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The Wife He Couldn't Forget
A husband's amnesia means a second chance at love in this story by USA TODAY bestselling author Yvonne Lindsay
After an accident leaves Xander Jackson with no memory of the past several years, he doesn't realize he walked out on his marriage. And his wife, Olivia, grabs this chance to start over with the man she still desires.
Allowing Xander to believe they're still the passionate, loving couple they once were is one thing. But Olivia must also hide all evidence of the devastating loss that destroyed their relationship. It's the biggest gamble of her life…and everything depends on reclaiming Xander's heart.
After an accident leaves Xander Jackson with no memory of the past several years, he doesn't realize he walked out on his marriage. And his wife, Olivia, grabs this chance to start over with the man she still desires.
Allowing Xander to believe they're still the passionate, loving couple they once were is one thing. But Olivia must also hide all evidence of the devastating loss that destroyed their relationship. It's the biggest gamble of her life…and everything depends on reclaiming Xander's heart.
192 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 15, 2015
About the author
Yvonne Lindsay
674 books115 followersA typical Piscean, USA Today! Best-selling author, Yvonne Lindsay, has always preferred the stories in her head to the real world. Yvonne is a five-time Romance Writers of Australia R*BY nominee and three-time nominee and 2015 winner of the Romance Writers of New Zealand Koru Award of Excellence. She spends her days crafting the stories of her heart and in her spare time she can be found with her nose firmly in someone else’s book.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
June 22, 2016
Lovely story about love and loss and talking to each other. I wanted to bonk the heroine in the head more than once because she kept ignoring uncomfortable things instead of telling the truth. But that's a little bit what fictional characters are for-- to do stupid things so you can feel superior, and do the things you're too smart to do as an example of foolishness. It's just a delicious little story and I liked it a lot.
May 25, 2015
Good story. Xander and Olivia have been separated for two years and are about to be divorced when Xander is involved in a car accident. When he wakes from six weeks in a coma, he has no memory of the previous six years and asks for Olivia. Stunned, she decides to take him to their home to recover and see if they can repair their marriage.
Olivia doesn't tell him that they are separated and what caused it. Instead she uses the time to try to show him that they can be happy together again. But she can't ignore the fact that she's hiding the truth from him and dreads what will happen if his memory returns. Xander is happy to be back home with Olivia, but he can't escape the feeling that something is wrong. When Xander finds about about the divorce, he feels betrayed by Olivia's lies. When he stumbles upon the evidence of their son and his death his memory returns with a vengeance. He is devastated and furious with her.
Both Olivia and Xander were responsible for the death of their marriage. Each of them had tragedy in their history, and each had learned to cope in a different way. When their son died, neither leaned on the other for the support they needed and therefore grew apart. Each had coped in a different way, but the other saw it in a negative manner and the hurt grew worse. If they want to make a go of their marriage, each of them is going to have to face their fears and learn to share their feelings.
I didn't have too much sympathy for Olivia through most of the book. I felt that she brought a lot of her trouble on herself by lying to Xander. When she confessed about their pending divorce, she should have told him about their son at the same time. That she didn't created the possibility of a huge problem later and that's what she got. She did redeem herself at the end, so I have hope that they will have their happy future.
Xander also had his issues with sharing his feelings, thanks to his family's example when his older brother died as a child. His methods of dealing with his son's\ death had him pulling away from Olivia emotionally when she needed him there for her. Losing her a second time made him realize that things had to change, and that he couldn't do it alone.
I would have liked to see an epilogue for this story and see how things are going for them a year or two later.
Olivia doesn't tell him that they are separated and what caused it. Instead she uses the time to try to show him that they can be happy together again. But she can't ignore the fact that she's hiding the truth from him and dreads what will happen if his memory returns. Xander is happy to be back home with Olivia, but he can't escape the feeling that something is wrong. When Xander finds about about the divorce, he feels betrayed by Olivia's lies. When he stumbles upon the evidence of their son and his death his memory returns with a vengeance. He is devastated and furious with her.
Both Olivia and Xander were responsible for the death of their marriage. Each of them had tragedy in their history, and each had learned to cope in a different way. When their son died, neither leaned on the other for the support they needed and therefore grew apart. Each had coped in a different way, but the other saw it in a negative manner and the hurt grew worse. If they want to make a go of their marriage, each of them is going to have to face their fears and learn to share their feelings.
I didn't have too much sympathy for Olivia through most of the book. I felt that she brought a lot of her trouble on herself by lying to Xander. When she confessed about their pending divorce, she should have told him about their son at the same time. That she didn't created the possibility of a huge problem later and that's what she got. She did redeem herself at the end, so I have hope that they will have their happy future.
Xander also had his issues with sharing his feelings, thanks to his family's example when his older brother died as a child. His methods of dealing with his son's\ death had him pulling away from Olivia emotionally when she needed him there for her. Losing her a second time made him realize that things had to change, and that he couldn't do it alone.
I would have liked to see an epilogue for this story and see how things are going for them a year or two later.
April 25, 2015
Olivia "Livvy" and Xander Jackson are in the process of a divorce when he is involved in a serious accident and wakes after 6 weeks in a coma with amnesia asking for his wife. He never remembers all that happened to cause them to part and Olivia has never stopped loving and wanting him back home, sees this as an opportunity to get back the man she always loved. Sounds like a plan but Ms. Lindsay would not be the great author she is if it was that simple, so she gradually lets the past come back to haunt Livvy, and as Xander starts to remember the reason for leaving, the future she wants with her husband starts to slip through her fingers. Will love be able to conquer all the hurts of the past? A truly wonderful book that you will not want to put down till the end. I was given this book for an honest review it was honestly one of the best books I read. loved it.
May 25, 2015
I read the first couple of chapters and then read the last couple of chapters.
To be fair, I will try and go back and read the entire book
To be fair, I will try and go back and read the entire book
could-not-finish
June 30, 2015Couldn't finish. I was not feeling how she was going to try and make a dead marriage work because he has amnesia. Yes she felt guilty but she was still willing to do it.
July 17, 2015
This book didn't work for me. The secrets Olivia kept were too big and she really came off as weak and desperate. Not sure I bought into the HEA for this one.
April 27, 2022
Unbelievable! Xander was recently in a car accident and wakes up from a coma asking for Olivia (his ex-wife, or almost ex-wife as the paperwork isn't completely signed). Xander is suffering from amnesia and Olivia is taking full advantage.
I am all for second chances but the secrets Olivia is keeping is way too large to contain, but we are suppose to believe that she was able to keep all his family and friends away for over 6 weeks and keep a tight lip on the secrets?!
I am all for second chances but the secrets Olivia is keeping is way too large to contain, but we are suppose to believe that she was able to keep all his family and friends away for over 6 weeks and keep a tight lip on the secrets?!
May 30, 2021
The heroine is kinda psychotic. He has amnesia and she kept huge secrets (things that he couldn’t remember) from him to try to make their failing marriage work again. When he found out, of course he felt betrayed. Honestly, I would feel really creeped out if my spouse tried to do this to me while I was suffering from memory loss. She was very manipulative. She was practically begging at every second in the last couple of pages in the book for him not to leave her. . It wasn’t even a satisfying ending. He just suddenly has a change of heart seemingly in the last two pages and decides to continue their marriage.. wtf
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 30, 2017
I love the idea of using amnesia to create conflict and escalate the problems between the husband and the wife. The wife's idea of hiding the death of their son Parker and the fact that they we're currently filling for a divorce to give their marriage a second chance is very understandable. the emotional conflicts the characters experienced are well shown that you would feel transported into the story and assume (for me) the wife's role.
I find that this story, although not perfect, entertained me with the development of the characters and their acceptance of the death of their son.
I find that this story, although not perfect, entertained me with the development of the characters and their acceptance of the death of their son.
January 18, 2021
A terrible tragedy drove Olivia and Xander apart. A near tragedy gives her a second chance. Unfortunately, Xander doesn't see it that way.
Emotional story.
Emotional story.
April 21, 2015
The Wife He Couldn’t Forget by Yvonne Lindsay is a story that will stay with me for a long time. Xander Jackson was injured in an automobile accident and has been in a coma for six weeks. His wife, Olivia “Livvy” only discovers that he’s been in an accident when he wakes and asks for her. Xander has amnesia and he and Livvy are in the process of getting a divorce. Livvy goes to Xander’s aide and takes him to her home when he’s released from the hospital. Livvy has never stopped loving her husband. She wants to make amends and hopes that he doesn’t remember their troubled times. In the end, secrets come back to haunt you and Livvy discovers that the secrets she’s kept from Xander could be the end to her second chance. Ms. Lindsay knows how to bring out the emotions in her characters. I felt Olivia’s pain over her loss and the decision that contributed to it but I also felt the pain the Xander went through when he regained his memory. I absolutely loved this book and I highly recommend it. Ms. Lindsay is one of my all-time favorite authors and she never disappoints. I’d like to disclose that I received a copy of The Wife He Couldn’t Forget in exchange for a fair and honest review.
July 5, 2015
I liked that yes she wanted to work on their marriage and try to sort it out. BUT she was a horrible human being. This guy deserved way way way better. Not that he was great but because she was more than slightly crazy. I don't forgive her for all she did.
She goes off birth control and gets a dog without discussing with him, knowing he doesn't want either yet. I get they had problems and neither seemed to talk and share their feelings at all so how could they love and be together in the past??? And then what she does with the amnesia, sure was an interesting plotline kinda, but totally unforgivable. Especially because of their past!! So no, I didn't like them together at all.
She goes off birth control and gets a dog without discussing with him, knowing he doesn't want either yet. I get they had problems and neither seemed to talk and share their feelings at all so how could they love and be together in the past??? And then what she does with the amnesia, sure was an interesting plotline kinda, but totally unforgivable. Especially because of their past!! So no, I didn't like them together at all.
April 18, 2015
While by the end of this book I really liked it, I found something about the way that Olivia was not upfront with Xander while he was in an amnesiac state made the story difficult to connect with.
I did love that when travel on the Auckland Motorway system was mentioned in the book, the traffic woes that impact Aucklanders regularly made it in too.
I appreciated that when Xander and Olivia discussed the unplanned pregnancy that occurs that it wasn't caused by the usual lack of protection or being part of the percentage for which protection fails.
I did love that when travel on the Auckland Motorway system was mentioned in the book, the traffic woes that impact Aucklanders regularly made it in too.
I appreciated that when Xander and Olivia discussed the unplanned pregnancy that occurs that it wasn't caused by the usual lack of protection or being part of the percentage for which protection fails.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2026
GIRL, WHY WOULD YOU GROVEL WHEN HE SHOULD BE THE ONE DOING IT??? WHY STOOPED SO SLOW WTF THIS SECOND CHANCE SHOULD NOT HAPPENED.
Read
June 1, 2015"This bittersweet romance will tug at heartstrings as Olivia and Xander learn to cope with loss in an attempt to rebuild their lives" (RT Book Reviews, 4 stars).
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews