My Review:

For the most part the reviews I share here are what I share on other sites as well with the exception of maybe a few sentences or so of personal words. But that will not be the case for this one. Because Stacy T. Simmons was a good friend of mine and there is no way for me to share all that is on my heart right now without sharing that bit and many of the other words I want to say here. So if you want the standard review you’ll have to just look at the other sites.

Unexpectedly, Stacy passed away a few months ago in October. Y’all, in complete honesty I don’t think I’ve ever met another person as positive, encouraging, uplifting, cheerful, and optimistic as her. Her absence is greatly felt.

Stacy loved story. And I mean LOVED story. She was active in the CF writing community in multiple ways including being the president of her local ACFW chapter. One thing I always found amazing about her too was that I don’t think she had a single competitive bone in her body. She cheered for other’s successes just as much if not more than she did her own. She was genuinely happy for any achievement in the Christian book world. She loved writing and creating characters that she could go on a journey with. She was always thinking up new ideas and couldn’t wait to dive into them. There was no way one could question her passion for story.

There’s something different about diving into a story knowing there will be more coming… and knowing it will be the last completed work you will ever get from them. I’m not going to lie, this was hard for me for that very reason. My heart clung to the characters a bit differently for that very reason. I could just picture Stacy’s sass while she penned some of the more witty moments, and when one of my favorite sayings of hers was quoted (I won’t spoil), I just about lost it. Oh, my Stacy, how I miss you.

If you like a lot of kisses and smooches, then you’re sure to love this one, because there’s plenty of those to go around. But it’s also made clear where the couple stands as far as waiting for marriage. And they do stick to boundaries. The fact that Dylan was the brother of Caleb, and Hope the sister of Faith, (the couple from the first book in the series), helped keep the character count lower and also allowed their relationship to grow more naturally within that smaller circle. And that little nephew Jack was just super adorable. It was cute to see how much he loved his aunt and uncle and was able to help play a bit of a chaperone without even knowing it.

Admittedly, this book still needed some editing. There were some grammatical typos that maybe down the line can still get fixed. I hope so, because it really was a sweet story.

It’s really hard for me to say goodbye to this one. It feels like another type of goodbye to Stacy. Y’all, if you haven’t already–please grab yourself a copy. The paperback is supposed to be available soon or it’s only a few dollars on Kindle. It’s even available on Kindle Unlimited. I know it would have meant so much to Stacy to have had her book in the hands of readers.