Award-winning wildlife photographer, Elijah Ellis, has come back home due to the tragic accident that killed members of both his and his best friend Tabitha Brodie’s family. Despite their grief, Eli hopes that he and Tabby can pick up their familiar friendship. He’s never forgotten the way Tabby makes him feel–full of hope and a sense of home–but she seems determined to keep him at arm’s length. length.
Tabby has always loved Eli. He’s everything she wants in a man. But he left Gatlinburg to make a name for himself outside of his famous family. Even though there’s no one better to help her through this time, she refuses to be an anchor to a life he never wanted. Not to mention Tabby’s hiding a secret that will change all of their lives.
As Eli and Tabby spend more time together, he’s determined to show her they could be perfect together. Too bad she’s spent years building her walls against him…
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I really enjoyed the heartfelt love story. Such a nice romantic story to while away an afternoon. Romance lovers will enjoy.
Eli and Tabby have been best friends for years. Fifteen months ago, they shared a night of passion that could change their relationship forever. When Eli receives word a month late, that members of his and Tabby’s families have died tragically, he hurries home to check in with his family and Tabby. Eli has never been one to stick around. He would come home for short visits and then would head to new adventures. He is a world class nature photographer. Tabby is happy to see him but knows he won’t be staying for long and she is determined to keep her secret from him because she knows if he finds out, he will stay and protect her and giving up on his dream. She won’t let him sacrifice for her. She feels certain that if he does, he will eventually resent her. She couldn’t bear that from him.
Eli is determined to stay this time and the more time he spends with Tabby, the more he wants to stay and change his career path. Is it possible for them to both find their way to each other and have a happy ever after or will Eli leave breaking Tabby’s heart once again. Tabby kept telling Eli that she needed to not depend on him but she kept falling in that trap. Eli seemed confused by the back and forth, understandably.
I enjoyed this story. I did grow tired of hearing about their night of passion over and over again but it did lend itself to the story and how their feelings were justified. There were few graphic details of sex and the sex in this book was more fade to black.
I was given an arc copy of this book and I willingly offer my honest review.
The beginning moments of this story pulled me in & encouraged me to read further. The characters were well defined & fleshed out. They had both good & bad points. The family managed to support the plot & the characteristics of the main couple. The story had its moments & it was an entertaining read.
His Reason to Stay is a sweet, second-chance romance with a twist. The blurb doesn’t reveal a fairly big detail about Eli and Tabby’s relationship, so I’m not going to either. Suffice to say, it takes a fairly standard romance trope and makes a fairly significant change, and I’m still processing exactly how I feel about it. On the one hand, I thought, hey, this is different! Huh… and on the other…IDK. At times it felt more plot device-ish than something truly organic. The ending was very cute and sweet, but…yeah, still a bit torn about it all.
If you enjoy family drama, though, this story has it in spades! A major tragedy involving Eli’s and Tabby’s family sets much of the story in motion (along with something else that takes place before the story begins) and goodness, does Eli have a whole lot of siblings. His relationship with them, especially his twin Sam, is in flux for a lot of the book. (And is Sam being set up for a future book of his own? It did seem like a real possibility… :)) Eli’s never had any interest in his family’s business–until now, maybe–and it’s caused some feelings between all of the Ellises.
Has Eli finally found his reason to stay? He says so at the end; I hope so (cute ending!) but it didn’t quite feel like he put enough work into changing his mind there. Fingers crossed that future books in the series (supposing there are some–but again, lots of siblings!) show that he has.
Rating: 3 1/2 stars / B-
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book.
Elijah Ellis comes back to his hometown after a tragedy happens with someone in his family and while there reconnects with his childhood friend who has always been special to him, Tabby. But first they have to resolve some problems and insecurities to see if they really could be together.
This was a good story, but i thought that his family and Tabby could have had more faith in him seeing that he was really trying to help them.
I received an ARC copy of this book from the publisher, all opinions here are my own.
First book by this author that I have read and I thought it was an ok read. It is a sweet second chance romance and if that is what you are looking for then this book is for you. I like my romance to have a little heat to it that I can actually see and not getting ready to head to the bedroom and then have the door closed in my face. Tabby and Eli were an ok couple. They were childhood friends and Tabby always had a thing for Eli but she never acted on it. It was an ok read for me but it may be good for others.
I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
A perfect book about falling back in love!
Photographer Elijah Ellis had gotten the perfect shot in the wilds of South America and wanted to take a break visiting his family and his best friend Tabitha Brodie because their families had been best friends for years. When Eli finally had phone service he found out there had been an accident and members of both families had been killed. Tabby was glad to see Eli but she didn’t want him to stay around because she was a surrogate for her sister and Eli’s brother who had been killed in the accident along with both of their fathers and she was pregnant with their child. The Brodie’s had a distillery that Tabby need to run even though her training was to be the Master Distiller and her sister was going to run the company and that didn’t happen. Eli’s brother worked for their family’s amusement park company and Eli need to decide whether to help his brothers and sister or walk away from Tabby for the last time.
His Reason to Stay was the perfect book to read when I needed a story about best friends falling back in love after a devastating accident for the family’s and the healing they all needed.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
A sweet and dreamy story with with goodness and love. Tabby and Eli are childhood friends who have always loved and depended on each other. When tragedy strikes they have to decide if a life together is possible. The story tells the tale of two families love and legacy. Carrying on when things seem despondent is about trusting the people who love you to keep loving you.
**I received a copy of His Reason to Stay from Net Galley and Entangled Publishing in exchange for a voluntary and honest review. My opinions weren’t solicited in any way and are mine alone.**
His Reason to Stay by Jennifer Hoopes is hopefully a new series for the author with the rest of the Ellis and Brodie families finding their happy ever after. I’ve read Ms. Hoopes Cowboy series and found this book just as good.
Tabitha Brodie loves creating new whiskeys for her families company but when she’s asked by her sister to do something for her she doesn’t hesitate to say yes. But now a tragic accident has taken not only her sister, husband and their fathers but she’s now learning how to run her families business as well as a secret only she knows. When famous wildlife photographer Elijah Ellis finally has cell service after a photo shoot he comes home. Tabitha has always loved him but fears that he’ll come home and help then leave again. Will he stay or can he find the same joy in working for Brodie Whiskey and Ellis Amusements or will he leave again?
Elijah Ellis loves taking photos of animals that no one else can but sitting in meetings for his families amusement and Percheron horse breeding business would be stifling. But when an accident takes his brother and father and leaves his brothers and sister wondering if he’ll finally come home and stay. But when Tabitha needs help he doesn’t hesitate to step in and be there when she needs him. Can he stay and prove to Tabitha and his family that he’s going to stay home and prove to her he loves her?
His Reason to Stay by Jennifer Hoopes a sold four-star read. This was sweet in all the best ways and an author I will look for again, I read it in one sitting so that’s always a good sign, and I simply adored Tabby Brodie and Eli Ellis, the chemistry they exude drips off the page and the story is compelling, and almost a five-star read, but it just missed a couple of points for me that I found repetitive and a bit toing and froing too much, but only a couple of pages so I didn’t mark it down much. I have seen this author a couple of times and thought I would pick her writing up but they just got added to my TBR pile and this one knocked them up the list a little higher. If you like your romance sweet, but with a twist and a past then this one is for you.
This was a solid 3.5 stars.
I have to confess that if I had known this story was about a surrogate, I would not have read it. Once I took my personal and religious beliefs out of the equation, I was able to enjoy the book.
The story centers around Tabitha Brodie, and Elijah Ellis. Tabby has stayed home to be part of her family’s distillery and Elijah has become a world famous wildlife photographer, one constantly traveling the world . But when tragedy at home affects both their families , Eli returns. Unaware of a secret Tabby is keeping.
In general plot was engaging and the characters complex and interesting.
Aside from the main plot, it’s a story about family, the fragility of life , new beginnings, hope and love.
A good introduction to the Ellis family.
I was entrusted a copy of this book by Netgalley and Entangled Publishing. The opinions expressed are solely my own.