What Endures
Jason Kincaid is young, hot and successful.
An All-Star outfielder for the Seattle Mariners, he finally had everything he ever wanted, including a second chance with his high school sweetheart, Megan Williams.
But their hopes for a ‘happily-ever-after’ are dashed by tragedy.
A horrific car accident wipes out most of Jason’s memories. Unable to recall anything from the last fifteen years of his life, Jason is suddenly adrift, his once charmed life now in ruins.
Megan finds herself in the untenable position of having to deal with the fact that the man she’s helping to rebuild his life may look, and even act, like her beloved fiancé, but in reality, isn’t any longer.
Trying to protect herself, as well as Jason, Megan fights the attraction between them. . .to no avail. As their potent connection inevitably draws them closer, Megan wonders,
With the memories of their relationship gone, can love endure?
When I started What Endures I was expecting a candy floss read; boy meets girl, they fall in love, boy loses memory, boy and girl fall back in love, culminating with a cheesy Hollywood ending. Every now and then I want the pure escapism and comfort of a light, sweet and predictably fluffy story. While I would have been happy to sate my sweet tooth with a rush of sugar, Katie Lee had other ideas, giving me more substance to chew over.
After four agonising weeks of constant bedside vigil, Megan’s prayers are finally answered and Jason wakes from the coma caused by the horrific head injuries he sustained in a car accident. Doctors predict that while physically Jason should make a full recovery, the return of his memory is less certain.
While Megan has the experience of loving Jason for her entire adult life, Jason can’t recall a single memory of the previous ten years with Megan. Ten years of ups and downs, of heartbreak and healing. Laughter and tears, all wiped out in an instant. Not only that, but having lost all memory of his adulthood (reconciling with his stepbrother, independence from his controlling father, his glittering sporting career), who is post-accident Jason? Will he fall for Megan? And without the experience of their life together, is Jason still the man Megan fell in love with?
What Endures was an emotional journey, not only through the couples experience of Jason’s physical and emotional recovery, I was frequently teary-eyed as I empathised with Megan’s’ heartbreak and Jason’s bewilderment, but also through the exploration of a realistic long term love story with all of the inconvenience, hard made decisions, compromises and hurts of “real life”.
Verdict: A lovely read. I will be seeking out this indie author’s future work.
Reviewed by Caroline
