Reminders of Him Review

Summary (from the publisher): After serving five years in prison for a tragic mistake, Kenna Rowan returns to the town where it all went wrong, hoping to reunite with her four-year-old daughter. But the bridges Kenna burned are proving impossible to rebuild. Everyone in her daughter’s life is determined to shut Kenna out, no matter how hard she works to prove herself.

The only person who hasn’t closed the door on her completely is Ledger Ward, a local bar owner and one of the few remaining links to Kenna’s daughter. But if anyone were to discover how Ledger is slowly becoming an important part of Kenna’s life, both would risk losing the trust of everyone important to them.

The two form a connection despite the pressure surrounding them, but as their romance grows, so does the risk. Kenna must find a way to absolve the mistakes of her past in order to build a future out of hope and healing.

My Rating: 4/5 Stars

My Thoughts:

I’ll be the first to admit that I haven’t been the biggest fan of Colleen Hoover’s recent releases, including the ones I have picked up & some others that I haven’t picked up because their synopses haven’t grabbed my attention. For example, I haven’t picked up Heart Bones, I felt pretty mixed about Regretting You, I DNF’ed Layla this summer, I was not a huge November 9 fan, and I don’t have much memory of reading It Ends With Us – I am happy though for the fans who love that book that are getting It Starts With Us later this year. The biggest exception is Colleen Hoover’s indie release/thriller, Verity, which everyone should go drop what they’re doing and read that book ASAP.

So you might be wondering why I picked up CoHo’s latest release, Reminders of Him. This book was mostly a case of the hype getting to me, especially since TikTok & bookstagram have made CoHo a household name. I also was intrigued by the premise, following twenty six year old, Kenna, who has recently been released from prison after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter of her boyfriend. When the accident that took her boyfriend’s life occurred, she did not know that she was pregnant with her daughter, Diem. While serving time, Diem has been raised by Scotty’s grandparents and his best friend, Ledger. Ledger is an ex NFL player and now owner of a bar, where Kenna goes when returning to town.

Reminders of Him absolutely hooked me from the get-go. I read over 170 pages in one night and devoured the rest of it the following day. I was totally reminded of how addicting CoHo’s writing style and plots can be. The book definitely has a unique premise, with Kenna having served time in prison and raising many questions about her responsibility in Scott’s death. The story makes its characters and readers think about responsibility and most of all, forgiveness. I really liked Kenna and Ledger as leads and although I did question the realistic-ness of their romance, I did enjoy their chemistry. I loved Ledger’s relationship with Diem and seeing him act as a father figure to her. I also loved the relationship between Ledger’s friend, Roman, and Diem too – there were so many one liners on the way to a t-ball game that had me laughing out loud. I could see a potential spinoff starring Roman one day!

The thing I didn’t love about Reminders of Him was that the plot was very slow-moving. Kenna and Ledger do have a slow burn romance which might’ve attributed to the slower plot, and I was also more-so invested in the book to see what happened to Kenna and her involvement in Diem’s life, along with actually finding out what happened the night that Scotty died.

Overall, I really enjoyed Reminders of Him, & my overall reading experience is encouraging me to pick Colleen Hoover’s books up more frequently!