"Forgotten", by Catherine McKenzie

Once in a while I love to take a mental break and read something light and refreshing, a women’s fiction (chic-lit) seems to do the trick although it is always preferable to suspend a certain degree of disbelief to enjoy the experience.

If you had the chance to start over, would you? Or would you just try to pick up the pieces of your life and move on? What a dilemma…

This enjoyable story has Emma, the protagonist facing this challenge after she went missing in Africa and declared dead. Returning home 6 months later she finds her world has been turned upside down and her life is as she knew it gone…….what to do now.

“Forgotten” relies on many of the elements popular for the chick-lit genre: a protagonist Emma with a best friend, trouble with a mean girl at the office, having mix feelings about her boyfriend and having an attractive stranger on the sideline to distract her and of course what women like best….shopping. The premise is a well- crafted mix of humour and sadness but most of all make you realize that life goes on. Although quite predictable we do have a few twists, quite a few suspenseful moments, lots of back-stabbing and a tad of romance. This is a story easy to get lost into from page one, wanting to know the outcome. The story has a steady pace, flows smoothly and plays out nicely. The characterization is also good and is well thought out.

“Forgotten” is a cute novel and a great book to bring to the beach