Leah Williams is back in the quaint town of Heritage, Michigan, and ready to try again to make her business a success. But blank slates are hard to come by, and a piece of her past is waiting for her there. Heir to the Heritage Fruits company, Jonathan Kensington is the guy who not only made Leah's past difficult, he also seems determined to complicate her present as well.
Jon is trying to prove to the Heritage Fruits board that he, not his manipulative uncle, should be running the business. The board insists Jon find a new owner for the building that will house Leah's business. To avoid forcing a buyout of Leah's part of the building, Jon strikes a compromise with Leah, and the two go into business together. With her vision and his know-how, it might work. And Leah might realize he's loved her since high school. If only he didn't keep on shooting himself in the foot by boxing her out of important decisions.
Sparks fly in this romantic story of two people who must learn to trust both each other and the one who called them to this journey.
★★★☆☆
After spending two years as a missionary in Costa Rica, Leah Williams returns to her hometown of Heritage, Michigan. Her plan is to revive the family general store business, but in order to make the dream happen, she has to face problem-from-the-past Jonathan Kensington. Jon is heir to the Heritage Fruit Co. and co-owner of the building where Leah wants to reopen her grandfather's store, WIFI (Want It, Find It). Leah owns the other half, but she knows she has to, at least on some level, play nice with Jon and his company if she's to get this business up and running again. Jon and Leah knock heads over frequent complications: Leah had a verbal business arrangement with Jon's father, but now with his father gone, Jon's uncle is pushing Jon buy out Leah so that the area can be more commercially developed. Then there's the constant disagreement over whether or not to change the store name. Leah says it has to stay, it's history... while Jon says it'll only confuse new customers when they realize the name has nothing to do with computers.
Leah and Jon have a history going back to high school. Jon always had a thing for her, but she misinterpreted his teasing as something more like bullying. Naturally, as they work in close proximity in this new business alliance, old feelings blend with new and Leah soon finds herself confused by her growing attraction to Jon, while also assuming leaning into it will only ruin her business goals.
This story was much slower to grow on me than the others in the series. In the earlier parts of the novel the conversations felt rather bland, even though the couples were displaying potential for becoming cute matches. I felt for Madison though --- growing up being largely dismissed by the town of Heritage as the weird / mean girl, no one really taking the time to look into the home situation of this young girl years ago, the hardships she was forced to shoulder at a very young age. But it's nice that Madison, all these years later, is experiencing a new level of kindness from former classmates open to playing a role in a redemption story.
The heart to heart Leah has with Abby towards the middle of the novel was a turning point for me. It was such a sweet scene that it reinvigorated my interest in the story as a whole and the pace did seem like it picked up after that point. Not sure if Faris found her stride about there, but it did feel as if the flow of conversations grew more light and natural. Abby is such a fun character, with her playful, mischievous brand of means-well meddling.
And finally --- readers learn the secret of Otis, the moving statue!
FTC Disclaimer: Revell Publishing kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
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