This is a new to me author and I genuinely enjoyed the read. I love it when that happens. There’s a lot of chemistry here and some heat too, unfortunately, this one skips over the actual love scenes (not my favorite), If you like innuendo, however, this will check that box for you. Here you’ll also find minimal cursing (if any) and a healthy dose of reasons to be sad, though the author does a good job of acknowledging the losses without belaboring them. The two things I’d change, if I could (beyond actual sex scenes) is more clarity in the beginning concerning the conception and a less abrupt ending. Had these things been done, this would’ve been a 5 star read for me. As is, it gets four respectable stars.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Eli needed to forge his own path in the world even if it meant leaving everyone he loved behind. He has created a successful career as a wildlife photographer but when tragedy strikes he goes back home for what was supposed to be a quick visit that has him questioning his plans for the future.

Tabby is Eli’s best friend and one of the people he left behind. She is still reeling from the tragedy that has shaken her world, but she knows that she needs to remain strong as others are depending on her. She is resolved that he will be on his way to fulfill his dreams before he finds out about the secret she carries as having him stay because he feels obligated is not an option.

As they spend time together the chemistry and connection between them is stronger than ever but they find themselves at cross-purposes as she is pushing him out of town and he is starting to realize that he doesn’t have to leave town to follow his dreams but will he be able to convince her?

The secondary characters are intriguing and I would like them to have their own stories as well.

HIS REASON TO STAY by Jennifer Hoopes is a great feel good story, which starts out in tragedy. An accident which kills members of two families who are very close. Brings together Tabby and Eli, keeping the two families closer than ever. Five 🌟 read!

A sweet and dreamy story with with goodness and love. Tabby and Eli are childhood friends who have always loved and depended on each other. When tragedy strikes they have to decide if a life together is possible. The story tells the tale of two families love and legacy. Carrying on when things seem despondent is about trusting the people who love you to keep loving you.

**I received a copy of His Reason to Stay from Net Galley and Entangled Publishing in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions weren't solicited in any way and are mine alone.**

His Reason to Stay by Jennifer Hoopes is hopefully a new series for the author with the rest of the Ellis and Brodie families finding their happy ever after. I've read Ms. Hoopes Cowboy series and found this book just as good.

Tabitha Brodie loves creating new whiskeys for her families company but when she's asked by her sister to do something for her she doesn't hesitate to say yes. But now a tragic accident has taken not only her sister, husband and their fathers but she's now learning how to run her families business as well as a secret only she knows. When famous wildlife photographer Elijah Ellis finally has cell service after a photo shoot he comes home. Tabitha has always loved him but fears that he'll come home and help then leave again. Will he stay or can he find the same joy in working for Brodie Whiskey and Ellis Amusements or will he leave again?

Elijah Ellis loves taking photos of animals that no one else can but sitting in meetings for his families amusement and Percheron horse breeding business would be stifling. But when an accident takes his brother and father and leaves his brothers and sister wondering if he'll finally come home and stay. But when Tabitha needs help he doesn't hesitate to step in and be there when she needs him. Can he stay and prove to Tabitha and his family that he's going to stay home and prove to her he loves her?

2.5 stars

This book has very mild cursing (no f-bombs), and no on-page sex. If those things bother you, there's nothing to worry about here. The book also comes to a full ending with NO cliffhanger.

I adore this cover. And after reading about Tabby and Eli, I will say that it is totally perfect for their story. If I was walking by a bookshelf or just surfing by on Amazon, this would be an insta-buy for me just based on the cover alone. Forehead kisses are 100% sexier than half-dressed, headless men.

While I usually love Jennifer Hoopes' writing (her Fly Creek series is so wonderful!) I have to confess that I struggled with this one. Starting this book, it felt like this should have been the second or third book in a series because it starts off by unloading drama and emotion and information that were really confusing and so, so sad. Suddenly we're thrust into two families that were entwined and yet separate, two businesses that I thought were entwined but apparently weren't, Eli's guilt and justifications, and a major secret...it was a lot to unpack to start a book. To the point where I stopped reading and went to Ms. Hoopes' website to see if I'd actually missed a book because it was so much. But the biggest issue for me was that I just didn't really like Eli very much. His outlook on life and his incredible selfishness and justifications were really hard to comprehend. I kept waiting for him to explain why he hated being an Ellis so much that he avoided his family like they were abusive, but there was no good reason, he was just entitled and selfish. I also kept waiting for a real epiphany that changed his mind about his bone-deep urges to turn tail and run away from any kind of familial responsibilities and to become a family man, something that involved his siblings (or at least something that was not his “Tabby needs to be rescued” mentality) but he just kind of shrugged and casually slid into everyday life with his family and then he was furious when people -rightfully so - expected him to run away from his responsibilities and his family. Again. As he had for his entire adult life. On the other hand, I really liked Tabby. She was tough and seriously strong, and I enjoyed her part of the story (no spoilers about her secret) and how strong she was under such unthinkable and heartbreaking circumstances. The back and forth and lack of communication between these two was frustrating, but I did enjoy Eli's “gesture” to show Tabby he was serious about her and their life, and the epilogue was incredibly sweet. I adored the epilogue revelations regarding her secret and felt good about the happily ever after, but getting there was not easy.

Despite my struggles, there were some really great moments in this book. I *loved* Tabby's relationship with the Ellis siblings – especially Sam (who was my absolute favorite person in this book) – and I loved all of the other Ellis siblings in general. All of them seem like solid, likable characters and I enjoyed the scenes that they were in. I also really liked Tabby's stepmother and stepsister Norah (and stepbrother Malcolm) and their familial relationship. So often step-family is portrayed as “less than” or even worse, in the romance genre, so it was really awesome to see such a close and loving bonus family.

I am very much looking forward to the next books in the series because Sam deserves his happily ever after.

Eli is a famous wildlife photographer who spurned joining his family’s company to follow his own dreams and passions. Globetrotting around the most remote locations in the world to capture amazing photographs for the magazine he freelancers for, his family consider him the prodigal son, his trips home are notoriously short before he starts to feel constricted and fettered.

When a tragic accident brings her childhood and best friend Eli home, Tabby is once again confronted with the man she has always loved but thinks she can’t have, given that she’s firmly entrenched at home while he’s the proverbial rolling stone. She can’t bear to have him stay because he feels obligated to her thinking she needs him.

There was a lot of emotion in the story but what I didn’t like was how little faith and trust Tabby had in Eli. He kept proving himself to her over and over only to have her think the worst of him; every small thing that came up – a phone call from his magazine editor, seeing him take his camera for a shoot….My sympathy was firmly with Eli & I felt like giving Tabby a good shake.

A bit of a slow start to the book, but I ended up enjoying Tabby and Eli's story.

It was easy to tell from the beginning how strong their feelings were for each other, but a lot stood in their way to truly being together long term. The fear and frustration they each felt was realistic and I liked having the dual POV in order to really understand their motivations and concerns.

Overall a really nice story and based on a few clues left by the author, I hope we get Sam's book next.

Another winner! I loved this book and quickly found myself totally immersed in the characters' lives. From Tabby, the sweet girl with a secret, to Eli, the sexy photographer who travels endlessly, their tale kept me hooked. This contemporary romance with a twist was a wonderful read.

If you enjoy the genre, you will love this book. Put this one at the top of your TBR list. The author is on my must read authors' list.

A perfect book about falling back in love!

Photographer Elijah Ellis had gotten the perfect shot in the wilds of South America and wanted to take a break visiting his family and his best friend Tabitha Brodie because their families had been best friends for years. When Eli finally had phone service he found out there had been an accident and members of both families had been killed. Tabby was glad to see Eli but she didn’t want him to stay around because she was a surrogate for her sister and Eli’s brother who had been killed in the accident along with both of their fathers and she was pregnant with their child. The Brodie’s had a distillery that Tabby need to run even though her training was to be the Master Distiller and her sister was going to run the company and that didn’t happen. Eli’s brother worked for their family’s amusement park company and Eli need to decide whether to help his brothers and sister or walk away from Tabby for the last time.

His Reason to Stay was the perfect book to read when I needed a story about best friends falling back in love after a devastating accident for the family’s and the healing they all needed.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

His Reason to Stay by Jennifer Hoopes a sold four-star read. This was sweet in all the best ways and an author I will look for again, I read it in one sitting so that’s always a good sign, and I simply adored Tabby Brodie and Eli Ellis, the chemistry they exude drips off the page and the story is compelling, and almost a five-star read, but it just missed a couple of points for me that I found repetitive and a bit toing and froing too much, but only a couple of pages so I didn’t mark it down much. I have seen this author a couple of times and thought I would pick her writing up but they just got added to my TBR pile and this one knocked them up the list a little higher. If you like your romance sweet, but with a twist and a past then this one is for you.

This was a funny read for me...this was the first book I’d read from this author, so I’m not sure if I’ve missed a lot of backstory, but I felt this book lacked emotion...considering there was a really big tragedy at the beginning of the book there wasn’t any real emotion shown! It was hard to connect to the characters

This was a good solid read for me. I loved both of the main characters that were well developed throughout the story and the plot. Along with a full cast of side characters, Eli's family who completed the picture.
Elijah leaves his small town and family behind determined not to be involved with the family business and make his own way in life. He is a famous photographer who takes assignments that leave him traveling the world and almost always isolated and out of touch with his family. While he is completing an assignment he gets word from home albeit late, far too late that there is a family emergency and needs to come home pronto, there has been an accident. When he does arrive, he's too late, misses the funeral, dealing with his grieving and angry family and also Tabby, his longtime close friend who is part of his family as well.
Tabitha has long seriously crushed on Eli, but knows him all too well. Knows that he will never stay in their small town and her keeping him at arms length not unusual but definitely more complicated now. She has a secret she's keeping from his family, grieving her own loss and doing the best she can to keep things up and running. Eli's just determined to figure out what's going on. While focusing on her, his relationship with his family is more than strained, dealing with his brothers who resent him for a variety of reasons. Watching Eli's awareness of just how distant he has become was eye opening.
And his decision to try and mend those relationships. But things certainly are tenuous at best. His family's overprotectiveness of Tabby leaves him even more unbalanced. What I really loved was Eli's family and how they always shared a meal, that they had family meetings where things were discussed and worked out. That included Tabby always, her sister was married to one of the brothers who were both killed in that tragic accident. Tabby is one stubborn and determined woman. I really liked her and while the secret she kept and her ruminating thoughts on that little piece of information got a little much for me at one point, I understood her need in that situation. I got that she was waiting for the right time and when the right time came, it was a turning point in the story. Loved it.
Watching Eli and Tabby trying to work through their issues and Eli's working through his family issues was a great storyline. The dialogue was on point and real. I think that's why I liked this book so much is because it was realistic and gives you a slice of what happens in life when things are totally upended and how you handle that.
Great story Jennifer! Can't wait to see more of this family!
4 shining stars

arc from NetGalley and Entangled for an honest review

I really found this story interesting. The characters were interesting and the plot was definitely engaging. It wasn't revolutionary but definitely good. In addition to being a romance, it's also heavy on the family side (which I love) and new beginnings. I rate this 3.5 rounded up to 4. I would definitely look at reading the author's future releases.

“I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”

This was just okay for me. The story premise was interesting and the beginning engaged me as there was a little bit of anticipation with the big twist. However, the writing became a bit off with no transitions and a lot of wonky shifting of scenes and thoughts. Bouncing from one thing to another without much preamble doesn't do it for me. The angst became way to contrived and very immature for these two adults facing something so monumental. There were parts that were very sweet and sentimental which I appreciated. Moments of family dynamics and friendship that were quite tender and thoughtful. The romance just really stayed in the angst zone for the whole book with two people not communicating and having misunderstandings. Ultimately the story just didn't "wow" me.

This was a solid 3.5 stars.
I have to confess that if I had known this story was about a surrogate, I would not have read it. Once I took my personal and religious beliefs out of the equation, I was able to enjoy the book.
The story centers around Tabitha Brodie, and Elijah Ellis. Tabby has stayed home to be part of her family’s distillery and Elijah has become a world famous wildlife photographer, one constantly traveling the world . But when tragedy at home affects both their families , Eli returns. Unaware of a secret Tabby is keeping.
In general plot was engaging and the characters complex and interesting.
Aside from the main plot, it’s a story about family, the fragility of life , new beginnings, hope and love.
A good introduction to the Ellis family.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing. The opinions expressed are solely my own.

Eli is back in town after the death of several members of his family. Tabby lost some of her family too, so he wants to be their to support her, and he knows she is keeping something from him. They used to be best friends, and now he wants more, but she assumes he will leave as always, so can he prove to her that this time he is here to stay?

A great read.

This is a sweet romance located in the mountains near Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Eli is a wildlife photographer who has spent his life traveling the globe for the perfect picture. Meanwhile, he’s convinced that he doesn’t want to stay at home and take a role in the family’s businesses. Tabby is the younger daughter of a neighboring family who has a whiskey distilling business. Sadly, the families are brought together when the fathers and Tabby’s sister and Eli’s brother are killed in a terrible accident. Eli comes home and wants to take care of Tabby whom he’s always had a special feeling for. Tabby is feeling shaky, but doesn’t want to depend on Eli because she knows he will leave and she will be even more heartbroken.

Add in that she’s pregnant with twins because she agreed to serve as a surrogate for her sister and Eli’s brother. So now Eli is feeling protective of Tabby and says he’s going to stay to help her and his family. We spend the rest of the novel waiting for Tabby and his siblings to believe that he’s changed and now is willing to stay. I get why they’re skeptical, because there has been little to indicate that he has really changed other than his saying so.

What I don’t get is how he suddenly becomes an expert businessman who can help Tabby run her family’s distilling business. He can go and represent the company in delicate negotiations with a client. Why would this ornery client suddenly be willing to negotiate a deal with a guy who has no official title or job with the company with which he’s supposedly making a long-term deal. It just doesn’t make sense.

The reader knows that Eli means it because he’s the hero of a romance novel and we know there is going to be a happy ending. IT was just a bit of a drag waiting for everyone else to accept his change.

I voluntarily reviewed an advanced reader copy of this book that I received from Netgalley; however, the opinions are my own and I did not receive any compensation for my review.

Tabby and Eli have.been best friends since they were children. What Eli doesn’t know, is that Tabby has been in love with him for years. Their families have been close friends all of their lives, but both families have also lived through more than their share of tragedy including the recent death of both patriarchs and Tabby’s sister and Eli’s brother.

Eli has spent his entire adulthood traveling the world as a wildlife photographer. Unfortunately he didn’t receive word of the accident that claimed the lives of four family members until after the funerals had been held. He returned home to Gatlinburg as quickly as he could.

Unbeknownst to the entire family, Tabby had agreed to serve as a surrogate for her sister and brother-in-law and is now pregnant. She decides to hide this from the family until she is sure that there will be no problems with the pregnancy. Eli seems to realize that Tabby is hiding something and is determined to discover her secret. Tabby has built walls surrounding her heart and is equally determined to keep Eli at arm’s length.

Can Eli and Tabby overcome tragedy and misunderstandings to find love?