The
Hero of Hope Springs
shows why author Maisey Yates is the Queen of the Cowboy stories.
The characters are searching to find their place in the world.
They are stories of hope, acceptance, love, and family with
a small-town romance.
Yates noted, "In the first three books of this series,
the heroes are aware of their feelings before the heroine,
which is not my tendency."
The
Hero Of Hope Springs is a friend to lover story. It delves
into the horrific subject of child abuse and the emotional
aftermath. The heroine, Sammy Marshall, hides her vulnerability
behind a free-spirit attitude. She would have fit perfectly
into the sixties, in the age of the flower child. But she
always wanted and needed a family. She observed how Ryder
Daniels raised his siblings, a family friend, and two cousins
after their parents died together in a plane crash. Wanting
to be a part of this make-shift family, Sammy shows up at
the ranch and joins the clan. It does not take long for Ryder
and Sammy to become best friends.
"Sammy saw the Daniels' family as a representation of
a community that was built from a tragedy. They are an unconventional
family that has a strong support system. A friend of mine
who is a new author for Harlequin said something profound
to me, 'It's not the characters just falling in love with
each other, but also falling in love with the town and community.'
They are there for each other. Since she came from an abusive,
dysfunctional family, in her mind, seeing the Daniels' family
feels like living in an adult free utopia, which she wanted
to be a part of. She saw Hope Springs Ranch as a hopeful place,
where she would be loved and taken care of. The hero Ryder
and his family were her family. Her free spirit attitude covered
up her issues, although she was unconventional."
Ryder
realizes there is an attraction, but does nothing, not wanting
to destroy their strong bond of friendship. But after Sammy
approaches him, asking him to choose a baby-daddy, everything
becomes complicated. She realizes her best friend Ryder would
make the perfect sperm donor, not with a tube, but with actual
intimacy. After discovering she is pregnant, Ryder makes it
clear he wants to make her an honest woman and wants to marry
her. Although she agrees and goes through with it, Sammy still
struggles with letting him get to close after seeing her parents'
disastrous relationship. Eventually, both realize they are
the light to each other's darkness.
"I
wrote the relationship where she needed his steadiness, and
she allowed him to lighten up. Because she did not want to
lose him as her best friend, she kept the relationship as
platonic. This is a story of a woman who wants to not lose
the friendship of the hero. She needed his strength, and he
needed her free-spirit. Sammy calls him an old retired man,
which is true symbolically. He worked really hard to get everyone
else into a good place. He was their care-taker and gave everything
up he dreamed of. Now at the age of 34, he is an empty nester
but still tries to protect everyone. He is very traditional
while she is very untraditional."
This
book has a touching story filled with humor, heartbreak, and
finally, love. The characters are brought to life, and readers
root for them to find their happiness.
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