Hoping for Hawthorne

GIVEAWAY

ERICSON, TARA GRACE

HOPING FOR HAWTHORNE

His sister's friend.

Her childhood crush.

All grown up.

Hawthorne Bloom is living for the moment, until a beautiful stranger with intriguingly familiar eyes gives him a tongue lashing he'll never forget. When she shows up again at a family event, Hawthorne finds himself trying to dig a way out of a hole he didn't realize he was in.

When Avery Chase returns to Indiana, the last thing she expects is to run into her childhood crush, let alone to realize in the years since she left, he's turned into a complete jerk. Hoping for a man to change is a mistake she's made once before and is determined not to make again.

Then again, it's hard to resist when your childhood crush finally notices you.

My Review:

My first introduction to Tara Grace Ericson's writing and I'm hooked on this series now! Love the way she's anchored it at the Bloom family farm with all the siblings working at their own specialties. Well, except for Hawthorne who is aimlessly putting in the grunt time but lacking in initiative. In fact, he's been kind of cruising through life after a professional setback and, truthfully, wallowing a bit more than is healthy.

Hawthorne and Avery's meet-cute is anything but cute, though I wanted to stand up and cheer for Avery's spunky stand-up-for-the-underdog attitude. But I wasn't as enamoured with Hawthorne. This is where I need to post a disclaimer: you will likely not be impressed with Hawthorne upon first acquaintance, likely not even on the second, but be patient and let Ericson work her storytelling magic and I guarantee you'll come around to Team Hawthorne by the end of the book!

Loved the way this author developed a solid, realistic romance with a strong heroine who knows what she wants from a relationship and isn't willing to settle for anything less. And that Hawthorne humbles himself to get back on track -- both in his life and with God -- realizing that becoming vulnerable is the path to becoming stronger. 

When I think about it, Ericson managed to pack a lot of story (and truth) in this novella length start to the Bloom Sisters series. A beautiful redemption story.

Oh -- and I listened to the audible edition narrated by Lorana Hoopes who made the time spent with these characters that much more enjoyable. Super jazzed that the whole series is on audible! 

Goal Update: #1 Read more indie authors, #4 Read more new-to-me authors, #7 Start new-to-me series

GIVEAWAY OPPORTUNITY:

This giveaway is for a paperback or ebook copy -- winner's choice.

If you would like a chance to win a copy of Hoping for Hawthorne, leave a comment below or email me at kavluvstoread AT yahoo DOT ca. If you add your email to a comment, remember to use AT AND DOT instead of @ and . in order to protect yourself from spammers. If you enter the Draw via email, please add the title to the subject line so it's easy to spot your entry. Draw will be held and winner announced on Saturday April 16  2022. Offer open to International Readers. Good luck