Is it the end of their love story or just the beginning?
Callum Roberts and Alice McClaren have spent two wonderful years building a life and a home and making plans for a future together. But when Alice is involved in a car crash, Callum fears that he has lost her forever. As he sits by her bedside he promises he’ll do anything if only she’ll open her eyes…
But when Alice does finally wake up, she has absolutely no memory of being in love with Callum or the life they once shared. In fact, all she remembers about him is how incredibly annoying he once was! How can she have forgotten him if she really did love him so deeply?
Callum is determined to prove to Alice that what they had was special, so he makes her a deal: he’ll recreate their first ten dates and make her fall in love with him all over again!
Alice isn’t sure Callum can fill in all the gaps in their story. And what if going back to the start only means the end? (Synopsis courtesy of Goodreads)
I didn’t read the synopsis before starting Ten Dates, which led me to think that the story would start out with a simply sweet premise about two love interests who embark on several dates. That wasn’t at all what I got. What I discovered was so much more than that.
The story starts with a bang, so to speak, when Alice discovers she’s been in a car accident. The disorientation from that was well described, and what I’d imagine it would be like for someone who finds out their whole life has been upended, with no recollection of the accident. Sadly, that also means she has no recollection of the relationship she has with Callum, either, a man she’s known since childhood and who she has always pegged as someone to keep at arm’s length, never someone she’d consider romantically.
After the tragedy of the accident, begins the beauty of Callum’s goal in winning Alice back. It reminded me a lot of the movie 50 First Dates–while Alice might not have continually forgotten everything, she’s still forgotten such a large portion of her life, and that mostly involves Callum. I appreciated the patience and dedication he shows her, and there were moments where I’d get a little annoyed at Alice because she seemed a little mean to him, but after some reflection, I can see where she is coming from. While for Callum, Alice is as she’s always been, Alice doesn’t know Callum as her partner or lover, so it’s an awkward position to be in. And even when her memories slowly come back to her, it’s really important to her to take her time in finding a rhythm with him again.
Despite the awkwardness, there is a deep-rooted attraction she has for him that doesn’t go away. And as time goes on, it gets deeper and deeper. But there is an agreement between the two of them: if she doesn’t feel she can get back to where they once were, whatever that means, it’s perfectly acceptable for her to go her own way. But that means losing Callum.
I enjoyed the storyline and the plot. I thought it was unique and interesting, particularly the 50 First Dates aspect to it. While I think I would have liked to see a bit more flashback from the characters–there was one particular chapter where it ends with Alice asking Callum a leading question, and I thought for sure the next chapter would give us some background into the past and what their relationship had been like back before they were a couple–it was still engrossing and I was eager to see where things would go for them relationship-wise, but also how Alice would feel and be after she’s fully healed. It was a seriously good romantic read.
Thanks to Rachel's Random Resources for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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