Unforgettable Sun by Kathryn Andrews - Blog Tour

Matt Hale

I’ve never really been included. I’ve never felt like I truly belonged. But then again, how could I? Living on this island, I’ve seen and heard too many things. Lies. Secrets. 

“Lies I’ve been forced to tell and secrets I’ve been forced to keep. They keep me locked to myself.”

They’re the reason I stand on the edge of the horizon and watch from afar. Other people’s lives have evolved, but not mine. It’s exactly the same. Day after day, the sun rises, and every time its rays penetrate my skin, I’m reminded that no matter how desperately I don’t want to be, I’m trapped. I want to live. I want to breathe. I just want to be . . . free.

Elle Summers

If I had my way, I would have walked off the catwalk and straight out of the public eye years ago. Never-ending contracts and obligations have kept me prisoner until recently. 

“Now it is fear that has me trapped and running from my life.”

I’m now hiding in a tiny beach cottage in my mother’s hometown, praying no one will find me. No one understands. The demands, lack of control, threats ... I just want it all gone. I want to escape. When do I finally get to be me? Free.

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Matt

With one foot in front of the other I start running. Over the dunes and into the sand, I push as hard as I can. With tears streaming down my cheeks, visions of the fire play out before me. Gasping for air, the smell of smoke fills my senses. I didn’t notice it before but now it is so strong I almost gag. Wiping my nose with the back of my hand, I desperately try to find some fresh air. But no, there it is again, that smell. It’s on my skin. It’s like it isn’t just following me, but now permanently a part of me. Charging into the water, I dive under into the silence. My hands run over my arms, my face, and through my hair. I’m frantic and I have to get rid of the smell.

Washing up on to the shore, I curl up into a ball on the wet sand. My heart is broken for Beau and I’m so afraid. So very afraid. He’s the one and only person who has ever shown me love and the thought of losing him paralyzes me with fear. My sobs are still silent. I’ve been taught not to make a sound. But they hurt so much. Without a voice, I mouth his name over and over again. I just want Beau. I need Beau. He’s the only one who can make this all better, and make everything about this dreadful night disappear.
But he isn’t here and he can’t be.

With my eyes pinched shut, the smell of smoke in my nose, and the feel of a nonexistent heat against my skin, I know. I know it with a certainty that has robbed me of my voice and permeated itself into my pores that, no matter what, everything about this night will be . . . unforgettable.

 

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OVER TEN YEARS ago my husband and I were driving from Chicago to Tampa and somewhere in Kentucky I remember seeing a billboard that was all black with five white words, “I do, therefore I am!” I’m certain that it was a Nike ad, but for me I found this to be completely profound.

Take running for example. Most will say that a runner is someone who runs five days a week and runs under a ten minute mile pace. Well, I can tell you that I never run five days a week and on my best days my pace is an eleven minute mile. I have run quite a few half marathons and one full marathon. No matter what anyone says . . . I run, therefore I am a runner.

I’ve taken this same thought and applied it to so many areas of my life: cooking, gardening, quilting, and yes . . . writing.

I may not be culinary trained, but I love to cook and my family and friends loves to eat my food. I cook, therefore I am a chef!

My thumb is not black. I love to grow herbs, tomatoes, roses, and lavender. I garden, therefore I am a gardener!

I love beautiful fabrics and I can follow a pattern. My triangles may not line up perfectly . . . but who cares, my quilts are still beautiful when they are finished. I quilt, therefore I am a quilter.

I have been writing my entire life. It is my husband who finally said, “Who cares if people like your books or not? If you enjoy writing them and you love your stories…then write them.” He has always been my biggest fan and he was right. Being a writer has always been my dream and what I said I wanted to be when I grew up.

So, I’ve told you who I am and what I love to do . . . now I’m going to tell you the why.

I have two boys that are three years a part. My husband and I want to instill in them adventure, courage, and passion. We don’t expect them to be perfect at things, we just want them to try and do. It’s not about winning the race; it’s about showing up in the first place. We don’t want them to be discouraged by society stereotypes, we want them to embrace who they are and what they love. After all, we only get one life.

In the end, they won’t care how many books I actually sell . . . all that matters to them is that I said I was going to do it, I did it, and I have loved every minute of it.

Find something that you love and tell yourself, “I do, therefore I am.”

5 mesmerising, bright and beautiful suns, I mean...stars. See what I did there. ;)

I knew Matt's story was going to be emotional. The quiet boy who carries the weight of the world on his young shoulders is harbouring a lot of pain and many hidden secrets. He was always different, the boy who longed to belong, while watching his Brothers endure the violent wrath and hatred of their Father, as they fought to protect him, the baby of the family, the bastard son who was a mistake. Unwanted. Ignored.

Behind the quiet and distant exterior, Matt is now a man making the best of things on the Island he calls home, but it's not until a beautiful face from Summers past comes stumbling back into his life that Matt has to face, head on, his biggest fear of all... opening up to the possibilities of something more. Keeping his distance and a lid on the past just got complicated, when for the first time he has the desire to let someone in.

Elle Summers is a supermodel with a huge problem. Well... make that three. None more so than the stalker that haunts her every waking moment, and a superficial Mother who regards it as a perk, part of the job at being one of the most beautiful and respected faces in the world, but Elle feels nothing. Her world is about to implode and running back to her Aunt Ella's on the Floridian Island where she spent one of the best summer's of her life is the only place she wants to be right now.

Renting a cottage by the sea is just what the doctor ordered, seeing him again is an added bonus, but allowing Matty into her heart was not something she had planned. 

Two people running; he from the past, she from the present, but together, can they find their way home?

Unforgettable Sun is a beautifully profound, emotional and stunning read that had me flipping pages into the early hours. Matthew Hale is such a complex character, with so many demons you can't help but still feel angry at the injustices of what he, Drew and Beau were subjected to by their deranged Father. Whereas Drew and Beau were older and closer in age, Matt always felt alone. The only one who really protected him was Beau, and even then he was still a child himself.

Matt has secrets about their Father, something so big, that it could destroy everything, and the guilt is eating him up inside. This is where the real angsty emotion kicks in because Matt has such a sweet soul, and you just want to hold him. Whereas his Brothers are strong and have taken real strides in overcoming their past horrors, Matt hasn't. He holds that weight, and denies himself freedom. Choosing to stay numb.

Elle may be a successful supermodel but her smile for the camera is fake. Deep within lies a tumult of loneliness and despair. She is sick of living in the shadow of her jealous attention-seeking Mother and just wants go back to basics, and find herself.

This is where Elle and Matt really work. They come together when both least expect it but need it the most. Watching them succumb and open up was a beautiful thing to behold. To watch them dance around together in fear and uncertainty but in perfect synchronised harmony is the only way I can describe it. Unforgettable Sun took my breath away and robbed me of my heart. I am in irrevocable love with this series, and the Hale Brothers, but Matt just took this princess' crown.

Follow the sun, feel the warm air on your skin, let it in, and it will set you free.

Read this series!!!!!

Book 3 in the very brilliant Hale Brothers series. Although each book focuses on one brothers journey, it is important to read the series in order.

Elle Summers's is at the top of her game. An in demand Supermodel, she should be enjoying the life she leads in New York City. When letters start arriving, threatening her life, she starts to question her choices, the relationship she has with her pushy mom and whether this is her true calling in life. Controlled by those around her. She is told how to look, how to act and what to eat, so when the threats come closer to home, she decides to make a decision for herself; leaving her life behind to escape the dangers that close in. With a bag, her guitar and her cat, she makes the long journey to the only place she can think of, Anna Maria Island and her estranged Aunt, Ella.

Matt Hale lives his life in self imposed solitude. The youngest of three brothers, he has always felt different. Not only is he 7 years their junior but he also has a different father; the unwanted product of an affair. He shouldn't know this, and has kept it to himself since overhearing a conversation when he was 14. It is yet another secret he carries on his shoulders, and one that makes him feel the root of the horrific abuse that his family endured from their terrifying father. When you are told that you are a mistake so often, it sticks. Matt has no desire to form relationships when all they do is hurt you, especially when you are so unworthy of them anyway.

A chance meeting between these two damaged souls ignite dormant feelings for them both. Two lonely people who need to find their other half and who need to follow the sun and leave the darkness behind them. 

WOW, I love this series and both Drops of Rain and Starless Nights featured in my best books of 2014. However, let me tell you now that Kathryn Andrews really has saved the best till last in my opinion.

This book is the culmination of the desperately sad story arc that has woven throughout each book. Each Hale brother has been effected by the rain of terror that was their childhood. Drew and Beau have managed to battle their demons and find their way out of the darkness that held them back, but I always knew though that the biggest battle would be Matt's. The deep psychological damage that was done at an early age has imprinted his soul, and the guilt and secrets he carries are a heavy burden for him to carry. Elle awakens feelings that he doesn't recognise. She fills a hole in his heart that he was resigned to except as his life. In turn he gives her a strength and fight that she didn't know she was capable of. It is a beautiful journey to read and has a breathtaking sincerity about it.

Both Drew and Beau will always hold a special place in my heart but Matt absolutely stole it. He is without doubt one of favourite characters EVER! The depth of character, the light and shade and the spirit that Kathryn Andrews has given him will grip you. The atmosphere that she has created for all the Hale brothers is tangible. Making this series one of the most emotional breathtaking reads you will ever pick up. 

I asked for EPIC and she gave it to me it. 

So with a heavy heart, I bid the Hales a farewell. This is one of my favourite series EVER! If I had to pick my favourite book of the 3 it would definitely this one. It is a breathtaking, but above all else, it is without doubt - unforgettable!