‘The Unforgettables’ by G.L. Tomas follows new next-door neighbors, and seeming soulmates, Paul and Felicia. Their instant connection at a tag sale (garage sale, if not familiar with this term) is believable, unlike some of the insta-relationships that occur in other books. They both go for the same comic, showing that they clearly have common interests and aren’t just seeing each other based on looks. This was a refreshing change of pace since situations like this one more often occur based on physical attraction.

Little do they know that Paul and his family, having recently moved from Chicago, are Felicia’s next-door neighbors. Their families quickly hit it off. While Paul’s parents are more understanding about his free spirit, despite some attempts by his mother to reign it in, Felicia’s parents are described as much stricter and unbending in their positions. However, this may just be Felicia’s opinion of them, since as the novel progresses, they seem to give a little in terms of they way their viewpoints have been described.

Felicia and Paul’s relationship grows from friendship to something more, but neither of them quite knows what to call it, and Felicia’s insistence that her parents won’t let it grow to be anything more than good friends scares Paul off at times. Their relationships with others factor into this, from friends (or the lack thereof), to girlfriends, potential boyfriends, siblings, and others. Some characters were not fleshed out as much as they could have been, but this is relegated more to the secondary characters, such as Paul’s siblings and even their parents, at times. The parents seemed to act as more of a foil to their relationship, but they did serve their purpose in terms of showing how Felicia deals with everything she thinks is causing strife in her life.

The ending, albeit open-ended, was satisfying enough, but it would have been nice to have a jump ahead to learn more about how their relationship changed with time.

‘The Unforgettables’ is a story of trying to find strength where there doesn’t seem to be any. While Felicia and Paul sometimes succeed and sometimes fail in this pursuit, ‘The Unforgettables’ teaches that relationships can certainly be tested, and life has a way of getting in the way, but truth will always win out.

*Review originally posted on YABooksCentral.com*

You can find ‘The Unforgettables’ by G.L. Tomas here.