I liked reading With This Ring, but there were some parts that I really didn’t like and found it hard to get past them. Hudson was infuriating to me. I understood where he was coming from, but he went about it in the worst way. I liked Dakota, but she was so stubborn. I just wish conversations had happened sooner in the book. The epilogue was my favorite chapter and I wish more of the chapters were like that one. 🩷 I also really liked the town of Flowering Grove. It sounded like such a fun small town.

Thank you so much to Thomas Nelson Fiction and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. All opinions expressed above are my own.

With this Ring is a fun and quick read with an extremely satisfying ending. I’ve enjoyed every book I’ve read by this author and this one was no different. The basic premise has broken up couple Dakota and Hudson thrown face to face after years, when one Hudson returns to town to stop a wedding Dakota is helping make happen. To further complicate matters, the wedding is for Hudson’s sister.

So, a LOT going in in this story. Hudson is an extremely successful entrepreneur who has forgotten the importance of humanity. His solution to everything is to throw money at it. This ruffles the feathers of his sister, his aunt and former fiancée Dakota. Dakota has money worries of a different kind as her wedding dress store is struggling after significant rain caused a roof leak.

I thoroughly enjoyed the setting and premise of this book. Hudson doesn’t think his sister’s intended is good enough, but throughout shows that money doesn’t guarantee good behavior as he fails to recognize the need for humanity. He had a very long emotional journey to learn what’s really important. And if I’m honest, I thought he was a little too well written. At times he was so awful I gave up on him, so there’s a lesson for me there, because God didn’t. But with all the main and most secondary characters on different paths to a better future, all cleverly intertwined, this is definitely recommend for romance lovers.

I received a copy of With this Ring from the publisher via NetGalley, the opinions are all my own.

With This Ring
By: Amy Clipston
Pub date: January 1, 2025
Publisher Thomas Nelson
Thank you to @ThomasNelson @austenprose and Amy Clipston for this advanced E-ARC.
I really enjoyed this contemporary Romance novel.
Flowering Grove, North Carolina is a quaint town where everyone knows everyone. For Dakota Jamison she loves this town and has grown up here. Her dream of running her own Bridal Shop along with giving skating lessons at the local rink keep her busy. She has no interest in a relationship as her heart was broken years ago.
Hudson Garrity is the one who broker her heart, so when he returns to their hometown, running into each other was inevitable. He left for the big city so he could support his sister and aunt. He lost his parents at a young age and is back in town for his sister’s wedding.
This novel is about forgiveness, love, second chances and finding out what is truly important in life.

With this Ring by Amy Clipston was a very sweet and heartfelt novel. Dakota's world is turned upside down when her ex-fiancee shows back up in her hometown. Seeing these characters fall back into love with each other after many years was a wonderful journey that was very sweet. It was a quick read that left you with happy feelings akin to a Hallmark movie. You definitely feel many different emotions throughout this book as the characters go through their journeys back to each other.

Dakota y Hudson estaban comprometidos hasta que malos entendidos y falta de comunicación causaron su ruptura. Ahora 7 años después se vuelven a encontrar y se dan cuenta que se siguen queriendo, sin embargo,ambos siguen siendo tercos y tal vez, otra vez, el amor no sea suficiente.


Gracias NetGalley y el autor por el ARC para una reseña honesta.

I love a small town romance especially a second chance one. Amy knocked it out of the ball park for me with this one. Highly recommend. Loved everything about it.

This book was really hard for me to get through. The main characters were hard to connect with, mostly because they didn't seem to have many redeeming values. The dialogue felt generic and didn't move the plot forward, especially when a conversation revolved around something we, as the reader, already knew. I also found many mundane tasks described in great detail that slowed the story down (changing a flat tire, for example). I really wanted to enjoy this because I like the author but the plot and characters felt forced.

I'm not sure where this book is in the editing process but if it's still possible to make some changes, I think this story has potential to be good.

Dakota y Hudson estaban comprometidos hasta que todo salió mal y terminaron. Ella dice que fue culpa de él, y él dice que fue culpa de ella. ¿Quién tiene la razón?

Algo que me gustó fue que ella no saltó de inmediato a los brazos de él; de hecho, hizo algo que he estado pidiendo en muchos libros: actuó indiferente y estaba enojada.

Me estaba gustando mucho la historia, pero cuando llegué a la mitad, me desconecté y, por más que intenté encontrar la razón, no pude.




Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and Thomas Nelson Fiction for the advance egalley of this book. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This was quite a cute read. We follow Dakota, who is single and a talented seamstress, and runs a bridal shop in a small town. She is incredibly close to her niece. Following an unfortunate event in her bridal shop, she comes face to face with her ex, Hudson. Both Dakota and Hudson are extremely stubborn, but will their past love for each other be reignited?

This was a nice story. I enjoy a book where you are willing for that second chance romance to happen. I did find it a little slower paced in parts, but overall it was a nice story.

This is a great read.
The main characters have much to learn about their own character and plenty of ways to make serious changes.
The story flows and is engaging.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

This story is told from third person POV while also being dual perspective. It follows Dakota and Hudson who were engaged once upon a time but broke up because Hudson wanted to move to NYC and build a successful career. Dakota wanted to stay in her small town of Flowering Grove. Hudson's sister gets engaged rather quickly and Hudson is determined to make his sister postpone or cancel the wedding, which brings him back to Flowering Grove for an extended period. Hud and Dakota keep crossing paths and old memories and feelings flair.

The character growth of these two characters had to be the best part of the book. Both started as kind of a hot mess and stubborn. Like really fucking stubborn! I literally cannot stress enough how hard headed those two were. Anyway, they're constantly being told of ways to improve but it seems to never click. It isn't until much later in the book that we start to see changes in the characters.

Dakota is fiercely independent with an overly kind heart. Hudson is wildly successful and closed off. With each of their interactions you could tell they still had feelings for each other but both were so determined not to be hurt again they wouldn't admit to these feelings. So many times I wanted to reach into the book and shake them to make them see sense.

Although you could see Hudson was hurting he often went for the low blows in arguments. I loved Dakota's family and friends. They were all full of personality. Layla was just so bubbly and Shane was fierce. I don't know if this is an unpopular opinion but I didn't like Aunt Trudy. She felt two dimensional.

This story is mainly a second chance romance book mixed with a bit of forced proximity and overrun by miscommunication. While I wasn't that big of a fan on all the miscommuncations and heavy bouts of pride seeping from the characters, I do feel like this was truly second chance. It's also an INTENSE slow burn.

The story had some raw qualities which contributed to its charm. I would recommend this story just for the cuteness alone. And that epilogue was the cherry on the cake.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC!

This book was not for me. I don’t think that it was marketed correctly for my taste and felt a little like it was desperate to tap into the current romance reads

3.5 stars, rounded up to 4.

It's a funny thing; I recently tried another read by this author and struck out, but this one was a pleasant surprise!

The last 25%-30% of the book did suffer from similar issues to the other read--notably, being overly descriptive at times--but thankfully it was only a portion! And I found the story so interesting, I wanted to see how it would wrap up and the characters would develop. Hud and Dakota both drove me crazy sometimes, but I enjoyed seeing them both grow.

Stories set in and around bridal stores always make happy--I've watched more than my share of Hallmark movies and "Say Yes to the Dress" episodes over the years!--so this was ultimately a winner for me!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

#WithThisRing #NetGalley

Dakota is overwhelmed with her bridal business and problems with her landlord.
She wants to be able to make it on her own, but it seems like there is always
something else wrong. Dakota doesn't feel like her life has been the same since
breaking off her engagement seven years ago. When Dakota's ex-boyfriend shows
up in town and is renting the house next door, Dakota tries to avoid him, but it seems
to see him everywhere she'sat. . A story about a broken engagement, a controlling
brother, who thinks he knows what is best for his sister and is learning to forgive.

I loved this light hearted, sweet story about love and second chances. The characters were lovable and I appreciated the humility of both the leading characters in relation to what lead to their breakup. It was an easy, cozy, enjoyable read that I would definitely recommend to others.

I was surprised how much I enjoyed this story. I liked all the characters and how the main characters both overcame their internal struggles with the help and honesty of those around them. The relationship between the main character and his sister was sweet and his realization of why he’d been living the life he had was well done. Sweet clean read.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I really enjoyed this book. It was an easy and fun read. I would definitely recommend. I love the story of redemption that was woven throughout the book. I thought the story flowed very easily and was well written.

I enjoyed this book.
Our patrons love Amy Clipston so it will go out a lot.
I liked how they each remembered the past differently, this is so true in real life.
Thank you NetGalley for the arc.

Such a great read! Highly recommend this one.

Many thanks to the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A beautiful story of secrets, family, love, and forgiveness, Amy Clipston is one of my favorite authors. She writes beautiful stories. High Recommend!