Forever This Time (Echo Lake, #1) By Maggie McGinnis
Slick's review posted at Guilty Pleasures Book Reviews
Sometimes you get way more out of a romance than you expected and that is the case with Forever This Time by Maggie McGinnis. I’ve read this author in the past and enjoyed her work so I expected a well written, enjoyable, fun, sweet romance and I got all of that but I also got an intense and emotional journey between two people changed by two incidents that left them both reeling as teenagers. This was a complicated story packed with emotion but there were many moments of fun, hilarity, hope and a whole lot of love.
Josie left her hometown and her family’s business after high school and hasn’t looked back escaping the dysfunction of her family and leaving behind the man she loved when she saw him offering the same type of life she wanted to escape. When her father has a stroke, she returns home to find that while some things have stayed the same, others have changed drastically.
Josie was such a complicated heroine, I liked her but at times she was just so standoffish that she made it hard to really understand her. As her story unraveled it became clear that her childhood and teen years were not stellar, but I also admired her for how much she gave to a very special young girl named Avery. I don’t like the way she left town or the people she hurt, but I could sympathize with her and understand why she did what he felt she had to do. It was interesting watching her meld back into small town life and into life at Snowflake Village her family’s Christmas themed park. As she came to realize just how many people had helped her as a teen without her even realizing it, the ice wall she’d built around herself began to melt and it was interesting to watch her see life a whole new way. While her being back affected Ethan probably the most, he really did his best to be civil and it was obvious they were both having problems containing their feelings towards one another from the start.
Ethan impressed me with the way he handle Josie’s return and while he did have a bit of fun at her expense with the “jobs” he assigned her at Snowflake Village, I really don’t think he did it to be mean; it was more self preservation and I think he was secretly hoping that Josie would begin to remember the magic of the park. I loved that there was so much more to Ethan than met the eye and that he didn’t share a big part of his life with Josie because he wanted her to want him for him and not for the things he’d done.
Every interaction between these two was important from the confrontational ones, to the sweet ones, to the angry ones to their walks down memory lane. They shared a past that was riddled with so much good, but there was also a lot of disappointment and pain and Josie had suffered so much that she did the only thing she felt she could and left. I hurt for these two young people who endured so much, but seeing them as adults I can’t help but think that those incidents made them stronger, made them better people and made them capable of forgiving and reaching for the love they both so desperately wanted.
I enjoyed most of the secondary characters immensely with the exception of Josie’s ex-best friend Molly who just came off as mean, angry and a bit self centered. I get that she was hurt by Josie’s disappearance but talk about living in the past, I just really had a hard time with many of her actions in this story.
Despite its moments of grief and sadness this story was truly an uplifting story and while there was no doubt Josie and Ethan still had feelings for one another, I liked that it took time for them to repair their relationship and move forward. A heartwarming and delightful story Forever This Moment is another fantastic offering from author Maggie McGinnis and a great start to a new series.
Review copy provided for an honest review.
467 Freizeitparkfeeling, Kleinstadtcharme, Second-Chance-Geschichte und ein beträchtliches Maß an Schwere – all das hat der Auftakt der Echo-Lake-Reihe zu bieten.
Der Schreibstil ist sehr angenehm und ansprechend.
Ich war mitten in der Story drin,
und die knapp 400 Seiten sind nur so dahingeflogen.
Ich mochte Josie und Ethan sehr.
Die Vergangenheit hat bei beiden Spuren hinterlassen,
die anfängliche Distanziertheit daher nur allzu verständlich.
Die langsame Annäherung und das Neu-Kennenlernen waren echt schön zu verfolgen
und ließen mich zunehmend mitfiebern.
Auch das Drumherum mit dem Weihnachtspark, den verzwickten Familiensituationen,
der früheren Trennung und den herzzerreißenden Beweggründen haben der Geschichte Vielschichtigkeit und Tiefgang verliehen.
Mein Herz tat manchmal echt ganz schön weh,
aber es wurde auch immer wieder mit Liebe gefüllt.
Die Geschichte von Josie und Ethan hat mir eine schöne Lesezeit verschafft,
mit unglaublich warmherzigen, aber auch traurigen und nachdenklichen Momenten.
Es ist eine ganz wundervolle Story
& ich will alsbald wieder nach Echo Lake zurückkehren!
5 Sterne 467 Josies Vater hat einen schweren Schlaganfall und wird deshalb ins Krankenhaus eingeliefert. Das ist der Grund, warum Josie nach 10 Jahren in ihre Heimatstadt zurückkehrt.
Dieser den Rücken gekehrt hatte sie, als nach einer schwierigen Kindheit und einem Schicksalsschlag auch die Zukunft plötzlich nicht mehr so aussah, wie Josie sie sich das vorgestellt hatte.
Zu dieser Zukunft gehörte auch Ethan, der nun den Freizeitpark ihres Vaters alleine leiten muss. Josie hat nun die Gelegenheit herauszufinden, ob es nicht doch noch eine Zukunft fürsie in ihrer Heimat gibt.
Das Buch hat mir insgesamt gut gefallen. Am Anfang hatte ich etwas Schwierigkeiten hinein zu kommen, da die Hintergründe nur langsam in Rückblenden aufgedeckt werden. Deshalb war das Verhalten der Protagonisten teilweise nur schwer nachzuvollziehen.
Das hat sich aber im Laufe des Buches wieder gegeben und dann hatte ich viel Spaß daran. Weitere Bücher der Autorin würde ich durchaus auch lesen wollen. Da es wohl der Auftakt einer Serie ist, werden wir dann hoffentlich auch alte Bekannte wieder treffen.
Alles in allem ist es ein schönes und unterhaltsames Buch. Herzlichen Dank an NetGalley und den Verlag, dass ich es lesen durfte.
467 Josie kehrt nach 10 Jahren in ihre Heimatstadt Echo Lake zurück. Dort betreibt ihre Familie einen Freizeitpark, in dem immer Weihnachten ist. Nach dem Schlaganfall ihres Vaters kümmert sie sich gemeinsam mit ihrem Ex-Verlobten Ethan um den Park.
Ich bin von Beginn an gut in die Geschichte reingekommen und mir hat das Setting mit dem Freizeitpark unheimlich gut gefallen. Die Besonderheit, dass dort immer Weihnachten ist, fand ich ebenfalls sehr interessant, auch wenn ich Josie verstehen kann, dass sie von allem irgendwann ziemlich genervt war.
Das Buch ist eine wirklich schöne und rührende Geschichte um Ängste, Verluste und zweiten Chancen. Mir hat gefallen wie sich die Liebesgeschichte zwischen Josie und Ethan langsam wieder aufgebaut hat. Sie sind einander nicht sofort in die Arme gesprungen, es wurde aber auch nicht zu sehr in die Länge gezogen. Die beiden haben für mich sehr gut zusammengepasst und trotz der gemeinsamen Vergangenheit, die wir in ein paar Rückblicken erleben, waren die Funken auch in der Gegenwart spürbar.
An ein paar Stellen konnte mich das Buch sehr berühren und ich habe sogar ein paar Tränen verdrückt. Mich konnte die Geschichte sehr gut unterhalten und ich bin sehr gespannt wie es in Echo Lake weitergeht. 467 I absolutely loved it! I love this title in the book..
It’s really great to see Ethan and Josie being together but, something happened that Josie had to leave in Echo Lake and living in Boston for 10 years…Josie rushed back home to being with her father Andy at the hospital and apparently he had a stroke which is not a good news but, he seems doing better at least not yet..So glad that they’re getting married for the first time!
Can’t wait to read another book series soon… 467
Free read Forever This Time (Echo Lake, #1)
Forever This Time is the story of Josie Kendrew, who returns to her tiny Vermont hometown after ten years' absence when her father has a stroke, and Ethan Miller, her jilted high school sweetheart, who's taken her place as the CFO of the Kendrew family business: running Snowflake Village—a Santa's Village—style amusement park.
Josie, now a successful therapist with a Boston practice, isn't sure how she feels about being back in Echo Lake. In some ways, things have changed a lot; Ethan's got an MBA, seems to have something going with Molly, her childhood best friend, and he even owns the beautiful Victorian they'd always talked about buying together. But in other ways, the place is exactly the same, with reminders of the heartbreak that drove Josie away lurking around every corner. When Josie's Little Sister Avery died of cancer at the age of ten, the grief nearly destroyed her, and ultimately inspired her choice of career. It also caused a hurt so deep she knew she couldn't stay in Echo Lake, surrounded by memories. And she's not going to stay now; as soon as her dad's health improves, she's headed right back to Boston, to her therapy practice and her quiet apartment. To her lonely, safe life.
As for Ethan, he's not all that pleased to see the woman he once loved. It took a long time to pick up the pieces Josie left behind, he's proud of the work he's done to bring Snowflake Village into the 21st century, and he's worried that if Josie finds out about his project to honor Avery's memory, she'll get the wrong idea. He's not planning to make it easy for Josie to come back, and he's not going to pretend that all is forgiven. They can't just pick up where they left off… right? Forever This Time (Echo Lake, #1)
Second chance romances can be hit or miss for me. Sadly, this one was a miss. I have loved every book I've read by this author but this particular book did not work for me for a couple of reasons. I never really understood Josie's reasons for leaving in the first place. I really felt like she needed to apologize more for her actions and she never seemed remorseful. Ethan was such a good guy but too much of a pushover. I didn't feel the connection between these two and they had zero chemistry. I had such a strong dislike of this heroine - I kept waiting for her to make amends for leaving the way she did but then she does something else that annoyed me. I think it's a bad sign when I'm waiting for the hero to tell the heroine to get lost for most of the book.
I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from reading a book by this author - her writing is fantastic! This particular book just didn't work for me but I will continue to look forward to reading more by this author in the future!
**ARC provided in exchange for an honest review** 467 Rated 4.5 - This is a holiday story in a way, but it doesn’t actually take place during Christmas. It’s about coming home when you don’t truly know if the place you remember is really a home, or how you’ll be received once you get there. The lighthearted banter of the first few chapters did not prepare me for what followed. FOREVER THIS TIME packs an emotional wallop that’s unique and beautiful.
Therapist Josie Kendrew returns to her hometown when her dad has a serious stroke and is hospitalized. She hasn’t been home, or in contact with anyone there, for ten years and doesn’t plan to stay long. Josie feels obligated to be in Echo Lake now, and to overcome the flood of bad memories created by the events that led to her leaving the first time. Even though deep down Josie wonders how she’ll survive facing her past. Josie is fully prepared to leave again as soon as her dad’s condition is stable.
Ethan Miller was a professional military hopeful, until an injury forced him to change his plans. His brother now lives Ethan’s father’s dream of a military hero for a son. Now the CFO of Snowflake Village in a small town in Vermont, as well as the creator of a very special place for children, Ethan can’t imagine seeing Josie again. He is worried how Josie will react to all the changes since she left Echo Lake. Or how he’ll react to seeing the girl who he was engaged to marry, now all grown up, the very same high school sweetheart who left him practically stranded at the altar.
Josie’s homelife was more horrific than she thought anyone knew. It was especially bad during her high school years. The only bright spot was the love that she and Ethan shared. Several tragedies convinced Josie that she could never be happy in Echo Lake and Ethan could never be happy anywhere else. So Josie did what she thought was best for both of them. She left for Boston a month before their wedding and never looked back.
In the first few chapters, I really thought this book was going to be full of fluff and cutesy. I’m not a huge fan of cutesy. Some of the situations seemed contrived and a bit over-the-top, almost sickening sweet. But that’s Josie. That’s how she remembers the place she ran away from because it was such a farce in comparison to what was really happening in her world. That’s actually the true beauty of this novel because amidst all that fluff and nicety-nice, you’ll never expect the soul-sucking emotion that will grab you.
This book is a hidden gem within itself due to the way it steadily builds a relationship with the reader. The emotional baggage starts to stack up, the best friends’ anger at Josie launches, and the real story of what happened ten years ago begins to unravel. It’s good. It’s emotional. It’s completely unexpected.
Even though this novel seems all sweetness, happiness and light in the beginning, the powerful emotion FOREVER THIS TIME eventually radiates truly wallops in the end. Wow. Just wow. I cried me a river. Such a heartrending story of growing up, running away, then coming back to find where you left your heart. Excellent emotional journey toward a well-deserved happy-ever-after. I can’t wait for Josh’s story in HEART LIKE MINE, book 2 of the ECHO LAKE series releasing in April 2016!
Review by Dorine, courtesy of Romance Junkies and The Zest Quest. Digital ARC provided by the publisher through Netgalley. 467 4.5 stars
I loved Forever This Time, this was such a beautiful and heartwarming second chance love story.
Ethan and Josie were meant to be, I loved watching them slowly reconnect and rekindle the love that never went away for either of them.
Maggie McGinnis has written another wonderful and entertaining read which leaves her reader with a heart full of happy feels.
I'm really enjoying the Echo Lake series and can't wait for the next book Heart Like Mine.
Thank you St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the advance copy.
467 3 - Where does your heart live? Stars.
I am really on the fence with this one. On the positive side Maggie McGinnis has managed to perfectly build and establish the town and residents of Echo Lake the secondary characters were great and the flashback parts of the book had me in tears on more than one occasion. The general story-line and its development was enjoyable, the pacing steady and the writing, as usual stellar.
Broken glass, broken promises... and broken hearts.
But on the other hand there are four pivotal characters in this story, yes Ethan and Josie are who the story is mainly about, but Molly and and Josie's mother also figure in it quite a bit, past and present, and the big issue I have is that I found it really difficult to actually like or any of them.
Josie's Mom I am ruling out of that a bit though as the main issue I had was the fact that the problem Josie had with her before she left, and her personal demons in general, weren't really addressed in any real clarity, and the reason was quite a heavy one, and I felt it deserved a little more depth in it's resolution.
But Molly was an out and out cow for most of the book, I could understand she was hurt by her friend leaving town, but her behavior and thoughtless actions were a little too much, in light of the fact she and Ethan knew exactly why Josie was leaving in the first place, I understood it more from Ethan, as he had, had his heart firmly broken, but Molly just came across as a hormonal teenager, acting out in a twenty-eight year old's body. Yes Josie's actions ten years previously, and in the present upon her return to town were hurtful and extremely selfish, but on the other side of the coin, she was in an untenable position prior to leaving, and the both knew it.
You gonna wait forever? Or you gonna live your life?
I am a huge fan of Maggie's writing, her books always pull you in, and Forever This Time did that, I just really struggled with the characterizations this time. Forgiveness was a long time coming in this book for all concerned, and for various reasons, and the point of the story got a little lost in it for me. Won't stop me eagerly awaiting the next book Heart Like Mine though, this is Josh's book, and I am looking forward to getting to know him better.
ARC generously provided via Netgalley, in exchange for the above honest review. 467 I received an ARC of this novel via St. Martin’s Press. This book will be published November 3, 2015. A MUST READ. I fell hopelessly in love with this story!
:: 6 Class Love Story Stars ::
Eeeek! I loved this book to pieces! It is a classic romance that will never go out of style. This story warms your heart from start to finish. I couldn’t get enough of it.
When Boston therapist Josie Kendrew finds herself back in the small Vermont town she grew up in she never thought that everything that once felt so wrong could actually (and maybe always has been) right. But picking up the pieces where she left off won’t be easy for her. She has to contend with sad memories of a little girl she cared about who didn’t get to live her life, she has to be there for her mom her newly sober mom, and father who had a stroke. On top of this, her ex fiancé who she left high and dry ten years prior is still there, doing the same thing she ran away from, and still leaving a mark on her heart strings. Can Josie make up for all the time she has lost? Will she be able to overcome all of the sad childhood memories she had to go through? Or will she continue running without stopping to think about what she really wants? Reader, you need to read to find out! And trust me, you will not be disappointed!
Clearly, I adored this book. So much that I gave the story 6 out of 5 stars. To me, it was that good. Perfect, even. I cannot believe I have never stumbled upon a Maggie McGinnis book before. From here on out though, I plan to read all of her books. Her writing style is perfect, the plot is unique, and the characters are the type that readers can actually get to know. It’s like reading a book about your best friend! Great, great book. I highly recommend it! Can’t wait to see what’s in store for the second Echo lake novel. I am super excited!
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