They Just Keep Getting Better! 'Holding On To Hope - Coastal Hearts 7 - by Janet W. Ferguson

 

About the book:

A fun road trip romance to the Grand Tetons!

Always the wedding planner, never the bride.

Hope Rodriguez loves planning weddings. There’s nothing more special than helping a bride become a princess for a day, but she’s not sure that’s her calling in life anymore.
If only she had her own special someone. Her only current prospect leaves her with more questions than answers about where she falls in his list of priorities.
Yet, when a lifelong friend asks her to plan a destination wedding across the country in only two weeks, she’ll have to figure out how to pull off the impossible…alone.

After being burned as a child and deserted by his family, Caleb Donnelly has an intimate relationship with pain. Despite all he’s endured, one ache refuses to leave him—the throbbing in his heart where Hope is concerned.
So when Hope needs help with their friend’s wedding, he can’t stop himself from volunteering to travel two thousand miles to Jackson, Wyoming.
As long as he keeps his feelings in check, he might not ruin their friendship. Because a beautiful woman like Hope could never love a scarred man like him. There’s no way their longtime friendship could ever become more.

When Hope and Caleb’s plans go up in flames, it’s their hearts that might never recover.

Grab your copy of Holding On to Hope...a Southern Contemporary Christian Romance novel from the Coastal Hearts Series.

My review:

This was my favorite story yet in this series!  I didn't want to put it down!  I just loved everything about the plot, from a good friend who's secretly in love to a rushed destination wedding Hope must plan to truly seeing her friend for the first time and realizing what a wonderful godly man he was.  It was great seeing Hope discover what a great guy Caleb was and how he was really there for her during all of this, especially as things kept going wrong.  He had the patience of a saint, was selfless, incredibly wise and really followed the Lord, plus he was cute!  I couldn't really understand why Hope was confused about another guy because there just seemed to be so many red flags with him.  I liked Hope, too, for her compassionate heart and giving nature but I also wondered how she could not have asked the guy she was dating what he thought about God or commitment after several months of dating.  There were some sweet romantic moments in the story but also adventure.  The scenery sounded incredible and almost felt like another character as it was so integral to the book.  I liked seeing other characters from the series show up, though this did work as a stand-alone.  I can't wait for the next one!  I highly recommend this book!

I received a free kindle copy from JustRead Tours.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.

 

Wonderful Addition! 'Jonas' - Minnesota Marshalls 2 - by Susan May Warren

 

About the book:

Jonas Marshall is done storm-chasing, plagued with the memory of a terrible accident that paralyzed a fellow chaser, so the last thing he’s going to do is run into more danger. Now, he’s just a simple weatherman deploying dirigibles in an experiment to track weather patterns in Slovenia.

As far from danger as he can get.

But danger comes knocking in the form of hiker in need of rescue, and he can’t deny that her companion—beautiful Sibba Kovac—is a great distraction from the guilt that haunts him…until she paraglides right out of his life.

Probably for the best.

But danger still won’t leave him alone when a storm knocks his dirigibles out of the sky, and he happens upon one that looks tampered with…

It is. And worse, it’s carrying what could be radioactive waste. At least according to EOD expert Sibba…who finds herself face-to-face with the rescuer she can’t forget. But she’s not looking for him—her grandfather is missing, and she’ll stop at nothing to find him.

When her missing grandfather leads to the threat of a dirty bomb, she’s the only one who can stop it. And Jonas is the only man brave enough to run into danger with her. But she doesn’t have room in her heart to love him—not when she lives with death in her periphery. Can the right man, at the right time help her see beyond her fears to a future?

And if they have a chance to save the world, can Jonas let go of the woman he loves?

The thrilling second book in the epic romantic suspense of the Minnesota Marshalls!

My review:

I'm always excited to see a new book by Susan May Warren as she's one of my favorite authors and once again, I am not disappointed!  This story felt a little different to me because while Jonas loves adventure, he's not trained as a SEAL nor does he have a military background like her other recent characters.  However, that makes what he does in this book all the more exciting and slightly crazy as he runs into situations because he's trying to save someone and possibly also the world!  Both he and Sibba have some tragedy and regret in their respective pasts and they're both trying to figure out how to move on.  There's a lot of excitement and some danger plus romance!  I also liked the conversations Jonas and Sibba had about faith as she wasn't sure what she believed anymore but Jonas still had a strong faith in God but was struggling to trust Him.  It was fun to see old friends pop in and the various series intertwine.  You really can't go wrong with one of Susan's books!  I highly recommend it!

I received a free kindle copy of this book from JustRead Tours.  I was not compensated for this review.  All opinions are my own.