Never Forgotten (Never Forgotten Series Book 1)

Never forgotten was a joy to read. The plot is so creative and the character are endearing. I'm looking forward to reading the series.

I grabbed this book a couple of weeks ago on Amazon and dove right in. I've never read a book that dealt with sea creatures, and I was super intrigued. I liked that the author based the tale on well-known myths, and I learned about some new things I'd never heard of. Anyway, let's get to the juicy stuff.From a Reader's Perspective:Character wise, I liked Meara. I thought she and her mother had a beautiful bond going on, and every time something horrid would happen, I held my breath as I waited to see if it would be "the" moment. I found myself torn between relief and exasperation several times because I wanted the story to move forward at the same time I wanted the mother to survive just a little longer. Pacing was steady, but slow. It's like a simmer that never reaches the boil it's threatening. When the big moments were happening, I wanted more emotion from Meara. I'm intrigued by her father, her aunts, and the guys at the club. All the members of the family seem to have a lot of mystery surrounding them.There's one place where Meara is getting a pedicure, but I knew she was self-conscious of her feet, and I wondered if that was something she'd do. Seemed out of character.Plot wise, it was most excellent. I could clearly see the main character experience change from page one to the end. She started out as a shy girl who didn't take risks ever. By the end, she was still scared, but willing to take a leap of faith to discover herself.If you're looking for answers to any of the mysteries of the family, you won't find them in this series starter. It's more of the day to day life of Meara as her future hangs in the balance. Like I said before, the pace is slow, but it seems more about discovery and raising the questions to be answered in later books.Yes, there's a cliffhanger, and I want to read book two so I can have some answers. Luckily, all three books in the series are already out.From an Editor's Perspective:It needs a proofreader with a really good eye. There are a number of misused words, and some repetitive scenes that would be cleaned up with one more run through. Example: She caught herself, and her checks grew red. Other than those, it was clean on the pronouns, punctuation, and structure.Rating:1 Star for giving me a mother/daughter relationship I loved1 Star for plot and a growing MC1 Star for introducing me to new myths and making me want more-1 Star for pacing and never quite hitting full boil.5 Star for editing-.5 Star for editingOverall, 3.5 out of 5 stars. I round up when clicking stars, so this book will get a 4. Recommended if you enjoy a book that takes its time and leaves you wanting more.

It is Meara’s senior year in high school in Wisconsin and she is looking forward to traveling in Europe with her best friend Kim after graduation, but her mother is very sick and moves them to the small town of Peggy’s Cove, Canada, to stay with the grandparents Meara has never met.While living in Canada is different, the ocean strangely makes Meara feel at home. Her dreams of her father, David, become reality and she finds it strange that he has never aged and skirts around her questions about why he abandoned her and her mother seventeen years ago. Can she handle the truth and live with the most difficult decision of her life?Told in Meara’s voice, the topics are momentous and Meara’s loving relationship with her mother is very realistic and heartbreaking. The hardships and difficult decisions Meara make are a lot for a young woman of her age to endure, but she tackles them with maturity and grace. In addition, the relationships with her grandparents, her father, her best friend, Kim, and Evan, her boyfriend, are such an important part of her life experience and Ms. Risser pens it with depth and finesse.I highly recommend this young adult paranormal romance which tackles the serious topics of abandonment and cancer as well as single parenting. I look forward to reading the series.Thank you to Ms. Risser for giving me the opportunity to read this book with no expectation of a positive review.

***Overall Impression***: I really liked this book. From the beginning I was engaged. I enjoyed the characters, I enjoyed the plots, I enjoyed everything. I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I had, especially since it seemed to be a little bit supernatural and a little bit of a coming of age story. I will say that I was pleasantly surprised by the end. Chances are very high that I will pick up and read the second book!***Things that needed work***: In the middle of the book, it started to lose a little bit of it's momentum. Just when I was about to be done with Meara's inability to get an answer from anyone, the plot picked up and moved forward. Also, while I understood the reason for the time skips, it started to get a little jarring. A better approach might have been to split the book up into two parts and have some of that nebulous connective moments happen in the background. Overall, it was cleanly woven together and edited very well. Although, I could have done with a lot fewer Diet Coke references. I was sick of Diet Coke by the end of the book.***Things I loved***: Man. I really enjoyed a LOT of this book. I was engaged from the beginning. Enough so that I put off my writing tasks to continue reading. What can I say? I would highly recommend this book. I enjoyed Meara as the main character and I enjoyed some of mystery aspect of the book, but what I really liked was that the mystery didn't entirely overtake what seemed to be the main theme: a young girl dealing with the terminal illness of her mother. I'm not ashamed to admit that I shed a few tears. The story was very real. I hope that the second book is able to capture that same level of realism as the first.

When Meara's mother gets ill, they return to Canada and the family she never knew existed.I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.Meara has been living an ordinary life, with ordinary plans. When her mother's cancer comes back with a terminal prognosis, all that normality is uprooted.Wanting Meara to have some family after she's gone, her mum takes her back to her estranged grandparents. Meara quickly settles in, with her new family, new friends, and handsome new boyfriend. But there are also questions whirling round, of why her mother left in the first place, when it's clear her grandparents never kicked her out, as Meara assumed. And how and why she is dreaming of her father.This was a very slow burner. It follows Meara's life, going to a new school, and making new friends. All the little things that let her connect with her grandparents, and falling in love with Evan.Peggy's Cove isn't an exciting place to live, and for the most part, it's not very exciting to read about either.There is the mystery about who Meara's father is, and in turn, <i>what</i> Meara is. I liked the idea of the selkies, and all the mythology that was shared in this book.My only problem was how repetitive and annoying the 'we can't tell you yet' line was. Meara's parents are both happy to give hints, before insisting their daughter isn't ready to know the truth, giving knowing looks all the while. That's fine a couple of times, but it felt like it was happening once or twice a chapter.The big winner for this book, was the relationship between Meara and her mother, and how her mother's cancer had taken over their lives, casting a shadow over everything.It is poignant and realistic, and it utterly surprised me how invested I was towards the end of their story.Overall, this was a 3.5 out of 5 for me.

In Scotland we have stories of selkies, kelpies, Nessie & the Blue Men from Minch. I grew up loving the stories of women waiting by the shores for their loved ones to return from fishing only to be lured into sea by selkies or kelpies, never to be seen again. I struggled to get into this story of Meara who moves to Canada with her mother suffering from terminal cancer. Her mother brought Meara up alone as Meara's father left them when she was born. Meara makes new friends, finds a love interest & bonds with new family members.I didn't like Meara finding her immature & childish at times. There seemed to be no depth to her character & while her mother was dying she was out with friends rather than spending as much time with her as she could. I found her to be whiny, too forgiving of her prodigal father.The story itself dragged along quite often, taking forever to put a point across & even though I can be emotional - I wasn't when reading the sad scenes & Meara once again had her priorities all wrong.There were a few mistakes: missing words, missing quotation marks, spelling "Beetles" instead of "Beatles" when mentioning the band.Never Forgotten gives Scottish myths & folklore legends a modern setting but unfortunately it didn't enthrall me & I wouldn't read the rest of the series.

I'm going to begin this review by being honest. When I started this book I didn't know how to feel. I imagined it would just focus on one thing but that wasn't the case.In my opinion, the book was a breeze to read despite the subject matter. The author eased me into each chapter in such a way that I didn't find myself shocked or surprised by the outcome.Regardless, I found myself disappointed when the final page was turned (I wanted to read more!). Let's talk a bit about the story. From the first chapter Meara had her life turned upside-down and from then on things only got tougher for her. She had to cope with something no Seventeen-year-old should have to deal with and on top of that she also had to question many things about herself. Also this book is a mix between reality and paranormal, something I really liked. You must know that I dived into the book without reading the synopsis (something I do from time to time). What can I say about Evan? Mmmm... I really liked his character, dreamy thoughtful, polite, attentive... Yes, perfect!I have high hopes for the other books in this series. I'm really looking forward to exploring more and see how it will all evolve.

I have read a good bit of YA fiction, and have not been impressed. This book, however, was different.Not only was it beautifully written, it was well written and proof read, unlike the majority of fiction books on Kindle. The plot was very simple but well thought out, the characters were believable, which is so important in a fantasy book, and I read it in one sitting. The story is about a teenage girl who is forced to move home from mainstream America to Canada because her mother has cancer. After years of being estranged from her grandparents, she has to adjust to living with them as well as all the other transition caused by moving to a new place. Then her long lost father, who abandoned her and her mother, comes back into the picture, and he has a secret that could wreak havoc with her new life. I won't say any more, this was free when I bought it, so just read it! Unike the majority of YA fantasy, this I recommend.

I ordered this after reading the overview and thinking it was the kind of book I liked. Unfortunately in turned out to be too simply/amateurishly written. The characters felt shallow and lacking in emotion, especially around such serious themes as the main characters' mother's terminal cancer. The stilted, childlike style and storyline failed to draw me in and I ended up abandoning the story half way in. Glad I didn't pay for this!