Forgiven starts a new series from Garrett Leigh which mixes MF and MM stories. This book features Luke and Mia, former high school sweethearts who never got over each other after Luke abruptly left town.

Mia is returning to England after a failed relationship and she is bitter and prickly. Her walls are up and when she sees Luke again for the first time, she doesn’t even try and disguise her disdain for him. Of course, she thinks Luke still looks good and deep down she wishes she could just fall into his arms, but Mia isn’t having any of it and refuses to even be in the same space as Luke. Luke knows he hurt Mia, but since he wasn’t around, he doesn’t realize how much, and he has mountains of his own issues to work through.

And that’s the thing. They each have many issues and many things that have hurt them and so much emotional turmoil, they fight themselves and each other every step of the way. They might not be the most likable characters, and maybe not every reader will understand them, but Leigh writes them in a way that shows how they feel. I did feel I got to know Mia better than Luke and some of his motivations and his relationships with his mother and brother are a part of his story and I didn’t feel like I had the full story.

There is a stalker storyline tied in here as well and that area didn’t work for me. It was one more thing added to an already full storyline and the stalker is not detailed and all the words created for him could have been used elsewhere as this added nothing to the story for me.

Leigh’s books are often some of my favorite books to read, but I did feel the writing here went backwards instead of providing the content I am used to from this author. The next book in the series features Gus and Billy, the brothers of both Mia and Luke, and I will be looking forward to learning more about them.

Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a really, really good read. I have read many of Garrett Leigh's books, and they all have something very special about them – and that is they are raw, real, and do not hold back on being incredibly honest. When people are upset, they really are upset, sometimes they may even be upset for entirely the wrong reason, but they reveal it, and even revel in it. Not every action that a character takes is sensible, or forgivable, or rational. At times, they feel almost too real. This is fiction which does not gloss over the uncomfortable, or the (almost) unforgivable; it forces us to acknowledge that love can be rediscovered, even after hurt. That there may be anger, animosity, misunderstandings, but that it takes time, effort, and energy on both sides to arrive at a compromise which enables a relationship to move forward.

And that is what I always love about Leigh's books. They are not a smooth ride into the sunset. They are so much richer for the complexity of the environment around them, and the resolution of the conflict that leads to a truly meaningful ending.

So if you have not read a Garrett Leigh book before, and that sounds like the kind of writing you like, then you have a wonderful adventure ahead. This is a great place to start, as Mia and Luke's story is intense, exciting, and laden with a chemistry that even they can't fight. It makes for a great read – and I am very excited that Billy and Gus are going to get their chance in the next installment!


Sarah – ☆☆☆
I’m usually a huge fan of Garrett Leigh’s writing, but this was painful. As a disclaimer, I do tend to avoid m/f romance – but I enjoy a good second-chance romance and I love Leigh’s writing enough to overlook most things. Or I thought I did.

Mia Amour arrives back in England after a messy divorce. She’s still grieving her mother and she’s avoided her brother, her hometown, and everyone she grew up with for years. She’s a bit of a mess. As she starts a new floristry business, she is blindsided by the appearance of her first love, who has also returned to town.

I really didn’t warm to Mia. She’s prickly and emotionally messy. I feel like she takes advantage of her brother and she plays emotional games with Luke. But many of Leigh’s characters are similarly messy. Leigh’s writing is at its strongest when it gets to the heart of difficult characters, but I don’t feel like we ever get to properly know Mia. And honestly, there is a point when it becomes ridiculous for a grown woman to harbour debilitating resentment towards an ex-boyfriend for decisions he made as a grieving teenager.

Luke is an easier character to warm to. He feels solid and good – but I really didn’t understand why he kept running back to Mia. Luke doesn’t deserve the head games Mia plays and I found myself losing respect for him every time he ran back to her.

Running alongside Mia and Luke’s reunion is an odd sort of stalker storyline. It’s odd because there isn’t really any escalating suspense and when it is all over, readers are still left with far too many questions about Mia’s life in France and her relationship with her ex-husband.

This feels like a very different author to the one who has written so many of my favourite stories. I don’t think the difference is totally down to the m/f romance, but I did find myself more curious about the potential relationship between Luke and Mia’s brothers than I ever was about Luke and Mia. Which probably says something about both me and the book.


Avid Reader – ☆☆☆
M/F Second-Chance Romance
Triggers: Stalking

Mia knows that sometimes, hoping for love can blind you to who a person truly is. After a bad divorce, she heads home to buy and open a flower shop. With help from her brother, she digs in and works hard to open her shop. When she sees her old love, she can’t help but be a little blindsided.

Luke left years ago to be able to help his family. But in leaving, he had to leave Mia too. He knows that he didn’t do a fantastic job of leaving, but at the time, he didn’t know another way. Now that he has seen Mia again, he can’t help but feel a little frustrated with her view towards him, not to mention these strange things that have started to happen to him.

With Mia and Luke trying to figure out if their present can include a relationship from the past, they will have to navigate old hurts, family, and mysterious events that will either bring them closer together or tear them further apart.

This book, for me, was a little slow. I liked how protective Luke was, but it was a lot of history and I’m sorrys, which made it feel somewhat redundant.

I do hope that Mia’s brother gets his own book, as his life seems very fun and mysterious too.

Mia has just returned to her hometown of Rushmere to open her own flower shop. She'll be living with her brother Gus. Little does she know, Luke, the man who broke her heart 10 years ago is also back in town. Her brother works for him. Will they be able to rekindle their romance, or will the pain of heartbreak be too much to overcome.

Thank you to Carina & Harlequin for the opportunity to read and review this book.





We all have that one lover who broke our hearts without an explanation. What would you do if you saw them again? Would old sparks reignite or would the pain remain? For Mia and Luke, they were both broken hearted and confused by the other's actions. Luke fled to the Navy, and Mia to France. Unfortunately, being apart didn't make the hurt go away. No one they dated or married could compare either.

I like second chance romances, but this one just missed the mark for me. I'm not sure if it was because of the repetition or what. Mia and Luke would see each other around town and with just a look there was an attitude issue. Neither one of them can say what is on their mind and admit how much they have feelings for each other now and how much they loved each other in the past.

This is the first book in a series and the first book I have read by this author. The next book in the series, Unforgotten will be released next month (Feb.2021).

I’ve enjoyed several of Garrett Leigh’s books, but this one didn’t work well for me.

A big part of my disconnect from the story had to do with Mia’s character. She is just so ANGRY throughout the first part of the book. Her anger has some justification, in that her boyfriend Luke abandoned her without a word at the age of seventeen to join the Navy and then just completely ghosted her. Not cool! BUT that was ten years ago, and a decade is a long time to hold onto the level of anger she displays. She’s also rageful about her ex-husband, which I get, because he was a louse, but she sort of seems to blame Luke for her choosing to marry him, and . . . No, that’s on you, Mia. And even if her feelings toward them might be justifiable, Mia also treats her brother Gus very rudely, EVEN THOUGH SHE IS LIVING IN THE MAN’S HOUSE. I mean, he bends over backwards to help her out, and she gives him attitude. Mia just wore. me. out.

I liked Luke more than Mia, but the man has the communication skills of a brick. That leads to a lot of sniping by Mia and Luke silently taking it, which was also tiresome. Speak up for yourself, man!

I might have been able to enjoy the book more if her anger and his silence didn’t go on for so much of the story. The dynamic between them does lead to a lot of fairly steamy hate sex at first. Actually, there’s quite a bit of sex in this book in general; that’s how Mia and Luke seem to communicate best. A little more romancing and a little less sex wouldn’t have gone amiss for me.

I can’t write the book off entirely, though. It eventually improved when Mia stopped being so antagonistic and Luke started to open up to her about what he was thinking and feeling. It’s just a shame that it took so long to get to that point.

While Mia and Luke’s romance wasn’t a success for me, I am looking forward to Gus and Billy’s story, Unforgotten. Gus is a sweetheart, and Billy has issues that should make for an interesting read.

A copy of this book was provided through NetGalley for review; all opinions expressed are my own.

My o My, it has been a LONG time since I've read a MF romance book but I requested this because I enjoy second chance novels and it's by Garrett Leigh so I said "Why Not give this a go?". For the most part, I liked this but it really did not go the way I thought it would.

First things first, Mia wasn't the most likeable of characters. She herself admitted to being selfish and tended to make everything about her. Fine, she felt she needed to when dealing with Luke because of their past but she was still selfish and sometimes immature to others as well. Luke wasn't any less prickly but you could tell he was making an effort to be a better person because of his past.

On the relationship front, it took a lot of unnecessary back & forth and wrangling from both of them before they sat down like adults and addressed the elephant in the room. By that time, I actually didn't care if they got back together.

My apathy towards the relationship, coupled with the fact that the pacing in this book was quite slow, there were times (especially in the first 30%), that I wanted to put it down to read something else.

However, just past about 50% of the book, the story began to flow much more freely and the subplot(which could've been handled much better) began to gain more momentum. It was also around this time that the aforementioned adult conversations began to happen which helped a bit I think.

Overall, I think this book had promise but for some reason the execution fell a bit flat. I will be reading Gus' book though. I loved his big heart and I'm definitely curious as to how he and Billy are going to work out!

Forgiven is the first book in this series. This one is Mia and Luke's story. It's a second chance romance with a little mystery thrown in. You all know second chance romances are one of my favorite tropes. I so wanted to love this book. It ended up being an OK read for me. I didn't love it. Luke and Gus were my favorite characters. I do want to read Gus's story. I loved Luke's relationship with his mom. My biggest issue with this book was Mia. I really didn't like her for about 80% of the book. I get that Luke broke her heart. However, after he explained his reason and apologized for the 4th time, I felt like she was still kind of holding it against him. I just didn't love that and thought she was being a bit unfair. Like I said, I do want to read Gus's story next. While I didn't like it as much as I wanted to, it's still worth a read.

I was really looking forward to reading something by this new-to-me author. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity when I was invited to participate on the blog tour for this one. I had been under the impression she wrote strictly LGBTQ stories, so it surprised me a bit when I learned this was a male/female story. I guess it could be said she writes mostly LGBTQ, but not strictly.

While I found this to be a very lovely story, I felt something was missing. I totally bought into the love and attraction between Mia and Luke, but I didn’t feel the connection the way I wanted. I also felt as though there were aspects of this story that weren’t fully fleshed out. It was almost as if this was an introductory novella to a series instead of the first of the series. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the read and am interested to read more by this author.

Mia and Luke have a lot to talk about, yet they go much of the book avoiding talking. Once they do finally tell each other some truths, there is a glimmer of the chemistry I was looking for. And, quite honestly, there is one of the greatest lines I’ve read in a “baring of the souls” scene. Mia didn’t just need to know that Luke understood her animosity and its reasons, she needed to say the words out loud.

“It’s not enough that you know…you have to let me say it.”

Oddly enough, while it would seem Luke was in the wrong in their past relationship, he was the one I attached to and liked the most. Mia had so many walls up, even with her brother, that it made it difficult for me to get to know her and feel an attachment. It came eventually, though.

With the little hints we get of Mia’s brother Gus and Luke’s brother Billy, I have a feeling the next book in this series will be even more enjoyable.

Mia Amour has come home to England to open a florist shop after a devastating divorce. She is looking forward to being near her brother again and starting a new life. What she does not count on is the man who broke her heart has also come home again. Can she put the past behind her and forgiven the one man she truly loved?

Luke Daley is home and is surprised to see Mia back in England. Luke left the one woman he truly loved years ago, without an explanation and now he must not only face her, but his past mistakes. Will Mia ever forgive him?

Mia and Luke can not deny the hidden passion between them as they also begin to be friends once more. When something threatens their love once again, is their love strong enough to survive?

This was a fabulous book by Garrett Leigh. Both characters are written with such depth and dimension, you are drawn right into the torn love between them. My heart broke for both at the same time I was hoping they would have their happily ever after. A great novel to curl up with this winter. Thank you so much to the author Garrett Leigh, Harlequin Publishing ( Carina Press) and NetGalley for an advanced copy of the book to review. All opinions expressed for this review are unbiased and entirely my own.

Romantic, HOT, suspenseful, HOT!!

Where do I start? I’m very familiar with Garrett Leigh’s work as an M/M romance author. I was surprised when I saw Forgiven available on NetGalley and realized that it was an M/F story. I didn’t hesitate to request a review copy, though, because I do read some M/F romance and it’s GARRETT LEIGH! Then I received a blog tour invite from Carina Press and couldn’t wait to help promote this book. I was also fortunate to receive an advanced copy of the audiobook performed by the talented Dan Calley and new-to-me Zara Hampton-Brown. So, this review will cover both versions.

Second chance stories are tied with friends-to-lovers as my favorite romance trope. Forgiven is a full on second chance romance with a bit of a friends-to-lovers vibe and I loved it. This book doesn’t pull any punches. It’s gritty, it’s hot AF sexy (hate sex is HOT), it’s suspenseful and it’s romantic.

Mia and Luke have a lot of history but they haven’t seen or spoken to each other in 10 years. Their parting was abrupt and painful for both of them. Now they’re back living in the same small town so meeting was inevitable.

The audiobook was fantastic. I’m very familiar with Dan Calley’s audiobook performances but this was my first by Zara Hampton-Brown. I’m very picky about female narrators, mostly because, in my experience, very few of them can do a decent male voice. Zara did a great job with the chapters that she performed and the male voices she used were unique from each other. I would not hesitate to listen to more books with her as the voice actor.

I loved everything about this story and it kept me up reading way into the not-so-wee hours of the morning (like 5 a.m. and I hadn’t been to bed yet). Forgiven is part of a duet (two connected books) and it’s not difficult to guess who the second book (an M/M romance) will feature. Forgiven definitely can be read as a standalone story – there is no cliffhanger – but I can’t wait to start reading my review copy of Unforgotten.

A review copy of the audiobook was provided by the publisher, and the ebook via NetGalley, but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book.

***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

3.5 stars

Forgiven was a bit difficult for me to rate. As much as I disliked the beginning, the end made up for it. The storyline is enjoyable and rather simple to follow.

What bothered me were the main characters. Why? Well, the story starts out well and I was intrigued, but quickly Mia acts out and is very immature. She has a temper and not always for the right reasons (if that makes sense). She fights against things that are common sense at times or simply for the sake of it. As for Luke, he is the peace to her storm to the extreme. He doesn't say much and when she tries to make amends after lashing out, for example, that's when he shuts her out and/or lashes out. At first, I found them very annoying.

Now, there are things that I have enjoyed. The moment the second part of the story begins, the characters turn around and the story becomes more enjoyable. The mystery creates just what I need to push me through it. The characters have a good arc overall, but it drags not in a great way in the beginning. So I would say, I didn't enjoy the first part, but liked the second, so it's really hard for me to rate this book.

Mia's brother is probably the character I enjoyed reading about the most. Book 2 is about him, so I will read the second book.

Ten years ago, Luke Daley suddenly left his hometown for very good reasons, leaving his teenage love behind without explanation. He’s now back, running his uncle’s business. Mia Amour has just returned to home to Rushmere, England, leaving Paris and her ex-husband behind as she begins a new future running her own florist shop. She had no idea Luke was back in town and at first sight, both were thrown back to where they left off...her angry at his abandonment and him consumed with guilt and unresolved feelings.

I got a sense of both Mia and Luke very quickly, which was important because who they are with each other is something completely different, providing a vivid contrast. Their reunion thrust them back to being teenagers and all the problems that entails in terms of communication. She could be stubborn and reactive and he could be closed off, not knowing how to put his true feelings into words and be vulnerable. They had no issues relating physically but their inability to form a deeper relationship was epic. Typically, everyone around them knew the truth and fortunately they gave them the space to close the distance of those ten years and recapture what was important. It was their journey that made this special.

I loved the audio version as the narrators adeptly captured the working class dialect and embodied the characters. There are strong secondary characters, especially Mia and Luke’s brothers who happen to be the central focus of the next book. I enjoyed everything about the story as it is raw, not always reasonable and terrifically honest in its telling. And, there’s a little bit of intrigue for added flavor. It was a great listening experience and I’m happy to already be signed up for the next story.

2.5/5*

Based in the UK, Mia and Luke struggle to learn to live in the same village again after years apart.
​
Story Moves Fast
We jump right into this story with Mia returning to their small town and finding out that her ex is back, forcing her to deal with their history while trying to open her story. I actually like that it moves quickly because I wanted to get to the good part of Mia and Luke figuring out how to be together again. We know that the chemistry between them means that they are going to find their way back to each other! The undercurrent of someone stalking Mia is very rushed, so it's not clear that this is actually a problem until later in the book. It would've added some tension if this storyline had been emphasized early on, but overall, the book is more about Mia and Luke than about someone messing with her life.

Mia Is a Bit Much
I had a hard time liking Mia - she gets so easily offended or up in arms about everything that it's fairly exhausting to read about her. Even in her own POV, it's never entirely clear why everything seems to cause her to lash out. I fully understand being angry with someone for abandoning you...but it happened years ago, he's apologized, and she still is often so rude. I wish we had more insight into her instead of simply "this is her personality". Ultimately, she was simply an "ok" character.

​Secondary Characters Are Great
Although the story is about Mia and Luke, I found myself more interested in secondary characters like Billy (Luke's brother) and Gus (Mia's brother). Gus in particular caught my attention by being so different from both Mia and Luke. He's compassionate, calls them on their bs, caring, and super comfortable in his own skin. I realized that the next story is about him and I'm so excited to read his love story! He made a great addition to this book because Luke and Mia definitely needed a referee to calm them down or encourage them, depending on the character.

Overall, this is an easy read for those interested in a spicy love story, and one that's set in the UK so there are some fun slang terms for us Canadians (or Americans!). The location of the book was actually a big selling point of me because I felt like I was in a small town in England with all the British swear words and terms :).

3.5 Stars

I have such mixed feelings about Garrett Leigh's Forgiven.

I love the characters and their storyline. I love all the emotions involved. I love the pain and aguish.

I hate the name Mia Amour.

I enjoy the pace of the storyline, the secondary characters, and the detailed background development.

I hate the name Mia Amour.

Seriously, any other last name would be fine, But this isn't cute to me. This isn't funny and it isn't sweet. It's distracting and totally annoying. There is no way that someone could be named this and not be mocked for it every damn day.

I definitely enjoy that the reasons they broke up made sense. And their lingering feelings for each other is what drives the tale. Their anger is front and center, as well as their pain that caused the anger.

So basically, as much as I love the story, even in reviewing it, the name is distracting to me.

The attraction between the two is high and the hate sex is plentiful. I enjoy the push and pull, and all of the later action, danger, and angst. I don't love the identity of the stalker. Sure, one certainly won't guess it, but that's cause there's no damn way they could. I also didn't love the sex scenes. I'm a big fan of Garrett's m/m sex scenes, but I found some of the sex scenes moments awkward.

Forgiven is one of those books that's easy to fall into and stay consumed throughout. But it isn't my favorite by any means. I'm an avid fan of Garrett Leigh, and this one is decent. As far as I know, this is Garrett's first m/f romance. It's worth a read when you're in the mood for an angst love/hate, second chance romance.

The first book in a new series, Forgiven is a second chance romance and my introduction to this author. I like the premise of this story and most of the characters, but struggled to warm to Mia and found something missing in her relationship with Luke. I will read more and recommend other read this story as this is just my view at a point in time.

In this second chance lovers trope, Mia and Luke run the gamut from hate, to dealing with stalkers to lovers. Forgiven by Garrett Leigh was my first book by her and I thoroughly enjoyed it. From other reviews I read, this isn’t her standard story line but I’m convinced she can write whatever she wants. When Mia returns to England from a messy divorce in France, she runs into her ex. Luke, who has been back for a few years after returning from his listing in the Navy, didn’t expect to encounter Mia again. The tension and chemistry between these two is easy to see. I appreciated the way the author was able to show that feelings don’t just go away over time and some need to be able to work through emotions in order to move on. Receiving this as an ARC from the publisher didn’t matter as I probably would’ve bought this on my own. Great story, highly recommend!

It's been a while since I've read a book by Garrett Leigh, but I liked her work well enough that I picked this one up without even bothering to read the blurb. So, I was a bit surprised to find a male/female pairing. Not that it made a difference to me. I'm in it for the romance and if that's good, the chemistry is good, and the couple works, I'm happy. This romance is all about Mia and Luke and their second chance at love. There's just something about high school sweethearts that draws me in, and with that, we get a couple who can't keep their hands off each other - despite the determination to do just that. In addition to the romance, we have a bit of mystery to ponder. And that's really the only drawback for me. Not that we have a mystery - I like a good mystery - but the big reveal for this one was a little out of left field. I would've liked a bit more on the person behind it all. It's a small thing in comparison to all the good in the story, and the mystery is more of a taste of danger to push these two into spending enough time together to figure it all out - the romance, to figure out the romance. In the end, I liked the couple and the secondary characters, and I'll be interested to see how things play out for the next couple in the series.

Forgive the Low Star Reviewers, For They Know Not What They Do. Apparently I had a *completely* different experience with this book than most of the other ARC readers, because while this thing wasn't mind blowing in the slightest, it was a solid romance with a crap ton of sex, characters who both despised and loved each other, and a solid concept for at least a short series. Really, it was fairly standard ish romance - which is all that I really expected here. If you're looking for LGBT romance, this isn't it - and never claims it is, despite the author being more well known in that space. If you're looking for sweet or clean or tidy... this isn't that either. There is a lot of hard core, rough, passionate, hate filled sex - because that is the space these characters are in after the way life has treated them over the last decade, and the last thing either of them wants to be dealing with is the one that got away all those years ago. And yes, there is an out and proud gay brother - and another brother whose sexuality is less clear in this text - who will be the foci of the next book in the series. Which alone merits reading this series, as *extremely* few authors have the balls to combine different sexualities into the same series - or even write books outside a set sexuality. I've actually already started the other book, since I'm also reading it early - for a blog tour, in fact - and so far it continues in the same tone as the others.

Ultimately, I would've read this one from the hate filled reviews alone - just because when a book gets *so* heavily panned, I find myself reading it for myself just to see if indeed the hatred is warranted. It wasn't in the most personally-famous case of me doing this (reading DIVERGENT trilogy because ALLEGIANT got this same level of hatred over its ending), and it isn't in this book either.

This book, and so far this series, is a refreshing change of pace in so many ways, and is therefore very much recommended.

Forgiven by Garrett Leigh is a second romance who love angst and a little suspense. I enjoyed how Mia and Luke wrestle with their relationship and their past.

Garrett Leigh est une autrice que j'affectionne particulièrement pour sa patte unique lorsqu'il s'agit d'angst et dans ce livre, cette souffrance des personnages, ce côté triste et rude est bien présent. Le spleen et la rage collent à la peau de Mia et Luke, ce qui donne un récit quand même assez chaotique sur le plan émotionnel. Mia est pétrie de colère et de ressentiment, et Luke est écrasé par le poids de culpabilité. Ni lui ni elle ne sont bons dans la communication, du coup, le roman réserve souvent des scènes dramatiques intenses où les héros montent très vite dans les tours (enfin ... surtout Mia).

Je dois dire que ce roman m'a paru long, je suis surprise de voir qu'au final il fait un peu plus de 200 pages. La relation est sans doute trop chaotique à mon goût, et je trouve qu'on tourne quand même pas mal en rond, car les personnages sont vraiment incapables de communiquer, ce qui est un des ressorts narratifs qui m'insupporte le plus.

L'histoire secondaire est malheureusement mal exploitée, la fin bâclée (je me suis demandée s'il ne manquait pas des pages ...), et c'est vraiment dommage, car habituellement, je trouve les romans de Garrett Leigh parfaits comme ils sont. C'est vraiment dommage car pour moi, cela donne un côté vraiment brouillon à l'ensemble.

J'ai beaucoup aimé Gus, sa relation avec Luke, avec sa soeur, bref, c'est un personnage qui m'a bien plu et je suis impatiente de lire son tome. Billy, on le voit peu, mais il a du potentiel, et là encore, je suis curieuse et pressée de lire ce que Garrett Leigh lui réserve.

Voilà un bilan mitigé donc ...

I had a tough time at first and perhaps it was because my expectation with Garrett Leigh is her M/M stories. I'm glad I stuck it out though. Luke and Mia's story is wrought with pain. Communication is key in any relationship and these two have the most difficult time ever (from the time they were kids) being able to communicate their feelings about everything in their lives. Not everyone gets a second chance at their first true love and let me tell you that these two have a super long road to go in order to get there. Their relationships with others also suffer the same fate and there are some wounds that need healing. A bit of suspense (and to be fair, although we know the who at the end, I'm not quite clear on the why) adds to the story. I definitely look forward to Gus' story!