Dancing with Fireflies, book review & giveaway
Jade returns home to Chapel Springs after years of protecting her fragile heart. Then along comes Daniel, making her long to dance again.
Dancing with Fireflies by Denise Hunter
About this book: Creative and complicated, Jade McKinley felt like a weed in a rose garden growing up in Chapel Springs. When she left, she thought she’d never look back. But now, pregnant, alone, and broke, she has no other choice but to return.
The mayor of Chapel Springs, Daniel Dawson, has been an honorary member of the McKinley family for years. While his own home life was almost non-existent, Daniel fit right into the boisterous McKinley family. He’s loved Jade for years, but she always saw him as a big brother. Now that she’s back, his feelings are stronger than ever.
As Jade attempts to settle in, nothing feels right. God seems far away, she’s hiding secrets from her family, and she’s strangely attracted to the man who’s always called her “squirt.” Finding her way home may prove more difficult than she imagined.
About the author: (excerpted from Litfuse Publicity) Denise Hunter is an internationally published, award-winning, best-selling author. She began writing (while her children napped) after the death of her grandfather. Her book was published two years later, and she’s been writing ever since. Her husband says he inspires all of her romantic stories, but Denise insists a good imagination helps, too. She and her husband have three children. Find out more about the author at www.denisehunterbooks.com.
Genre: Fiction/Christian/Romance
Would I read this book, judged on its cover alone? If I was in the mood for a romance, absolutely.
If this book were a movie, I would rate it: PG. Contains mature material (e.g., date rape), but sensitively handled, mostly off-screen.
Reminds me of… Beth Wiseman (contemporary)
You’ll want to buy this book if … you enjoyed Barefoot Summer, book 1 of Denise Hunter’s Chapel Springs Romance series; if you love a good, wholesome, inspirational romance in general. Read what other reviewers are saying here.
Why did I read this book? As a Litfuse blogger, for Thomas Nelson for review
Would I read another by this author? I’m officially hooked.
My take: I’m discovering that I really like a Denise Hunter romance–a Chapel Springs Romance, especially. Which surprises me because, as I’ve noted often enough, I’m not generally a straight-up romance kind of gal. I love romance, yes, and love to find it embedded in other genres. But a romance novel for the sake of romance? Not so much.
Denise Hunter, however, is turning me into a believer.
I like how she doesn’t decorate her prose with anything fancy. Instead, she gets straight to the heart of the story–and in her hands, that’s a delightful place to be. Her characters are winsome, her settings charming. I find her dialogue to be particularly pitch-perfect: snappy and real and sometimes funny–but not too funny, enhancing without distracting. It doesn’t get in the way of the story. (There was one line, especially, that kept me smiling for days.)
In this novel, I question just one thing: in the opening scene, Jade becomes the victim of date rape by an almost-stranger. Unwanted pregnancy ensues. Both of which, in any young woman’s life, would be highly traumatic events. But in the following chapters, we don’t see a whole lot of terrible emotional upheaval. In time, the subject is addressed and dealt with, but it still lacks a high emotional charge. This might stretch some readers’ credibility. Nonetheless, the way it is handled here is in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book (and the series), and in my opinion, the author manages to pull it off.
Thanks to Thomas Nelson for providing me a free copy to review. All opinions are mine.
Join Denise in celebrating the release of Dancing with Fireflies by entering her Kindle HDX giveaway and RSVPing for her April 10th Facebook party.
One winner will receive:
- A brand new Kindle Fire HDX
- Dancing with Fireflies and Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter
Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 10th. Winner will be announced at the Dancing with Fireflies Facebook Party on April 10th. Connect with Denise for an evening of prizes, book chat, and an exclusive look at the next book in the series.
