Digital Reads Reviews

Many thanks to publisher Bookouture for my spot on this Blog Tour.

Today has been a tough day for me, a day where I am having an emotional breakdown. All the stress of the months and a few memories of the past along with certain conversations has brought down an avalanche of emotions. I want to run away, escape, hide, pretend they don’t exist. But they do and the best way forward will be if I face them head-on. It is difficult, believe me, it is so difficult to write this with tears brimming my eyes, hoping that my pain will go away.

I generally keep a tight leash on my emotions and today, that tether seems to have slipped from my fingers. I feel like the sand which is adrift, taking in the waves, part of the shore yet away from it all. I feel like I have been cast aside, forgotten. There is a part of me so disconnected that it feels I am broken inside. I have to find the strength to join the parts of me, some of the slivers are so tiny that they escape the naked eye. But I have to find them if I want to be whole.

I have been existing instead of living. I have been taking in all the shocks without allowing myself to deal with it. Today that has taken a toll on me. I am angry, I am sad and I am feeling all the emotions in between. I have to heal slowly but completely if I hope to continue with life as I was very long ago. I have to.

On to my thoughts about the book.

This was a book of healing. Author Kristin Harper wrote a book that touched my heart and which was so apt for me today as I felt exactly the same as the main character, Emily. She lost her loved ones, and I lost some of mine, though not all to death. I read the book with tears welling up as I could feel everything she felt.

Emily had lost her parents and brother. She returned to her family home at Hope Haven. Best friends Collette and Wilson were her big support. And Dr. Lucas made a fine love interest. But first, Emily had to heal.

This book hit me close to home including a broken relationship. The writing was so crystal pure that it felt it sang my song. There were times I drifted in and out of Emily’s character. At times, I was Emily.

The story was slightly slow paced than my thrillers or maybe I was crying too much in between. But it was so beautiful. I understood every single emotion the author weaved in her words.

Secrets too popped up which shook the foundations of her beliefs. Luckily, a vein of hope and another of happiness slowly made their way to her life. I was happy when she found her peace. She deserved it.

A beautiful heart-warming read.

I hope I did justice to this book in my review.

I received a ARC from NetGalley and the publisher, and this is my journey into its pages, straight from the heart!! STRICTLY HONEST AND UNBIASED.

All my reviews can be read here

Making her way up the cedar-lined driveway, tears fill her eyes at the sight of the cottage’s faded trim and peeling turquoise shutters. Taking a deep breath, she grasps the heart-shaped iron door handle and steps inside the once-happy childhood home she’s been avoiding. It is time to face up to the past…

When Emily’s fiancé walks out on her while she’s still grieving the loss of her family in a terrible accident, she escapes back to Hope Haven on the remote Dune Island, where her family vacationed every summer. Emily hopes that fixing up the house will also mend her broken heart, but the cottage holds more than just bittersweet childhood memories. Emptying her father’s antique writing desk, Emily finds a letter that reveals a devastating secret about her parents.

With a head full of questions that can never be answered, it seems like returning to the island was the worst decision Emily ever made… until she meets Lucas Socorro, saltwater dripping from his dark curls after a surf session. As they take long walks on the soft sand, and talk late into the firefly-lit night, Emily wonders if Dr Luke—as the kids in the hospital call him—could be the one to help her heal. With Luke holding her hand, delving into her family’s painful past is a little easier.

Painting the gloomy cottage walls the colour of seashells, and revamping her grandmother’s flea-market furniture, Emily starts to feel she might call Dune Island home for good—and that she could build that home right here with Luke. But when Emily’s family secret spreads through a network of local gossips, her fragile heart breaks all over again. Luke is the only one who could have started the rumours. Was she wrong to trust him so easily?

As the sun sets behind the dunes, Emily has a difficult decision to make. Does she pack her bags and leave the island for good? Or take a risk that Hope Haven has everything she’s been looking for?

Publication Date: August 2020

Amazon

https://bit.ly/2YcPvOS

Apple

https://apple.co/2zhKkUu

Kobo:

https://bit.ly/2UsPV1F

Google

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