Author: Amy Clipston
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Christian Fiction
Source: Thomas Nelson ( Netgalley )

Goodreads: When a jilted romance novelist escapes to a small beach town, the last thing she expected to find was the start of an even better love story.

In the wake of a broken engagement and the death of her last surviving family member, romance novelist Maya Reynolds moves to the haven of Coral Cove, North Carolina, to take over her great-aunt’s toy store. Some of her grief is immediately eased by imaginative eight-year-old Ashlyn Tanner, who talks her into adopting a kitten and inspires Maya to create a princess tea-party room in the store.

Ashlyn’s dad, local veterinarian Brody Tanner, is quickly smitten by the newest resident of his hometown. As a single parent, he sacrifices a lot in order to give Ashlyn the world, so a romantic entanglement with Maya is not a distraction he is looking for.

As the three develop a deepening bond in the seaside town where Maya experienced some of her happiest childhood memories, clouds cast a shadow over Maya’s hope for the future: an impossible deadline looms over her next novel, a long-held secret by her late mother about Maya’s absent father comes to light, and Brody’s resolve to avoid romance seems unbreakable.

But together, they just might discover that sometimes happy endings happen outside the pages of Maya’s novels too.

Ope’s Opinion: This reminded me of a Hallmark movie. It was a sweet romance with a few conflicts along the way.

I was disappointed that Maya was not more independent. She felt the need to have a man and a family – she was not content to be alone until the right person came along. I did like Maya’s relationship with Ashlyn. I also enjoyed the story line of her looking for her father.

The ending is what you expect – happily ever after, but it came too fast after Maya’s feelings flop back and forth and Brody is all of a sudden willing to commit.