From The Start by Melissa Tagg Review

Hello Everyone :)

I hope you're all doing well, and I thank you for joining me for another book review today on The Preppy Book Princess.

One of my favorite things is discovering a new favorite author. Especially if that author already has several books out, as it gives me reading material for quite some time, and that's what has just happened for me with discovering Melissa Tagg.

I've been speedily working my way through her books, and I'm loving every single one so far. I couldn't wait to share my review of one of my favorites by her, and that's what I'm going to be sharing for today's post.

From The Start by Melissa Tagg:

Source: Library

Publisher: Bethany House

Publication Date: April 7th, 2015

Genre: Christian Fiction/Contemporary

Series: Walker Family

Synopsis

Kate Walker used to believe in true love and happily ever after. While her own love life may have left her brokenhearted, it hasn't kept her from churning out made-for-TV romance movie screenplays...until a major career slump and a longing to do something meaningful send her running back to her hometown of Maple Valley. 

Permanently sidelined by an injury, former NFL quarterback Colton Greene is temporarily hiding out in a friend's hometown to avoid the media and the reminders of all he's lost. Maple Valley seems like the perfect place to learn how to adjust to normal life. The only trouble is he's never really done normal before.

While Kate plays things safe and Colton is all about big risks and grand gestures, they both get what it's like to desperately need direction in life. An unexpected project gives them both a chance to jumpstart their new lives, but old wounds and new dreams are hard to ignore. Starting over wasn't part of the plan, but could it be the best thing that's ever happened to them?

*****synopsis from goodreads*****

My Review:

I love when a book cover pulls you in with its bright colors, and beautiful photography, and that it ends up being indicative of an amazing story being told between its pages. From The Start is a beautifully written romance novel about taking a second chance on love, overcoming past obstacles, and trusting God's plan even when it may be different from the plan we want for ourselves.

Kate Walker is a writer of romantic screenplays for a television network. Her last few scripts have fallen flat, and she's started to question whether or not this is truly what she wants to do with her life anymore. After having had her heart broken badly in the past, she's scared to take a chance with her heart again, and this is starting to show through in the screenplays she's writing. When a tornado hits her beloved hometown of Maple Valley, she packs up and heads home to help her injured father around the house, and to help the hometown she knows and loves clean up from the disaster.

Unbeknownst to her, her older brother Logan has also come home for a few days, and he's brought his friend with him, former NFL player Colton Greene. Colton agrees to stay on and help the Walker family when Logan asks him too, and he's soon wrapped up in the heart warming community of Maple Valley, especially within the Walker family themselves. He feels himself falling for Kate, especially as the two of them embark on the journey of writing his football memoir together, but he has so many unresolved hurts in his past that he doesn't know if he can ever give Kate the future she so desperately deserves. Growing up in the foster care system, football was the one place he felt he truly belonged, and ever since an injury has forced him to retire from the NFL, he's struggling to find out what his future can ever truly hold.

Told from both Colton and Kate's perspectives, From The Start is one of my favorite reads of 2018 so far. It's filled with Melissa Tagg's signature writing style, quirky hilarious moments that will make you laugh out loud, and many heart warming moments that emphasize the importance of family, friends, love and faith. From the way Maple Valley is described, it'll make everyone who reads this book wish it were a real place, and I'm so glad there's still three more books and one more novella for me to read yet in this series as I definitely need more of this beautiful family.

This was definitely the fun escape from reality I so desperately needed this week, and I'm so thankful to have discovered another author who writes contemporary romances that focus on the importance of following God's plan for our lives. I can't recommend this one enough, especially if you're a fan of Becky Wade and Denise Hunter like I am.

Final Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I literally don't have one complaint. The writing was genius, the characters were well developed, the setting was idyllic, and the pacing was perfect-it never felt too short or too dragged out. I can't wait to pick up the next addition in the Walker Family series as soon as humanly possible.

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I'll see you all again soon for more bookish content. 

This is not a sponsored post. All thoughts and opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me, and all rights to the respective owners.