TLC Book Tours Book Review: Where Hope Begins

About Where Hope Begins

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Thomas Nelson (May 22, 2018)

Sometimes we’re allowed to glimpse the beauty within the brokenness . . .

Savannah Barrington has always found solace at her parents’ lake house in the Berkshires, and it’s the place that she runs to when her husband of over twenty years leaves her. Though her world is shaken, and the future uncertain, she finds hope through an old woman’s wisdom, a little girl’s laughter, and a man who’s willing to risk his own heart to prove to Savannah that she is worthy of love.

But soon Savannah is given a challenge she can’t run away from: Forgiving the unforgivable. Amidst the ancient gardens and musty bookstores of the small town she’s sought refuge in, she must reconcile with the grief that haunts her, the God pursuing her, and the wounds of the past that might be healed after all.

Where Hope Begins is the story of grace in the midst of brokenness, pointing us to the miracles that await when we look beyond our own expectations.

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Review: Where Hope Begins is a hard book for me to review. I really enjoy Christian fiction when it doesn't feel preachy to me. From the beginning of the book, even though Savannah is struggling with her faith, there's this underlying feeling that things have to be done in the way its intended.

The book opens with Savannah's husband leaving her. He's been having an affair. For me this is an absolute deal breaker, but as you listen to the tone of her friend Beth and later Clarice, you know that the by the end of the book Kevin is likely going to still be her husband.

Thankfully the book is more than just a failed marriage. There's a tragedy that starts the ball rolling at breaking this family and as that story unfolds some of the actions the characters take make a little more sense. It still doesn't make an affair any less forgivable for me, but it makes Kevin's action a little more understandable.

I had a love/hate relationship with Savannah. She went through a lot, more than most could stand, but she was hard for me to like at times.  There is so much drama in this book, including a budding relationship with a neighbor, who is keeping his own secrets.

At times I felt like the drama was for the sake of having something bad happen, because there is just so much that happens. Its really hard to imagine all the bad things that happened to this family.

Yet as this fractured family starts to come back together I really found myself liking the book more. I really loved Brock and Maysie and the strange part they play in Savannah's story. I loved Brock so much and it is his part of the story that just tore my heart to shreds. The ending had me wanting to toss the book across the room, because I wanted EVERYONE to have a HEA. However, I'm glad that the author didn't do something that would be totally unbelievable, well except for the guardian angel thing which was a little bizarre.

This book was an emotional roller coaster from start to finish and it may just have you shedding a few tears along the way.

Rating: 4 flowers