If For Any Reason

Author: Courtney Walsh

Publisher: Tyndale House

Release Date: February 3, 2020

Rating: 4 Stars

Reviewer: Jessica Higgins

A story about second chances, forgiveness and how loving someone can lead you on a grand adventure!

Emily Ackerman has grown up as a child star. But when fame slips away and she loses her grandfather, Emily returns to Nantucket, a place she spent time as a child. She hasn’t been back since her mother was killed in a car accident. Everywhere she goes, she carries a book of letters with her from her mother. It is as if her mother is right beside her with advice she needs at the hard moments in her life. She has never known her father and never spends long enough in one place to make lasting relationships. As she arrives back in Nantucket, Hollis McGuire is one of the first faces she sees. They knew each other before she left the island and even though she has no intention of staying, it is nice to have a familiar face. Hollis had a career as a baseball player, which ended in injury. He has returned to the island to get to know the daughter he has never had time for. Emily starts to learn secrets about her mother’s death and falls for Hollis, making her plans to keep her time on the island short harder and harder. Emily must decide if her mother’s advice to guard her heart is worth it or if she should take a chance on Hollis.

Emily is a character that has trouble dealing with her past and the failure she has recently experienced. I loved the way she was written with a controlling grandmother but still finds the strength to stand up for what she believes in and find out the truth. Love is hard and can be painful at times, but Walsh has written characters that learn that heartache and difficult times can help them grow into who they are meant to be. Emily and Hollis’s relationship has a great start, but I do think the ending was a little rushed for them. The other members of the family make the relationships come alive, especially Hollis’s daughter. The interactions between her and Emily were some of the most authentic in the whole story. Emily was going through a hard time and I felt for her, more than some of the other characters. She didn’t whine about what she was going through, instead she kept trying to find her spot in life and without realizing it found her instead. If you are looking for a good contemporary love story, I would recommend this one.

I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher. The views and opinions expressed within are my own.