About the Book

Book: If For Any Reason

Author: Courtney Walsh

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Release Date: February 3, 2020

Emily Ackerman has traveled the world, her constant compass and companion a book of letters her mother left for her when she died. With no father in the picture, her mom’s advice has been her only true north. But when professional failure leads Emily back to Nantucket to renovate and sell the family cottage she inherited, she wonders if her mom left advice to cover this . . . especially when her grandmother arrives to “supervise.” And especially when her heart becomes entangled with Hollis McGuire, the boy next door–turned–baseball star who’s back on the island after a career-ending injury.

As sparks fly between her and Hollis, Emily is drawn to island life, even as she uncovers shocking secrets about the tragic accident that led to her mother’s death. With her world turned upside down, Emily must choose between allowing the voices from her past to guide her future or forging her own path forward.

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MY REVIEW

This is one story I didn’t want to see end. It flowed so easily yet had layers of secrets, pain, unforgiveness and second chances that took effort to rip open. Each character complimented the other whether by sadness or hope. Emily was a woman who ran from her problems. It was easy to not commit to anything for her. All her life she has found it easy to guard her heart and run the second she felt anything . There is so much pain inside her that I knew someday she would come face to face with her past. I appreciate how the author showed us how people can turn away from God and blame Him for everything. Emily has had this anger towards God because she feels like He abandoned her.

Hollis is not hard to figure out. He has made mistakes but he has never forgotten a certain person who he has always loved. Finding Emily back in Nantucket will change his life and allow him to face his feelings of failure. Two people each coming face to face with their past brings readers a story that shows second chances can happen. Does everyone deserve a second chance? The easy way to answer that is to remind ourselves what Jesus did for us.

This is a powerful story that at times made me cry. I wanted to help Emily through her pain. I wanted to sit beside her as she read letters from her mother. What Emily really needed was to feel the love of God. He had never abandoned her yet she continued to feel alone.

I loved how the author went back in time to let us glimpse into Isabelle’s life. I loved reading about her relationship with her parents and how much she loved with her whole heart. Her letters allude to having her heart broken and encouraging her daughter to always be cautious of love.

The author provides readers with a story that gives hope to those who feel lost and alone. It brings us an understanding of second chances and the power of unconditional love. Above all it shows how God never leaves us.

I received a copy of this book from Celebrate Lit. The review is my own opinion.

About the Author

Courtney Walsh is the author of ten inspirational novels. Her debut, A Sweethaven Summer, was a New York Times and USA Today e-book bestseller. Courtney lives with her husband and three children in Illinois, where she is also an artist, theater director, and playwright.

More from Courtney

3 Bits of Wisdom Every Mother Hopes Her Daughter Cherishes

By Courtney Walsh

There are so many types of mother-daughter relationships, and I’ve discovered that in most of my novels, these relationships are explored in one way or another. My most recent book, If For Any Reason, delves a little deeper into this universal relationship, as the main character’s only connection to her late mother is a book of letters she left behind for daughter when she died.

It was interesting to think through the advice and wisdom I would want to be sure to share with my own daughter, if for any reason I wasn’t here to share it in person. There’s so much I would want to say, so many lessons I would want to share, but if I had to boil it down to three bits of wisdom, I think it would be these:

Ask for help when you need it.

I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to admit we need help sometimes, but in the past year and a half, my family has faced some pretty significant medical challenges, and I learned that it’s necessary to let other people help you. One of the quickest ways to burn out and get overwhelmed is to try to do everything on your own. Now, I’m not talking about laziness. I’m not talking about figuring out ways to get other people to do things for you that you don’t want to do, but genuine help in this journey of life—spiritually, mentally, physically—all the ways that you need to be strong and healthy. You were never meant to figure everything out on your own. And it’s less lonely when you let people in.

Mistakes are good . . . as long as you learn from them.

Okay, it’s inevitable. You’re going to mess up. You’re going to make a million mistakes and sometimes you’re going to really, really regret them. It’s okay. It’s okay to make the wrong choice now and then . . . but only if you learn from it. Because even though there’s a lot of grace for your mistakes, there are still consequences, and if you’re not willing to learn what you did wrong, you’re just going to keep making a mess of things. Don’t do that. Don’t be stubborn and unmoving. There are opportunities to learn something new every single day, and there are people all around you who can help teach you—but only if you humble yourself, realize you don’t know everything, and are willing to learn. Remaining teachable is one of the greatest things you can do. Learn this lesson early, and you’ll go far.

Be yourself.

This is one of the most important and most challenging lessons any of us could learn. It’s a platitude, isn’t it? Advice you’d find on the outside of a coffee mug or embroidered on a throw pillow. But it’s more than that, this whole idea of being who you are, who God created you to be. Here’s the tricky part—how do you know who that is? The only way I can tell is to spend time with yourself. And to not be afraid to sit in the quiet with your thoughts. Learn what God says about you so that if those ideas are challenged or someone else tries to put a label on you that you don’t want, you’re armed with the truth. This will serve you well as you work to discover who you are.

The truth is, as a mother, I’m constantly learning. As a person, I’m constantly learning. And while these are just three bits of wisdom I hope my daughter carries with her, there are so many other lessons I hope she learns, lessons I hope I can teach her so she doesn’t need to learn the hard way.

What about you? What’s one bit of wisdom you want to be sure to pass along to the next generation?