with this one. Kyrone and Jared have carved out a piece of my heart so they can live in it. Thanks, Colette.💖

The Story: 5.00🌟
The Narration: 4.00🌟
Sharonica Stars: 4.50✨

I received a complimentary audio copy of this book from GBP in exchange for my review.💐

Moving story, superbly narrated

Piers Ryman brought so much emotion to his narration -- Can't wait to listen to more of his work.

A Compelling & Emotional Hurt/Comfort Love Story

I always enjoy a compelling hurt/comfort romance and this hopeful love story runs the emotional gamut, from playful and steamy to very sweet and heartachingly sad.

There's more to cocky pole dancer Kyrone and quiet tattoo artist Jared than meets the eye, as they both quickly learn after a nightclub hookup leads to more. They have terrific chemistry and, as showcased throughout their HEA story, admirable inner strength.

Jared is rebuilding his life after a traumatic brain injury wiped his memory and left him with debilitating headaches. He values his independence and is reluctant to pursue a relationship given his health challenges. For all his outward cockiness, Kyrone is also a deeply caring and thoughtful man, and his emotional maturity and understanding is exactly what Jared needs.

Piers Ryman is a skilled narrator and he brings a great deal of emotion to this performance, as well as varied voices and British accents. My only quibble is that he's got a very mature-sounding voice that to my ears didn't entirely fit with an MC in his early 20s.

It's been ages since I listened to Book 1 (Jag's story) in this series but didn't have any trouble following along here. Jag's backstory does factor in, though, so reading his story first will make the crossover here all the more impactful. I received this free review copy audio book by request and have left this honest review voluntarily.

Beautiful & Emotional

This is another beautifully emotional book written by this author and narrated by this fantastic narrator.

Jared and Kyrone come to life on the page as Piers Ryman puts the right amount of emotion in the characters. Reading this beautiful story is one thing, but listening to it is a whole other. Jared has a very difficult journey over the course of this book and there are times where I just want to hold him.

Colette Davison has told a wonderful story and Piers Ryman helps elevate that to new heights as you can feel all the pain, hope, and love flow out of the characters thanks to the narration.

Can you find yourself when you've lost yur memory?

*** First a disclaimer: I was given a copy of this audiobook in hopes of a fair and impartial review. ***

This tale was NOT the one that I was expecting. It's so much more.

Yes, Kyrone is a dancer at the Heaven and Hell club, but this is primarily Jared's story. Its the tale of a young man who suffered a traumatic brain injury, spent months in a coma, and has almost complete amnesia. His well-meaning Surrey family felt like strangers and Jared decided to relocate to Leeds, partly to get away from their heart breaking hopes that he'll remember, and partly to follow the one concrete lead to his past that he's found, a note that simply said J. Leeds. He's now apprenticed at a tattoo parlor and meets the intriguing, if somewhat cocky dancer pole Kyrone.

Several of the Heaven and Hell guys, Michael and Jag and Mac from book 1, all make appearances and play an important part here, but this is primarily Jared's tale. That of a lad recovering from a life changing Traumatic Brain injury. It's also Kyrne's tale and we spend plenty of quality time with the new couple as their lives become increasingly intertwined. From “naughty” sex in a public washroom, to naughty sex in one's childhood bed, with plenty of hot (and apparently loud) encounters along the way, these guys manage to keep themselves sated.

Kyrone was a bit of a surprise to me in another way as well. Other than his flashy muscularity, and his fondness for tattoos we're initially given very little physical description of Kyrone at all. While that's a bit odd for M/M fiction in general, it's even odder for a man who dances naked for other men. In this we're left to make our own assumptions. Amidst all the references to Jared's pale skin, I completely missed what was actually being implied when Kyrone is referred to as having dark eyes and dark skin. To use a Briticism, I was gobsmacked when we meet his mother and her broad Jamaican Patois accent finally clued me in to what was being said without being said. This is an inter-racial tale as well. It made me curious as to how much of this ambiguity was intentional or just true color-blindness on the part of the author. My guess is that she was just being a bit cagey as she does become more forthcoming (but only a little) after we meet his mother.

As to Jared, I've actually read a few other books in which TBI's played a role (most recently Ryan Loveless's Ethan Who Loved Carter) and the effects of a TBI are never all that predictable. Here Jared has the emotional maturity one would expect of someone in his 20's but has an almost blank slate when it comes to memories. He also has lingering problems with reading, frequent headaches, and weakness leftover from his time in a coma. To see Jarred struggle to be his own independent man, while seeing Kyrone struggling to be more supportive is heartbreaking. Yet, these are some of the most endearing, albeit bittersweet, moments in the book.

At one point, we discover that Jared's family have withheld select details of Jared's past life from him. It's almost as if they wish that his amnesia might include his preference for men. But, as evidenced by many cases in the real world, that is generally not the case.

Piers Ryman does another laudable job here as the book's narrator. His regional accents add a richer flavor to the audiobook, that might well be missing in the printed version. He gives each of the dancers, as well as the members of Jared's family, male and female, their own voices without resorting to the breathy whispers or shrill falsettos that some narrators resort to. Kyrone's family's voices, women and children included, also ring true.

On some levels, Forgotten is superior to Broken, its predecessor, in that the central conflict of the book is more justified/well explained, but both books are worthwhile reads. If you share my penchant for strays, waifs, underdogs, & broken-winged birds, then Forgotten should be on your “must read” list.