A best friends-to-lovers, stand-alone romance from New York Times Bestselling Author, A.L. Jackson . . . Evan Bryant wasn’t your typical hero. But he was mine. Broken by the worlds’ standards, he was still the strongest boy I would ever know. My best friend. The boy I’d given everything to. My heart, my body, and the promise of forever.The day I’d needed him most, he walked away. He left me … walked away.
He left me shattered and questioning the love I’d thought we’d shared.
Three years later, I wasn’t prepared for him to return to Gingham Lakes.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he wasn’t the most beautiful man I’d ever seen.
My fingers still would have ached to caress his skin.
My body still would have begged to get lost in his touch.
And my heart . . . it would have always sung his name.
But time changes things. With it, secrets that could ruin everything.
Can we find a way to love again, or have the fears of our past stolen the hope of our forever . . .
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OMG I have no words… This story is heartwarming and heartaching! It had me from the beginning on and I love the switches to the past of Franky Lee and Evan.
Absolutely a favorite book of mine!
And because I was listening to the audiobook: Andi and Zachary did a really great job! Both of them fit perfect to Franky Lee and Evan.
A drop of hope
This book is an emotional second chance , best friends to lovers story.
Evan and Frankie grew up together , they shared an immediate connection when they were introduced as children and their connection grew with them.
Their biggest challenge was even having some disabilities including heart defect and deafness neither of those thing making an ounce of difference to Frankie but enough to make Evan make the biggest mistake of his life – to leave his home town so he was no longer a “burden” to those he loved. But 3 years later he’s come home and now they have to learn to forgive , and love each other through secrets , grief and life that has moved on.
I really enjoyed this book ! If you love descriptive and emotive writing it’s definitely worth picking up !
This book is my cup of tea, the type of books I love to read. It brings out all my emotions, laughter, joy, sorrow, empathy and beautiful, unconditional love. Fantasy read.
This book is filled with so much emotion, it will gut you and have you crying like a baby one minute and laughing out loud the next.
Frankie Leigh and Evan are childhood friends that grow to be so much more. Evan was born deaf, has a heart defect, and has a heart transplant when he was very young. As he grew up, he saw himself as not being whole and not enough for Frankie Leigh. So he leaves to find himself and maybe make things better for her.
Frankie Leigh only ever wanted Evan, her words “We need to go see Evan, he can have my heart” had me balling my eyes out. And what she did next had me crying even more. her love for Evan never wavered until the day he left. It was the day she needed him more.
Now three years later and he is back and with a baby on his hip. Frankie Leigh can’t move, can’t talk and it hurts to even look at him. Can she give him the chance to explain why he left? Will he leave again when she tells him her secret? Who is leaving those messages and notes?
I haven’t read the series the parents of Frankie Leigh and Evan are from and it didn’t seem to matter. This was a story that pulled me in and didn’t let go until all my tears were shed and I felt at peace. Frankie Leigh and Evan are MADE for each other in every way. I want to go back and read the other series now.
This book is emotional, and sweet and all the things a good romance book should be. I really enjoyed it!
Al Jackson sure knows where to find the strings to my heart.
The childhood scenes were my favorite parts of this book. So sweet, and heartbreaking at the same time.
This was so sweet and heartfelt. I could FEEL the love between this couple. I loved the secondary characters. The setting is as in a small town. I knew we were doing a group read and I looked all around and chose this one. My group voted and picked this book. I’m so glad it represents the genre well. This is my FIRST book by this author and I was amazed. I didn’t want it to end. I highly recommend this book.
I was so excited when I found out that Hold on to Hope would be telling their story and I absolutely loved it!
I wasn’t sure where the end of the book was going, but when I finally got to that part, it totally shocked me, unprepared for what came.
It was heartbreaking and beautiful, and a definite page turner.
NO SPOILERS!
Oh my goodness, A.L. Jackson blew me away with Evan and Frankie Leigh’s sweet, sexy, swoon-worthy, emotional, and suspenseful best friends-to-lovers story in Hold on to Hope!
Since reading the previous Fight for Me series novels, I’ve been dying to get my hands on Evan and Frankie Leigh’s story, and Ms. Jackson did NOT disappoint. The storyline and characters were wonderful, and I really enjoyed the author’s prose. She wove a beautiful and tragic tale that kept me guessing until the very end. Hold on to Hope was an emotional roller coaster, but I absolutely loved every moment of Evan and Frankie Leigh’s love story, and was ecstatic with the conclusion. It was a perfect ending for a perfect couple, and I couldn’t have been happier with the outcome. Evan and Frankie Leigh were phenomenal characters that deserved a phenomenal story, and Ms. Jackson delivered in every single way.
Evan and Frankie Leigh’s best friends-to-lovers story in Hold on to Hope was so much more than I hoped it’d be. It was so much more than romance, and I loved every second of the journey. A.L. Jackson has a beautiful storytelling ability, and I can’t wait devour more of her sweet, sexy, swoon-worthy, and emotional love stories!
This book…HOLY FREAKING SMOKES! My heart twisted in love and pain so many times throughout this book. I wanted to yell at Evan, but I also felt his pain and understood where he came from. The thing Evan should have known is that he and Frankie Leigh are so intertwined that no amount of distance can keep their two souls from calling to one another. The way Frankie Leigh embraced Everett was so special, but let’s be honest, she had a good example in Rynna.
Hold on to Hope is truly a gift to everyone who reads it! AL Jackson knows how to write the swoon and the angst. This book is a must read!
Evan and Frankie Leigh are best friends from the moment they meet when they are little. Evan is deaf and has a heart defect but none of that affects the love Frankie has for him. They grow up together then suddenly he leaves and he is gone for 3 years breaking her heart and worrying their families. Suddenly as he left Evan has returned with a child. This second chance romance is a beautiful story. I loved it.
Frankie Leigh as an adult is the absolute best. She is still so full of life and energy and love that it flows out of her even when she doesn’t necessarily want it to. Evan the special little boy who stole her heart when they first met and never gave it back fought for everything he wanted and everything they dreamed of for their future. I cried, I cheered and I swooned in this five star book.
There are certain things about an AL Jackson book that you can always count on. One is – they are long…she has so much to tell you – so much to describe, details of their surroundings, feeling and actions. She rights as if she’s standing in the room giving you the whole picture of the events. The other commonality I love about AL Jackson books is that she ALWAYS seems to have a child in her stories. Its another part of the relationship between our hero and heroine, a part that helps you connect with these characters.
I have been waiting for Evan and Frankie Leigh’s story from the moment they met. The moment the connection began at her home when she was five years old. She met this special boy who was super special because he had a new heart and instantly asked: “You want to be my best friend?”
There is some back and forth – present to past and dual POV that leads to a complete story that was needed to know how they were both feeling at different times of their lives.
Through the years, the sadness, the loneliness these two were made for each other – it just wasn’t’ the easy road. A road that neither of them could have ever imagine on the day they met.
You find your purpose when your love for someone else becomes bigger than your fears.
It was everything I hoped it would be.
I’ve read every book that AL Jackson has out there and I couldn’t have ever conceived that she would have taken this story of Evan and Frankie Leigh in this direction. But she did and I loved it. It kept me wondering until the very end. Loved revisiting these characters again. So we’ll written I could picture every thing as it was happening. Love an author who can describe the scenes so you feel as if your there watching it unfold. You won’t be disappointed.
I adore every book A L writes.
When you start one of her books, you know you will miss the characters when you finish!
“I thought maybe every single one of us had our own constellation. A map drawn out in the heavens. An intricate design that had been created just for us. If that were the case? Then Frankie Leigh was my North Star.”
Have you ever been struck by magic from books? That literary shock that makes you crave all the words. Always spellbinding. Always illuminating. Well, A.L. Jackson strikes my heart and soul with the magic in her stories. Every book has mesmerized me. Hold on to Hope is BREATHTAKING. Hold on to Hope is HEART TILTING. Hold on to Hope is MAGNIFICENT. Every layer and every inch of the story gripped me. Every word just flowed into my heart and set a blaze of fire in my soul. Gosh, A.L. Jackson always delivers. Hold on to Hope is just another masterpiece in her catalogue of books.
Hold on to Hope is a beautiful standalone from the amazing storyteller, A.L. Jackson. A soul punishing story of love. An electrifying romance with a fantastic story. My heart is attacked. My heart is hit hard hard by a heartfelt story. Every feeling, every word and every scene absolutely made me swoon, cry, and smile. Soulfully Poetic. Heart Gripping. Soul Crippling. Stunning. Hold on to Hope is a phenomenal story with a passionate romance filled with danger, secrets and love. A remarkable tale of young love. An angsty romance with a striking friends to lovers story. A.L. Jackson always delivers on emotional. She is an emotional poet with lyrical writing that move and swerves every single part of your heart. Hold on to Hope held a piece of my heart. It is forever pierced.
Every single character of A.L. Jackson is like my fictional best friend. I am always connected to their feelings and thoughts. I was so excited that A.L. Jackson wrote Evan and Frankie Leigh. My heart is happy because Evan and Frankie Leigh touched my heart when they were young. In Hold on to Hope, their love is so honest and pure. It resonated in my heart. Evan and Frankie Leigh go through pain and love that ignited my heart. I freaking adored to them.
I was so giddy to be back in Gingham Lakes. The characters mean so much and hold a dear place in my heart. Seriously, you need to read her books because her words and characters transcend.
ARC provided by author in exchange for an honest review.
I didn’t even know I wanted this story. When they were introduced as children in the Fight For Me series I didn’t expect anything to come of these two best friends. I couldn’t see the story, not sure where the author could possibly go with it, but as per usual – AL Jackson knocked me on my a** with perfect vision.
Evan and Frankie Leigh were best friends from the start and eventually found love together. They were hiding their relationship for a while and when they decided it was time to tell friends and family Evan has a health scare. Evan was born with disabilities which take a toll on his life, his family and friends. With this latest health crisis, Evan decides he is too much of a burden to his loved ones, mostly Frankie Leigh. He wants her to have everything in this world and he feels he can’t give that to her. So he leaves.
Frankie Leigh is devasted. Her best friend and love of her life disappears without a word to her. As if she meant nothing at all.
Three years later, Evan re-surfaces and he’s not alone. Trouble has also followed him and he needs his family’s help. Frankie Leigh is in a good place but when she sees Evan, she is once again knocked to her knees devastated. The one thing he told her he could never give her, he has given to someone else.
There is so much emotion in this book. AL brought these two characters to life in an emotional roller coaster of a story that you won’t soon forget.
There is a whole lot I’m not telling you because I absolutely do not want to spoil it. MUST READ!
We don’t come across many romances novels where one of the main characters has something that effects their health so drastically it could directly impact the story. The main male character in this story-being deaf-is probably the first book I’ve ever read like this. It was really an absolute beautiful story, all around. There were so many more layers than it being a second chance romance. These layers included having my heart crushed several times over again. We felt Frankie Leigh’s emotional devastation each time she was hurt, and it just goes to show how powerful AL Jackson’s’ writing really is. This is a totally unique spin on a second chance romance, that I have not read before. This definitely needs to be added to your TBR list, and soon! By Victoria
Try to resist this cover. GAH! AL Jackson is an auto 1-click for most readers. Hold on to Hope is a best friends-to-lovers must-read!
Omg…i don’t even know what to say. It took me a few chapters to realize that Evan and Frankie Leigh were the kids from the ‘Fight for Me’ series. It’s my favorite series ever and to say that Evan and Frankie Leigh weren’t my favorite kids would be a lie. I absolutely have nothing but love for this book. It crushed me, made me cry, gave me hope and let me love every single piece of this story. A.L. is amazing with the way she writes and this book proves it. I’d have to say, this was an amazing and beautiful story that will never be forgotten.