TOO HARD TO FORGET (Romancing the Clarksons #3) by Tessa Bailey-Review, Excerpt & Giveaway Tour

TOO HARD TO FORGET
Romancing the Clarksons #3
by Tessa Bailey
Release Date: April 25 , 2017
Genre: adult, contemporary, erotic, romance

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / B&N / KOBO / BAM / Google Play / ibooks / indiebound

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date April 25, 2017

This time, she’s calling the shots.

Peggy Clarkson is returning to her alma mater with one goal in mind: confront Elliott Brooks, the man who ruined her for all others, and remind him of what he’s been missing. Even after three years, seeing him again is like a punch in the gut, but Peggy’s determined to stick to her plan. Maybe then, once she has the upper hand, she’ll finally be able to move on.

In the years since Peggy left Cincinnati, Elliott has kept his focus on football. No distractions and no complications. But when Peggy walks back onto his practice field and into his life, he knows she could unravel everything in his carefully controlled world. Because the girl who was hard to forget is now a woman impossible to resist.

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REVIEW: TOO HARD TO FORGET is the third installment in Tessa Bailey’s contemporary adult ROMANCING THE CLARSONS erotic, romance series focusing on the Clarkson siblings. This is youngest sibling Peggy Clarkson, and college football coach Elliott Brooks’s story line. TOO HARD TO FORGET can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty although I recommend reading the series in order for backstory and cohesion.

SOME BACKGROUND: One year earlier Miriam Clarkson passed away but not before leaving her now four grown adult children (Rita, Aaron, Peggy and Belmont) a journal of her most intimate thoughts and dreams. Miriam’s final wishes were for her children to seek out what is important in their lives and thusly a cross country trek began wherein each sibling will find his or her own happily ever after as they venture their way from California to New York City ending with a New Year’s Eve celebration. Rita found the love of her life in book one –Too Hot To Handle/ Aaron found love in book two-Too Wild to Tame.

Told from dual third person points of view (Peggy and Elliott) using present day and memories from the past, TOO HARD TO FORGET is a second chance story line focusing on college football coach Elliott Brooks, and one time cheerleader Peggy Clarkson. Three years earlier Elliott and Peggy ended a torrid but forbidden affair between coach and student-an affair that ended when Elliott pushed Peggy out of his life. Fast forward to present day, Alumni Week is in full swing at the University of Cincinnati, and the Clarkson cross-country tour pulls Peggy into the vortex of her of alma mater. Prepared to give Elliott a piece of her mind Peggy comes face to face with the man that ruined her for everyone else, never expecting to pick up where everything went wrong. Enter Elliott Brooks, widowed father of one pre-tween daughter, and the man that broke our heroine’s heart and soul. What ensues is the rekindling romance between Elliott and Peggy, Elliott’s struggle to forgive himself for sins of the past, and the scramble to save one player’s home from bankruptcy and loss.

The relationship between Elliott and Peggy is one of second chances for two people destroyed by one man’s guilt. Elliott is a practicing Catholic who has difficulty forgiving himself for the loss of his wife (a woman he considered more of a friend than soul mate) and for falling in love with the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Peggy was a senior at University of Cincinnati but catching the eye of the school’s infamous football coach placed Peggy on the fast track to lust, love and a potential happily ever after until her world came crashing down when Elliott pushed her out of his life. The $ex scenes are erotic, intense and seductive. Elliott likes to talk dirty in the bedroom; Peggy likes it a little rough.

With two of the Clarkson siblings having found love on the cross country journey, that left Peggy and Belmont, along with Peggy’s best friend Sage to continue onward towards New York and a New Year’s Eve celebration. Belmont struggles with dark demons and his attraction to his sister’s best friend Sage; Sage’s past hints to an abusive and neglectful start.

The world building continues to focus on the Clarkson’s journey towards love and a happily ever after. Told through present day, as well as memories from the past, the reader goes along for the ride as each sibling finds their purpose and role in life. The story line advances the series but a few days.

TOO HARD TO FORGET is a story of heartbreak and sorrow; love and pain; emotional guilt and loss. The premise is realistic, emotional and energetic; the romance is passionate, palpable and compelling; the characters are colorful, intelligent and spirited. TOO HARD TO FORGET is a sultry story line of second chances for two people caught in a tidal wave of one man’s guilt.

Reading Order and Previous Reviews

Too Hot To Handle
Too Wild to Tame
Too Hard to Forget
Too Close to Call (June 2017 novella)
Too Beautiful to Break (September 2017)

Copy supplied by the publisher through Netgalley

Reviewed by Sandy

TRC:  We would like to start with some background information. Would you please tell us something about yourself?

Tessa:  I’m a control freak living in Long Island with a wine habit. Ha! I have a five-year-old daughter, a husband of ten years and a temperamental cat. Romance is what makes me cry, laugh and everything in between.

TRC:  Who or what influenced your career in writing?

Tessa:  I’ve always thought writing was my one talent, but I lacked the discipline until my daughter was born. After that, I was very motivated to carve out a career for myself. I guess you could say she influenced me. I wanted to make her proud.

TRC:  What challenges or difficulties have you encountered writing and publishing your stories?

Tessa:  At this point, I have a tried and true system that ensures I can get the book written and released in its best form. In the beginning, I would say my biggest opponent was doubt. Or letting others get in my head and spread doubt about story ideas. Now I ignore everything but my own gut.

TRC:  Would you please tell us something about the premise of TOO HARD TO FORGET and the ROMANCING THE CLARKSONS series?

Tessa:  The Clarksons are four dysfunctional siblings on a cross-country road trip from San Diego to New York, each of them finding love at a different stop along the way. TOO HARD TO FORGET is the third book in the series—the youngest sister Peggy’s turn—and she’s out to make her old flame’s life hell on their stop in University of Cincinnati where he works as the head football coach.

TRC:  How do you keep the plot(s) unpredictable without sacrificing content and believability?

Tessa:  My characters do it for me! A characters’ pasts and insecurities dictate how they respond to any given situation, so give two characters the same plot and they each could take it in a different direction. I love when a character surprises me or I learn something about them during the course of a book. That can often make me change course when it comes to the plot.

TRC:  Thank you Tessa for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the release of TOO HARD TO FORGET.

Tessa Bailey is originally from Carlsbad, California. The day after high school graduation, she packed her yearbook, ripped jeans, and laptop, and drove cross-country to New York City in under four days. Her most valuable life experiences were learned thereafter while waitressing at K-Dees, a Manhattan pub owned by her uncle. Inside those four walls, she met her husband, best friend, and discovered the magic of classic rock, managing to put herself through Kingsborough Community College and the English program at Pace University at the same time. Several stunted attempts to enter the work force as a journalist followed, but romance writing continued to demand her attention.

She now lives in Long Island, New York with her husband and daughter. Although she is severely sleep-deprived, she is incredibly happy to be living her dream of writing about people falling in love.

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