Litfuse Blog Tour Event: Dancing with Fireflies (A Chapel Springs Romance #2) by Denise Hunter

Dancing with Fireflies by Denise Hunter is a story that shows the healing that love can deliver to those who are hurting, be it from God and or from the people that God has put into the lives of the hurting. Hunter has written a beautiful story that uses a dark and difficult subject as an obstacle that brings two people together with healing and redemption. 

Goodreads Summary

Jade returns home to Chapel Springs after years of protecting her fragile heart. Then along comes Daniel, making her long to dance again.

Creative and complicated, Jade McKinley felt like a weed in a rose garden growing up in Chapel Springs. When she left, she thought she'd never look back. But now, pregnant, alone, and broke, she has no other choice but to return.

The mayor of Chapel Springs, Daniel Dawson, has been an honorary member of the McKinley family for years. While his own home life was almost non-existent, Daniel fit right into the boisterous McKinley family. He's loved Jade for years, but she always saw him as a big brother. Now that she's back, his feelings are stronger than ever.

As Jade attempts to settle in, nothing feels right. God seems far away, she's hiding secrets from her family, and she's strangely attracted to the man who's always called her "squirt." Finding her way home may prove more difficult than she imagined. 

My Thoughts 

I liked this book. As I touched on before, Hunter uses a painful experience from Jade's past that leaves her pregnant. This subject is rape. When I first started to read this book I was shocked. I never thought that this would be the main obstacle that would latch onto Jade from the beginning of the book, but once I finished it I understood and appreciated this story that Hunter so graciously wrote and brought to her readers.

This is a story and subject that is much more common in today's society than many want to believe. I feel that seeing this in books is an astounding opportunity and new ground for this tough issues to be talked about and shown that there is healing--and that is the love of God who gives it. 

I admired Jade a lot. She was a strong and courageous young woman who had many hurdles she had to overcome. Such as flashbacks from her ordeal and learning to release her secret and lean on others instead of being ashamed and blaming herself. From the beginning of the book to the end of the book, Jade was a completely new person who was more open to loving again and being honest and truthful to her family. She wasn't allowing that one moment in her life steal from her a chance at living again and being weak. She was fighting for a chance at living again, but it took a little coaxing from a very good friend to help her through it all.

That friend was Daniel, another character that I  really liked. He's the type of man you would want as a friend. He was giving and honest and always willing to help. He was committed to God and to loving Jade (so much so that he was willing to put her happiness before his own).  He was able to bring Jade out of her lonely cocoon she was wrapping herself in. Instead, he lured her back into life, back into embracing dancing outside with the fireflies like she did when he first meet her.

I admired the transition of friendship to loving-relationship that Jade and Daniel developed. Jade was a young woman with a lot of baggage, and Daniel was the first person that she confided in about her secret. Together these two healed and loved on each other, of course there were times where I wanted to strangle one of them and tell them both, "Speak your feelings!!!!!!" Their chemistry though was on fire, but in the good kind of way! It was romantic in the best ways I felt. Read it and see for yourself! ;) I like that Hunter writes her characters with real desire, but that they know their boundaries as well.

This is the second book of Hunter's, A Chapel Springs Romance Series, but it can be read as a stand-alone. Let's be honest though, most times when you read the second book of a series you end up having to read the first one to see what you missed out on! I highly suggest if you aren't reading a series at the moment that you give this one a chance. 

Preview to first chapter

Rating: 4 out of 5 bookshelves 
Disclaimer: I received a free copy for an honest review from Litfuse Publicity Group.

About the Author 

   
Denise Hunter is the award-winning author of 20 novels, including The Accidental Bride and Convenient Groom.

Denise lives in Indiana with her husband Kevin and their three sons. In 1996, Denise began her first book, a Christian romance novel, writing while her children napped. Two years later it was published, and she's been writing ever since. 



Link to Author's: Facebook, Website, Twitter, Goodreads 
Purchase a copy: Amazon, Barnes&Noble, ChristianBook
Don't miss Denise Hunter's latest Chapel Springs Romance, Dancing with Fireflies. Reviewers have already labeled Dancing with Fireflies "swoon-worthy" and "the perfect love story." 

Join Denise in celebrating the release of her new book by entering her Kindle HDX giveaway and RSVPing for her April 10th Facebook party.

One winner will receive:

• A brand new Kindle Fire HDX
• Dancing with Fireflies and Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter

Enter today by clicking one of the icons below. But hurry, the giveaway ends on April 10th. Winner will be announced at the Dancing with Fireflies Facebook Party on April 10th. Connect with Denise for an evening of prizes, book chat, and an exclusive look at the next book in the series.

Don't miss a moment of the fun; RSVP today by clicking JOIN on the event page. Tell your friends via FACEBOOK or TWITTER and increase your chances of winning. Hope to see you on the 10th!

In His Grace,                                                                                                                                    Taylor Reid