Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

Super cute story which is why I really liked it. This second chance romance is super sweet. The chars are cute and develop during the story. It was a nice read.

This book was not for me. I did not particularly like it and ended up DNFing it thus won't be able to provide a detailed review.

This is the first book I have read by this author.

It was enjoyable, had the makings to be a fantastic story/plot but just didn't quite get there. The story felt a little disjointed in places which caused me to lose interest in some places. With that being said, I did enjoy the story and the characters.

3 stars!

**Copy received via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review**

Piper and Lucas’s love story was a wonderful read, yet I must admit to that ‘lost at the bakery’ through out most of the book.
Mrs K character was so interesting and she added so much to the story and was a lot of the reason I kept turning the pages.
Not the way I usually get lost in a book, but even with that ‘what the heck’ feeling of not knowing what had went on in the past I gave this one four stars.

It took me a bit to get into this book but once I did, I really enjoyed Lucas's and Piper's story. They had met through their best friends but lived in different cities - she in Boston and he in NYC. A miscarriage and failed engagement bring Piper to NYC, where they reconnect. Both have faced enormous tragedy and Lucas struggles with his mother's descent into Alzheimer's. The history of Lucas's parents, separate and apart, as well as a tragic accident when he was a teen have shaped him in many ways -and some of his assumptions may not be true. The two engage in a push and pull over many months, wary of sharing their secrets. The loss of a beloved elderly is a breaking point for Lucas, but Piper won't let him push her away.

Piper Mahoney is running from heartache and misery when she lands a hotel job in New York. Not long on the job, she runs into Lucas, a could have been love and their joint journey to redemption begins.
It is a very stirring and touching story of personal hurts, fears and demons that require attention in order for love to survive.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the first book I have read by Kimberly Ash, and I enjoyed it! It was very well done and I would highly recommend.

FORGIVE ME is going to break your heart, I’ll warn you of that ahead of time, but by the story’s ending, you’ll find not only yours but Piper’s and Lucas’ hearts healed once again. It’s not going to be an easy journey to get there as they each have had so many things happen in the three years since they last met, they are certainly not the same people who spent one amazing, sizzling afternoon together. Now, life has dealt blows to them, hurts and situations that are not easily mended. They cannot go back, but maybe, for a while, they can forget with each other… until emotions that always boiled beneath the surface demand to be acknowledged. When your friends with benefits relationship is no longer enough, where do you go then?

I didn’t see this one coming and it hit me hard. There is so much emotion in FORGIVE ME both on the surface and deep down where it hurts to just think about the emotional turmoil these characters are going through, especially Piper. I’ll leave that for you to discover on your own. If you are a reader who likes to go deeper into the characters, to understand how they got to this place and time then you’ll enjoy FORGIVE ME. Through a slowly revealed backstory, Piper and Lucas will become as real to you as your best friends, and you’ll understand why this is such an emotional, heartbreaking and heart-mending romance. I would not hesitate to recommend this story to any Romance reader.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

4.5 Stars for Forgive Me which is book 1 in The Van Allen Brothers and I have to say if Piper and Lucas’s story is anything to go by Kimberley Ash will have a hit series on her hands. This is so much more than just a love story it’s a journey of two lost souls coming together as one after going through a very emotional roller coaster ride and it was a journey that captivated me.
Piper is still trying to get over the loss of her child and the breakup with her fiancé when she bumps into Lucas in the hotel she is now managing and it only takes once glance to realise the attraction and passion they shared one steamy afternoon 3 years ago was still there but will their personal problems get in the way once more or has fate given them another chance at love.......
This story is full of love, passion, drama and some intrigue, it will take over so please make sure you have time to finish this beautifully written love story. I loved the characters and I loved how their journey was written with compassion because these two certainly have to face things that would break most of us. Great read and I’m looking forward to book 2 in the series.

Piper was firing Justin who she had hired. Piper had only been on the job three months. Justin had cost the hotel twenty thousand in damages. If Piper couldn’t be successful here where else could she go? She’d have to go back to Boston. And she couldn’t. No she was stuck here and Piper was going to have to figure it out. Than she seen two guys as she was leaving and recognized one of them. She had seen him three years ago in the elevator day after they had met they’d gone at each other as if ti were the last night before deployment. She didn’t think she would run into him after she had moved from Boston to NYC. Than he recognized Piper and went to her. Piper said “ hi Lucas”. Piper’s best friend was married to Lucas’s best friend. She was sure Jessica and Adam had told him about Piper cutting off communications and moving to N Y to forget the memories. Jessica would have told him about Jay, about Piper’s engagement, and the baby and the loss of both. Than Piper said nice seeing you again and put out her hand and Lucas took her hand in his, and the single touch sent a spark up her arm that she hadn’t felt in months, maybe years. They stood together several seconds, hands joined, looking at each other. Memory crushing between them. Piper asked him to go to dinner as friends but Lucas said no it would be hard just to be her friend and his life was crazy right now. When he smelled Piper’s scent , a rush of longing had surprised him. Lucas’s mother was in an expensive nursing home , and he had a house that needed constant repair. The next day Lucas called Piper at her office. Than he said he’ll like to take her out that night to dinner to apologize. Piper knew that night so long ago was one night. She was never leaving Boston and he was in NYC. Than she met Jay. They became inseparable. But Jay had told her in the hospital it was best she lost the baby as she wasn’t cut out to be a mother. She was too fun loving . than the new Piper emerged-sensible and buttoned down and never sitting at a bar beaming at the man who caught her eye. But Lucas bought out the old Piper. She wanted nothing more right now than to live for a night in the past. They went to Keaton’s house and made love slowly. Lucas could see Keaton was lonely, hurting from the breakup and lost of her baby last year. Than Keaton brought up having a friends with benefits arrangement. She was nowhere near being able to have a relationship again. She added she was lonely she said tonight at dinner was the first full conversation she had in three months. Than he \said he would take her to an animal shelter where she could volunteer. Lucas knew he didn’t have the ability to promise her a future. They had decided while texting one night a weekend they would spend together. Sal was Lucas’s mom and they told him she didn’t have many more mobile days. It was a crapshoot if Sal remembered who Lucas was and soon she wouldn’t at all. Sal had been a rock on which Lucas could build a belief in himself. Sal had been a judge for twenty years. Lucas had never got over the guilt in causing his friend John’s death.
I enjoyed reading this book. I loved Piper and Lucas together and how they interacted with each other. I was cheering them on. I loved how Mrs K was such a good character and so helping and she was important to this book. I felt this was well written. I also felt it was realistic and liked the way the author handled different subjects: like a broken engagement, a loss baby, guilt over a friends death, elderly parent in a nursing home whose health was deteriorating mentally as well as physically. At times my attention strayed a little but then I got pulled back in the story. I choked up at times when reading this book. I liked the plot and pace. I enjoyed the drama and intrigue. I also really liked how Piper handled Lucas’s breakdown. I loved the characters and the ins and outs of this book and I recommend it.

Forgive Me by Kimberley Ash
When past and present collide….
When Piper Mahoney and Lucas Richardson randomly run into each other in the lobby of a NYC hotel that Piper manages three years after they shared one steamy, impossible-to-forget afternoon together, the attraction is tangible. Neither feels ready to act though. Piper has left friends and family in Boston to reboot her life after a difficult loss while Lucas is vying for a promotion at the DA’s office and handling his own personal problems with his ailing mother. Impulsively Piper reaches out. Lucas can show her his favorite haunts in the city this summer while they enjoy a friends with benefits fling.
Lucas is tempted. He hasn’t relaxed or had fun in forever and Piper was always the one woman who got under his guard.
Can he keep Piper’s no-strings bargain even as he falls in love? Or will their pasts strangle any hope for a future?
This is Piper Mahoney and Lucas Richardson's story.
It wasn’t the job. It wasn’t even Justin’s invective. It was the faces on the people she would have to see when she got out into the break room. Piper hid her eyes again. No one wanted her here. To them, and to one of them in particular, she had swooped down from Boston and taken the front desk manager’s position right from under their noses. The worst of them had made it clear, on her first day, he had wanted her job; that he’d been doing it fine for the month it took her to finish up in Boston and move down here. Everyone else had wanted him to have her job, and they were not pleased the hotel had gone outside to find someone. Never mind that he had only
Three years’ experience and she had twelve. Or that he had worked in New York for all of two of those years, and she had experience of a large city full of tourists that spanned more than a decade. To her employees, she was foreign; she didn’t belong. Square peg, round hole, etc.
The problem was, she agreed with them. This hotel, this city. The impossible crowds of people. Piper knew crowds, she knew attitude. She was used to people stopping in the street for no apparent reason. She was used to random cursing from cars, from homeless men, from Botoxed women on their cell phones. These things she had lived through in Boston.
He did a double take and now he was walking toward her, throwing a word or two over his shoulder to his companion.
“Piper?” he said when he was closer. His voice was everything she remembered.
“Hi, Lucas,” she said, letting out way more breath than the phrase demanded.
I highly recommend reading.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book."
Forgive Me by Kimberley Ash is a wonderful well written 4 star book.
Kimberley 's Books with Tule:
Forgive Me
The Van Allen Brothers

Forgive Me by Kimberly Ash is a no-strings affair story that doesn’t stay that way. Usually one night stands are not my favorite, which is what Piper and Lucas had after a friend’s wedding several years earlier. Now they are living in the same city, so begins a fun-filled fling in the middle of their complicated lives.

There is much drama, angst, emotional turmoil and regret, more than any two people should ever have. The characters were genuinely confused at this stage of their lives. I found I liked Lucas better than Piper. He did seem to have the weight of the world on him. Still Piper had severe struggles but most were personal ones that she needed to work through to be able to see into the future.

The plot was an ambitious one but also one that was difficult to follow. The changing from Lucas’ life to Piper’s, work problems to home problems then to the past and back to the present gave the story a disjointed feel to it. So I will be interested in seeing if the next Van Allen brother’s story goes any smoother.

What I liked:
The writing style
Part of a series: The Van Allen Brothers
Standalone
HEA

I had a hard time staying interested in this book.

Wow! This story crept up on me and slowly seeped into my bones. This is so much more than a love story, though it certainly is that. This book is really about the healing power of love for both Piper and Lucas.
When these two connect in New York City, neither is in a position to offer more than friendship and some benefits. Piper is still hurting from the loss of her baby and the implosion of her engagement while Lucas has never got over the guilt of causing his friend John’s death more than 20 years earlier. I loved the meticulous way that author Kimberley Ash slowly revealed their backstories and then enabled each to heal the other. I also loved supporting character Mrs K, who plays a wonderful part offering comfort, chicken noodle soup and a grandmotherly shoulder to cry on when needed.
Forgive Me is well written, well paced and an utterly engaging story. It’s definitely one that will have you reaching for the tissues but for my money this is one story that’s worth reading to the end.

This is a beautiful second chance romance for Lucas and Piper who had one night three years prior to the book, but who knew logistics meant they couldn't be together. Now that they are living in the same city, and have just run into each other again, will they be able to make things work?

Piper is still suffering from a tragic loss and has used a work promotion to escape her friends and family and the memories. Once a vivacious, take-no-prisoners gal who lived life to the fullest, she has given herself a make-under that now reflects the darkness inside.

Lucas is struggling with responsibilities he doesn't want in an effort to make up for a long ago tragedy, and the declining health of a parent. He's not in a place to offer anything to a relationship but he knows what's happened to Piper has closed her off, and he decides to accept her offer of an arrangement that benefits them both and keeps them from being too lonely.

Reading about these two broken characters and how they were able to give something to the other that they were unable to give themselves was heartbreaking and real. I could feel the sorrow radiating from the main characters. Very powerful stuff and I was highly impressed. It moved me to tears and that is one of the criteria I use to judge the quality of a story. I want to feel what they feel, so that I can put my whole heart into cheering for a happy ending. The healing that Lucas and Piper accomplished, alone and together, when they had the support of a unanticipated friend who had no expectations for them was inspiring and beautiful. I felt a connection for each of the characters, and between the two.

And I cannot tell you how much I LOVED the way Piper handled Lucas during his breakdown. So many authors would have the female character be hurt and run away - and rightfully so! But as we see throughout the entire book, Piper has hidden strengths that sees her through not only her own heartbreak, but also Lucas's. On top of that, Ash has set things up beautifully for the next book in the series, and I for one am eager to read more.

A relatively new author, Ash is one to watch.

This is the first book I have read by Kimberley Ash and I found I enjoyed her writing style. This story follow Piper and Lucas, who hooked up years prior, and decide to embark on a no-strings affair. I liked both Piper and Lucas and really found myself rooting for them. The story seemed very realistic and I liked the story line, but at times I felt like I was missing pieces to the story. The story was a little angstier than I like, but I think it was a very good contemporary romance! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

3 1/2 Star Review.....

Forgive Me is my first read by Kimberley Ash and the story has guts and substance. A woman trying to move forward and faced with resistance and dissent in the workplace, embarks on a supposed no strings attached fling with a man she had a brief encounter with years before.

Piper and Lucas` relationship is plagued with angst, drama and intrigue, but they have genuine chemistry and a whole lot of baggage as well. I did like this book, the storyline was good, the characters were easy to like, and there were some very realistic issues served up too. But there were also moments where I felt like I’d missed something; like some element was skipped. All in all, this is a good book and I will read more from this author.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed the book but kept feeling confused like I was missing a piece of the story. Piper has moved from Boston to New York and is working in a management position at a hotel. She ran from her family and friends in Boston after she miscarried and her fiancé broke off the engagement. Prior to this, she had been a part of her best friend’s wedding and hooked up with the groom’s best friend Lucas. Lucas was in NYC and she had been in Boston so they didn’t pursue any thing more.piper is miserable in NYC as she’s all alone and her staff at the hotel are not welcoming. Some of the staff work against her and she has to reprimand them. She runs into Lucas in her hotel’s lobby. They decide to pursue a no strings type relationship but both develop feelings. Lucas’ mother has early altzheimers and he is trying to care for her. He is an assistant DA in the sex crimes unit and works long hours. He has moved back into his family home as his mom is in a facility now. There us ongoing suspense, romance and angst and I give it 4 stars.

This book could not hold my interest. Justin is a jerk face right out of the gate and that doesn’t change. I hate reading about rude people that don’t care for anyone but themselves. Ugh.