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A review by deena_
Forget Me Not by Julie Soto
5.0
5 ★ stars.
── ✿⸙. The boy with flower tattoos and the girl named after flowers.
If Ama is not the wedding planner and Elliot is not the groom, I'm not getting married. End of discussion.
How did I end up loving a book about flowers, weddings and happily ever afters so much that my already high standards got higher and I can't think of anything else? I went in for some cute romance but stayed for all the ways it broke my heart and put it back together. It offered more anticipation than it was willing to deliver on the whole 'getting back together' part. Trust me, the anticipation itself was so beautifully angst-ridden that everything else faded in the background; it keeps you on your toes, holding your breath, waiting and guessing.
This book has:
• Second chance romance
• Personal growth and character development
• Forced to work together
• Wedding theme
• Bad breakups and bad reconciliation
• Slowburn
• Grumpy and sunshine where the grumpy is actually a softie and the sunshine is a wokaholic
Vibes of this book in soundtracks:
♫ Takeaway (Pilton Remix) by The Chainsmokers ft. Lennon Stella
♫ I love you so by The Walters
♫ Back to december by Taylor Swift
♫ Double take by Dhruv
♫ Loving you girl by Peder Elias
── ✿⸙. ‘Amaryllis’ aka Ama Torres . ⸙✿
( The One That Got Away )
➢ Character introduction: A wedding planner who doesn't believe in love. If growing up with a mother who gets married as often as hers taught her anything, that is, commitments mean nothing, marriages are imperfect but weddings are a special day, a party one would remember forever. So she worked to create someone else's special day whether they ended up in a happily ever after or not until him‥․
I'd like to say, I'd be perfectly content to spend my mornings binge-reading blogs and interviews on all the dream weddings she worked on. The entire process from srart to finsh was incredible.
Her passion for her work was this living, breathing thing that reaches out of the pages, captures your heart and demands attention. You could literally feel her worries, anxieties and desperation. She could be standing in the middle of a haunted house and have visions of the ways she can turn it into something fitting for a fairytale worthy wedding. Brides having second thoughts to last minute plumbing issue, she has everything under control.
She is extremely lovable and the perfect example of a thriving business woman. She is obsessed with making everything perfect and ready to go but it only applies to her professional life; her personal life is a huge hot mess, that is without counting her long array of ex stepsibilings. Her mother's marriages might not last for more than a few months but her ex stepsibiling? They love her and are almost always on her back and call to help out during big weddings; she's always looking out for them too and bestfriends with some. Her love life is nonexistent at best; she has serious commitment issues and never lets things get too far where there will be a need for commitment. She forms connections with people easily especially her clients which she was made to believe by her mentor, is unprofessional in her field of work. Thanks to the people in her life, she became too good at creating distance, always feeling like she's not good enough, pretending to be good enough and hiding it behind the mask of confidence.
── ✿⸙. Elliot Bloom . ⸙✿
( The One She Can't Forget )
➢ Character introduction: A florist who dreams of love and forever. Never been with many women because he's looking for the right person to come along. It's always been him and his father's flowershop. To him, flowers are better than people anyway. It all changes when helping his father with one of his wedding gigs, he meets her‥․
I just need a Elliot in my life. Where can I get him and how?! Hearts were melted and standards were altered for him.
Grumpy florist with extinct flowers tattooed all over him (and the flower she was named after because he was heartbroken and missed her too much after she left), who hates everyone but her. Has that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirts, or in his case, henleys, tight jeans and tied back hair. Speaks the language of flowers, is super respectful towards women, talks her out of her fears and anxieties, loves her so much that he counts the days they were apart even though she left him in pieces, he literally cries for her like tears falling, shoulders shaking, heart aching right after their breakup.
What I loved about his character was that he didn't need to act rude, sleep around or be all dark and dominant to prove his attractiveness or grumpiness. He was simply just a private person and kind of shy. He made others feel intimidated but it wasn't like he was trying; it came in effortlessly. He was even described as someone who didn't have much experience, even that didn't have any negative effect on his striking perfection. If possible, as I got to know him, I found him more and more adorable—his mind, his thoughts about Ama, everything. Communication is the key and this guy gets the assignment! He talks his mind, asks for what he wants and offers others what he thinks they want if communication is off the table for that person and let me tell you what a big turn on it is. I usually feel pretty disconnected when it comes to books that constantly switch between present and past timelines, but here it felt so easy. I could read the past chapters from Elliot's point of view then smoothly jump right in the present chapters from Ama's point of view; even most of the smut scenes were in his point of view but I didn't find it weird or awkward at all.
── ✿⸙. ( The Wedding Of A Lifetime )
They held many regrets but letting each other go might be the biggest.
They have to work together to plan the influencer Hazel Renee's wedding and there's no way around it. Not when Hazel's fiance Jackie has family connections with Elliot and especially asked for him to take care of the flower arrangements, not when their wedding is the biggest media issue of the year, the opportunity too big to pass on. It's the first time they are meeting after the breakup, not only that, they have to build up a wedding reception from scratch which might be a free lift to their careers. Weddings make everything magical and their situation is anything but magical. Sparks fly, hearts get entangled, memories resurface and they are at the beginning again, falling in love all over.
I love Hazel and Jackie; they played a huge part in all this. They were so in love with each other, excited and anxious about their wedding that it was so much fun to witness Elliot and Ama building up their dream wedding right before our eyes. The way they shipped the hell out of Elliot and Ama, though they didn't know their history, it was so cute like same! Who wouldn't ship them?
── ✿⸙. ( Legendary Lovestory In The Making )
Elliot and Ama are imperfect. They are confused, broken, have their own issues and have no idea what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong.
I honestly love them for it, it makes the reality they are living and the feelings they are dealing with more real. Ama doesn't believe in forever and Elliot wants nothing but a forever with her. Ama doesn't know how to ask for what she wants and Elliot doesn't know what she wants, what would make her stay and what would make her go away. It was messy, full of self-conflicts and conflicts with one another; one wanted it all and the other didn't want to give away anything at all. Even at 80% you wouldn't know which direction they were heading; they were still just exes with old feelings working together while the past chapters will keep driving you crazy along with endless questions on how they'd turn things around when nothing happened so far and we're almost at the end. Sit through it, their endgame is all worth it.
── ✿⸙. More Quotes:
“I’d like to start again. I’m Ama.”
“Emma?”
“Ama. A-M-A.”
“What the fuck kind of name is Ama?”
“It’s short for something, obviously.”
“Amateur.”
“No. My mother didn’t name me Amateur.”
“I wonder if she’ll look up The Language of Flowers and figure out I just told her, You are immature and I resent you. Go away.”
“What the fuck is on your lips?”
“No, I mean …is that some designer shit? Is that why it doesn’t get messed up when I’m kissing you?”
“It’s Hazel Renee,”
“I don’t give a fuck who it is. I want you to look debauched when I’m debauching you.”
“Amaryllis? But it’s not extinct.”
“It’s … It was never about extinction. The tattoos …” “They’re ones that I—that I can’t have. Ones that can’t be used in arrangements, can’t be kept in the shop. Ones that are likely to disappear before I can love them.”
⏤⏤⏤ ༻❁༺ ⏤⏤⏤
- Rtc when I'm stable enough
❝I want to love what you love, even if it’s extinct.❞
── ✿⸙. The boy with flower tattoos and the girl named after flowers.
If Ama is not the wedding planner and Elliot is not the groom, I'm not getting married. End of discussion.
How did I end up loving a book about flowers, weddings and happily ever afters so much that my already high standards got higher and I can't think of anything else? I went in for some cute romance but stayed for all the ways it broke my heart and put it back together. It offered more anticipation than it was willing to deliver on the whole 'getting back together' part. Trust me, the anticipation itself was so beautifully angst-ridden that everything else faded in the background; it keeps you on your toes, holding your breath, waiting and guessing.
❝No one should have to wait for happiness a second longer than they have to.❞
This book has:
• Second chance romance
• Personal growth and character development
• Forced to work together
• Wedding theme
• Bad breakups and bad reconciliation
• Slowburn
• Grumpy and sunshine where the grumpy is actually a softie and the sunshine is a wokaholic
Vibes of this book in soundtracks:
♫ Takeaway (Pilton Remix) by The Chainsmokers ft. Lennon Stella
♫ I love you so by The Walters
♫ Back to december by Taylor Swift
♫ Double take by Dhruv
♫ Loving you girl by Peder Elias
── ✿⸙. ‘Amaryllis’ aka Ama Torres . ⸙✿
( The One That Got Away )
➢ Character introduction: A wedding planner who doesn't believe in love. If growing up with a mother who gets married as often as hers taught her anything, that is, commitments mean nothing, marriages are imperfect but weddings are a special day, a party one would remember forever. So she worked to create someone else's special day whether they ended up in a happily ever after or not until him‥․
❝I know now that it will end. It will, because he wants something I don’t believe in. Why begin, when it will end?❞
I'd like to say, I'd be perfectly content to spend my mornings binge-reading blogs and interviews on all the dream weddings she worked on. The entire process from srart to finsh was incredible.
Her passion for her work was this living, breathing thing that reaches out of the pages, captures your heart and demands attention. You could literally feel her worries, anxieties and desperation. She could be standing in the middle of a haunted house and have visions of the ways she can turn it into something fitting for a fairytale worthy wedding. Brides having second thoughts to last minute plumbing issue, she has everything under control.
She is extremely lovable and the perfect example of a thriving business woman. She is obsessed with making everything perfect and ready to go but it only applies to her professional life; her personal life is a huge hot mess, that is without counting her long array of ex stepsibilings. Her mother's marriages might not last for more than a few months but her ex stepsibiling? They love her and are almost always on her back and call to help out during big weddings; she's always looking out for them too and bestfriends with some. Her love life is nonexistent at best; she has serious commitment issues and never lets things get too far where there will be a need for commitment. She forms connections with people easily especially her clients which she was made to believe by her mentor, is unprofessional in her field of work. Thanks to the people in her life, she became too good at creating distance, always feeling like she's not good enough, pretending to be good enough and hiding it behind the mask of confidence.
❝Forever with Elliot feels different from any other kind of forever. I could ask him if I could have forever without a white dress and a piece of paper.❞
── ✿⸙. Elliot Bloom . ⸙✿
( The One She Can't Forget )
➢ Character introduction: A florist who dreams of love and forever. Never been with many women because he's looking for the right person to come along. It's always been him and his father's flowershop. To him, flowers are better than people anyway. It all changes when helping his father with one of his wedding gigs, he meets her‥․
❝You may think everything ends one day, but you haven’t had that ‘everything’ with me.❞
I just need a Elliot in my life. Where can I get him and how?! Hearts were melted and standards were altered for him.
Grumpy florist with extinct flowers tattooed all over him (and the flower she was named after because he was heartbroken and missed her too much after she left), who hates everyone but her. Has that long hair, slicked back, white t-shirts, or in his case, henleys, tight jeans and tied back hair. Speaks the language of flowers, is super respectful towards women, talks her out of her fears and anxieties, loves her so much that he counts the days they were apart even though she left him in pieces, he literally cries for her like tears falling, shoulders shaking, heart aching right after their breakup.
❝I almost say I love you. But I don’t know that she wants me to. I think we could be together for forty years with twenty kids, and she still wouldn’t want to hear it. So I hold her until her breathing evens out, and whisper it soundlessly, like a prayer.❞
What I loved about his character was that he didn't need to act rude, sleep around or be all dark and dominant to prove his attractiveness or grumpiness. He was simply just a private person and kind of shy. He made others feel intimidated but it wasn't like he was trying; it came in effortlessly. He was even described as someone who didn't have much experience, even that didn't have any negative effect on his striking perfection. If possible, as I got to know him, I found him more and more adorable—his mind, his thoughts about Ama, everything. Communication is the key and this guy gets the assignment! He talks his mind, asks for what he wants and offers others what he thinks they want if communication is off the table for that person and let me tell you what a big turn on it is. I usually feel pretty disconnected when it comes to books that constantly switch between present and past timelines, but here it felt so easy. I could read the past chapters from Elliot's point of view then smoothly jump right in the present chapters from Ama's point of view; even most of the smut scenes were in his point of view but I didn't find it weird or awkward at all.
❝Trust me, I know that when you’re in love with a person who’s that dedicated to their career, sometimes you don’t feel like you come first. Sometimes you just count down the days, the hours, until you can be useful again, and if it ever ends? You’re still counting away. The months since. The exact days since. Like a tally of moments you’ve spent not being important to them. But don’t ever think you’ll wake up and not be in love.❞
── ✿⸙. ( The Wedding Of A Lifetime )
They held many regrets but letting each other go might be the biggest.
They have to work together to plan the influencer Hazel Renee's wedding and there's no way around it. Not when Hazel's fiance Jackie has family connections with Elliot and especially asked for him to take care of the flower arrangements, not when their wedding is the biggest media issue of the year, the opportunity too big to pass on. It's the first time they are meeting after the breakup, not only that, they have to build up a wedding reception from scratch which might be a free lift to their careers. Weddings make everything magical and their situation is anything but magical. Sparks fly, hearts get entangled, memories resurface and they are at the beginning again, falling in love all over.
I love Hazel and Jackie; they played a huge part in all this. They were so in love with each other, excited and anxious about their wedding that it was so much fun to witness Elliot and Ama building up their dream wedding right before our eyes. The way they shipped the hell out of Elliot and Ama, though they didn't know their history, it was so cute like same! Who wouldn't ship them?
── ✿⸙. ( Legendary Lovestory In The Making )
❝I love a good proposal story, but my favorite one I’ve heard? Well, I’ll let you know when he says yes.❞
Elliot and Ama are imperfect. They are confused, broken, have their own issues and have no idea what they are doing right and what they are doing wrong.
I honestly love them for it, it makes the reality they are living and the feelings they are dealing with more real. Ama doesn't believe in forever and Elliot wants nothing but a forever with her. Ama doesn't know how to ask for what she wants and Elliot doesn't know what she wants, what would make her stay and what would make her go away. It was messy, full of self-conflicts and conflicts with one another; one wanted it all and the other didn't want to give away anything at all. Even at 80% you wouldn't know which direction they were heading; they were still just exes with old feelings working together while the past chapters will keep driving you crazy along with endless questions on how they'd turn things around when nothing happened so far and we're almost at the end. Sit through it, their endgame is all worth it.
── ✿⸙. More Quotes:
“I’d like to start again. I’m Ama.”
“Emma?”
“Ama. A-M-A.”
“What the fuck kind of name is Ama?”
“It’s short for something, obviously.”
“Amateur.”
“No. My mother didn’t name me Amateur.”
“I wonder if she’ll look up The Language of Flowers and figure out I just told her, You are immature and I resent you. Go away.”
“What the fuck is on your lips?”
“No, I mean …is that some designer shit? Is that why it doesn’t get messed up when I’m kissing you?”
“It’s Hazel Renee,”
“I don’t give a fuck who it is. I want you to look debauched when I’m debauching you.”
“Amaryllis? But it’s not extinct.”
“It’s … It was never about extinction. The tattoos …” “They’re ones that I—that I can’t have. Ones that can’t be used in arrangements, can’t be kept in the shop. Ones that are likely to disappear before I can love them.”
⏤⏤⏤ ༻❁༺ ⏤⏤⏤
- Rtc when I'm stable enough