Thank you to Elsie Silver and her team for the advance reader copy of Hopeless, the fifth and final instalment in the Chestnut Springs series.

This book is a masterpiece, a culmination of everything so great about Chestnut Springs!

Beau Eaton is the town prince, a handsome military hero with a tortured past.

I’m the outcast bartender, a shy girl from the wrong side of the tracks.

He’s thirty-five and all man, and I’m twenty-two and all… virgin.

He’s also my fiancé. Correction: my fake fiancé.

We start out as a bet. He doesn’t believe that anyone holds my last name against me. So he offers me his to prove a point.

It’s win-win. He gets a break from his concerned family’s prying, and I get a chance to shed my family’s reputation while I save up to ditch this small town.

He says all I have to do is wear his ring, follow his lead, and pretend I can’t keep my hands off of him in public.

But it’s what happens between us in private that blurs all those carefully drawn lines.

It’s what transpires behind closed doors that doesn’t feel like pretending at all.

This engagement was supposed to be for show. This agreement? It has an end date.

He once told me he’d never fall in love.

And yet here I am, head over heels for my fake fiancé.

Check out my more detailed thoughts below…

• Characters: Oh Beau Eaton how quickly you stole my heart. Beau has been in the background of every other Chestnut Springs novel and I was so happy to be in his head finally! I needed to know how he was dealing with his trauma, or should I say not dealing with it. I adored how he was such a gentleman, a very different breed from his brothers. He loves hard, with such a big heart and it was so wonderful to see him find a safe place for that heart with Bailey. Bailey is the local bartender, with a deadbeat father and brothers who wreak havoc in town. The town judges her by her last name rather than by the incredibly caring content of her character. A quick note here, that I loved having so many cameos from the other Chestnut Springs characters. There is a scene I adore so much that features all the women and it made me emotional reading them all together in a single scene.
• Setting: I will miss Chestnut Springs deeply. In the best small-town romances, the town becomes a key character, and in this book not only the town but the bar. Much of this story takes place in Bailey’s bar, with Beau watching her from his stool. Special shout out to the town drunk!
• Pacing: I never ever wanted this story to end. Elsie writes such a perfect length and keeps you hooked on the story the entire time. I loved the space she gave for Beau and Bailey’s relationship to grow, there was no need to rush into the hot and heavy. Rather it all developed so naturally and once they began to fall there was no stopping them.
• Romance: Another stellar couple in the Chestnut Springs series! I will give you the steamy deets first, this book is Elsie’s hottest yet! I know you may say no way but yes way! The river scene and bathtub scene both blow the Cade and Willa hottub scene out of the water. Besides the heat, I did find myself incredibly invested in Beau and Bailey’s fake engagement becoming a real romance. I dare you not to get latched onto two characters who have both never thought they could deserve a love this big.

Hopeless receives five out of five stars.

You can pick up the story here.

Thank you again to Elsie and the team for the review opportunity. Thank you for reading and supporting my blog!