Loving Daniel

By Stacy Ford

Synopsis

When Kenzie Hart’s boyfriend dumped her and broke her heart, she didn’t let it stop her from living life. Kenzie went out and made a great life for herself. She has a loving husband, two kids, and a thriving career. She is living the life of a modern day fairy tale. But if Kenzie should have learned anything, it’s fairy tales are a work of fiction. There are no happily ever after’s. When tragedy strikes, she moves back to her hometown to start over with her friends and family at her side.

Daniel Roberts has always regretted the way things ended with Kenzie. There has not been a day in the last twenty years he has not wished he could go back in time and change what happened. Now she is coming home after the loss of her husband. He is determined to show her he can be the man she and her kids need.

Will Kenzie be able to forgive Daniel?
Could he give her a second chance at a happily ever after?

Review

Kenzie and Daniel were high school sweethearts, but Daniel joined the Army and didn’t want to leave Kenzie waiting for him at home, so he broke up with her on the night of their senior prom. Twenty years later, Kenzie has been married, had two children and lost her husband to cancer. Knowing that she’ll head back home, Daniel retires from the Army with the sole purpose of winning Kenzie back.

I liked Kenzie a lot and thought she was an amazing character. She’s lost her husband and is raising two kids by herself as well as running a home business. She has a great support network and is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it. I also liked Daniel and his determination to win Kenzie back. He made it very clear he was not out to replace her husband or her children’s father and he did a wonderful job with helping them honour Ben’s memory. But I was a little disappointed with some of his actions. He avoided his brother’s wedding because he didn’t want to see Kenzie with her husband, and when he got the news that Kenzie’s husband was dying, he dumped the woman he’d been in a relationship with so that he could go home to win Kenzie back. Some women might swoon over stuff like that, but it didn’t sit right with me.

LOVING DANIEL is a sweet and sometimes emotional read that is told in dual POVs. You’ll definitely need tissues when Kenzie talks about her late husband. I did notice several spelling and grammar mistakes, and there was also an issue or two with the timeline, so it could use an editor. My copy of LOVING DANIEL was an ARC/Master Copy, so perhaps by the time it went live, the mistakes I found had been fixed. And I’m not sure if this will make sense, but the story felt like it moved quickly, but moved slowly at the same time. But for a debut novel, I thought this was a pretty good read.

Daniel: We have consumed way too much soda and pizza, but that’s what you do when the wives leave. No one is going to get a balanced meal, but we’ll keep them alive.

My Rating: