Book Tour, Review, & Giveaway: "Love Everlasting"

Description

Love Everlasting (Isle of Hope)
by Julie Lessman
Genre: Christian, Romance
Publisher: Julie Lessman, LLC
Publication date: September 30, 2016
Number of pages: 307

Synopsis:

He sets hearts on fire.
She’s been burned by love.
Can hope survive the flames of the past?

School teacher by day, ghostwriter by night, sweet and shy Shannon O’Bryen doesn’t mind writing romance on the sly, but to live it? No, thank you, not since the man she loved turned out to be a player who broke both her heart and her spirit. Now focused more on her faith and her fiction, she vows the next time she falls in love, it will be safely—through the pages of a book.

Dr. Sam Cunningham is a charismatic player who breaks hearts as regularly as he washes his pearl-white Corvette. Abandoned as a young child, Sam was an orphan shuffled through the foster-care system, bitterly driven to prove he is worthy of love—the kind that lasts forever. Once he learns Shannon is a romance writer, he enlists her help in winning back his ex-girlfriend. She teaches him about faith and the true definition of love, and he soon discovers he’s been seeking it in the wrong place all along—and with the wrong girl. But can he convince a woman who's been burned by love to open her eyes—and her heart—to a love everlasting?

About the Author

Julie Lessman is an award-winning author whose tagline of “Passion With a Purpose” underscores her intense passion for both God and romance. A lover of all things Irish, she enjoys writing close-knit Irish family sagas that evolve into 3-D love stories: the hero, the heroine, and the God that brings them together.

Author of The Daughters of Boston, Winds of Change, and Heart of San Francisco series, Julie Lessman was named American Christian Fiction Writers 2009 Debut Author of the Year and has garnered 17 Romance Writers of America and other awards. Voted #1 Romance Author of the year in Family Fiction magazine’s 2012 and 2011 Readers Choice Awards, Julie was also named on Booklist’s 2010 Top 10 Inspirational Fiction and Borders Best Fiction list.

Julie’s most recent novel, Isle of Hope was voted on Family Fiction magazine’s Best of 2015, and Surprised by Love appeared on Family Fiction magazine’s list of Top Ten Novels of 2014. Her independent novel A Light in the Window is an International Digital Awards winner, a 2013 Readers' Crown Award winner, and a 2013 Book Buyers Best Award winner. Julie has also written a self-help workbook for writers entitled Romance-ology 101: Writing Romantic Tension for the Sweet and Inspirational Markets. You can contact Julie through her website and read excerpts from each of her books at www.julielessman.com.

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Review

After a bad breakup with her fiancé, Shannon has decided not to date anymore, especially not with a player like Sam Cunningham. But when circumstances allow them to meet, they find themselves forging a friendship in order to help each other out—Sam provides inspiration for the novel Shannon is ghost writing while Shannon helps Sam win back the woman he wishes to marry.

I chose to read Love Everlasting because I recognized the author’s name. I hadn’t read Julie Lessman’s books before, but I’ve heard good things about them and decided to take a chance on this one. I wasn’t sure that I would like the story, though, because it sounded a little like a typical “player meets the one and gives up playing for her” kind of story. But I am here to tell you that I truly enjoyed it and wished it didn’t have to end.

The story was so sweet! I loved watching Sam and Shannon grow closer together and struggle through all the things that would hold them back from having a serious relationship. Unlike most novels these days, it happened in a realistic amount of time, too. The two of them, as characters, had great depth and were very dynamic. And let’s not forget the other romance and relationships that happened alongside the main one. The story followed a couple of Shannon’s family members a little bit as well showed some of the larger events happening in their lives. The book showed the interesting family relationships that occur and added more depth to the main characters by having family around. Love Everlasting ended happily, though not quite the way I had expected. After I finished reading the novel, I found myself wondering what would happen in the characters’ lives next and wishing there were more to the book. I’m holding out hope for book three in the series…which reminds me that I should probably read book one, though this one can definitely be read as a standalone.

I enjoyed Love Everlasting and recommend it to lovers of clean, contemporary romance.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. 

Enter the giveaway HERE.

Tour Schedule

October 1--
October 2--Bibliophile Reviews | Wishful Endings
October 3--Book by Book | Singing Librarian Books 
October 4--Flowers of Quiet Happiness 
October 5--Getting Your Read On | The Green Mockingbird 
October 6--Faithfully Bookish | Just Commonly 
October 7--Daysong Reflections | Bookworm Mama
October 8--Smiling Book Reviews | Zerina Blossom's Books