Tuesday, August 5, 2014

I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND by Marie Force



A Green Mountain Romance, Book Two
Penguin Random House
June 3rd, 2014
978-0-425-26677-9
Contemporary Romance
Mass Market Paperback
Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)
Obtained by Library
4 Hearts


For the past seven years after losing her husband in Iraq, Hannah Abbott has put her life on hold as she dealt with the grief and despair she felt since the day she got the a military chaplain at her door telling her that her husband, Caleb is gone. Since that time, she has dealt with her grief and tried to move on but wasn’t ready. Until Nolan Roberts kissed her at the local dance and she felt herself fly for the first time since Caleb’s death. Now Hannah has no idea if she wants to make the next move or not but with that whisper of a kiss in her head, Hannah will have to take a chance that love can come a second time around.

Nolan Roberts has always been there for Hannah, especially when they lost Caleb overseas. Now years later, he finds himself hoping that Hannah is finally coming around and wanting more out of life. But can Nolan figure out a way to let Hannah know how much she means to him while earning her love in the process?

I got to admit I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND had me crying by chapter two. It was rough as the reader is drawn into Hannah’s back-story, her marriage and love for Caleb will leave you sniffling, especially as she figures out that moving forward doesn’t necessarily mean letting go of someone either. Ms. Force delivers a powerful story of finding love twice around, the aftereffects of losing someone while overseas and how it affects those around you. The care this author took in showing Hannah’s two steps forward-one step back with Nolan is testament to her research into how military widows deal with this. She describes the scenes with Hannah as she second guesses herself, tries to figure out that loving someone else isn’t a betrayal and learning to trust her heart again just absolutely perfect. The scenes are full of emotion and I couldn’t help crying alongside Hannah as she figured things out and decided over her relationship with Nolan. This is truly a book that you could tell the author did a ton of research on and it showed with the care she gave it in the story.

With all that going on, the romance between Hannah and Nolan was one of friends turned to lovers and it was just perfect for these two wonderful characters we met in book one, All I need is Love. The story flows quickly and the reader just drops into the story with ease. The author does a great job in keeping the information dumping to a minimum and delivers a story so full of emotional moments, you can’t help but grab the tissues even as you laugh over something one of the secondary characters did or said.

Meet Hannah and Nolan. Hannah is finally looking to her future and Nolan is right there to show her how much love is sweeter the second time around. Friends now lovers, these two heat the pages up from the moment they hit the pages together and I got to admit I was rooting for them right off the bat. Hannah is sweet, amazingly strong and one character I would love to meet for coffee and chat with. Nolan is a man with a family he doesn’t talk about but built himself up to be a stand-up guy and one who has loved Hannah for years. With these two, you could see the sparks fly, the passion simmer between them and I have to admit some of those sexy scenes left me wanting a cold shower…or my honey nearby. With some amazing cast of characters we met in book one, the story continues with some new revelations about some of the Abbot siblings that has me itching for the next book in the series and wondering what else this author can throw at this little town. I was quite relieved that Fred, the town moose, made an appearance and had me chuckling as well.

I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND is a story of two people finding their way to one another, of learning to let love into their lives even as they try to make sense of everything around them. This story is an emotional roller coaster ride that leaves you at times, laughing, crying then laughing again while crying. The author does an amazing job in capturing her characters vulnerabilities and keeping the characters as real as possible within her books. If you haven’t found this series yet I highly recommend it and make sure to keep a box of tissues nearby as well. Now if only book three would get here soon!

Kudos to Marie Force for creating a story that is at times emotionally heart wrenching as it is absolutely tender. I can’t wait to see where the author leads to next in the Green Mountain series and hope you can find your way there as well.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement
 




No comments: