At age thirty, Hope Miller has mixed feelings about her unexpected pregnancy. Sure, she loves fostering shelter dogs, but she never imagined herself as a mother. Anxious to be an aunt, her sister starts pressuring her to be someone she’s not. Her new friend wants her to stay fun and unencumbered. When Hope’s ex says he wants back in her life, she feels like it might be what’s best for her baby. Pulling away from her sister, Hope spends more time with her new friend and risks letting her ex break her heart all over again.
Karen Lenfestey, a Midwest Writer’s Fellowship winner, writes “happy endings with a twist.”
Karen has a bachelor's degree in advertising from Purdue University and a master's degree in counseling from its rival school, Indiana University. (Please don't ask her to choose favorites!) During the week, she advises students, on the weekends, she writes and on vacations, she loves to travel.
She is active on Goodreads and Facebook and she loves to hear from readers on her website, www.karensnovels.com.
This was really awful. I don't know what I was thinking when I picked it up on my Kindle - I was probably attracted by the dog on the cover (there are dogs in the story, none of which are the same breed as is depicted in the cover art). The story itself is simplistic, predictable and the characters are unlikable, probably because they lack intelligence and common sense. If you're looking for a fast, rainy day read, this will do it for you. The author's writing style isn't too terrible, and there aren't too many egregious grammatical or editing errors, so for that, I give it two stars. I myself wish I had spent my time in another book.
Writing style fits a high school audience. This was pretty bad. Every cliche in the book used. And the plot was just cookie cutter rich boyfriend, unexpected pregnancy, bad childhood. The grammar was awful and I just didn’t care about the characters. They were all a tad pathetic. And whatever happened to poor Miley?
I struggled to finish this bland novel. The characters have potential but continually do stupid things. The main female character is particularly frustrating and so far from reasonable that I just wanted to scream. I can’t recommend this book.
In book two, the story shifts to Claire's half sister that she recently learned about. Hope Miller hasn't had an easy childhood. She was raised in a foster home after her parents died of a murder-suicide when she was first born. Now pregnant by a man she just found out is married, she turns to her half sister for stability. After getting over her shock, Claire allows Hope to move in with her for mutually beneficial reasons. Nothing is easy for the two women, as Claire is struggling to keep her house after discovering her ex-husband was many months behind in paying for the mortgage. Meanwhile as Hope's pregnancy progresses, she is less committed to working, and can no longer afford her apartment rental. Hope moves in with Claire, bringing her 5 rescue dogs as well. From that point it is a whirlwind of emotions spilling over.
A new friend and a second chance with the father of her child should have been a happy book. But the author had different thoughts and Hope needed to learn how to think for herself and make good decisions. Not an easy task for anyone! This book was a little darker as it had constant financial problems and trust issues to deal with. However the author has a way of writing that makes it impossible to give up on the characters or even to stop reading at a reasonable hour.
Ms Lenfestey is a wonderful story teller, and as her focus shifts from character to character, I found myself glad that there was another book to read in this series called BITTERSWEET HOPE, because I wasn't ready for the book to end!
A sweet story of two sisters and how they manage to get through life. One sister has lost a child and the other sister is going to have a child. As life goes on lost love becomes the theme. The older sister is divorced, lost a child and struggling to pay the mortgage. The other sister is pregnant and seems to pick losers fit boyfriends. The father of her baby it's a real jerk but she keeps hoping he'll change. I recommend third story of you like romance and sisterly love☺.
Loved this book! But, I want more. I want to see how Hope and Claire come to terms with their differences. Does Finn get Miley back? I fully expected Bree to be a crazy stalker and wanted to read about her and Drake's downfall!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
This was a nice read different from my usual genre. Predictable with characters you would like At times though there wasn't a constant flow between the threads of the characters and the different routes they were taking.
This was a very nice story. It had a lot of emotional issues but was a very enjoyable read. I would definitely recommend it. Read and enjoy and be grateful for the happily ever after ending.
Picked this book to read because the title appealed to me. I am very glad that I made this choice. This was a sweet and realistic story. I enjoyed my evening spent with this book.
Karen Lenfestey is a talented author who creates characters which share their experiences with emotional bravery and insight into their lives. I look forward to more novels from Karen Lenfestey.
Great continuation of her first book, and there is a third one! I am so enamored by all the characters and I just want to keep reading to find out how their lives all turn out. Fun, easy read.
Unexpected. I enjoyed this book! This series is really good and heartwarming. I fell in love with the characters. I am not a real dog lover but nobody wants to put a dog down if it can be helped. I enjoyed the relationship Finn had with Hope and how he was there to help at all costs. I hope there's another book coming because I would like to know what happened to Miley and her mom. This was a great read! *** I voluntarily read a Review Copy of this book. All opinions stated are solely my own and no one else’s. ***