Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally

Title: Things I Can't Forget (Hundred Oaks #3)

Author: Miranda Kenneally

Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

Release Date: March 1, 2013

Source: ARC from Publisher

Buy the Book: Amazon / Book Depository

Some rules were meant to be broken.

Kate has always been the good girl. Too good, according to doe people at school--although they have no idea the guilty secret she carries. But this summer, everything is different…

This summer she's a counselor at Cumberland Creek summer camp, and she wants to put the past behind her. This summer Matt is back as a counselor too. He's the first guy she ever kissed, and he's gone from a geeky songwriter who loved The Hardy Boys to a buff lifeguard who loves to flirt…with her. 

Kate used to think the world was black and white, right and wrong. Turns out, life isn't that easy...

So far, I have loved everything Miranda Kenneally has written. But then a friend was having some concerns with Things I Can't Forget so I decided to pick it up sooner than I had planned to. And then proceed to sit in my desk chair the entire evening, reading it. And I LOVED it. Things I Can't Forget is definitely different from Miranda Kenneally's other books, but it's a different that really works.

Kate has been brought up with strong Christian values. Every Sunday her family goes to church. And more than anything Kate believes in what she has been taught her whole life. But when she has to do the one thing that goes against everything she believes in, Kate doesn't really know what do believe in anymore. She feels guilty and she hopes that a summer working as Cumberland Creek summer camp will help her move forward and leave the past behind. But at camp Kate reconnects with Matt, the boy who gave Kate her first kiss. With Matt, Kate feels like she's able to move forward. But Matt also makes Kate question everything she has every believed in. And now Kate is even more confused than ever before.

The thing about Miranda Kenneally's Things I Can't Forget is that it's quite different from the other two books she's written. The subject matter is a little more serious and there are a lot more religious undertones to this book. And this had me a little weary at first. But once I started reading, I realized I didn't have anything to worry about. Yes, there was definitely a lot more religion in this book than in the other ones. But it wasn't the type of book that preaches at you. It fits in with the story, it makes sense. Without it, it wouldn't have been the same story and that would be a shame. Because this story worked. Everything made sense. And it also stole my heart in the process. It did not take long at all for me to find myself unable to put the book down. While reading Things I Can't Forget I found myself going through a whole range of emotions. There was just so much to feel. And this characters? They were most certainly responsible for a lot of those emotions.

Oh Kate. You puzzled me, you annoyed me and then somewhere along the way, you found a way to make me love you. I'll be the first to admit that at first I really wasn't sure how I felt about Kate, especially when it came to how strongly she held on to her beliefs. But the more I read, the more I understood that they were part of who Kate was. But the best thing about Kate was seeing her growth over the course of the novel. While still holding on to her beliefs she managed to come to terms with what she did and who she was becoming. I loved seeing that change happen in her, and that is what made me love Kate. With Matt, on the other hand, I didn't stand a chance. How was I supposed to resist a boy who goes around without shoes in preparation for running a marathon barefoot and also happens to be just about the sweetest person ever? I was powerless against him. Right from the start Matt stole my heart and I was just waiting for the same thing to happen to Kate's heart. Because there is no way she could resist Matt. And of course I was happy to see Parker and Will again, because who wouldn't want to see those two?

Things I Can't Forget by Miranda Kenneally is definitely different. But that doesn't stop the book from telling a beautiful story. Don't let yourself be scared of this book because you will be missing out. Believe me, this is not a story you want to miss. I know it stole my heart and I will be putting Things I Can't Forget in the hands of everyone I know.