The journeys in life take you to unexpected destinations. The love of a good person brings you home.Kierra Madden, proprietor of the Kindred Lake Inn, struggles for stability after her engagement ends, family strife continues, and business slows. When her mom, sister and teenage niece move in with her, life becomes a lot more complicated. There’s certainly spare room…until one guest arrives…on … arrives…on his bicycle.
Ryan Delaney is fit and trim…quite the eye candy.Ryan, a TV news anchor on a leave of absence following a horrific incident, enjoys the peace long-distance biking offers. Only in town to mend his strained relationship with his teen daughter, he never expects to fall for Kierra fast and hard. Despite her policy of separating business and pleasure, mutual attraction pulls them closer until unforeseen consequences threaten to wedge between them.
Surrounded by springtime beauty, will the temptation of desire bloom into a more powerful and lasting love?
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When Love Blossoms is another well penned family drama romance fused story filled with dimensional characters, excitement and disappointments, healing, forgiveness, romance and faith. The Madden’s family drama is extended over three generations along with inn guest Ryan and his daughter Bella that brought moments of tears then laughter as each character grew in their personal relationship with their loved ones. Add in some moments of suspense and you have a story that will keep you wanting to know what will happen next.
Elaine Stock is a gifted author with her dysfunctional family infused drama tales filled with words of understanding, romance, faith and God’s love as the answer. When Love Blossoms is book two in her Kindred Lake series which could be read as a standalone; however, I highly recommend reading the prequel And You Came Along and book one, Christmas Love Year Round to appreciate the love story of secondary characters. I received a complimentary ARC e-book from the author and was under no obligation to post a review. All thoughts are my own opinion.
Although this novel could definitely be labeled as a romance, it is much more. I would call When Love Blossoms a family fiction story, because it is about love of family and the bond—sometimes fragile–between family members. The characters are teenage through early middle age. Along with the parent-child dynamics, an immediate attraction develops between inn owner, Kierra and one of her guests.
I enjoyed the story, because the characters and the storyline are complex and interesting. When Love Blossoms is easy to read and moves along quickly. Spiritual themes are very much in evidence, and I appreciated seeing some of the characters grow in their faith.
Kierra Madden’s broken heart is still mending from the deception of an ex-fiancé and her bed and breakfast could use more business. When her mother, divorced sister, and niece run into a rough patch, she offers a temporary home to them. But things have been strained between them and that adds to the stress.
A disturbing event in Ryan Delaney’s past has sent him on a journey, cycling to Kindred Lake to see his estranged teenage daughter, Bella. When he shows up at Kierra’s inn, an intense attraction begins between Ryan and Kierra.
As always, Elaine Stock delivers endearing family drama, with characters you’d like to meet in real life. She deftly interprets the quirky world of teenage girls, Bella and Zoe, Kierra’s niece. A sweet friendship develops between the young ladies as they both share and work out family difficulties.
There’s plenty happening in Kindred Lake and Stock seamlessly shares the details of her previous novella and novel that take place in the same town in a way that doesn’t take the reader out of the current installment.
The romance develops quickly, and years of family resentments melt away in this healing place, faster than you might expect. There’s also a really nice faith element as Kierra and Ryan struggle to grow in their trust of God. If you enjoy sweet and inspirational contemporary romance, you will enjoy the third visit to Kindred Lake in When Love Blossoms. Four and a half stars!
When Love Blossoms is a sweet, clean romance about family and relationships. I liked the small-town setting of Kindred Lake and the homey atmosphere it evokes. The characters were realistic and likeable, and I found myself cheering for them to overcome their problems and strengthen their relationships. It seemed to me that Ryan and Kierra’s romance was a bit fast in developing, and that everything tied up a little too neatly in the end, but I enjoyed the emphasis on family, forgiveness, and hope. This book is part of a series, but it can also easily be read as a standalone. 3.5 stars rounded to 4
This is a book built around families, with all their hurts, misconceptions, problems, needing healing and to feel like they belonged, teenagers starting to find their own faith, the concept of treasuring our family as God’s gift to us, instead of just “dealing” with them, and realizing that God would never let go of His grip on them, learning to forgive, and learning to love each other. I loved that Ryan was solid in his faith, and could patiently lead Kierra to a place of healing where she could accept love again. One of my favorite lines from “And You Came Along”, which is Zander & Jacey’s story, is repeated in this book: “Show me how you cling to the God you believe won’t fail you.” I have another favorite in this story: “Whenever he prayed he also rested afterwards in the anticipation of God replacing his whirlwind thoughts with His breath of love & peace.” Love that visual! Well written story with a little mystery and even suspense! I read an ARC copy and freely chose to give my own thoughts and impressions about this fun-to-read book. It is well worth reading, and even re-reading! It’s all about the two most important things in life – Family & Faith!
Just couldn’t seem to connect with this story. I tried ! I thought about not finishing it but I decided to hang with it. There was a glimmer of promise about 75 % through the book but for me it just didn’t happen. I’ve seen the reviews and they are all four and five Stars on good reads. Guess it’s a me thing. It’s hard too because I really loved book one of The Kindred Lake Series!