At age nineteen, Steffi Lockwood did the unthinkable, and ghosted her lover, Ryan Quinn. Though she truly loved him, he could always convince Steffi to see things his way. Steffi wanted to do some travelling before they married, while Ryan didn’t want them to be separated at all. Knowing how weak she was, Steffi chose to abruptly end all contact, and leave Ryan behind. After weeks of unanswered calls and messages, heartbroken Ryan has a rebound affair, which leads to an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. When Steffi comes to realize that Ryan is everything she wants, it’s too late.

Fast forward about ten years, and Steffi has now returned to her home town, having opened a remodeling business with her friend. She’s very surprised to get a commission from Ryan’s mother. Though they had a great relationship when she was dating Ryan, she didn’t expect such a warm welcome now after the cruel way she dumped Ryan. Even more surprising is to find out that Ryan’s marriage has fallen apart, and he and his daughter, Emmy, are temporarily living with his parents while the details of his divorce are ironed out.

Ryan is less than happy to come home to find Steffi happily ensconced in his family home, working on a fairly long term project. He’s unhappier, still, to find that Emmy seems captivated by Steffi. The feelings that Ryan has tried to keep buried come back full force – the anger, the betrayal, and the confusion. He decides to give Steffi a wide berth, but she’s there every day, now apparently wanting to bury the past and be friends.

Steffi actually wants to be more than friends. It didn’t take her long a decade ago to realize what a huge mistake she had made, and just how cruel her actions were. She’s greatly ashamed of how she acted, and no man has ever come close to touching her heart since then. While she doesn’t expect Ryan’s forgiveness, she does hope to make him understand that she was young, unwise, and feeling somewhat smothered. If friendship is all they can have, she will accept it.

As the days pass, Ryan and Steffi talk, and she tries to explain why she acted the way she did. Though Ryan actually does forgive her, and rather quickly, at that, he’s not sure he can trust her again. His ex-wife left their daughter totally in his custody, and he begins to envision how things might be if he, Steffi, and Emmy created a new family. Ryan and Steffi attempt going on a date, and are regaining some of their old magic. The situation abruptly changes when their kisses become heated, and Steffi totally loses it. It seems that Steffi was mugged several months ago, and suffered a bad concussion. She is still having episodes where she appears to zone out, and either becomes zombie-like or combative. Is there hope for a rekindled love to be lost because of Steffi’s injuries?

THE MEMORY OF YOU is a compelling read, and for those who avoid reading about it, does include sexual assault and the lingering effects. Ryan is truly a dream hero. His fairly quick forgiveness of the huge wrong Steffi did to him is nothing short of amazing. Then his care and patience with her as the details of her assault come to light made me fall in love with him. It’s hard to judge Steffi’s actions when you haven’t experienced the trauma she did, but I found her avoidance of her symptoms and the danger they posed frustrating. When Ryan and Steffi are finally able to physically connect once again, I was very sad to be told that it happened, rather than seeing it. By that, I don’t mean that I was needing an explicit sex scene, but it was such an important milestone, I wanted to watch it unfold.

All of us have made mistakes due to youth and inexperience, and Steffi is no exception. Second chances at love are rare, and so sweet when things work out. THE MEMORY OF YOU covers some difficult subject matter, but deals with it in a realistic way. A strong love that never died, forgiveness, healing, and new beginnings make for a very captivating and satisfying read.

Steffi comes home after an assault. Her and her best friend open a business to rebuild houses, while she rebuilds her life. When she takes on a job she never expects to have the past hit her in the face. Ryan moved back home while going through a divorce with his daughter. He knew his Mom was up to something but when he walks into his childhood home and sees Steffi, trouble will begin.
They have a lot to work through and memories get in the way,

This is a great book.

** I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

4 Star review of The Memory of You (Sanctuary Sound #1) by Jamie Beck

Jamie Beck is a new author to me and I have no idea why that is. This is a second chance at love story and was well written.

Stefanie Lockwood Has returned home to recover from a vicious attack which has left her shattered. When she comes across her ex boyfriend Ryan Quinn she realises that he still holds a grudge.

Steffi and Ryan have so much pain and hurt to work through.Can they do it or will the past ruin their future?
The Memory of You was kept me interested although at times I felt it was a little slow.There was certainly drama, romance a great deal of angst and it really tugged on my emotions.

I look forward to reading more in the series.

I received a copy of this book through the publisher via Netgalley.

This book just blew me away. It kept me enthralled from the beginning word. Steffi returned to her home town after being brutally mugged. She was repressing what happened and kept having blackouts. She ran into Ryan (her old boyfriend) and he was not happy to see her. She had broken up with him in college and didn't tell him why. He finally moved on and married and had a child. That marriage fell apart and he and Steffi started to get close again. There are more characters that the two of them and they all played an important part of the story. I loved all of it. Now I need Peyton's story. I got ths story from NetGalley for an honest review

The Memory of You is a second chance romance for the one who got away...Okay, the one who ran away. Steffi screwed up big time but that was 10 years ago. Now, she's still experiencing the aftermath of her decision. The biggest of which has just shown up at his parents house and her new job site.

This sweet story has some hard truths, some not so pleasant details, and a spunky nine year old with the sass of a hormonal teen. It's also the start of a series. Glimpses into the other stories are easy to read and even more fun to anticipate.

The memory of this book is going to go down for me as mostly featuring a “boo-hoo is me”, whiny, unforgiving hero, who is mad at the world. By 40%, I was fed up with his never ending mantra of all the reasons he felt justified to stay angry about everything, especially towards Steffi, the heroine. The non-relationship angst between these two became exhausting. I found myself wanting Steffi to tell him to go “stuff it” and shoot him a smile and mental middle finger every time she saw him. Yeah, kill that dude with kindness, honey, so he’ll look like the bitter fool he is.

What does Steffi do? She gives him half smiles and holds out for crumbs of renewed friendship, all while pining after him. At 46%, I realized I no longer cared how things worked out. She’d likely be better off if she erased him completely from her memory banks. By 60%, nothing significantly had happened. Suspecting how the “I want him back” soon to be ex-wife drama and Steffi’s health issue was going to unfold were just more reasons to stop reading, folks. This book just wasn’t worth my time.

Title: The Memory of You, Series: Sanctuary Sound (Book 1), Author: Jamie Beck, Pages: 364, stand-alone but part of a series, doormat heroine, angry/needs to get over himself heroine, married and getting a divorce hero, just want that engaging.

(I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. I was not given any payment or compensation for this
review, nor is there any affiliation or relationship between this reviewer and the author/publisher/NetGalley.)

What a brave book! This first book in a new series has lots of my favorite things: a couple with a complicated history, a single dad, a second chance romance. But it also deals with a pretty heavy subject, and I applaud Jamie Beck’s tackling of it. Not only do we get the story of Steffi and Ryan (and Emmy!), we also get a preview of the next books in the series, the stories of Claire and Peyton. Looking forward to seeing how those play out. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

3.5 stars

The Memory of You by Jamie Beck is a beautifully written and heartfelt read.
My heart ached for Steffi and Ryan and I was happy they were able to put the past behind them to find peace, respect, comfort and love each other unconditionally.

This was one of those books one you start you don't want to put down.

*Thank you to the publisher via Netgalley for the advance copy*

Try as I might, it’s hard to go into each book by an author I like without having preconceived ideas. To manage my expectations. Of course, no one picks up a book by an author they like and thinks “oh, I bet this one isn’t going to be any good.” Especially not when it’s one of your favorite tropes...the second chance love story.

When I received the email saying I’d been approved for an ARC of The Memory of You, I actually squealed and did a little yes fist pump. So I was really looking forward to this book! And the first 30 percent was fairly good - not exactly what I expect from this author (which is complex characters and a multi-layered plot woven into a multi-book, epic saga-like family story), but I could see how she was setting up the next two books, and doing so without it being completely obtrusive.

Then the book just seemed to go on and on, without any of the complexities or layers I was anticipating.

The Memory of You is a fairly straightforward story. Boy and girl fall in love in high school, boy and girl - temporarily - want different things, boy and girl break up, boy has a rebound relationship and she gets pregnant so they get married, and girl lives with regret but moves on.

Now it’s ten years later and Steffi has moved back to her hometown of Sanctuary Sound. She’s recently survived a mugging, and is experiencing blackouts, but a new renovating company with her best friend Claire is giving her hope and excitement for the future. Then the mother of her long-lost love, Ryan, hires her to build an extra room for her house. Apparently Ryan is getting divorced and is moving in with his daughter, so they need some extra room (nevermind Ryan and his daughter will just be there a few months, until the specifics of his divorce are settled…).

Ryan isn’t happy to see Steffi, of course. But as they spend more time together, old feelings resurface. Their issues (mostly) get worked out. Then they live happily ever after.

Actually, not really. We get a happy for now ending. Which isn’t my favorite to begin with, but was REALLY not okay in this book. There’s a big issue Steffi needs to work through but refuses to get help with, and Ryan finally talks her into getting professional help. The book then skips to the epilogue. The end.

Where’s the drama? Where’s the hard work to get to a happy relationship? If you don’t want to dig into a deep, heavy issue and show your character’s emotions, why go there and only give it lip service???

So yeah, this one left me underwhelmed. 😩

I’m chalking it up to mismanaged expectations. I can only hope the next two books in this series are much better, because I’m looking forward to them already. Hopefully they won’t leave me disappointed like this one did.

* thank you to NetGalley and Montlake Romance for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

Many thanks to BookSparks and Netgalley for the chance to read this book early!

The Memory of You by Jamie Beck was a cozy story to get lost in for a few days. I enjoy books like this one featuring realistic characters with simple lives I'm able to delve deeper into. In some ways, this story reminded me of a Nicholas Sparks book with its second chance love story and its simplicity.

Women's Fiction has been a comfortable genre for me to read this year and I was exceedingly happy to pick up this book. After reading a few reviews, I've found many readers had a small problem with the stubbornness of the characters. Fortunately, I was not one, and actually found parts of myself in Steffi's personality. I can be as stubborn and difficult as they come and it was nice to see a character with these imperfections, being given the tools to make helpful changes through the loving advice of the other characters. In many ways, their advice to Steffi was helpful to me, too! Her need to be tough and tackle every problem solo was like looking in a mirror. Reading about how her character traits affect the other characters made me realize how unintentionally difficult I can be for those who are closest to me. For that reason alone, I'm thankful I read this book! I need to loosen up and accept love more willingly, as the main character of this story did.

I appreciated being able to witness the push and pull between Steffi and Ryan as they smoothed over past issues in their relationship and overcame new obstacles as they occurred. The issues they had to tackle together were things that happen in real life every day but gave readers an outside look into these incredibly personal matters. It was interesting to have a peek into the various relationships both Steffi and Ryan had in their lives and how they came into play -- i.e. divorce, older parents, children, friends, and more.

At times, I found the story to be a tad slow or over-descriptive in certain details, making this book feel a little longer than I wanted it to. I think this and the few unanswered questions in the end can be attributed to this book being the beginning of a series. Unfortunately, this tends to be a problem I've noticed in many books within a series. Where a standalone would edit out details that do not move the story forward, these things are left to contribute to the length of the series, with many questions left unresolved in the conclusion. In some ways, this frustrates me as a reader because I want everything answered now. However, I would like to see how things progress between the secondary characters' friendship in the future so this tidbit may have me reaching for the next book in the series.

The Memory of You is available now!

Just wow!! An emotional story that touched my heart in so many ways. A second chance romance between Steffi and Ryan. High school sweethearts that went their separate ways after Steffi broke up with Ryan. Now they are both back in Sanctuary Cove. Ryan as a single dad, going through a rough divorce, now raising his daughter, Emmy. Steffi,has faced a brutal attack that she has not overcome and does not really want to deal with it, she is now remodeling homes.

Loved these characters, great development and they felt real.Even the secondary characters were great, I especially loved Emmy. I felt the topic of the attack was very well written, I really felt for Steffi. I can't wait to read more in this series. I highly recommend.

Steffi and Ryan dated in high school and college until she ghosted him. Now, years later, they are both back in their hometown and Ryan's mom has engineered the two of them being in close proximity while she works on the house he grew up in.

I was drawn to this book by the blurb and by the author. I loved two of the other series I read by this author so my expectations of this new series were pretty high. I had the hardest time getting into this book and by the time I reached the end, I never like Steffi or Ryan. And then there was Peyton, Steffi's friend who is the actual worst but Steffi defends her constantly. There seemed like there were a lot of fantastic missed opportunities in this book but I am looking forward to reading Claire's story. Claire and Steffi's brother were my favorites and they kept me engaged in this series.

*This is my voluntary review of an advanced reader copy*

3.5-4 stars.

What an emotional read.

Here we have Steffi and Ryan, they are coming back to town for different reasons in their lives, but soon the find that old feelings hardly die with time.

Steffi is dealing with some serious issue from her past, and Ryan with his wife leaving him and his daughter. So, they are both not in the best of places. Because of this (and others) this read is more on the angsty side. These two have a lot to work out, not just the couple stuff.

Even though it wasn’t a bad book, I was expecting a little bit of lighter issues, lol. I love the cover and the blurb, so I was expecting more fluff. Like I said, it’s not a bad book, you just need to prepare for some heavier things.

Still, I’ll read the rest of the series, Ms. Beck did a great job in here, angst or not.

*Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy for which I’m giving my honest opinion*

The Memory of You is a good start to the Sanctuary Sound series. I enjoyed Steffi and Ryan's second chance love story and I hope to get a glimpse into their future in the next book. I can't wait to read Claire and Logan's story!

Ten years ago Steffi left Ryan and her hometown behind so she could explore what life could give her. Now, ten years later, she's back home trying to get her life back on track after going through a brutal assault. Along with her roommate, she's running a remodeling business and her most recent job is on Ryan's mother's house. Which is completely fine because he's now a married man, living in Boston with his wife and nine-year-old daughter.

Or maybe not... because he's actually back.

I don’t know how Jamie does it, but I cry with every story she writes. She has a way with words! Seriously, sometimes I think I can feel my heart hurting!

This is a character-focused kind of story, mainly about Steffi. She went through a lot of bad stuff: lost her mom when she was young and was brutally assaulted which left her with some very much deep scars, inside and out. She has a lot of memory lapses and can’t really remember what happened when she was assaulted. Besides that, sometimes she zones-out, going back in her head to the moment she was assaulted, but as soon as she gets back to reality, she can’t remember what she just remembers. Too confusing? Well, imagine living inside her head.

I really liked her story because, with Steffi’s character, Jamie went about some serious problems that a lot of people, especially women, go through. I can’t tell you exactly what the main issue is because that would be a major spoiler, but all I can say is that it is a very real problem and that it is really well written, meaning, you won’t get uncomfortable reading about it.

The only thing that wasn’t exactly how I would like it to be was the end of the book. I think the final part could have been a lot more developed and to a deeper level. The way they uncover the main issue and how they dealt with them is way too quick. At least for me anyway.

The Memory of You is the first book in Sanctuary Sound series, and a great start for this new series. When I received an invitation from the publisher, via Net-Galley, to read and review, I eagerly accepted since I have enjoyed a great many of Ms. Beck’s novels. My opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Memory of You from the first page to the last. Ms. Beck’s writing is emotional and pulled at my heartstrings a lot. The plot is realistic and kept me flipping the pages on my Kindle, breathlessly waiting for what would come next.

Steffi’s character pulled at my heartstrings from the beginning. She’s torn between the two closest friends and has to walk carefully while maintaining a relationship with both of them. She’s also still dealing with side effects from her assault that are causing great anxiety and what appears to be momentary blackouts.

On top of that, she must face the boy she ghosted after high school graduation many years before. All the old chemistry still burns hot, but what she did to Ryan is unforgiveable in her mind. My heart was torn as she struggles to mend fences with the man she callously left behind.

Ryan’s character has every right to be mistrustful when he comes face to face with Steffi. He still has a lot of hurt feelings and confusion over what she did. He also is dealing with his bereaved daughter because his soon to be ex-wife rarely has time for the child. But through all of that, the old attraction still pulls at him. Although he may never trust her again, he is willing to see if they can start anew. I could feel his pain over what he sees as the disaster his life has become.

I truly loved Steffi and Ryan as a couple. The chemistry between them is blazing hot. The love scenes are well-written, focusing on the emotion and instead of the actual physical act. I loved this. Their struggles to find their way back to each other moved me greatly, and I was thrilled that they found their happy ending.

If you enjoy an emotionally-charged romance with engaging characters, then you will love The Memory of You as much as I did. I look forward to other books in this fantastic new series. Happy reading!

This is my first introduction to Jamie Beck's work but it definitely won't be the last.



Steffi and Ryan were high school sweethearts. Ten years ago when Ryan and Steffi left for college Steffi struggled with what she thought her life should be like. Leaving Ryan at the time seemed like the best idea, even if she did break up with him over a text. Now ten years later Steffi is back home living with her best friend and working on building a career for herself. Steffi never expects to see Ryan again, but while working on Ryan's mother's house she comes face-to-face with the man whose heart she broke all those years ago and his daughter. Now all Steffi wants to do is start over and maybe just maybe win Ryan and his daughter's hearts.



Ryan was crushed when Steffi broke up with him ten years ago with no word or explanation. For ten years he's hung on to that hatred for her. Seeing her back in his life when he's in the middle of a divorce and working on making a stable life for his daughter is like a kick in the stomach. When Steffi offers to be friends again Ryan shuts that down quick. He doesn't want him or his daughter to be hurt by the woman who carelessly shut him out of her life. Fate has other plans and the more Steffi and Ryan are thrown together, the more he realizes he never got over his first love.



I thought Memory of You was a decent read. I did have some issues with the story that I felt were probably more personal and not having so much to do with the actual book. I think as someone in the mental health field it's always difficult for me to have a character who just continues to neglect her mental health. I found that characteristic very annoying throughout the story. Her constant avoidance of literally everything difficult made Steffi difficult to like at times.



I think the other issue I had was the dialogue. A lot of it felt stilted throughout and it seemed like the characters while having known each other for a long time didn't really know anything about each other. All the relationships; even the close ones, felt superficial.



The Memory of You is a cute read about finding love and finding your true, best self. It was an interesting read that touched on a lot of interesting topics like grief, sexual assault, family, divorce, and right and wrong.

THE MEMORY OF YOU (Sanctuary Sound Book 1) by Jamie Beck is a second chance contemporary romance and so much more. Besides a well written romance, life is very messy around both the H/h with close friends, family and major life issues pulling them in all directions.

Stefanie Lockwood returns to her hometown of Sanctuary Sound after a brutal attack has left her with memory lapses which she brushes off as something time will heal. Steffi is a carpenter by trade and starts a company with one of her two longtime friends who is a designer. Their remodeling business is just starting to take-off, when Steffi gets a job offer from the mother of her long ago ex-boyfriend. Steffi has many regrets about how she left Ryan.

Ryan Quinn is a public defender who is not surprised when his wife leaves their marriage for a rich man, but he is extremely angry over her abandonment of their nine year old daughter, Emmy. Until the finances are settled in the divorce, Ryan moves back to his childhood home with his daughter. He is shocked and angry to find that his mother has hired Steffi to work on an addition to their home. Coming home with all of the emotions of a failed marriage and a little girl who is not accepting the changes in their lives, he is now faced with his first love who destroyed his heart.

Steffi wants a second chance with Ryan. Ryan is not sure that is possible as he protects his heart and Emmy from being hurt once again.

This romance is realistically written. It is a slow transition from anger to forgiveness. Steffi is not only dealing with her renewed feelings for Ryan, but she very much likes Emmy and understands that Ryan is trying to protect her from being hurt by Steffi because he does not yet trust her. She is also having more frequent periods of triggered amnesia episodes that could put herself and others in danger. Ryan is dealing with his renewed feelings for Steffi, but trust is a major issue. He also has to deal with his daughter’s feelings over the divorce and her wanting her parents to get back together. There is a lot going on in this book, but I feel Ms. Beck realistically handles all of the issues. All of the characters are multi-dimensional and interesting.
I am looking forward to continuing this series. Steffi’s friends have stories to be told that I cannot wait to read, also.

Thanks very much to Montlake Romance and Net Galley for allowing me to read this eARC.

This book caught my attention because the main character and I share the same name. Although it’s only her nickname while it’s my second name. But other than that, I lost interest halfway thru the story. I even forgot about it, I had to re-read the book so I could remember why I didn’t enjoy reading Ryan and Steffi’s story.

It’s not for me. The story is good. It is. I swear, it is. But Steffi’s case was not tackled as much as I have wanted. It was lacking. And it was by the end that it was finally revealed. It was there but it was not there enough.

So, I had a very hard time with this book. There were a lot of things going on and the pacing was very slow. And while I completely understand and like the fact that our former exes weren't instantly reunited, I felt the excess drama from outside characters muddied the waters a bit too much.
Understandably, Ryan's daughter and his soon-to-be ex wife are important secondary characters. But the falling out between Steffi's partner/friend Claire and their childhood friend, Peyton took up too much of the story. I realize that much of this was to set up the plot for book two in the Sanctuary Sound series. I just thought it was a bit of a distraction from Steffi and Ryan's story.
Then there's Steffi and Ryan themselves. Steffi, to me, was a very immature character, and not very sympathetic. In fact, I didn't like her at all until about the 60% mark. That's when I understood just how much of her current behavior was due to the mugging.
Ryan had a lot of balls in the air and was juggling as fast as he could. From a sad child to his soon-to-be ex, he really doesn't have time or desire to rekindle a friendship, much less a new relationship, with his high school love. While I liked him better than Steffi, I wasn't wowed by him.
And that was my other issue. While I have enjoyed books without loving both characters, I have rarely encountered one where I didn't have any great feels for the hero OR the heroine.
I'd still recommend this book and I'm definitely a fan of Jamie Beck. She did a great job with the very serious issues portrayed in this story. But I'm hoping I enjoy the 2nd in the series more than I did this one