“Despite the complexities [of] this tale, Finding Faith reads like the honeymoon stage of a relationship. It’s filled with laughter, an idealized reality, and an endless craving for the story to continue. Luke’s and Mary’s love offers a temporary euphoria that shows romance is sometimes found where it is least expected.” –Publisher’s Weekly
★ Like mother, like daughter? Mary sure hopes not. ★
… daughter? Mary sure hopes not. ★
Two decades ago, Mary’s mom walked out. A few days later, her dad started drinking. He never stopped. Mary swore off alcohol. She also decided she’d never have kids, just in case she took after her parents.
A year ago, Mary’s boyfriend dumped her because she didn’t want to have any children.
Yesterday, for the first time in a year, Mary met someone. Someone hunky. Someone smart. Someone who made her goofy smile. Someone who sent a shiver up her spine.
Tomorrow she’s going on a first date.
She won’t find out he’s a widower with two kids for at least two more days. Can she overcome her fear and find the faith to trust someone else. . .and herself?
**Author’s Note: Titles are really hard! I struggled to find a good one for this book, and I’ve discovered that some readers think this book is Christian fiction. It’s free of bad language and adult content, but it’s not religious in nature. Make your choices accordingly.
Trade Reviews and Author Recommendations
“With an opening line that is both assertive and striking, the book begins with a strong narrator who claims her own story. As Mary tells her past, she becomes vulnerable with those in her life and her readers.
Baker’s dialogue has the capacity to reflect the diction of a thirty-year-old and a five-year-old, encompassing a wide range of perspectives. Amy’s and Chase’s imperfect sputters and continual deviance paint an authentic picture of children’s behavior.
The Christmas setting nearly typecasts this book with all the novelistic qualities of a Hallmark movie. The honeyed beginning and equally passionate ending provide a childish delight that kindles the spirit of a hopeless romantic.
Despite the complexities littered throughout this tale, Finding Faith reads like the honeymoon stage of a relationship. It’s filled with laughter, an idealized reality, and an endless craving for the story to continue. Luke’s and Mary’s love offers a temporary euphoria that shows romance is sometimes found where it is least expected.” Publisher’s Weekly
”Finding Faith is a heartwarming and brilliant story about love, loss, and learning what you really want.” USA Today Bestselling author, Elana Johnson
“A fun romance! I highly enjoyed it. Bridget knows how to tug at your heartstrings. A fantastic read!” NYT Bestselling Author, Victorine E. Lieske
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It’s hard to find CLEAN romance that doesn’t feel cliche and also has robust, developed characters. This book (and the entire series, really) totally delivered! You will fall in love with the characters and the writing style!
An adorable romance, even set at Christmas time! You could not love these characters more if you tried. A lonely woman who is an amazing aunt but swears off ever having her own family due to whole awful her own was. Her mess of a sister and adorable 3 year old nephew with health issues. A handsome electrician who is much more than he seems. Precocious little kiddos without a mother. A richy rich jerk of an ex who gets just what and who he deserves. There’s even a rescue pup thrown in there for good measure. You will sniffle a bit and laugh a lot!
Mary is a tax accountant yet a sympathetic heroine — who would have expected that? She likes tax work because it leaves her time at the end of the year to work on her charity that provides Christmas gifts to children who would otherwise miss presents. She had been engaged to the trust fund guy who runs the local United Way, but she refuses to have children because she fears her parenting would mimic that h=of her parents who were totally selfish. Yet Mary has been the substitute mother to her sister and gives her unconditional support and care. Mary is blindsided by Luke an electrician who travels from job to job in his trailer with his 2 kinds since his wife died. But sparks fly and Mary and Luke connect.
This stoy is about Mary and her relationshps with her family and friends. It is interesting to see how she grows throughout this story. A very entertaining and a clean fun romance. This is the first book by this author and will look forward to reading more stories by Bridget Baker.
Finding strength and faith in yourself is a live story all its own – but adding a sweet romance is double the fun.
Five stars: a wonderful Christmas read that I nonetheless enjoyed in May.
At first glance, I thought this book was Christian fiction. That’s not a genre I prefer, so I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that the title refers to the MC finding faith in herself, essentially. However, this wasn’t the sappy romance novel I was expecting, either. It was more women’s fiction slash romance, I’d say. It had substance and depth, three-dimensional characters, and realistic issues, but also a nice romantic arc.
I listened to the audio narrated by Jennifer Jill Araya. The performance was wonderful. Her characterization was subtle but excellent, and she maintained consistency and authenticity. I loved her portrayal of Luke, especially.
I enjoyed getting to know Mary, insecurities, strengths, and all. Luke was a pure treat, from his dreamy accent, great sense of humor, and good looks to his beautiful heart, flexible attitude, and inner end outer strength. My husband is an electrician, so it was fun reading terms that were familiar to me and ftr those aspects were spot-on, which I appreciated.
I got annoyed at some of the supporting characters, especially Trudy and Addie. However, I think that’s because they were portrayed so realistically – no flat, stock, trope-filled characters but an actual little sister and bestie with all the good and bad that can contain.
Technically speaking, since I listened to the audio it’s harder to say than if I’d read the ebook, but it seemed flawlessly written and edited. I heard no issues whatsoever in that regard.
The book was a really good read overall, but I did feel the slightest bit rushed at the end, and wished there was more of a wrap, an epilogue, something! There’s a lot of build up and then an awfully fast conclusion. That’s common with Christmas-set books, but it always annoys me. Give me the New Year’s update! However, since it IS book one of a series, perhaps we get some better closure as things progress in book two. I’m looking forward to Trudy’s story, and kinda hoping Paisley gets one as well.
I would highly recommend this story, and not just for a holiday read.
I loved this sweet, 2nd chance love story. The story kept me captivated and I couldn’t put the book down! This is the 3rd book in the series that I have read.
I loved watching Mary’s character grow. She has such a big heart for other people and she doesn’t realize how far she has come.
Luke keeps pushing on, no matter how much life throws at him. He has such a big heart and a love for his family.
Amy, Chase and Troy – these 3 kids have been through so much, but they haven’t let that change who they are.
Since I read 2 later books in the series, it was nice to have this book to see where it all began.
Addictive, vivacious, witty, and has a sweet dog!
Audiobook version: 5 stars overall, 5 stars story, 5 stars narration
This emotionally tumultuous but fun contemporary romance really impressed me in every way: the narrator, the vivacious characters, the witty banter, and the romance. It even had an elegant and adorable Great Pyrenees dog! There was so much passion between Luke and Mary that it is rather surprising that there was no bedroom scene, just some marvelous kissing and gorgeously romantic words and feelings. Luke is a perfectly charming single dad, and his kids are adorable. I connected well with Mary, an intelligent career woman with a passion for her charity work. She is pretty hard-headed about not having kids unless she wanted to give up her career, but I can understand where she is coming from. The entire story is told from Mary’s perspective, which works well because Luke beautifully shared his feelings. Bridget Baker has joined my list of favorite writers. I was totally addicted to every minute of this marvelous romance.
The solo narrator, Jennifer Jill Araya, gave an absolutely amazing performance. Her voice for the hero sounded like he was voiced by a completely different person, a hot Australian guy with a slightly gravelly voice. Her performance was absolutely flawless, and she impressed me as much as my favorite narrators, Mary Jane Wells and Amanda Ronconi.
I requested and received a free audiocode from the author via AudioBookfly, and I voluntarily wrote this honest review.
I see the next hallmark movie
What an incredible book. And if you are a fan of hallmark romance than this is the book for you. I sure hope hallmark will pick this book and turn it into a movie. Mary a wonderful woman who lives for her family and the local secret Santa program could not be a more amazing person. When she is hit with hardship she doesn’t give up. She perseveres and keeps on going. She finds a way to overcome problems and immerse on top on the other side. Bridget keeps it light and fun when following Mary’s story but also making the reader fall in love with her. Well, I said it is a hallmark movie so when she meets Luke it’s not all roses right away but the way Bridget incorporates the ups and downs makes you not want to put the book down. This is a perfect stand alone novel, a clean romance with a happy ending that is well written and has a plot that keeps you engaged and interested from page 1. But it is also the start to her Almost a Billionaire series.
Bridget is an author that writes with compassion and has a way to bring you into the world of her book. I was cheering for Mary and Luke in the duration of this book because I wanted the very best for them. I will read the other books in this series as well because Bridget has hooked me with her incredible writing style.
Contemporary romance isn’t my usual genre. I usually like my romances to be of the historic variety, but after reading Bridget E. Baker’s YA trilogy Sins of Our Ancestors, I liked her writing style quite a lot, so I decided to give this one a try. It also helped that it’s a Christmas romance that immediately reminded me of a Hallmark Christmas movie when I read the description.
Overall I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I think it even tops the YA trilogy. Maybe it’s because this is about adults, and I’ve recently been leaning toward adult reads over YA ones. Whatever the reason I found this a nice cozy Christmas read with characters that were very likeable. I did have a hard time relating to Mary’s love for preparing taxes (Ick! Definitely not my thing.) But I loved her devotion to her friends and family and her love of giving to children in need.
My one complaint would be that things were tied up just a little bit too neatly for me. There was one thing that Luke was able to do concerning a house that I thought was a little too much, but that’s a small thing compared to how entertaining this was. There is going to be a sequel and I will definitely read it. I’m guessing it’s going to be more of a companion book, and I’m already betting I know who it will feature. I guess I’ll find out.
The one thing Mary will never be is a mom. Not that she hates kids. But her childhood was so terrible that she’s determined not to follow in her mother’s footsteps, and she’s stuck to that decision her whole life. She even ended things with her handsome, rich fiancé when he wanted kids. Besides, she has plenty of kids in her life: her nephew, Troy, who needs as much love as he can get, and the hundreds she helps every Christmas with her Sub-for-Santa program.
The kid thing puts a damper on her dating life. So when Mary bumps into a friendly, good-looking stranger, she politely but firmly says goodbye. Except that Luke doesn’t want to say goodbye and manages to talk her into a date. He seems to be everything Mary could want, so it comes as a terrible shock that he has two young children. These little ones tragically lost their mother already, so no way is she going to step in only to let them down again. But since they’re moving out of her life in a few weeks, maybe it would be okay to enjoy a taste of what-if…and to face the reasons why she can never have children of her own. Is it possible she could overcome her past?
I love Mary’s character. She is strong, ambitious, and principled, but also generous and compassionate. She loves her sister enough to risk her own future. She feels deeply but is willing to do what is right despite how she feels. Luke is a perfect match for her, patient and kind and funny, and stubborn enough to wear down her defenses. It’s so much fun to watch their relationship progress. While they have plenty of learning and growing to do, they’re not teenagers struggling with angst and hormones. They’re looking for the rest-of-their-lives love that can raise children together, navigate life’s difficulties together, and bring out the best in each other. Finally, this review wouldn’t be complete without mentioning those two precocious but sweet children. Amy just melts my heart with her wise-beyond-her-years comments and firm love for Mary. Chase is adorable and seeing Luke be a loving dad is pretty much the cutest thing ever.
As in any of Bridget Baker’s books, these characters feel so real. And while Mary and Luke may seem like an unlikely couple, given her stance on children, we’re able to see how deeply compatible they are, not just attracted to each other despite their differences as Hallmark movies tend to portray…they seem like they could actually do life together. I’ll be thinking about them for a while, happy that I got a glimpse of their lives.
Heartwarming Holiday Romance
This is a clean and moving romance. This is a very ‘grown-up’ story without any sex or gore. It brought tears to my eyes more than once. The main characters are struggling with issues and are making serious decisions. This is so much more than a romance. I enjoyed this book so much that I also purchased Book 2. I am off to read it now. I may binge read the entire series!
Loved this story so much. Luke and Mary were so cute together. The intial meet up and everyone. after. And the kids how could you not love the kids.
I loved Finding Faith! This story has a great dog, adorable kids, and realistic characters. While the story is set at Christmas it is about much more than that season. Mary gets to grow a great deal, conquer some fears and help many people less fortunate than she. I thought both names for Mary’s charitable efforts were perfect. This book just sucked me in and kept me captive until the end.
A classic love story
Oooh the dreaded ‘first person, present tense’! Hard to make that work, but actually, it lends itself perfectly for letting the reader inside, for making the reader feel what Mary feels, for taking me by the hand on an emotional journey. Only, that didn’t happen here. I felt left outside. I wasn’t being let in. There was a wall that Mary put up and she didn’t even allow me, the reader, inside. I just couldn’t reach her, and she couldn’t reach me. It felt like it was being told from the outside, not the inside. Mary is just telling the facts devoid of feelings. The story itself was nice. I liked it. But I had to deduct a star for the whole not-feeling-it thing.