BLOG TOUR - REVIEW & GIVEAWAY: Forever Innocent by Deanna Roy

Forever Innocent by Deanna Roy
Publication date: October 1st 2013
Genres: Contemporary, New Adult, Romance

Synopsis:

“Our baby died on prom night, and nothing was ever the same again.”

Corabelle doesn’t feel like any of the other college girls. On what should have been one of the happiest nights of her life, she and her boyfriend Gavin watched a nurse disconnect the ventilator from their seven-day-old baby. During the funeral two days later, Gavin walked out and never returned.

Since then, her life has been a spiral of disasters. The only thing that has helped is her ability to black out whenever the pain gets too hard to bear, a habit that has become an addiction.

When Gavin shows up in her astronomy class four years later, he is hell-bent on getting her back, insisting she forgive him. Corabelle knows she can’t resist the touch that fills the empty ache that has haunted her since he left. But if he learns what she has done, if he follows the trail back through her past, her secrets will destroy their love completely. And once again, she’ll lose the only person who always believed she was innocent.

My Thoughts:

“Crossing the line isn't about forgetting the people we love. It's about not letting our past sorrow steal our future joy.” 

Another emotional read. I'm not too sure that my heart can stand any more. There were parts in this book that had me all teary eyed and brimming with emotion. Forever Innocent was so incredibly sad in parts. As the mother of three beautiful, healthy children I have no concept of how a parent endures losing a child. How do you overcome the loss and grief and move on and function as a part of society?

Corabelle and Gavin were the very best of childhood friends. They did everything together so it was only natural that things progressed beyond friendship and they fell in love. Becoming parents in their teenage years was never something that they planned but after the initial shock of finding out that they were having a baby they accepted it, embraced it and looked forward to the little family they were going to become. But then out of the blue their world is shattered when at seven days old Finn passes away. 

I really liked Corabelle. She has been through the ultimate loss. She carries the scars with her daily. But for someone to go on from that shows how strong she really is. But not only did she have to endure the death of her baby, she was also living through the horrible fact that Gavin had left during the funeral and hadn't returned.

I have to admit that I had a hard time with my feelings for Gavin. My first thought was how disappointed I was that he ran out on Corabelle when she needed him the most. But then he is loving and sweet and kind, so I found myself getting pulled in by him. But then we learn how he's been spending the previous four years. And it was the way that Corabelle found out about it that had me back to being disappointed in him again. Some of these things were explained to my liking but others... I think I will just have to wait and see.

But just looking at Gavin took me back to the days before we were so damaged, when we had no clue that anything could go wrong. We were a family in progress, and our future spread out before us like the stars. I thought we'd be that happy and innocent forever, and that nothing would ever come between us.

There is a lot of anger and unresolved emotion between Corabelle and Gavin but there was no denying how good they were together. They had great chemistry and it was clear to see that they loved each other and should be together. But both of them are keeping secrets. How will they each react when those secrets are revealed? I think that these two still have lots of things to work through to get to where they both need to be.

As little Finn's time was drawing to a close and we got to experience that, it was so heartbreaking but written so beautifully. The tissues were definitely needed. A huge kudos to the author for the way that it was all handled. 

The writing of Deanna Roy was fantastic and I loved that she tackled something so difficult and did it so well. Forever Innocent is the story of loss, love and finding your way through the pain and the suffering. I really look forward to seeing where things go for Corabelle and Gavin in the next book.

4.5/5 Emotional Stars.

Author Bio:

Deanna Roy is a sucker for romance and drama and dumps hefty amounts of both in her novels. She is also a powerful advocate for baby loss moms and has founded multiple support groups for women, from teens on up, who endure this impossible heartache. Her other novels include Baby Dust and Stella & Dane: A Honky Tonk Romance.

Author Links:

Website / Facebook / Twitter / Goodreads 

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