A Love Like Ours – Becky Wade – Porter Family #3 – Bethany House Publishers – Published 28 April 2015
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Synopsis
Former Marine Jake Porter has far deeper scars than the one that marks his face. He struggles with symptoms of PTSD, lives a solitary life, and avoids relationships.
When Lyndie James, Jake’s childhood best friend, lands back in Holley, Texas, Jake cautiously hires her to exercise his Thoroughbreds. Lyndie is tender-hearted, fiercely determined, and afraid of nothing, just like she was as a child. Jake pairs her with Silver Leaf, a horse full of promise but lacking in results, hoping she can solve the mystery of the stallion’s reluctance to run.
Though Jake and Lyndie have grown into very different adults, the bond that existed during their childhood still ties them together. Against Jake’s will, Lyndie’s sparkling, optimistic personality begins to tear down the walls he’s built around his heart. A glimmer of the hope he’d thought he’d lost returns, but fears and regrets still plague him. Will Jake ever be able to love Lyndie like she deserves, or is his heart too shattered to mend?
My thoughts
You know from the very first line that this book is going to be a romance. A toe-curling, glee-inducing romance. A romance based on friendship. A romance that suffers hard times. A swoon-worthy, quote-worthy, I-wish-that-was-me romance. And it delivers.
Tall dark and brooding describes Jake Porter to a tee. Retired Marine and now a racehorse trainer, his dark past and haunting memories have swallowed up all the joy and hope in his life. When Lyndie, his childhood best friend, returns to Holley, Texas after twenty years, she brings with her light and laughter Jake believes he could never deserve to share.
Lyndie starts out wanting to help Jake, show him God’s continued love in his life, but she can’t help but be physically attracted to him and drawn to their past connection and soon she is hoping for far more than friendship. But the wall Jake has around his heart is miles high and tens times wider. Lyndie has her own problems, including balancing her will to do God’s work with her own dreams and helping her family care for her younger sister.
I loved Jake’s sarcasm and wry, dark humour. And Lyndie, too, is hilarious, creative, imaginative and has some great one liners. There is fantastic chemistry between Jake and Lyndie. Sparks fly, fires burn, hearts turn to mush. Well, mine did. The training and racing of horses created a great background for the story, and the writing style flows beautifully, with the perfect mix of humour and sensitivity. I also loved returning to the town of Holley and the Porter family. While each book in the Porter Family series can be read as a standalone, each also continues the stories of the other Porter siblings and I loved catching up with them and other familiar characters. In this book, the reader gets the bonus story of Amber and her son Jayden who we first met in book one. Amber’s own love story and the banter between Amber and Lyndie was a great addition to this book.
Looking for a contemporary romance with heart and depth that continually delights? Well, look no further because A Love Like Ours is the perfect read.
The publishers provided a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
More information
Category: Adult fiction
Genre: Christian contemporary.
Themes: Romance. Military. PTSD. Horses. Horse racing.
Series: Porter Family series #3
Published: 28 April/ 5 May 2015 by Bethany House Publishers.
Format: Paperback, ebook. 368 pages.
Author’s website: Becky Wade
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