I really enjoyed "Hope Burns" by Jaci Burton. I have been a fan on Ms. Burton for a while now, having read a few of her others series. This book is part of the Hope series- centering on a small town and all the ups and downs that come with that. The story lines and characters in this series are well written and very engaging. I love how each book builds on the previous one and the characters come in and out as the plot dictates.
I would proudly recommend this book, this series and this author to fans of the contemporary romance genre.
Happy Reading...enjoy! ( )

I don't know why all the bad reviews and low ratings this book's gotten so far. For me, it was pretty good and full of good moments between Molly and Carter to make the story interesting. There was the little problem with Molly and her habit of placing the blame where it shouldn't and being able to let go. Carter was the sweetest and most loving guy ever, there's just one simple thing you can do for him and that is to melt at his feet. LOL. I really liked this read. ;) ( )

Review courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales

Quick & Dirty: Molly fled her hometown at 18. Now, it’s 12 years later, and she has to return for her sister’s wedding and face a man she hoped never to see again. It’s only one weekend though, right?

Opening Sentence: This wedding was going to be a disaster.

The Review:

In high school, Carter and Molly were inseparable. By senior year, they were planning their future together. Then, something terrible happened, and Molly couldn’t stand the thought of being in the same town as Carter anymore. She left and never looked back. It’s now 12 years later. The thought of returning to Hope still makes Molly feel panicky and sick to her stomach, but her sister’s getting married. Molly knows she’ll have to face Carter because he’s also in the wedding; however, she’s hoping to avoid him as much as possible and leave town again once all the wedding festivities are done. Things never go as planned though, and Molly finds herself in Hope for an extended stay. Will this extended visit make issues between her and Carter worse, or will they finally be able to move on and possibly have a future together?

This book has me so torn. I really liked about 50 percent of it. The problem is, the parts I didn’t like were at the beginning and the end, so it left me feeling frustrated. The first 15 percent of the book has Molly constantly repeating that Carter did an awful thing, but never elaborates on what that awful thing was. By the time we finally find out, I was just tired of hearing about it. Now, let me say, what did happen was awful, and I hope never to be in that situation, but I couldn’t help thinking that Carter was a teenager when all of this went down, and I believe he acted accordingly. That doesn’t mean he acted correctly, but I think it needs to be taken into consideration, and it annoyed me that that point never seemed to be made.

I also just had a really hard time liking Molly in general. Up until the very end, it felt like she was just stringing Carter along. She thinks they’re just friends with benefits when they clearly act like a couple, and anytime Carter tries to do something that a boyfriend would do, she backs off and freaks out. Her actions just made it very hard for me to connect to her.

As it seems I’m just going on and on about what I didn’t like, I should reemphasize that I really did like the middle portion of the book. Despite my dislike of Molly, I really enjoyed seeing her and Carter rekindle their relationship. Carter is a great hero and any scene with him was just wonderful. The love scenes were hot and full of chemistry. It was really fun to read.

All in all, I just feel conflicted about this book. I can’t give it more than 3 stars because of the issues I had with it, but it doesn’t deserve a really low rating either. So, I’m going with the middle of the road 3. A lot of it didn’t work for me, but when everything was clicking, it was very good. I’ll be checking out more of Jaci Burton’s work to see if this one was just a fluke that didn’t work for me.

Notable Scene:

Molly had been preparing a speech, but it was going to be hard. Still, she knew as the maid of honor it was her duty, so she took the mic next.

“I haven’t lived in Hope for a very long time, which means I wasn’t here to witness Luke and Emma’s love story. But I know love when I see it. It’s a palpable thing. Something you feel, like instinct. It’s just…there. And when it happens between two people, it can’t be denied.”

She felt Carter’s gaze on her, saw him out of the corner of her eye despite her attempt to focus only on the smiling bride and groom. She retrained her attention and concentrated on the simmering tears in her sister’s eyes.

“So, when Emma brought Luke to meet me, their love hit me instantly, and I knew he was the one for her. She had changed from this focused, driven individual, to someone who was part of a couple. She became a lot less ‘me’ and a lot more ‘us.’ And that’s what love is, when it becomes less about what’s best for the one, and more about what’s best for the whole. Because love is not a singular thing. It’s not about what’s best for me, but about what I can do to make you happy.”

FTC Advisory: Jove/Penguin provided me with a copy of Hope Burns. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review. ( )

Hope Burns

The Characters

Molly Burnett is trying to outrun her past. We all know that can’t last forever.

Carter Richards seems to be living life day by day and, at least at the beginning of this book, starting to realize something is missing.

The Story

So here it is. My first DNF of 2015. Honestly I’ve been trying for three days now to get into this book but I’ve failed, miserably. I don’t really feel any chemistry between the main characters. Maybe their pain is just too big for me. Either way I’m spending too much time avoiding reading this book when I could be reading other things.

The Random Thoughts

*DNF so no rating

Stars