The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros – Review

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Description:
Twenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce—the New York house, the friends, and her pride. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face-to-face with Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of a million books where the cover is always people nearly kissing. He’s just as arrogant in person as in interviews, and she’ll be damned if the good-looking writer of love stories thinks he’s the one to finish her grandmother’s final novel…even if the publisher swears he’s the perfect fit.

Noah is at the pinnacle of his career. With book and movie deals galore, there isn’t much the “golden boy” of modern fiction hasn’t accomplished. But he can’t walk away from what might be the best book of the century—the one his idol, Scarlett Stanton, left unfinished. Coming up with a fitting ending for the legendary author is one thing, but dealing with her beautiful, stubborn, cynical great-granddaughter, Georgia, is quite another.

But as they read Scarlett’s words in both the manuscript and her box of letters, they start to realize why Scarlett never finished the book—it’s based on her real-life romance with a World War II pilot, and the ending isn’t a happy one. Georgia knows all too well that love never works out, and while the chemistry and connection between her and Noah is undeniable, she’s as determined as ever to learn from her great-grandmother’s mistakes—even if it means destroying Noah’s career.

Told in alternating timelines, THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can’t bring ourselves to see coming.

Review:

The Things We Leave Unfinished by Rebecca Yarros is a wonderful standalone novel.  We meet our heroine, Georgia Stanton, who returns home to her deceased grandmother’s estate in Colorado, which she inherited. Georgia is coming off of a divorce from her movie mogul husband, who was cheating on her, and all she cares about is her privacy.   Stopping at the local book store, she runs into an arrogant man, and they both get into a discussion on romance books.  Scarlett Stanton was a famous beloved romance author, and Georgia grandmother, who always thought Noah Harrison ended his books without happy endings.

Georgia quickly goes home, only to find her mother, whom she rarely sees (unless she needs money), looking over papers belonging to her grandmother.  She learns her mother is trying to sell the unfinished book of Scarlett Stanton, much to Georgia’s dismay. The editor is there discussing arrangements, and to make matters worse, they want Noah Harrison to finish Scarlett’s book; and when someone else arrives at the house, it is that young man she met in the book store; who happens to be Noah Harrison.  Georgia will put a stop to this, but her mother begs her that she needs this money, and Georgia will give in but with restrictions that she controls.

What follows is an amazing story between two time periods; the present time with Georgia and Noah and the past with Scarlett and Jameson.  The basis of the story is the beautiful romance between Scarlett falling in love with World War II pilot, Jameson, which gave the feel of all those old times historical romances, and fully left open to an ending to that story.  The author does do multiple chapters revolving around Scarlett and Jameson in a row, and then it starts switching back and forth to Noah and Georgia.

Noah is determined to work on that novel, and come up with a fitting ending to this novel, especially a happy ending.  Georgia, who currently isn’t in the romantic frame of mind, does not want a happy ending, just the sad truth of what happened. The both of them get off on the wrong foot, and it does take time for that to change, as later they begin to fall for each other.

Scarlett and Jameson’s love story were heartwarming and wonderful.  You can’t help fall in love with them over and over.  As I said, at first, we could not see anything happening between Noah and Georgia, but it was fun to see this change into another sweet romance; which turned into a great modern-day romance. However, we did spend a lot of time worrying if Noah and Georgia would open their hearts to each other.

In each of the time periods, we had some wonderful secondary characters and some evil ones.  In the past (Scarlett and Jameson), her sister Constance was wonderful, as was Jameson’s pilot friend. Scarlett’s mother and father were terrible.  In the present, Georgia’s friends were very good, as was Adam, Noah’s friend.  I did not like Georgia’s ex Damian, nor her mother, Ava. 

Rebecca Yarros wrote an amazing enchanting story filled with love, heartbreak, tragedy, sadness and happiness. I will note that I was totally blindsided by a twist at the end, which made this even more intriguing.  Very well done.  The Things We Leave Unfinished is a captivating must read.

Reviewed by Barb

Copy provided by Publisher