HOPE BURNS by Jaci Burton

 

Publisher:     Berkley

Published:     September 20, 2014

ISBN:        978-0425259788

Genre:      Contemporary Romance

Format:     Ebook  

Obtained via:  Publisher via Edelweiss

Reviewed by name and email address:  Gina  Ginalrmreviews@gmail.com

TWO-1/2 HEARTS

Straight out of high school Molly Burnett packed her bags and without an explanation left Hope and has never returned.  Traveling from city to city and job to job she’s kept her heart from hurting ever again.  Her family has no idea why she left despite their asking over the years.  They finally came to accept Molly’s decision.  Now, however, she really doesn’t have a choice but to return home—her sister Emma is getting married and she’s in the bridal party.  Before she even arrives at her family’s house she runs into the one person she has spent the past decade running from—her high school sweetheart, the man she could never forget, Carter.

Carter likewise never got over Molly.  He never understood why she left her family, Hope and most importantly, him, so abruptly.   Now that she’s back he’s determined to find a way to make her stay.  But can one man undo a lifetime of running from the one you love?

I’ve been enjoying Jaci Burton’s Hope series—she’s such an engaging writer.  Her characters feel like someone you know or would want to hang out with.  In HOPE FLAMES AND HOPE IGNITES, books 1 and 2 there was a build up to Molly’s story.  When it finally arrived in HOPE BURNS, it was something of a let down.  I just never warmed up to her as a character.  She spent a decade running from herself and given how close and solid her family was, it just didn’t fit.  I get why she did; that’s not an issue.  I just didn’t get why, for as smart and competent as she is she never came to terms with what happened.  A lot of the time she and Carter spent together felt more like filler than necessary to move the story along.  HOPE BURNS was not the Jaci Burton I’ve been reading since the early 2000s.  Something was missing in this one.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.