REVIEW: Hold On My Heart by Tracy Brogan

Hold On My Heart by Tracy Brogan: Libby has lost her job and it looks like she’s losing her boyfriend too. She’s moved back to her parents’ home, away from Chicago, while she is on the job hunt. Life always moves on though, and before Libby knows it she’s helping her father Peter restore an old building into an ice cream parlor. She is definitely not looking to get involved with anyone else, with her relationship on the way out the door, her job situation dire, and her life generally up in the air she’s just trying to find her place.

She is definitely not expecting to feel so attracted to gruff Tom, the man of few words restoration specialist her Dad hired to help with the renovations. Tom is a widow who stopped living after his wife died in a car accident a year and a half ago. Even his relationship with his daughter is strained. She lives with her grandparents and doesn’t have much to do with her father. Right now he is struggling to rekindle that relationship, one with another woman is not in the cards for him.

Sometimes though, what’s meant to be is not always what you have planned. Tom and Libby spend a lot of time together at the ice cream shop to be, and Libby has a gentle, kind way about her that reaches out to Tom. She sees him for all that he is, not for the one thing that he uses to define his life now, and she is determined to help him see himself the way others do. Before Tom realizes it, he is drawn deeper and deeper into Libby’s family, by many quirks of fate that will at times have you laughing out loud! He tries to distance himself, but that doesn’t always work out too well for him!

Things heat up between Libby and Tom…to wow!!! Despite how good Libby makes him feel though, Tom still isn’t sure that a relationship with her is a good thing right now. He wants to focus on his relationship with his daughter and getting his life back on track. He also feels like he is not good enough for Libby. He is still having guilt issues about his wife’s death that he needs to resolve before he can move on and be happy. Will Tom ever feel a good sense of self worth again? Do Tom and Libby, as well as his daughter have a future together? And does Libby really want to stay in her home town for good now?

In Hold On My Heart Tracy Brogan managed to reach in and grasp my heart! This was one romance I could not put down! It is written so smooth and flawlessly, Tracy just draws you in and makes you want to get together with the characters!

I loved Tom and Libby. Their personalities had many differences, but they fit together so well and Libby is so good for Tom! She is open, honest, tells it like it is and very comfortable with her sexuality! She was so real! I loved her, she had me laughing so many times! She’s sees past Tom’s walls to the man inside and manages to fall in love with him before she knows it. Libby is very accepting of whatever life throws her way, and that includes Tom!

Tom is struggling to move on with his life, and Libby might be just what he needs! Underneath the gruffness, he has a bigger heart than he’ll acknowledge. I really liked Tom too. He really touched my heart and really found myself hoping he could be happy again!

Tracy gives us lots of great secondary characters in Hold On My Heart that only enhance the story even more if that’s possible! I loved Nana, she was so great!!! Then there were Libby’s parents, her sisters, the drama of her younger sister’s relationship, and of course Tom’s daughter and her grandparents. All of the characters in this book are ones you can relate to in some way! Who hasn’t hit the send button then second guessed who they are actually sending something to?

There are no big mysteries, no big dramas in Hold On My Heart. It is a wonderful romantic comedy about the real life of two very realistic people trying to find their way. I highly recommend this to any romance reader looking for characters you can relate to, great humor, and a really sweet love story.

Book Info

Publisher: Montlake Romance (June 25, 2013)

To build a future, sometimes you have to tear down the past…

Chicago event planner Libby Hamilton can turn any bland setting into a dramatic venue—but when she abruptly loses her job, and her fair-weather boyfriend moves to another state, Libby suddenly finds herself back in the tiny town she grew up in. Worse than that, her father wants help transforming an old schoolhouse into a vintage ice cream parlor and Libby must trade in her power suits for power tools.

Widowed restoration specialist Tom Murphy can rebuild just about anything—except the shattered relationship he shares with his teenaged daughter. Hired by Libby’s father, Tom isn’t interested in sharing the details of his personal life with beautiful, spunky Libby. He just wants to get the job done. But she is tenacious—and sexy—and it doesn’t take long before she breaks down his walls, builds up his hope, and gets a hold on his heart that won’t let go.