Kari's 5 Star Review of Restoring Hope by CP Smith

***ARC received for honest review***

Summary:

 Life throws you curve balls, but no parent should ever bury a child. Determined not to make the same mistakes with his son as he made with his daughter, Nic Beuve is single-minded until Hope walks into his life.

Hope Delaney, a woman with a past that almost broke her, tries to keep people at bay for their own protection. Fortunately for her, no one listens when she says she wants to be alone. 

Burning desire, a deep need to protect, and a woman who looks like an angel breaks down Nic's defenses until he can’t ignore them. He wants Hope and what Nic wants…

Hope thinks she can walk away at any time she just wasn't counting on a man like Nic to get in the way, or a nosy but loving Cajun Boss. All's fair in love and war and what Maman Rose wants is Nic and Hope together.

Will their relationship survive an ex-wife with an agenda or will her past come between them... or kill them?

What I loved:

I do not want to give too much away here. So I will say that CP Smith has really raised the bar in this one.  Restoring Hope is so brilliantly written.  It isn’t always easy to write third person POV without blatant view changes.  CP weaves the POV transitions together flawlessly.  It is easy to follow and you know exactly who is saying or thinking what! It is so smooth, you may not even notice it, but I did! 

Also, I loved the Nic and Hope, together and separately.  Nic is a take charge type of alpha male.  He doesn’t ask, he tells you.  He sees that Hope is broken from her previous marriage and he proceeds with caution. CP toes the line with Nic between gentle caregiver and alpha male extremely well.  

Hope is a woman on the run. But do not mistake that for being weak.  Hope is one of the strongest women I have read in a while.  Many readers may think she isn’t this strong, warrior of a woman because she doesn’t let people in easily, but she has survived abuse that no one can really comprehend unless you have gone through it.  She is guarded because she has to be for her safety.  

Secondary characters are often overlooked as either not important or they become the villains.  The secondary characters in Restoring Hope, are as lovable and endearing as the two main characters. 

What I didn’t love:

This isn’t really something I didn’t love as much as it was something I didn’t understand.  The French connection to their culture in Louisiana shines through with the vocabulary.  I know, I know. There was a glossary for the terms, but to be honest, you don’t memorize them so flipping back and forth until you get used to them, was a bit time-consuming.  I think once you get used to the words and what they mean you ooh past it. 

Overall: 

I do believe I stated after A Reason To Breathe, that CP Smith was an author to watch.  You really should be looking out for her. Restoring Hope is her second novel, and already she is outdoing herself.  The growth in her writing bleeds on the pages and is shown with this story. CP gave me this book before release for an honest review.  This is as honest as it gets. SHE IS STILL AN AUTHOR TO WATCH.  (She writes sexy alpha-males too…can’t get any better then that!!)