**I received a complimentary copy for consideration. All thoughts are my own.
When a jilted romance novelist escapes to a small beach town, the last thing she expected to find was the start of an even better love story.
In the wake of a broken engagement and the death of her last surviving family member, sweet romance novelist Maya Reynolds moves to the haven of Coral Cove, North Carolina, to take over her great-aunt’s toy store. Some of her grief is immediately eased by imaginative eight-year-old Ashlyn Tanner, who talks her into adopting a kitten and inspires Maya to create a princess tea-party room in the store.
Ashlyn’s dad, local veterinarian Brody Tanner, is quickly smitten by the newest resident of his hometown. As a single parent, he sacrifices a lot in order to give Ashlyn the world, so a romantic entanglement with Maya is not a distraction he is looking for.
As the three develop a deepening bond in the seaside town where Maya experienced some of her happiest childhood memories, clouds cast a shadow over Maya’s hope for the future: an impossible deadline looms over her next novel, a long-held secret by her late mother about Maya’s absent father comes to light, and Brody’s resolve to avoid romance seems unbreakable.
But together, they just might discover that sometimes happy endings happen outside the pages of Maya’s novels too.
Amy Clipston is the award-winning and bestselling author of the Kauffman Amish Bakery, Hearts of the Lancaster Grand Hotel, Amish Heirloom, Amish Homestead, and Amish Marketplace series. Her novels have hit multiple bestseller lists including Christian Book, CBA, and ECPA. Amy holds a degree in communications from Virginia Wesleyan University and works full-time for the city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Amy lives in North Carolina with her husband, two sons, and six spoiled rotten cats. Visit her online at amyclipston.com; Facebook: @AmyClipstonBooks; Twitter: @AmyClipston; Instagram: @amy_clipston; BookBub: @AmyClipston.
I have read a few other books by Amy Clipston in the past, and have enjoyed her writing... when I read the description of this one, it sounded like just the kind of sweet, small town romances that I tend to enjoy so I was excited to read it and had high hopes. While it was certainly an enjoyable read, I did find it fell a little short of my expectations and certainly not one of my favorites from the author. I didn't not like, I just felt like I could have enjoyed it more.
From the beginning, it started off strong for me. I enjoyed Maya, Brody and Ashlyn and watching them get to know each other. There were a few times where I felt like maybe I had missed something, but I believe that was more my own distraction with things going on in real life than the story itself. Really, I actually enjoyed the story very much throughout most of it... however, when Maya's ex returned I felt like it just didn't quite connect as well It still definitely had that sweet Hallmark type of romance that I like, so I enjoyed it overall. I would give it a solid 3.5 stars, but it had the potential to be higher. If you enjoy a good romance like that too, I would certainly still recommend it.
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