Unforgotten (The Michelli Family Series #2) [Hardcover]

Kristen Heitzmann (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: 2005

Secrets Unforgotten...Truth Revealed. Antonia quivered as the door closed behind them. Why wouldn't Lance leave it alone? She had done all she could. She couldn't change the past. Couldn't... As past and present interweave in her mind, Antonia relives the terror that cast her from her Sonoma home and carried her to New York with Marco Michelli, the man who vowed to protect her...who became the husband she now realizes she hardly knew. Two generations after Antonia's exile, Rese Barrett is swept into Lance Michelli's volatile family in the Little Italy of the Bronx, where she finds a culture and way of life as baffling as it is welcoming. These are the people Lance loves with the fierce, unflagging devotion that pulled him back from Sonoma - where her own uncertain future waits. Some things might be better left in the shadows of the past, but Lance doesn't have that option. With his grandmother clinging to life, as fragile as a spider's thread, he struggles to unravel a complex web of lies and secrets. Is his family's history as shameful as Nonna Antonia believes, or is it more treacherous than anyone imagines?

Product Details

• Hardcover: 414 pages
• Publisher: Bethany House Publishers; Book Club Edition edition (2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739455893
• ISBN-13: 978-0739455890
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,951,257 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kristen Heitzmann is the bestselling author of seventeen novels, including The Edge of Recall and the Christy Award winner Secrets. An artist and music minister, Kristen lives in Colorado Springs with her husband, Jim, and their family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unforgotten secrets, waiting to be revealed..., August 6, 2005

By 

Rebekah Martin (MI,USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unforgotten (The Michelli Family Series #2) (Paperback)

Wanting to discover more about the secrets his Nonna Antonia has kept hidden for so long, Lance Michelli goes back to his home in New York. Coming back with him is Rese Barrett, the woman he had met in Sonoma, where he began his pursuit for the truth of his family's past. Rese has agreed to go with him, to give Lance a second chance to prove he is worthy of her trust.

In New York, Rese meets Lance's family, whose way of life- so different from her own- is slightly overwhelming, although friendly and welcoming. With Nonna Antonia's health so fragile, the unraveling of the past is slow. In her mind, Antonia relives her life in Sonoma and the reason she left her beloved home with her husband, Marco Michelli.

Unforgotten by Kristen Heitzmann is an excellent sequel to `Secrets'. I love the characters of Rese and Lance, who are complete opposites. Lance is unreserved with his affections and undaunted by the difficulties life throws him. Rese tries to always stay cool under pressure and keeps all her emotions bottled up inside until they explode. I've enjoyed all of Heitzmann's books, but I would say that Secret and Unforgotten are my favorites.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truth waiting to be revealed..., November 2, 2005

By 

Jennie "cooljennie2000" (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Unforgotten (The Michelli Family Series #2) (Paperback)

Kristen's newest book, the sequel to the Christy Award winner "Secrets" was a fabulous well-written story full of emotion and unforgettable characters. Her character-driven plot kept me turning the pages to find out what happens next to Lance and Rese. I think these books "Secrets" and "Unforgotten" are the best-developed characters she has ever created. I had to stop a couple of time and look around to make sure that the characters hadn't come to life. Wow... I also love the way she did Antonia's story back when she was fleeing her home in Sonoma, California with a man whom she knew little about other than he had sworn to protect her from her father's killers. Lance had discovered the secrets that were hidden in Antonia's old home which is now owned by Rese Barrett. At the conclusion of "Secrets" Rese and Lance decided to head to the Bronx in New York City to speak to Antonia about the villa and what she wants to do with the property even though legally she still owns it even though Rese had paid for the property. Lance finds himself caught between the two women he loves and must sacrifice more than he has to give. An awesome, riveting story filled with romance, angst and the ever-lasting love and forgiveness of God.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another outstanding story by Ms Heitzmann!, August 27, 2005

By 

Mrs Debarr (Maine USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Unforgotten (The Michelli Family Series #2) (Paperback)

I am an avid fan of Ms Heitzmann, she's amazing! This was in my opinion her most complex book yet. Rese and Lance were very different people but because Lance was so warm and caring, and because of his need to stay at the villa in book one he took the time to look beyond Rese's tough guy exterior (she did grow up raised by a schizophrenic Mom and then solely raised by a nondemonstrative Father in a construction world after all!!). I don't care for a tough almost masculine female lead character as a rule but Ms Heitzmann tells a compelling tale, similiar to The Rose Legacy, only in that it has an old tale woven through this contemporary book. What Lance finds as he gets to know Rese is that she has totally learned to bottle evrything up and of course to never show weakness and vulnerability in the very harsh world she has known. I loathe books where the perfect guy loves the totally cold woman with no foundation for it, but this book develops characters so well, it is a very believable and satisfying book even if it my not be to your liking! There were so many challlenges to live the faith also, I was wondering where she was going with the vendetta -the conclusion of that was Perfect! What can our God due if we surrender all to Him.This book is not for the fainthearted(content little Christians who do not want their faith challenged). When you read this book you really feel enveloped by Lance's Italian family, it's incedible! There are so many complex characters in the book . And though Chaz is barely mentioned, he contributes a lot. I don't believe it is my favorite book of the author but I definitely recommend it and will have to read it again to absorb all I missed the firt time through!