Welcome to my stop on the Great Escapes Virtual Book Tour for Hope for the Holidays by Daryl Wood Gerber. Stop by each blog on the tour for interviews, guest posts, spotlights, reviews and more!
Hope for the Holidays
by Daryl Wood Gerber
Hope for the Holidays
Holiday Romance
Setting – Oregon
Independently Published – Chucklin Inc. (November 14, 2023)
Paperback : 304 pages
Hope Lyons’s husband ran through all their money and split Portland, Oregon, forcing Hope to sell her beloved Pie in the Sky bakery and move with her two children back to charming Hope Valley, her hometown. She has been working as a waitress and pinching pennies to get their lives back on track; however, when her children win KPRL’s Spirit of Christmas vacation contest, Hope worries about the extra expenses she will incur on such a trip and turns it down.
Steve Waldren, the handsome KPRL sports anchor, is now of an age where he can’t afford to have a gap on his resume. His confidence is already shaky, ever since his fiancée dumped him, claiming Steve would never reach his potential. When Steve’s boss dubs Steve to be Giveaway Santa, he’s forced to accept. Steve, as Santa, readily travels to Hope Valley to award the prize. But when Hope refuses it, he’s at a loss. His boss threatens to fire him if he doesn’t convince Hope to take it, and Steve does all he can to change her mind. But Hope can be stubborn, life can be a challenge, and Hope’s children can be unpredictable. Not to mention, the truth isn’t always what it seems.
Will Hope and Steve find their happily ever after? It might take a holiday miracle.
My review of Hope for the Holidays
If you’re looking for a sweet romance book to bring you some cheer this Christmas season, you need to read Hope for the Holidays by Daryl Wood Gerber! I literally only put this book down long enough to eat lunch. I read 67% of the book, ate lunch, and read the rest of it! It’s the story of a single mom with a creep of an ex-husband who ran through her money and left her with nothing, and a single sportscaster with a jerk for a boss!
Hope Lyons did everything she could to hold her marriage together, but her husband put his gambling above his wife and two kids. He ran through her inheritance and any savings they had. This meant that Hope had to sell her beloved bakery and move from Portland back to her small hometown, Hope Valley. She finds a job as a waitress and manages to keep her small family together through extremely frugal living. Hope is kind, the patrons at the cafe love her, and she’s a great mom.
Steve Waldren is “The Voice” of KPRL sports, and he’s a nice guy. He’s great with his brother who is on the spectrum, but he doesn’t get home to Hope Valley very often. However, when his boss finds out Steve’s been looking for a job in a bigger city, he makes Steve play Santa and deliver the news to the station’s Disneyland contest winners…Hope’s family or lose his job. Cue the drama!
I adored the characters in Hope for the Holidays (except for the creep husband and jerk boss, of course)! The author excels at making the characters seem real. They just jump off of the page, and you care about what happens to them. Steve’s family is lovely as are Hope’s friends. Her children act exactly like I’d expect them to act considering what they’re dealing with.
The small-town setting is charming, and the author brings it to life with her descriptive writing. The author also makes it easy to picture Hope’s living conditions as well as other locations in the book like the cafe, school, and Steve’s parent’s home.
Of course, I loved how Steve and Hope’s relationship develops. It’s kind of an enemies to lovers trope though not in the strictest sense. There are misunderstandings that cause disappointments, but once things become clear to the characters, they begin to fall in love. Hope for the Holidays is a clean romance, so you can feel comfortable recommending this to all of your romance book loving friends.
I highly recommend Hope for the Holidays for its realistic, well-written characters, its charming small-town setting, and its sweet romance. I think you’ll have just as hard of a time putting it down as I did! Grab some hot chocolate and dive into Hope for the Holidays!
I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
About Daryl Wood Gerber
Agatha Award-winning author Daryl Wood Gerber is delving into the world of romance for a passion project she simply had to write, HOPE FOR THE HOLIDAYS. In addition, Daryl writes the nationally bestselling Cookbook Nook Mysteries and the Fairy Garden Mysteries. As Avery Aames, she wrote the popular Cheese Shop Mysteries. In addition, Daryl writes the Aspen Adams novels of suspense as well as stand-alone suspense.
She has a frisky Goldendoodle who keeps her in line. You can learn more about her books on her website: httsp://darylwoodgerber.com
Author Links
WEBSITE: https://darylwoodgerber.com
FACEBOOK: https://facebook.com/darylwoodgerber
BOOKBUB: https://bookbub.com/authors/daryl-wood-gerber
YOUTUBE: https://youtube.com/woodgerb1
INSTAGRAM: https//instagram.com/darylwoodgerber
GOODREADS: https://goodreads.com/darylwoodgerber
AMAZON: https://bit.ly/Daryl_Wood_Gerber_page
NEWSLETTER: https://darylwoodgerber.com/contact-media/
Purchase Links – Universal – Amazon – B&N
Enter the Giveaway
Hope for the Holidays TOUR PARTICIPANTS
December 4 – Read Your Writes Book Reviews – AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 4 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 5 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
December 5 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
December 6 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
December 6 – Reading Authors Network – SPOTLIGHT
December 7 – Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense – SPOTLIGHT
December 7 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – Baroness Book Trove – SPOTLIGHT
December 8 – Carla Loves to Read – REVIEW, AUTHOR GUEST POST
December 9 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee – SPOTLIGHT
December 10 – Lady Hawkeye – SPOTLIGHT
December 11 – Ruff Drafts – SPOTLIGHT
December 12 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT
December 13 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT
December 13 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – REVIEW
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Sounds like a book I will enjoy reading.
Thanks for sharing!
This looks like a really nice book to read.
I love to read holiday books during December!
Christy, I’m so thrilled that you enjoyed the story. Thank you so much for the lovely review and post. Hope your readers enjoy it just as much. ~ Daryl Wood Gerber
You’re welcome! I’m certain that they will!
This sounds like an interesting book and I also like the cover.