Blue Eyes by Beth Pontorno

Trust. An ‘emotion’ even harder to earn than love, since love follows little logic and doesn’t listen to the brain. Megan has no trust in her. Remy says he even sees enough sadness to make her Blue Eyes truly “blue” and he wants to chase away that sadness forever.

Megan Savoie doesn't want--or need--silly flirtations and romantic interludes. In her experience, such things always end in heartache. When her New Orleans home is mistakenly sold at a tax sale, romance is the farthest thing from her mind.

Remy Batiste, the buyer, has other ideas. Like Megan, he’s no stranger to heartache. Nevertheless, he finds himself wanting to banish the sadness from her incredible eyes. As unexpected passion flares between them, he realizes Megan’s home is more than a possession - it’s her foundation. He wants to make it the sanctuary she craves, as long as she’ll take him along with it.

Gaining her love poses a tough challenge. But winning her trust? Next to impossible.

Megan Savoie is convinced her parents do not love her. She grew up in a house that was very proper and her physical needs were well provided for but emotion was lacking. Her parents seem to care for one another but were withdrawn from her. She never understood why…She followed their rules, never going to boy’s houses even when Remy was one of her better friends when younger. She stayed in private Catholic high school no matter how much she wanted to go to public school. But nothing worked to draw her parents out. Her senior year in high school they decided to move from New Orleans to a condo in Northshore. After only on conversation with her saying she wanted to stay in New Orleans, and they left her by herself in the house she grew up in, in New Orleans, at seventeen while still in high school. While most teenagers might love this idea in theory, in reality Megan felt abandon by her parents. They later deeded the house to her, where she has stayed on, going to the University of New Orleans and later teaching history there. She writes a history column for the newspaper and history books in the summer as well. But her issues because of her parents have left their mark on her and caused problems with her relationships with men as well. Now she doesn’t trust anyone not to leave her as all the people in her life have done.

Remy Batiste grew up in New Orleans with a loving but broken family. His mother couldn’t cope with being a mother and lost privileges without supervision. Not coping or liking the situation, she left and never came back. His father was wonderful and created a great household for him and his sisters to grow up in. Remy even when into engineering like his father. And after Hurricane Katrina, his father helped him renovate houses to resale as a side business. That was before his father got sick. Watching his father slowing die of cancer was the hardest thing Remy has ever done. But his bigger challenge will be Megan. He remembers her from primary school. He may not have seen her since eighth grade graduation, but she was his first kiss and crush. When he saw her house on the tax sale and found her name as the sole owner, his only thought in buying it was to help her. The spitfire who shows up to deny him the sale doesn’t give him a chance to explain. His attraction for her is stronger than ever, and much stronger than he has had for any of the other (bad) relationships in his past.

Remy comes up with a plan to win Megan over. Move in until she gives in to him while she is fixing the messed up tax issues with the city. He even offers to do the bedroom remodeling she has been planning as incentive. But he has bitten off more then he ever expected. Megan has trust and abandonment issues: with her parents, with men, with relationships, and even with herself. Getting close to her is going to prove almost impossible. Getting her to let him in and trust him, not going to happen.

And to make it even harder, they find some old letters to her mother in the attic. The letters prove that her father is not her biological father. Now she knows some of why her parents have treated her the way they did/do. But not all…Her bio-father tried to get to see her for a few years, then stopped writing. So she was abandoned by someone else. But she now knows who he is. Just not what to do…

Can she face her parents with this info? Is she strong enough to look up her real father and ask why he stopped trying to see her? Can she trust Remy to stay around? Does she even want a relationship with Remy? Will Remy be strong enough for her?

“Oh, the tangled webs we weave…” Blue Eyes shows how faulty humans can be. And how “protecting ourselves” hurts those around us, and ourselves too. Megan never got over her parents not loving her. That she still has any relationship with them is amazing to me when she is still so hurt by them. Yes, part of her still wants their love, but after a point one would think she would cut them off as a defense. She seems to have picked men that treat her similarly. This is common, but sad (picking men like Dad or relationship like those you had with your parents even if bad). I can’t believe she has such trust issues that she doesn’t even have girl friends. But taking her trust issues to the point that she won’t even have friends is scary. And how hard she fights Remy is understandable at first, but by the end comes across as childish and irritating. Remy deserves a medal for staying and putting up with her as long as he did. I would have left about half way though the book, she fights and pushes so much. Remy is strong, understanding, and too calm to be real. He does get upset and looses his cool a couple of times, but I would have a lot more. And he doesn’t go overboard, just tells her and walks away to calm down. Real skillful there!

Blue Eyes is an emotional journey about how the past shapes us and overcoming it to learn to trust again. The real question is do you want to be alone or risk yourself to find happiness? Blue Eyes shows that we all must earn the trust we are given and we all are at risk weather we hide away or take a chance. Because the right person is always worth the risk and is at risk just as much to you as you are to them.