When Hope Rises by Dora Heirs - REVIEWED

This week, the Christian Fiction Blog Alliance is introducing When Hope Rises Pelican Book Group (May 2015) by Dora Heirs

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

After a successful auditing career, Dora left the corporate world to be a stay-at-home mom to her two sons. When her youngest son no longer wanted her hanging out at school with him anymore, Dora started writing Heart Racing, God-Gracing romance. She is a member of Romance Writers of America (RWA) and her local chapter, Carolina Romance Writers.

Dora and her real life hero make their home in North Carolina. When she takes a break from cranking out stories, she enjoys reading, family gatherings, and mountain cabin getaways. She despises traffic, bad coffee, technological meltdowns, and a sad ending to a book. Her books always end with a happily-ever-after!



ABOUT THE BOOK

Art teacher Shelby Coltman transforms junk into treasure and longs for a place to showcase her creations. She’s thrilled when her friend volunteers to room with her. Shelby can finally buy a storefront. Unfortunately, Kennedi’s brother can't seem to let go.

Abandoned as a teenager, guidance counselor Tate Malone has become surrogate and over-protective father to his sister. Life is great until Shelby Coltman wheedles his impressionable sister into sharing an apartment. Raised in wealth, the beautiful Shelby could never understand poverty or rejection, and Tate doesn't appreciate her uprooting his sister. When Shelby hands over her savings to a homeless student, will God obliterate Tate's fears and deliver all of Shelby’s dreams...when hope rises?






My Thoughts:

When Hope Rises is a romance first, but the author has added some reality to her characters’ lives that enable me to get past the rippling muscles and the cascading hair and blue orbs of eyes and appreciate the heart of the story.  That depth redeems the story in many ways, because it tackles some of the basic reasons relationships are so difficult – no one is perfect, and everyone has a past.

This is a quick, easy read that will wile away some of your Summer hours on the beach.  The story is plausible, and the characters have a heart that beats for someone other than themselves.  Faith is an element that lends plausibility and reality to the main characters’ romance, and, in the end, proves a solid foundation for their hearts. 

There are familial issues and other relationships besides the romance that play a key part in the story, and the end result is a pretty well-balanced tale.  This is a personal preference – but all of the heart pounding, heat flushing, clumsy stumbling got to be a bit much, and the heat flaming through them every time they were within grabbing distance of each other is a bit…well…not realistic.  Other than that, the story itself is solid and very enjoyable.

If you would like to read the first chapter of When Hope Rises, go HERE.