I won Holding On To Hope by Janet W. Ferguson in a Goodreads Giveaway last year. I finally read it this week, and it was an enjoyable story. The story starts in Alabama but takes place mostly in Wyoming, in and around Grand Teton National Park and Yellowstone.
Heading Out to Wyoming
This book is part of a series, but I haven’t read the other books in the series. I didn’t feel it was necessary to read them to understand this one.
Hope is a wedding planner. At the wedding of a good friend, the brother of the groom announces that he’s planning on getting married as well. He wants Hope to be the wedding planner. Of course, it wouldn’t be an interesting story if there weren’t at least a few obstacles to overcome. First, he’s getting married in two weeks. Second, his fiancée wants to get married in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The people in the story live in Alabama. Third, the bride is picking when it comes things such as the food, exact location, and decorations.
Hope, ever the people-pleaser, agrees to plan the wedding. Close friend, Caleb, who’s always had a crush on Hope, volunteers to help her. They fly out to Wyoming, and the adventure begins.
What I Liked
This book had authentic characters. I love that they felt real and had realistic vulnerabilities, including thinking the person they liked would never like them back. From the very beginning, I’m rooting for Hope and Caleb as a couple. Both are the sort of people who will sacrifice and who put others first.
Both are also dealing with their own emotional issues. Hope’s family has a history of divorce. While she wants to get married, she only wants to get married if they are both committed to it for the long haul. Caleb was involved in a fire when he was a kid. He got burnt badly on his chest, and he thinks Hope will never think of him as more than a friend because of his scars.
I also felt like the author did a good job capturing some of the spirit of Wyoming, including talking about Grand Teton National Park. Having visited that area, she captured a bit of the natural beauty and appeal of Wyoming.
What I Didn’t Love
I won’t ruin the book, but I will say that I think we had a few too many accidents. I get that the accidents brought Hope and Caleb closer, but we could have taken out one or two of them and still had a great story.
Any Reader Warnings?
This is a clean novel. There’s no swearing, violence, or sexual content. Two of the characters have been living together before they got married, though, which was a bit “scandalous” for a Christian novel. Several characters point out that this scandalous, though, so it’s definitely not presented as acceptable.
There is a huge focus on faith, prayer, and other spiritual manners. If you don’t like Christian books, you likely won’t like this one. I wouldn’t say that it was an overwhelming amount of spiritual elements, but they were definitely an important part of the story. This is a book that I would recommend even if you haven’t read the previous books in the series. I’m giving it a mild 5-star rating, meaning it’s probably more like a 4.75-star rating.
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