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Life With the Thomas Brothers #5

Forgetting Rafe Thomas

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Getting over love shouldn’t be so hard.

Luna Parsons broke up with Rafe Thomas despite her reservations. Why? Because the clock is ticking, and no woman wants to wait a decade for a wedding ring. He made promises he didn’t keep and spent more time developing video game apps than planning a life with her. When Luna receives an offer to curate the new pottery exhibit at the Chatswain City Art Museum, she leaps at the opportunity and packs her bags.

Rafe Thomas is a deep thinker. Unfortunately, the things he thinks fail to exit his mouth in effective communication, so when Luna tells him she wants to move to nearby Chatswain City for a dream job without him, he doesn’t try to stop her. He doesn’t tell her he finally sold his first major gaming app, nor does he mention that he just signed on the dotted line, purchasing the gorgeous farmhouse she’s always wanted. He definitely doesn’t show her the diamond ring that’s been burning a hole in his pocket for months.

It's the break up heard around the world, and everyone in the Thomas family feels the hurt. But when Mav, his youngest brother, accidentally stumbles upon the ring he bought for Luna, he corners Rafe and discovers the truth. Together they develop a plan to help Rafe win Luna back, but it’s going to cost him a lot more than he realized, especially when Luna has a few plans of her own.

Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a second chance, secret admirer, sweet new adult romance with swoony kisses, everyday faith in action, and a side of comedy.

189 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 6, 2025

28 people are currently reading
54 people want to read

About the author

M.J. Padgett

74 books191 followers
M. J. Padgett is first and foremost a mom. Her free-spirited daughter has quite the vivid imagination, and her antics sometimes find their way into her mommy’s work. She is a lover of all things chocolate, a Grimm and Dickens addict, a self-proclaimed smarty-pants, and an introvert to the core.

Writing is her true passion (after raising her daughter, of course), and she writes as often as possible. One of her favorite things about writing is creating a world where people can escape reality for a little while, maybe even walk away feeling hopeful about the real world around them. When it comes to reading, she loves a book that can make her forget where she is no matter the genre. If she can get lost and feel like the characters are her real friends, she’s a happy reader.


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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
176 reviews3 followers
May 22, 2025
Before I begin, I would like to thank M. J. Padgett for allowing me to read a copy of her book, Forgetting Rafe Thomas, which is the fifth book of her Thomas Brothers series and is available on Amazon now.

Luna Parsons broke up her long relationship with Rafe Thomas even though she loved him. She didn't want to wait for ten years to get married while he spent more time developing an app instead of plan their lives together. Accepting a job at Chatswain City Art Museum means leaving town and their relationship behind. Rafe thinks and plans a lot, but the words often fail to exit his mouth. Such as the fact he sold the app he was working on, he bought the house of Luna’s dreams, and he’s had a diamond ring for months. He doesn’t stop Luna from moving away, leaving him with a broken heart. When his brother Mav finds the ring meant for Luna, he and Rafe plan a way to convince her to give their relationship another chance, even if it means costing him more than they thought. Can Luna and Rafe repair their relationship and try again or will their love story just remain in the past?

This was a great book. You have Luna Parsons, an intelligent, kind, ambitious, and beautiful young woman who loves her friends, family, and working on pottery. You have Rafe Thomas, a quiet, reserved, considerate, caring, and handsome young man that loves his family, Luna, and enjoys writing apps that help others. The interactions between the main characters were sweet, honest, and vulnerable. I appreciated how the author emphasized how relationships are supposed to change and develop over time, and how both Luna and Rafe had some stuff to do to make it work. The elements of faith were woven in nicely, and I loved how the main characters’ loved ones weren’t afraid to give great advice about communication, relationships, etc. I cheered both the characters on as I read the story. Overall, if you like faith, great family dynamics, good relationship advice, and sweet second-chance romance with low spice, then I highly recommend this book.
1,512 reviews
May 20, 2025
Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a very special book. It tackles one of the most daunting problems in any relationship, but most importantly, the major issue in a marriage, and that's the lack of communication or having unspoken expectations. Rafe and Luna have been in love since that day in the cafeteria when he took the dare from his friends to ask her out on a date and she miraculously said yes. He couldn't believe his lucky stars because she was in the popular group and he was just a guy obsessed with developing computer games, but it didn't seem to matter because they both found that they truly enjoyed each other's company. Now they're adults and Luna has moved to Chatswain City for a museum curator's job. She assumed that Rafe wouldn't want to move with her to follow her dream, so she never mentioned it. After all, the coding he does and games he develops are important only to teens and guys living in their parents' basement....oops! She hasn't yet learned that he doesn't intend to make video games and silly apps his whole life. She doesn't know that the game he's now developing is an amazing educational app for kids with dyslexia. It became very obvious to me that there were two main issues with their lack of communication. Their expectations that without words, they each should know what the other one felt, what they meant in their communication and what they wanted out of life proved to be an impediment to maturing in their relationship. This is a brilliant story that imparts so much wisdom and guidance for the need to be present, to experience life together, remain open to one another through fear and worry and trust each other and in God's plan. A truly uplifting message.
Profile Image for Randi Sampson.
1,694 reviews93 followers
May 6, 2025
Forgetting Rafe Thomas is the fifth book in the Life With the Thomas Brothers series. While I think those who have read the previous books might have a better understanding of the family dynamics, this could probably be enjoyed as a standalone as well.

Second chance romances are so often some of my favorites, in part, because I love seeing the growth that characters make from that first attempt to the last. This one does that so well. Rafe and Luna were high school sweethearts who loved each other deeply… but communication? Not their strong suit. Determined to try and make it work once and for all, Rafe rents them cottages side by side in Ireland so they can have a chance to get away and talk things out. I loved how big of a role communication played in their story— they certainly had their rough moments, but seeing how they both were trying to put in the efforts and actually learn from their past mistakes? I absolutely loved that. This is exactly how second chance romance should be! And their amazing chemistry certainly didn’t hurt things either. M.J. Padgett does a great job of weaving in faith elements that add so much to the story in a way that feels natural to the characters lives, which I always very much appreciate. If you love a story with a second chance, strong communication and faith, this is definitely one to check out.

Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a closed door, Christian romance with kisses only and no language.

** ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own.
Profile Image for Hannah Hoover.
115 reviews3 followers
May 7, 2025
I was so honored to be on the beta team and receive an ARC for the next book in the “Life With the Thomas Brothers” series!!

ARC received in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely loved this one!

We got to see some of Rafe and Luna’s relationship throughout the previous books and this is just picking up where they left off when Luna broke it off and moved. And this book did not go back into or feel like things were repeated from the previous ones and we see the story moving along quickly and nicely!!

Especially with where Luna was and Rafe was in his feelings towards Luna we don’t get dragged through a long exchange. Rafe just needed to learn how to express and vocalize his feelings more and open up to Luna and Luna needed to talk with him and explain more of her feelings with her words as well. There was still some growing to do and some lessons to learn but through the advice and helpful nudging of their family and friends they start to see the truth.

And we gotta give it to the forced proximity and spontaneous trip and grand gesture 🥹😉. I loved Rafe’s dad’s advice to him and highlighted it and ALOT of other parts because it was such a good book!!! I felt myself tearing up at many parts and laughing at others. Seriously they were both gone for each other they just needed a little second chance nudge.

Seriously M. J. did such an amazing job with this one!!! And I always love the elements of faith in her books!!!
Profile Image for funkelbunt.liest.
298 reviews4 followers
May 12, 2025
Forgetting Thomas Rafe is such a sweet second chance love story. Honestly, second chance is one of my least favorite tropes, because we rarely witness the couple fall in love or feel all the different emotions and oftentimes insecurities that come with a new relationship.

But we not only get these first butterflies through flashbacks and see Rafe and Luna as teens and how adorable they were when they started dating, M.J. Padgett wrote this second chance part so well, I really enjoyed the book not despite it being a second chance love story but because of it.

Even though miscommunication was part of the couple’s problems, they are honest with each other, they really try to be the person the other one needs, to understand and value each other. They both put God first, work on their relationship and their individual flaws and I think they were a great example of how a healthy relationship should be. They were a really cute couple and my favorite of the series so far (I have read the prequel, but not the first book of the series yet).

Definitely recommend this book if you love sweet and clean Christian romance no matter if you’re a fan of the second chance trope or not!

* Thank you to the author for letting me read an advanced copy of this book. I leave this review voluntarily and the expressed opinions are my own.
117 reviews11 followers
May 9, 2025
🎮REVIEW🎮
Forgetting Rafe Thomas made me so happy! It’s officially my favorite in the series next to Kissing Beck Thomas. This is one of those stories where I’ve been rooting the main characters on since they were background characters.

Luna and Rafe are the cutest high school sweethearts. Their interactions were so sweet. I love how hard they try to be better for each other and to make everything work out. Second-chance romance is becoming a trope that I’m coming to appreciate more and more. Getting to see the past (good and bad) really helps build a foundation for the characters. The flashback scenes were such a plus for me.

Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a fairly calm novel. It’s fast paced without being stressful, which is something I have loved about this series. It’s very comforting has good Christian messages. Another thing I loved about this novel was the short change of scenery from the normal. I am now rooting on the next characters that I’m hoping become couples! We will see what happens.

Thank you to M.J. Padgett for an ARC of Forgetting Rafe Thomas. All opinions are my own.

No-Spice Level: (frequent non-descriptive kissing)
Language: Clean
Faith Elements: Christian
Profile Image for Sierra.
951 reviews
June 5, 2025
Reader’s Notes:

– this is part of a series, but can be read as a stand-alone

– this is told from Luna & Rafe’s points of view

– both characters are Christians & speak to each other about elements of their faith (prayer, putting things in God’s hands, etc)

Review:

I loved this book! Luna and Rafe’s second chance romance was so sweet and heart touching. 💗 I loved how real M. J. Padgett portrayed both characters’ struggles in their relationship as well as with their relationship with God. I loved that they had to consistently remind themselves to place their worries in God’s hands and they needed to communicate with each other if they truly wanted to make things work again.

I’m so excited to find out more about who Mav could have seen towards the end of the book and how he knows her (because I’m assuming it was his soon to be love interest). I’m also excited to see if the sporty brother (I honestly can’t remember his name right now) will end up with Luna’s best friend or not!

Summary:

Luna and Rafe were high school sweethearts. But when Rafe takes too long to propose to her and turns more to his app development instead of their relationship, Luna is hurt and feeling left behind. So when she receives a dream offer to curate at a museum in Chatswain City – hours away from Coldstone Creek – she breaks things off with Rafe hoping it’ll wake him up to get him to fight for their relationship. But she ends up moving on heartbroken…

Rafe may have an incredible mind that’s constantly thinking, but all that thinking rarely transfers from his brain to his mouth. So he never let Luna in on his plan to get to their happily ever after together. And he never knew what to say when she broke up with him. When his brother Mav finds the ring Rafe was going to propose to Luna with, Rafe is given a push to try again and see if Luna would be willing to take him back…
Profile Image for Allyson Anthony.
1,077 reviews44 followers
May 17, 2025
This second chance story was well-written. In the previous books in this series, we see Rafe and Luna being together before their relationship ended. Forgetting Rafe Thomas picks up where Rafe and Luna ended things. Miscommunication played a major factor into their relationship, and Rafe has to learn to fight for Luna. One of the things he did was renting cottages in Scotland for both of them in order to clear the air between them and figure out how to communicate better between the two of them. I enjoyed the flashbacks where both of them are teens and started their relationship as well as having Ronnie, Archer, and Indie make cameo appearances from the Denver Dragon series. Such a sweet second chance story.
138 reviews5 followers
May 23, 2025
Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a sweet second chance novel. While reading the earlier books in this series isn't necessary I would highly recommend it as we see the development of the events leading up to the beginning of this novel.

Communication and miscommunication are ongoing themes throughout Forgetting Rafe Thomas, as well as forgiveness and second chances.

It is nice to see how the rest of the Thomas family is going, (I need Griff's story soon) and the scene with Silas was one of the funniest in the novel. If you enjoy small town romance and second chances then I'm sure you'll enjoy Forgetting Rafe Thomas.

I received an ARC from the author but wasn't required to leave a positive review.
Profile Image for Courtney Dawn.
651 reviews7 followers
June 4, 2025
What happens when love is real—but the words left unsaid get in the way? Forgetting Rafe Thomas is a swoony, sweet second-chance romance that digs deep into what it means to truly love someone—with your actions, your growth, and your communication. Luna and Rafe's story stole my heart! High school sweethearts with a love that never really left, they find themselves worlds apart—until a plan (and a surprise trip to Ireland!) gives them a chance to reconnect, rebuild, and rediscover what matters most. I absolutely adored the role that faith, family, and intentional communication played in their journey—this story is filled with honesty, healing, and heart.

If you love emotionally rich Christian romance with witty banter, gentle wisdom, and all the “he’s-still-carrying-the-ring” feels, this one’s for you!

ARC received for consideration. All opinions are my own.
66 reviews1 follower
June 7, 2025
Rafe and Luna have been hiding in all the past books for the Thomas Brothers… but this is their true story. And it is such a heartfelt tale of trying to be yourself but not communicating with those around you. Unfortunately, this has consequences. Realizing what is most important and the best future for each of us is not always the path we saw years ago in the making. This is true both for Rafe and Luna and it slowly unravels in this well written story. For anyone who took a different path than their initial one, then this book is for you! A great stand alone read, or as part of the series. Cameos abound from the brothers and their families.
Profile Image for Anniebelle.
96 reviews
May 9, 2025
Love Rafe!

I really enjoyed this story I've been waiting for Rafes story since the first Thomas Brothers book and even more so after the 4th book, I love how the stories are teased in what's next for the Thomas Brothers! I do reccomend reading the other brothers stories before enjoying Rafes but it could be read on its own as it gives the background and takes place a majority of the book not in Coldstone Creek allowing for less crossover although I think I caught hints for Mav and Griffen stories! I love how Rafe and Luna grow in communication and show how to have a healthy relationship! This second chance it's always been you clean romance is a great story and part of an amazing world built by M.J! I received an ARC from the author but my review is honest and my own opinion
244 reviews1 follower
May 17, 2025
I will always love books that remind me of my husband *that* much more. 

This is one of those books 🎉 

Rafe is a gamer & programmer who is on quieter side, but loves his Luna intentionally.

✨ Swoon ✨

I have yet to read an MJ Padgett book I didn't love and this one is no exception!!

💜 Forced Proximity 
💜 Second Chance 
💜 Programmer MMC 
💜 Trip to Ireland
💜 Faith Filled 
💜 High School Sweethearts
💜 It's Always Been You
💜 Working through miscommunication 

Thank you MJ for a copy of your book. This is my genuine review.
7 reviews2 followers
May 5, 2025
I loved this sweet second chance story! The characters’ reliance on their faith was a great reminder that God should always be at the center of relationships. The interactions with the other Thomas brothers was also a fun part of the story. I enjoyed seeing the previous characters and their interactions. The swoony kisses weren’t bad either!
1,275 reviews8 followers
May 28, 2025
I Love These Thomas Brothers

I was so happy to be reading about Rafe and Luna after reading about their breakup in a prior Thomas book. This has everything one enjoys about a large family of men and their women-the love, the bantering, the advice giving and meddling. These books have valuable life lessons as well. Great story!
Profile Image for Words And Lore.
133 reviews2 followers
May 17, 2025
So sweet

I always love when characters have history and when the guy is absolutely gone for her and this book delivers.

Their resparking chemistry was so fun to read.

I was definitely missing the Thomas brothers.
1 review2 followers
June 9, 2025
Love it

I love the Thomas brothers and rafe is one of my favs. He's sweet and caring but struggles as an introvert which can get him into trouble. Luna has become a bestie. The romance was perfect, clean but swoony. 10/10
Profile Image for Lissa Ruck.
892 reviews16 followers
May 6, 2025
I absolutely adore Rafe & Luna hopeful ,sweet, caring, understanding, loving, swoony happily ever after!!
Profile Image for Beth.
104 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2025
Super cute and sweet read!
147 reviews3 followers
May 30, 2025
I'd forgotten that I'd read the first book in this series, and then picked up this one. It was cute, I enjoyed it so much!
Profile Image for Lily.
142 reviews2 followers
May 30, 2025
This is such a beautiful book! Full of redemption and second chances💖
147 reviews3 followers
June 17, 2025
i'm not saying it was bad, it was just as dry as a slice of stale bread and lacked a good plot
Profile Image for Stephanie Burch.
384 reviews
August 20, 2025
Communication

So many things in this world would be so much better with open, honest communication. I just wish it was easier to do.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews

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