The female lead in this romance is a woman of extraordinary strength and courage. She's deeply wounded in a way that most would never recover from. Enter our hero: a man smart enough to recognize her strength and value her for who she is. But loving her will never be easy. I cried more while reading this book than I usually do. The emotion and power of this story is beautiful, encouraging, hopeful! I could not put it down until I'd finished.

Decide to Hope by June A. Converse is an intense romantic drama that takes you through the crisis of the two main characters. It lets you put the pieces together yourself as you get to know Kathleen Conners and Matt Nelson, learning how the circumstances surrounding their internal struggles brought them together. Kathleen lives on a secluded beach in North Carolina as she is trying to deal with her psychological trauma, and conceals herself behind a scarf and sunglasses. Matt, on the other hand, is a tax attorney who lost his mother recently, and his father’s sudden retirement has given him an extended workload at their law firm. He gives himself time to unwind by taking a vacation in North Carolina that was planned by his deceased mother, and receives a box of letters that she had written to him before she passed away. His mother’s message has a sense of urgency - she asks him to take a vacation and to find out what matters to him in life. This becomes the start of his personal journey as he crosses paths with Kathleen.

Matt and Kathleen both project an aura of aloofness, but as you get to know them on every page, they start to grow on you. They do possess a certain warmth that makes the storyline and the romantic angle winsome. June A. Converse finds the right note in articulating personal pain. She writes with relaxed confidence and even humor at times. One of the letters written by Matt’s mother will make you grin when it is supposed to be dramatic. It’s because Converse has chosen to reveal the persona of a caring yet no-nonsense mother who knows her son inside out, where her letter even admonishes Matt to stop rolling his eyeballs while reading her message. It was good to read the interactions between Matt and Kathleen, allowing us to further understand these characters. Best of all, Decide to Hope has an ending that is consistent and logical with the storyline. Decide to Hope is an intimate story that you cannot afford to pass up.

Well written with fabulous description. It keeps your interest. This is not your Hallmark cozi mystery. Love her style. I love to support new authors who write well. I look​ forward to her next offering