What Hope Remembers
Ratings1
Average rating3
15
Ratings1
Average rating3
When Amy Somers loses her job as a lobbyist, she moves to Misty Willow, well aware that she's crossing bridges she'd burned years before. With all the mistakes she's made and the uncaring things she's done--even to her own family--she can hardly believe that happiness will find her, especially when Gabe Kendall, her first crush and her first kiss, rides back into her life atop a buckskin mare. A former Marine, Gabe is at loose ends after serving a prison sentence for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. He sees beyond Amy's hard exterior to the girl he once knew and loved, and he longs to see her open her heart. Yet with his vision clouded by shame for his past and fears about the future, he finds it difficult to see the path ahead. But the memory of that long-ago kiss just may have the power to reignite a romance that brings out the best in both of them.
Featured Series
3 primary booksMisty Willow is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2016 with contributions by Johnnie Alexander.
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3.5 stars
I began this book by not liking Amy at all. She has stirrings of conscience, though. Very slowly, she begins to awaken out of her selfishness. She's been driven by a desire for power and control, and even now her reputation is good enough that she has a good bit of political clout. But she's come to the country to be near her brother, who is now living a summer idyll of a life with his new wife, his restored faith, and his newly discovered son.
Amy's not very likable for the entire first half of the book, and it does rely heavily on having known about Amy from other books. I did really like Gabe! He's a former Marine and a soft-hearted man, hoping to overcome the events of the past few years and some consequences of another's actions.
As to the second half, major spoilers:
I felt like the last 100 pages was SO rushed! I wanted a lot more. I wanted to see a more realistic final arc for the conspirators; Gabe's father seemed to come out of nowhere and start being nice; I was mad about Tess's arc; I wanted to see Amy actually trust God. What happened with her decision of how much to tell Gabe of her past? What happened with dietary issues, which were originally a huge part of the story, but evaporated in the second half?
...basically, it was like we started skimming over events to get the story done. Just when I really began to like Amy and to want to spend time with her, events snowballed and then were...done! With a more rounded, deeper ending, I'd have easily given a full four stars rating.
I loved the epilogue! But I did want one for AJ and Brett as well. ;)
I received a free copy from NetGalley for review.
