Do You Remember? by Mandy Baggot

First Love. First Loss. Last chance?

2005 was the most traumatic year of Emma Barron’s life. It was the year her mother died and the year she met Guy Duval. Eight years on, she’s an English teacher with a doting boyfriend and a young son. Life’s been hard but now it’s comfortable. She’s settled and content…so why would she risk it all for another chance with the man that broke her heart?

Guy’s an international renowned footballer newly signed to a top UK team. But behind the confident facade is a man determined to drown the horrors from his childhood with fame, success and money.

Unable to confide in her best friend, Ally, Emma tries to hold her life together as her heart is pulled apart. Did she turn her back on love too soon?

Neither of them know what really happened on 5 September 2005 and as events are slowly revealed can anyone cope with the truth?

After reading the blurb for this, I really liked the sound of it, so a big thank you to HarperImpulse for allowing me to review.

This novel starts in 2005; a year that was extremely traumatic for Emma having just lost her Mother. Emma and her Dad, Mike are grieving so they have gone on holiday to France to try and escape the painful memories of her.

This is where Emma meets Guy. Guy is drop dead gorgeous and the fact that he's french definitely adds to his appeal. Emma can't stop looking at him, but she thinks that she doesn't stand a chance against the likes of Tasha and Melody who she thinks are much better looking than her in their tiny bikini's, swishing their hair and fluttering their eyelashes. But when Guy's football accidentally knocks her off her chair, what ensues is a powerful romance between them that Emma certainly didn't expect.

Fast forward to 2013 and Emma is no longer with Guy. She is with sweet, lovely Chris who has just proposed to her and not for the first time. Emma also has an eight-year old boy called Dominic, but it is unclear who his Father is. Emma has long since moved on from Guy, or so she thinks. So when she unexpectedly finds Guy back in her life all her feelings for him come right back up to the surface.

Guy is now an international football star and has done very well for himself since struggling in 2005 with an abusive Mother and a young baby to take of. When he and Emma see each other, they both know that their feelings for one another have not changed, but how can they possibly be together after what happened. They are also in a relationship with other people now and maybe they both have secrets that they couldn't possibly tell one another without it devastating them again.

I thought Emma was incredibly sweet and I felt so sorry for her for all that she had been through. It was clear as well they she does not love Chris as much he loves her. But she she knows that Chris has been there for her and how can she possibly leave him. Also even though she still has feelings for Guy how can she even begin to forgive him for what he did to her all those years ago. But Emma had never given a Guy a chance to explain, she was just so hurt she just made assumptions and ran away. Guy is also really lovely and caring and he is also hurting from that time, maybe Emma got it wrong?

I knew that Guy and Emma were meant to be together and the spark between the two of them is wonderful, you will be desperate for them to be together throughout the novel and there are some truly wonderful romantic scenes between the two of them.

This novel also had two very unexpected twists for me that you definitely will not see coming. I was shocked as it is not at all what you see coming and you realised that 2005 had a lot more secrets than you think!! 

I honestly really enjoyed this and I look forward to reading more from Mandy Baggot.

Do You Remember? is out now!

8/10