Disclosure: I received this books to review. Post contains affiliate links; opinions shared are mine. 
Mother’s Day is a sweet opportunity to slow down and enjoy the day.  We’ve had some rain here, so I plan to snuggle up with some good books and relax.  Here’s what to read this weekend, if you’re in the same boat!

It’s hard to push past the 20+ years it’s been since I was 17 years old, but I’ll try for the sake of Remember to Forget. Originally featured on Wattpad, this book still holds the charm of a novel that wasn’t polished up for the sake of mainstream fiction.  So often in teen (or YA) fiction, the characters seem to have an overly mature worldview. That wasn’t the case in Remember to Forget. I felt that the story was authentic to the way that many teens react and behave.

Levi’s memories are raw and painful as a fresh burn sometimes, and it shows in the dialogue.  I went through a kaleidoscope of emotions as the story progressed.  At first, I didn’t like Levi — and that’s what he wanted. He wants to be left alone, so he’s all prickles and thorns.  Neighborhood friends Delilah and Aiden don’t let that slide, and that’s why I loved them.  They’re accepting and tolerant in a way that many young people these days aren’t.  (If only they were!)  Author Ashley Royer really lets the reader see inside Levi’s thoughts, and it hurts.  His pain and grief from losing his girlfriend Delia overwhelms his every thought.  It’s rare to get such a clear picture of a depressed teen’s mind.  Even better, this is a clean read. The darkness is there without profanity or vulgar talk.  The cover is striking and beautiful, just like a memory.   I think Royer hit the nail on the head with this one. I look forward to more of her work!

The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George brings out the best in a romantic reader. Everyone respects a person who is an expert at his craft. We saw it in Harry Potter with Mr. Ollivander, and with Kathleen Kelly in You’ve Got Mail. The expert is someone who can read a customer and recommend exactly what’s needed for a troubled mind, a hurting heart, or a creative thinker. In The Little Paris Bookshop, Monsieur Perdu was such an expert.  He prescribed books like a doctor prescribes medicine. His gift of knowing his books didn’t extend to his gift of knowing his heart, though.  That was a lesson that he needed to learn!

I loved reading about the French countryside.   It’s completely unknown to me, apart from my visits to the French pavilion in Epcot, so I really savored the setting in this book.  There was mild profanity in the book, which seemed a paradox considering all the vocabulary the bookstore owner had at his mental disposal.  There are also bedroom scenes that don’t get too explicit but may make a modest reader blush. The story moved slowly, and I was tempted to skip over a few sections because they tended to drag on and on.  Still, it’s worth the time to get to the end.  Isn’t it always that way with a romance?