365 books in 365 days Challenge ... Book #332

Enticed by His Forgotten Lover - Maya Banks
Harlequin Desire 
Harlequin, 2011
ISBN: 9780373731206

N.B. This is a North American release.









My rating

From the back cover:

"'Have we met?' 
Answer: a right hook Because Bryony Morgan pulls no punches. Even when she's very pregnant and facing down the father of her unborn child. She fell for wealthy hotelier Rafael de Luca when he courted her for her beachfront real estate. Then he disappeared. Now, she's in New York for answers--and she won't accept a brush-off. 
But selective amnesia after a crash has Rafael puzzled. How could he ever forget a combustible beauty like Bryony? Solution: return to the island where they met, and relive the unforgettable nights in question--until he remembers everything..."


I bought this book recently, I have read some of Maya Banks's non category books and while the more racier ones are not really my cup of tea I do like her style, and I like the Desire line, so...

The hero Rafe is trying to go about his life business as usual without any of his business associates realising that his recent plane crash has left him with amnesia for the preceding months. During a business gathering he is approached by the heroine Bryony, and left stunned when her response to his query whether he knows her or not is a punch to the face. Bryony is upset to learn about Rafe's condition, especially that the time he has lost is the time he spent with her. Rafe doesn't know what to think of Bryony's assertions that they had fallen in love with one another, but he wants to believe her. In hope of regaining his memory, Rafe asks Bryony to take him back to her home, the place they had supposedly fallen in love. Although nothing seems to trigger his memory, Rafe begins to realise that Bryony is very special and he wants to have a future with her and their child regardless of what went on before. But he also can't shake the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

I was surprised by how much I liked this story. The amnesia trope is something I wanted to roll my eyes at, but I have to say that this is done very well. I couldn't get enough of the really fun writing style that Maya Bank's has, it has a nice casual style and the dialogue, especially the heroine's, made me smile. This reminded me a little of the older Desire books that are much more down to earth than some of the more recent Desire's have been.
The pace and flow of the story is perfect, and the conflict is weaved in very subtly, as I was reading I felt that something wash going to come crashing down at any minute, and that made it very compelling reading.
The reasons behind the characters actions are well explained, with plenty of drama (in a good way).

This book manages to be both intense and heart warming, I really liked it! I look forward to reading the other books in this mini-series.

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