Title: What Remains
Author Name & Publisher: Garrett Leigh (Riptide Publishing)
Publication Date & Length: July 4th, 2016 – 278 Pages
Web designer Jodi Peters is a solitary creature. Lunch twice a week with his ex-girlfriend-turned-BFF and the occasional messy venture to a dodgy gay bar is all the company he needs, right?
Then one night he stumbles across newly divorced firefighter Rupert O’Neil. Rupert is lost and lonely, but just about the sweetest bloke Jodi has ever known. Add in the heady current between them, and Jodi can’t help falling hard in love. He offers Rupert a home within the walls of his cosy Tottenham flat—a sanctuary to nurture their own brand of family—and for four blissful years, life is never sweeter.
Until a cruel twist of fate snatches it all away. A moment of distraction leaves Jodi fighting for a life he can’t remember and shatters Rupert’s heart. Jodi doesn’t know him—or want to. With little left of the man he adores, Rupert must cling to what remains of his shaky faith and pray that Jodi can learn to love him again.
Omg this is such a heart retching story. I was brought to tears so many times and I was angry for the characters. I was hurt and confused for them. All the emotions they felt I felt for them. That is the true mark of an amazing author and that is definitely what Garrett Leigh is. This book is a prime example of that.
In most books I for worse for one character more so then the other when bad things happen but in this book I could never pick one over the other. It was just a tragedy all the way around and I felt heartbroken for both of the characters for different reasons.
Jodi is the one who had the physical and mental damage done from being hit by the car. His brain injury left him with so many side affects ands personality changes. The worst being the not being able to remeber the past five years of his life. That just broke my heart for him because he tried so hard to remember the things he knew he had forgotten and that in itself made it unbearable for him. He knew he was missing the bigger picture and things such as feelings he was having was confusing him. It was heartbreaking watching him struggle to try and grasp those fleeting memories.
As far as Rupert is concerned it was heartbreaking because one of the most important people in his life no longer recognized him and at most only tolerated him because he was told to. His love for Jodi was unconditional and even when most would have given up Rupe was not having any of that. All he had was hope and at most times he did not have that but his love for Jodi was too strong.
The journey these two gentlemen had to take would have broken most but these two, whether they both realized it or not, had the kind of love that even something as complicated as memory loss could not destroy. This was an amazing story. It is even inspirational. I loved it and would definitely recommend others to read it.
Tosha
Oh wow. I just loved this book. The beginning of Jodi and Rupert’s relationship was so sweet. I love how patient and kind Jodi was with Rupert. Their love story was so wonderful and when one moment in time changes everything you see different sides of them and you still can’t help but love them. We got to see them fall in love all over again, even if it was a different kind of love built on different memories. I laughed, I cried and I couldn’t put this book down. Sweet love story about a wonderful couple.
Angie
This book was excellent. I immediately had a connection with Rupert and Jodi and loved the story plot. I love stories that flashback to remembered events especially when the story begins as an established couple. These characters were well thought out and complex individuals. I’ve always been a little leery when it comes to amnesia because if it’s done wrong it can be a disaster. However this author did a really good job with it. It was clear that these were very determined and outspoken individuals. There were times when I just wanted Jodi to remember so bad so that Rupert didn’t have to continue to go through the heartache over possibly losing the love of his life. This was a great job from an author who has never disappointed me.
Lynn
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Garrett Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox Love Press.
Garrett’s debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits is a finalist in the 2016 LAMBDA awards.
When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned photographer Dan Burgess.