Her Hope Discovered by Cynthia Herron

Her Hope Discovered by Cynthia Herron
Series: Welcome to Ruby, book 1
Publisher: Mountain Brook Ink, 2018

REVIEW BY VERA DAY

Her Hope Discovered is a contemporary romance set in a small town in the Ozarks. Charla is a big city woman fresh to Ruby, Missouri, and Sam is a handsome carpenter and a widower. Both characters are Christians and seek God’s direction in their lives.

Oh, this book gave me fits. I ALMOST REFUSED TO KEEP READING! But first, the things I loved about Her Hope Discovered…

Charla is practical and kind, and she keeps her head during dangerous situations. She is a character I could get behind. Sam is a handsome guy. He’s a little too perfect in the looks and skills department, but he can be a downright jerk, too, so I appreciated the realistic touch to his character. Oh, and he’s a fabulous dad to two little girls who miss their mother.

Herron’s description of Ruby and the surrounding terrain immersed me in the setting. I was surrounded by mountains and old-growth forests and friendly people and rutty roads. But it’s no wonder because Herron herself lives in the Ozarks.

August in the Missouri Ozarks… where humidity-laden air hangs heavy over these majestic hills and hollows, and time idles by easily, yet, with ordained precision of the Master’s hand.

Cynthia Herron, Her Hope Discovered

I also enjoyed the description of the Victorian house Charla buys. It’s the perfect prop for the story since Sam is a carpenter.

I expected the story to dance along and the characters to have a humorous or scary hiccup along the way, and then the story would end with a happily-ever-after final page. The hiccup ends up being ugly and involves differing opinions on stay-at-home moms versus working-outside-the-home moms. I thought one side was clearly favored (and thus one character clearly favored). I wanted more balance.

However, I came to realize that a lopsided disagreement is often the case in our own lives. We feel like we’re the only rational person who holds a certain opinion, or that our significant other is the only thick-headed numskull in civilized society who holds a certain opinion. (Obviously, my realization drove me to keep reading, and I’m glad I did!)

My personal reading obstacle became an eye-opening, joyful reading experience when Charla and Sam pray about and discuss and work through their issue. It could have been any issue, come to think of it, because couples disagree about all sorts of things from which way to hang the toilet paper to how much they should spend on a new car. (Toilet paper, as every rational person knows, should be hung so the paper unrolls over the top.🙂 Unless you have cats!)

The point is, Herron wrote about the couple’s disagreement and their resolution in realistic, character-driven ways. Herron holds a degree in psychology and has a background in social work, so I suspect she drew from her own knowledge and observations.

Overall, I give Her Hope Discovered three stars for freaking me out over Charla and Sam’s disagreement and five stars for their heartwarming, Christ-centered love story for an averaged score of four HEA fish.

I read Her Hope Discovered through Kindle Unlimited.