Stay With Me (Becky Wade) – Review + Giveaway

Posted 25 May 2020 by Katie in Christian Fiction, Contemporary, Review, Romance / 2 Comments

On Tour with Prism Book Tours


Title: 
Stay With Me
Author: 
Becky Wade
Genre: 
Contemporary Romance
Series: 
#1 Misty River Romance
Publisher: 
Bethany House
Release date: 
5 May 2020
Pages: 
396

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iTunes  |  Barnes & Noble  |  Koorong
Book Depository  |  Target  |  Christianbook

Stay with Me (A Misty River Romance, #1)


About the Book

A mysterious letter alluding to a secret in her parents’ past brings Genevieve Woodward back to her Blue Ridge Mountains hometown, but she’s also in need of a break from a high-profile career that has left her dangerously burned out and concealing a powerful secret of her own. When she wakes inside an unfamiliar cottage to find the confused owner staring down at her, she can no longer ignore the fact that she needs help.  

Sam Turner has embraced his sorrow and his identity as an outsider. The solitary, disciplined life he lives on his historic farm is the life he’s chosen for himself. The last thing he wants is to rent his cottage to a woman as troubled as she is talkative. Yet, he can’t force himself to turn her away right when she needs him most. 

As Genevieve researches her family’s history and her and Sam’s emotions deepen, they will have to let go of the facades and loneliness they’ve clung to and allow light to illuminate every hidden truth.  

Excerpt

Her spine stiffened as she read. Wordlessly, she handed the letter to Dad.   
    “‘I know what your parents did,’” he read aloud, frowning. “‘And after all we’ve suffered, it’s hard to watch you bask in your fame and money. Your parents aren’t going to get away with it.’”
    “Who sent this?” Mom asked.
    “I have no idea. It’s unsigned and the return address listed doesn’t exist.”
    Mom flipped the envelope over to study the return address.
    “What’s the writer talking about?” Genevieve asked. “What does he or she mean when they say they know what you did?”
    Mom met her eyes. “They can’t mean anything by it, because we haven’t done anything.”
    “Nothing?”
    “No, of course not,” Mom said. “Nothing.”
    “The letter writer made it all up?” Genevieve asked.
    “Yes,” Mom answered.
    “But why would someone do that?”
    Mom rotated her coffee cup. “Now that you’re as well-known and prominent as you are, you get all kinds of mail, don’t you? The good, the bad, and the ugly?”
    “Yes.”
    “Then I’d say this one belongs in either the bad or the ugly category. I suppose they sent it to worry you or throw you off your game.”
    Genevieve looked to her father. “Dad?”
    “Maybe this is their idea of humor,” he suggested. “They could view this as a prank.”
    “It’s just that I don’t ever get letters about you two. This is a first.”
    “You receive mail via your publisher, right?” Dad crumbled bacon on top of his eggs, as if he’d forgotten that’s not how he ate his eggs and bacon. He always took bites of eggs, then bites of bacon, then bites of eggs.
    “Right.”
    “And do they screen the letters for you?” he asked.
    “Yes.” She received so much correspondence that she hadn’t been able to keep up with it personally in years. “The publicity team typically passes along the funniest, most heartwarming, and most encouraging of the letters. They file the critical and complaining letters.”
    “Then why didn’t they simply file this one?” Mom asked.
    “Because it’s unusual. It’s not garden-variety praise or criticism. It’s creepy and vaguely threatening.” When Genevieve had first read it, while standing inside her publisher’s suite of offices, a stone of foreboding had lodged in her chest.
    “It’s fiction,” Mom said firmly.
    “Are you sure?” Genevieve asked.
    “Of course,” she answered. “Judson? Is there anything you think we should do? In response to the letter?”
    Her father was famous for his reasonable disposition and cool head. In every circle he was a part of, and certainly within the circle of this family, the members looked to him for advice.
    “No,” Dad said. “I don’t think we should do anything in response to this other than ignore it.”
    It takes one skilled faker to recognize another, and Genevieve’s instincts were telling her that the letter had the thrust of truth behind it. The stone of foreboding doubled in size.

Review

This first book in Becky Wade’s new series sets a different tone for her in some ways but is a combination of everything I love about her stories in others. Although she has featured taciturn characters in the past (Jake Porter in A Love Like Ours and even John Lawson in True to You come to mind), Sam’s distinctly non-social tendencies elevate him to a whole other level of taciturn. Couple that with Genevieve’s addiction to pain killers and her investigation into her parents’ past and the scene is set for a more sombre story than readers have seen from Wade so far. On the other hand, the pairing of a hero and heroine who are at opposite ends of the introvert/extrovert spectrum is the perfect recipe for the lively and enjoyable character interactions I’ve grown to love in Wade’s stories.

And really, Sam and Genevieve—particularly how well their characters were developed and portrayed—were a huge part of what made this such an enjoyable read for me. The fact that Sam is Australian was certainly a point in his favour 😉 and I loved that this came through in subtle ways, such as little differences in vocabulary and a preference for drying his washing on a clothes line rather than in a dryer. But it was the contrasts and contradictions in their characters that really breathed life into the story. Sam presents as taciturn and even gruff, but his emotions run deep and he feels things intensely. Genevieve is charming and confident, but in many ways she’s also insecure and a little lost. And despite being so completely different to each other, there was palpable chemistry between them—romantic and otherwise.

But even more than all that, I love the spiritual themes Wade has explored through Sam and Gen’s story. “The truth will set you free” is such a well-known maxim these days it’s become somewhat clichèd, but this story brought it home in a way that felt like a fresh revelation. I got completely caught up in every aspect of the story—Gen’s battle over her addiction, the investigation into her parents’ past, and Sam’s reluctance to accept the vulnerability that comes with relationships—and the hints for where the second book in this series is headed have well and truly whet my appetite for more.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not influenced the content of my review, which is my honest and unbiased opinion.

Previous Books in Series

Take a Chance on Me
(A Misty River Romance #0.5)
By Becky Wade
Christian Contemporary Romance, Novella
ebook, 97 Pages
February 25th 2020

When baker Penelope Quinn steps in to help her brother’s family through a medical crisis, she’s forced into close proximity with charming Air Force fighter pilot Eli Price.

Penelope has one iron-clad dating rule—she does not date airmen. Months ago, she relaxed her rule with Eli and immediately lived to regret it. After a long deployment, he’s now back in Misty River and, to her dismay, she finds him just as tempting as always.

Eli’s spent months thinking about funny, feisty, creative Penelope. He once leveraged his focus and drive to become a pilot, his childhood dream. Now he’s set on leveraging that same focus and drive in order to convince Penelope to give him one more chance.

This romantic prequel novella introduces readers to the quaint mountain town of Misty River and a brand-new series from Christy-winning author Becky Wade!

Goodreads  |  Amazon  |  Barnes & Noble
Currently FREE

About the Author

Becky Wade

Becky Wade is the 2018 Christy Award Book of the Year winner for True to You. She is a native of California who attended Baylor University, met and married a Texan, and moved to Dallas. She published historical romances for the general market, then put her career on hold for several years to care for her children. When God called her back to writing, Becky knew He meant for her to turn her attention to Christian fiction. Her humorous, heart-pounding contemporary romance novels have won three Christy Awards, the Carol Award, the INSPY Award, and the Inspirational Reader’s Choice Award for Romance. Becky lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband and three children.

Connect with Becky:  
Website  |  Blog  |  Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Goodreads  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest

Giveaway

One winner will receive:

– A $100 gift card
– A paperback copy of Stay with Me
– A hand-knit scarf
– A pair of earrings
– A package of “Georgia Blues” coffee
– A package of apple oatmeal muffin mix

ENTER HERE

 

There is also a bookstagram tour with its own giveaway. Follow on Instagram.

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