Forget You by Jennifer Echols

Zoey's life is going downhill fast--first, her father divorces her mom, marries his pretty, pregnant, twenty-something girlfriend, and makes Zoey and her mother move out. Then, when her mother attempts to commit suicide, dear old dad puts Mom in a mental hospital and threatens to do the same to Zoey if she tells anyone, all to avoid public embarrassment. On top of it all, Zoey has to deal with Doug, the surly guy on her swim team who seems to hate her. She tries to deal by striving for perfection and being the person everyone wants her to be, but all of that falls apart when she's in a car accident and her memory of the night is erased...which makes it even more difficult to keep getting through each day when her boyfriend ignores her, her friends are clueless, and Doug is acting like there's something going on between them.

Forget You is at once sad, humorous, and steamy! The concept of a girl trying to hold everything together when life is falling apart and she can't remember a significant night is a good one, and Echols executes it well. Zoey's chaotic life is portrayed well, from her time spent with her friends and swim team to the drama that is unfolding at home. Her father is downright selfish and despicable, and it's easy to see how he is the source of Zoey's parental drama and stress, and a great portion of the book is about Zoey dealing with his emotional abuse and finally learning to stand up to him. Echols also does an excellent job at drawing out the tension between Zoey and Doug as she attempts to figure out what happened the night of the car accident, and what exactly he wants from her now. Though there was some mindless escape sex in the book that not everyone will probably approve of, the romance is hot and utterly unforgettable. Forget You is a very well written novel about dealing with family, grief, hurt, love, and finally standing up for yourself.

Cover Comments: I like the tension of the closeness between the couple on the cover, and the softness of the colors and images. Very nice!

Review copy received from author.

If you liked Forget You, you'll definitely like Going Too Far, also by Jennifer Echols!