Review: Falling Like Snowflakes by Denise Hunter

Title: Falling Like Snowflakes by Denise Hunter
Summer Harbor Series Book One
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Genre: Contemporary, Christian, Romance
Length: 346 pages
Book Rating: B+

Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher Through NetGalley

Summary:

Eden Martelli is too busy fleeing the clutches of danger to realize she’s running straight into the arms of a new love.

Speeding north through rural Maine, Eden Martelli wonders how her life came to this—on the run with her mute five-year-old son dozing fitfully in the passenger seat. When a breakdown leaves them stranded in Summer Harbor, Eden has no choice but to stay put through Christmas . . . even though they have no place to lay their heads.

Beau Callahan is a habitual problem solver—for other people anyway. He left the sheriff’s department to take over his family’s Christmas tree farm, but he’s still haunted by the loss of his parents and struggling to handle his first Christmas alone.

When Eden shows up looking for work just as Beau’s feisty aunt gets out of the hospital, Beau thinks he’s finally caught a break. Eden is competent and dedicated—if a little guarded—and a knockout to boot. But, as he soon finds out, she also comes with a boatload of secrets.

Eden has been through too much to trust her heart to another man, but Beau is impossible to resist, and the feeling seems to be mutual. As Christmas Eve approaches, Eden’s past catches up to her.

Beau will go to the ends of the earth to keep her safe. But who’s going to protect his heart from a woman who can’t seem to trust again?

Review:

With Falling Like Snowflakes, Denise Hunter’s Summer Harbor series is off to a delightful beginning. Centered around the Callahan brothers, this first novel in the series perfectly blends romance and intrigue when Beau hires mysterious newcomer Eden Martelli to help out around the house while his aunt recovers from a broken leg.

Eden and her young son, Micah, are fleeing for their lives when her car breaks down in Summer Harbor. When they become stranded after her money is stolen, she is desperate for a place to stay and although she is out of her element, she gratefully accepts Beau’s job offer. With their lives at risk, she is afraid to trust anyone but herself and she skillfully dodges Beau’s questions about herself. Eden’s stubbornness puts everyone at risk when Beau begins secretly looking for answers about her past.

Finding out the truth about Eden is just one of the problems Beau is facing. His relationship with his girlfriend Paige is a little unsettled and things between them become even more strained after he meets Eden. A shocking announcement from his brother, Riley, adds to his stress and the rift between them continues to widen.

The romance between Eden and Beau is slow growing and there are many obstacles for them to overcome when they unexpectedly fall in love. It takes a while for Beau to work through his emotions and arrive at a decision about his relationship with Paige. Eden’s tumultuous past has left her with little desire to enter into a relationship of any kind and her trust issues make it nearly impossible for her to discuss what happened prior to her arrival in town. Resolving her immediate problems is just the beginning of the healing process for Eden and much to Beau’s dismay, a future together remains far from certain.

Falling Like Snowflakes is a charming romance with appealing characters and a gentle undercurrent of faith. Denise Hunter skillfully weaves all of the various elements into a realistic story that is fast-paced and quite engaging. A wonderful introduction to the Callahan brothers that will leave readers eagerly awaiting the next novel in the Summer Harbor series.