Whistle Stop is abuzz…the mayoral election is just weeks away.Candidate Mason Noble has a vested interest in fast-tracking the town’s revitalization project. But the votes he’d counted on are drying up because his engagement to Bella Nez ended abruptly. The local grapevine is humming with rumors, but only he and Bella know the truth. And they aren’t talking!When an emergency puts Bella in the … puts Bella in the proverbial tough spot, she needs money and fast. There’s only one person who can help—Mason. He agrees to a loan, but he has a condition. He needs Bella by his side again. A reconciliation would win over the townspeople—and it would give him a chance to win back the only woman he’s ever loved.
Bella hesitates to accept Mason’s terms. Until she’s blindsided by unexpected news that has her rethinking everything. Bella is expecting a baby, and there’s a heart-wrenching choice to be made…
more
I’ve made it no secret that I’m not a fan of the surprise baby trope. But with that trope, generally what I don’t find believable is the baby resulting from a one-night stand and the couple involved magically fall in love and get their happily ever after. Or the woman doesn’t tell the man about a baby they had until years later when they run into each other and she has a kid in tow and the guy realizes it’s his and then he gets over the anger and falls in love….
So, if you hadn’t figured out from the blurb and my little rant, A Moment to Cherish has a variation of the surprise baby trope. The difference here is that Bella and Mason were in a long term relationship that had just ended and shortly afterwards she finds out she’s pregnant AND she doesn’t keep it a secret from Mason. Since we’re reading a romance, we know that there is going to be a reconciliation and happily ever after, and while the pregnancy helps bring them together, it really isn’t the focus of the story.
What is the focus of the story is Bella and Mason and the parts they play in their small town of Whistle Stop. Bella is an artist and business owner. Mason also has his own business and has decided to run for mayor. And that last fact is what ultimately broke their relationship. They had a pretty solid relationship, but Mason made the decision to enter the mayoral race without discussing it with Bella and she knows it’s going to throw her in the spotlight and she runs scared.
I enjoyed both Bella and Mason and their story as they reconcile and work on their communication and really get to learn about each other once again. The love they had for each other was always there. But they’d begun to almost take each other for granted and stopped communicating. Yes, the pregnancy gave them a reason, but there were other factors as well… most of all the fact that they still cared for each other. And since we are reading a romance, you know that the road can’t be smooth so there were some bumps thrown in along the way to just make the relationship even stronger.
It was nice to revisit Whistle Stop. As with most small town romance series, people from prior books make appearances. The book stands along quite well, but those sightings of people are just enhanced if you’d read the rest of the series.
I found that this story really touched my emotions. In fact, I had to have the tissues handy at one point since the tears kept flowing. And there was this one scene with Bella, her childhood friend Pam and Pam’s daughter that just really got to me. It was quite touching and really a turning point in the story.
All in all, I really enjoyed this story. If you’re a fan of small town romances, I strongly recommend giving this series a try. And this book is a wonderful installment. I’m looking forward to more books in this series.
My review originally posted at Romancing the Book.
Another wonderful story in the Whistle Stop books, it can be a book that can stand alone but so much better if you read the series from the beginning to you get to read and know about all the wonderful characters of the town and what they are trying to do to revitalize the wonderful town. Bella and Mason are such a wonderful love story, she comes from a background with a lot of heartache and disappoints and he comes from a family that made differences in the town at one time. She loves him but when he decides to run for Mayor she worries that her past will come to harm him and she calls off the wedding, he still loves her and she loves him but both have a lot to fix. Then the wonderful lady who made a difference in her life has to sell her shop Bella has to go to Mason for help. But little did we know there were other things going on. I love Jennifer’s story telling and can’t wait for the next book.