Book Review: Forgotten by Catherine McKenzie

At First Sight: Following the death of her mother, Emma Tupper finds herself with a plane ticket bound for Africa as her legacy. She never wanted to go there in particular but it had been her mother's life-long dream, so Emma decides to take a leave of absence from her job as a lawyer and go, hoping to find some way to let her grief go. 

She only planned on being gone a month, but six months would pass before she could make it back home - due to illness and a crazy earthquake that left her stranded in a small village in the middle of nowhere. 

Now she's back home and facing the fact that almost everyone she knows thought she was dead - including her boyfriend Craig - and that her apartment has been rented out to someone else and most of her things are gone. 

Slowly, and with the reluctant help of Dominic, the guy who's now living in her apartment, Emma starts to put her life together, only to discover that is not easy to put things back where they were, and that maybe she doesn't want to. 

Second Glance: Forgotten was my second novel by Catherine McKenize - the first one being Arranged - and I enjoyed it so much. The premise is interesting - what if everyone thinks you're dead and then you suddenly came back? - but what really drove the story were the characters. 

Emma is going through such a difficult thing, and at times she does feel sorry for herself but she never comes off as whinny or annoying. Her best friend Stephanie is wonderful, she gives Emma unconditional love and support, but also lets her know that the world is not all about her. Dominic - the photographer living in her apartment - walked a fine line between being annoyed at Emma and being kind, because really, he's dealing with his own stuff when Emma comes along, yet he does the decent thing and helps her. 

There is a dash of romance and legal drama, just enough to keep things interesting though, honestly, I would have liked a bit more romance. 

Bottom Line: I had a few minor quibbles with  Forgotten, I wished there was more Romance and that the Africa part was more fleshed out but all in all, I enjoyed Forgotten right from the start and I quickly found myself caring for these people. 

Favorite Quote: Warning, the following quote might be a little spoilery.

"What now?" Stephanie asks. 

"My fiancé cheated on me."

Stephanie looks annoyed. "Why did you say that?"

"You asked what's wrong, that's what's wrong." 

"My boyfriend cheated on me," I say. 

"But not with your best friend." 

"Yeah, just while I was missing."

"Four weeks before my wedding."

"With my mortal enemy."

"In our bed."

I pause, "Okay, you win." 

- Stephanie, Dominic and Emma.