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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Oh gosh, this has so much feel to it. I couldn’t put it down and I will admit that I cried during certain parts. I love second chance romances and this one is just so different that it has your heart singing. I just love Evan and his love for Frankie just transcends anything you can put in front of it. There’s so much he and Frankie have to get through but through it all, you feel their love.
I absolutely adored Frankie Leigh and Evan as kids in A.L. Jacksons Fight For Me Series, so yes i was absolutely excited to read their adult stories!! Although this book could be read as a standalone.
Oh my poor heart, on the first few pages i have to admit my heart did sink a little bit, the beginning was not what i expected, and i knew right at that point that this book would have my heart in little pieces!!!
A.l. Jackson pours emotion and heart into every page, this young couple have had to deal with so much in the past, with what Frankie had to endure and with Evan’s diagnosis, you want nothing more than things to be perfect for them.
The Flashbacks to the past, had my waterworks in full flow, and the uncertainty of their future had my nerves on tender hooks.
This author just has a way of drawing you in and giving you a heart warming connection to her characters and your emotions fully involved.
I loved and adored how Frankie and Evan maneuvered their difficulties and their relationship, even though my heart was broken to bits, they restored me!!! If you want a book that will capture your emotions and steal your heart, this is it!!! Believe again in Pure True Love!
5 stars are not enough for Frankie Leigh and Evan’s story. This story was beautiful capturing the children we fell in love with in previous books and giving us the young adults they have grown into.
Frankie Leigh and Evan were inseparable as children and apparently even time. space and broken hearts cannot break the tether between their two hearts.
Three years ago Evan turned his back on all he knew to diminish his “burden” on those he loved. He thought he was setting Frankie Leigh free to find the life that she “deserved”. But when life drops a bombshell that you’re just not sure how to deal with the only place you can think to be is with those you left behind.
Evan wasn’t expecting Frankie Leigh to open him with open arms but he was still that same little boy looking to protect his best friend and had a hard time not “staking” his claim to her. Frankie Leigh couldn’t keep her heart from soaring again at the sight of Evan. Her “favorite” and his “Unicorn girl”.
This story being told in past and present tense wraps you completely in their story. Al. Jackson delivers another heart touching story by revisiting two children who stole our hearts in their parents stories. It was great to catch up with Hope, Kale, Ollie, Rex and Rynna. Their stories being the foundation of Evan and Frankie Leigh’s journey.
Even if you haven’t enjoyed the “Fight For Me Series” you can dive right into Hold on To Hope. Take the emotional journey that will leave your heart soaring for the stars.
I’m still crying as I write this review. I have loved all these characters from the minute I started Rex and Rynna’s book and continued with Kale and Hope and Nikkk and Ollie. I could not wait for Frankie Leigh and Evan and I was so not disappointed. Evan and Frankie had such an amazing love for each other from the minute they met. They were absolutely made for each other but fear of the unknown caused Evan to run away not knowing he was leaving Frankie to deal with unimaginable pain alone. Three years later he is back to claim what he knows he never should have run from. This was such a beautiful book the only thing that stinks is that it’s finished.
Gah! My heart!! A.L. Jackson has written a beautiful, angsty, emotional, friends to lovers, second chance romance that captured my heart completely. I love this book so freaking much. It’s filled with so much love, passion and hope. But, it also had those heartwrenching moments that you feel in your soul and turned me into a blubbering mess. In addition to all the feels, I love that A.L. Jackson also provided a little mystery and secrets to keep you frantically swiping to next the page to find out what happens next. I can easily say Hold On To Hope is one of my favorite A.L. Jackson books to date. It’s everything! A definite must read!!
I don’t know if I have the word to eloquently express how much I care for these characters. I am such a sap when it comes to Frankie Leigh and Evan. I adored them as children in the Fight For Me series. Now all grown up, I could not get enough of their chemistry. Even after their time apart, they had that forever love kind of connection. A.L. Jackson did a great job transitioning from present to the past showing just how their bond strengthened.
Frankie Leigh is amazing. I really enjoyed her spirit and her kind heart. Although she wanted to protect herself from getting hurt again, it didn’t stop her from sharing her light with Evan and his son, Everett.
Let me take a second to swoon over Evan Bryant. He’s in my top 2 for Jackson heroes. He’s so protective and swoony. He gets all the heart eyes. I love that he’s not perfect. I love that he has a disabilities and a heart defect. This only made me appreciate him more.
I seriously could not love Hold On To Hope more. Going back to Gingham Lakes felt like visiting old friends. Although we met these characters in previously when they were younger, this spinoff book can 100 percent be read as a standalone.
I absolutely loved this book. it was amazing and I had a hard time putting it down. Amy always writes great stories.
When I heard A.L. Jackson was going to give us Evan and Frankie’s story I was beyond excited. Though they are the children of characters from previous books, this can be read as a standalone, though the Fight for Me series is absolutely amazing and worth the read.
Frankie has loved Evan for as long as she can remember, but Evan has so many struggles that he does not want to be a burden. So, he walks away and leaves her brokenhearted. Now years later he is back, but is it too late? Can he prove to Frankie what she means to him? I loved seeing Evan and Frankie’s friendship and journey to more. This story was an emotional and heartfelt friends-to-lovers second chance romance I devoured. I absolutely loved Hold on to Hope by A.L. Jackson.
4.5-loved it stars! Read and reviewed for Sultry Sirens Book Blog.
Happy reading!
Oh Em Geeee…. this book starts out like a friggin’ horse race… non-stop, high action… intense and swift. I couldn’t help but tear through the entire story, word for word, I couldn’t read fast enough. This was one of those books that I desperately wanted to call in sick and spend the day devouring every single word. It was all-consuming and I FELT it. No joke. I’d feel my heart rate speed up like I’d imagine Evan or Frankie Leigh’s doing. Hold on to Hope packs an emotional punch and is written in such a way that I felt like I was living this story with them.
I’m always giddy when AL Jackson releases a book. I’ll be honest; I was a bit more excited for Hold on to Hope than I have been for any other books. The Fighting series is one of my all time favorite books… not just from AL Jackson but from all authors. So when I heard that we would be revisiting older characters, well I was just plain overjoyed at the thought of “seeing” them again. It feels like extra epilogues when we get an extra peek at their lives. I saw that AL Jackson had announced this book as her favorite book that she has ever written. I’ll admit that her statement scared me a bit. Nearly all Jackson’s books have me crying by the end! There was no possible way I could have made it through without feeling the emotions and shedding a few (dozen) tears. I know I’ve spoken of the talent that Mrs. Jackson shares in her words every time she gives us a new book. Seriously though, Hold on to Hope shines. It’s a story that I will read and/or listen to again and again. In fact, I finished the book earlier today and have not stopped thinking about it since I read the last word. It is well worth more than the 5 stars I’ve rated it.
I received an ARC of this book with the hope that I would leave an Unbiased Opinion. I was not required to leave a review, positive or otherwise, and my opinions are just that… my opinions.
Be still my heart……..
I was hoping that we were going to get a story with Evan and Frankie Leigh. These two melted my heart when they were little and I knew they would be perfect for one another. And A.L. Jackson didn’t let me down.
This book was filled with so much angst, heart ache, hope and so much love. But it was also filled with so much more. The feels in this book were over the top. I was in tears before I even got through chapter 2. I was so captivated from the beginning to the very end. Evan and Frankie will warm your hearts. This is definitely a must read
Evan and Frankie Leigh were beautifully written characters. The story will pull everyone of your heartstrings. This book made me laugh, smile and get all kinds of weepy.
THIS BOOK DESTROYED ME IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE. Seriously. I was one hot mess while reading this book.
Evan. He is swoon worthy! He isn’t your typical hero. He has been fighting his entire life. He is deaf and had a heart transplant at a young age. He is beating the odds and will continue to beat them. Add in the fact he is also a single father. I don’t think I’ve loved a hero in a book more than I love Evan.
Frankie Leigh was Evan’s best friend. She’s loved him for as long as she can remember so when he left three years prior, she was heartbroken and completely devastated. Now that Evan is back will she be able to forgive him for breaking her heart and leaving her?
I loved Evan and Frankie Leigh and their entire story. From the moment they first met when Frankie Leigh was only 5 going forward to present day. Their story is beautiful, it is heartbreaking and it is emotional but so full of hope. These two were meant for each other and they both knew that at a young age.
Hold on to Hope is an emotional second chance, friends to lover’s romance mixed with a little drama and suspense that will break your heart, but slowly mend the pieces back together. A MUST READ and one of my favorite books of 2019.
A.L. Jackson is giving me all the feels with this one! It gets all my hearts!!!
We are taken back to Gingham Lakes where all of our favorite hero’s and their amazing ladies reside. Only this time the next generation is all grown up!
This friends to lovers was a lifetime in the making. Frankie Leigh and Evan were meant to be from the start. Their journey to forever was an incredible one paved down a bumpy path.
This story was utterly addictive and I couldn’t get enough. I felt all the things! My heart is still reeling from their emotional journey to love, family and their HEA. Even though you plan for those things as children they aren’t always easy and you aren’t necessarily afforded them.
This beautiful story of love and survival doesn’t get all the stars, it gets ALL THE HEARTS!!!
“. . . my life, my heart, my everything . . . ”
Incandescent! The emotions radiate off the page and sweep you into a story of heartbreak and hope.
Frankie Leigh and Evan were these adorable children readers were smitten with in the Fight for Me series and now Hold on to Hope is the start of a new chapter as Jackson takes us back to Gingham Lakes to a grownup Frankie Leigh and Evan.
This friends-to-lovers/second-chance romance with it’s unique lyrical storytelling will immerse you in Frankie Leigh and Evan’s story and have you feeling ALL the emotions! I especially love the flashbacks showing readers how Frankie Leigh and Evan’s relationship has evolved over the years (so many feels!). The tears, the love, the suspense are all so addictive you won’t want to stop reading until the very end.
I enjoyed Hold on to Hope so much that I’m really looking forward into what characters Jackson might delve into next (maybe from the Bleeding Stars series)!
Recommended: Fight for Me series. You don’t have to have read the three books in the Fight for Me to enjoy Hold on to Hope but I highly recommend them, since they are such a fantastic reads.
Ahh! I LOVED this book so freaking much!!
You could literally feel all the emotions bleed from the pages.
The angst, the passion, the Heartbreak, the suspense, moments so sweet they make you cry.
I loved Evan and Frankie Leigh when I first met them in show me the way and follow me back. They were the cutest kids I ever read. Now after reading their story I have to say that Evan owns my heart completely in every way.
Their story inspires you to never give up or lose hope on the ones you love.
This book is so beautifully written, definitely a must read. A.L. Jackson delivers an emotionally beautiful story of Frankie Leigh and Evan , best friends since childhood. Frankie Leigh has loved this boy all her life. Evan is her favorite, her soulmate. Evan feels the same about Frankie Leigh, however he has always felt like she deserved someone better than him, someone she can someday have a family with and grow old together. Evan has struggled all his life with his health and deficits. That being said, here is were I am going to leave you hanging ,so you can enjoy this story on your own.
This book completely consumed me. I felt everything that Frankie Leigh and Evan were going through, as if I was living it with them. I have to say, Frankie Leigh has been a favorite character of mine in the Fight for me series. Oh, and make sure you have a box of tissues handy while reading.
I was so excited to finally get to read Evan and Frankie Leigh’s story!! This is a spin-off in the Fight For Me series. We originally met the main characters as children. Now we get to see how they have grown up as well as what is going on with their families. I loved them both as children, but even more so as adults who are now in a relationship. When the story opens, Evan has just returned to town after a 3 year absence. Frankie Leigh is very shocked to see him again. He left his family and friends without much explanation and Frankie Leigh is not quick to trust him again. In true A.L. Jackson fashion, this story is told with lots of emotion and drama. Things are not easy on the road to Evan and Frankie getting their relationship back, but things always work out in the end in A.L. Jackson stories. This was a very satisfying conclusion to the Fight For Me series!
I was beyond excited when the author announced that she was writing a spin-off story about Evan and Sweet Pea Frankie Leigh, who were just little kids in her Fight For Me series. She delivered an absolutely stunning read with so many feels!
“The out-of-control connection we’d always shared fired and blistered and made it all sorts of crazy-hard to breathe.”
Evan and Frankie Leigh had an amazing, indefinable connection from the very first time they met as children. They grew up together as best friends and then lovers and then…nothing. Evan suddenly disappears out of Frankie’s life and the lives of her tight-knit friends and family group, but reappears just as suddenly three years later, bringing with him just as many questions as answers. There’s an ocean of hurt and confusion between them, as well as an overwhelming love that just cannot be extinguished.
“I just…needed her. Needed her in my life. Was tired of breathing without her.”
The author writes with such poetry of feeling. Her signature style is all over this story. It had so many feels – the love, the angst, the pain, the desperation. It was a hugely emotional read as we follow Evan and Frankie’s journey of forgiveness and understanding, as well a touch of intrigue as they fight against unseen forces. The invisible, otherworldly bond between these two characters was electric and insuppressible. The whole story was just brimming with emotion and just so beautifully told that it was virtually impossible to put down. Bravo!
What a difference the passage of years can make. Frankie Leigh has gone from being the beautiful bubbly, outgoing, unicorn loving little girl to a heartbroken woman in her early twenties and my own heart broke for her, as I am sure it did for many others who have lost their life’s love and soulmate.
Frankie Leigh has been in love with Evan forever and has wanted to be his everything, guardian angel, best friend and eventually marry him when they were grown up. She is devastated when Evan suddenly leaves her without a word. As she is trying to restart her life three years later her world tilts again when he suddenly appears in the doorway of where she works, and has a baby in tow.
This is an epic story of love, loss and redemption as Frankie and Evan try to find their way back to each other. There are many hurdles to overcome before they can find happiness not least of which is the future of Evan’s son Everett. As well as their own personal problems outside forces are also trying to bring them down especially from Evan’s past.
For anyone who has suffered heartbreak you can relate to the hurt and pain and uncertainty that Frankie is suffering, but you also have sympathy for Evan who is confused about his place in the world and whether he is too much of a burden to everyone around him. As hidden hurts and secrets are revealed both of them have to leave childhood behind and quickly become adults to deal with the present and hope that they can find happiness together.
There is also a great cast of supporting characters in this story, including both sets of parents who are not at all judgmental but are very supportive and loving and totally accepting of Everett. Everett himself comes across as an absolute sweetheart despite his rough start in life.
Yeah expect to get your heart broken and put back together as you read this incredible book, and make sure you have lots of time and a box of tissues because this is an all-nighter and Amy proves again what an incredible writer she is.
This is my honest review after receiving an Advance Reader Copy.
I have been eagerly anticipating this book since it was first announced. I am so happy to say I was not disappointed. I adored little Frankie Leigh in Show Me the Way and now she’s all grown up. She’s been in love with Evan since she was 5 years old. I had so many emotions while reading, and at times it was heartbreaking. After 3 years away, Evan returns with a surprise. But Frankie has her own secret she’s hiding. They have some obstacles to overcome in order to get to their happily ever after. While I am not a fan of AL’s writing style, I loved this story. This can be read as a standalone, but I highly recommend reading Show Me the Way and the rest of the Fight for Me series.
My new favorite book of AL Jackson. Best friend, Second Chance, Single Dad all rolled into one amazing book. It has all the feels, love, heartache, and swooning. Evan and Frankie Leigh were best friends first then fell in love. Evan didn’t think he deserved her and left. Three years later he’s back with a son and is dead set on winning her back. There’s some suspenseful times too. Definitely a page turner. Highly recommended.