She’s home again, but not for long…Unless this cowboy recaptures her heart Returning home with a baby in tow, Paige Cordell’s determined her stay is only temporary. But to earn enough money to leave, she needs a job–and her only option is working at her first love’s dinner theater. With attraction once again unfurling between her and Jed Gilbertson, can the man who once broke her heart … heart convince her to stay for good?
more
HOMETOWN HEALING by Jennifer Slattery is a great second chance romance. It’s the story of Paige Cordell’s return to Sage Creek, Texas after being terminated from the fashion magazine she wrote for when they downsized due to financial difficulties. This following a husband that walked out on their marriage leading to a divorce, leaves her little choice on her next step. She comes back to her hometown with her adorable daughter, Ava who is almost 3, for what she hopes is a temporary stay with her Mom all the while hoping she can avoid Jed Gilbertson.
Avoiding Jed, in their small town, she knew would be impossible, but did she have to face him almost immediately upon arriving into town? Once best friends – more than best friends – there was now a tension of past mistakes between them, but also something electricity too. It gives Jennifer that stay/flee feeling.
Jennifer is glad to have the time to spend with her Mom and Mrs. Tappen, Jed’s Grandmother who has always been special person in her life. She realizes all the things she’s missed about small town life. However, she has to keep level headed, find a writing job to support her daughter and herself and get back to the life she loved in the big city. She can’t afford to danger the welfare of her daughter’s future or her heart with thoughts of Jed and how things use to be or could have been.
Jed and his grandmother are partners in a dinner theater that they desperately need to get back into the black before they lose it and their money invested in it. They have plans to turn things around by remodeling and changing the venue as well as the menu. With money extremely tight, they are having to find ways to make it work. Jed is doing a lot of the labor and sourcing out what must be bought for the cheapest way. Was Jennifer an answer to a pray when she came back to town? Could he convince her to write the script for their new western dinner theater and at a price they can afford? Will Jennifer learn that she can do what she loves – write – and do it in Sage Creek? Can Jed prove to her that he’s there for her, as he has always been even when she didn’t believe it? Can she put the past behind her? Can she begin to see that maybe it’s not everyone leaving her that hurts so badly, but that partly she’s been the one doing the leaving as well?
When the tables are turned and Jed is the one needing love and support, will Jennifer stand by her man? Can seeing that we are all alike even when we are so different change Mrs. Gilbertson’s mind and opinion of Jennifer? Will her opinion make a difference?
Jennifer has to decide if she can be happy in her hometown where neighbor’s care about one another, shopping is limited and high fashion is what’s comfortable. Can she be sure that love can happen more than once and protect her daughter too? Can Jed overcome his father’s opinions and actions to be the man/the father that Jennifer and Ava deserve? Can each find love in the other – the kind that binds a marriage – for better or worse and through thick and thin?
HOMETOWN HEALING is a great, well written Christian romance that reminds us all that we all have faults and that forgiveness is key. Love will bind us together if we allow it. God has our plans laid out and we just have to ask him to guide us to follow that plan to perfection. The things Jennifer and Jed learned along the way in their romance are factors that we all could stand to utilize in our own lives. Definitely recommend this book and I will be checking out more books by Jennifer Slattery!
I really enjoyed this clean, love-inspired romance. I voluntarily chose to review this story and I’ve given it a 4.7* rating. While a few spots were a little slow, for the most part, it read pretty fast. Also there is a short note from the author about the mother’s illiness. Not all illness show up in some tests.
Hometown Healing
I just love second chances, and I thoroughly enjoyed Hometown Healing. Paige Cordell’s plans was to move home with her mom just until she could get back on her feet. And the main thing she needs to do is to stay away from the neighbor’s grandson, Jed Gilbertson. But that was proved impossible in the small town of Sage Creek. I enjoyed each time Jed and Paige spent time together. Their characters were amazing, and though tension was sometimes tight, Ms. Slattery does a really nice job of making these two characters fun and exciting for her readers.
I love that this story has the Christian life weaved throughout the lives of the characters. This is truly a story of love, forgiveness, and second chances. Some people may get the wrond idea about Love Inspired books, but you have to try them, and Hometown Healing is a great one to start with. I love Love Inspired books! They are full size stories packed in a smaller size book. You will be delighted when you read this sweet and clean inspirational romance.
I would like to thank the author/publisher for a copy of this book. I am not required to write a positive review. The opinions here in this review are totally mine alone. I am disclosing this with my review in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
There were several times in Hometown Healing I didn’t like Paige much. The cold shoulder and brush off she continues to give Jed had me feeling for the guy. Yet, the way Jennifer Slattery lays out Paige’s backstory had me changing my mind about her, and even rooting for her happily ever after, by the end of the book. The wall Paige has built around herself to protect her heart seems impenetrable but with Jed’s persistence and tenacity to reach his former best friend, cracks are formed.
While Paige had some issues, I loved the setting of this story. The dinner theater was a fun angle as I got to go along for the ride in what is involved in setting up an event venue like this. From the food to the décor to the script, I felt like I was right there in the decision making.
Hometown Healing is about tearing down walls and letting go of past hurts in order to built something stronger and long-lasting with the people who matter most. Add in a meddling mother and grandmother, and an adorable three-year-old, and you’ve got a sweet read with moments of fun mixed in with a truth-divulging message.
Disclosure statement: I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book and was not required to write a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Hometown Healing by Jennifer Slattery is a delightful contemporary Christian novel that will warm your heart.
A wonderful welcome awaits as neighbours bond over food and needs. We all have gifts that can help others in their time of need. People pull together and help each other through testing times. “God can bring out good, even in the hard.” When life hits us hard, we need to run to the One who can give us peace.
Our earthly fathers may not be good role models but our heavenly Father will never let us down. We cannot live with one foot in the past. “I’ve chosen to let it go.” If we do not deal with the past, it will rob us of our futures. “If you want to move forward, you’re going to have to let go of the past.”
We can never control what others do, say or think but we can choose how we will respond to them. “No one could make [her] feel like trash unless she let them.” When others try to destroy us with their words, we need to remember Whose we are.
When life is hard, we may withdraw from God as our emotions take control. “Before anger and fear had pulled her away. And yet God had remained… calling her back to him.” God is a faithful Father who, like the father in the prodigal son tale, waits patiently for us to return to Him.
A theatre is in need of renovation. Old timbers are repurposed into new furniture. This reminds the reader that God can renovate and restore lives. He uses our experiences to teach us lessons and he repurposes our lives to give us a glorious future.
Hometown Healing was such a delightful read. The love and community shone from its pages to wrap around the reader and leave us feeling good.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
A hometown homecoming gives one couple a second chance at love.
Paige Cordell returns to her hometown with her young daughter, hoping to stay just long enough to make enough money for a fresh start. But coming back home means facing her high school sweetheart, Jed.
Jed Gilbertson has inherited his family’s struggling dinner theater, he is working to turn things around by orienting everything around a more Western theme. He offers her a job writing the new script for the dinner theater.
Paige is divorced, and a devoted mother to her young daughter. She is tough, and tries to be positive, she is willing to do anything for her daughter. She is hesitant to reconnect with Jed, but as they work together she comes to admire Jed’s commitment to his family and integrity.
I really liked Jeds grandmother, who gave sage advice, and was good friends with Paige’s mother. She is a wonderful family matriarch who wants the best for her grandson and Paige. I also was so glad that Paige and her mother were able to be there for each other, and how Ava brings hope.
Overall, a heartwarming read with a unique premise, I loved the small town setting, and Jed is an admirable hero (it’s amazing that he was single!) Great characters and a wonderful sense of community. Very enjoyable read!
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
Hometown Healing was an engaging, small-town story about the importance of forgiveness and the hope of second chances. It was also about learning to trust in God and in those you love, rather than allowing fear to control you.
The attraction began to brew between Paige and Jed right from the opening of the book, but they had a long way to go in order to set aside hurts from the past. I enjoyed watching them begin to fall in love again, and to see Paige work to overcome her fear of another failed relationship. Paige’s daughter, Ava, was sweet, and Jed’s grandmother was an especially fun part of the story.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. All opinions are my own.
Another heart-warming read from Jennifer Slattery! The author has a way of weaving the difficult emotions and experiences that can become stumbling blocks in life into an uplifting and enriching story of overcoming fears to fight for love and the abundant life.
Paige is a divorced single mom with a precious toddler who’s always struggled with feelings of rejection and failure. When she returns to her hometown, she finds Jed, her first love, single, working hard to save his grandparents’ mystery dinner theater, and regretting their break up in high school. Learning about running a mystery dinner theater was quite interesting and the author addressing other issues, like psychosomatic disorder, was enlightening. Ava, Paige’s little girl, adds a cute and cuddly dimension to the plot as Paige and Jed rediscover their hopes and dreams.
I received a copy of the book from the author/publisher via JustRead Publicity Tours and was under no obligation to post a positive review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.
Any story with the elements this one has, are usually on my radar:
* Small Towns (particular Texas, as I was born there)
* Handsome Cowboy(s)
* Single Moms with Small Kid(s) (particularly with daughters, as I was raised from the age of 4 by my mom)
So, I HAD to buy it!
This is one of those “second-chance romance” stories, complete with misunderstandings, trust issues, and self-doubts.
This is the first book of Jennifer Slattery’s I have read, and she has an amazing way of writing out the realistic nature and the consequences of rumors, extramarital affairs, rejection, fear, and tragedy.
But, the author also has the element of hope, forgiveness, and redemption.
Paige has been hurt three times:
* Her father leaving
* Believing her high school sweetheart was unfaithful
* An unfaithful husband who divorced her
On top of all that life has brought her way – she then loses her job and has to move back home with her mother, who also has some “health problems” with no medical explanation.
Paige is there temporarily though, hoping to get back to Chicago. Running into her high school sweetheart complicates things.
It was easy to see why Paige was so wounded, and in turn, mistrustful. Watching as she navigated her feelings and past with Jed was not only heart-wrenching, but frustrating.
This was a guy who clearly was trying to show he had changed – and that what she thought had happened, hadn’t. My heart broke for him as he tried repeatedly to get her to see the real truth.
In addition, Paige was harboring some resentment or grudge for a comment a mean girl had said in high school. So, I could see where things were awkward for her as well. Her fear of not wanting to be hurt, yet again, was causing her to push people away. I could definitely relate to that at one time.
Jed’s grandmother was a source of hope and inspiration throughout. Even when she knew that Paige’s mom wasn’t really sick, the woman was still friendly and didn’t enable her. I truly enjoyed Mrs. Tappen and felt she was the strongest character in the book.
Slattery’s realistic writing of Paige’s mom was so vivid; it was as if I could see this woman in person. It was a character that could’ve been someone I knew. The reader could easily see where Paige and her mother’s relationship was strained.
The shock was the scandal involving Jed’s father. The writer even made us feel sorry for Jed’s mother who had snubbed Paige.
For the Love Inspired line, there was some semblance of faith, but it wasn’t over done. I would state that it was mild on faith, while keeping it present.
There were a few typos that caused some confusion.
Without spoiling it, on pages 166/167, there were typos regarding Jed’s mother being addressed. There were five (5) instances of Jed’s mother being referred to as Mrs. Cordell (which is Paige’s mother), not Mrs. Gilbertson (Jed’s mother).
Overall, this was an emotional story. One that was full of hope and redemption.
Slattery does a marvelous job with this story! Her style of writing will bring healing to these who need it. She leaves wonderful messages throughput the book.
I try not to miss any of her books she’s just that good!
I enjoyed this book. Mainly because of Jed’s grandmother. She’s kind caring and very friendly! I would love to have her as my grandmother! I found myself missing mine and reaching through the book simply because I wanted a hug too! She was the solid supporting character and when u first meet her well, let’s just say she’s one of those people that you feel like you’ve known for life! I love people like that don’t you?
Paige has a lovely name but I think that over the years she’s been gone from her home she’s forgotten who she is and where she came from! But hey it happens to the best of us! She is stubborn that’s for sure! Full blown stubborn with her heals dug in all the way just like my husband does sometimes!
Jed is the same ol hometown boy he always was but with a dark secret.
I loved Jed from the start simply because he was the real man. Not those fake kind. And he’s good looking too only in my opinion he doesn’t know it. I love that everything he does comes from the heart.
I love how God sees the bigger picture where we can only see what’s around us. And that He sends people to help us along the way when we least expect it. I’ve been there and done that!
Will Paige and Jed find a way to work things out? Or will life lead them somewhere else?
This heartwarming story will not let you go until it is finished. Yes, you might want to have some tissues by your side.
My thanks to Just Reads Tous for a complimentary copy of this book. I was NOT required to writ a positive review. All opinions are my own.
Hometown Healing is a sweet story of a teenage misunderstanding being healed when writer Paige Cordell loses her job and has to return home until she finds a way of supporting herself and her toddler. Jed Gilbertson and his grandmother need a mystery writer as they turn their restaurant into a western style mystery theater! I recommend this well-written romance to others. I won my copy of Hometown Healing in a giveaway on Shannon Vannatter’s blog. This is my honest opinion.
Left without a job and very little money Paige Cordell returns to her hometown, Sage Creek, Texas with baby, Ava, in tow. Her mom is thrilled but Paige’s return is only temporary until she can earn enough money to leave, she just needs a job. Handsome cowboy Jed Gilbertson has partnered with his grandmother and is working hard to renovate their dinner theatre to once again make it profitable. They would like to offer Paige a job. Can he convince her to stay even though he once broke her heart? This story delivers a heartwarming romance filled with inspiration, forgiveness, and learning to trust again! This is a new-to-me author. I look forward to adding more of her books to my TBR pile.