Chasing Forever (Second Hope 4) by Jessica Prince-review

Amazon.com / Amazon.ca / Amazon.uk / Amazon.au /

Don’t own a Kindle? Download the FREE Amazon Kindle App for your mobile device or pc

ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date February 23, 2025

I’ve never been the kind of man to give much thought to the future. When I pictured what forever looked like, I didn’t see a picket fence, a wife or a bunch of little rugrats running around. I had the dog, and that was good enough for me.

Or it had been, until a woman with dark, silky hair and sad eyes stumbled into my life and shook everything up.

The shadows that haunted Merritt Bell tugged at something deep inside me, bringing to life a primal instinct to protect that was stronger than anything I experienced before. The second I laid eyes on her, I wanted to slay all her demons. Be the knight in shining armor who could bring a smile to her beautiful face.

But before that could happen, I had to earn her trust.

When a family emergency brings her back to town and directly into the path of her estranged, abusive husband, I don’t hesitate to put myself in the middle, even if it means placing a target on my back that my badge can’t protect me from.

Now she and her nephew are living under my roof, and there isn’t anything I won’t do to keep them safe. I might be one of the good guys, but when it comes to protecting the woman who’s stolen my heart and the boy I’ve grown to adore, I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty.

I finally know what my forever looks like, and there isn’t anything that can stop me from chasing it down and holding on tight.

•••••••

REVIEW:🧡 Back to Second Hope we go! 🧡

I say this is almost every review for a Jessica Prince book, I need more! Chasing Forever is the next installment in the Second Hope Valley series by the ever amazing Jessica Prince. Each book can be read as a standalone, but I strongly recommend reading the series in order. Check your trigger warnings for domestic violence scenes and conversation before reading.

Merritt is finally free from her husband, the one who took nearly a decade from her life, after getting away from him with the help of Blythe and others, she has finally settled into a new life away from Hope Valley. Nothing could bring her back to the place where her husband still is, nothing but her nephew Levi. The one good thing her junkie brother ever did. When she learns that if she doesn’t claim him as his guardian he will be put into foster care, she drops everything and returns to Hope Valley.

Tristan has had Merritt stuck in his head since the moment he laid eyes on her, it’s almost an obsession. Her pale green eyes keep him awake at night. When she leaves HV after the incident with husband, he thinks he will never see her again, but that all changes after his latest case. When he sees her again, that same feeling overtakes him, the need to protect, to care, to do everything he can to make sure she has whatever she needs. This leads him to offering up his house for a place for her and her nephew to stay.

Merritt is normally slow to trust, and even more so that way when it comes to police or officials, but with Tristan, it comes so easy. He is easy going, gentle and has a connection to Levi that makes the little boy light up from the inside out. He wants to take care of her, and while that should frighten her, it doesn;t. It makes her long for more.

Merritt, Tristan and little Levi are a kick in the pants to read, and don’t go forgetting about Doc either. Tris is the best dog dad and I simply love him for it. Merritt slowly starts to find her inner strength with the help of her loved ones and of course Tristan. Merritt, Tristan and Levi come to form their own little family that works so well for them and they all come to get what they need, Love and family. The book progressive well, towards the end we get a bit of the aftermath and poor Levi is struggling, but as life goes, the family steps up and they help him through it. So of course they get their HEA. I could say so much more, but I won’t spoil it for you, trust me and read it for yourself.

Favorite quote: Merritt internal thought “he’s built like a pot roast”. I nearly giggled myself silly with that one!

Previous reviews and reading order
The Little Things
Tangled Up with You
Twice in a LIfetime

Copy supplied for review

Reviewed by Sarah

Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. That’s why God created central air, after all.

Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boy–she refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says.

In addition to being a wife and mom, she’s also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of books–romances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says it’s a passion…there’s a difference. Not that she’d expect a boy to understand.

Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.

Facebook | Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram | Amazon | Goodreads

Sign up for Jessica’s Newsletter