Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) -
I really enjoyed my first visit to Hearts Bend, Tennessee while reading One Fine Day, the first book in the Hearts Bend Collection, so I was eager to return in the pages of You'll Be Mine. While this novel can easily be read as a stand-alone, it was fun to have a brief appearance of Chloe and Sam from book 1.
You'll Be Mine is a sweet second-chance romance centered around a small-town inn that's fallen into disrepair. The Hearts Bend Inn was once a very special place; its proprietors, Ben Carter's grandparents, fostered a wonderful environment where couples and families created lifelong memories. When Ben's grandfather died, his grandmother continued to run the inn, but cared more about the guests than managing the finances or doing maintenance. With his grandmother's death and his career in the hospitality industry taking him around the world, it seems prudent for Ben to sell the inn, but his happy childhood memories were created there and the decision grieves his heart.
Cami Jackson is a successful real estate developer at her father's company, and is busy preparing to open a new office in Indiana when she learns the Hearts Bend Inn is for sale. It's very special since she enjoyed summers there with her artist mother who died far too young. While her father's real estate firm normally buys existing buildings to demo them and build bigger and better structures, Cami's confident she should buy the inn and convince her father to renovate it because it's such a special place for their family. Cami is shocked to see Ben, her first love, while touring the Inn with the realtor, and their attraction is instant. But with her relocating to Indiana and him opening an international hotel, what does the future hold for them?
While this is ultimately a sweet romance, it also includes deeper themes of grieving big losses, renewing broken relationships, and being open to career and life changes. I appreciated the realistic challenges between Cami and her father as they grew in their personal and professional relationships, and the colorful secondary characters added humor and interest (although all the talk about tuna was strange). I also liked the artistic theme of the plot involving Cami, her mother, and possible future plans for the Inn. However, the pacing of Cami and Ben's relationship felt off. Even acknowledging their previous connection, they fell into instalove after no contact for 15 years, and then Ben had so much angst about the future - it became repetitive and annoying. I didn't understand why the wedding shop was mentioned several times - is that the focus of the third book in the series?
Overall, I enjoyed this story and look forward to my next visit to Hearts Bend as this series continues. I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher; all opinions are my own.
You'll Be Mine is a sweet second-chance romance centered around a small-town inn that's fallen into disrepair. The Hearts Bend Inn was once a very special place; its proprietors, Ben Carter's grandparents, fostered a wonderful environment where couples and families created lifelong memories. When Ben's grandfather died, his grandmother continued to run the inn, but cared more about the guests than managing the finances or doing maintenance. With his grandmother's death and his career in the hospitality industry taking him around the world, it seems prudent for Ben to sell the inn, but his happy childhood memories were created there and the decision grieves his heart.
Cami Jackson is a successful real estate developer at her father's company, and is busy preparing to open a new office in Indiana when she learns the Hearts Bend Inn is for sale. It's very special since she enjoyed summers there with her artist mother who died far too young. While her father's real estate firm normally buys existing buildings to demo them and build bigger and better structures, Cami's confident she should buy the inn and convince her father to renovate it because it's such a special place for their family. Cami is shocked to see Ben, her first love, while touring the Inn with the realtor, and their attraction is instant. But with her relocating to Indiana and him opening an international hotel, what does the future hold for them?
While this is ultimately a sweet romance, it also includes deeper themes of grieving big losses, renewing broken relationships, and being open to career and life changes. I appreciated the realistic challenges between Cami and her father as they grew in their personal and professional relationships, and the colorful secondary characters added humor and interest (although all the talk about tuna was strange). I also liked the artistic theme of the plot involving Cami, her mother, and possible future plans for the Inn. However, the pacing of Cami and Ben's relationship felt off. Even acknowledging their previous connection, they fell into instalove after no contact for 15 years, and then Ben had so much angst about the future - it became repetitive and annoying. I didn't understand why the wedding shop was mentioned several times - is that the focus of the third book in the series?
Overall, I enjoyed this story and look forward to my next visit to Hearts Bend as this series continues. I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher; all opinions are my own.
