Blog Tour: The Things We Leave Unfinished: Rebecca Yarros
The Things We Leave Unfinished
Rebecca Yarros
Release Date: February 23, 2021
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Twenty-eight-year-old Georgia Stanton has to start over after she gave up almost everything in a brutal divorce—the New York house, the friends, and her pride. Now back home at her late great-grandmother’s estate in Colorado, she finds herself face-to-face with Noah Harrison, the bestselling author of a million books where the cover is always people nearly kissing. He’s just as arrogant in person as in interviews, and she’ll be damned if the good-looking writer of love stories thinks he’s the one to finish her grandmother’s final novel…even if the publisher swears he’s the perfect fit.
Noah is at the pinnacle of his career. With book and movie deals galore, there isn’t much the “golden boy” of modern fiction hasn’t accomplished. But he can’t walk away from what might be the best book of the century—the one his idol, Scarlett Stanton, left unfinished. Coming up with a fitting ending for the legendary author is one thing, but dealing with her beautiful, stubborn, cynical great-granddaughter, Georgia, is quite another.
But as they read Scarlett’s words in both the manuscript and her box of letters, they start to realize why Scarlett never finished the book—it’s based on her real-life romance with a World War II pilot, and the ending isn’t a happy one. Georgia knows all too well that love never works out, and while the chemistry and connection between her and Noah is undeniable, she’s as determined as ever to learn from her great-grandmother’s mistakes—even if it means destroying Noah’s career.
Told in alternating timelines, THE THINGS WE LEAVE UNFINISHED examines the risks we take for love, the scars too deep to heal, and the endings we can’t bring ourselves to see coming.
I feel as if I have been on a journey that has kept me mesmerized, broken my heart, put it back together, and just left me reeling from emotions. This book just became my first six-star read of 2021. It snuck up on me. In the beginning, I will admit, I was struggling a bit with the transitions between the stories of two couples, in two time periods, and dual points of view for each, and the addition of letters. It was a lot at first. But I got more and more sucked in not only into the present story but captivated by the one from the past.
In the present, Georgia Ellsworth Stanton has returned home to Colorado divorced, publicly humiliated, hurt, bitter, and lost. She is the executor of her great-grandmother Scarlett Scanton's estate and her final unpublished autobiographical manuscript. Noah Harrison is a star in the literary world known for ripping the hearts out of his readers. And he does not let his own heart get invested in relationships. He wants to be the one to finish the work of an author he admired. He is cocky, determined, and a control freak. Georgia is closed-off, untrusting, and stubborn. They fuss and fight and eventually settle in and get to work. But along the way, he is inspiring Georgia to find herself, trust, and take back her own life. And he is realizing just what it means to want something he might not be able to keep.
The other story takes place in WWII Britain. Scarlett, an Assistant Section Officer in the RAF meets an American pilot fighting for the British. Theirs is a true love story in the middle of chaos and riddled with separations, moves, challenges, and danger. The intensity of their connection and the dire circumstances in which they live kept me tense and completely invested.
Throughout the book, we also get letters that add more depth to the story and at times bring questions and at other times provide answers.
So this whole novel builds two love stories, in different countries, in different time periods, with different endings. It is an absolutely epic, emotional, and inspiring story of true love, passion, strength, loss, heartbreak, survival, redemption, and going on despite all odds. There are some secrets and a twist I never saw coming that had me gasping! Totally floored me and made me question everything! I love it when an author can surprise me since I am usually good at teasing out big surprises. Along the way you get hints of some things so you think you know where it is all going and are prepared, but at the same time, you are not really prepared. This book makes you believe in "the one", fate, and destiny, but also shows the difference between real-life and fairytale happy endings.
I ended up just as enthralled in Jameson, Scarlett, and her sister Constance's lives in the past as I was with Georgia and Noah in the present. But this is also very much Georgia's resurrection as she begins to find reasons to let go of the pain from her past, find purpose, being to trust and open her heart, and follow her own lost dreams. But Noah's happiness, career, and future are directly tied to Georgia's decisions and if he can truly gain her trust in him.
"Some things you have to fight for Georgia. You can't just walk away and leave it unfinished when it gets too complicated. If I could fly off and fight the Nazis to win your love, I would. But all I've got to battle with are your demons, and they're kicking my ass. "
It is all about risks, rewards, and choices. And the whole thing is poignant, moving, and mesmerizing. It is a must-read! There are so many layers and so much depth to it. All of the characters and their struggles truly come alive. Each character is well-developed and has such heart, determination, and inner strength. I felt like I was living in the past at times and then switched to a completely different world in the present. My heart hurt for them as if they were real people. But I also felt every little joy that they found along the way. This incredible book truly has a little bit of everything and completely touched my heart in ways I was not expecting. This could make an amazing movie.
In the present, Georgia Ellsworth Stanton has returned home to Colorado divorced, publicly humiliated, hurt, bitter, and lost. She is the executor of her great-grandmother Scarlett Scanton's estate and her final unpublished autobiographical manuscript. Noah Harrison is a star in the literary world known for ripping the hearts out of his readers. And he does not let his own heart get invested in relationships. He wants to be the one to finish the work of an author he admired. He is cocky, determined, and a control freak. Georgia is closed-off, untrusting, and stubborn. They fuss and fight and eventually settle in and get to work. But along the way, he is inspiring Georgia to find herself, trust, and take back her own life. And he is realizing just what it means to want something he might not be able to keep.
The other story takes place in WWII Britain. Scarlett, an Assistant Section Officer in the RAF meets an American pilot fighting for the British. Theirs is a true love story in the middle of chaos and riddled with separations, moves, challenges, and danger. The intensity of their connection and the dire circumstances in which they live kept me tense and completely invested.
Throughout the book, we also get letters that add more depth to the story and at times bring questions and at other times provide answers.
So this whole novel builds two love stories, in different countries, in different time periods, with different endings. It is an absolutely epic, emotional, and inspiring story of true love, passion, strength, loss, heartbreak, survival, redemption, and going on despite all odds. There are some secrets and a twist I never saw coming that had me gasping! Totally floored me and made me question everything! I love it when an author can surprise me since I am usually good at teasing out big surprises. Along the way you get hints of some things so you think you know where it is all going and are prepared, but at the same time, you are not really prepared. This book makes you believe in "the one", fate, and destiny, but also shows the difference between real-life and fairytale happy endings.
I ended up just as enthralled in Jameson, Scarlett, and her sister Constance's lives in the past as I was with Georgia and Noah in the present. But this is also very much Georgia's resurrection as she begins to find reasons to let go of the pain from her past, find purpose, being to trust and open her heart, and follow her own lost dreams. But Noah's happiness, career, and future are directly tied to Georgia's decisions and if he can truly gain her trust in him.
"Some things you have to fight for Georgia. You can't just walk away and leave it unfinished when it gets too complicated. If I could fly off and fight the Nazis to win your love, I would. But all I've got to battle with are your demons, and they're kicking my ass. "
It is all about risks, rewards, and choices. And the whole thing is poignant, moving, and mesmerizing. It is a must-read! There are so many layers and so much depth to it. All of the characters and their struggles truly come alive. Each character is well-developed and has such heart, determination, and inner strength. I felt like I was living in the past at times and then switched to a completely different world in the present. My heart hurt for them as if they were real people. But I also felt every little joy that they found along the way. This incredible book truly has a little bit of everything and completely touched my heart in ways I was not expecting. This could make an amazing movie.
Georgia Stanton is reeling after the death of her beloved grandmother, Scarlett. In charge of the estate, it falls to Georgia to make a decision when a publisher wants to have another author finish her grandmother’s last, unfinished novel.
Noah Harrison sees this as an opportunity of a lifetime. His typical writing style is very different from Scarlett Stanton’s, and that is exactly what makes him want to take on finishing the last work of the prolific and beloved author. But his ideas for the ending are very different than what Georgia has in mind for the story that turns out to be autobiographical, and not a happily ever after in real life story.
Told in dual timelines, this story is a beautiful blend of past and present love stories, one that was inevitable and love at first sight, one that takes a little more work and is more enemies to lovers. As Scarlett’s love with her WWII pilot is revealed through letters and chapters, it is quickly clear why she left this particular story unfinished. Their love was intense, quickly established, and fraught with wartime chaos. There were pieces that readers know will happen, but others took me completely by surprise. Georgia and Noah’s story is a little more tentative. Georgia doesn’t trust easily, and is still healing from having her trust shattered.
I loved getting to know Scarlett and Jameson through the letters and Scarlett’s unfinished chapters. These two loved with an intensity that can only be formed during wartime. I also loved watching Georgia and Noah work together in the present to put together the pieces of the past. Noah is the perfect hero to break through Georgia’s ice queen exterior and show her that not everyone will take advantage of her trust. I was a little surprised at how quickly I fell in love with this story and just how much I didn’t want to put it down. (I was reading while using the treadmill and absolutely sobbing at one point -- that’s how involved I was and my husband was surprised he didn’t have to pick me up off the floor as a result.)
This story was everything I needed to read. I love a good historical, and the dual timeline was the perfect way to pull the historical aspects into this story while also keeping it contemporary.
Rebecca YarrosWebsite | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook Group
Rebecca Yarros is the Wall Street Journal and USA Today bestselling author of over fifteen novels, including Great and Precious Things and The Last Letter. “A gifted storyteller” (Kirkus), she is also the recipient of the Colorado Romance Writer’s Award of Excellence for Eyes Turned Skyward from her Flight and Glory series.
Rebecca loves military heroes and has been blissfully married to hers for almost twenty years. She’s the mother of six children, ranging from kindergarten to law school, and is currently surviving the teenage years with three of her four hockey-playing sons. When she’s not writing, you can find her at the hockey rink or sneaking in some guitar time while guzzling coffee. She and her family live in Colorado with their stubborn English bulldogs, two feisty chinchillas, and a Maine Coon kitten named Artemis, who rules them all.
Having fostered then adopted their youngest daughter who is nonverbal and on the autism spectrum, Rebecca is passionate about helping children in the foster system through her nonprofit, One October, which she co-founded with her husband in 2019. To learn more about their mission to better the lives of kids in foster care, visit www.oneoctober.org.
To catch up on Rebecca’s latest releases and upcoming novels, including The Things We Leave Unfinished, which just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, visit www.RebeccaYarros.com.
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