Hold on to Hope 

A.L. Jackson

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Evan Bryant wasn't your typical hero.

But he was mine.

Broken by the worlds’ standards, he was still the strongest boy I would ever know.

My best friend. The boy I’d given everything to. My heart, my body, and the promise of forever.

The day I’d needed him most, he walked away.

He left me shattered and questioning the love I’d thought we’d shared.

Three years later, I wasn’t prepared for him to return to Gingham Lakes.

It wouldn’t have mattered if he still wasn’t the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.

My fingers still would have ached to caress his skin.

My body still would have begged to get lost in his touch.

And my heart . . . it would have always sung his name.

But time changes things. With it, secrets that could ruin everything.

Can we find a way to love again, or have the fears of our past stolen the hope of our forever...

This features children from the Fight For Me series. We fell in love with Frankie Leigh and Evan in their parent's stories and now they are all grown up and dealing with their own heartbreak. 

Frankie Leigh and Evan were best friends since childhood and had become more, until one day Evan walked out and left them all behind and heartbroken. Frankie Leigh and his parents have suffered from his loss and missed him every day. 

But three years later, they are unprepared to see him arrive back in town. And old wounds are reopened and old feelings are roaring back. He had his reasons for coming back and for leaving, but he is realizing that maybe his choices just made things worse.

And now he needs his family more than ever. And he wants to win back the love of his best friend and soulmate. And it is complicated and messy, and she is fighting her own fears. 

Is it too late to make things right?

This book starts out intense and keeps ramping up with more tension, emotions, fear, and expectations. Not only is there such emotional turmoil and issues to deal with, but there is also an underlying mystery, threat, and suspense component to the story. So it just sucks you in and keeps you holding on trying to see how it is all going to end up. These two have such a unique bond and relationship only heightened by Evan's special needs. But the way she sees past them to his deep core has always been beautiful.

This is an emotional and passionate friends-to-lovers and second chance love story full of hope and healing. It is told in dual points of view with some flashbacks mixed in giving us the full picture of their long term connection and exposing their secrets. I adore these two and their dynamics from children to adults. It brings back all of the characters that we loved in the Fight for Me  series. I love this group and how they formed their own extended family and in turn, brought healing through love that was continued in this next generation.

This was not really what I was expecting from their story, but it ended up being perfect. Everything I did not know I needed for them. Evan might just be my favorite hero from this author. And I also enjoy it when plotlines surprise me. This book makes you believe in acceptance, hope, true love, and fighting for what is important. It leaves you breathless, but also puts a smile on your face.   

I hope we see more with some of the other siblings or her friend, Carly in future stories in Gingham Lakes.