Leah Williams is the last of her group of friends still unmarried (and this is a romance novel, so we all know what that means). For now, she wants to reopen her grandfather’s store, the WIFI (Want It, Find It … not what we now think of as WiFi) in her hometown of Heritage, Michigan. And that means working with her high school nemesis and now building co-owner, Jon Kensington.

Jon has returned to Heritage both to take over the family business, and to help his sister, Abby, get through school after being expelled from boarding school. He’s always liked Leah so wants to help … but convincing her his feelings are genuine might take some work.

Since You’ve Been Gone also had a secondary romance, and I have to admit I found this one more compelling. Madison Westmore is the daughter of the now-deceased town drunk, so she’s back in town to spruce up and sell her childhood home, then get on with life with her unborn daughter. She needs help so hires new-in-town Colby to paint.

Christian music start Colby Marc has escaped the collapse of his music career and is hiding with his old friend Nate. He quickly falls for Madison, but has to convince his friends that she’s not the mean girl they remember from high school, and convince her she’s worth loving.

Yes, I’m always a sucker for a bad-girl-turned-good story, because it’s a picture of redemption.

I found the Leah/Jon romance a little annoying. Jon knew trust was one of Leah’s issues, yet kept breaking her trust by not telling her important things. The other reason I found it slightly annoying is kind of my fault—I thought her central issue was going to be her belief that she’d been living someone else’s life and needed to live her own. But it was more that she kept quitting, and that didn’t resonate with me as much (maybe she kept quitting because she realised she was living someone else’s dreams, not her own. That could have worked. But that’s not what I saw).

But I really enjoyed the Madison/Colby romance. Madison is a very new Christian who is still living with the consequences of her old life. I love a good redemption story, and this one definitely appealed to me. I found Madison a much more relatable character than Leah.

Since You've Been Gone by Tari Faris (@FarisTari) is the third book in her excellent Restoring Heritage contemporary Christian romance series. #ChristianRomance #BookReview Share on X

This book is part of the Restoring Heritage series, and readers who have read the earlier books will recognise several of the characters. In fact, this is one series it’s best to read all of and read in order (yes, this is a standalone). Series readers will also remember Otis, the hippo statue that’s the town mascot … and which mysteriously moves around the town square.

Spoiler: one of the highlights of Since You’ve Been Gone is finding out Otis’s secret.

All in all, this is a solid contemporary Christian romance, and definitely recommended for fans of Tari Faris’s Restoring Heritage series.

Thanks to Baker Books and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

About Tari Faris

I have been writing fiction for more than twelve years. It has been an exciting journey for this math-loving-dyslexic girl. I had read less than a handful of novels by the time I graduated from college and I thought I would end up in the field of science or math. But God had other plans and I wouldn’t trade this journey for anything. As someone told me once, God’s plans may not be easy, and they may not always make sense but they are never boring.​

When I am not writing or working, I spend time with my amazing husband. We have been married for fifteen wonderful years and have three sweet children. In my free time, I love coffee, rock hounding with my husband and kids, and distracting myself from housework.

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About Since You’ve Been Gone

Leah Williams is back in the quaint town of Heritage, Michigan, and ready to try again to make her business a success. But blank slates are hard to come by, and a piece of her past is waiting for her there. Heir to the Heritage Fruits company, Jonathan Kensington is the guy who not only made Leah’s past difficult, he also seems determined to complicate her present as well.

Jon is trying to prove to the Heritage Fruits board that he, not his manipulative uncle, should be running the business. The board insists Jon find a new owner for the building that will house Leah’s business. To avoid forcing a buyout of Leah’s part of the building, Jon strikes a compromise with Leah, and the two go into business together. With her vision and his know-how, it might work. And Leah might realize he’s loved her since high school. If only he didn’t keep on shooting himself in the foot by boxing her out of important decisions.

Sparks fly in this romantic story of two people who must learn to trust both each other and the one who called them to this journey.

Find Since You’ve Been Gone online at:

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