Eloise Drake's past comes back to haunt her as she must return to the town so near where she spent much of her childhood and the man she fell in love with so many years before. Her relationship with Alex Duval ended badly 12 years ago, but Eloise is bound and determined to keep her heart safe and follow the rules as she works for the state on a project which will demolish the town Alex grew up in and is currently the mayor of.

I really wanted to like this book, but there were too many big problems for me. As a clean read fiction I'd give it a solid 4 stars. The characters are interesting, if infuriatingly hard-headed, and the emotions are definitely rampant with everyone involved. I don't think the characters really grew enough for my liking, but I had a really big problem with people overlooking big sins and character flaws.

I will preach God's grace until he takes me home, but if that's the only part of the gospel that you get then you're in big trouble. Eloise and Alex had some youthful transgressions which are more or less brushed off as just that. I don't want characters to live in guilt, but Alex, at least, didn't even acknowledge that what they had done was wrong. It seemed justified because they were in love. The same goes for Eloise's guardian. He's not a good man. He has some redeeming qualities and acts at the end, but there seems to be no repentance for any of the characters. They brush off their sins as everyone makes mistakes and as long as you do some good deed here and there then you're all right. A very works based religion.

So if you read the book as a clean read romance then you'll probably enjoy it. If you're looking for even a hint of biblically based spiritual truth then you will not find it here. The Christianity is sparse and seems thrown in to appease the publishing house, but it would have been better off left out all together.

Elizabeth Camden is a wonderful storyteller. There is only one of her stories that didn't work well for me. Don't worry. I won't tell, but you can find all my reviews on Amazon. Anyways, A Desperate Hope finishes her first series. I have enjoyed all three novels. I love how her heroines are educated and don't mind helping the little man. In this book, Eloise wants a place to be needed, but she returns to her home and runs into Alex, her first love. It is tangled emotions at first sight, but eventually, they learn to grasp and control their emotions and allow love to blossom. I really enjoyed the plot. It was different than anything I have ever read. Camden kept me engrossed in the plot, and I finished the novel in a little over three hours. I had a hard time putting it down. There is even a hint of a mystery in the novel, which I loved. Overall, A Desperate Hope is a wonderful ending to the series. I really enjoyed the characters and anxiously await what Camden comes up with next. If you are a fan of Camden's other stories, then I recommend you pick this book up.

I received a complimentary copy of A Desperate Hope by Elizabeth Camden from Bethany House Publishers, but the opinions stated are all my own.

This one will keep you up late, folks. I read the first book in The Empire State novels, A Dangerous Legacy, and loved it, so when this one came up for review, I was excited to take it on. And in true obsessive-reader fashion – especially with a book that has good tension – it only took me a few days to finish.

This series focuses on the Drake family, and with this newest installment, we get to know Eloise (with some revisits to Nick and Rosalind). She’s a fascinating character plagued by conflicting desires – one, to be logical and reasonable because following her impulses didn’t work out so well the last time. And two, to throw caution to the wind and join Alex on his mad crusade to literally move a town before the state has it demolished to make way for a drinking water reservoir.

And then Alex – Lord help us all – Alex is a gambler and a white knight and has a serious case of tunnel vision. As much as the sparks between him and Eloise make fantastic things happen, their biggest obstacle might be the fact that he’s slightly obtuse and she’s afraid. It’s comical, frustrating and rife with tension.

Characters aside, the history was fascinating! I was aware that building could be moved, but I didn’t realize they figured out out to do it by the early 1900s. There’s some great history in this one inspired by the very real relocation of entire towns. Once again, I recommend reading the author’s note when you get your hands on this book in February. It always makes the content so much more interesting.

I highly recommend this book with a caveat. While the story line does not take the reader into any inappropriate situations, pre-marital sex and its complications are discussed. The Christian themes are also light in some aspects and for Eloise, have a Catholic bent as she spent several years living in a convent, which may be different from what readers might expect. For some of you, this might be fascinating, for others, it might not be the right fit.