Book Review: Love Remains

September 7, 2017

Love Remains
Sarah M. Eden
374 pages
Kindle Edition

From the Publisher: 

From Sarah M. Eden, the USA Today Bestselling author of the Longing for Home series, LOVE REMAINS is a new romance novel set in the beloved world of Hope Springs.

For nearly a year, Tavish O’Connor has carried the crushing weight of his family’s future on his shoulders. He has taken on the care of his youngest brother, Finbarr, who lost his eyesight in a terrible accident. But the lad needs more than Tavish can provide. Finbarr needs hope.

Cecily Attwater specializes in hope. As a tutor to the newly blind, she has dedicated her life to helping others overcome the obstacles she herself has conquered. Her new assignment in a remote corner of Wyoming proves trickier than usual: Finbarr refuses to learn. To make matters worse, his family—and the other Irish townspeople—are less than thrilled to discover an Englishwoman in their haven.

Cecily’s only hope lies in securing the cooperation of her pupil’s brother Tavish, who happens to be her harshest critic and quite possibly the most frustrating man she’s ever known.

For Finbarr’s sake, Tavish and Cecily forge an uneasy alliance that, as the weeks pass, tiptoes toward something deeper than either dares admit or face, and toward a future they know to be impossible. There can be no hope of a happy outcome for an Irish man and an English woman amongst a people reeling from violence and centuries of hatred between their two homelands.

Review:

It’s finally here!  The book I’ve been waiting for since I finished Hope Springs, Longing For Home.  We finally get to read Tavish’s story!

Tuesday morning I woke up super early – due to our power going out, and I couldn’t sleep, so I read all of Dearest Love – because I knew this story would be released this week and I wanted the characters fresh in my mind.  I love the O’Connor family – they really do bring a smile to my face.   Dearest Love was a perfect little prequel to all of these books and a sweet little read.  I love all of Sarah M. Eden’s books – but I think the Longing for Home books are my favorite.  The Jonquils are a very close second – but these ones just win me over. In fact, I had a bit of insomnia last night and woke up super early and finished the last half of the book this morning. At least if I can’t sleep, I can spent the time with some fantastic characters, right?

I love how all of Sarah M. Eden’s books can all be read as stand lone books – but that her characters connect.  Love Remains is book 3 in the series, but you certainly don’t have to read the other two before reading this one.  It can be a stand alone book – but just know if you read it in a different order you will know what happens to some of the character.

So…I’ve been totally a team Tavish player since the beginning of Hope Springs.  I know, he wasn’t the pick in those books, but I was team Jacob too – and he didn’t win out either.  (HA!)  But really – I just really wanted to read the rest of his story.  He made me laugh and his teasing reminds me of my husband – who is a big teaser too.  Reading Love Remains, Tavish had me laughing and crying and smiling in between.  Eden really knows just how to develop her characters.

I loved the introduction of Cecily.  Her eye condition really interested me and was a nice twist to the story, I wanted to look up and read more about her condition as I finished the book. She was the perfect match for Tavish. The prejudices that she faced in Hope Springs also really touched a chord with me.  I thought there was SO much more written into this story than just a love story. It addressed racism, physical disabilities, mental health, grief.  So many subjects!

I really can’t think of anything negative to say about this book, except that it was super hard to find in the stores, but that is just because I’ve been so anxious for it. I finally broke down and just bought the kindle edition as well because I couldn’t wait for my Amazon order. I also really hope that someday we get to hear the rest of Finnbar’s story, or even their sister, Ciara’s story too! I would love that.

If you are a Sarah E. Eden fan, this is a must read for you. If you like clean historical fiction, this is a great book to start with as well, although I would recommend Longing for Home and Hope Springs first.

 

 

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