WHENEVER YOU COME AROUND by Robin Lee Hatcher

Charity Anderson harbors a painful secret of something that happened to her during college; a secret that causes her to avoid family and friends and her hometown of Kings Meadow.  She's now a successful writer and owns a home of her own away from Kings Meadow.  When her home sustains damage from flooding, she needs to find someplace quiet to write so she can meet her deadline.  With her parents on a summer European tour, she decides, reluctantly, to stay at their house, in Kings Meadow, while repairs are being made to hers.   Buck Malone had big dreams for college and a career, but all that changed when his father was diagnosed with cancer.  He decided to stay in Kings Meadow and care for his family.  Watching the pain his mother experienced in losing his father, he decides to remain a bachelor.  He loves Kings Meadow and sharing its beautiful landscape, with tourists, as a wilderness guide.  When Charity's dog causes injuries to Buck that lay him up for a while, she feels obligated to help care for him.  As they spend time together, they find themselves becoming fast friends.  Will it ever be more than that or will past secrets and bachelorhood win out?

This was a very good story and one that kept me interested the whole way through.  I enjoyed getting to know all the life-like characters as well as spending time in Kings Meadow.  Charity was interesting and I felt like she was a picture of what happens when you let an event define who you are.  It's easy, as a reader, to judge Charity, but I think we've all been there, to some degree.  Buck was just an-all-around great guy.  Fun to be with, gentle and kind, someone you could count on.  But as much as I liked the story, I found myself frustrated.  There is a build-up of one of the characters to the point where you expect something to happen, and it never does.   It felt anticlimactic.  You'll understand when you read the story.  I also felt the ending was to abrupt compared to the pacing of the story.  The message of how God forgives us and cares for us shines through.  If you've ever done something that made you feel like you didn't deserve God's love, then you would easily relate to Charity.  This is the second book in the series but can be read as a stand-alone. Overall, I really enjoyed my trip to Kings Meadow and I would love to visit there again.

*This complimentary copy was provided by Thomas Nelson through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

For information about this book or other books by Robin Lee Hatcher, I encourage you to visit her website at: http://www.robinleehatcher.com/