Faith feels like her shop is her one hope for the future after being rejected over her possible inability to have children. Meanwhile, Hunter is struggling, too, with injuries from an accident that took the life of his father making physical labor difficult just as the bills are piling up, and he’s rapidly losing confidence in himself as a provider.

I liked Hunter and Faith together in the moments where they weren’t taking everything the other said the wrong way, whenever they’re truly combining forces for her business, or in reaching out to a young employee, you very much get the sense that they could make for really great romantic partners.

However, there were ever so many more moments where Hunter and Faith took offense over things that were said, often things that weren’t intended to offend, it continuously set them off and it isn’t until very late that either clarifies why the comments cut deep, so it felt like one misunderstanding/squabble/need to apologize after the next and at a certain point it felt pretty tiresome to read. It is understandable, when you feel vulnerable about something, Faith with her weight and infertility, Hunter with his injuries that in his mind make him less of a man, that those things are sore spots easily bruised and things they wouldn’t be all that eager to discuss with anyone, but at the same time holding it all in while lashing out about it made for a somewhat frustrating and occasionally repetitious story.

With the heroine and hero so frequently triggered by one another, their romance was a bit too bumpy of a ride to get all that swept up in, however, there were some other aspects of the story that I did enjoy more, for instance, given that Hunter and Faith are pretty guarded especially with one another, it was refreshing to have a character like Ivy (on the autism spectrum?) who’s upfront and matter of fact when she speaks. I also like the relationship between Faith and her sister-in-law, how imperfect their dynamic was, prickly yet honest and caring, and I thought it evolved nicely once Faith took a bit of a vocal stand. ( )