This review was first posted on Music, Books and TeaA Reason to Stay is a standalone contemporary novella, and it was one of the cutest romances I’ve read in a while! I read this novella in one very short sitting, and as soon as I finished the last sentence, I wanted to go back and read it all over again.Julianna, our main character, is returning back to Hartfield, the town she ran away from eight years ago. Her Aunt Helen, the woman who raised her since her parents disappeared on their second honeymoon has fallen ill, and Julianna is back to help care for her. Because this is only a short novella, we don’t learn a lot about Julianna, only the backstory that is relevant to A Reason to Stay, which would normally annoy me, as I like to know the ins and outs of characters, but I was so invested in Julianna that it didn’t bother me. I was so pleased that she chose to do the right thing in the end, especially when it came to her aunt’s house. I knew right from the off what I wanted to happen, and I was so pleased that it did!All the side characters were great too, I particularly loved Pace, Julianna’s best friend who she also abandoned eight years ago. I felt so sorry for him, as it was obvious that he loved Julianna, and wanted her to stay in Hartfield forever, but didn’t want to be waiting forever for her to settle down. I was pleased that he was able to get the closure he had been waiting for, all he wanted was to know why Julianna left like she did. He knew her reason for leaving and where she was going, he just needed to know why she had to leave by herself, instead of asking him to go with her. Julianna’s Aunt Helen was a great character, and although I understood why Julianna left Hartfield for Savannah, she really didn’t deserve to just be left like she was, especially after all Helen had done for Julianna. I was pleased that Julianna was able to make it right though, and that she felt she had her Aunt’s forgiveness, along with her cousin Stacey.A Reason to Stay was an incredibly cute and quick read, with a romance and a happily ever after that left me feeling all fuzzy and warm inside, and I can only hope that we might be lucky enough to revisit Hartfield and its inhabitants! I will definitely be checking out more of LS Murphy’s work in the future, and if A Reason to Stay is anything to go by, I will be enjoying those immensely too!
Music, Books and Tea
This review was first posted on Music, Books and TeaA Reason to Stay is a standalone contemporary novella, and it was one of the cutest romances I’ve read in a while! I read this novella in one very short sitting, and as soon as I finished the last sentence, I wanted to go back and read it all over again.Julianna, our main character, is returning back to Hartfield, the town she ran away from eight years ago. Her Aunt Helen, the woman who raised her since her parents disappeared on their second honeymoon has fallen ill, and Julianna is back to help care for her. Because this is only a short novella, we don’t learn a lot about Julianna, only the backstory that is relevant to A Reason to Stay, which would normally annoy me, as I like to know the ins and outs of characters, but I was so invested in Julianna that it didn’t bother me. I was so pleased that she chose to do the right thing in the end, especially when it came to her aunt’s house. I knew right from the off what I wanted to happen, and I was so pleased that it did!All the side characters were great too, I particularly loved Pace, Julianna’s best friend who she also abandoned eight years ago. I felt so sorry for him, as it was obvious that he loved Julianna, and wanted her to stay in Hartfield forever, but didn’t want to be waiting forever for her to settle down. I was pleased that he was able to get the closure he had been waiting for, all he wanted was to know why Julianna left like she did. He knew her reason for leaving and where she was going, he just needed to know why she had to leave by herself, instead of asking him to go with her. Julianna’s Aunt Helen was a great character, and although I understood why Julianna left Hartfield for Savannah, she really didn’t deserve to just be left like she was, especially after all Helen had done for Julianna. I was pleased that Julianna was able to make it right though, and that she felt she had her Aunt’s forgiveness, along with her cousin Stacey.A Reason to Stay was an incredibly cute and quick read, with a romance and a happily ever after that left me feeling all fuzzy and warm inside, and I can only hope that we might be lucky enough to revisit Hartfield and its inhabitants! I will definitely be checking out more of LS Murphy’s work in the future, and if A Reason to Stay is anything to go by, I will be enjoying those immensely too!
