Susan's Review of Tie the Knot in Good Hope--Good Hope 7-- by Cindy Kirk

Love always finds a way…

Lindsay Lohmeier’s life is no bed of roses. After struggling at a job she loved, but ultimately lost, she opened her own florist shop in Good Hope. Her budding business won’t be her only new addition. Lindsay is pregnant. While she’s happy to open her heart to her baby, opening up to the father is another story.
The last thing Owen Vaughn expected to hear was that he was going to be a father—again. He’s been down this road before and it ended in pain so devastating he thought he’d never heal. Still, he won’t abandon his child or Lindsay, the woman who--before they broke up--had been a bright spot during his darkest days.
Owen proposes, but Lindsay wants her child to grow up in a family built on love, not obligation. As they spend time together preparing for the baby, old feelings resurface. Owen encourages Lindsay to find her own way, hoping she’ll see this pregnancy has given them something special…a second chance at love.

Tie the Knot in Good Hope is Lindsay Lohmeier and Owen Vaughn’s story. I have been waiting to read this story; as their friendship was a side story in both Forever in Good Hope and Say I Do in Good Hope. I adored this second chance romance with a twist and the chance to revisit with some of my favorite Good Hope friends.

Lindsay is at a cross roads personally and professionally. Her decision not to be second best at work or in a relationship gives her the courage to fulfill her dreams of owning her own floral business and having a child. Although she loves Owen, Lindsay knows that he is grieving the loss of his young daughter and can’t see his way through his grief to love her. I admired that Lindsay stood up for herself in both situations and became a stronger person with each chapter of the novel.

Owen’s story was revealed bit by bit in the past few novels. I liked the plot choices the author chose as Owen’s story was deeply emotional and heartbreaking. Cindy Kirk chose to have this character grieve until he came to accept Mindy’s death. Owen accepted help from Fin, Lindsay and other neighbors as he sorted through his emotions and feelings.

Cindy Kirk weaves two important themes in Tie the Knot. She carefully balances Lindsay’s desire to raise her child and own her own business with Owen’s grief over the death of his daughter. Lindsay wants a marriage where she is loved and desired, not one of obligation. Owen doesn’t believe in love anymore. His first wife left him and his daughter Mindy died of a brain tumor. Owen withdrew from his friends and buried himself in his work. The baby changed the course of Owen’s life; he needed to decide if he wanted to choose his future or stay stuck in the past.

Tie The Knot in Good Hope is my favorite book in the series. I loved that Ruby Rakes and her friends Gladys and Katherine scheme to get Owen and Lindsay back together. The three senior citizens take their job very seriously and add lots of laughter to the novel. The author weaves in two marriages and plenty of small town events which allow fans of the series to catch up on their favorite characters. The poignant friends to lovers romance and importance of family and friendship make Tie the Knot in Good Hope one of my favorite novels of 2018.

Tie the Knot in Good Hope has all the feels—it’s an emotional, loving journey through heartbreak to new beginnings told with humor, honesty and compassion.

Reviewed by Susan Gorman

ARC provided by the Author

Cindy Kirk is a lifelong Nebraska resident who started writing after taking a class at a local community college. But her interest in the written word started years before when she was in her teens. At sixteen she wrote in her diary, “I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t be a writer.”

Not until her daughter was heading off to college did Cindy return to her first love---writing. Unlike some writers, Cindy wasn’t interested in newspaper or magazine articles, short stories or poetry. When she decided to start writing, she jumped feet first into book length fiction. She loves reading and writing romance because she believes in the power of love and in happily ever after. An incurable romantic, Cindy loves seeing her characters grow and learn from their mistakes and, in the process, achieve a happy ending.

Someone once told Cindy that to know a writer you just have to read what she's written; she hopes that once you read her books you can tell she is an eternal optimist, one who truly believes in the power of love. She invites you to kick off your shoes, pick up one of her books and get to know her. Cindy and her high school sweetheart husband live on an acreage with two dogs and two cats—Oreo--a friendly feline who loves to sit next to the computer and supervise her writing and Leo, a white devil with a raccoon-like tail.