Past Regrets (Love and Friendship, #2) by Shelley Munro
Erotic Romance/Contemporary
September 10, 2013
Samhain Publishing
Reviewed By Tori
Favorite Quote: “This was home. Now all he had to do was convince her.“
Julia Maxwell was the consummate party girl when she met Ryan Callander. Once they started dating she became fully committed to the relationship and him. Ryan, who is now a famous rock star, was just starting out when he and Julia met and married and stupidly heeded to his manager’s rule of no marriages among the band members. He and Julia discussed it and both agreed to keep their marriage a secret until the time was right. After Julia suffers through a terrible tragedy alone and then begins to see the various tabloid pictures showing Ryan with one different woman after another, Julia decides to call it quits and begins the proceeds for divorce. Ryan is upset to discover divorce papers waiting for him. While on a European tour with the band, Ryan was mugged and his memory is just now starting to come back to him. Because no one in the band knew of the marriage, no one called Julia to inform her of his injury and the one time she called Ryan, another woman answered his phone. Unsure exactly who Julia is or why she is divorcing him Ryan decides to go home to recuperate and try mend his relationship with his wife.
Past Regrets is a steamy erotic romance that is a mashup of some favorite tropes-an angry woman who’s had enough, a marriage on the rocks, and a rock star hero. Munro adds a delicious twist with a husband who has short term memory loss. Told in the present with flashbacks to the past, we learn how Julia and Ryan met, fell in love, and what led up to Julia serving her errant husband with divorce papers. A romantic contemporary that addresses the effects secrets and miscommunications can have on two people who marry on a whim without really taking the time to get to know one another beyond the bedroom. I enjoyed getting to know Julia and Ryan. Julia has a huge chip on her shoulder due to her upbringing (she was teased mercilessly as a child because her mom was a stripper) and some past hurts. She takes a lot of her insecurities out on Ryan. Though I found Julia’s attitude to be trying at times, it’s easy to sympathise with why she is acts the way she does. Ryan was easier to get to know. He comes across as warmer and more secure in both his actions and emotions. Watching his vulnerability come into play once he realises how much he loves Julia is so sweet and heartfelt. Once he remembers Julia and the reasons he married her, he does everything possible to make her see he still loves her and was faithful despite what she thinks.
The main conflict blends well with the various plotlines. Munro does a good job helping us visualize the hardships of being famous for both the stars and their significant others. Seeing the past and present of Julia and Ryan’s relationship provides an intimate look into their lives and a better understanding for what went wrong and when. Unlike some romances, there is no singular event or person who is in the wrong. Though it takes time, Julia begins to see she allowed her past to condemn Ryan for acts he never committed and Ryan learns that he needs to make some serious choices in his life if he wants to keep Julia by his side. Some nice spicy love scenes makes for steamy reading and adds to the notion that regardless of Ryan and Julia’s problems, the passion they had for one another was never one of them.
“Gradually he deepened the kiss, allowing his body to tell her everything-how much he missed her, hungered for her even when he hadn’t remembered her name.”
The secondary characters add humor and excitement to the story. Julia’s friends were delightful and I enjoyed the camaraderie and obviously love they share for one another. They had her back but never hesitated to voice their opinion on things she was doing. I admit to laughing when Munro gives us a description of Ryan’s band. KISS, anyone? I’m looking forward to Caleb’s story. He’s a very, very naughty boy.
The ending wraps everything up nice and tight though I felt the plot element thrown in last minute was a bit high handed. It does help to cement Julia and Ryan’s commitment to one another and address a factor that played heavily in Julia’s mind to leave Ryan. My only wish was that it played out a bit longer or we were able to see more of their lives after that moment. It all ends rather abruptly.
Rating: B
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