"Some Bright Someday" by Melissa Tagg

 


Lucas Danby's past haunts him. The scars from Afghanistan mar his body—and his spirit. He's found friends in Maple Valley, but he leaves them half the year to be a secret elite black ops agent. What kind of friend hides his activity and disappears for months?

Jenessa Belville has loved owning the newspaper in Maple Valley, but her spirit is restless. She doesn't know what to do with the sprawling home which has been in her family for generations. The last Belville in Maple Valley, she doesn't want to be stuck with the lackluster legacy. But just after putting a For Sale in the yard, she finds three runaway children who have taken refuge in the back cottage. Suddenly the home seems to have new life.

If Lucas thought he loved Jenessa before, his feelings only increase watching her care for the children and go through the hoops to maintain temporary custody while the social workers search for their relatives. He's never had the courage to tell her what he feels for her, especially since he feels unworthy of anything good, plus he's never told her about his work with Bridgewell. Would she want a relationship with a man whose ghosts chase him half the world away as he tries to prove his worth to himself?

As Jenessa falls more in love with the Hollis children, fearing every day with them will be her last, she also begins seeing Lucas in new ways. Why has she never noticed what a kind and attentive friend he is? New dreams begin spouting in her heart—dreams that would settle her restlessness in ways she never expected. But how could any of it come to be?

I loved returning to Maple Valley. Lucas, Jenessa, and the Hollis children completely stole my heart. This novel is about longings and overcoming the past and finding a place to call home. It was wonderful to see characters from Melissa's other Maple Valley stories, too. I would highly recommend this book, as it touched my heart in multiple ways. Be prepared to come away from these pages looking at life a little differently than you began.

I received my copy of the book from the author. All thoughts in this review are my own.