Whenever

Charity has a house under reconstruction and needs a quiet place to write. Charity's parents are in Europe for the summer, so her childhood home has become her refuge. When she pulls into their driveway, she finds the home next door owned by her high school classmate, Buck Malone. With a trip to the grocery store, Charity runs into Buck--literally. Charity's dog, Cocoa, takes Buck out in a slick move breaking both his right wrist and his right ankle. Feeling guilty, Charity offers to help out on Buck's horse ranch until he is back on his feet. The problem is that Charity is hiding a secret--a secret that is ten years old and still holds her captive, and she doesn't want any entanglements.

Robin Lee Hatcher has written a sweet novel about working through some issues, finding peace, and falling in love. The characters are believable, relatable, and likable. The plot moves at a fairly good clip and keeps the reader engaged in the story. I love reading Robin Lee Hatcher's books, especially when I want light, easy reads. Whenever You Come Around fits this bill quite nicely. To see how Robin worked out the conflict in Charity's life was a real treat--Robin shows in a real way that we can allow events in our lives to hold us captive when God wants a real freedom for us.

My one criticism is that there was no real resolution to Charity's secret, no fairness in what happened to her. I wanted to see something that would bring the perpetrator to justice. Four strong stars.

My thanks to Thomas Nelson for allowing me to read and review this book.