Forgiveness

Mother & Child Reunion #2

by Jean Brashear

Forgiveness by Jean Brashear released on Apr 12, 2005 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Contemporary Romance

304 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2005

About the author

A letter to Rod Stewart resulting in a Cinderella birthday for her daughter sowed the seeds of New York Times and USAToday bestselling author Jean Brashear's writing career. A lifelong avid reader, at the age of forty-five with no experience and no training, she decided to see if she could write a book. It was a wild leap that turned her whole life upside down, but she would tell you that though she's never been more terrified, she's never felt more exhilarated or more alive. She's an ardent proponent of not putting off your dreams until that elusive 'someday'—take that leap now.

Over fifty published novels later, the five-time RITA finalist and RTBookReviews Career Achievement Award winner has accumulated a whole passel of war stories to swap and loves nothing better than talking writing and books with readers and fellow writers.

And she'd still take that leap, war wounds and all.

Reviews

[Sati Marie Frost]

I hated this book.

It hurts to write that. It hurts that this was the first - and for a long time, the only - book on here that I rated 1-star. I hate rating books 1-star. I don't even like rating them 2-star. And I have friends who like Jean Brashear's books a lot, and I know I've read one or two in past years that I quite liked myself.

But I still hated this book. Loathed, even. Abhorred. Probably more than any book I've read that I can remember.

It's taken me more than half a year to write a full review for it because it made me so angry.

The back cover begins:

Rebellious Ria Channing fled from her family home six years ago after an accident, but now she's back, with a son her parents have never even met. But the loving home she left behind no longer exists. Her parents, once so adoring, have divorced.

I'd like to rewrite that cover. I'd begin, Years ago, at the age of sixteen, Ria Channing fled her childhood home, her emotionally abusive mother, and the family who didn't appear to notice that she'd been clinically depressed for years... I am utterly staggered that nobody ever even considered the possibility of depression, borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder. This is a child who was seriously hurting for at least a decade before the accident that caused her to leave, and not one member of this supposedly loving family tried to get her help, or even find out why she was acting out. Ria has basically had the crap kicked out of her - metaphorically - by her family for her whole life - and somehow she still comes off as the bad guy.

I haven't read a story with such horrendous familial abuse since V.C. Andrews. And at least Andrews always made it clear who were the bad guys and who were the victims, instead of blaming everything on the ones who got beaten up.

Just about everyone in this book strikes me as self-righteous and cruel. Even Sandor, the "hero", who's supposed to be a decent guy, wants to condemn and punish Ria. When he sees the scars on her wrists from a suicide attempt, does he sympathise? No, he says, "It would kill your mother to hear [about] this." (Page 189.) Being more concerned about poor Cleo's reaction - what the hell kind of way is that to react to finding out that someone was low enough to want to end their life?

One of the things that disgusted me most about the book was the way several people think that Ria should give up her son to her mother's care as a way of making amends for killing her brother when she was 16. Which she didn't do, of course - her brother died in a horrendous car accident - but of course in this family everything is Ria's fault. Even assuming that the accident WAS entirely her fault, do they really think that taking her child away from her, when to all appearances she's been a good mother who always puts her son first, is a reasonable thing to do? Do they think that's a fair punishment? Do they think it'd be good for the child? What world are these people living in?

Late in the book, Cleo says, "I don't know where the blame lies." It lies with you, Cleo. It lies with parents who raised a child to believe that she was worthless, a bad seed who could never do anything right, so that her natural inclination was to live down to your expectations. The whole book has tried to hammer into our heads the idea that Ria failed everyone - but kids don't fail parents. Kids aren't supposed to get it right all the time, or even most of the time. Cleo and Malcolm failed her.

Later still, on one page Sandor tells himself that Ria is nothing but trouble - and then wonders if he's falling for her. Uh, no. If you're falling in love with someone, you don't condescend to them. You don't use a phrase like "nothing but trouble" to describe them, even in your head. You don't look down on them. You don't put everyone else's needs before theirs. It utterly breaks my heart to think that after all she's gone through, Ria is ending up with someone who has to grit his teeth just to be kind to her, someone who will never consider her an equal.

1-star, and now that I've finally reviewed it, I never want to think about it again.

[Kay]

4 1/2 Stars! ~ I am aware of the usual critical flaws in this book, ie. rushed romance at the end, and what some may say is too much focus on Ria’s despair, or too depressing subject matter. For me, none of that distracts at all from the beautiful story told. Ms. Brashear, from the very first pages, had a grip on my emotions. The first scenes are of Ria struggling with her deathbed promise to her best friend and then as they approach the door for that first knock, her reassurances to her son, that the people who live there will love him very much. And then Ria prays to herself Please, oh, please ... Mother, don't punish him for my sins. Okay, that's on page 11, and it made me reach for the tissue box and let me say that the box was rarely far away for the remainder of the book! If you're in the mood for a good cry, this is definitely the book to read. There were scenes so poignant that I wanted to openly weep; so deeply did this author reach me. As far as the romance between Sandor and Ria, it is a sweet one. It was shadowed considerably by Ria's story but I didn't find that disappointing as this was more a story of healing than a love story. This is one book I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.

I think I’ll seek out the book prior to this one, Coming Home which is the story of Ria’s parents reunion as they cope with the return of their daughter.

[Tarri]

The Road Back Home is the companion book to The House the Love Built and is told from the perspective of the daughter, Ria. Ria left home after the tragic death of her younger brother in an accident that was her fault. Six years later she returns home with her four year old son, wanting to make amends and stay long enough to get healthy and hopefully have a fresh start in life. When she arrives she finds nothing is how she left it. Her parents are divorced, her younger sister is married and hates her, and her free spirited grandmother and great-aunt live in her family home with her mother.

This book and The House That Love Built are incredible stories of love, loss, and healing. The family dynamics are real and haunting. Anyone who has siblings will, in my opinion, see how true to life it is. The author brought them to life for me.

I highly recommend this book and the companion book, which should be read first, but each story can be read on its own.

[Jennie Fortna]

ARC for honest review with no compensation

The Road Back Home is book 5 in the Second Chances series by Jean Brashear and while it can be read as a standalone, reading the prior book House That Love Built will give more in-depth and a better understanding of these too stories.

Ria Channing ran away from home six years ago after the death of her brother which she caused. Now after making a deathbed promise she is returning home with her 4 year old son, worn out from barely surviving life. She doesn’t expect forgiveness for her sins but hopes they will take care of her son...but the home life she left is not what she finds when she returns...

Sandor Wolfe, sculptor owes Cleo (Ria’s mother) his career so he will do whatever it takes to protect her from all the heartache Ria caused her years before. What he doesn’t expect is the vulnerability of Ria and how she wants to repair all the damage she’s done.

What an emotional story...tears, tragedy, pain, heartbreak, redemption and so much more...

[Tmstprc]

Companion book to The House that Love Built, told from Ria’s POV. She’s a tough character to like. Was she just a selfish, self absorbed teenager? Probably, but it was so much larger in her own mind. She needed some sort of therapy growing up, no one in a loving family should feel as unloved as she did, particularly before her brother’s death.

[Ellen Anderson]

The Road Back Home

This was a very emotional story, and I'm sure most of us, myself for sure, has experienced some of the feelings of Ria or Cleo, at some point in our lives. The understanding and love of a strong partner, such as Sandar or Malcolm, make life and living so much easier.

[Bette Hansen]

This is a retelling of the heart gripping story originally told in The House That Love Built told from Ria's point of view. You get the whole story so even if you haven't read the prior book you will enjoy this one. It's a story of past pain and loss that tore a family apart and their struggle to forgive, rebuild, and love again. This is a wonderful story that is not to be missed. I highly recommend it.

[Anne Holly]

I was in the mood for something different, and Forgiveness by Jean Brashear delivered quite well. I waver between 3.5 and 4, but I'm naturally inclined to round-up (being a teacher and all).

Forgiveness (2005) is an installment in a rather unusual series published by HQ's SuperRomance category. I am a fan HQ SuperRomance, as they are longer, meatier and more "real life" than some of HQ's other categories. SuperRomance is also one of the best romance category for finding solid secondary characters, a particular enjoyment for me. Most of all, it's a reliable source of solid mature contemporary, non-paranormal, romance. However, the novels can also be a bit typical, following a lot of standards that can sometimes feel comforting, but can also be a bit blah if you're not in the mood for romance. Last night, I was not in the mood for a typical romance, but I couldn't find a mystery in my house that really sparked my interest, and I was in "too-lazy-for-non-fiction" mode at the moment. So, I chose Forgiveness, which did not seem too much like every other small town romance.

And it certainly is not.

So, picture the scene: It's nearing 6 am, and I'm reading. I know that I have a few scant hours before my child wakes and eats me alive if I am running on no sleep. Yet, I am reading, still. I am also red, puffy, tear-stained, and completely clogged up (sexy, I know!). At that point, I had only a few chapters left, and I had been crying for about five hours. Yet, I had to finish! Not a pretty tale to tell, but I think it certainly says something very good about this book.

Forgiveness tells the sale of Ria, a young woman who's been living in her car for months with her four year old son. Eventually, as winter approaches, she returns to the family she left six years ago. She left, feeling rejected, because she was responsible for the death of her younger brother. Always the "bad seed," she fled, knowing she could never replace the "favourite." But now, malnourished, weak, and helpless with a young son to feed, she's forced to try to mend fences. And she becomes increasingly fearful that her mother has figured out a way Ria can repay her debt - by giving up her own son to the family!

Harrowing. To the say the damned least.

(Side note: Some of the basic plot might make you recall the Anne Hathaway film Rachel Getting Married (2008), which features the return of an alcoholic sister/daughter who was responsible for the death of her parents' child while drunk/stoned. The stories are quite similar, but the reactions and characters are quite different. If you find the subject matter of the film compelling, you might like Forgiveness, but even if you disliked the film you still stand a good chance of liking the book.)

In Forgiveness, Ria is a woman who is filled with self-loathing in every single inch of her. Self-destructive, unhealthy, paranoid, filthy, depressive, beaten down, objectified, you name it. Ria is an absolute mess. The one thing she feels she's done right in her entire life is have Benjy, her son, and now she begins to feel she must sacrifice him to punish herself for the life she took. But Benjy is the only reason she is a live, the only thing keeping her from letting go, and the only thing keeping her going, so she struggles with this revelation. On the one hand, she feels like she doesn't deserve to have her son when she deprived her parents of theirs (a loss that subsequently destroyed the family in her absence), but on the other hand, she and Benjy are a bonded pair. The boy does love his mother - how can she bear the guilt of disappointing him, too?

(I believe Ria also has morbid undertones, which gave me shivers at various points throughout the book. It's never very overt, but rather hangs about the margins. She seems to build a paranoia for herself that if she doesn't relinquish her child to the parents she destroyed, fate will punish her by having him die anyway. This is a subtle thread, but very present and adds a great deal of urgency to the book, in my opinion. It also stood as a bleak reminder of the stresses on parents struggling to feed their families - death, disaster, doom become constant preoccupations when suffering is prolonged enough.)

But Ria also sees that poverty and depression has put demands on Benjy that four year olds probably shouldn't really face. Basically, she is struggling with the all-too-common belief that children are better off not being with their parents if the parents are struggling, no matter how much the kids love them. All around her, people are telling her what an idyllic life Benjy could have with her family - but do they say this to convince her to stay with Benjy, or to convince her to give him up and leave?

Did I *like* Ria...? This is a difficult question. Not really, I have to admit. She was a brash, childish, mopey, masochistic, ignorant, and often completely irrational punk. And so damn defeatist! If she were a real life person, I could see she'd be very difficult to be around for long. BUT, as a character? I couldn't help but sympathize, since the book gives such vivid descriptions of her pain. She didn't become a defeatist out of nothing, so seeing her life made the character work for me.

My major complaint about her was how obnoxious it is for adults to still focus so much energy on imagined childhood slights ("Daddy let Betsy help build the tree house! Nothing's ever mine any more! I liked it better when I was an only child!"), and Ria did this constantly.

However, when viewing the complete tapestry of her life, including the lifelong decline of her self-esteem and the horrible loss of her brother due to her drinking, it's hard to blame her for being broken. And, not to go into too much personal detail, but there were things in the book that resonated with me quite deeply, so I admit that this coloured my view of the book.

So, yes, the main storyline touched me. Ria's desire to live combined with her desire to self-annihilate moved me. I did commune with this character, and the author places Ria, warts and all, very directly and effectively. I felt like I knew her, and by the end of the book, I was sort of her critical (yet sympathetic) friend. I kind of wanted to brain her, but I was also rooting for her. I think this is a sign of a strong book, personally.

Ria, though often weak, scared, and abused by men in her quest for anything that remotely feels like love, is not your typical romance heroine. Sure, she's not admirable, but she's very human, and she does draw compassion from me. Brashear was courageous in creating such a flawed character. There's not a Mary Sue in sight!

Now, as to why I'm more inclined towards 3.5 than a full 4, despite the book's compelling readability - I warn you, if you want to read a romance, this book might not be for you.

Sandor, the hero, is a Hungarian-born handyman who is half in love with Ria's mother, and certainly devoted and grateful to her. He starts off perceiving Ria as a threat to his patroness, having heard all the "bad seed" stories and blaming her for the destruction of her mother's life. Through the course of the book, however, he finds his inherent goodness, integrity and compassion draws him to see Ria not as a monster but as a very sad person, and he wishes to be her friend. By the end of the book, he sees her as even more, and Ria begins to flourish and heal under his outsider's view of her.

This romantic relationship is really just a subplot, which might annoy some romance readers. The romance feels like an after-thought. Sandor hardly ever directly interacts with anyone, including Ria, and the majority of the time we see through his eyes, he's merely contemplating Ria and her family. He has his own backstory, true, but he's not very well integrated into the book itself. He's on the outside looking in, quite literally, and there were moments I even forgot about him. He was likable enough, but not very important.

There's also a minor subplot involving the relationship between Ria's mother and father, which I understand is continued in another book in the series. I have to say, this is the only area I found the book predictable and trite. Certain obstacles in that relationship are swept aside in a few scant, convenient paragraphs, and this subplot marred the book for me rather than added to it.

Therefore, though I kind of loved this book, I can't really recommend it to romance readers, without a caveat. Basically, despite its romance subplot, Forgiveness is more like "women's fiction" than a "romance novel".

It's not really about romance - Forgiveness is a story about motherhood, family, and, well, forgiveness. Self-forgiveness, most of all. It's also about mothers and daughters, and the way we feel compelled to both mirror and reject our mothers, and balancing the need to belong with the need to become individuals. It's also about flawed mothers, and how the mistakes we make reverberate for a lifetime, especially in our own guilt.

While this may not be a romance, it is a love story, alright. But not a love story in the way most will expect from a SuperRomance. I found myself surprised this was a HQ book, actually, and it makes me wonder what Brashear could do (or has done or will do) outside of category romance. I will keep an eye out for her, because I think this is a writer who could write off-genre very well.

With the above notes in mind, I do recommend this book if you enjoy emotional, messy, human stories. Be warned, however, this book is remarkably heavy on despair, and might be more angsty than you want if you're looking for a light romance.

[Peggy]

Victoria aka Ria as her baby brother David called her, returns home with her small son Benjy. Ria didn’t want to go home but she promised her dying friend, Dog Boy that she would and that she would attempt to mend the fences she shattered. Everyone in the family blamed Ria for David’s death including Ria herself. It shattered the fragile connection she and her mother, Cleo, had. So with the overwhelming guilt she carried Ria ran and was gone for years until being destitute and emotionally broken she gives a promise she has to honor and goes home. Things don’t go smoothly. She butts heads with everyone including her sister, Betsy and Sandor her mother’s helper and self-appointed protector. Only her father David and her aunt Cammie and gramma Lola seem to be able to accept her back into the family. There is an attraction between her and Sandor though and he seems to have decided he should be her protector as well. At first he thinks he’s doing it for Cleo’s sake but eventually he comes to understand that there is more to his feelings for Ria then just because she’s Cleo’s fragile broken daughter. Along the way Sandor takes a homeless young boy under his wing as well, Jerome. Jerome is wise beyond his years and not afraid to call both Sandor and Ria out on the attraction growing between them that they both vehemently deny. This book is another one you won’t be able to forget, the story of the characters so real and poignant. You will need some tissues and you will eagerly turn the pages. I was gifted a copy of this book. My honest review is voluntarily provided and I anxiously wait for the next book by Ms. Brashear.

[Marcia Haskell]

In some ways this was a hard book to read. I found myself identifying with several of the characters, but found myself frustrated by the difficulties they created for themselves.

I received this book, early, in exchange for an honest review. In writing this review I am trying not to include spoilers. My frustration in watching Ria torment herself stems from her self-loathing. She believes she killed her younger brother while rebelling against her mother. Ria has a young son and returns to her parents when she has no funds and doesn’t want to harm him by continuing to live in her car or providing minimal food.

My frustration is not with her poverty or concerns about raising her son. It is with her inability to hear or accept opinions of the people around her. This book is about a family whose members were devastated by the death of David. Their son and brother. Unable to reach out to each other for support, they broke and blamed Ria and each other for the things that went wrong.

This book is the story of that anger and bitterness and pain until one desperate act helps bring change. As usual Jean Brashear presents her readers with a well written story filled with characters who live and breathe and suffer and grow. Well worth reading. Might help you think about how your beliefs about yourself and your actions on those beliefs influence how others see and respond to you.

[Terri]

I enjoyed reading Ria’s return home from her perspective. The previous book, “The House That Love Built” was written from her mother, Cleo’s perspective. “The Road Back Home” was very well written and it made for interesting reading. It brought to light the various influences, mistakes, & encounters that affected Ria’s behavior.she had only one friend, Dog Boy. On his deathbed he made Ria promise to return home and reconnect with her parents and family.
I recommend this installment of the Second Chance at Love Series by Jean Brashier. I received an ARC and choose to provide an honest review..

[Deb Fernow]

This is part of the story in The House that Love Built but from a different perspective. Ria has returned home with her son because of a deathbed promise made to the man who saved her life. She hasn’t felt loved by anyone since the death of her brother but she wants her son to have a family and the stability that comes with that.

An intense and moving story that shows how complicated life is and how a family can be destroyed by a tragic event, only to be restored years later.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

[Pamela Devereux]

This is Victoria's story. She lives so much of her life in side her head. She always feel like people are judging her based on her looks and her family. She has the most amazing son, Benjy. In order to give him the life he deserves, she allows family to make her feel that leaving him in their care would be best. Sander, who has worked for Cleo for years, has already judged her. It isn't until he issues a challenge and she accepts it, that he finds out her true worth. In the process, he looses his heart to her. I absolutely loved the ending!

[Sherry Westendorf]

This is a story of a dysfunctional family who takes years to work through thing to heal. She devastated her family when she left years ago. She wouldn't have come back if not for the promise she made on her friend's deathbed so they could meet her grandson. But when she gets there she meets a man that is friends with her family and helping them. But he is determined to stop her from hurting them again. This is a very emotional story that you need Kleenex with and it makes you think about your own life. I received a review copy and voluntarily review it.

[Carolyn Long]

She felt pushed aside when the other children were born. She killed her little brother in an accident when she was drunk. She felt everyone blamed her. She blamed herself, so she ran away and stayed away for years. She made a deathbed promise to her best friend to go back home. I read this through in one sitting. I couldn't put it down. I was in bed with my cpap mask on just sobbing. Not an easy thing to do. We've all been there in our youth. This was such an emotional book, but very lifelike. Another great one Ms. Brashear!

[Linda Zelinsky]

A very emotional story about a young unwed mother, with a past. She ran away from home at an early age and learnt how to survive. A time comes when she must return home to settle hurtful pasts and come to terms with her family after the death of her young brother. Victoria Channing has many challenges to over come. A very emotional read.

[Anne Nelson]

An excellent read

What a great story, I'm so glad we got to read about Ria's journey! This book has laughter and tears, ups and downs, and an insightful look into the tragic loss of a child. Don't miss it! It can stand alone but I think you'll miss out if you don't read book 4 that comes before. Happy reading!

[Susan Murray]

The road back home

I waited till i read this one as i couldn’t review the previous one till i knew the outcome. The ending made it all worthwhile.

This story has a lot of heart.

[Pam]

Harlequin superromance. Not much romance in this one.

[Lesley]

In essence the same story as ‘The House That Love Built’ but from the perspective of Ria and Sandor and in this one there is an epilogue that ties things up.

[Meenu Majithia]

3.5 stars.
I like the story, emotions n suspense building in the book. Prejudices n love n hate relationships in a family very well portrayed. A book that kept me waiting for next page.

[JigsawGirl]

This story is told from Ria's point of view. It is even sadder than the previous book.

Ria could not catch a break. It was bad enough that she spent almost her ENTIRE life beating herself up about almost everything, yet, the only thing her family noticed about her was that she was "difficult".

She was in pain and drinking long before the incident with David, and neither of her parents thought she needed help? It sounded like her sister Betsy was manipulative, but no one noticed?

Admittedly, Ria made a major mistake, but for people to be upset because she left town, and then be equally upset because she came back was a bit much.

Sanford and Ria's situationship seemed really off balance to me. I felt like it he was pulling her close to him in order to help her with one hand, and beating her down with the other.

There was romance in the book, but there was so much drama and angst that the romance was negligible.

There were a few light moments with Ria's son, but it felt more like he was supporting the adults. There was also a HEA, but it didn't lighten up this book.

I was drawn into the story, and I have to say the writer provided all the anguish you could want, if that's your cup of tea. This was not a fun enjoyable read, but it will make you feel something.

I would give it 3.5 stars. I voluntarily read and reviewed this book received from the author.

[Jess]

I have not read a romance novel in like forever, and when I was in high school this would have been right up my ally.
Wee bit of a gripe to start -the main characters name is Ria, if your name is Ria please stop reading now.....Ok?..This was a dumb awkward name which was actually her nickname from Victoria, several other nicknames may have worked better in eg. Vicky,Vic,Tori Tor,Toria(just off the top of my head),I think the romantic heroine should not have a name that sounds made up,stripperish or that makes me think of diarrhea,right?
Other then that it was Cute little romance,with a bit of heavy subject matter dead sibling, blame,guilt and broken family. There were a of silly bits and fluff,I was shocked how angsty this romance novel thatas a mom I could not imagine what these parents were going through and Ria's(gah! nope don't like that name) struggle to keep hold of her son and do what is in his best interest. Finished in couple of hours.

[charmaine White]

Wow

A story that grabs hold of you from the very first page and holds on until the last.You'll laugh and cry 😢,then laugh some more.

[Betsy]

meh - not a great story or great writing, but it was okay