Cole Evans is confident, professional, and swoon-worthy - but this former foster kid knows his life could have turned out very differently. When Cole discovers the contest, he believes his home for foster kids in transition has found its saving grace. All he has to do is convince the owner that a not-for-profit enterprise will be good for the community.
When the eccentric philanthropist weights the proposals, she proposes an outlandish tie-breaker: PJ and Cole will share the house for a year to see which idea works best. Now, with Cole and the foster kids upstairs and PJ and the restaurant below, day-to-day life has turned into an out-and-out rivalry - with some seriously flirtatious hallway encounters on the side. But could their magnetic attraction cost them everything they've ever wanted?
My Thoughts:
This was my second book in the Chapel Springs series. I love this series that focuses on the McKinley family, yet each book can read as a stand-alone book.
PJ is the baby in the McKinley family and her family treats her as such. They always second guess her and give her a hard time, shattering her confidence with each step they take into her life. She sees opening her own restaurant and B&B as the only way to prove to her family that she is grown up and able to make it on her own.
Cole, on the other hand, is a former foster kid carrying around a big secret about his life. He has a passion for foster kids who have aged out the system and he feels like owning his own halfway-type home for them is the best idea for the available house.
It was apparent from the very beginning of this book that PJ and Cole were going to fall for each other. What made this book so great was watching the tension between them and cheering them on that they would finally discover what we, the reader, already know - they are meant to be together.
Even more than a wonderful love story, the book is about God's plan for our lives and what you must sometimes go through in order to follow that plan. Once PJ and Cole both relinquish the planning of their lives and let God get back in control, things just seem to work themselves out for the best.
I was actually pretty bummed when this book ended, and I really hope there are more books coming from this family. I would love to see what everyone is up to.
