I dived into 🎧︎Reminders of Him by Colleen Hoover with the expectation of an emotional journey. It did not disappoint. In her latest novel, Hoover delivered a touching tale of love, loss, redemption and forgiveness.
A troubled young mother yearns for a shot at redemption in this heartbreaking yet hopeful story from #1 New York Times bestselling author Colleen Hoover. I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. This post contains affiliate links you can use to purchase the book. If you buy the book using that link, I will receive a small commission from the sale.
Title: Reminders of Him
Author(s): Colleen Hoover
Narrator(s): Brittany Pressley, Ryan West
Published by Brilliance Audio on January 18, 2022
Pages: 335
Length: 10 hours and 17 minutes
Genre(s): Women's Fiction
Source: Publisher
Format: Audiobook 
Purchase: Amazon|Audible
Rating: 
Heat Level: 
After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.
The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.
The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.
🎧︎Reminders of Him introduces readers to Kenna Rowan, who spent five years in prison because of a tragic mistake. Because of the length of her sentence, she lost custody of her child. Now that she has served her time, Kenna returned to the town where she lost everything, hoping to reconnect with her daughter. She took a job earning less than minimum wage and lived in an apartment with no furniture. For the past five years she lived with the guilt of the events which changed her life and the lives of other forever. However, the one thing that has not changed was her desire to one day provide her daughter with the love and stability she never experienced growing up. Despite her willingness to do what it took to achieve her dream; she knew she would face obstacles.
However, as Alfred Lord Tennyson stated, “It’s better to have tried and failed than to live life wondering what would’ve happened if I had tried.”
On her first night back in town, she meets Ledger Ward. They had an instant attraction to each other. Then Kenna learns of his connection to her daughter and the tragic events of the past. Ledger, on learning her true identity,
I enjoyed getting to know Kenna. To me, she was the heartbeat of the story. Throughout the story, I wanted to hug her. She suffered so much and deserved happiness. Her loneliness, desperation and grief gripped the heart of the reader. She made a mistake and paid dearly for it. The story highlighted how mistakes of the past can destroy our future. It also shows how easy it is for persons to pass judgement without having the full picture.
Ledger was an interesting character. One moment he had me swooning, and another he made me want to slap him for his role in keeping Kenna away from her daughter. The deeper I went into the story, the more conflicted he became.
One would be hard pressed to blame the characters for their actions. Pain coupled with grief drove them, and their actions were befitting of the situation. I empathized with each of them and kept hoping for a solution to this complicated situation. In the end, love, compassion, and forgiveness prevailed.
If you are not afraid to shed a few tears, 🎧︎Reminders of Him will be make the perfect addition to your reading list.
Narration
Brittany Pressley and Ryan West narrated. I enjoyed listening to both narrators in the past and this time was no different. Brittany portrayed Kenna perfectly by bringing her pain, sorrow and hope to life. Ryan captured the essence of Ledger. They both brought life to the story and enhanced the listening experience.
Story Evaluation
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About Colleen Hoover
Colleen Hoover is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of several novels, including the bestselling women’s fiction novel It Ends with Us and the bestselling psychological thriller Verity. She has won the Goodreads Choice Award for Best Romance three years in a row—for Confess (2015), It Ends with Us (2016), and Without Merit (2017). Confess was adapted into a seven-episode online series. In 2015, Hoover and her family founded the Bookworm Box, a bookstore and monthly subscription service that offers signed novels donated by authors. All profits go to various charities each month to help those in need. Hoover lives in Texas with her husband and their three boys.
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Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
What a wonderful review! Reminders of Him is one of my favorite books this year. Colleen Hoover can write such emotional books.
So true. Her books are designed to wreak havoc on one’s emotions.
I’ve enjoyed this author in the past. This sounds a bit angsty for me which is true of many of her works, which I enjoyed anyway.
I do love CoHo books, but had mixed feelings on this one. Wonderfully written for sure, but isn’t it all a bit too melodramatic? It is not like Kenna has committed murder. So how could they suspend her rights as a mother? It could be my lack of experience but I found it all improbable and unnecessarily dramatic.
I feel I should read more books by Colleen Hoover. Great review.
That sounds like a good but emotional book.
I have been seeing this book everywhere and it does sound fantastic! I think that I might have to try to pick up the audio.
Glad you enjoyed it. I don’t think this is a book for me though. Great review.
I love the simplicity of this cover, Its so incredibly eye catching. All things considered its definitely one for my Wish List.
What a fantastic sounding novel Nadene and I love underdogs so just my type thank you
Wonderful review Nadene. I enjoyed listening to this one as well.