Contemporary Romance

After escaping an abusive relationship, Thea returned to her childhood home of Hope Springs with a suitcase full of money and ragtag group of women, other survivors of domestic violence. She immediately bought a decrepit old house and a shop with plans on turning the house into a shelter for women on the run from their abusers and the shop as a place to get them working and earning a few dollars.

Then her boyfriend from high school walks in the door and she finds herself dealing with her past as well as her present.

The last time Dakota saw Thea was the night before he was dragged off to prison for beating up his sister’s rapist six ways to Sunday. After his release he hit the road and it’s only now with the birth of his niece and his sister getting married that he has returned to Hope Springs. But despite everyone wanting him to hang around, the road is calling him and once he finishes the renovation for Thea he plans on moving on.

Such a beautiful, sweet book. It’s about damaged women who are getting their lives back and I really found myself engaging with all of them. While it sits comfortably in Contemporary Romance there are definitely some elements which I would describe as Women’s Fiction. Truthfully the romance didn’t really start till the last 30% of the book and that’s fine. Everything about this book is great.

Many thanks to Montlake Romance and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC

Orange, Red, Yellow. What it means: red-orange-yellow-guide