Choosing Hope: Blog tour, review, & giveaway!

 

 

 

Choosing Hope
Holly Kammier
Published by: Acorn Publishing
Publication date: October 31st 2017
Genres: Adult, Romance, Thriller

Choosing Hope is a harrowing story of passion and deceit, the things we do for love and the rabbit holes we tumble into chasing elusive fairy-tale endings. Dark around the edges with a shocking twist I didn’t see coming, this is the kind of book you’ll be passing around to your friends so you can talk about it. Holly Kammier delivers romance, suspense, and a strong, smart heroine who turns out to be nobody’s victim. Don’t miss this one! – Kat Ross, best-selling author of The Midnight Sea

A broken marriage.

A love affair.

A lie that changes it all…

Hope Rains Sullivan is living the dream—a successful husband, two beautiful young boys, and a charming home in Northern California. She should be happy. She almost convinced herself she was, until Adrian came along.

Adrian, appears to be everything her husband isn’t. He works with his hands, and is even willing to use them in a fight. He’s sexy, strong and fit, with warm brown skin that alludes to his Spanish background. Best of all, he lives for spending time with his kids. Feeling alone in her marriage, Adrian offers her a way out

Hope’s affair is just the beginning. Her journey inward will require untangling her complicated past and surviving an astonishing revelation. Her lover is not who he pretends to be.

She’s searching for her happily-ever-after, and no matter how painful the journey, she’ll find what she’s been looking for all along—the chance to choose Hope.

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My Review:

Wow, what a book! I am so happy to be a part of the Choosing Hope blog tour and to bring you my review of author Holly Kammier’s second novel! We’ve all heard the phrase, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side,” but this novel brings that saying to an entirely new level. Hope is unhappily married to Kevin and they have two sons, one of which is on the Autism spectrum. From the outside, it looks like an ideal marriage and family, however, Kevin is full of mood swings and ultimately it is not a good relationship. When Hope reconnects with an old friend/boyfriend from her childhood on social media, it seems that he has everything to offer her – especially his love and commitment to their second chance at love. But what happens when you take a giant risk for another man and another relationship and then things don’t turn out as expected?

I have to admit that initially, I wasn’t a huge fan of Hope. I felt like she was being unfair and dishonest just considering an affair and was also a little overwhelmed by her focus on how various characters had wronged her in her life. But the more Kevin’s true character was revealed, I disliked him even more and was practically cheering her on to have an affair and get away from her toxic husband. 

I liked Adrian from the start, but also kept thinking to myself that it was too be to be true. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop thinking thinking it impossible for this man to still love her so much and be so devoted to their building a life together. Along with this, I found myself aggravated several times at Hope’s swift changes and decisions, wanting to scream at her to slow down and think before acting. 

After devouring the entire novel, I found myself honestly moved and pleasantly surprised by the author’s twist on this topic and Hope’s relationships with Kevin, Adrian, her children, and her family. Whether in books, movies, or real life you hear women declare that they do not need a man to be happy, and Hope was definitely the opposite for the majority of the novel. The beauty of Choosing Hope was her perspective gained from the journey of her affair and the end of her marriage, and how much she learned about herself as a woman and a mother. Despite the complete heartbreak and insanity that happens in this novel, Hope is able to come away with a renewed since of self and a love for herself that she had been searching for since childhood.

*Many thanks to Xpresso Book Tours for providing this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

 

Author Bio:

Co-owner of Acorn Publishing, Holly Kammier is a UCLA honors graduate and an accomplished content editor. With a background in journalism, she has worked everywhere from CNN in Washington, D.C. and KCOP-TV in Los Angeles, to the NBC affiliate in small-town Medford, Oregon.

Holly is the best-selling author of the novel, Kingston Court, and Could Have Been Hollywood, a memoir. She recently completed her third book, Choosing Hope, a spin-off from Kingston Court. Choosing Hope is a harrowing story of passion and deceit, and the things we do for love.

Holly resides in her hometown of San Diego, California, close to family and friends. A world traveler in her younger years, these days when she isn’t writing or working with new authors, she spends much of her time hanging out with her two boys, Josh and Alex. Holly is an avid reader with a passion for timeless books and beautiful writing. She also enjoys long walks with her Jack Russell Terrier, romantic movies, and making her mischievous sons smile wider.

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