Come home to Silver Springs for the holidays, where broken hearts learn to love again…together. So much for forever. When Harper Devlin’s rock star husband ditches her on his way to the top, she takes her two daughters to her sister’s place in Silver Springs for the holidays, hoping family can heal her broken heart. But comfort comes in unexpected places when she crosses paths with local Tobias … crosses paths with local Tobias Richardson.
The moment Tobias spots Harper, he recognizes a sadness he knows all too well. After spending thirteen years in prison paying for his regretful past, Tobias is ready to make amends, and maybe helping Harper is the way to do it. But offering her a shoulder to cry on ignites a powerful attraction and a desire neither saw coming.
Fearing her reaction, Tobias doesn’t reveal his checkered past. He’s falling hard, and if Harper finds out, he’ll lose her for good, especially because her famous ex is now trying to win her back. Secrets have a way of coming out, but maybe this Christmas will bring Tobias the forgiveness—and the love—he deserves.
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CHRISTMAS IN SILVER SPRINGS (Silver Springs Book 6) by Brenda Novak is a full-length Christmas contemporary romance. The story is not a light and fluffy Christmas romance, but a powerful story of finding love after betrayal, forgiveness and redemption. This addition to the series, like all the books in this series, can be easily read as a standalone.
Harper Devlin and her two young daughters leave Denver behind to spend time with her sister’s family in Silver Springs after her ten-year marriage to rock star, Axel Devlin ends in divorce. Harper is finding it difficult to move forward, even with the difficulties and betrayals during the last two years of their marriage. She is surprised by the kindness of a stranger, who sees her sadness and hands her a single white rose and just offers to listen if she needs to talk.
Tobias Richardson recognizes the sadness in Harper’s eyes. He moved to Silver Springs to be close to his brother and his family five months ago, after being released from prison. Thirteen years ago, he was sentenced as an adult after a terrible incident. He regrets everything and even though he has been forgiven by those who lives he changed forever, he is finding it difficult to forgive himself. When he offers Harper his friendship, neither can believe the powerful attraction and desire that rises between them.
As Tobias and Harper’s relationship grows, Tobias is afraid of Harper’s reaction if she learns of his past. But secrets have a way of coming out and when Harper learns of Tobias’ past, he fears he has lost her for good. The truth is not always, black and white and Christmas is a time for forgiveness and love.
This is not your usual holiday romance. It is emotionally deep with angst and heavy topics; the loss of a long-term marriage, fear of a rebound relationship, keeping Tobias’ incarceration a secret, forgiving oneself and moving on. Even with all of this going on, it is a beautiful romance between Harper and Tobias. Both Harper and Tobias were realistically written by Ms. Novak. Harper’s loss of her marriage, the conflicts with her ex and the fear of trusting again set up her indecision. Tobias’ actions as a teenager, the glimpses of prison life and the understanding of others while being unable to forgive himself gave him depth. The sex scenes are short and explicit, but not gratuitous.
This story is about the many types of forgiveness, redemption and the Christmas season setting adds to the wish for love and happiness for all.
The story of Atticus and Tobias continues. Old hurts are out aside and life improves for Tobias. That is until his world is turned upside down by a soon-to-be divorcee, the wife of a loved and hated rocker (you’ll have to read the look to find out why). Brenda takes words and drives emotions from one extreme to the other. Definitely another hit for Brenda!
This is the 6th in the Silver Springs series. Brenda Novak not only wrote a great Christmas story, but an emotional story about Tobias Richardson. After reading about his brother Maddox and Jada in the previous book, I was so interested to see how Tobias’ story would turn out. It was a touching story of forgiveness, love and starting over. This book really made you feel for Tobias and how hard it is to start over in a town where everyone knows you. I really enjoy Silver Springs and its people. Looking forward to the next one in the series.
This was the most moving story I’ve read in a long time. I was left in tears a number of times. This story is filled with great characters and a great story that will leave you wanting more.
Loved the interaction between the characters in this book. And the premise! Having your most intimate moments blasted on the internet – every woman’s worst nightmare. Yay for Brenda for giving us a character who was able to rise above what she’d gone through and find her way to a new year filled with hope. A Christmas setting is always a bonus!
One of the best books I have ever read. With a gift of a rose a man, struggling to get his life together, helps a young woman find her balance..
Great book. Brenda is a excellent writer
Harper comes to Silver Springs to stay with her sister when her rock star husband asks for a divorce. She meets Tobias, who just got back to town after being released from prison for shooting a young man and causing him to become a paraplegic. Harper build a relationship with Tobias, not knowing his history. As the story progresses, the reader learns the circumstances of Tobias and Harper’s lives.
Christmas in Silver Springs (Silver Springs, #6) was a great read by Brenda Novak. Harper’s husband is a rockstar who just ditched her on his way to stardom. For the holiday’s she brought her two daughter’s to her sister’s house. She is looking to heal her broken heart but never expected comfort to be with Tobias. Tobias knows that Harper has deep sadness in herself which he recognizes. Tobias has been paying fo this past mistakes and trying to make amends. He becomes a shoulder for Harper to cry on but neither one can fight their attraction. Unfortunately Harper’s ex now wants to try and win her back. I loved reading Tobias and Harper’s chance at love. I can’t wait to read more by Brenda Novak.
By far CHRISTMAS is my favorite in the SILVER SPRINGS series!! I was hoping Tobias would get his own book because I felt his story was begging to be told. Tobias fresh out of prison has steadily been trying to rebuild his life. Harper has been blindsided by the breakup of her marriage to her rock star husband and is visiting her sister in Silver Springs with her girls. I loved Tobias and Harper together. My heart broke in different ways for both of them. Both struggled with so much and I was glad when Harper finally stood up for herself and what she wanted. I love this series and cannot wait for the next installment.
After thirteen long years in prison, a man gets to celebrate the Christmas holidays in freedom for the first time since he was a teenager. A woman comes to town to heal a broken heart after her husband of many years lets his rockstar fame put his family aside. I was captivated and eager to see how things turned out for this pair and try a new to me author all in one.
Christmas in Silver Springs is the sixth book in the series about the inhabitants of a small California town a little distance from LA. This read standalone just fine, but I could see how it was tied in with the previous story about the hero’s brother.
Tobias Richardson made a horrible mistake years before when he was a teenager and ended up turning a guy into a paraplegic which he served time for as an adult. Out of prison for five months now, he’s struggling against loneliness and guilt along with the real temptation to slip off the straight and narrow. He has his landlord at the orchard farm and his brother’s family who believes in him. He has dreams and plans if he can just hang in there especially when he sees the family he hurt all the time in a small town. Then, he catches sight of a beautiful woman with sad eyes and knows she is way out of his league, but he can befriend her, right? She doesn’t need to know about his past since this is just temporary until she returns home.
Harper Devlin thought being married to her college sweetheart, having his two children, and supporting him through thick and thin on his rise to rock stardom would be enough. But, then he told her he wanted a divorce and started the proceedings. She decides to spend the holiday with her sister’s family where she can have support and lick her wounds. She was hoping for a miracle even as the divorce deadline approached. Then, through a series of encounters with a handsome man who makes her feel comfortable and at peace from the moment she meets him, she begins to realize that her life would not be over if she was divorced. Besides, she deserves a bit of fun with a great guy at least for the holidays. Tobias seems too good to be true, but she’s falling for him.
I wasn’t prepared for how much this book would give me the feels. I knew that it would dig a bit deeper than the average holiday romance when I read that blurb about their situations, but the author made it all personal so that I was right there for how Tobias felt about his past mistakes, his struggles to reintegrate to life outside prison, and even the brief glimpses of what life in prison had been like. Then, there’s Harper who gets pushed aside in her husband’s rise to glory and fame and how that felt especially knowing he was unfaithful and didn’t seem to care about keeping his family together. I liked how their story was set among a cast of well-developed secondary characters, too.
I had a moment near the beginning when I kept side-eying Harper for her hot and cold deal with Tobias because she was a serious hot mess and needed to get her head on straight before she tangled with a man even for what she thought was a one night stand. Then, later, it was Tobias’ turn when I kept getting fidgety knowing his keeping his ex-con status and story to himself was going to blow up in his face. I do get it and it made sense not to over-share when he thought it was a one and done or a holiday fling, but when they started looking at longer… yeah, time to cough up the deets.
As much as I loved Tobias and Harper’s romance, and I surely did even though it was complicated with her pending divorce, rebound troubles, and Tobias’ secret, the best part of this story was the healing that happened when the man Tobias’ harmed and went to prison for, shared a special project with Tobias that helped Tobias finally start to emotionally heal.
All in all, this one exceeded expectation and now I have a new author to hunt up her backlist for this series and her other books, which of course, I have several on the shelf already. This is for those who want a holiday romance with some depth and a cast of characters and setting that are thoroughly engaging.
Always enjoyed reading Brenda Novak books. Love the character Tobie.
Difficult to know when you tell someone more about yourself. Especially something you wish you could change.
Great book
It is a heart warming story filled with wonderful characters. I love the story line and found it quite original.
Tobias is Maddox’s brother from the previous book. He just got out of prison 5 months ago. Harper is the ex-wife of a famous rock star. She has 2 daughters with him and right now she is living with her sister’s family. Tobias works for New Horizons as maintenance man. Tobias will not tell Haper that he was in jail, nor the reason. They start a sexual relationship, until Harper’s ex- husband keeps calling and texting her. Tobias wants her to be happy, even if she chooses her ex over him. She doesn’t choose the ex.
Later Axel, the ex, hears people talking about Tobias, and why He was in jail. He goes to tell Harper, and she breaks things off with Tobias. She is leaving to go back to Denver when Atticus, the boy Tobias hurt stops her, and tells her everything. She goes to talk to Tobias, who at first shuts her down, but she won’t let that happen. So they talk, and say some words to each other.
Great book. Love this series. I hope Atticus gets a book.
I received a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
I love all her books. can’t wait for next one
Harper, mother to Piper and Everly, is visiting her sister Karoline and her family in Silver Springs for Christmas. Harper and her rock star husband are getting a divorce, something which came out of the blue for her. You see, she’d been with Axel before he and his band became famous. She’d supported them when his band was first starting out and had stayed home with their daughters while he was out on the road. So, when he’d asked for the divorce, she didn’t put up a fight, figuring it was easier for everyone. Now she’s trying to get her life, post divorce, in order and giving her daughters the best Christmas possible. While in Silver Springs she meets Tobias. A quiet man who is the grounds keeper for New Horizons, a place for troubled kids.
Tobias saw Harper one day in the diner and just knew he needed to do something to make her smile. Even though he had no clue who she was, he decided to surprise her with a flower. Afterwards, they saw each other around town, and both felt the obvious attraction, but weren’t too quick to act on it. Tobias hasn’t been out of prison long and is just trying to live right. When he was seventeen, a drunken mistake led to a friend being paralyzed, and a long sentence for Tobias.
The two meet in town, and the sparks fly and they start meeting up at his house at night. They try to keep it a secret, but nothing is a total secret in a small town.
I’m going to be honest here, this story was hard for me to get into and it didn’t keep me engaged. The writing is good, as is the premise, but I couldn’t get invested in the characters and I couldn’t get into the story. I gave this story 4 stars because everything’s there to make it a really good book, it just didn’t do it for me.
**I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.
Tobias Richardson was a rebellious young man experimenting at a party when tragedy occurred at his hands. After spending 13 years in prison, he’s working hard to start a good life as an adult, never forgetting that what he did landed a little boy in a wheelchair for life. When he sees Harper Devlin, he recognizes her sadness and tries to give her hope, expecting nothing.
Harper is in Silver Springs visiting her sister while her divorce becomes final. She is having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that her rock star husband is abandoning her and their daughters now that he is famous. When Tobias gives her encouragement, she finds he’s easy to talk to and be with, and she slowly finds her way back to herself with his friendship.
As their relationship grows, can there be a future? Can they survive her husband’s last-minute change of mind or Harper discovering Tobias’s past?
I absolutely adore Tobias. He is such a wonderful person who has come so far from the kid who ended up in jail for 13 years. He is weighed down by guilt, but is determined to be a good person and have a productive life. Both he and Harper were in need of some emotional healing to move forward in their lives. Tobias, especially, needs to forgive himself, especially since his victim has already forgiven him.
This is the sixth book in the Silver Springs series, and, I think, my favorite. There is romance and Christmas, but so much more emotion. The characters are well-written, flawed, and full of depth. Don’t miss this holiday read. If you haven’t read the others in the series, it can stand alone.
#ChristmasinSilverSprings #BrendaNovak #SilverSprings
There is so much going on in this book! The main plot is about Harper Devlin and Tobias Richardson meeting each other, the sparks that fly and them finding a path to the future.
Harper is days away from her divorce (that she never wanted). Her soon to be ex-husband is a mega music star that decided he wanted a different life then the one they built together since college days. She is struggling to let the past go, be a great mom and forge a new future without what she thought was the love of her life.
Tobias has been free from prison only for 5 months. He spent 13 years jailed for an unintentional shooting of an 11 year old, while he was irrational from experimenting with drugs at the age of 17. This one action changed his life and the 11 yr old he shot. Amazingly, he and the person he shot are best of friends now.
The story is about the hard issues of moving forward, forgiveness of yourself and others and strength through a network of friends and family.
I have not read all of the books in the Silver Springs series, but that is my goal now. The books are full of heartfelt plots, flawed & lovable characters and lessons to be learned by the characters and the reader.
Brenda Novak is a master storyteller and I love this book and recommend it highly.