I’m truly delighted to share my review today of author Becky Wade’s latest contemporary romance, Memory Lane, the first book in a new Sons of Scandal series. Fun fact: this is Becky’s first indie published novel! She’s currently offering a fun giveaway on her website that’s open for a few more days.
After surviving a trauma several years back, Remy Reed relocated to a cottage on one of Maine’s most remote islands. She’s arranged her life just the way she wants it, spending her time working on her wood sculptures and soaking in the beauty of nature. It’s quiet and solitary—until the day she spots something bobbing in the ocean.
Her binoculars reveal the “something” to be a man, and he’s struggling to keep his head above water. She races out to save him and brings him into her home. He’s injured, which doesn’t detract from his handsomeness nor make him any easier to bear. He acts like a duke who’s misplaced his dukedom . . . expensive tastes, lazy charm, bossy ideas.
Remy would love nothing more than to return him to his people, but he has no recollection of his life prior to the moment she rescued him. Though she’s not interested in relationships other than the safe ones she’s already established, she begins to realize that he’s coming to depend on her.
Who is he? What happened that landed him in the Atlantic Ocean? And why is she drawn to him more and more as time goes by?
There’s no way to discover those answers except to walk beside him down memory lane.
Travel to the rocky coast of Maine for “opposites attract” banter, witty humor, a fascinating mystery, and destiny-changing love. This sweet contemporary romance kicks off Becky Wade’s new Sons of Scandal series!
*A Note from Becky: For a list of sensitive topics in Becky’s novels, visit BeckyWade.com and click the link you’ll find at the top of the “My Books” page.
Becky Wade works magic with tropes, and this story is additional proof. With Memory Lane, she has taken a situation that could be completely cliche and made it original, interesting, and the furthest thing from predictable! Gosh I love the hero and heroine, and all of their adventure, journey, chemistry 😍, healing, and even a bit of a mystery they find!
Remy is a strong person and has amazing perspective on life and, eventually, in understanding the hero and his circumstances (for the sake of keeping it spoiler free, we’ll call the hero “J”). She’s not without a growth arc, though, which I appreciate in Becky’s characters because they are always relatable emotionally or stir a deep empathy for individuality. Her past, once revealed, is heartbreaking and handled with sincerity within the story and with such tenderness by J, flummoxing Remy in the best way.
J and his search for his memories, along with a new attachment to Remy, gains a new perspective because of his ordeal. It’s fascinating to see his reassessment process for life as his old self collides with a “J 2.0”, making him seek healing and closure for part of his past and making him certain of his honor towards Remy. His personality is plain FUN, and his flirty-then-sincere combo is genuine hero material for Remy. And whew, when their romantic tension ramps up, it goes into classic Wade territory that’s tasteful yet still-so-sexy — especially that one scene where he’s the controlled experiment. I’ll say no more 😉
Through the memories and search for closure, and even the tiny bit of suspense that surrounds a mystery thread, Remy and J are remarkable in their chemistry and complimentary opposites. Author Becky Wade ties it all together with a satisfying ending, and just enough of a hint about the hero of her next book to have me eagerly waiting for publishing news.
Thank you to the publisher for the review copy. This is my honest review.
The Green Mockingbird 