Review – Don’t You Forget About Me

Title:
Don’t You Forget About Me

Author:
Mhairi McFarlane

Rating:

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If there’s one thing worse than being fired from the grottiest restaurant in town, it’s coming home early to find your boyfriend in bed with someone else.

Reeling from the indignity of a double dumping on the same day, Georgina snatches at the next job that she’s offered – barmaid in a newly opened pub, which just so happens to be run by the boy she fell in love with at school: Lucas McCarthy. And whereas Georgina (voted Most Likely to Succeed in her school yearbook) has done nothing but dead-end jobs in the last twelve years, Lucas has not only grown into a broodingly handsome man, but also has turned into an actual grown-up with a business and a dog along the way.

Meeting Lucas again not only throws Georgina’s rackety present into sharp relief, but also brings a dark secret from her past bubbling to the surface. Only she knows the truth about what happened on the last day of school, and why she’s allowed it to chase her all these years…
(Goodreads)

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I have become increasingly more and more obsessed with adult/new adult romance novels and I have especially been reading a lot of British romance novels. So when I spotted Don’t You Forget About Me in a bookstore in Brugge, Belgium on holiday, I was instantly sold on the blurb on the back of the book.

We have Georgina, a 30 year old woman working as a waitress in what honestly sounds like the shittiest restaurant ever! I mean really, I wouldn’t go there even if my life depended on getting one more meal before keeling over.

When she meets Lucas, her big high school love, she’s completely thrown, especially because he doesn’t seem to remember her and as a matter of fact, he doesn’t seem to even like her.

Just what you want from a new boss..

♦

Her cheating scumbag of a “boyfriend” tries to do anything to get her back and more than once he’s crossing that invisible line that should NEVER be crossed! Prat!

Moving on from the love life, we have Georgina’s family. Her sister’s family seems genuinely nice and supportive of our leading lady. The same can not truly be said about her parents, well, parent. Her mother is one of those women who doesn’t seem to be able to speak up for herself and lets the man with the money speak on behalf of the both of them.
Her stepfather is a right douchebag and I was rooting alongside Georgina for her mother to divorce him.

Basically, the world just not seem to be going Georgina’s way.

♦

The story in itself is a good one and I liked the way McFarlane told it, however I feel like it could have been shortened a little. Sometimes there were just a little too much explaining that could have been avoided.

Back to the story itself.

The supporting characters, which consists mainly of Georgina’s friends and Lucas’ brother and partner, Devon, were likable and the few other ones we were meant to hate were definitely hatable. I’m still reeling from d*ckhead ex Robyn.

Ugh.

*shudders*

♦

Back on a more positive note:

I really enjoy reading books with a building romance where you don’t exactly know what will happen, but you cross your fingers and toes and all your hair that the characters end up together for a happy ending. This book had me crossing everything I had and it was nerve-racking to say the least.

I won’t say how this story ends, that’s for you to find out if you decide to read it.

But I will say, there’s an interesting twist towards the end (mentioned in the synopsis as Georgina’s dark secret from her past) that makes my heart ache and somehow makes the whole story even more realistic than it already is, which is definitely not an easy thing to achieve.

So, to sum up:
A book that could have been a little shortened, but with a great storyline and with great characters, both to love and hate.

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Do I recommend this book?

Yes, I do.

To whom?

To any romance novel lovers who don’t mind reading British slang etc. It does sometimes get a little confusing.