Finding Hope

Nugget #2

by Stacy Finz

The small mountain town of Nugget, California, is way off the beaten path. But somehow it helps the lost and lonely find a new beginning in life—and in love…

One solitary day at a time is the only way cookbook writer Emily Mathews can restart her life—and cope with consuming loss. Still, the former city girl is finding all kinds of odd inspiration and advice from Nugget's proudly eccentric residents on everything from new recipes to opening her heart again. Especially when it comes to her rugged rancher landlord …


His no-drama new tenant is the first break Clay McCreedy has had in a long time. He's got his hands full enough dealing with his wife's scandalous death and his sons' unresolved grief. Clay can't help but be drawn to Emily's quiet understanding and strength. When their fragile trust turns into passionate healing, he longs for much more. And when both their pasts come calling, he’s determined not to walk away…

Genres: Romance, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Chick Lit, Fiction

308 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 5, 2014

About the author

Stacy Finz is an award-winning former newspaper reporter. After more than twenty years covering notorious serial killers, naked-tractor-driving farmers, fanatical foodies, aging rock stars and weird Western towns, she figured she finally had enough material to launch a career writing fiction. She is the author of the Nugget Romance series (Kensington/Lyrical Press) about a small mountain town that has a strange way of giving people unexpected reasons to start over--and find the most irresistible chances to fall in love. Look for her Garner Brothers series (Zebra) in 2017.

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Reviews

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Emily's daughter was abducted and never found. It tore her life apart. She lost her marriage and herself. After a few years and a divorce, she moves to Nugget, California to restart her life. She rents a finished barn from sexy rancher, Clay. Clay is a widowed father of two boys. His wife's death was the town scandal. When he meets Emily, he sees a plain woman until he gets to know her and they develop a friendship.

I originally rated this book 3 stars and didn't write a review but it's one of those books that have stayed in my head so I decided to up my rating and share my reasons why. I almost didn't read this book because of so many reviews with strong dislike of the hero but he honestly didn't really bother me. He was annoying at times with his thoughts on attractive women. This wasn't an insta-love type of book. Clay wasn't attracted to Emily when they first met and she wasn't looking for a relationship anyway. Emily is depressed and not herself, she's lost everything and the last thing on her mind is if her hair is styled and what kind of clothes she's wearing. The story itself was really interesting and heartbreaking. I can't imagine the pain of not knowing where your child is and the author did a fantastic job of expressing that. My heart broke for Emily. What I really love is the friendship Clay and Emily developed and how Clay wanted to help her heal. This is a book I have thought of often since I read it and if a book can stay with me like that, I think it deserves at least 4 stars!

[Dawn ♥ romance · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this story and the heroine's tragedy was heart breaking but I think the title was misleading and there were a couple things such as the hero sleeping with another woman while building a relationship with heroine and the heroine happy that her ex found someone else that I kept thinking about and diminished the story for me. Cookbook writer Emily moves to an out of the way converted barn owned by rancher Clay.

[ShannonCC · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. Not great. I don't know, maybe it's me.

I did like some of it, but there were too many things that rubbed me the wrong way. Like Clay constantly talking (to himself or to others) about how he thinks Emily is not good looking. I get that he's being portrayed as a shallow guy who finally finds some depth, but it got old fast. Especially since it felt very judgmental about how he liked flashy, large busted women, but at the same time, it felt like he was insulting them for being that way.

When they finally do get together it's totally confusing. She's insisting she doesn't want a relationship and it's just sex and then a few pages later, it seems they're in a relationship. So that was weird.

The country singer minor character was totally two dimensional and I just really hated that. She was there solely for us to judge (since she's one of those flashy, large busted women that Clay loves and disdains at the same time) and nothing else.

The plot with Justin (the troubled teen) was good until it suddenly ended. There was no real resolution to that, just he's suddenly ok with his dad and doing good? That was very much a let down.

Then there was the really cringy side plot with Griffin. A Native American who is rich from his father owning a casino (of course), but who wasn't raised in the tribe because his father was prejudiced against his white mother (yup, the author really went with a reverse racism plot line - sigh).

So Griffin is attracted to Lina, but decides she's too young for him since she's only 18 and he's 26. He feels that in a few years that age difference won't be a big deal, but at 18, it is. I agree and was happy to see him say that. Until she comes on to him and he throws his morals aside because he's horny. Oh but don't worry, they don't have sex, because he wants her to remain a virgin. So they just have oral sex. Oral SEX. Yeah, it's still sex. So much for morals.

I enjoyed the cooking, I enjoyed some of the plot, but overall, not great.

[Katherine P · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m torn on this one. I enjoyed seeing the town of Nugget and all the people who call it home. I thought Clay’s sons were grieving their mother in a way that came off as very authentic and Clay’s utter loss at how to handle this felt true. I enjoyed Emily’s cookbook editor/ghost writer job and her struggles to rejoin life after the abduction of her daughter 4 years prior. My main problem is I had a hard time believing in the relationship. Clay is so dismissive of Emily’s attractiveness for so long - regularly referring to her as frumpy - and even begins a relationship with another woman after Emily has moved to the ranch. Even though he comes around it just didn’t fit. As well Emily is just starting to take the first tiny steps back into life and just doesn’t feel ready for a relationship. I can believe in a friendship between the two but an HEA just feels impossible.

[Ann Lorz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed for Romancing the Readers Blog: https://romancingthereaders.blogspot....

Finding Hope is the second book in the Nugget series but I have to say it's one of the most emotional ones. It's also the reason I read this series back to back. Once I read Finding Hope I just couldn't stop.

My heart broke for Emily. To lose a child like that would have been terrible. Then have so many people think you had something to do with it must have been rough. The author did a wonderful job of making you like you're alongside Emily feeling her pain.

At times this one was hard to read through the tears.

I totally loved Clay. He's doing all he can to take care of his sons. He feels bad for not always being there for them (military) and now that their mother has passed he's their only parent. His eldest son does not make it easy on him with I liked because after losing your mom you might act out like he does.

I so enjoyed watching how Emily started to live again. She's been so dead inside that you'll really notice how she blossoms again with Clay and his sons. It wasn't easy, neither one of these two wanted anything for each other. But time dulls most pain enough to move on even if you never forget.

What a wonderful story this one turned out to be. I'm so glad that I read it and I'm also glad that I kept going with the series. So much happens. It's both funny and touching to read. This series should be read in order to really enjoy it.

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[Teri Pre · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of the Virgin River series, I think you'll like this one too. Not sure how I came across it but I'm glad I did!

[Kahea · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** I received an ARC from Lyrical Press through NetGalley for an honest review. Expected publication date: 1/5/15 ***

First time reading this series, and this author, and I must say that I enjoyed this book and didn’t feel at all like I missed all that much by not reading Going Home, the first in the series, but will definitely be going back to read it. While this book is touted as Contemporary romance, it isn’t your typical insta-love by the characters, Emily does find Clay attractive, but that’s as far as it goes because both Emily and Clay have things in their personal lives that need to be worked out and I loved that the author gave each of them the time to do so before they fell for each other. Emily’s tragedy is every parents worst nightmare and her journey towards healing and learning to live again was done well, I felt for her and enjoyed watching her pull herself back up, with a little help from the people of Nugget. Clay is your typical cowboy who is trying to find a way to help his sons deal with the sudden death of their mother. What I liked about Clay was that he wasn’t the gruff, standoffish tough guy, he is an alpha male, but he is compassionate, caring and openly affectionate with his sons. He doesn’t shy away from giving them the love that they need even as he disciplines them. He had a few quirks that had me wanting to smack some sense into him, but he eventually comes around. This book is filled with likeable, quirky characters, like the women of the Bakers Dozen and the Nugget Mafia and I look forward to learning more about the people and the town of Nugget.

[Jennifer Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all of the Nugget books that I have read (I am totally reading them out of order) so far, this one was the most gut-wrenching and sweet.

Emily Mathews has come to Nugget on the recommendation of her friend Joe for a fresh start. After the nightmare of her daughter Hope’s abduction and the subsequent erosion of her marriage, she has agreed to rent Clay McCreedy’s renovated barn so that she can heal while concentrating on her cookbook ghost-writing.

After the betrayal and death of his wife, Clay McCreedy has become a bit of a player. While never flaunting his flings in front of his sons, he has limited his time with women to casual hookups with sexy and mostly superficial women. When Clay first meets Emily, he does not see the beauty behind the loose, ill-fitting clothes and bad hair. But as he begins to spend more and more time in her presence getting to know her and enjoying a friendship, he begins to think about her more and more and is no longer interested in shallow hookups.

I liked how this relationship was a bit opposite of what we are used to – Clay was ready to commit and have a deeper relationship and Emily was the one who wasn’t ready for anything meaningful, having blamed herself for Hope’s disappearance.

The writing was spot-on, especially in Emily’s healing and how she moved on from the tragedy. Other reviews have bashed on Clay because of his shallowness without taking into account the circumstances and his personal growth. As always, the supporting characters are wonderful and add both color and depth to the story. This is actually one of my favorite books in the series.

[Shayay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fairly depressing, and I had a hard time liking the male lead, Clay, but I still enjoyed the story and writing, and I wanted more from the ending; it felt a bit abrupt. First off, the romance in this book wasn't quite to my liking, and that has to do with Clay more than Emily. Here's a bit of a spoiler, so stop reading if you don't want any spoilers............I didn't like the fact the Clay was so hung up on women's looks; not much else mattered to him, and he was with other women in the book, so I found him a bit lacking and I think Emily deserved better than what he was doing, and he's never really confronted about it, the story just goes into something else. The story is pretty intense and sad, and I feel for Emily, she has been through a lot, and reading about how she's trying to cope with the pains in her life, and become "alive" again was a story of extreme strength. I enjoyed the writing, and a lot of the side characters, and I love small town settings for books, so I look forward to reading more books by Stacy Finz, starting with the first in the series! I'm also hoping I won't have to wait long for Lina and Griffin's story! Note to the author: Please don't torture them too much or have Griffin be a man who sleeps with tons of women, that'll be damn depressing.

[Carole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started with Book 9 and then went back to the beginning and found writing in the later books in this series is much better.

Emily's self-healing process and her relationship with Clay's boys is special and so is her relationship with her Ex husband. I was hungry throughout the whole story because of the yummy cooking background and I enjoyed the insight of how cookbooks are created.

Major downer in the book is that the Hero Clay is a bit of a letch throughout most of the book, with lots of indiscrete leering at women. Once their relationship starts, I like how supportive he is of Emily, however so not impressed he is not decent to the woman he had been casually sleeping with, until they all meet at a community function. Sooo not OK or ethical or compassionate.

Perhaps the author might want to do another revised edition that does not accept that the Hero's earlier attitude to women was no big deal and was normal and acceptable.
.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Stacy Finz is a wonderful find. This was an emotional small town story filled with second chances, love, and "hope". Pleasant characters fill the story and having you turn page after page. I have never read her books before, but I have found another contemporary author to add to my BUY list.

I was given an ARC by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Nate Brightman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding Hope, the second in Stacy Finz Nugget series may be the heaviest story I’ve ever read in the modern romance genre. At its heart, it’s the story of Clay McCreedy a wealthy rancher who is recently widowed and trying to reconnect with his young sons who are struggling with the loss of their mother and Emily Matthews a cookbook editor/ghost writer who is struggling with the loss of her daughter Hope who was kidnapped from her backyard four years ago, and never found. The title refers to not only actually finding her daughter Hope but for Emily finding the hope to carry on and actually live life dealing with such a devastating loss and the uncertainty as to whether your child is alive somewhere or dead. As a father and a grandfather, I can’t imagine the heartbreak of losing a beautiful young daughter that way or how you cope with such a monumental loss? So even though this is a romance the pale of the missing child lends a darkness to this story even when it’s not the focus of the writing.
The Good- This is an extremely well written story. The interactions between the characters seem realistic with none of those “OMG that would never happen in real life” moments. All the characters have their strengths and weaknesses which make them feel real. Most of the characters from the first book in the series Coming Home are back as secondary characters in this story, the Bakers Dozen, the Nugget Mafia, Rhys and Maddy, Sophie and Mariah, Nate, Lina, Sam and Collin. There’s a side story budding romance between Lina and a new character Griffin. There’s also the dynamics of Clay dealing with his son’s issues over their mother’s loss. With the Bakers Dozen girls there’s plenty of laughs and Clay’s youngest son is adorable.
The Bad- Dealing with the stolen child issue makes this book both good in that it pulls at your emotions and bad in that it casts a dark shadow over even the books most light hearted moments. For much of the book Clay comes across as a very shallow man in regard to the women he prefers. He is all about physical beauty over character even though his late wife was a hot blonde who cheated on him. A few of the comments he made about and to Emily early in the book had me putting him clearly in the loser category but somehow the author redeems him once he realizes he’s falling in love with Emily and becomes her rock as she struggles to overcome her grief and guilt. Lina and Griffin’s story seems set up for a future story of their own but in reviewing the story lines of the next 8 books I don’t see one for them featured so I’m not sure how Ms. Finz continues their relationship after leaving it hanging as Lina heads off to college in San Francisco? I’m giving this story 5 stars the highest rating so obviously I’m not finding anything really wrong with it beyond Clay’s early choice in women

[Claire Mc Partlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

​OK, I am now officially a big Stacy Finz fan! I read one of her later books in this series a little while ago (Borrowing Trouble) and loved that too. I'm planning on reading the Christmas book due out soon (Finding Hope) but after reading a review someone had posted they advised reading at least this book first, even if you hadn't read the others in the series, as it was the back story for Emily & Clay, and of course Hope. I'm reading these out of order, which I don't usually do, but whilst characters from previous books are mentioned it doesn't detract from the story, it just makes me want to go back and read the others!

The whole story was so interesting immediately, with lots of characters I can't wait to read about later, and I wanted to keep picking my Kindle up whenever I had a spare minute.

Emily's is a divorced cook book editor, has just moved to Nugget, and is living in a converted barn on Clay's ranch. Clay is a widowed rancher with two younger sons, one of whom (the 15 year old) is really acting up and causing Clay headaches. Emily's daughter, Hope, was abducted 4 years ago in a high profile case and never found and she is trying to move on with her life in a new place, even though she has never given up hope of finding her.

I loved the easy friendly relationship that both Emily and Clay fell into, even though Clay was a bit of an idiot about how he viewed women to start off with, very shallow and only looked at or went out with Dolly Parton lookalikes, not even thinking about their personalities, which is why I knocked half a star off my rating. He really like popping over to see Emily and chat to her as a friend, but didn't think of her in a romantic sense initially. Emily hadn't really been looking after herself after all the hardships she had gone through, but soon started feeling better with more female friends around her, and once she had a haircut and got new clothes that fitted Clay started noticing her more. He needed a good slap around the head, but he did grow on me and even though I found him shallow he was still a really nice responsible guy.

Very enjoyable book, it reminded me of a sort of mixture of Jill Shalvis's Lucky Harbor series and Robyn Carr's Virgin River, two of my favourite authors, and I am so glad I've found another fabulous small town series set in the small mountain town of Nugget. I'm really look forward to reading the rest of the series now, but must admit I'm going to jump straight onto the 'Finding Hope' Christmas one first!

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another Nugget gem. I loved this book, but I want to give a warning that it does hit a touchy topic that can be horrible to read at times just due to the sheer sorrow you feel. I almost cried several time while reading this book because of the pain I felt for Emily.

Emily is a cookbook ghostwriter who moves to Nugget to get away from the Bay Area and all the horrible memories that plagued her. Clay rents out his barn to her and they slowly become friends.

This story was beautifully written and also heartbreaking. Clay and Emily’s relationship is more a friendship and I really liked that aspect of seeing them grow because they’ve both had such difficult pasts. It was wonderful to see them heal and lean on each other and I really enjoyed seeing Clay‘s sons heal and form a relationship with their father.

I think this book is a 4.5 and the only thing I didn’t enjoy was the Lina and Griffin aspect of the story and would have been comfortable with it not being included into the story. I enjoyed both of them separately, but together is a different story. I hope that we will see them in another book but both older and Lina having a little more life experience.

Stacy Finz wrote an amazing story that isn’t just all romance but provides a bit more depth that is wonderfully woven in. On to the next one!

[Susan McClintock · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, an enjoyable read. Four years ago, Emily Mathew’s daughter Hope was snatched from her backyard. The case became tabloid fodder, and four years later, her marriage didn’t survive and she is trying to start over in Nugget. She rent’s Clay McCready’s converted barn to edit and ghostwrite cookbooks. Clay was a Navy pilot, when his father died several years ago, he came back to run the family ranch with his wife and two sons. Two years ago, when his marriage was on the rocks, his wife got drunk and wrapped her car around a tree. He is now a single dad dealing with the fallout of his wife’s death. Clay and Emily are two people that need to get past these tragic event in their lives to get to their happily ever after. Emily’s story was compelling and you could feel her anguish. Clay was a little harder to like. He was superficial in his relationships, picking women for how they looked over anything of substance. In addition to being shallow, he was a bit mean to Emily. I don’t think the meanness was intentional, just that as a narcissist, he didn’t think how his behavior and words affect other people. Clay came around at the end of the story, but it seemed like a bit of a 180.

[Slick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book, on one hand I was happy these two found each other and happiness again, but on the other it felt rushed and a bit "off." I'm just going to cut to the chase, Clay was an absolute a$$hole in the way he talked about Emily to his friends for the majority of this book. No he didn't "owe" anything to Emily, but basically calling her ugly and frumpy and in his opinion not f*ckable was just rude and IMHO showed his true feelings about women in general. Emily was there to get back to life after the abduction of her daughter (never found) and the media scrutiny that followed. She was there to heal not find a man, but she is attracted to Clay from the start. Clay was also trying to get past his late wife's death brought on because of her drinking and driving while with the man she was cheating on him with. His sons are still grieving, one acting out and one trying to please everyone around him. A lot went on in this book and I did enjoy it for the most part but Clay's actions and words made it hard for me to love it and also hard for me to believe his complete turnaround about Emily (and personally she deserved better).

[Kelli Eitel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Actual rating 4.5 ⭐️

So still really enjoying the books but this story line just felt rushed and I’m not sure how they fell in love with each other. We jumped a lot of time in this book and I feel like for me I needed a few more moments of relationship growth before he one says he love her and two before she says she will marry him.

But I was in it and excited. Also Lena and Griffin are so cute that I needed their story to be its own book. It threw me off having that story line with Clay and Emily’s. We could have skipped it had Clay and Emily talk about him coming in and given them a book even if it had a year time jump. Everything that happened in this book could have been the first chapter of their story.

Definitely will be continuing on with the series and seeing who else in this crazy town finds love

[Michele Lawson Kuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sure wish my online public library carried the whole series. These books are so good. I am sure you could read them in any order but there would probably be confusion. There for you wont be able to enjoy this series as they where ment to be. While there is no cliffhanger in these books one book seems to blend into another. I gave it 5 stars because I so have enjoyed the books in this series I could read. I wish there was a town like this I could live in. Give it a try with book one you will find a romance unlike most you read an enjoy every little bit.

[Mallori · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting small town romance. The author seems to take a more realistic approach to her world and heroes, where they can be a bit of a rake but redeemable, struggle with unimaginable, senseless tragedy or angry teenagers. I wasn't quite sure how the author was going to get it around to a happy ending but she pulled it off deftly.

[PLP · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very moving book!

This is the most poignant book I have ever read. It is a romance but it is so much more than that.

Two people meet; both are survivors. The author takes on their journey to find peace and then happiness.

The book does have an HEA of sorts but to keep it real, it had to end the way it did.

[Gooutsidehandknits · Rating 4 out of 5]

Second book in Nugget series.

Awkward...I read this just a month ago but I have been reading a lot lately and I can't remember enough to write about it. Good book. Realistic and tugged at the heart. Didn't stand out in a crowd, I guess.

But I am trying to keep track of what I wrote so I will keep this here.

[Nathalie Fannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

How many times can I say that I love her books? Another great Stacy Finz read. The thing that made this a 4⭐️ instead of 4.5 is that it felt unfinished at the end and then went into showing the chapters of the next book. I felt a bit frustrated and I hope that the storyline continues in at least one of the next books in the series.

[Tricia Linden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm falling in love with the small town romance series from Stacy Finz. Each book leaves me with that feel good feeling. And I feel I'm getting to know the various characters in the town. I expect to read more of these.

[Patty Duplechin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily's daughter is abducted. She's not found. Emily looses herself and her marriage. She moves to a small town & meets a widower , with two boys. Can they heal each other.!it was a wonderful story. Sad also but worth the read

[Suze · Rating 5 out of 5]

FINDING HOPE

Loved this book, a continuation of the Nugget Romance series. It's like reading a soap opera, this was Clay and Emily's story- but also all the characters of Nugget. There were quite a few laugh out loud moments.

[Eileen Gernet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happy and sad

The story is well constructed and flows from one aspect to the next with ease. The characters are captivating yet down to earth. There is a sadness over the loss of her child but happiness finding love again.

[ysar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Emily's life stopped the moment her daughter disappeared. It's been four years with no closure, and since her marriage crumbled, she has to move, though she may never move on. The renovated barn on Clay's ranch is the kind of solitude she needs to keep taking it one day at a time.

Raising two boys on his own wasn't how Clay planned for things to go, but he'll take what life gives him and do the best he can for his sons. As for himself… Well, with the women he meets, romance just isn't in the cards. The mousy woman who's renting the barn apartment on his property seems even more lost than he is, but every now and then he sees a spark of life in her eyes. Maybe they both just need a friend, but maybe fate has other plans.


The Verdict: You may remember in my review of Going Home, the first book in this series, I had a bit of trouble connecting with the characters and immersing myself in their relationship. But the fact that I could still enjoy the book even without every really understanding or liking the hero speaks to the quality of writing, and I really couldn't justify rating it lower than 4 stars. So when I saw this second book was available, I jumped on it, and I was not disappointed!

Finding Hope takes us back to the town of Nugget, where Emily Matthews moves to find anonymity, if not peace. After her daughter went missing four years ago, her marriage crumbled, the media pounced, and every day is a struggle. She needs a new place to live and work, and if she can't manage living, at least she can manage surviving. The beautifully renovated old barn she's renting is a world away from the horrible spotlight, awkward silences, and constant speculation to which she was suspected back home. And the view isn't too shabby, either.

Clay's been pretty messed up since the death of his wife. She was no saint, and their marriage was a mess, but he never wanted his boys to lose their mother. And since he spent most of their lives deployed away from them, adjusting to life with only the dad they're still getting to know isn't easy. It doesn't help that in their small town, there's no such thing as a secret, and the boys are getting to that age where malicious gossip about their mother will be heard.

As odd as it probably sounds, I love that Clay wasn't the least bit attracted to Emily when they first met. His tastes run more toward big hair, skimpy clothes over an enhanced body, and casual flings, and Emily certainly doesn't fit the bill. She, however, thinks he's one of the most attractive men she's ever seen, but she's too buried in her grief and guilt to entertain the fantasy of romance, and she can't help but notice the way his eyes are always shamelessly lingering on other women's bodies.

Their relationship is a slow and subtle build, not even reaching much of a friendship for a while, but that's actually the perfect pace for this story. When it finally escalates, Emily isn't sure she's ready for anything serious, anything that would take her focus away from her missing daughter or put her in a position to fail Clay's kids. And Clay seems to have no idea what's happening to him. He's almost shocked by his attraction to her, and he knows better than to push a grieving, guilt-ridden woman, but he's also too good of a guy at heart to treat her like just another casual romp in bed.

Their road isn't without a lot of bumps, much of it rooted in their individual fears of falling in love and moving forward with their lives after everything they've been through alone, and it's displayed in saying all the wrong things and often holding back what they want to say. In this way, every moment felt genuine instead of the workings of some ideal romance story, and that's what made it such a wonderful read. Of course, anyone would hope for a miracle when it came to Hope's fate, but I think the way that part played out gave the story even more credibility, and at times it felt less like romantic fiction and more the real-life story of someone who'd truly lived it.

The secondary characters were great as well, Clay's kids being the best of the bunch. It was easy to get frustrated with his older boy, but at the same time, his behavior made sense. And Rhys? Well, I didn't like him much in the first book, but he's definitely growing on me now. And what would Nugget be without the Baker's Dozen and the Nugget Mafia? I'm glad that despite my issues with him in Going Home<.i>, I stuck it out. Stacy Finz's writing is pretty incredible, and the way she tells stories… It's really the perfect approach to contemporary romance. The drama is understated and real, not a bit of it feeling contrived, and the characters are exceptionally developed. It's small town life, old friendships, and new beginnings filled with romance and hope.

***FicCentral received this book from Kensington Books (via NetGalley) for free in exchange for an honest review.

[Brandie Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had a little of everything. I really liked it.

[Jo-anne Ward · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not usually a romance fan but Finding Hope had a base story that had me wanting to know the ending without being too cheesy.

[Jan L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finding Hope

If you're looking for a book to get lost in, a small town full of good people, a beautiful setting, a few tears and some new beginnings - you've found it!!