Hurricane Season: A Southern Novel of Two Sisters and the Storms They Must Weather by Lauren K. Denton

Book Description: Betsy and Ty Franklin, owners of Franklin Dairy Farm in southern Alabama, have long since buried their desire for children of their own. While Ty manages their herd of dairy cows, Betsy busies herself with the farm’s day-to-day operations and tries to forget her dream of motherhood. But when her free-spirited sister, Jenna, drops off her two young daughters for “just two weeks,” Betsy’s carefully constructed wall of self-protection begins to crumble.

As the two weeks stretch deeper into the Alabama summer, Betsy and Ty learn to navigate the new additions in their world—and revel in the laughter that now fills their home. Meanwhile, record temperatures promise to usher in the most active hurricane season in decades.

Attending an art retreat four hundred miles away, Jenna is fighting her own battles. She finally has time and energy to focus on her photography, a lifelong ambition. But she wonders how her rediscovered passion can fit in with the life she’s made back home as a single mom.

When Hurricane Ingrid aims a steady eye at the Alabama coast, Jenna must make a decision that will change her family’s future, even as Betsy and Ty try to protect their beloved farm and their hearts. Hurricane Season is the story of one family’s unconventional journey to healing—and the relationships that must be mended along the way.

My Thoughts:  If you are a woman and have a sister(s) you will appreciate how Lauren K. Denton develops the sister relationship in this story.  

Ms. Denton doesn't write a fru fru story full of ruffles and lace but a down to earth story that is a real tear jerker.

Betsy and Ty have always dreamed of having a family but it never happened.  So, when this childless couple suddenly have two sweet little girls dropped off for just two weeks at their farm, things change.

Betsy loves her and neices and so does her husband Ty.  The little girls add so much life, love and laughter to their very quiet home.

When Hurricane Ingrid arrives and threatens everything they've worked for it's interesting to see what becomes important.

Such a great read....life, love and relationships.

*This book was provided for review by the Fiction Guild*

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 3, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 071808425X
• ISBN-13: 978-0718084257

{Fiction Guild Blog Tour} The Weaver's Daughter: A Regency Romance Novel by Sarah E. Ladd

Book Description:  Kate's loyalties bind her to the past. Henry's loyalties compel him to strive for a better future. In a landscape torn between tradition and vision, can two souls find the strength to overcome their preconceptions? Loyalty has been at the heart of the Dearborne family for as long as Kate can remember, but a war is brewing in their small village, one that has the power to rip families asunder -- including her own. As misguided actions are brought to light, she learns how deep her father's pride and bitterness run, and she begins to wonder if her loyalty is well-placed.Henry Stockton, heir to the Stockton fortune, returns home from three years at war hoping to find a refuge from his haunting memories. Determined to bury the past, he embraces his grandfather's goals to modernize his family's wool mill, regardless of the grumblings from the local weavers. When tragedy strikes shortly after his arrival, Henry must sort out the truth from suspicion if he is to protect his family's livelihood and legacy.Henry has been warned about the Dearborne family. Kate, too, has been advised to stay far away from the Stocktons, but chance meetings continue to bring her to Henry's side, blurring the jagged lines between loyalty, justice, and truth. Kate ultimately finds herself with the powerful decision that will forever affect her village's future. As unlikely adversaries, Henry and Kate must come together to find a way to create peace for their families, and their village, and their souls - even if it means risking their hearts in the process.

My Thoughts:  I love the cover of this book.

This is wonderful stand alone regency-era read is as good on the inside as it looks on the outside.

Reading this story made me think of Romeo and Juliet but in Yorkshire, England.  

Poor Henry he has no idea that as he returns from serving his country that everything he left is going to all be the same.  

He finds out that his grandfather has become harsher with the local weavers.  thus, causing some ill will. 

Charles Dearborne one of the weavers crosses that line and causes some great ill will. Kate loves her father but she also loves Henry.

Kate wants to marry Henry but both Henry's family and Kate's do not want the couple to join.

*This book was provided for review by The Fiction Guild*

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (April 10, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0718011880
• ISBN-13: 978-0718011888

The Hawaiian Discovery by Wanda E. Brunstetter & Jean Brunstetter

Book Description:  Ellen Lambright mourned when her best friend, Mandy, moved from Indiana to Hawaii. But now Ellen has received the Amish church’s permission to go to Hawaii and help Mandy through challenging times. Rob Smith works on the Williams family’s organic farm, far from his past mistakes and burning regrets. When Ellen befriends Rob, the attraction is mutual, but her commitment to the Amish faith stands between them. Could a heartfelt discovery lead to forgiveness, reunion, and love? Or is Ellen’s destiny waiting for her in Indiana?

My Thoughts:  I loved The Hawaiian Quilt so I was anxiously awaiting this sequel.

~back story~Remember that Mandy Frey and her three friends worked and saved enough money to take a cruise and ended up in Hawaii.  But when it was time for the ship to return one of her friends was missing and so Mandy and Ellen miss the ship looking for their friend.  They are taken in by a sweet christian couple who are Hawaiian. Mandy loves it but Ellen misses everything Amish.

Now Mandy is living in Hawaii and Ellen misses her. So when the church allows Ellen to go to Hawaii to help Mandy things develop that neither young woman sees coming.

Can these young Amish ladies learn to live in the place they love and with people that they have come to cherish.

Such a grandastic story!  Of course, I love Wanda & Jean Brunstetter's storytelling!  So I am a bit biased. 😊  

This is a great sequel.  Makes a wonderful gift too.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review*

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Shiloh Run Press (June 1, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1683224477
• ISBN-13: 978-1683224471

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

And oh!So!good!  Another great recipe from Pinterest:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2-3 heads of lettuce (such as butter crunch), washed, dried, cut in large pieces
• 2 cups of watermelon, cut in small chunks
• 2 cups of strawberries, sliced
• 2 cups of rotisserie chicken, chopped in small pieces
• 1/2 cup red onion
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup pesto
• 2 Tbsp. honey
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice

DIRECTIONS:

Cut the lettuce and place in a large bowl.

Cut the watermelon, strawberries, chicken, and basil. Lay on top of the greens.

Mix together the pesto, honey, lime juice.

Right before serving add the dressing; toss and serve.

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh

Book Description:  In the decades since his execution by the Nazis in 1945, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German pastor, theologian, and anti-Hitler conspirator, has become one of the most widely read and inspiring Christian thinkers of our time. Now, drawing on extensive new research, Strange Glory offers a definitive account, by turns majestic and intimate, of this modern icon.

The scion of a grand family that rarely went to church, Dietrich decided as a thirteen-year-old to become a theologian. By twenty-one, the rather snobbish and awkward young man had already written a dissertation hailed by Karl Barth as a “theological miracle.” But it was only the first step in a lifelong effort to recover an authentic and orthodox Christianity from the dilutions of liberal Protestantism and the modern idolatries of blood and nation—which forces had left the German church completely helpless against the onslaught of Nazism.

From the start, Bonhoeffer insisted that the essence of Christianity was not its abstract precepts but the concrete reality of the shared life in Christ. In 1930, his search for that true fellowship led Bonhoeffer to America for ten fateful months in the company of social reformers, Harlem churchmen, and public intellectuals. Energized by the lived faith he had seen, he would now begin to make what he later saw as his definitive “turn from the phraseological to the real.” He went home with renewed vocation and took up ministry among Berlin’s downtrodden while trying to find his place in the hoary academic establishment increasingly captive to nationalist fervor. 

With the rise of Hitler, however, Bonhoeffer’s journey took yet another turn. The German church was Nazified, along with every other state-sponsored institution. But it was the Nuremberg laws that set Bonhoeffer’s earthly life on an ineluctable path toward destruction. His denunciation of the race statutes as heresy and his insistence on the church’s moral obligation to defend all victims of state violence, regardless of race or religion, alienated him from what would become the Reich church and even some fellow resistors. Soon the twenty-seven-year-old pastor was one of the most conspicuous dissidents in Germany. He would carry on subverting the regime and bearing Christian witness, whether in the pastorate he assumed in London, the Pomeranian monastery he established to train dissenting ministers, or in the worldwide ecumenical movement. Increasingly, though, Bonhoeffer would find himself a voice crying in the wilderness, until, finally, he understood that true moral responsibility obliged him to commit treason, for which he would pay with his life.  

My Thoughts:  About three years ago my husband and I "discovered"  Dietrich Bonhoeffer.  Bonhoeffer's life takes place during World War II.  

How Bonhoeffer influenced those around him, how he found Christ, and how he felt about Hitler are all pretty interesting facts.  Considering that he seemed to be a wealthy, spoiled, maybe lazy child and teen . . .  but then something "snapped" in his heart.  It seems that Bonhoeffer was one of those men who wanted/needed to change the world for God.  But Bonhoeffer was such a young man to take on so much responsibility.  

His life began to change after he came to America and visited the Harlem church.  He had already began to have doubts about his countrymen and the Third Reich but now he knew that God was not pleased with people who took the lives of other, innocent people.  

This book is "chock full" of Bonhoeffer's life and thoughts.  It is written in a most excellent way...smooth and easy to read.  A great read about a great man who just wanted to do the "right" thing and live for God.

Hardcover: 528 pages

• Publisher: Knopf; First Edition edition 
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307269817
• ISBN-13: 978-0307269812

A Mother's Secret (Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel) by Amy Clipston

Book Description:  Carolyn Lapp dreams of marrying for love. But will the errors of her past destroy this dream forever?

Carolyn Lapp longs to have a traditional Amish family. But she lives on her brother’s farm with her parents and her 15-year old son, Benjamin. Carolyn has never revealed the identity of Benjamin’s father and lives daily with the guilt and shame of her youthful indiscretion. Her brother simply will not forgive her.

His answer is to arrange a practical marriage for Carolyn to Saul, a widower with a little girl. But Carolyn isn’t convinced that Saul really loves her and believes he is simply looking for someone to help raise his daughter.

When Benjamin causes trouble at a local horse auction, horse breeder Joshua Glick decides that he must be taught a lesson. Carolyn and Joshua are unmistakably drawn to each other, but Joshua mistakenly assumes that Benjamin is Carolyn’s brother. Carolyn fears that if he discovers the truth, her past will destroy their budding romance.

After years of shame and loneliness, Carolyn suddenly has two men vying for her attention. But which of them will give her the family—and the unconditional love—she’s longed for?

My Thoughts: I love the easy style with which Amy Clipston pens  a novel.  

A Mother's Secret is the second book in the Hearts of Lancaster Grand Hotel series.

Of course, this is an Amish read!  All about life!

Carolyn has a secret . . . she has never told anyone who fathered her son.  Now her son is fifteen.  And although she lives with her brother on his farm and works hard!her brother has never forgiven her for her youthful indiscretion!  And maybe, just maybe, it seems that her brother resents her son, Benjamin.

As life would have it . . . Benjamin gets in to one "of those" teen moments and causes trouble at a local horse auction.  Carolyn has had a budding romance with Joshua Glick the horse breeder but Joshua thinks that Benjamin is her brother.  Oy vey!  And he seems to be rather harsh in judgment of Benjamin.

Then there is Saul.  Saul is kind hearted and has a young daughter.  Now Carolyn feels torn between two men!

A great romance with a lot go.to.heart "dealings!" 

Love Amish reads and romance?  Then this is the book for you!

• Series: Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel
• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310335817
• ISBN-13: 978-0310335818

The Captured Bride: Daughters of the Mayflower (Book 3) by Michelle Griep

The Description:  A War-Torn Countryside Is No Place for a Lady

Mercy Lytton is a lady like none other. Raised amongst the Mohawks, she straddles two cultures, yet each are united in one cause. . .to defeat the French. Born with a rare gift of unusually keen eyesight, she is chosen as a scout to accompany a team of men on a dangerous mission. Yet it is not her life that is threatened. It is her heart.  Condemned as a traitor, Elias Dubois faces the gallows. At the last minute, he is offered his freedom if he consents to accompany a stolen shipment of French gold to a nearby fort—but he is the one they stole it from in the first place. It turns out that the real thief is the beguiling woman, Mercy Lytton, for she steals his every waking thought.   Can love survive divided loyalties in a backcountry wilderness?

My Thoughts:  This is the third book in The Daughters of the Mayflower. I've been able to read all three and in order but one does not have to read them in order because each book is about a different bride and her story.  The time periods are the only thing that is in order.

Mercy Lytton has an unique ability to see quite well.  So she has been chosen as a scout to accompany men on a dangerous mission.

On this trip Elias Dubois meets Mercy.  She intrigues him.  

An interesting part fo this story is that Elias is to take a shipment of gold back to a fort-the same gold that he stole.

Quite a story!

And a romance like none other.

A great read to take on your beach trip this summer.

*I received a complimentary copy o this book form Barbour Publishing and was under no obligation to post a review*

• Series: Daughters of the Mayflower (Book 3)
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Barbour Books; Gld edition (June 1, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1683224744
• ISBN-13: 978-1683224747

{Fiction Guild Blog Tour} An Amish Heirloom: A Legacy of Love, The Cedar Chest, The treasured Book, A Midwife's Dream

Book Description:  Four Stories from Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, and Kelly Irvin

My Thoughts:  A Legacy of Love by Amy Clipston~ Amy Clipston is one of my favorite authors and the does not disappoint in this short story about Amish fireman and his ex fiancé  feelings about him.  Susie Bontrager is engaged to be married to another man but when her ex fiancé comes over to her house to repair her rocking chair she realizes that Leon King is the only man she has or will ever love.  
A great short story.

The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman~This was a slower paced story for me.  A Emma Fisher opens a cedar chest that use to belong to her grandmother only to discover letters, love letters written by her great grandparents.  And family secrets are revealed.  A somewhat of a tear jerker.  

The Treasured Book by Kathleen Fuller~ANother favorite auto of mine is Kathleen Fuller. And since I love and enjoy books so much this short story really stood out for me.  This short story is about Shane Broyles and he decides to join the Amish.  He's staying with friends, Noah and Ivy, and he is reunited with Lucy and old friend of Noah's family.  This is quite a story that incorporates an antique Bible.

The Midwife’s Dream by Kelly Irvin~Iris Beachy is a single Amish woman who is also a midwife for her district.  Then her friend's brother, Mahon Kurts, asks her to help deliver a baby of two teenagers.  But after the baby is delivered the teenagers realize that they aren't prepared to raise a child and leave the baby girl behind in an antique crib.  Mahon and Iris get out to find the parents and in doing so take turns caring for the infant. This little baby bonds them together.....     A sweet story of love.

*This book was provided for review by The Fiction Guild*

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; Combined edition (April 10, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031035188X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310351887

Arms of Mercy (An Amish Mercies Novel) by Ruth Reid

Book Description:  On the eve of a new year, Catherine Glick is expecting her bu of five years to propose. Instead, the unexpected arrival of an old boyfriend, Elijah, sends her life spiraling out of control. When a rash decision damages her current relationship, Catherine leaves for Florida to work in her cousin’s bakery—anything to flee the source of her shame.

Elijah Graber knows he hurt Catherine when he left their Amish district six years ago. He’s determined to explain his actions, even if it means following her to Florida. Perhaps their two-day bus trip together will provide enough time for him to make his case and win her back.

Just when Elijah is starting to tear down the walls Catherine has built, their bus skids on an icy road—and amid the mayhem and tragedy that follow, Catherine disappears. Elijah’s friends urge him to prepare for the worst, but Elijah holds on to his hope in God and refuses to give up his search for Catherine. With supernatural nudging from the most unexpected places, Elijah sets out to find the love he once lost—no matter the cost.

My Thoughts:  Ruth Reid pens a great story about an Amish young lady and her two beaus.

With all the Amish fiction out on the shelves an author needs to make the story interesting and as close to the real thing as possible.  Ruth Reid does just that...the story of Catherine Glick is not only interesting but the reader is as confused as Elijah, her boyfriend, when she goes missing from the bus.  How does one Amish young lady just go missing?!?!?

It's also interesting that Catherine thinks of her decision as a "shame" thing.  In reality it isn't but there's a lesson in there for people not to be so hard on themselves.

This is the second novel in the Amish Mercies Series.  I read it as a stand alone and didn't seem to miss anything.

This is a great read and a little different than the usual Amish read.  

The mystery of Catherine's disappearance makes for quite a story!

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Series: An Amish Mercies Novel (Book 2)
• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson (June 5, 2018)
• Language: English

Go to Sleep, Sheep! (Bedtime Barn) by Thomas Nelson

Book Description:  The silly sheep in Bedtime Barn don’t want to go to bed! Will they ever tire out?
“I’m thirsty!” squeaks a little voice.
“Please leave on a light!”
“I’m still not tired!” one cries out.
“Let’s have a tickle fight!”
Go to sleep, sheep!

My Thoughts:  I'm always on the look out for nice children's books.  
This is a colorful and cute book especially geared for toddlers.
The pages are hard and can easily be wiped with a damp cloth.  This is a board book.
Little ones love the bright colors and picking out the different animals in and around the barn.
A few of the lambs are fuzzy when one touches them.  
The two year old twins in our family love this book.
It is repetitive so little ones pick up the verse and can "read" it back to you.
Our favorite part of book is "Go to sleep, sheep!"  And then it's time for us all to go to our beds.
A great book for little ones and toddlers.

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Age Range: 2 - 5 years
• Grade Level: Preschool - Kindergarten
• Series: Bedtime Barn
• Board book: 20 pages

WOW {Warm Oven Wednesday}

We love this dessert.  So easy!

Sopapilla Cheesecake

2 cans Pillsbury Crescent rolls
2-8oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)
1 1/2 cups Sugar
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
1 tsp Cinnamon
1 stick butter (1/2 cup real butter not margarine)

Spray a 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Unroll and press 1 can crescent rolls into the bottom of your baking dish press the seams together. In a separate bowl blend the cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla  spread over top of dough. Unroll the second can of crescent rolls and place on top of the cream cheese mixture pressing seams together again. Melt butter and pour over top layer of crescents. Mix the reaming 1/2 cup of sugar & cinnamon together. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar mixture generously over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes until bubbly and bottom crust is slightly brown. So easy and delicious! Cool, slice and enjoy!

Dixie Belle (Uptown Belles) by Debbie Mayne

Book Description:  In book one of the Uptown Belles series, sparks fly when Cissy Hillwood arrives in New York City from her Alabama hometown and meets her uncle’s fiercest competitor.

My Thoughts:  I love the cover of this book.  It reminds of that.coming.of.age where we all spread our wings and fly.

This is a refreshing read.  The author writes about life.  Real life issues! And how to deal with them as a christian.  

Small towns can be ever so cruel and this happens to be the case with Cissy Hillwood.  She's had a crush one of the football players for a very long time and when he asks her out she is so excited.  But they haven't been dating long when she finds out what kind of character he has.

She is visiting with her friends when he comes up and tells her that she will date him exclusively and then too prove it hits her hard across the face.  Cissy tells him no one hits her!  She ends up calling 911.  The police come and arrests Mr. Tough Guy and the town won't let her live it down.  Terrible!  Just terrible!  Like it's her fault!   ugh!

Anyway, Cissy's mother calls her brother in New York and makes a way for Cissy to go live away from the small mindness of the people in their community.

Cissy is no sissy, though.  And throughout the story we find that Cissy is tough as nails.

I love the way that Ms. Mayne writes about christianity.  How it's so easy to be a weekend christian but a follower of Christ is an everyday fellowship, in our every dealings of life.

A great read!

• Series: Uptown Belles (Book 1)
• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Realms
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1621365247
• ISBN-13: 978-1621365242

Friday Book Humor...for real!

Room on the Porch Swing (An Amish Homestead Novel #2) by Amy Clipston

Book Description:  Laura Riehl is no stranger to heartache. Less than a year after her mother’s death, Laura finds herself burying another loved one: her best friend, Savilla, who has died after a brief and sudden illness. Laura feels heartbroken and alone, but her pain is nothing compared to that of Allen, the husband Savilla has left behind. He now faces a life so different from the one he imagined—plus a baby to care for on his own.

When Laura offers to help Allen with baby Mollie, he jumps at the opportunity until a permanent solution can be found. She’d do anything to lend a hand to Allen and to honor her best friend’s memory. Rudy, Laura’s boyfriend, is initially supportive of her plan, but the more time Laura spends with Allen, the more jealous and frustrated Rudy seems to become.

As Laura and Allen face hardships together, their friendship takes a surprising yet comforting turn—and she discovers an attraction she’s never felt with Rudy. Would falling for Allen betray the people she cares about most, or would denying those feelings betray her heart? This latest installment in the Amish Homestead series returns us to Lancaster County, home of the beloved Riehls, where a family’s strength—and advice from a new friend—may help Laura find God’s direction.

My Thoughts:  I love the cover of this book but the story is better than the cover!

This story is a bit sad but through sadness Laura and Allen discover friendship and love.  This is the second in the Amish Homestead novels. I did not read the first one and I wasn't lost so I believe this is a stand alone novel.)

Poor Allen he not only lost his sweet wife, Savilla, but he has a baby daughter to care for also.

Savilla was Laura's best friend so when she passed away Laura is heart broken.  Then Laura realizes that Allen must care for baby, Mollie, and work.  So, Laura tells Allen that she would like to take care of Mollie for him.

Allen jumps at the chance and he and Laura begin to create a friendship that turns to more than friendship.

Second chances come in surprisingly strange ways.  

A great story!

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Series: An Amish Homestead Novel (Book 2)
• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan (May 8, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0310349079
• ISBN-13: 978-0310349075

An Amish Heirloom: A Legacy of Love, The Cedar Chest, The Treasured Book, A Midwife's Dream

Book Description:  Four Stories from Amy Clipston, Beth Wiseman, Kathleen Fuller, and Kelly Irvin

My Thoughts:  A Legacy of Love by Amy Clipston~ Amy Clipston is one of my favorite authors and the does not disappoint in this short story about Amish fireman and his ex fiancé  feelings about him.  Susie Bontrager is engaged to be married to another man but when her ex fiancé comes over to her house to repair her rocking chair she realizes that Leon King is the only man she has or will ever love.  
A great short story.

The Cedar Chest by Beth Wiseman~This was a slower paced story for me.  A Emma Fisher opens a cedar chest that use to belong to her grandmother only to discover letters, love letters written by her great grandparents.  And family secrets are revealed.  A somewhat of a tear jerker.  

The Treasured Book by Kathleen Fuller~ANother favorite auto of mine is Kathleen Fuller. And since I love and enjoy books so much this short story really stood out for me.  This short story is about Shane Broyles and he decides to join the Amish.  He's staying with friends, Noah and Ivy, and he is reunited with Lucy and old friend of Noah's family.  This is quite a story that incorporates an antique Bible.

The Midwife’s Dream by Kelly Irvin~Iris Beachy is a single Amish woman who is also a midwife for her district.  Then her friend's brother, Mahon Kurts, asks her to help deliver a baby of two teenagers.  But after the baby is delivered the teenagers realize that they aren't prepared to raise a child and leave the baby girl behind in an antique crib.  Mahon and Iris get out to find the parents and in doing so take turns caring for the infant. This little baby bonds them together.....     A sweet story of love.

*This book was provided for review by BookLook*

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Zondervan; Combined edition (April 10, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031035188X
• ISBN-13: 978-0310351887

Just Let Go (Harbor Pointe #2) by Courtney Wash

Book Description:  For Quinn Collins, buying the flower shop in downtown Harbor Pointe fulfills a childhood dream, but also gives her the chance to stick it to her mom, who owned the store before skipping town twenty years ago and never looking back. Completing much-needed renovations, however, while also competing for a prestigious flower competition with her mother as the head judge, soon has Quinn in over her head. Not that she’d ever ask for help.

Luckily, she may not need to. Quinn’s father and his meddling friends find the perfect solution in notorious Olympic skier Grady Benson, who had only planned on passing through the old-fashioned lakeside town. But when a heated confrontation leads to property damage, helping Quinn as a community-service sentence seems like the quickest way out―and the best way to avoid more negative press.

Quinn finds Grady reckless and entitled; he thinks she’s uptight and too regimented. Yet as the two begin to hammer and saw, Quinn sees glimpses of the vulnerability behind the bravado, and Grady learns from her passion and determination, qualities he seems to have lost along the way. But when a well-intentioned omission has devastating consequences, Grady finds himself cast out of town―and Quinn’s life―possibly forever. Forced to face the hurt holding her back, Quinn must finally let go or risk missing out on the adventure of a lifetime.

My Thoughts: I'll be honest I picked this book based on the beautiful cover.  Not only is the cover gorgeous but the story is pretty sweet too. Sometimes we just have to let go.  Let go of petty ideas, prejudices and disappointments.

I like Quinn Collins.  She has a lot of plans and ideas.  But when her father and his funtastic friends jump in to help Quinn with her store renovations, Quinn finds herself in a much heated argument with a brazen, entitled skier, Grady Benson.

After the heated argument both Grady and Quinn must do community service for the, uhm, property damage from said  argument.  Quinn has a difficult time understanding Grady.  

When things worsen and Grady is kicked out of town Quinn begins to think that maybe just maybe she might like to be with Grady.

An interesting and romantic story.  

If you enjoy faith filled stories then this is the book for you.

*This book was provided for review by Tyndale*

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. (June 5, 2018)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1496421523
• ISBN-13: 978-1496421524