Forever My Girl by Heidi McLaughlin

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Title: Forever My Girl
Author: Heidi McLaughlin
Series: Beaumont #1
Published by: Tantor Audio
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Format: Audiobook
Narrator: Nelson Hobbs, Stephanie Rose
Length: 6 hours and 36 minutes
Genres: Romance, Contemporary
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2019 Audiobook Challenge, Lenoreo's 2019 Beat the Backlist Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ IndieBound ✩ iTunes ✩ Book Depository
My rating:

Blurb:

I was never supposed to be a rock star. I had my life all planned out for me. Play football in college. Go to the NFL. Marry my high school sweetheart and live happily ever after.

I broke both our hearts that day when I told her I was leaving. I was young. I made the right decision for me, but the wrong decision for us. I’ve poured my soul into my music, but I’ve never forgotten her. Her smell, her smile.

And now I’m going back.

After ten years.

I hope I can explain that after all this time.

I still want her to be my forever girl.

Listening time 6 hours 35 minutes

My Review:

3 stars — Yup, that confirms it, I think this author just isn’t for me.  I just have a problem connecting with her characters, and I inevitably find little things that bug me and take away from my enjoyment.

Before I go further, let’s talk narrators.  I thought both Nelson Hobbs and Stephanie Rose did great with their narrations.  Their pacing was solid, the emotions were varied, the voices were consistent and none of them bugged me.  In fact, I thought they both did a good job with Noah.  All in all, solid.

And now onto the story/characters.  I think part of my problem with the story is that, for a romance, Josie spends most of the book in a relationship with another man…which is just not as exciting for me.  It’s hard to be invested in Josie and Liam’s romance.  I enjoyed the flashbacks, though they weren’t the kinds of teenagers I would have wanted to be friends with.  This was definitely a book about the popular types of people.

As for adult Josie and Liam?  Well, hmmm…  Josie was wishy washy and quick to judge (what the hell was with that Kaitlyn jealousy shiznit?).  It’s not that I didn’t understand her hurts and all…but I just don’t get her relationship with Nick, how she felt about all that, how *I* was supposed to feel about that…  I don’t know.  As for Liam…Liam *away* from Josie was a total douchebag.  I still don’t know if I get why he left in the first place.  However, I actually really loved the way he loved Josie.  In general he was patient and respectful.  His side of their romance I was okay with.

Now BOTH of them were solid on the parenting front.  That was honestly the strong point of the book for me.  It’s not that they didn’t have missteps, but I truly believed that they wanted only the best for Noah, and were trying to navigate the sticky situation with the least harmful impact.  And for a kid, Noah was pretty cool…but also realistically a child still.

As for secondary characters…well…we’ve got a few villains that didn’t need to be so over the top.  Heck, I’d call Nick a villain, but I’m not sure he was supposed to be.  Kaitlyn was pretty cool…she deserved a better friend than Josie.  And the twins added some fun.

The one little thing that really bugged me in the book was the subtle slut-shaming/female bashing here and there.  I can’t tell you how many times Liam looked at women who came onto him in disgust, and made snide comments in his head about their choice of makeup and clothing.  I’m SO OVER this shit.  Now, this book is older, and I think even in 7 years time the world has grown up and gotten better, but it’s hard to go back to that and not notice it.  It’s unnecessary to put down all other female characters in order to make the heroine look somehow more amazing.

So yeah.  Again, just not for me.  I think every reader has different tolerances, and enjoys different things about books, and this just didn’t hit the right things for me.