Single mom, Holly McGinty, has no life. No personal life, that is. After her husband left her pregnant, with a four-year old son, there was never much time for her. Between raising two boys and saving her restaurant from bankruptcy, she’s been too busy taking care of everyone and everything to give much thought to her own needs. In fact, the highlight of her week is swooning over her oldest son’s sexy scout leader.
Sam Jensen never believed in love at first sight…until the first time he saw Holly. But even though he gets along great with kids, and is successful as both an architect and investor, figuring out relationships with women has never come easy to him. Now it seems as though his luck has changed. As long as one little tiny secret remains a secret
All it took was the encouragement of a student teacher in a ninth grade writing class and Kristy K. James was off and running. She has been writing for more years than she’ll ever admit to, and loves every aspect of it. From creating characters who are so real that they sometimes take over the writing when they don’t like where she’s taking a story, to adding as many twists and mysteries to her plots as she can get away with.
She is the author of Reluctant Guardian, A Fine Mess, and The Stranger in my Head.
Kristy currently lives in Michigan with her family, too many pets and the occasional spider. She spends her time living in her make-believe worlds, cooking and baking up a storm, and doing her best to learn to say ‘no’ when stray animals wander into her large country yard.
Reading is one of her favorite pastimes, as is traveling around the state, especially to coastal beaches to enjoy the sound of the waves crashing on the shore and gulls screeching overhead.
Who is in the mood for a sweet, clean romance with no sex, profanity, and old-fashioned family values? This is the book for you--without a doubt. This book has absolutely adorable characters, and I believe that everyone will fall in love with Holly and Sam. And her two boys are absolutely adorable. As for her ex-husband, no spoilers. You will have to read the book yourself if you want to find out about him!
As I read this, I found myself escaping to the world of sweet romance. I have to say I seriously doubt that these kinds of stories are very realistic, but in this world full of sorrow, hate, and pessimism, this is a welcome relief. Could someone as wonderful as Sam exist in real life? I would say they are few and far between--he is the ideal. I would have liked to know a little more about what happened with Holly's dad, but then, I suppose that makes the story a little more realistic.
I absolutely adore the values in this book. I often read Christian fiction, and this is about as close to Christian fiction as you can get. Family values, not being sexually active before marriage, and treating people with respect are just a few of the positive messages you will see in this book. It is almost like taking a step back to s simpler time while still having all the modern conveniences we have today. And the message that Holly learns in the book is something that everyone could stand to learn. In the end, love covers a multitude of sins (and problems).
Some of you may wonder why I gave this 4 stars instead of 5. Well, there are a couple of reasons. First of all, I will admit that this book followed a typical romance format. I will give Kristy James kudos because the story became extremely exciting in the last 25 or so pages. I wish she would have introduced the excitement a little bit sooner. I also felt that the story was just not realistic. The only time realism seemed to enter the book was when the action picked up towards the end.
Now, I don't mean to major on the minors. Honestly, these minor issues did not keep me from enjoying the book. I actually would have liked to give it a 4.5 rating, but there is not that option on the rating system. I would highly recommend this book to any lover of good romances. It is well-written and sugary sweet at times, but always romantic!
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
Another great book in the Coach's boys series. Sam was adorable, what a great guy. I didn't think his secret was that big a deal but I know there needs to be some conflict in a story to be resolved so it worked. I love how Kirsty ties the books together, I like series where we are given a glimpse into the past characters enough to know how they're getting along. Love the series, I have read all the books twice and can't wait for Jon's story.
I truly enjoy Sam and Holly story. There were everything action drama suspense humour. It shows love have no boundaries, and you have to believe there is someone out there that love you just the way u are. Age is just a number.
This is another clean, sweet story by Ms James. I think that Holly WAY over reacted at one point, but hey, it's fiction and I like the sweet nature of our lead characters.
1st, you have to read these books in order. 2nd love that it is such a sweet & innocent love story.
After over 70% (didn't keep track exactly), it turned for the worse. I loved the first book for how realistic it was. This was disappointing & still leaving us wondering about Ed.
I would have given 4 or 5 stars if not for that last bit. Guess it was the best the author could come up with for conflict
Meh not as good as the first book. The hero was a bit to spineless for me. Eventually in the end his masculinity returned (yay)! They fell in love so quickly although this the sequel the only thing I liked about it was the kids they were the most real out this entire story.
After a difficult marriage and divorce, Holly focuses on running her restaurant and taking care of her two boys. She doesn't have time for romance. Sam is the Scout troop leader for Holly's boys, and has been in love with Holly for a long time. He's even decorated his home to her taste and set up bedrooms for her boys, although he still hasn't worked up the nerve to ask her out. Once Holly and Sam have their first date, things settle into a comfortable rhythm for them. But Holly doesn't find it so easy to let go of her past.
This was a sweet clean romance that could be read as a standalone, although I'd recommend reading the first book to become familiar with the whole gang. There's a mystery that involves Coach that arcs through the series. This book had a lot of dialogue that at times seemed repetitive, and the book moved at a gentle pace with a lot of day to day details.
I liked both leads, and most of the group of friends. Holly's little boys were adorable! Sam was a picture perfect hero, great with kids, a literal genius, and well off. Holly was a strong woman, a single mother raising two boys and running a successful restaurant. This was a great read if you enjoy sweet romances and strong friendships.
I enjoyed the narration, Daniela Acitelli had an expressive voice and read dramatically. She performed voices for the characters and it was always easy to tell who was speaking. I received a copy of the audiobook, and I'm voluntarily leaving a review.
This is my 1st book I've listened to written by Kristy K. James and it's from her "The Coach's Boys Series" it's called "A Hero for Holly." I eventually began to enjoy the book although in the beginning, it seem to been going in a whole different direction from what I gathered from the title. I didn't know if I stumbled onto a mystery, suspense, or thriller, suspense, romance, just wasn't quite sure. As it moved on further into the 2nd chapter I was able to understand more about the book and began to get a better feel about it.
Ms. James did have two main storylines going on in this book. I assume one will play out through each book in the series. The mystery of that is proving to be very interesting that has to do with the Coach and the second story will surround one of the boys from his coaching days.
I had a lot of appreciate that single parenting, business owner and homeowner was portrayed. The book may fictional but the accomplishments can be real.
The narrator Daniela Acitelli is another 1st for me. She did a pretty decent job with the various of characters she emulated throughout the book. She did a very fine job especially; when it came to the male voices, I really have to give her credit for that.
This is Book 2 of the series and I'm moving onto listen to Book 3.
Holly had her hands full with 2 sons and running her restaurant. It was a lot of hard work to get where she was after her husband left her when she was pregnant and with a 4-year-old, too. Not to mention the restaurant was on the brink of bankruptcy. But things were looking up for Holly. Her restaurant was now very successful and her boys thriving. The highlight of the boy’s week was their scout meeting. Since Holly was attracted to their scout leader, she looked forward to that day too. Little did she know that the leader had been interested in her for a very long time.
I liked the way the scout leader was so great with Holly’s sons. Well, all children really. He was a wonderful man although a bit timid. What I didn’t like was that he had loved Holly and dreamed of marrying her for a year without even going on a date with her! Being timid is one thing but secretly imagining a life with someone for so long was weird. This is a sweet romance with lots of family challenges.
Man... I had so much hope for this book. Unfortunately I just have to say that I didn’t love this book, like I did the first book of the series.
A hero for Holly is the second book in the series but can be read as a stand-alone. While the characters all transfer over from the previous book, it’s not necessary to read before reading this book. This story is a good clean romance without sex or swearing, and main characters with old fashion values. This is a story of a single mother of two boys that falls in love with a sweet business man.
For me this story just lacked the conflict that makes a story grab you and hold you. I felt the dialogue was very forced and didn’t flow naturally. While I loved following up with the characters from the previous book of the series, this one seemed to be the complete opposite of first book and was a complete struggle for me to get through.
If I'm being honest, I was more invested in Ed's storyline than Sam and Holly's. Though I liked it, it was sweet, Holly just didn't do it for me. Long before the oh so big secret was revealed, Sam had more than proved the type of man he was. It wasn't fair for him and the boys to go through that pain. They shouldn't have had to pay for someone else's actions. In the end, love won. And I'm looking forward to what's going to happen next with Ed.
I loved this book - facing the past and dealing with trust issues are always two big hard to face themes. Kristy does a great job navigating the characters through their pasts as well as bringing in some unexpected drama to the story. Each book in the series just gets better than the one before!
Holly was raising her two boys and running her restaurant alone for the last few years after her ex husband walked out on her when she was 6 months pregnant. The bright spot in her life other than her boys was Sam. He was her son's Boy Scout leader and he was great. He finally got the nerve to ask her out. Love has a way of sneaking in.
En serio, compré el ebook y lo tenía pendiente desde hace un tiempo. Lo compré a pesar de que después de leer el primer libro de esta saga decidí no seguir con ella 🙄 Menuda cabeza tengo. Por lo menos el libro anterior pude terminarlo. Con este no he podido. Por supuesto, los problemas que tengo con él siguen siendo los mismos.
Wonderful story about s young mother with two young sons. Who ran a successful business who forgot how to enjoy life. Until she admits her live to Sam. A enjoyable story. Will continue reading this author
Two young boys abandoned by their father, a young mother trying to be breadwinner and the typical problem for blooming love compile to make this a wholesome love story for all ages.
Sam and Holly love at first sight. Good story of how he wanted it all, her and her kids. Good clean story. Given ARC which was an added enjoyment for my voluntary review and my honest opinion
This is a nice, clean romance that will have you believing that love can be better and stronger the second time around. Holly McGinty is struggling to find balance between running her now-successful restaurant and spending enough time with her young boys. After her husband left her for a younger woman when Holly was six months pregnant with their second son, Holly has managed to get control over her life and make a success. But now that the restaurant is so successful, she is finding that it is sucking more and more of her time away from her boys. She also doesn’t know what to do with her growing feelings for her son’s Scout leader, Sam, not believing that he could ever feel the same way about her.
Sam is almost too perfect for words – he is uber-patient with the boys and never seems to get mad. Sam has been in love with Holly ever since he met her, but hasn’t worked up the courage to let her know. When Sam finally admits to Holly that he has feelings for her, they begin to date and it isn’t long before he asks her to marry him. As they begin to make wedding plans, a secret comes to life and there is trouble in paradise.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. The only thing that kept me from giving this five stars is that Sam was just a bit too perfect to be believable and the conflict with Holly and her father was just kind of left hanging out there making me wonder if there was any resolution.
This is the second book in the Coach’s Boys series and, while it can be read stand-alone, I would recommend that you read Book #1 first. I am looking forward to reading the other books in the series to see how some of the other storylines play out.
Holly, divorced from her husband who left her with a small child and being pregnant with the 2nd one, made something out of the diner her husband had worked into the ground, and made a new life for herself and her 2 children. She falls in love with Sam, the Scout coach of her two kids. The story tells of how they fall in love, of problems during the relationship and the heartbreaking revelation of Sam's "secret" that nearly tears them apart. Oh, ex-husband all of a sudden appears as well near the end, trying to blackmail Holly for money. Okay, the narration style was very slow, very "prim and proper", but I wouldn't say boring. The story itself developped slowly, main theme is about trust and reliability, I'd say. Sam's "secret" (no spoilers here!) is exaggerated in my opinion, and unlikely to be a cause for the near break-up, even to a person with trust issues. The whole story is told in a sort of very naive way and language and meanders along quite nicely. Except for the (obligatory?) villain in this story, everyone is nice to each other and helpful - a very idealistic view of the world. All in all, don't excpect a gripping, fast paced romance story which you cannot put aside, but one that processes along nicely, with no surprises and very clear good vs evil characters. Still, a nice easy read if you don't have anything else more promising.
Fall in True Love! Hero for Holly written by Kristy K. James This is book 2 in the great Coach's Boys Series Holly is a divorced mother of 9 year old Zack and his 4 1/2 year old brother Billy. The love interest for Holly is Architect Sam Henson who so happens to be Zacks Boy Scout Leader. Holly and Sam have secretly loved each other but both to shy to voice it, well to each other anyway. This is a pure, clean, innocent love story. One of them has a secret that cod destroy the blossoming relationship. Danger also lurks for one (or 2) of the delightful characters. You just have to read to find out as I hate spoilers so I won't give you any....ha-ha. Join all of the Beloved Coach's Boys in story f of love, happiness and a touch of sorrow. You will fall in love with the whole group so much you will want to read the stories of their whole WONDERFUL group. Kristy K. James is an amazing writer. Now I'm off to bring the rest of this series back down from the cloud of my Kindle. Happy Reading! ;)