Just Let Go by Courtney Walsh

MY REVIEW:

The small lakeside town of Harbor Pointe, Michigan was not a place down-on-his-luck champion skier Grady Benson would ever want to spend much time. No, it did not have the luxuries and entertainment Grady had become accustomed to in his celebrity lifestyle. Needless to say, he was not at all happy about his enforced community service for several weeks – not when he needed to hit the slopes hard to be assured of a place on the next Olympic team. On the other hand, Quinn Collins had never left Harbor Pointe and did not intend to ever do so. She was so straight-laced that her friends swore they could set their clocks by her routine. She was NOT at all happy to have the full-of-himself Grady assigned to her team for the annual winter festival. I bet most readers can guess what happens between this totally mismatched pair. Of course they can but it is so much fun to follow along their sometimes amusing but always interesting road to the romantic conclusion of their story.

As always, Walsh’s characters are realistic and well-rounded. Both Grady and Quinn have backgrounds that contributed to their fears and outlook on life. I loved how even though they each seemed to rub each other the wrong way, their relationship helped open their eyes to some deep internal truths that helped to start their healing and eventually led to forgiveness and restoration for them both. The spiritual content of the story was strong and could easily be an encouragement to many readers.

I thoroughly enjoyed Just Let Go as well as several other of this author’s books. It was fun to catch up with characters from Just Look Up also. I am certainly looking forward to the next installment of this excellent series.

I voluntarily reviewed a copy of this book provided by Celebrate Lit. A favorable review was not required. All views expressed are my own.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

Title: Just Let Go

Author: Courtney Walsh

Release Date: June 5, 2018

Genre: Contemporary Romance

For Quinn Collins, buying the flower shop in downtown Harbor Pointe fulfills a childhood dream, but also gives her the chance to stick it to her mom, who owned the store before skipping town twenty years ago and never looking back. Completing much-needed renovations, however, while also competing for a prestigious flower competition with her mother as the head judge, soon has Quinn in over her head. Not that she’d ever ask for help.

Luckily, she may not need to. Quinn’s father and his meddling friends find the perfect solution in notorious Olympic skier Grady Benson, who had only planned on passing through the old-fashioned lakeside town. But when a heated confrontation leads to property damage, helping Quinn as a community-service sentence seems like the quickest way out—and the best way to avoid more negative press.

Quinn finds Grady reckless and entitled; he thinks she’s uptight and too regimented. Yet as the two begin to hammer and saw, Quinn sees glimpses of the vulnerability behind the bravado, and Grady learns from her passion and determination, qualities he seems to have lost along the way. But when a well-intentioned omission has devastating consequences, Grady finds himself cast out of town—and Quinn’s life—possibly forever. Forced to face the hurt holding her back, Quinn must finally let go or risk missing out on the adventure of a lifetime.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Courtney Walsh is a novelist, artist, theatre director, and playwright. Her debut novel, A Sweethaven Summer, hit the New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller lists and was a Carol Award finalist in the debut author category. She has written two more books in the Sweethaven series, as well as two craft books and several full-length musicals. Courtney lives in Illinois with her husband and three children. Visit her online at www.courtneywalshwrites.com.