Cover Image: Come Home to Deep River

Come Home to Deep River

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Member Reviews

This is a great small town romance. Hope and Silas are adorable. I really enjoy books from this author. She doesn’t disappoint with a new way to tell romance! Would definitely recommend

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Honestly, while I liked the story, it's not quite a full 3 stars for me, maybe more like 2.5.
What I loved about the book was the setting (small town Alaska) and the supporting characters. I also thought the author did a good job with both character's personal story arc in recognizing how what they were doing/had planned lined up with what they really wanted/dreamed about. It was a little hard to believe the 'secretly in love best friends' trope and the passionate scenes were a bit more intense than I had expected.
One thing I hated in this book was the main character's friend: he was utterly self-centered and completely unlikable. Which is interesting because he is the 'hero' in the sequel. While this wasn't a love story that captured my heart and gave me all the feels, I did love the town (hi Mal) and I'm a little curious to see if the author can pull off redeeming the friend in the next book (because <i>of course </i> he's coming to town.

I received a copy from the publisher via #Netgalley; this is my honest review.

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It took me forever and a day to finish this book and that is really sad and actually tells you all about the rating of the book. What we have here is a coming back home story about Silas and Hope when their best friend Caleb dies and Silas is tasked with returning home to settle his will. Upon Caleb's untimely death, it is found out that he left the town of Deep River to Silas and his other business partner Damon. Silas has not been home for 13 years and he is dreading to return to the small town, but he is also looking forward to seeing his childhood crush, Hope. The small town of Deep River is faced with a difficult decision while Silas and Hope are just starting to feel the spark. Will love prevail and save the town of Deep River? Well…let's find out, shall we?

First off, this story takes place in Alaska and it is really on my bucket list to visit one day. The setting of this story was beautiful and it was as if I was walking on the iced river in Deep River. We are introduced to Silas as he returns home to deal with the will of his best friend, Caleb, who has recently passed. It has been 13 years since he left behind his childhood crush, Hope. Hope was known around town to have a crush on Caleb, but Hope has been secretly harboring feelings for Silas. Silas and Hope both have parental issues, but Silas was dealt a horrible hand. His mother died of cancer and his father looked to alcohol for his grief and drowned along with Hope's grandfather who was trying to save him while in a drunken state. It was a tragic loss and an event that will drift the once close friends apart. Many years later, Silas is back home and faced with a decisions that could change his entire and the love of his life.

The chemistry between these two was there, but not as strong as I would have liked. Their romance was a slow burn, but once it got moving, the heat was over flowing. I liked Hope enough I guess, but I really did not care if Silas got the girl. The townspeople were interesting, but the least interesting character was Hope for me. This story did not leave an impression on me, but I will say that it would be suitable for a quick and lazy read on Sunday afternoon. There is no blanket or tea needed with this one.

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What an engaging and charming story, I do love a small town and Alaska fascinates me.
The cover is gorgeous and I felt I could jump right in and become one with the story.
Hope and Silas will warm your heart. Great characters all round in this tale.
I don't know this author so will have to hunt for more now.

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I was drawn to this book because it was set in Alaska (I love it there).

I enjoyed the story, this was my first from the author); it was a sweet, romantic story.

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We can add Jackie Ashenden to the queendom of the small-town contemporary romance duo of Maisey Yates and Caitlin Crews/Megan Crane to make a triumvirate. Which means you get more of the same if you’re a fan of Yates, or Crews-Crane. I’m not a fan anymore. I’m tired of the formula: former military heroes are now suspect, small-towns are scary “off the grid” loony-territory, and tough-talking heroines hiding lonely vulnerabilities aren’t quite believable when “they doth protest too much”. If these characters turn your crank, then you’re the reader for Ashenden’s first “Deep River, Alaska” romance, Home to Deep River.

Ashenden establishes her series setting with a romance that sees hero Silas Quinn return home when his best friend, RIP Caleb West, the town owner, bequeaths him, well, the town. It’s been thirteen years of bad memories of Deep River, except for Silas’s love for Hope Dawson:

Deep River, Alaska, boasts a fiercely independent though small population. The people who live here love it, and they don’t much care what anyone else thinks. Until the day Silas Quinn comes back and tells them an oil reserve has been found below the town and now it’s neighbor vs. neighbor. Some want to take the money and run, while others want to tell the oil company to put its rigs where the sun don’t shine.

Hope Dawson never expected to leave Deep River. Her mom needs her. Her grandfather died and left her the local hangout to run. Her dreams of college and adventure died long ago. Until Silas comes back to town, holding the key to set her free. But freedom means she loses him again, and he’s the one she’s really always wanted.

As a matter of fact, no oil company shows up, there’s no neighbour vs. neighbour and the oil reserve is a minor plot point in this day and age of climate change and alternative energy to bring Silas and Hope together. Does it matter? Not really. Because the town shenanigans and oil reserves and what the town will decide are the background to Ashenden’s purpose: her protagonists waffling on about their tormented feelings while having a lot of sex, lotso’ sex and lotso’ internal distress and denial.

I didn’t much care for Hope, or Silas and that made it hard to warm up to the novel. The town’s being beset by oil companies took only the form of mysterious phone calls offering to buy residents out. But the mountains’ mystery and majestic are such no one can resist, or give, or sell them away. Silas and Hope seemingly join forces to help Deep River navigate this new-found reality, but the narrative succumbs to Silas and Hope’s “sekret” torches for each other. They sleep together; then, they avoid each other; then, they get back together. They seem to do much “burning” for each other and indeed, there’s quite a bit of flame and fire imagery, especially when describing Hope’s eyes. Silas’s eyes are equally peculiarly incendiary: they’re green, they’re gold; they smoulder and flash. They have their own narrative to tell. They’re more interesting than Silas, or Hope.

Ashenden’s Silas and Hope are prone to if not saucy, then tortured doubts and fears. Silas is leaving; their affair is just a “get it out of our system”. Hope is staying; their affair is a temporary slaking of what has been a years-long attraction. Their conflict is strictly internal: Hope wants as much of Silas as she can get; Silas is the same. Then, they both realize, separately and internally, they’re in love with the other. They sleep together again; avoid each other. Silas resolves to leave; then, suddenly, it’s Hope leaving Deep River. Frankly, I didn’t know whether they, or I, were coming or going. It was tedious because they belong together, are so obviously in love, and so obviously want to people Deep River with flashy-eyed babies that their love confessions, when they arrived, elicited only an eye-roll and muttered, “about time”. Despite an excess of combustible eyes, Ashenden sure can write melodrama that I suspect her foray into small-town romance never got the message about putting the sweet in small. With Miss Austen, we found Ashenden’s Home to Deep River “had a high claim to forbearance,” Emma.

Jackie Ashenden’s Home to Deep River is published by Sourcebooks Casablanca. It was released in July 2020 and may be found at your preferred vendors. I received an e-ARC from Sourcebooks Casablanca, via Netgalley.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Veronica – ☆☆☆
Silas returns to Deep River in remote Alaska where he grew up and is faced with seeing his friend and the girl he loves, Hope Dawson. The early interactions between Hope and Silas are packed full of emotion and I was having all the feels. The story of Silas’ childhood growing up with his father is sad, but it is the feelings he has for Hope that really moved me.

Silas has only returned to Deep River temporarily and has no plans to stay, whereas Hope has no plans to leave, so a no strings attached fling is in the cards. These two are hot together but the author going off on other tangents in one character's head when things are getting steamy did not work for me. Another thing that didn’t work is that Hope runs a bar with only one helper/bouncer, yet she rarely seems to actually work in the bar although she spends heaps of time in her office. It bugged me.

What I did like about this story was seeing Silas and Hope work together trying to convince the town not to sell up to the oil companies. I liked reading about the town and its people too. In that respect, the story had a nice cozy feeling.

Unfortunately, the deep emotions the beginning of this story roused in me were long gone by the time I got to the end, which was overly sweet but still a good ending.

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A cute, quick and sweet small-town romance. I want more of this town. The romance was just fine, but I think I fell in love with the setting!

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3.5⭐ rounder up

I absolutely love a great small town Alaskan romance so I instantly hit that request button so I could start at the beginning. If you also enjoy escaping into Alaska awhile reading a sweet romance, look no further than this series.

What I loved about this book:

1. Silas and Hope had great chemistry and enjoyable banter. They had a few obstacles to overcome from their past, but it was enjoyable to watch them get past all of that and get their HEA.

2. My brother often visits Alaska to go finishing and he has often commented how little the lower 48 knows about what's going on up there. Oil companies are coming in and destroying the beautiful land and poisoning the wildlife. I like how this book brought to light how sneaky the big corporations can be and how little they care about preserving nature's beauty.

3. I loved this small town and thought the plot was quite unique. While there are a few secondary characters that need more development, I hope that's tackled in book two. Honestly I can't wait to read more about this charming town and Filthy Phil. 😂

Overall I really enjoyed this one and can't wait for book two.

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I am a great fan of Jackie Ashenden and have read loads of her books and enjoyed nearly every single one. And she didn’t disappoint with this one at all. I LOVE this book. Jackie has me falling in love with Deep River, a magical wonderland of Alaska that I’m sure we will get to explore more of in future books. Hope and Si will warm your heart even as you watch them heal each other. Very excited that it’s the start of a new series set in Alaska! Some of the scenes between Silas and Hope literally made my romantic heart flutter! Loved it. Grab it today and found out what all the fuss is about. Happy reading everyone!

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Usually known for her alpha males, MC members and uncompromising billionaire mobster types, Jackie Ashenden takes on small-town Alaskan romance with Come Home to Deep River, focusing on the strained ties between an ex-soldier and current land tycoon, and the girl who loves him but whose loyalty remains with her home town.  Ashenden’s hero is still broody – and her heroine still a bit too isolated – but as always, she provides solid interpersonal drama, this time with a much lighter touch.

Airplane charter service owner Silas (Si) Quinn – a former military veteran who survived three tours in Afghanistan - has come home to Deep River, Alaska, his birthplace. Having left thirteen years ago to escape his alcoholic father and his mother’s death, and having no other real friends there, Si is tasked with a difficult objective -  to inform the citizens of the oil reserves discovered beneath their feet and then get them to accept that he and his two closest friends now own the town after it was bequeathed to them by his late best friend, Caleb West, one of the two last descendents of the town’s founders (the others are Caleb’s sister and Deep River’s police chief). Si has a life back in Juno; his plan is to inform the town of its worth and let them choose to do what they will with the information.

Hope Dawson – proprietor of the Happy Moose, a tavern which was handed down to her by her grandfather – is a prime example of your average Deep Riverian.  Anchored in town by both her responsibilities the Happy Moose and her mother’s emotional fragility, nothing’s changed for her for years, and her long-ago dreams of moving have died silently away.

Si has been avoiding Hope for years. She had a big crush on Caleb and was brokenhearted when he left town to join the military with Si, and Si had a crush on Hope but Hope remained oblivious.  She’d always considered Si intimidating, but been intrigued by – if not attracted to - him.

Will Hope and Si build a real relationship?  And will Si decide to tell the town that they have the deed claim to thousands of dollars?  And what will that do to the town?

Come Home to Deep River proves that Jackie Ashenden can do tender, sweet and quiet with surprising aplomb.  There isn’t much violent intrigue or derring-do in this book -  though there is a subplot about a land grabber trying to steal the mineral rights from the town’s denizens.

Most of the book is about Hope and Silas’ attempt at surmounting the grief they’re both dealing with. Hope is mourning her grandfather and Caleb, following the latter’s death in a plane crash; Si is grieving for his mother and Caleb – and their confused feelings about one another.  As they come closer to love, they begin to dream of new and different lives – Silas settling more firmly into Deep River, and Hope reconciling her place in town with her need to be put first.

I liked Hope and Si – Hope is spirited without being one of those dreaded headstrong spunky heroine stereotypes, and while Si has some broody qualities he doesn’t lack a sense of humor.

Together they’re sweet with the slightest touch of spicy humor. The sex – as I always expect from an Ashenden novel – is smoking, and filled with chemistry.

The minor characters – the town’s old salts and Hope’s depressed mom – work brilliantly.  The narrative does suffer from a lot of telling and not showing, which is why I’ve docked a few points.

But Come Home to Deep River proves that not all of Ashenden's heroes are alphas, and that, indeed, there is heroic depth in them thar hills. For her regular readers this book will provide a sweet journey – and a number of surprises.

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I really enjoyed this Alaskan romance, there was just enough drama and twists to keep my interest piqued, especially being a small-town romance involving 3 childhood friends. A little bit of sweet and some heat, Come Home to Deep River is a romance reader’s delight!

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Come Home to Deep River (Alaska Homecoming #1). By Jackie Ashenden. 2020. Sourcebooks Casablanca. (ARC eBook).

After a tragedy, Silas Quinn returns to Deep River, a small Alaskan town he hasn’t been back to since he joined the army. He brings with him the news that he is the new owner of Deep River and that there are oil reserves under the town. Living in Deep River is a requirement of ownership and Si has his own business in Juneau, with no plans of uprooting. Knowing that the news will shake up the town he also knows that he couldn’t leave it in better hands than Hope Dawson’s, his best friend growing up and the girl he loved but didn’t love him back.

A bit of drama and a whole lot of sizzle as a result of intense attraction, the hero and heroine are great characters dealing with past pain and current loss. All and all a well-written romance story that I loved getting lost in.

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I see the potential in this series, but this book was a little slow and drawn out. Too much Hope & Silas and not enough of the townsfolk, which would have made a fun & quirky book. If you're living in a small, remote town in Alaska you've got to have quirky characters, not run of the mill.

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I loved the small town setting for this book. The story was a great escape and is a great start for a new series. It is a charming read with a sense of community, romance, friendship, and hope.
Many thanks to Sourcebooks Casablanca and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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An engaging new series set in the wilds of Alaska. Hope and Si will warm your heart even as you watch them heal each other. Perfect for fans of Megan Crane’s Alaska Force series, with fewer bullets flying.

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Can you walk away a second time? Silas Quinn knows that going back to Deep River is going to be hard knowing that he will leave Hope behind again. But he has to do the right thing by the town even if it means leaving behind the woman that he has always loved. Hope always thought that it was Caleb that she wanted so when him & Silas she just carried on by herself. But seeing Silas again after all this time has made her realise that it was always him. But with everything going on in the town she can’t let her heart get in the way. Will this be the end of their relationship for good? A great read. I was lucky enough to receive a copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

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This is my first story from this author and it didn’t disappoint. I love ones that revolve around interesting, unique communities as this one does so beautifully. Eek I hear Alaska calling my name. Haha.

Hope and Silas are childhood friends who haven’t seen each other in years. Hard decisions had been made years before causing Silas to leave and Hope to stay in their unique back country Alaskan town.

Silas returns after the death of their close friend who was part of their triad childhood friendship. The passing of said friend leads for all kinds of drama. The town running and ownership come into question after the discovery of oil. Hurt feelings, unrequited love definitely plays a role in this story.

This was a sweet afternoon read with the right amount of angst. I am looking forward to possible future storylines coming from Deep River. Hope and Silas have a beautiful resolution but we still have many questions about the future of this town. Wink

Happy Reading Everyone! XOXO

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I tried and tried and tried to get into Come Home to Deep River, but I just wasn’t able to. After reading for six nights and only getting through 50 percent, I called it quits.

Silas Quinn left his small Alaskan hometown of Deep River right after high school and never came back, not even for a visit. So when he shows up after 13 years and brings with him some unsettling information, it doesn’t go over well, especially not with Hope Dawson - who used to be one of his best friends, but certainly isn’t happy to see him now.

Silas plans to deliver his news then hightail it back to Juneau. But then he decides not to abandon Hope and leave her to deal with the fallout of a potentially bad situation - for a second time.

And that’s as far as I got. After about 200 pages we’ve covered three days of time, most of which is filled with repeated explanations and repetitious internal thoughts. Nothing drags down the pace of a book more than when something happens in the story and then in the next chapter that event is replayed and rehashed ad nauseum by the characters in their internal thoughts (which is what happened over and over and over again). I really DO want to know what the hero and heroine are thinking and feeling, but I don’t want to read the same things over and over.

I also want stuff to happen. The great thing about stories that take place in small towns are the quirky characters and the funny town traditions that are the hallmark of the small town trope. This story had a Virgin River meets Northern Exposure vibe, only without the fantastic world-creating of Ms. Carr's book series or the charming, quirky characters of the television show. I read half the book and we hardly met any other townspeople - and those we did meet were met in passing or by way of "this person owns this business in town and has lived here their whole life" (the ultimate in telling vs showing). I needed more charm, I needed more action.

I really wanted to like this story - I’m a huge fan of small town stories - but this one failed to pull me in and hold my interest. So I’m adding it to my virtual DNF pile and moving on...

* thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Casasblanca for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review

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Complementary copy given for honest review.
Not one of my favorite reads. It was very heavy and spoke more of the oil and such. The characters were kind of background in parts.

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