Loving Josie (A Torey Hope Novel)

This is the story of one Josie Decker. Unwanted, unloved and lonely, Josie wants to escape her wealthy, controlling parents and an equally wealthy, controlling husband. Art is her dream and one day, she follows it to a town called Torey Hope and a man named Kyle Martin.

This is also the story of a man named Kyle. Tattooed, wild, a bad-but-secretly-good boy, Kyle had been so happy with Izzy, his wife, and even if fate was not kind enough to provide them with a child, they still had each other. Until the day Izzy was taken from Kyle, leaving him empty. Will they be able to escape the past and find love? Izzy might be dead, but she makes her very vocal “yes” known.

Lead into gold is one thing, but Ms. Ellis takes two damaged people and transforms pain into happiness, leaving the reader filled with hope. This is not the first book in the series, but it can be read as a standalone. Told in first person, the POV changes from Josie to Kyle and back with each (short) chapter, which can be quite disorienting. Also, readers get a lot of tell and not nearly enough show during the info dump at the beginning, with life stories of both major characters dragging out (and they’re at times, perhaps a bit overdone for impact), then not enough attention being paid to how they became friends. It can be said that around the 40% mark the story starts to hit its stride, sweeping in excitement and romance, with well-deserved joy awaiting Josie and Kyle at the end of the very difficult road ahead of them.

Mimi Smith