'True Love Stories Never Have Endings': The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel

February, the month of LOVE. Some of us have found our soulmates. Some of us have our children who are the loves of our lives. Some of us have lost our soulmates, or have never found the one, yet. Or some have found it, but circumstances split them only to wait a lifetime to find one another again.

Love can possess so much passion, yet can torture you to know end. It is not for the faint at heart. So many events, and decisions impact our love life. Some of those events may be in our control and others may not be, like in the book by Kristin Harmel, "The Sweetness of Forgetting", we get to see all the angles and types of love that life throws our way.

This book takes place on Cape Cod present day, but we get a glimpse of WWII in Paris. Hope is a young woman in her mid-30's going through a divorce to whom she thought was her soulmate. Her whole life just seems to be crashing down before her. Her Mother, a person who she never had a connection due to her mom making her second in life to her multiple boyfriends passed away, her grandmother Rose (only person she had a connection with) is slowly fading due to Alzheimer, "losing" her teen daughter, and on the verge of losing the bakery her Grandmother started when she immigrated to the US. She simply has zero faith in love, let alone herself. Her confidence is lacking, to the point where it truly becomes annoying. You begin to think, what more will Hope have to endure!?!

Hope's personal problems begin to take a backstreet when her Grandmother Rose requires her full attention. Rose knows if she doesn't do this now, all of her memories of her past will cease and die with her and she cannot go another day without the truth of her past life being told. She has to come clean. She has to help her grand-daughter regain her confidence, find herself, and know what eternal love truly is and how amazing it feels. So, Rose sends Hope on what seems like a hopeless wild goose chase. It becomes an adventure of mystery, trying to put the puzzle pieces together of where Rose truly came from and who she truly was prior to coming to the United States during the WWII Nazi occupation.

I picked this book for February because it gives us an amazing example of all types of love. It might take place during Christmas, but really this book proves how love can and does conquer all and is eternal. It also shows how all families have their own mysteries that we may never know until we dig deep into our roots. I truly loved this book. I will give this book a 4.5 out of 5. Mainly due to Hope being dense and at times, annoying. Kristin's character development, setting, historical facts, and overall story line is so well done. I related to this book in so many ways. I was not expecting a book to help me through my own personal dramas, but it did. Hope's life was/is my life. It has given me hope. By seeing Hope struggle and to be honest, being annoying with her pessimistic and defeatist attitude, I realized how strong I truly am. Then you have Rose, her grandmother, she has strength, but at the same time she regrets so much of her life. Yet, she realized how truly blessed she became due to the decisions she had made.

Matters of the heart can stay with us for a lifetime. It is how we handle them, and how we allow them to affect us is what really shows our true character. Funny thing is, we can also allow love to change who we are and push those that truly love us out of our lives. This book provides all of this and more. It is finding ones' self, reconnecting with a child, understanding decisions made, and accepting the way your life had gone, along with realizing that you can change the projection of your life, or a family cycle.

If you want a book that gives you love, mystery, history, heartbreak, and yet is heartwarming, this is the right book. All aspects of love and all types of love are experienced by the characters, and it gives a sense of connection to the reader. You feel for these characters, you root for them, and you connect. Not to mention, there are some very tasty recipes in this book and they provide an insight into many different cultures. They become a main part of the mystery that Hope untangles, and is a love language that speaks so profoundly that you realize no act is too small to have a big impact on ones' life.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I because it possesses a fantastic message, gives hope, and tells us life is never what it seems from the outside. Life and love are like glaciers, we only see the small top at first glance, but down below the water it is rugged, and massive, telling us to look deep down and not what is on the surface. Lastly, love truly never ends, it stays with us through eternity. Happy reading, my fellow book lovers and may your Valentine's Day be fantastic, no matter where your love life is currently. See the blessings you have in your life and know that someone out there loves you.

*Quote in title is by Richard Bach

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