Harvest Moon

– Denise Hunter –

Riverbend #3

Thomas Nelson

Published 6 September 2022

♥♥♥♥♥

Welcome back to Riverbend. Home of delightful romances and second chances. Harvest Moon might start with a tragedy but it is love, loyalty and commitment that brings the joy in this story.
When Gavin’s best friend and his wife die in a plane crash, Gavin knows he will do anything to support the little girl left behind. Laurel too knows she would do anything to care for the daughter of her best friend. Even if it means working with her ex-husband Gavin. It’s been three years since Laurel and Gavin divorced in the wake of their own tragedy. Now the death of their best friends and the love for a little girl brings them together again. They both plan to just get through each day and make sure Emma has everything she needs before a family member steps in to take care of her. But the situation is more complicated than first expected and caring for a young child allows Gavin and Laurel the time to reconnect. Will it be for closure or a second chance?

Okay, okay, we all know we are pulling for a second chance for this romance, but there were times I had my doubts it would work out. The story is focused on what’s best for Emma and for the couple and sometimes closure and healing is best. This truly is a lovely, if heartbreaking story. While I adored the romance, it was little Emma who stole my heart and Hunter did a fantastic job of bringing her joy and sorrow, her cuteness and her little spark to the pages.

Gavin and Laurel do a great job of working together to care for Emma. They reflect on their relationship of the past, what went wrong and the mistakes they both made, but they are both different people now. What remains is the connection they always shared. In chapters scattered throughout the novel we get Laurel and Gavin’s first love story, right from their teenage years all the way through college, marriage and what went wrong between them. These chapters bring a lot of insight about their relationship and why they were so good together, but also the hurt each carried from other relationships.

While the story is set around great sadness in the loss of people very dear to all the characters, Harvest Moon is a delightful story, full of joy, as well as tears. Hunter has written about divorced characters rekindling their love before and she does it well. There are plenty of cute moments, tension and that scene after the courthouse, phew!!

Once again, Denise Hunter cements herself on my list of go-to authors for when I need just the right book to put me in a great mood, move me, make me smile and genuinely just enjoy a great story.

The publishers provided an advanced readers copy of this book for reviewing purposes. All opinions are my own.

More information

Category: Adult fiction.

Genre: Christian contemporary

Themes: Romance, divorce, marriage, grief, children, family.

Advisory: References to death and grief.

Published: 6 September 2022 by Thomas Nelson

Format: Paperback, ebook. 336 pages.

ISBN: 9780785240563

Find it on Goodreads