Boat captain Caleb Donnelly has been in love with wedding planner Hope Rodriguez for years. Hope has never noticed because she’s got her own unrequited love story: she’s been in love with Peter Thompson for just as long.
They’re both at Pete’s Alabama wedding to Skye (from Healing Skye) when Pete’s brother Andrew drops his own bombshell. He’s getting married. In two weeks. In Wyoming. And Andrew wants Hope to organise not just the wedding, but a week’s worth of “fun” activities for the guests.
So Caleb volunteers to help.
Between them, Hope and Caleb manage to arrange what seems impossible, not helped by the absent bride’s list of requirements. Caroline was Bridezilla on steroids (seriously: if you want to hold an event that doesn’t leave a carbon footprint, you don’t hold it halfway across a continent with only two weeks’ notice).
Most of the people Hope and Caleb talk to think they’re the couple getting married, which is more than a little awkward for Caleb … and for the reader, because I was wondering when Hope was going to notice that Caleb was interested in her.
(It was worth the wait.)
Caleb grew up in foster care after being burned in a house fire as a small child. He carries a lot of physical and emotional scars, so while he’s in love with Hope, he’s also convinced he’s not good enough for her.
Yes, it’s a great setup.
This is one of those books I inhaled – I am an absolute sucker for unrequited love stories, and Caleb was a eminently lovable hero. I was so keen for Caleb and Hope to get their happy-ever-after than I practically inhaled this book. I’m sure I’m going to have to read it again and savour it to pick up the nuances I inevitably missed the first time around … and to enjoy some of the scenes which will no doubt be much more amusing now I know the story plays out.
Recommended for all fans of contemporary Christian romance, or anyone looking for Christian fiction set in Wyoming.
Thanks to the author for providing a free ebook for review.
About Janet W Ferguson
Janet W. Ferguson grew up in Mississippi and received a degree in Banking and Finance from the University of Mississippi. She has served her church as a children’s minister and a youth volunteer. An avid reader, she worked as a librarian at a large public high school. Janet and her husband have two grown children, one really smart dog, and a few cats that allow them to share the space.
Find Janet W Ferguson online at:
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About Holding onto Hope
A fun road trip romance to the Grand Tetons! Always the wedding planner, never the bride.
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.
