REVIEW: Remind Me (Chasing Fire #1)

Remind Me (Chasing Fire #1), by Ann Marie Walker and Amy K. Rogers
Publish Date: April 21, 2015
Publisher: Intermix
Format: e-ARC, provided by NetGalley and the publisher
Genre: adult contemporary romance
To Buy: Amazon * Barnes & Noble
 
Rating: 4 STARS

(From Goodreads) As heiress to a media empire Alessandra Sinclair was raised to put family obligations first. But everything changes the night her first love walks back into her life and turns her whole world upside down. Haunted by the memories of a secret romance with a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, she can't seem to get Hudson Chase out of her mind. Once again torn between two worlds, Allie must decide how much she’s willing to risk to have the love she’s always longed for.

Ten years is a long time to wait, but billionaire Hudson Chase didn’t become CEO of one of the country’s fastest growing companies by giving up on what he wants. Now that he’s got Allie in his sights again, he’s determined to make her regret breaking his heart. And this time, he’s going to make damn sure he’s not so easy to forget.

I've been gorging myself on these second change romance stories lately. I just love them so much. I'm such a romantic - I choose to believe that, if you could make it work once, you can find your way back to one another and make it work again. This trope especially feeds all my inner warm fuzzies. Of course, it's always best if it's not too easy for them - it has to be a little challenging to find that elusive HEA or else the book isn't fun, right? 

It appears that Alessandra and Hudson have their work cut out for them. They had one perfect summer together when they were 17. Until she chooses her filthy rich parents and her trust fund over the boy from the wrong side of the tracks. It's a decision that comes back to haunt her ten years later when she runs into Hudson at a fund raiser, and he's changed a lot. He's grown up and made a few billion dollars. It appears that he's missed his chance too, as Allie is now engaged to a stuffy French prick. Except, nothing really changed for them. Not really. 

Hudson is understandably upset with Allie. He loved her and she ditched him without so much as a thought once someone better came along. Or, so he thought. Their first few exchanges are rather heated. Hudson is very conflicted. He's still very much drawn to her, but he's also very angry. One minute he lashes out, and says awful things, the next, he's trying to get into her pants. This guy has serious passion. 

For her part, Allie is extremely conflicted. She's not exactly happy in her life. Her mother is the most shallow, superficial horrid woman. Her father only cares about his company. And her fiance is a complete douchebag. But, Allie doesn't see that she has any options. Her engagement was arranged as part of a business deal, and she's convinced that if she breaks it that contracts will be forfeit, people will lose jobs, and her family will disown her. And, she doesn't think she's quite brave enough for that. 

Hudson is dealing with so much. His younger brother is in a really bad place, and despite his best efforts to help him, he just seems to keep getting worse and worse. Hudson is also a business man and very busy. He's working some huge deals that will have a huge impact on his business. And then he's also trying to deal with his feelings for Allie and trying to figure out a way to get her to choose him instead of her fiance. 

Allie was irritating. Her whole life she continuously chose people who didn't care one bit about her. I get that they're her family, but when they prove time and time again that they love themselves more than you, I don't know how you can keep giving them your blind loyalty. Especially when everything they stand for is anathema to everything you believe in. Allie enjoys working for her family's charity. Her mother's most lofty goal for her is to be a trophy wife with a wicked backhand tennis swing. 

Remind Me ends on a cliffhanger. Things are not looking good for Allie and Hudson when several events, one after the other, at the end of the book tear them apart right when Allie had decided to change her path in life. It's the perfect lead-in to book 2 in the series, Release Me, and after that ending, I'm primed and ready to read it.