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Easily my favorite feel-good series, this, the penultimate book in the #HedgehogHollow series, may just be the best of all.
With all the gang back, settling into this story (as is the case with this entire gorgeous series) is a familiar and comforting visit with dear friends, a journey into kindness, community and caring, broad enough to encompass injured animals, hurting humans, and any reader who craves a literary hug.
As Samantha and Josh settle into married life, jetting off to Tanzania to enjoy an absolutely dreamy honeymoon (who wouldn’t enjoy a wildlife safari with elephants! thatched bungalow on the beach! Snorkeling over coral reefs and swimming with turtles!), the story shifts gears to open a deep and intimate glimpse into one of the series most enigmatic characters thus far – Lauren, Josh’s smart, professional and always-supportive Auntie – who it turns out, perhaps unsurprisingly, has buried layers of pain so thickly entrenched they are cloaking her own need for healing and support.
As we travel back in time to learn Lauren’s oh-so-tragic backstory, with not one, but two failed marriages in her past – the first, quite likely the most poignant marriage break-up this reader has ever encountered between the pages – it’s impossible not to become lost in a world where dreams are shattered, so resoundingly and evocatively that it feels like one’s very own heart is breaking.
Without giving the plot away (no spoilers here), it should come as no surprise that, if you look hard enough, and in all the right places, it’s clear that solace and repair can be found for every trauma.
As broken dreams cluttering the past are replaced with possibilities, hope, and the shameless delight that comes with new love and new beginnings, I am so grateful every time I visit with these characters that such a world exists, and that this reader, for one, has had another chance to share in it.
A few well-placed hints, some doors that are opening – for Samantha, Josh, Lauren and the entire Hedgehog Hollow family and community, there appear to be changes approaching the horizon. I can’t wait to read the next, and final, book in this series.
A great big thank you to @raratours, the author, @JessicaRedland, and the publisher @BoldwoodBooks for an ARC of this book.
My stop today on the @rachelsrandomresources #blogtour for #ChasingDreamsatHedgehogHollow. All thoughts presented are my own.
