Dominique Gibson

Title of Book: Her Hometown Hero (Harlequin Heartwarming)

Author: Jacquelin Thomas

Year: January 2022

*SPOILER ALERT’ – There are some scenes that are going to be revealed here from the book. If you haven’t read the book yet, I would strongly suggest you read the book first before you read my review of this book. Thank you. *

Brief Summary of the book: Trey Rothchild has returned to his hometown in Polk Island. Everyone is excited to see him after coming home from the war in Iraq. To the entire town of Polk Island, Trey is labeled a hero based on his actions in war. But to Trey, he is seen as an absolute failure. Though he has survived the war on the outside, he lives in constant regret of being alive while his comrades in the war have died. Memories of the war and the deaths of the other soldiers causes him to start drinking to banish away the hurt and pain of being a war veteran. Despite his family trying their best to be there for him, Trey continues his drinking habit until his family finally convinces him to seek some sort of help. To make matters worse, Trey has sustained injuries causing him to be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

In walks Gia Harris, a longtime childhood friend who has a crush on Trey since high school. Gia tries her best to get through to Trey by encouraging him to get help to rebuild the life he lost due to him being in a wheelchair. After fighting the urge to do it alone, Trey finally gives in. For a while, Gia becomes a part of Trey’s world and starts to have hope when it comes to his future….until both his military past and the drama Gia went through when it came to a certain client in her past….collide. In order for these two to be together, they will have to learn how to get over the past and to let their love for each other grow.

My take on this book: This was a very clean romance that I enjoyed. This was the first time I had ever read a Harlequin Heartwarming novel and I must say I really enjoyed it. I liked the closeness of how the families were between Trey and his family and how welcoming they were when it came to Gia helping Trey out of his dilemma on his issues. There were a couple of times where I wanted to shout at Trey to get himself together towards the end of the novel (When he started accusing Gia of her relationship with a client who had threatened her entire career), but I see that as a good thing because it gave me a reason to care about the characters.

My overall rating for this book: I give this book five stars. I didn’t want the book to end.

That’s it for today. Please check back often to my website for more book reviews, updates on my works-in-progress and more. Thank you.

Dominique Gibson

Title of Book: Susannah’s Garden

Author: Debbie Macomber

Year: 2014 (had been reprinted and published again in 2021)

Genre: Women’s fiction, romance

*SPOILER ALERT” – If you have NOT read this book yet, I would strongly suggest you go back and read the book first before you read my review. Thank you*

Quick Summary of the book: Susannah Nelson’s life is upside down at the age of eighteen. She falls in love with her boyfriend, Jake, and wants so desperately want to be with him despite the objections from her father. When Jake disappears from her life for no reason, she is heartbroken and has no other choice but to move on with her life. To make matters worse, she ends up losing her brother in a car accident. Her life will never be the same.

Now, at the age of fifty, she should be content with her life: She has a job as a teacher, a loving husband and a daughter who is trying to figure out what she wants out of life after moving into her parent’s house for the summer. Unfortunately, she is haunted by the past and what could have been between her and her long lost love. When she decides to visit her mother back in her hometown of Colville, Washington, She makes a conscious decision to go find Jake while looking after her mother, who swears up and down that she is seeing the ghost of her dead father. But the longer she stays in Colville, the longer she finds out about the secrets her father has kept from her for years…not to mention that her daughter is keeping secrets from her own by dating the new boy in town who is proving to be more dangerous by the day. Susannah suddenly realizes that some things about her past should be left buried and should be left alone…until she gets a welcome surprise that changes her life.

Overall Rating of this book: This book was okay. I was able to follow the characters in the book from beginning to end and the author did keep the twists and turns coming from the first page to the last but it didn’t have the same effect on me as her previous book had (If you want more information on my review of her other book, I will provide a link for that as well). If it was a vote between this book and the last book I read, I would definitely say that It’s Better This Way was a little better than this book. There was a part in the book where things just seemed a little outdated when it comes to catching someone doing something dirty such as stealing or cheating (Following them around physically is a lot harder to do vs. using a cell phone to track someone down instead).

That’s it for this book review. Please be sure to check back on my website for reviews, articles, and more. If you are interested in purchasing this book, click on the links below for more information.

Susannah’s Garden

It’s Better This Way Book Review

Dominique Gibson

Title of Book: It’s Better This Way

Author: Debbie Macomber

Year: 2021 Hardcover Edition, 2022 Mass Market Edition

Genre: Women’s Fiction, Romance

*SPOILER ALERT* If you have NOT read this book, I would strongly suggest you stop reading this review right now and read the book first BEFORE you read my review of this book. Thank you*

Summary of what this book is about: Julia Jones is in a rough place in her life. After finding out that her husband cheated on her after thirty-one years of marriage, She is forced to do the unthinkable: Sign the divorce papers despite her feelings of saving her marriage. Despite her strong efforts to work everything out because of her loving her husband, including having to deal with harassing texts from his mistress on ending things for good, she finally breaks down and signs the divorce papers. Unsure of what to do next when it comes to her life, she gets amazing support from their daughters when she decides to sell the family home and move into a condo to have a fresh start. Based upon their father’s cheating ways, it causes a strain when it comes to the relationship between all of them.

After six years of separation from her husband, Julia finally decides to settle in on a new life as being a single woman with a very successful interior-design business…until she meets a new resident during her many workout routines in the exercise room. Although Julia states that she is perfectly fine being alone, there is something quite charming about this man that not only changes Julia’s life but the lives of the other people she cares about.

Overall rating and opinion about the book: I LOVED this book. I have officially voted this book as one of my favorite books of the year in 2022! The way that the story was written when it came to the characters in this book made me feel all sorts of emotions all at once: Sadness, despair, intrigue…the list goes on! There were a lot of twists and turns in this book that I wasn’t expecting, including how Julia’s relationship with her new boyfriend effects the other people in her life as well, including her two daughters and her boyfriend’s two sons! This book is a MUST READ if you are new to Debbie Macomber or if you are just looking for a really great story to read on a cold winter night.

Favorite scene from the book: When Julia and her new boyfriend are sitting down at the table sharing experiences about their horrible date nights together and how much they share the same experiences. (I found it to be so funny, I laughed out loud).

Overall Rating:

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Dominique Gibson