SINCE YOU’VE BEEN GONE

Restoring Heritage Series #3

by

TARI FARIS

Genre: Fiction / Christian / Contemporary Romance

Publisher: Revell

Date of Publication: September 7, 2021

Number of Pages: 336 pages

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With her vision and his know-how, this thing just might work . . .

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, but he also seems determined to complicate her present as well.

In order to avoid forcing a buyout of Leah’s building, Jon will have to strike a compromise. Can the two of them work together? Or will their troubled past set the tone for their future?

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Looking for a sweet, Hallmark-style romance? Then look no further than this series. While this is the third in the series, I am now intrigued and will have to go back and read the first two books. This book totally stands on its own, you would just learn more about some of the other characters that play a minor role.

We meet two couples in this book (or soon to be coupled) Jon and Leah and Colby and Madison. All but Colby grew up in this area and knew each other in school. That doesn’t mean that they liked each other, you know how petty high school can get. But that is the great thing about time, we all mature and that includes these characters. They also become better versions of themselves due to more life experience and the realization that maybe life isn’t so bad as they remember it from years gone by.

I loved the wit, sarcasm, and friendships that emerged from this story. Leah is one tough nut to crack and is very determined (perhaps rigid) when it comes to revitalizing the WiFi shop her grandparents owned. She has a great idea but being stuck in the past is not the way to move forward and create a successful venture. Jon only wants to help, but sometimes his pride, or maybe it is his love for Leah, gets in the way. Not that he doesn’t have a lot on his own plate including a sister that is acting out after the loss of their parents, and an Uncle that might be undermining the business he inherited from his father. He definitely has a lot of plates up in the air and it would only take one to bring them all down. However, that is where friends come in and help balance the load.

Madison was a troubled youth and while she is back in town to clean up her father’s estate, she is ready to leave at the first opportunity. That is until she meets Colby, a disgraced singer looking for refuge in Heritage for the time being. Madison is a prime example of someone that has changed and needs understanding and guidance so that she can realize that maybe if she opens herself up to others that she might find acceptance.

There is even a little bit of a mystery with Otis the hippo statue that moves and then disappears. I loved the story that emerged from the history of that statue and how and why it disappeared. It definitely kept the town guessing.

I enjoyed all of the characters and the interactions that expanded the story and brought dimension and depth. There is an underlying theme that faith will make all things possible if you only trust in a higher power. The story flows well between the two interconnected love stories and those that surround them. This is a perfect book for those that are looking for a book that is sweet, Christian, and romantic.

We give this book 5 paws up.

Tari Faris is the author of You Belong with Me and Until I Met You. A member of American Christian Fiction Writers and My Book Therapy, she is the projects manager for My Book Therapy, writes for learnhowtowriteanovel.com, and is a 2017 Genesis Award winner. She has an MDiv from Asbury Theological Seminary and lives in the Phoenix, Arizona, area with her husband and their three children. Although she lives in the Southwest now, she lived in a small town in Michigan for 25 years.

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GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!  GIVEAWAY!

ONE WINNER:

A copy of the whole Restoring Heritage series,

a $10 Starbucks gift card,

and a bookish sticker pack!

(US only. Ends 10/22/21.)

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