A smart and sexy romance about a grumpy single dad on a mission of revenge, and the girl he can’t leave behind by USA Today bestselling author Tia Louise.
Hope
I blame the alcohol.
I lost my restaurant business, was forced to sell my dad’s cherished 1967 Chevy Impala, and I got a little drunk.
Now I’m waking up with the hottest, angriest guy I’ve ever seen, speeding down the highway like a … drunk.
Now I’m waking up with the hottest, angriest guy I’ve ever seen, speeding down the highway like a bat out of hell.
Ice-blue eyes hit mine with stomach-clenching force…
And he swerves onto the shoulder, ready to kick me out.
Needless to say, our romance doesn’t start out sweet.
J.R.
Two years ago, I hugged my little boy goodbye and told him I’d be right back.
Next thing I knew, I was arrested and sent to prison for a crime I didn’t commit.
Until they let me out early…
Now I’m headed home to confront the man who put me away.
A lie put me behind bars, and I’m ready to find the truth.
I don’t have time for a sexy girl with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes stowed away on the backseat of my new car.
My mission is to get my son back and clear my name.
Love is not on the agenda.
It never is, though, is it?
(THIS MUCH IS TRUE is a single-dad, opposites attract, stand-alone romance. No cheating. No cliffhangers.)
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LOVE Tia Louise and her beautiful stories <3
This book was just so good!!! If you love sparks, tension, intense emotions, drama, humor, sweetness and poignancy all wrapped up in one Must. Keep. Reading. irresistible package, then you need to grab your copy right now! I simply adored J.R. and Hope and my heart connected so easily with them. I have to say that these two are so different but so perfect together. My heart hurt for each of these amazing characters. A perfect blend of fun, heartbreaking, swoon worthy and all the feels make this one delightful read that is a definite must read. I am electing to post a candid review.
What a wonderful read from Tia Louise! This book has a unique story line that keeps you intrigued the entire way through. I felt heartbroken at times for the circumstances of these characters, but their love and loyalty to each other, the way they rallied together, was beautiful. It was truly satisfying to see them get their HEA. I can’t wait for the next release, and what new excitement Tia will bring us!
5 star Review This Much Is True by Tia Louise
This Much Is True is a story which ticked all the boxes for me. I fell hard and fast for single dad J.R. and the woman who despite himself he fell for, Hope.
Neither J.R. or Hope were looking for love or a relationship, but fate often has other plans. They were both trying to come to terms with the past and move on, but sometimes it’s hard. There were times when I sighed, I laughed, I cried and throughout it all I kept saying, just one more chapter. I was riveted from the first to the last page, such was the strength of the writing and the fabulous characters.
Of course there were plenty of swoon worthy moments and plenty of sizzle between J.R. and Hope but it was J.R.’s love for his son and his determination to clear his name after being wrongly convicted of a crime he didn’t commit that was truly heart warming.
At times this story was an emotional roller coaster of a read that had me on the edge of my seat. I fell hard and fast for these characters and it was great to see some familiar faces make an appearance. I loved J.R., he made me swoon on so many occasions, whilst Hope is focused and determined.
This is one of my favourite books I have read this year. It had some angst, humour and plenty of steam . One click this little gem, you won’t be disappointed.
USA Today bestselling author, Tia Louise has become one of my new favorite authors! With This Much Is True Louise delivers a deliciously hot tale of a desolate single dad who lost everything and the optimistic woman he meets on the way to get his life back.
This much is true, John Roth (J.R.) Dunne did not commit the crime he was convicted of, but after two years he’s been released and is now determined to get the evidence he needs to clear his name, get his son, and start fresh.
J.R. just needs a car and his brother’s help to drive from California to South Carolina. What he doesn’t need is a beautiful stowaway with a sweet and innocent smile and unlimited hope.
Hope Eternal Hill was about to open a gourmet pancake restaurant, but with the global pandemic shutdown her dreams and investment went down the drain and now she needs to sell her father’s car to get money. When she passed out drunk in the back seat, she never imagined she’s wake up halfway between San Francisco and LA with a gorgeous yet surly man who want to leave her on the side of the road.
When J.R. picks Scout, his brother up, Scout insists Hope go with them and the three embark on a road trip of karmic proportion that will change their lives forever.
When reading romance, a happy ending for the main characters is implied, therefor the journey to get there is rather important. John and Hope’s journey both romantic and cross-country is not smooth sailing. John has big hurdles to overcome in order to get his life back and the ice walls around his heart are equally great. Yet Hope is incredibly patient and caring, and isn’t afraid to make to first move which I loved.
Besides enjoying the push and pull and evolving romance between Hope and John and their incredible attraction (Tia writes incredibly hot bedroom scenes and swoon), there were so many other great elements I enjoyed like the supporting characters. John’s brother Scout is a great comedy relief and a loving and supporting younger brother I can’t wait to read more about. His son is source of joy and incredibly sweet. His grandmother is also funny and caring.
I loved the twist I didn’t see coming. I liked the scenery that was described appropriate to road trip. I also appreciated all the positive thinking and hopeful messages which are always welcome, but especially during this very “interesting” year.
This Much Is True is a standalone contemporary romance by Tia Louise. It is narrated in first person, from both points of view with a happy ending. Sub-Genres: Opposites attract| Single Dad
„She’s my hope.”
It’s been a hot minute since the last time I’ve read a book from Tia and now I’m kicking myself, because how could I forget how amazing are her stories?! This Much Is True is brilliant. Emotional, steamy, suspenseful and so incredibly touching! J.R. and Hope’s love story is a beautiful and inspiring journey that’s not to be missed!
Hope is like a ray of sunshine. I loved her optimism and cheerful personality.
J.R. in turn is a broody, angry type, driven by revenge.
These two are complete opposites, but from their first accidental meeting you could feel the intense magnetism between them. Their chemistry was palpable and electrifying, and the journey they took together allowed them to get to know each other better. I loved to see how they opened up to each other, how they both allowed themselves to be vulnerable and to find support within each other.
This journey has many turns, even more bumps in the road, but Tia has shown in a beautiful way that when 2 soulmates find each other, they will overcome all obstacles. J.R. i Hope’s story is uplifting, moving, sexy and emotional- everything I’m looking for in a good romance!
This Much Is True by Tia Louise is not only a love story, but also about so much more like change and new beginnings. It will take you on a road trip with the characters and it is perfect to get lost between the pages.
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Our heroine is Hope who is a very kind and positive person and I loved her and her energy. But lately she has experienced some not so lovely things like losing her dream restaurant and having to sell her dad‘s beloved car. She sees the best in everything and is also very friendly and openminded towards new people.
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Where Hope is a ray of sunshine, JR is a dark storm cloud and at first he comes off as a man with a lot of anger. There totally is a reason behind it and he missed some years of his son growing up because he was in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. So the first thing on his mind now is obviously to get to his son and therefore he buys Hope dad’s car. From the beginning I knew that JR is a good man and he is the type of person who has a hard exterior, but once you crack that he is everything.
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Their first encounter was very special and they meet in a car as total strangers. This leads to a very great story and the protagonists and JR‘s brother go on a road trip together and this was one of my favorite parts of their story and only the beginning. Their relationship starts off as a slow burn and the feelings only intensify with every page and I adored it. In addition you get amazing banter and humor and all the feels.
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Overall, Hope and JR‘s story gets deeper with every page and it is such a beautiful romance and receives 4,5 stars.
(ARC kindly provided in exchange for an honest review.)
Hope is devastated she has to sell her dad’s beloved Metallicar (yay Supernatural reference!!!), so she decides to take one last trip down memory lane and plop herself down in the backseat with a *ahem* bottle of something. When she wakes up to an angry driver telling her to get out of the car…yeah, not what she expected when she fell asleep the night before. Thank God that angry driver, a delicious looking man going by the name of John, has an equally sweet, kind-hearted brother, Scout, who can’t bear to leave her alone on the side of the road without any way of getting home, so the three of them set off on a road trip. Along the way, feelings will be exposed, and somehow Hope will live up to her name and offer J.R. some light in what has previously been a very dark world since he was sent to prison for a crime he didn’t commit.
“She fills a part of me I didn’t know I was lacking. The sunshine in her hair, the sparkle in her eyes, all of it turns the anger in my chest to peace. She changed me.”
Swoon! J.R. and Hope made me swoon with their road trip that ended so differently than it began. Their opposite natures – he so broody and intense and she so sunny and bright, they fit each other so perfectly, and with Scout and J.R.’s reason for living – a perfect little family. I love This Much is True. It’s sweet and sexy, the perfect road trip romance, and now I’m dying to read Scout’s story!!
This Much is True by Tia Louise is a great reading with great tropes, like single dad that is one of my favorites ever! and also the characters are living our situation.
This is the story about JR and Hope Eternal who meet each other when they are in difficult situation, he is looking a way to get back to his hometown to see his kid and she lost her restaurant dream due to the pandemic. so when JR goes for his brother he includes Hope in their adventure because he thinks she can be something really good for his brother after all the difficult times that he had.
You can feel the chemistry between JR and Hope from the beginning, but of course JR knows his situation is not one where he can start a relationship with someone until he fix our his problems and get free from his situation. But love and chemistry have another stuff in the way where he can’t denied his interested and love for her. But unfortunately not everything will be easy between them they will have to overpass some difficult situations but at the end all of that will be so worth it so they can have their HEA!
And OMG that epilogue is so perfect!! and also im so excited for the next one!!
***4 Stars***
This baby took me on a ride I wasn’t expecting.
I figured there would be some emotional upheaval going on, how could it not with a kid involved (a really cute, sweet one btw) but the other stuff…yeah, wasn’t expecting that, though it did keep me turning the pages to see how everything panned out, but this one hell of a ride.
I really liked Hope and JR. Hope is something of an enigma. She’s got this innocence about her, but she’s also worldly. It’s an intriguing mix that had me wanting to know more about her. And then there is JR, he is a bit of a grump, but considering what happened to him, I couldn’t blame him one bit. But once you push that to the side, you get a man who is simply a good man, who loves deeply.
Their journey was definitely an interesting one because it’s that strange mix of insta and slow burn all at the same time, but totally works while it’s happening. What I found interesting about JR and Hope was that on one hand, they are total opposites in how they were raised and their life experiences, but when you go deep, they are totally on the same wave length. They may have had a rocky start, but their mutual fascination/attraction eventually got the better of them and had them giving in and despite all the odds against them ~ ones that they put in place and just the world at large, they finally got the HEA they both deserved.
This is my first read by the author and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The writing was engaging, pacing was good and I liked the dual POV’s. I will say there were a couple of things that I wish were fleshed out a little more ~ not because I don’t think they were handled well, more that I wanted a bit more out them. As for the secondary cast of characters. There were two who I wanted to gut with a spoon ~ extreme? Maybe, but they totally deserve that reaction ~ but outside fo those two, I loved everyone else and what they brought to the story and then there is Scout. I gotta say, he’s got a pretty interesting story thus far, so I’m looking forward to seeing what it’ll take for him to get his own HEA.
~ Copy provided by the author & voluntarily reviewed ~
I loved the way Tia weaved her words during one of the trying times this year and did it absolutely brilliantly. This was a unique and beautiful love story of two lost souls finding their missing piece. The characters were amazing and the story was a warm your heart romance.
I absolutely adored the way Tia weaves her past characters into new stories giving you that ahhhh moment. Puts that big smile on my face.
I can’t say much more except you need to read this to experience the warm and fuzzy feelings from this sweet romance.
This much is True Tia has once again given me characters to fall in love with and taken me literally on a journey with them while they each find their way.
It sounds like a bad joke a pandemic, a unexpected road trip, a pancake expert ..lol, a wrongly accused ex-con single dad and the the brother who is loyal and oh so interesting in his own right!
Hope and JR are not looking for love but fate may have thrown them together in a car for a cross country adventure. JR has been granted an early parole and after 18 months the first thing he needs is to see his son and clear his name. Hope is an on hold restaurant owner and beautiful optimist. Due to the health crisis she is now left with no choice but to sell off her father’s prize muscle car and after a bottle of wine to numb the pain she climbs in back to just remember one last time. JR has just been released and needs a car and ordering on line has never been so easy. Hope awakens to a man driving the car and yes he may be quite handsome but the moment he opens his mouth he is the grumpiest thing she has ever seen. Now let’s add in JR’s brother Scout and we have ourselves an adventure. When we finally reach our destination we are greeted with a beautiful little boy, a sweet grandmother and a whole lot of family drama that we didn’t see coming! Loved it !
~~Michele McMullen ~~
Starts with a prologue with JR and you learn that he has been in jail for 18 months for a crime he didn’t do and he is on a mission to find who framed him. Then you learn some about Hope and how she is selling her car because she is broke and needs a job and she gets drunk and falls asleep in the back of her car that she sold. JR picks up the car and ends up driving it with Hope in the back seat and I could not put it down to find out what happens and how it turns out. I enjoyed reading this story and recommend it
This Much is True…a guy and a girl meet in an unexpected way. He is guarded, she is lost. Their meeting is a game chnger but neitber know or acknowledge it.
This Much is True… this road trip is unforgettable. Memories, stories, and truths galore; nothing will erase the crazy from your mind.
This Much is True…when you think everything js going according to plan- plan for the bottom to drop out.
Tia Louise gave us a post February 2020 story with masks implementation that doesn’t sound apocalyptic. Whether its our new norm or bot, it was fun to see it didn’t change the story but made it more real. Our problems are their problems and well…JR’s problems are pretty messed up. Help find love, solve the problem, and find the happily-ever-after.
I had mixed feelings when I started reading This Much is True and discovered that the setting was during the current pandemic. Not going to lie, I was kind of annoyed, because I want to read books and escape all the bad things happening around me. However, to say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Tia Louise made me fall in love with the characters so hard that I kind of forgot about the pandemic which is telling about Ms. Louise’s writing.
I really loved the instant attraction between JR and Hope! JR was very hardened after being in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. The way he met Hope was pretty comical. JR was on his way to pick up his brother Scout when Hope surprised him as she woke up in the backseat of his car. It led to a pretty awesome road trip across the country. Hope just brought him out of the darkness he was living in as she is absolutely captivating. There is just something about her that you can’t help but love. She lost everything due to the pandemic, but she didn’t let that make her jaded. She just had this light around her. Scout is an added bonus. I love his easy spirit and how he has JR’s back. I truly can’t wait to read his story. I also have to mention sweet Jesse, JR’s son and Gran. Oh my heart! That Jesse is the sweetest and Gran is absolutely hilarious.
One thing I absolutely love about a Tia Louise book is that she writes the best side characters! Speaking of side characters, there is a cameo from a previous Tia character. I was surprised to see him make an appearance almost as surprised as he was to find Hope in his room! 🙂
THIS MUCH IS TRUE starts with a cross-country road trip. John (J.R.) Dunn has just been released early from prison. He is grumpy for a reason. He was sent to prison for something he was completely innocent of doing. He was set up by his own Dad. His wife sent him divorce papers just three months into his prison sentence. All that really matters to him now that he is free, is to get home to see his young son. He needs to get a car first. He hasn’t a clue that the car comes with a beautiful, but passed out drunk, twenty-three year old woman in the back seat. She had been forced to sell her Dad’s cherished 1967 Chevy Impala for need of money. Saying good-bye to the car, involved her drinking and passing out in the backseat of the car. Only to wake up well into a road trip with the new owner driving. J.R. was anything but pleased to find he had a stowaway with him. Her immediately throwing up probably didn’t help their first meeting. Yet, the first priority remained picking up his brother Scout. This was a good thing, because Scout convinced J.R. that they should take, Hope Eternal Hill, with them on the road trip. After all, dumping her at the side of the road without shoes, money or working cell phone would be so wrong.
The three will have quite an adventure on the trip to Fireside, South Carolina. Hope develops a friendly attachment to Scout, but a real crush on the older brother J.R. He is the grumpiest, sexist, most divine man she’d ever met. Fate and Destiny must have brought Hope Eternal into J.R.’s life. When they reach home, and he confronts his sleazy Dad and witch of an ex-wife, he will need his Hope standing by him. Hope gets to meet their wonderful Grandma and J.R.’s adorable son, too. Their problems and troubles are far from over. “This much is true, I said I’d never lie to you. I won’t make a promise I can’t keep. I don’t know what is coming next, but if there’s any chance…” I enjoyed the wonderful characters & their bumpy journey to a Happy-Ever-After!!
Oh my word…. I couldn’t get past half way. I feel if you roll your eyes more times than you turn a page, it’s time to give up it up.
The half I did read before I dnf, the plot wasn’t planned well, it was like things weren’t thought through. What mother in this day and age would not raise her own son, it’s just lazy writing to make it easier for the H to get custody. The characters weren’t developed enough to form a connection except maybe for Scout (who’s named after a character in a book – that’s a girl, makes no sense). I got to the point that I wasn’t invested enough to know how it all turns out. It had nothing to do with the time line being in the pandemic, as it’s not even talked about much. For me, it fell flat from the start and never recovered.
Wrongfully imprisoned after being set up for drug dealing, JR is finally out on parole, and he’s after blood. He’s bought a car online and he’s heading back to his hometown, he wasn’t expecting to find the previous owner, sweet, sexy Hope, hungover on the back seat, and he’s not impressed. However with the help of JR’s fun-loving brother Scout, the three of them go on a road trip to see JR’s son, and try and clear his name in the process. Fab story, completely addictive. I loved that it took place in the middle of the pandemic, it worked so well, and added to the storyline making it more in the moment. Nothing goes as planned. Lots of emotional drama, lots of sexy times, and some fantastic narration from both Jason Clarke and Samantha Brentmoor. I truly loved this audio. A full five star listen for me.
Awesome Book!!!!
I really liked it, JR and Hope were adorable together and separately, and his brother was great too. I also loved the storyline. I took a star off because I am petty, and I hated the fact that anything pandemic related was even implied. I don’t want to read about a lockdown unless it’s because they’re under attack, like a bomb threat or something, and they gotta put the whole building in lockdown. Not because of Covid. I’m sick of Covid, and I hate it with a passion. I am at the point where I’d rather read about people possibly getting blown up than about businesses shutting down and people wearing masks because of this crap going on in the word. I need something to be normal somewhere. I just wrote more about that in this review than about the actual book, that’s how strongly I feel about it