Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Just Like Home by Courtney Walsh

About the Books
From “Master of the genre” [Midwest Book Review] and New York Times bestselling author Courtney Walsh, a sweet romance that’s sure to capture your heart.
Prima ballerina Charlotte Page has a life any dancer would envy, but the tragic loss of her best friend, Julianna, leaves her wanting more. Or maybe—less. In an effort to make her life about something other than accolades and applause, Charlotte leaves professional ballet to save Julianna’s small-town dance studio. This lands her directly in the path of cranky high school football coach and Julianna’s older brother, Cole Turner.
Fresh off a state win and a bitter divorce, the last thing Cole expects is for a prima ballerina to chip away at the wall he’s grown quite comfortable hiding behind.
Will their fledgling relationship be strong enough to weather the storm of old secrets and a haunting past? Or will Charlotte lose the new, simple life she’s given up everything to gain?
This book is a standalone novel. Each Harbor Pointe novel follows a different couple.

My Thoughts
“I guess maybe I want someone to love the parts of me that no one’s cheering for.”

This quote really embodied the heart of this story and it hit me in a way that will always stay with me. I loved the message of unconditional love and never settling for anything less that was woven throughout these pages.
Charlotte had more things that she’d never done than things she had done and my heart broke for all the missed experiences and for the way her mother had controlled her life and withheld affection. It was a wonder that she hadn’t turned into a shrew with the upbringing she had but thanks to a friendship with Julianna, Charlotte got to see another side of things and given the right conditions was able to finally open her heart. It was sad that it took a death to give her the wake up call she needed but I loved watching her come into her own and to blossom in Harbor Pointe!
Cole was quite the grump at the start but as you learned his story you really couldn’t blame the guy! And his grumpiness was just a wall he put up, underneath he was a really caring person and he was willing to make any sacrifice for his people.
I loved watching Cole and Charlotte find each other and fall in love. Things got off to a rocky start but you could see how perfectly they fit together and it was so much fun watching their love story unfold!
I really appreciated the way the author balanced the sad heaviness of the circumstances in such a way that you felt the emotion deeply but it didn’t have a depressing feeling to it as can sometimes be the case. Instead it enhanced the story and gave it a more poignant weight.
I also loved the way dance was incorporated and you could feel the emotion from the performances.
Overall this was book was a knock out of the park that I loved entirely!

Meet the Author
Courtney Walsh is a novelist, artist, theatre director, and playwright. She writes small town romance and women's fiction while juggling the performing arts studio and youth theatre she owns and runs with her husband. If For Any Reason is her eleventh novel. Her debut, A Sweethaven Summer, hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller lists and was a Carol Award finalist in the debut author category, and her contemporary romance Just Let Go won the Carol Award in 2019.
A creative at heart, Courtney has also written two craft books and several full-length musicals. She lives in Illinois with her husband and three children and a sometimes naughty Bernedoodle named Luna.
Connect with Courtney online at her website (courtneywalshwrites.com) or on any of these social media platforms:

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are my own. 

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