Some stories settle quietly into your heart. Others make you hold your breath from the very first page – and refuse to let you exhale until the very end. If You’ll Have Me by Esther Hatch is firmly in the second category.
With its sweetly peculiar opening, restrained longing, and layers of unspoken pain and devotion, this historical romance delivers an emotionally rich reading experience that slowly unfolds its secrets while keeping your heart fully invested. Here’s my full review of a story that lingered with me long after the final page.
Title: If You’ll Have Me
Author: Esther Hatch
Series: N/A
Genre: Historical Romance
Rating: 5 out of 5 ⭐
Disclaimer
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I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the author. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.
My Thoughts:
This story had me holding my breath from the first pages all the way until the end! With an opening chapter that sucked me right in with its sweet peculiarity and every subsequent chapter slowly revealing hidden secrets and unrequited love.
Anna has returned to the small village she spent one summer in many years ago, as she’s trying to find a future for herself and her mother. She’s fallen on very difficult times and is trying to find employment and housing until she can collect her inheritance.
David lives in the same village and when they met during that one summer, he had proposed to her even though he was too young to be able to do anything about it. But their connection has carried through the years and now that Anna is back, they’re drawn to one another again.
I love the moment they find one another in the opening chapter. It’s sweet, it’s sweetly peculiar with their teasing of one another and awkward in the moments leading up to how Anna will get herself out of her favorite tree. Yes, you’ll have to read to find that out!
David couldn’t be happier that she has returned and he’s determined to do whatever he can to help her. A fake engagement, a fake marriage and so many secrets that Anna is trying to uncover about this boy who has become such a handsome man. But David holds a lot of information back. I knew there was something bad underneath the surface, you can feel it throughout every restrained emotion from David.
These two are powerfully emotional in the development of their love for one another, but they both hesitate to be loved. They both struggle with believing they are worthy of love and they have to fight to have what they desire. It’s not an easy road and it’s fraught with many obstacles.
This is why I held my breath through the entire book. Those secrets are slowly revealed and it’s heartbreaking. But love always triumphs and the end of this one made my heart so happy for them.
Publisher’s Blurb:
A lady desperately seeking freedom. A prosperous younger man. An unexpected connection.
“I loved everything about If You’ll Have Me—the warmth, the charm, the Austen-esque romance and circumstance. It was a joy to read.” —Amy Harmon, New York Times best-selling author
Anna Atwood returns to Breckenridge, where she spent one blissful summer as a young woman. This time, though, she comes to the quaint town as a penniless spinster with a single hope: to build a life free from the constraints her father’s death put on her and free from the persistent suitor Mr. Green, whose plans for marriage are Anna’s worst nightmare. When she runs into David Tate, the boy she knew from that memorable summer, she finds he has grown into a confident and striking man. As they rekindle their friendship, David offers her warmth and protection in the moment she needs it most—when Mr. Green appears in town and threatens to destroy Anna’s carefully laid plans.
David Tate remembers Anna as the spirited woman who once brought light into his dark childhood. Now a man of means, he has a promising future, if he can withstand the powerful Lord Murphy—a man whose menacing hold on the town he owns is surpassed only by his relentless hold on David’s life. When David meets Anna again, he realizes he has a chance to save her from Mr. Green’s schemes, even if it means putting himself in danger of Lord Murphy’s wrath and revealing his own deepest secrets.
In a moment of desperation, David and Anna agree to a proposal of convenience to provide the safety they both need. But as their attraction ignites, the looming dangers from Lord Murphy and Mr. Green threaten to destroy their budding happiness.
Where to Buy:
If You’ll Have Me is a beautifully layered historical romance that balances charm with heartbreak, sweetness with danger, and longing with hope. If you enjoy stories filled with restrained emotion, fake engagements that blur into something real, and characters who must fight their own doubts as much as external threats, this one is well worth your time.
It’s the kind of book that makes you pause between chapters – and one that leaves your heart feeling full when you finally reach the end.
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