Hold on to Hope
A best friends-to-lovers, stand-alone romance from A.L. Jackson
Coming October 28th
Cover: LJ Designs
Photo: Michelle Lancaster
RELEASE DATE: OCTOBER 28TH, 2019
Synopsis
A best friends-to-lovers, stand-alone romance from New York Times Bestselling Author, A.L. Jackson . . .
Evan Bryant wasn’t your typical hero.
But he was mine.
Broken by the worlds’ standards, he was still the strongest boy I would ever know.
My best friend. The boy I’d given everything to. My heart, my body, and the promise of forever.
The day I’d needed him most, he walked away.
He left me shattered and questioning the love I’d thought we’d shared.
Three years later, I wasn’t prepared for him to return to Gingham Lakes.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he still wasn’t the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
My fingers still would have ached to caress his skin.
My body still would have begged to get lost in his touch.
And my heart . . . it would have always sung his name.
But time changes things. With it, secrets that could ruin everything.
Can we find a way to love again, or have the fears of our past stolen the hope of our forever…
Download your copy today:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2WhSBPn
Amazon Universal: mybook.to/HoldontoHopeALJ
My Review
Hope…
It may be a small one consonant word but its meaning carries significant weight, allowing those who keep it alive to continue to move forward with the knowledge that all is not lost, but then there are those who lose faith in what they once held on to because nothing has worked out as planned and the pain and heartache seem to over shadow any promises that were once made.
Frankie Leigh and Evan Bryant have been in each other’s lives since they were young, building a strong foundation of friendship, having one another’s back and creating, what they hoped, was a relationship that would last forever.
But fate can be just as fickle as everything else, turning one’s hopes and dreams into missed opportunities and forgotten aspirations, especially when it comes to the fear of abandonment, the fear of not being enough, the fear of too many imperfections, and the fear of being too much of a burden.
Both Frankie Leigh and Evan lost hope three years ago, so much so that Evan went against his word and left Frankie Leigh with nothing but a broken heart along with broken promises, forcing her to let go of any future that had him by her side.
Can hope be restored? Can it be held onto for years even when it seems to only bring pain?
That’s the question Frankie and Evan need to figure out as they work through all that’s taken place in the three years that he’s been gone as well as what he brings back with him when he returns to Gingham Lakes.
Boy did this Frankie and Evan’s journey put my emotions through the ringer. The way that A.L. Jackson crafts their story and develops their characters illustrate just how necessary they are to one another and why neither of them are truly to blame for what happened three years ago, even though Evan’s the one who left, ultimately breaking both of their hearts. But the thing is…while nothing can make up for him leaving Frankie and his family without any explanation, his reasons for leaving, his conception of himself, and the broken pieces of his soul are what drove him away but what brings him back are just as significant and offer him and Frankie a chance to, once again, believe in that hope that was washed away the day Evan left without looking back.
“You were always my hope, Frankie Leigh. My faith.”
As much as I wanted to rage against Evan for his decisions and the pain he caused to his family and his best friend, the fact that Jackson allows readers to be privy to Evan’s inner turmoil, his fears, and his sense of self helps us to understand his dilemma, but now that he’s back, it’s also time for him to prove to his ‘unicorn girl’ that he never meant to ‘steal’ her ‘sparkle.’ And, I honestly believe that’s the absolute truth.
While I do understand that Evan had his reasons for leaving everyone behind, it doesn’t negate the devastation and pain that he put Frankie through, which means that every single emotion she feels is warranted.
Evan and Frankie’s pain resonates from the pages – the heartbreak, the unanswered questions, the brokenness that seems to be all that Evan can see about himself…it’s all there on the pages of their story and with the added stressors that come into play, holding onto that hope maybe difficult but it’s absolutely necessary.
4.5 Poison Apples
GIVEAWAY
Hold on to Hope Pink Box
Signed paperbacks and tons of A.L. Jackson merchandise packed in a pretty, pink box!
https://smarturl.it/HOTHCRGiveaway
A.L. Jackson is the New York Times & USA Today Bestselling author of contemporary romance. She writes emotional, sexy, heart-filled stories about boys who usually like to be a little bit bad.
Her bestselling series include THE REGRET SERIES, CLOSER TO YOU, BLEEDING STARS, FIGHT FOR ME, and CONFESSIONS OF THE HEART novels. Watch out for her upcoming stand-alone, HOLD ON TO HOPE, releasing Fall 2019.
If she’s not writing, you can find her hanging out by the pool with her family, sipping cocktails with her friends, or of course with her nose buried in a book.
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