Darek Christiansen is almost a
dream bachelor—oldest son in the large Christiansen clan, heir to their
historic Evergreen Lake resort, and doting father. But he’s also wounded and
angry since the tragic death of his wife, Felicity. No woman in Deep Haven
dares come near.
New assistant county attorney
Ivy Madison simply doesn’t know any better when she bids on Darek at a charity
bachelor auction. Nor does she know that when she crafted a plea bargain three
years ago to keep Jensen Atwood out of jail and in Deep Haven fulfilling
community service, she was releasing the man responsible for Felicity’s death.
All Ivy knows is that the Christiansens feel like the family she’s always
longed for. And once she gets past Darek’s tough exterior, she finds a man she could
spend the rest of her life with…which scares her almost as much as Darek
learning of her involvement in his wife’s case.
Caught between new love and old
grudges, Darek must decide if he can set aside the past for a future with Ivy—a
future more and more at risk as an approaching wildfire threatens to wipe out
the Christiansen resort and Deep Haven itself.
Darek
Christiansen hasn’t been able to get past the grief and anger he feels from his
wife’s tragic death, even though three years have passed. While he loves being
able to spend more time with his son, his life changed irrevocably that day,
and he’s not sure if it really was for the best. He’s angry, bitter, and guilty,
and when he meets Ivy Madison, she reminds him of all his mistakes he cannot
change. Will he let go enough to allow Ivy into his life, and his heart, or
will the impending fires—both inside and out—ruin everything for the both of
them?
Ivy
Madison has never been a part of a real family, so as she gets to know the
Christiansens, she feels like they’re the family she’s been searching for. Through
Darek’s tough exterior, she sees someone she could love, and her way into a
real family. The only question is, will he ever let her in? And, if he does,
what will he think when he learns she was involved in his wife’s case?
Take a Chance on Me is the first book in
Susan May Warren’s Christiansen Family
series, and is a wonderful story about faith, family, and forgiveness that will
touch your soul and warm your heart. With plenty of comical, gushy, and
inspiring moments, it is a novel that is almost impossible to put down, and one
I couldn’t help putting on my ‘absolute favorites’ list. It comes highly recommended
as a book you will want to read again and again, which makes it fully deserving
of all five of the bookshelves I am giving it. Clearly Susan May Warren did an
amazing job when she penned this story, and I know all the others in this
series will be just as wonderful. (I can say that since I’ve already finished
the second book—It Had to Be You—which
I will be reviewing on Saturday.)
Susan
May Warren had previously won her spot on my most-favorite-authors list when I read
My Foolish Heart, the fourth book in
her Deep Haven series, so the quality
of Take a Chance on Me didn’t come as
a surprise. Although I didn’t read the other Deep Haven novels—I borrowed My
Foolish Heart from a friend and it was the first Susan May Warren book I read—I
fell in love with her writing style and the way she brings a story to life. She
writes stories that are interesting and have plenty of plot twists, but that
isn’t the best thing about her writing. She fills her books with faith—whether the
character returns to God, or they just strengthen their relationship with him. Each
book has characters that change—for the better—by what they go through in the
book. Since I very strongly feel that no story is complete if all of the
characters remain the same by the time you get to the end, that pleased me the
most about her books.
Anyway,
Take a Chance on Me is a great story
that will leave you wanting more of the Christiansens, which isn’t necessarily
a bad thing since there are three more novels after that, and a fifth that
comes out in July. Although I have only read the first two, I can promise both
of those are books worth reading and, based on the descriptions, the next three
will be as well.
Happy
reading!
All credit for the italicized synopsis goes to Susan May
Warren and her publishers.
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