Love & Hope

Holidays in Hallbrook, Book 5

By: Elsie Davis, Sweet Promise Press

Narrated by: Rachel Butler, Lydia Butler

Sometimes chaos is all you need to shake things up and then see where life lands....

Grace is all set to start her new job, at least she was until her cousin drops by hoping she’ll take care of her 1-year-old daughter for a few weeks. Unable to have children of her own, Grace is tempted. The opportunity to have a baby around, even if only for a short time, is too hard to ignore - especially after her recent rejection by the adoption agency. With her sister’s promise to babysit, the pieces fall into place and Grace accepts. This Mother’s Day she’ll have a baby, even if it’s temporary. But when her sister calls the next morning and cancels on her, Grace has no choice but to take the baby to work.

Running late, Ryan pops into the local bakery in Hallbrook to pick up some pastries and coffee for his upcoming office meeting with the new World Sport Inc. employees. When the woman ahead of him struggles to find her money to pay, he offers to help to expedite matters. It wouldn’t look good if the boss was late. When she graciously turns down his offer but doesn’t move any faster, he’s forced to take matters into his own hands, much to his own detriment. Talk about being nice coming back to bite you...or vomit on you, in this case.

Grace’s hope for an understanding boss vanishes when she realizes he’s none other than the Vomit Man, the name she’d dubbed the poor, unfortunate man who’d paid for her breakfast. The two of them learn to work together with the baby around temporarily, at least they did, until Grace makes a mistake he can’t overlook, one that puts the company’s future in jeopardy.

When her cousin returns early, Grace is faced with losing her job, the man she cares about, and the baby she loves all at once. With her dog, Lucky, on her side, find out if Grace will have a Happy Mother’s Day after all.

©2019 Elsie Davis (P)2020 Elsie Davis

Sweet, engaging story with great narration

This author writes really well and her stories are captivatingly sweet. The narration is excellent and pleasant to listen to and adds a dimension to the book.

Never give up

A tender story of how keeping your heart open and trusting that God knows who you are, where you are , and what you need.
The reader has been engaging throughout this series and our young reader does so with enthusiasm.

Relax & come home to Hallbrook!

When Grace accepts her new job, she didn't know her cousin was going to need a full time baby sitter for a couple of weeks. Grace has a problem saying no, and watching the baby is a dream come true for her. With the help of her sister, they should be able to pull it off. That is until her sister doesn't show up on her first day of the job. Now taking the baby with her seems to be the only option. Ryan needs this assistant to help with his marketing, and Grace has been vetted to be the best. When she shows up, he realizes they have met before and not in the best of circumstances! Will he let her stay with the baby? Will this grumpy boss give in not only to the baby's charm but his attraction? And will Grace be able to balance it all and perform at her best? Well this book holds a lot of things mother's have to go through. It's not easy finding the best balance in life, but keeping her priorities straight is key. Ryan may have shown up as the grumpy boss, but he is a teddy bear underneath all his baggage. With faith and budding love, these two make it all seem easy! Elsie Davis gives them a fabulous meet cute that made me laugh out loud and a romance that warmed my heart. Her secondary characters are fantastic, with the mom who seems to favor one child over the other and the sister who needs to grow up! It's another fabulous story in Hallbrook!

Rachel Butler continues her wonderful narration of this small town romance series and I am loving it. She gets her characters, understanding their wants and needs and gives it all out in the emotional turmoil of their conversations. It's a great escape into Hallbrook and a wonderful listen.

Sweet Contemporary Romance

I really liked this story, except 2 things. I'll discuss them at the end incase they might deter you from reading the the whole review.

I loved the ending! Her dreams coming true. I loved how when he finds out her secret he's too far gone to care. I love the baby troubles and blessings.
I loved their hilarious first encounter.
There were many comical moments!

The narration was the best so far. Though I miss the child voice actors from the other books!
But there's still at least one scene, I believe it was the 2 friends planning on meeting before the baby's mom returns. Where there is no distinction between the two women's voices.

On to my issues, which by the way, don't affect my review stars, just like I don't lower my "score" for poor editing.
1. The boss, worker relationship and 2. The fact that she was a regular church goer but he wasn't.

The first is the basic premise of the story, but even if they were coworkers, or commuted on public transportation together, or some other way for them to spend enough time together to get to know each other, I think the story would still have been just as enjoyable. Or he could have discussed firing her or her quitting so that they could pursue the relationship.

Her church attendance isn't as important to me, as her faith. Neither of them seem to have much of a relationship with God, since we don't see them turning their concerns over to God, or seeking wisdom is His Word or other Godly counsel. So, then the other obedience issue of not seeking relationships with those not equally yoked, seems like just one more thing pointing to her overall lack of faith. So, maybe she's not even a believer. Or she could just be a carnal Christian.
But either way, these are the things that stuck out to me.

Saving Grace

Saving Grace
The main characters’ relationship is so fun, I was laughing out loud. Great word building and story line!
“Forgiveness sets you free.”
Narration was a bit rushed in the beginning.
I received a complimentary copy of the book. I was not required to write a favorable review. All opinions in this review are my own.