Kate and her grandmother travel back to a small town in Pennsylvania to restore a family home. This three month vacation from her job as a social worker is just what she needed.
Her Grandmother already arranged for a local man to work on the physical repairs the home will need. As one can guess this is a single man, attractive, and Kate is drawn to him. The thing is Matt, the contractor, seems to be very introverted and not at all interested in anything else but his work. Many times Kate tries to talk to him and offer to help on the painting and such and we learn he just wishes she would go away. She can tell there is great pain in his eyes and feels the need to help him.
Most of the book follows her attempts to get him to interact more with others and to try and help him heal what is hurting him. Matt eventually starts to come out of his seclusion, it is around this time that he realizes he can not keep Kate out of his mind. At the same time Kate is starting to feel more for Matt but continues to tell herself they are nothing more than friends, that she will be going back to Dallas in a short time, and also that he couldn't possibly feel anything romantic for her as she does not feel in his league.
Eventually Matt's secrets come out and we learn why he was so withdrawn. They also both admit how they feel about one another but that doesn't mean they live happily ever after. It is clear that Kate has helped him and she believes that God meant for her to come into his life for no other reason than to help him and to bring him back to God.
I have read other reviews on this book and am not sure about how others will find it. It is a Christian Fiction book however, there is a weekly poker game that takes place with the Seniors (the grandmother and her friends), also there is drinking from Matt and another man that showed interest in Kate, Trey I believe. I also read about soft cussing. I didn't see any cussing unless some Christians think "sucks" is a curse word. I do see where a phrase Matt uses about"having balls" could be offensive. It could have easily been changed to "guts" and not interrupted the moment or character. Other than that I did not see anything that problematic that others seem to have thought.
I did quickly tire with the brand dropping the author did. I started to wonder if she was hoping to get free items from the stores she mentioned. It had nothing to do with the story. In fact, why did she need to comment on what Matt was wearing almost every time he walked into a room? I also could have done with less use of 'hottie' and 'hot' to describe Matt. Only one character did I see this being okay and expected from (one of the senior women). Everyone else was just too much. I almost felt like she needed a Thesaurus to help her find another adjective.
Overall I loved the book though. I read it in two days which with two young kids is no small task. It is a fresh take on an old story line of boy meets girl. It also brings up a great point to think about, that maybe we are not brought into a persons life to stay forever. Maybe we are there for a reason and once the "task" is complete we are meant to part ways. I would recommend this book to my friends and plan on sharing the copy I got.
* I received this book to read and review from Bethany House. I am expected to give my honest opinions, good or bad. All the above mentioned opinions are my own. *
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