Quick Pick & GIVEAWAY: Hope Out Loud, by Kristina Riggle {ends 7/25}

• Opening lines: The handwriting on the postcard is spiky and jerky, as if someone were trying to yank it away from my father before he finished what he had to say. 
• Reason I picked up the book: I love all of Riggle's other books - I actually had the chance to go to a reading of hers in Warren, MI a few years ago too. I read the novel that this is a follow-up novella to, also (The Life You've Imagined), although I don't believe I reviewed it here. 
• And what's this book about?
Five years after the summer of The Life You’ve Imagined, Anna Geneva’s mother is getting married. This means Anna must return to her hometown and the scene of her infamous affair with her teenage love Will Becker, who was married at the time, with a young daughter. Anna plans to avoid him, watch her mom get married, and hightail it back to her private law practice and her cozy apartment in Chicago.

But in a town as small as Haven, avoiding the elder son of a prominent family is harder than it seems, especially with so much shared history. And Maeve Geneva’s wedding? Well, the bride is starting to worry that maybe she’s not ready to marry again after all, though she swears her ex-husband’s affectionate postcards have nothing to do with that.

Anna thought she’d left her hometown behind for good five years ago, but she’s learning it takes more than two hundred miles along the Lake Michigan shore to put Haven truly behind her …
• Favorite paragraph:
We did it all backwards. Our teenage love was uncomplicated and easy. We had a friendship of like minds plus passionate ardor: hesitant virgins making clumsy love in a moonlit park. Our drama and crises came later, when we should have been old enough to know better. As it turned out, we were merely old enough to take something lovely and ruin it. 

• Recommended for: Anyone who likes a quick story - this is a novella, and it's about 125 pages in print or 85 pages on Kindle, according to Amazon. Also anyone who has read The Life You've Imagined, even though this can be read as a standalone novel too.
• Something to know: Kristina Riggle is from the west side of the state, and one of my favorite (real) cities there is Grand Haven - I'd like to think "Haven" is based on that city, and so I could kind of see it in my mind as I read this novella.
• What I would have changed: I would have maybe made the novella a little longer, or perhaps a full-length book - I wanted to know more about what happens to these characters after the novella ended.
• Overall rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars.
• Where can I find this book? Click here.

*Disclosure: I received an e-copy of this book from the author for reviewing purposes. The opinions expressed here, however, are my own.

GIVEAWAY:

I have one paperback copy of Hope Out Loud for a lucky reader to win!

Enter via the widget below. Giveaway will end on Saturday, July 25th, at 11:59pm EST, and winner will be emailed the day after and have 24 hours to respond, or an alternate winner will be chosen.

U.S. and Canadian residents only, please.

Good luck!

Hope Out Loud (Kristina Riggle)