In The Forgotten One, tabloid reporter Sarah hopes for so much more—a real writing career where she’s not pressured to print lies. Luckily, her propensity for truth lands her a coveted assignment: figure out who Maximilian Smith is and how he’s linked to the billionaire Stone family.

Working guy Max pulls into his driveway one day to find three strangers in a dark SUV waiting for him. They tell him he’s their long-lost brother and heir to billions of dollars. He doesn’t take it well… Max and knows the media will put everything together soon and it’ll be madness, so he wants the story to come out on his terms. Can Max trust Sarah with it? From the (not so) meet-cute to their interactions after, he really thinks he can.

The Forgotten One is a beautiful and heartfelt story of family, love, trust, and the twists life can take. You get not only Max and Sarah’s love story, but the joy of finding a family you never knew you had. For Max, the theme of trust runs so strongly through the book. His mother abandoned him as a toddler and took off (yet still accepted lucrative child support payments, not winning Mother of the Year anytime soon), leaving him to the foster system. Many abusive homes and bad situations later, Max made it to adulthood and a sense of security. But trusting people or getting close to them? No thanks. Until now. Maybe.

Slowly, his new siblings and Sarah start breaking some of his walls down, and it’s a journey with so many feelings, the good and the bad. Some nice steamy moments too! I was drawn into The Forgotten One from the beginning and really rooting for these characters. Also loved that there was a meaningful plot beyond the romance.

I haven’t read the first book in the series but still adored The Forgotten One! Definitely going back to read All Our Tomorrows though.

Available November 12, 2024. Thank you to Brilliance Publishing and NetGalley for the advanced audio copy. All thoughts and opinions are mine.

Rating: 5
Themes and Tropes: Found Family, Long-Lost Relatives, Finding the Truth, Unexpected Love
Steam: Low
Pair With: Your favorite fancy wine fit for a billionaire

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