THE HERO OF HOPE SPRINGS BY MAISEY YATES - Book Review

GOODREADS   AMAZON

Will Gold Valley’s most honorable cowboy finally claim the woman he’s always wanted?
For as long as brooding cowboy Ryder Daniels has known Sammy Marshall, she has been his sunshine. Her free spirit and bright smile saved him after the devastating loss of his parents and gave him the strength to care for his orphaned family. Only Ryder knows how vulnerable Sammy is, so he’s kept his attraction for his best friend under wraps for years. But what Sammy’s asking for now might be a step too far…
Something has been missing from Sammy’s life, and she thinks she knows what it is. Deciding she wants a baby is easy; realizing she wants her best friend to be the father is…complicated. Especially when a new heat between them sparks to life! When Sammy discovers she’s pregnant, Ryder makes it clear he wants it all. But having suffered the fallout of her parents’ disastrous relationship, Sammy is wary of letting Ryder too close. This cowboy will have to prove he’s proposing out of more than just honor…

An emotional and touching love story of two friends in a crossroads of life, struggling with their past tragedies, with the losses they have faced and with the passion they feel for each other.
It is easy to adore and admire Ryder Daniels, the head of a family, who put everything else aside as a young man, to take care of the family when needed. He is loyal, kind, considerate, stubborn, strong, and generous, he would do anything to protect his family. His best friend of 17 years, the light of his life, the sun on his sky, Sammy Marshall, thought him how to smile again, and now she is showing him how to feel again... 
While Ryder was so easy to love and admire, Sammy took some effort to understand. The place of trauma Sammy comes from, where she grew up in, the physical, mental, and emotional abuse she had faced, it is unimaginable and thus hard to grasp. As the story unfolds and the damage to Sammy's soul is unveiled, it is heartwrenching to feel an ouch of the immeasurable pain she has had to carry with her most of her life. 
This story went directly to my feels. At first, it was all fun and banter and cute and ardent. And then it got real and raw, there were heartache and agony, and the angst was high even when everything seemed so lovely and tender and sweet cause there were still major pieces of the puzzle missing. 
This beautiful story of love and life, friendship, and family, finding your true north and daring to take the journey towards it was an intense, fervent, spirited tale that took me for a wild ride and pulled all the feels to the surface.
​A book hangover? Oh yes, in the best possible way. I think part of Sammy and Ryder will live in my heart from now on... 
~ Five Spoons!  

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New York Times and USA Today Bestselling author Maisey Yates lives in rural Oregon with her three children and her husband, whose chiseled jaw and arresting features continue to make her swoon. She feels the epic trek she takes several times a day from her office to her coffee maker is a true example of her pioneer spirit. In 2009, at the age of twenty-three Maisey sold her first book. 
Since then it’s been a whirlwind of sexy alpha males and happily ever afters, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. Maisey divides her writing time between dark, passionate category romances set just about everywhere on earth and light sexy contemporary romances set practically in her back yard. 

She believes that she clearly has the best job in the world.

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