He’s torn between love and honor...
Lucas Danby has always regretted the decisions that caused his dishonorable discharge from the military—and he’s never stopped trying to redeem his honor. He's spent the past decade taking on dangerous short-term missions as an elite private soldier—the only part of his life that's ever gone right. But the high-risk work never cures his shame. Now he’s stuck stateside, mentoring a new recruit. Worse, he's sick of lying to the people he cares about most—including the woman he’s secretly loved for years.
She can’t escape her house of memories...
Jenessa Belville should be happy. She's the hometown girl everyone loves, after all. But she’s also the last Belville left—and if she had her way, she'd leave the name and all its painful memories behind. Which is exactly what she hopes to do once she sells Belville Park, the massive estate she inherited from her parents. First, though, she needs to restore the property’s once-glorious gardens. But on the same day she puts up the “For Sale” sign, she discovers three children hiding in the caretaker's cottage, thrusting her into the unexpected role of temporary guardian.
Fighting for their future means healing from the past...
Struggling to mentor a young man with scars nearly as piercing as his own, Lucas offers to help Jenessa restore the Belville grounds. Though drawn together by a trio of kids who tug on their hearts and the sparks they can’t deny, past secrets and current sorrows threaten to pull them apart. Only the brightest love and hardest sacrifice can turn the house Jenessa never wanted into the home she and Lucas have always longed for.
My Thoughts
I’m always in a happy giddy place when I finish a Melissa Tagg book and this time was no different! I was so happy my copy came when I had a free weekend and I literally read it in one afternoon!
I have been intrigued with Lucas since we met him in Keep Holding On and then getting to see more of him and Jenessa in Now and Then and Always had me chomping at the bit for their story, and it more than met my expectations!
Neither Lucas or Jenessa had had an easy life, countless times of people leaving or not being the support they needed had left both of them with walls and masks they hid behind.
Lucas was a man who quietly did the right thing time and time again but he let the one blemish from his past define him and keep him from truly sharing himself with the people close to him. Seeing him find healing and learning to open up was awesome to watch and I found myself falling a little more in love with him with each page!
Jenessa didn’t leave a favorable impression when we first met her in Like Never Before but after learning about the circumstances behind her bitterness at first and seeing her find her way out of that I truly loved her character by the time we got to this book. I loved the no nonsense way she collected her friends, barely giving them a say in the matter, and the way she turned a bunch of lonely people into their own makeshift family.
We all know Lucas has been in love with Jenessa for ages and it was so much fun watching her realize it and realize that she felt the same. Their romance was sweet and natural, a friendship that seamlessly turned into something more!
Adding kids to a story can sometimes be risky and doesn’t always work with a story but they did in this one! I loved that they were authentic (a lot of times kids are written sounding older or younger than they are and as someone who works with kids I absolutely hate that) and I loved seeing them make their way into Jenessa and Lucas’s hearts.
All of the other Maple Valley characters popping in and out was just the icing on the cake for this book! I love getting to see where everyone’s lives are going since last we saw them!
In short, I absolutely adored this book and now I’m off to start anxiously awaiting the next one!
Meet the Author
Melissa Tagg is the Christy and Carol Award-winning author of swoony and hope-filled small-town contemporary romances, including the Maple Valley series, the Walker Family series, the Where Love Begins series, and the Enchanted Christmas Collection. She's also a former reporter, current nonprofit marketing strategist, and total Iowa girl.
Melissa has taught at multiple national writing conferences, as well as workshops and women's retreats. When she's not happily lost in someone else's book or plugging away her own, she can be found spoiling her nieces and nephews, watching old movies, and daydreaming about her next fictional hero. Connect with Melissa at melissatagg.com.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own.
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